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

This wasn't the first time Ye Shu had gone out with Xia Qing, but last time, perhaps because Tang Xiaotao was with them, Xia Qing still maintained a bit of a sister-in-law's airs, which was relatively normal.

But today, he finally saw Xia Qing's true colors when she went out shopping.

Xia Qing's shopping trips were like a mini-train journey, because she spent the entire time shopping, eating, shopping, eating, shopping, eating...

"Hey! Bobo Chicken!"

Xia Qing's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Ye Shu's arm and rushed towards a small roadside stall. Before Ye Shu could even see what the owner of the pot-boiled chicken looked like, he already had two servings of pot-boiled chicken in his hand.

"Come on, there are crispy grilled sausages over there!"

With graceful movements, Xia Qing pulled Ye Shu through the various food stalls.

Before long, Ye Shu was carrying several plastic bags, containing half-eaten takoyaki, a few pieces of stinky tofu left, and a half-finished cup of milk tea...

Xia Qing herself walked happily to the side, holding a skewer of grilled squid brushed with chili sauce in her hand, eating as she walked, her cheeks puffing out, eating without any regard for her image.

You know what, it's actually kind of cute in a contrast.

Ye Shu looked at the squid in her hand, and then thought about what he had eaten earlier; just looking at it made his stomach churn. He couldn't help but ask:

"Sister Xia Qing, this...didn't we just finish breakfast not long ago? Can your stomach handle eating like this?"

Xia Qing was focused on preparing the grilled squid when she heard this. She turned to look at him, chewing her food as she replied matter-of-factly:

"This isn't breakfast, it's a snack, understand?"

Ye Shu watched as she ate, her mouth glistening with oil, and then looked at the chili oil smeared on the corners of her lips, making her look like the Joker from Batman.

"I understand, snacks and main meals use two different stomachs, right? Xia Qing, your second stomach capacity is a bit scary."

Xia Qing tilted her head, winked at him, and then continued to eat with her head down.

After walking for about half an hour, the weight on Ye Shu's hands gradually lessened as Xia Qing continued to sweep.

But he was indeed tired from walking and couldn't hold on any longer, so he asked:

"Wait, Xia Qing, where are we going? We can't just wander around like this, eating our way from one end of the street to the other, can we?"

It wasn't that he was worried about the money—how much could this food cost anyway? It was mainly that the aimless wandering made him feel a bit lost. Moving forward without a goal always makes one feel tired.

Xia Qing had just finished putting the last bite of oden into her mouth and licked her lips. She paused slightly when she heard Ye Shu's question.

To be honest, she really hadn't thought about where to go.

In the beginning, it was just an excuse to bring Ye Shu out, and to satisfy my own desire to eat and shop. The main thing was to experience the atmosphere of a date between the two of us.

Destination? What's that? It doesn't matter.

But since Ye Shu directly asked her, Xia Qing would absolutely not admit that she had no plan at all; that would be too embarrassing!

She quickly scanned her surroundings and soon spotted a fairly large arcade.

Got it!

Xia Qing immediately straightened her back, adopting a composed "I had this planned" attitude, raised her chin, pointed towards the arcade, and said matter-of-factly:

"You're in such a hurry. Who said we were just going to walk around? I originally wanted to bring you here to have fun."

Ye Shu saw her stubbornness and knew exactly what was going on, but he was too lazy to call her out on it.

Arguing with Xia Qing about whether or not there's a plan is just asking for trouble.

He looked at Xia Qing's smug little face, as if she weren't the same person who had been eating all the way without mentioning the arcade at all.

Okay, an arcade it is. It's better than aimlessly wandering around eating. At least... there are chairs to sit on.

His gaze fell on Xia Qing's face; the red oil stains were quite an eyesore, and they seemed to be running down her face as she spoke. And judging from Xia Qing's demeanor, she didn't seem to notice.

Ye Shu casually pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket, took one out, and wiped her greasy mouth a few times.

His movements weren't gentle, but they were earnest; his gaze was fixed intently on the corner of her mouth, gently rubbing it.

Xia Qing was secretly pleased with her quick thinking when she was completely taken aback that Ye Shu would suddenly wipe her mouth.

When the tissue touched her lips, Ye Shu froze for a moment as his fingers brushed against the corner of her mouth through the tissue.

She opened her eyes wide and looked at Ye Shu, who was wiping her mouth with a serious expression and slightly furrowed brows.

My chest felt like it had been gently bumped by something—not hard, but very clear.

However, Xia Qing was Xia Qing after all. Her heart fluttered for less than two seconds before her stubborn pride suppressed it. But she couldn't bear to leave the current atmosphere, so when she thought Ye Shu had almost finished wiping, she suddenly leaned back and dodged his hand.

Then, with a "what are you doing?" look on her face, she glared fiercely at Ye Shu:

"Why are you suddenly touching me like that! You wiped my lipstick off!"

Ye Shu held the oil-stained paper, looking at Xia Qing's seemingly shy yet stubbornly defiant demeanor, and gave a dry laugh.

"Haha, Xia Qing, you really made a joke at me. Your lipstick was almost completely ruined when you were showing off your roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) earlier, okay? Uh…!"

He did indeed let out a muffled groan at the end.

Because while he was speaking, Xia Qing, already enraged, delivered a solid whip kick to Ye Shu's buttocks.

The force was considerable; Ye Shu staggered forward two steps, almost losing his balance. This was the first time he had ever understood body language. Xia Qing's kick was saying, "Serves you right for being so talkative."

Ye Shu rubbed his bottom and looked back at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing glared at him fiercely, raising an eyebrow at him:

"Look again? I'll kick you again!"

After saying that, she glanced to the side and immediately gestured with her chin in that direction:

"Go, I'm punishing you by making you go buy me an ice cream, a chocolate one."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shu looked at Xia Qing's expression that said, "I'm just being unreasonable, you have to coax me," and then at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, and couldn't help but remind her:

"Xia Qing, you just ate a bunch of spicy and oily food, and then you eat ice cream right away. Can your stomach handle it?"

His reminder was purely well-intentioned; after all, that shopping spree just now was indeed quite frightening.

However, to Xia Qing, this sounded like blatant disobedience and fuss. She raised an eyebrow, clenched her right fist, and waved it in front of Ye Shu, threateningly:

"Stop talking nonsense! Just go! Hurry up, I want to eat now!"

Ye Shu looked at the little fist waving in front of him and knew that if he didn't give her ice cream, he would probably get punched in the face.

"Okay, okay, I'll buy, buy, buy..."

He turned and walked towards the ice cream shop, casually tossing the wad of paper stained with red oil outside the trash can with the precision of a three-point shot, before having to walk over to pick it up and throw it in.

As Ye Shu walked to the entrance of the ice cream shop, he stood in line and glanced back at Xia Qing, who was watching him with her arms crossed not far away.

"Spicy, oily, ice-cold..."

Ye Shu muttered to herself, still unable to stop thinking about Xia Qing clutching her stomach and turning pale. She sighed.