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

Ye Shu carried two drinks back to Yunduanyuan and opened the door.

The living room was completely dark, with no lights on, only the streetlights from the neighborhood and the lights from the building across the street shining in through the window.

"I'm back."

He habitually said something into the house, but there was no response.

Are you out?

He placed the two drinks on the cabinet by the door, and while taking off his coat, he called out again:

"Sister Zhiqiu? Sister Lili?"

Still no one answered. Qin Lili had probably already left. What about Sister Zhi Qiu?

Something's not right; something's definitely fishy going on.

Ye Shu walked to the bedroom door and noticed light shining through the crack in the door.

He raised his hand and gently knocked on the door, then spoke:

"I'm back."

This time, a response came from inside. It was Zhi Qiu's voice, but unlike her usual gentle and smiling voice, this one was very weak and trembling slightly.

"Little Shu, my brother..."

Ye Shu's heart sank, and without thinking, she pushed the door open and went inside.

The bedroom light was on, and Ye Shu immediately saw Zhi Qiu lying on the bed.

She was curled up under the covers, her face was pale, her forehead was covered in sweat, her eyebrows were furrowed, and her eyes were fixed on Ye Shu.

Ye Shu rushed to the bedside, squatted down, and her first instinct was to touch her forehead to see if it was hot.

"Sister Zhiqiu, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhi Qiu looked at him, forcing a smile:

"It's nothing... just a slight stomach ache... I'll be fine after a rest..."

It hurts, but it will be fine after a rest.

Ye Shu remembered that her mother had said the same thing.

At first, it was just a backache, a very common one, from doing housework until my back hurt. My mother always endured it, saying that it would get better with a little fat, and that a plaster would do the trick.

"It will be fine in a couple of days, there's no need to go to the hospital."

My mother always says that she is stingy with money. Her family has tried to persuade her twice, but she has dismissed them with "waste" and "making a mountain out of a molehill".

At that time, Ye Shu's family, including Ye Shu herself, were hoping that he was just really tired or that it was just a simple sprain.

As the days went by, the back pain came and went, and my mother applied more and more plasters, but her complexion got worse and worse.

It wasn't until one day, when the pain became so severe that she couldn't straighten her back, that her father forcibly took her to the hospital.

Then came the doctor's diagnosis, and the mother's eyes instantly turned ashen.

Cancer cells, metastasized, late stage.

too late.

If... if we had discovered it sooner? If I had been more resolute then, instead of throwing a tantrum and insisting that my mother take me to the hospital?

This idea has always been like a thorn in Ye Shu's heart for so many years.

Although reason tells him that he was just a little kid back then and the adults in his family wouldn't listen to him, this thought still pops up every now and then to prick him.

He hated his own powerlessness, hated his ignorance at that time, and was even more afraid of the possibility that the delay due to negligence would eventually lead to irreversible consequences.

From then on, he became extremely sensitive to any physical abnormalities in the people around him, to the point that he could be described as somewhat neurotic.

In the parlance of fantasy novels, this is already Ye Shu's inner demon, and going to the hospital when he has a problem is his only way to fight this psychological shadow.

Looking at Zhi Qiu's pale face, Ye Shu seemed to see his mother lying in bed enduring the pain in his memory, which made his eyes involuntarily well up with tears.

"Go to the hospital, right now."

Ye Shu bent down to pick Zhi Qiu up from the bed.

"Really...really, it's not necessary, little brother Shu, I'm fine..."

"Listen to me!"

Ye Shu was very determined this time. His mind was filled with the image of his mother from back then. He couldn't let something like this happen again, and he couldn't afford to waste a single moment.

"Oh dear, you..."

Seeing his eyes redden with anxiety, Zhi Qiu felt both touched and helpless. Another sharp pain in her abdomen made her tremble.

Seeing Ye Shu's expression as if he wanted to pack her up and take her away, she knew she had no choice but to explain herself. She could only suppress her embarrassment and whisper:

"Really, there's no need to go... I just... it's that thing every month for girls... it's probably because yesterday... um, Xiaoxue fell asleep sitting on the floor, right? She probably caught a cold, and this time it hurts especially badly..."

"What? What do you mean?"

Ye Shu didn't react for a moment, her mind filled with thoughts of how Sister Zhi Qiu was in so much pain, how could she be alright?

Seeing that he hadn't thought about it at all, Zhi Qiu's expression became even more complicated. How could this silly child be so honest?

"It's... my period... my stomach hurts, understand?"

"what……"

I see. Biology class wasn't for nothing. I do have some basic physiological knowledge. This little problem doesn't seem like I need to go to the hospital.

"Then... what do we do now?"

Ye Shu had no practical experience, so he could only ask the person involved.

Seeing that he had finally grasped the concept, Zhi Qiu endured the pain and gave instructions:

"It seems we're out of painkillers at home... Could you go buy me some ibuprofen? That should help a bit."

"Okay! I'll go right away."

Ye Shu turned to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute, little Shu..."

Zhi Qiu called him back, her expression even more embarrassed.

"Anything else? Tell me."

Ye Shu turned around and looked at her, his eyes even more upright than Hong Mao's, staring at Zhi Qiu's face until it felt a little hot.

"that is……"

Zhi Qiu pursed her lips and whispered:

"It's...that thing girls all use...can you buy me a pack too..."

After saying that, she wanted to bury herself in the blankets, but now she could only rely on Ye Shu.

Ye Shu, suppressing her shyness, gave a brief explanation. Throughout the entire explanation, she maintained a serious expression, which was a significant improvement over Zhi Qiu, who was blushing like crazy.

Ye Shu thought to herself, "What's the big deal? Even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen pigs run, right? Aren't they all displayed on supermarket shelves?"

He wasn't sleepy anymore, so he changed his shoes and rushed out the door.

As he walked toward the pharmacy, he searched on his phone for what to do about menstrual cramps in girls.

"Hot compress... ginger tea in broth... ibuprofen..."

I rushed into the pharmacy, bought a box of ibuprofen, and then went into the small chain supermarket next door.

I'm not sure if we have a hot water bottle at home; I don't think I've ever seen one before. Just in case we don't, we can buy one and take it.

I found brown sugar, and after thinking for a moment, I also grabbed a small packet of ginger candy, just in case Sister Zhi Qiu doesn't like eating ginger directly.

Finally, he stood in front of a shelf, which was neatly stacked with all the magical tools that he might need later.

There happened to be a young woman browsing nearby. Sensing someone approaching, she subconsciously glanced up and saw it was a man intently looking at the items on the shelf. She slightly turned her body, stopped browsing, picked up a bag, and left.

Ye Shu didn't care about other people's reactions, nor did he feel particularly embarrassed. Thinking about Zhi Qiu's last words before leaving, he began searching through the shelf.

He had never really studied it carefully before; he had only ever passed by it. But upon closer inspection, he discovered that there were quite a few intricacies involved.

This way, that way...

I finally found a suitable pack, picked it up and was about to leave, but then I turned back. Is one pack enough? What if it's not?

It's always good to buy more; it's better to be prepared.

So, he carried a basket of clearly directional Miaomiao tools to the cashier to pay.

The cashier could guess what was going on when she saw what he bought. If this guy wasn't a weirdo, then he was buying it for his girlfriend.

"Hello, would you like a black plastic bag?"

"Okay, thank you."

He didn't really care what kind of bag it was in; all he wanted to do was get back as soon as possible so that Sister Zhi Qiu could feel better sooner.

This is the main task at hand.