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

The animal performance theater appears to be larger inside than it looks from the outside, with a rather large pool of water beneath the tiered, fan-shaped seating.

Although there was still some time before the show started, the seats were already about 70-80% full, mostly with families with children, but also couples like the two of them who came here for a romantic getaway.

Ye Shu, holding Xiao Nuan's hand, found two seats in the middle and sat down.

The view from here is great; you won't get splashed like you would in the front row, and you can see the entire pool and stage clearly.

After sitting down, Ye Shu looked around, then leaned slightly to whisper in Xiao Nuan's ear:

"There are quite a lot of people here, and it's rather noisy. If you feel uncomfortable or too stuffy, just let me know, and we can leave anytime."

Although Xiao Nuan never seemed to care, Ye Shucai kept reminding her to speak up about her needs, afraid that she would silently endure it.

Ye Shu was whispering in Xiao Nuan's ear when he heard her words. He didn't expect that Xiao Nuan would turn her head and look at him with a "hmm".

The two faces were now very close, their noses almost touching.

Xiao Nuan was fine, but Ye Shu was suddenly scalded by Xiao Nuan's breath and staggered backward.

But then, Ye Shu thought of a question because of Xiao Nuan's "hmm".

Thinking about it carefully, from the time the two of them left home today until now, apart from when they were looking at the fish and Xiao Nuan started explaining for a while, her answers were very brief at other times.

They mostly just say "um," "okay," or "fine," or simply nod or shake their heads.

This is quite different from her usual demeanor at home, where she always delivers academic reports.

Is she feeling unwell? Is she tired? Or is she nervous because of the crowd?

Ye Shu couldn't help but move closer to Xiao Nuan again and whispered:

"Xiao Nuan, tell me the truth, are you feeling unwell? Do you have a headache? Or do you feel stuffy and noisy in here?"

But Xiao Nuan just looked at him and shook her head:

"no."

It was still so brief, but she didn't seem to be lying. Ye Shu still couldn't help but ask directly:

"Oh... well, why are your answers to me so brief today? You usually speak in much more detail, don't you?"

Xiao Nuan blinked at Ye Shu, seemingly not expecting him to notice this, let alone ask about it.

After a two-second silence, she imitated Ye Shu and whispered in his ear:

"Because my brother said that when you're out in public, especially in unfamiliar places or crowded places, you should talk less. Talking too much might annoy people."

Brother? Whose brother? What kind of logic is that?

Ye Shu frowned slightly, but before he could speak, Xiao Nuan continued:

"If you don't like my usual way of speaking either, then I can be more concise in the future."

She spoke calmly, without any sense of grievance or complaint; it was simply a behavioral pattern that she believed could be adjusted.

Ye Shu felt a slight pang in his heart. He had already imagined how Xiao Nuan was ostracized and disliked by other children when she was little. It must have been that the children of her relatives didn't want to play with her, so they used this method to shut her up.

Thinking of this, Ye Shu felt another pang of heartache:

"No, I don't hate it, not at all."

He looked into Xiao Nuan's eyes, very seriously:

"When you're with me, you can say whatever you want. You don't need to change anything. I'm willing to listen to whatever you want to say, I'm very willing to listen. Understand?"

Xiao Nuan listened quietly to him, stared at him for a while, and then nodded gently.

"it is good."

Ye Shu raised his hand to rub her hair, but suddenly remembered that they were in a public place and it wasn't appropriate, so he put his hand down and patted his pants.

"That's good. It's about to start, let's wait and see the dolphins, I heard they're very intelligent."

He sat up straight and looked down at the stage that was still being prepared.

Xiao Nuan also turned back, without saying anything, just looking at the pool below.

After a while, Ye Shu felt something grab his hand. He looked down and saw that it was Xiao Nuan's hand, which was gently holding his.

Just as Ye Shu was about to turn his head, he heard the music that had been playing from the surrounding speakers suddenly become more intense and the volume increased significantly.

A host with a microphone walked onto the stage:

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the Azure Ocean Theater!"

The performance began with the host's voice.

The opening performance began with two white dolphins swimming into the performance pool from the waterway. Under the trainer's command, they spun around in the pool, jumped out of the water to touch the colorful balls hanging above, and even interacted with the audience in the front row.

After the opening performance, a group of performers dressed in brightly colored bodysuits began to perform acrobatics on stage, such as somersaults, ball throwing, and human pyramids.

Then there was a clown performing a tug-of-war with a walrus. One end of the rope was in the clown's hand, and the other end was in the walrus's mouth. The clown used all his strength, but the walrus just lay there motionless.

Occasionally, he would turn his head slightly, almost causing the clown to stumble.

Finally, the clown's hand slipped, and he rolled twice on the ground before sitting down hard on his bottom.

To be fair, the clown put on quite a show; at least he made the kids in the audience laugh.

Ye Shu watched the performance on stage and subconsciously turned her head to look at Xiao Nuan.

Xiao Nuan didn't laugh like the people around her. She watched quietly, but she was so focused and serious that she didn't even realize that Ye Shu was watching her.

Ye Shu noticed that the corners of her mouth seemed to curve slightly upwards.

It was very shallow and light, like a dragonfly skimming the water; the ripples disappeared before they even spread.

But Ye Shu saw it, and that was enough.

That confirmed it immediately. The photo really wasn't an illusion. Xiao Nuan really wasn't as cold as she looked. She really was Xiao Nuan.

As we walked out of the aquarium after watching the show, the sky was already tinged with a faint orange-red hue.

Ye Shu led Xiao Nuan out of the zoo with the crowd, leaving the day's hustle and bustle behind and feeling the tranquility brought by the evening breeze.

Ye Shu took a taxi back to Yunduanyuan. In the elevator, Ye Shu looked at Xiao Nuan next to him:

Did you have fun tonight?

Xiao Nuan seemed lost in thought. Only after hearing Ye Shu's words did she raise her head and nod.

"Yes, I'm happy."

We're not home yet; we haven't switched back to the old mode.

When she's out in public, she unconsciously restrains herself, both in her speech and her emotions. These are habits formed over so many years; changing them won't be a quick fix.

But hearing her say she was happy is enough.

The elevator doors opened, and Ye Shu stood at the door, holding Xiao Nuan's hand in one hand and carrying two plastic bags and a paper bag in the other, waiting for Xiao Nuan to open the door.

Xiao Nuan reached for the door lock, but suddenly stopped and turned to look at Ye Shu:

"Ye Shu".

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Ye Shu thought she couldn't open the door, so she took a step forward.

Xiao Nuan looked at him intently.

"I was talking less today, and you were the only one who noticed and even asked me about it."

"Well... I just felt that you were acting a little differently than usual, and I was a little worried that you might not be feeling well."

Ye Shu followed up by asking:

"But now that you mention it, I've been wanting to ask. We've gone out together before, like to my hometown or the train station, and you've never been this quiet before. Why are you suddenly so talkative today?"

Xiao Nuan blinked and remained silent for a long time, as if the reason was quite heavy.

Ye Shu felt nervous as he looked at her, wondering if he had accidentally said something wrong or touched on one of her wounds.

After a short while, just as Ye Shu was about to say, "If you don't want to talk about it, then don't," Xiao Nuan replied:

"Because I forgot before. Sometimes when we went out together, I would forget about this, but today, I remembered."

forget……

Ye Shu felt a bit choked up; the reason... was indeed quite simple and unpretentious. Ye Shu had just been prepared to hear about some special memory of the aquarium, and had already imagined some tragic childhood in her mind, but it was all unnecessary.

It turns out it's that simple. I forgot about it, and then I remembered it again.

There was no particular reason, no complicated emotional journey; it was just that the memory switch happened to be left on when I went out one time, and it was turned off today.

"Okay, forget it if you want. But like I said before, you can say whatever you want to me. You don't have to hold back or remember anything."

Ye Shu felt that Xiao Nuan, who was straightforward and had simple ideas, was the most adorable.

After Ye Shu finished speaking, Xiao Nuan pursed her lips slightly and hummed in agreement.

But what she didn't tell Ye Shu was that she had never forgotten the importance of speaking less in public. When she was out with others, she always acted the same way she did today.

However, when she was with Ye Shu, she couldn't help but want to talk to him more.

Similarly, only Ye Shu noticed it and even came to ask him about it.