The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

"How about it? Did you see it?"

Zhi Qiu straightened up, creating the distance that made Ye Shu's heart race, with a "I told you so" smile on her face.

"No……"

Ye Shu withdrew her gaze. Although she was still somewhat unwilling, she was too embarrassed to continue being stubborn.

"Maybe... I really did see it wrong."

"You must have misread it."

Zhi Qiu reached out and ruffled Ye Shu's hair like an older sister comforting a child.

"Alright, stop overthinking. It's almost noon, you must be hungry, right? Shall I go get you something to eat?"

Upon hearing that they would get some food, Ye Shu grinned:

"Um... Sister Zhi Qiu..."

He racked his brains trying to come up with a perfect excuse that would prevent Sister Zhi Qiu from cooking without hurting her feelings.

A: I told Sister Zhi Qiu that I wasn't hungry at all, and that I had eaten too much porridge this morning.

B: I told Sister Zhi Qiu that I actually have chlorophyll in my body and can photosynthesize, so I don't need to eat.

C: Tell Sister Zhi Qiu that your kiss just now has filled my heart, and I can't eat anything else.

Ye Shu immediately rejected three options in her mind. What are these?

He wasn't hungry... How could he not be hungry? The little bit of porridge he ate this morning was like it was alive. He seriously suspected that the porridge had eaten everything in his stomach. He was so hungry that he was about to have acid reflux.

And that last one, what kind of line is that from a brainless idol drama? It's so greasy, I'm afraid if you said it, Sister Zhi Qiu would break up with you immediately.

Seeing his face turn red and then pale, and his hesitant expression, Zhi Qiu immediately understood what had happened.

She glared at Ye Shu reproachfully, her eyes filled with three parts helplessness, three parts amusement, and four parts dissatisfaction at being disliked.

"You!"

She tapped Ye Shu's forehead with her finger and said:

"I'll go out and buy it for you, okay? Look how scared you are. Is my cooking really that bad?"

Ye Shu immediately adopted a fawning expression and spoke in a servile manner:

"Oh! Sister Zhi Qiu, you're so wonderful! So understanding and considerate, you're like an angel descended from heaven! Let me go out and buy some things! Thank you so much, Sister Zhi Qiu, you're so kind! I love Sister Zhi Qiu the most!"

Seeing his "I've survived a close call" expression, coupled with his string of flattering words, Sister Zhi Qiu was both annoyed and amused.

"You're getting a good deal and you're still acting innocent... Alright, lie down and rest quietly, don't move around, cover yourself with the blanket, your sister will be back in a little while."

"Sister Zhi Qiu, be careful on the road!"

Ye Shu immediately lay down and watched Zhi Qiu go out to buy food without moving.

Zhi Qiu glanced at him one last time, smiled, then turned and walked out of the bedroom, gently closing the door behind her.

The room fell silent again, all the ambiguity, awkwardness, and jokes from before... all the sounds and warmth subsided.

Ye Shu's smile slowly faded, eventually turning into a long exhale.

My body slowly relaxed, and I crawled back into bed, leaving only my head sticking out.

The weakness from the high fever hadn't completely disappeared, but the feeling in my heart was even more subtle than the physical discomfort.

He subconsciously stuck out the tip of his tongue and gently licked his lips.

There seemed to be a lingering feeling there, along with a faint scent of autumn, which made his heart beat a little faster.

Sister Zhi Qiu's kiss...

It's terrifying, terrifying in every sense of the word.

The land of gentle pleasures is the graveyard of heroes; the ancients were right.

Ye Shu closed his eyes, his mind racing. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he heard the sound of a door opening in the living room, followed by the rustling of plastic bags.

It must be Sister Zhi Qiu who's back.

Ye Shu opened her eyes and looked towards the door.

Without further ado, the bedroom door was gently pushed open, and Zhi Qiu walked in carrying a wooden tray with several bowls and plates on it.

The meal was rather light overall, consisting of a bowl of porridge, several side dishes, and a bowl of soup of unknown origin.

"You're not asleep? Perfect, eat it while it's hot."

Zhi Qiu placed the tray on the bedside table, sat down beside the bed, picked up the bowl of porridge, and gently stirred it with a spoon.

Ye Shu propped himself up and sat up against the headboard. His stomach growled as he smelled the aroma of the food.

Ye Shu was actually quite curious about how Sister Zhi Qiu could make porridge that was both unpalatable and not filling. She had made a big bowl of it, but she was still hungry earlier than usual.

"Come here, let your sister feed you."

Zhi Qiu scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it gently, and brought it to Ye Shu's lips.

Ye Shu quickly waved his hand; he really wasn't used to being fed by others.

"Really, there's no need, Sister Zhi Qiu. I just have a fever, it's not like my hand is broken. I can eat by myself, and look, I'm much better now."

As he spoke, he quickly stretched out his hand and moved his arm.

Zhi Qiu didn't speak, but simply kept holding the spoon, her smile unchanged, and quietly watched him.

After waiting for a while, seeing that Ye Shu showed no intention of eating, Zhi Qiu tilted her head and spoke softly:

"What? Little Shu only eats the porridge his sister makes if she feeds him. Since it wasn't made by his sister, he can't wait to cook it himself?"

Ye Shu stared wide-eyed at Zhi Qiu's innocent face, feeling as if her conscience had been stabbed.

Moral blackmail! This is blatant moral blackmail!

Unfortunately, he actually got tied up.

What could he say?

If I say, "Yes, I just don't want you to feed me anymore," wouldn't that confirm that I dislike her?

Even if he said, "No, I just feel embarrassed," he could already imagine what Zhi Qiu would say next. "What's there to be embarrassed about with my sister? We were just..."

It's truly a case of being caught between a rock and a hard place; Ye Shu can only be the fool in the end.

"No, no, no..."

Ye Shu shook her head so hard it almost flew off:

"Sister Zhiqiu, look at you... I didn't mean that! I just felt it was too much trouble for you. You went out to buy it and then you still have to feed it."

"It's no trouble at all."

Zhi Qiu smiled even more happily, very satisfied with his reaction. She brought the spoon a little closer to his lips.

Ye Shu was still putting up a last-ditch effort, instinctively shrinking back a little.

Then he saw the curve of Zhi Qiu's lips, which seemed to have turned up a little more.

She suddenly leaned forward, close to Ye Shu's ear, and spoke slowly, each word like a small hook, hooking into Ye Shu's heart:

Or perhaps...

She paused, and only continued after she felt Ye Shu's body tense up:

"Little Shu doesn't like being fed with a spoon by his older sister... He wants his older sister to... feed him with her mouth?"

In all honesty and justice, while Ye Shu may not be a saint, he absolutely never intended to do something so outrageous! This... this is simply...

He was terrified, because for a moment just now, he had indeed wavered and almost agreed.

With sheer willpower, he held firm to his conviction and swallowed back the word "good."

"No, no! Sister Zhi Qiu, please... please stop fooling around!"

God knows how much willpower he used to keep his voice from becoming hoarse.

Seeing such an amusing reaction, Zhi Qiu was satisfied. She sat up straight, scooped up another spoonful of porridge, blew on it, and offered it to Ye Shu's lips:

"Then open your mouth obediently, ah~"

Ye Shu opened his mouth with a mixture of grief, indignation, and shame. What he drank was not porridge, but his shame.

Even Liu Xiahui couldn't compare, could he? Ye Xiahui, throwing himself into the arms of a beautiful woman today—is that even comparable in difficulty?!

Ye Shu, today you can be considered a man of steel. You should write a book about it someday, titled "How the Steel Was Tempered," a special revised edition by Ye Shu! It will be dedicated to recording today's feat!

But when he looked at Zhi Qiu, who was smiling across from him, he felt deflated.

Forget it, I've already been completely manipulated, what kind of iron will do I have?

This lovingly prepared meal left him exhausted; it seems Sister Zhi Qiu has finally received the "Ye Shu User Manual".