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

Ye Shu walked back to Yunduan Garden as if he were racing. Along the way, many people saw that he looked nervous, walked with a brisk pace, and was carrying a large black plastic bag. They all thought he had done something illegal.

When Ye Shu got home, she didn't even bother to change her shoes before shuffling into Zhi Qiu's bedroom in her slippers.

"Sister Zhi Qiu, how are you? Is it still hurting a lot?"

Just like when he left, Zhi Qiu was curled up on the bed. Hearing the noise, she slowly opened her eyes.

Seeing the large black plastic bag Ye Shu was carrying, he looked somewhat surprised:

"Little Shu, you're back. You seem... a bit better... What did you buy?"

She remembered that she had only asked him to buy ibuprofen and... well, how could there be such a big bag?

Ye Shu squatted down on the spot and, just like a street vendor, started taking things out of the big black bag and placing them on the ground one by one.

"This is a hot water bottle for you to warm your stomach. I also saw online that it works for warming your lower back, so I bought a few more heat packs. Hot water bottles are afraid of being compressed, but this one isn't."

"I also bought a bag of brown sugar. We still have ginger at home, so I'll make some brown sugar ginger water later. I also bought this if you don't like raw ginger."

As he spoke, he pulled out the bag of ginger candy:

"Old ginger candy, it's sweet, I don't know if it works, but if it doesn't, just eat it like candy."

"Ibuprofen, I read that it's best not to take it on an empty stomach, as it can irritate the stomach. I'll cook some millet porridge in a bit, you can drink some porridge first before taking the medicine."

Finally, he pulled out a pack of sanitary napkins from inside:

"And the sanitary napkins you wanted, I was worried one pack wouldn't be enough, so I bought you two. Is this the kind you're looking for?"

As he spoke, he actually handed the extra-long overnight pad to Zhi Qiu and showed it to her.

As Zhi Qiu watched him magically pull out so many things one by one from that black plastic bag, and listened to his words, especially when he mentioned that he had considered details such as "don't take medicine on an empty stomach," "don't like ginger," "warm the lower back," and "afraid that one packet wouldn't be enough," she felt a warmth in her heart, and the pain in her lower abdomen seemed to have lessened considerably.

But when she saw him so readily hand over the pack of sanitary napkins to her for inspection, her face flushed slightly. She was both touched and shy, and didn't know what to say.

"Alright...stop holding it in your hand, put it down..."

"Okay."

Ye Shu placed the sanitary napkin on the table next to her, picked up the hot water bottle, and turned to leave.

A short while later, he returned with a hot water bottle that had been filled. But instead of handing it directly to Zhi Qiu, he first stuffed the hot water bottle into his shirt, pressed it against his stomach for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't too hot, and then took the hot water bottle out, pinched the stopper, and twisted it hard.

"Here, the temperature is just right, put it on your stomach to warm it up."

This is one of Ye Shu's little habits, or rather, a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Whenever he uses something containing liquid and with the risk of leakage, he always tightens it several times, with a voice in his head saying that it might leak if it's not tightened properly.

This obsessive-compulsive disorder is not limited to unscrewing lids; it manifests in other areas as well.

For example, when he used to rent a house, he used a mechanical lock. Every time he locked the door, he would press the doorknob and shake it back and forth a few times, while silently repeating in his mind, "Locked, locked, this time it's really locked."

If I don't complete this mysterious task, I'll have to come back and check every few steps, otherwise I'll always feel like the door isn't locked, and then I won't be able to do anything else today.

Ye Shu casually placed the hot water bottle aside and patted Zhi Qiu's blanket.

"You lie down."

Zhi Qiu looked at him, not understanding what he meant:

"What are you doing?"

"I'll put some heat packs on you. You can use a hot water bottle in front and a heat pack in the back—a double whammy."

"Our little Shu is so thoughtful."

Zhi Qiu obediently rolled over slowly and lay face down on the bed.

Ye Shu lifted her blanket and placed a hand warmer on her lower back through her clothes:

"Is this okay? Lie on your side. If it's too hot, just tear it off."

"Mmm, it's warm, just right."

After the hot water bottle was applied, Zhi Qiu lay on her side on the bed, still holding the hot water bottle in her arms. Ye Shu helped her pull the blanket up to her chin, leaving only her slightly pale face exposed.

"Okay, just keep it covered now. I'll go cook some millet porridge. It'll be better soon. You'll take the medicine and the pain will be gone."

"Um."

Zhi Qiu responded, feeling the heat coming from her stomach and lower back, which did indeed relax her body and her furrowed brows a little.

Once you relax, some little thoughts start to surface.

Hearing the sounds of rice being rinsed and the gas stove being turned on outside, Zhi Qiu blinked, a slight smile playing on her lips. Then, facing the doorway, she called out a little louder, with a hint of coquettishness:

"Little Shu, come here for a moment."

Sure enough, just as she called out, she heard footsteps outside the door, the bedroom door was pushed open, and Ye Shu poked half her body in and asked:

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Is the hot water bottle too hot?"

Zhi Qiu's face immediately showed an expression even more distressed than before. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her lips were pursed, and she weakly patted the edge of the bed beside her with one hand.

"You...sit here."

Ye Shu tilted her head towards the door:

"I'm still cooking porridge, so I have to keep an eye on the fire."

"Sit here."

Zhi Qiu patted the edge of the bed again, her softer movements making it hard to refuse.

Ye Shu had no choice but to walk over and sit on the edge of the bed, turning to look at her and asking:

"What happened?"

Zhi Qiu looked at him with pitiful eyes:

"Little Shu... my stomach hurts."

"I know, the porridge will be ready soon. After you eat the porridge and take the medicine, the pain should subside. Just hang in there a little longer."

"But my sister's stomach is hurting terribly right now, what should we do?"

Zhi Qiu looked at him, and his pitiful appearance was truly heartbreaking.

"Then... what should we do?"

Ye Shu was truly at a loss; he had never experienced pain before and had absolutely no practical experience.

"Should I change the hot water for you? Or should I massage it? But the internet says you can't just massage it randomly..."

Seeing how anxious he was, Zhi Qiu's lips curved upwards, but she immediately suppressed it, maintaining a pitiful expression.

"I heard... there's a folk remedy that can relieve this, and it's really effective."

"A folk remedy?"

Ye Shu narrowed his eyes. Although folk remedies can cure serious illnesses, he always maintained a wait-and-see attitude towards such unfounded, unorthodox methods that were passed down by word of mouth.

"Can I trust this? You might get sick from eating it."

Although he was overly concerned, he still possessed basic common sense.

Zhi Qiu blinked, the smile in her eyes almost impossible to hide. She looked at Ye Shu and said:

"I don't know either, so... could you try it for me?"