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

The bus drove through the night, with only a few small nightlights on inside.

Many people had already fallen asleep with their heads down and leaning against the window. The driver was driving steadily, and a woman sitting next to him was chatting quietly, probably to keep the driver from getting sleepy. It was hard to hear what they were talking about.

Ye Shu, however, was wide awake.

He tilted his head to the side, his forehead pressed against the car window, feeling the coolness outside.

The highway was pitch black on both sides, with only occasional scattered lights in the distance, which could be a small village or a small factory.

Every time Ye Shu saw these tiny specks of light flash by, she would feel inexplicably moved.

It's a symbol of everyday life, and it also means that you're a little closer to home.

Letters from beyond the mountains have ceased, winter has passed and spring has come again. The closer I get to home, the more timid I become, I dare not ask the passersby.

Ye Shu looked at the poem "Crossing the Han River" by Song Zhiwen that she had just found on her phone and savored it carefully.

He can empathize, but only to a little.

Cut off from news, changing seasons... these things are somewhat distant to him, but the five words "the closer to home, the more timid one becomes" are something he is now truly experiencing.

But if you were to say I was timid, it seems a little bit, but it's not fear; it's more of a complex feeling.

A mix of excitement, anxiety, and a strange, bittersweet feeling weighed heavily on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

He just wanted the car to go faster, and he wished he could grow wings and fly back, especially when he saw the same scene he had seen on his way home before. This feeling was even stronger.

He has always been a homebody, even though the small county where he grew up has a very poor economy, most young people have left, the streets are still the same streets, the houses are still the same houses, the pace of life is slow, and the material conditions are poor.

But he just felt that place was nice.

I can't quite put my finger on what's so good about it, maybe it's the familiar air, the fried dough stall at the alley entrance, the neighbors who watched me grow up, and the family members who always seem to think I'm too thin when I open my eyes...

This is his comfort zone. Even though he has experienced the excitement of big cities, he still feels most comfortable staying in this little corner.

Outside the window, it was still a dark and windy night, with only occasional specks of light flitting by in the distance.

Suddenly, Ye Shu had a thought and took a picture of the car window with her phone.

The photo shows only darkness and a few points of light, along with a face blurred by the light from the phone screen reflected on the car window, making it look like something out of a horror movie at first glance.

Ye Shu smiled and sent out the slightly eerie photo, wanting to see the other party's reaction.

He replied to messages instantly, as if the person on the other end had been waiting for his message.

[Is little Shu tired? How much longer until we get home?]

It seemed that Sister Zhi Qiu had automatically ignored the ghost picture. Looking at this line of text, Ye Shu could almost picture Sister Zhi Qiu holding her phone, her eyes gentle and kind.

He replied:

Almost there, we'll be there in a little over an hour.

After thinking for a moment, I added another sentence:

Sister Zhi Qiu, you should get some rest.

Zhi Qiu replied very quickly:

[Okay, I'll go to sleep once my little brother gets home.]

This was followed by a patting head emoji.

happy.

I am very happy.

To say he's unhappy now would be utter nonsense. Ye Shu is so happy he's practically snotting from his nose. If the person next to him isn't asleep, they'll see a pale face reflected in the phone screen, looking like he's possessed.

Ye Shu then chatted with Zhi Qiu on her phone for a few more minutes, mostly about whether it was cold in the car and what she had for dinner.

The conversation was as bland as plain water, but every sip left a sweet aftertaste.

Putting down her phone, Ye Shu turned her head back to look out the window.

The lights in the distance seem a bit denser than before, so we must have passed through a city. I'm not sure exactly where, but we're definitely getting closer to home.

"We've arrived at the station. Please check your belongings to make sure you haven't left anything on the train."

The woman accompanying the passenger woke up the people sleeping in the car, signifying the end of the final leg of the journey.

Ye Shu, carrying a backpack, got off the bus. The wind in the northern winter night made him shiver.

It's so cold.

He shrank his neck, pulled his suitcase out from under the bus where luggage was stored, and the wheels rumbled as he headed towards the exit.

Before he even reached the door, he saw a familiar figure.

His father was standing right there.

Unlike other people who were picking people up at the station, he didn't chat or play on his phone; he just stood there, like a tree.

Ye Shu looked at the somewhat silent figure. He couldn't see his father's face clearly under the streetlight, but the cotton-padded coat he had worn for who knows how many years seemed to be missing something.

Dad, Dad... it turns out Dad really is getting old.

Even though it wasn't even a few months ago when we last met, the figure I remembered as having the strength to move mountains seems to have... quietly shrunk a bit?

Is it the darkness and cold wind that create the filter?

Whether it's because I'm away from home or not, every reunion feels like using a ruler to remeasure the marks of time.

Ye Shu felt a lump in his throat, and he quickly lowered his head, taking two deep breaths to force back the tears.

He quickened his pace and dragged the suitcase outside.

Ye Guoqiang also saw his son. His face was expressionless. He simply came forward and took the suitcase handle from Ye Shu's hand.

When the suitcase was in his hands, even the sound of the wheels turning seemed more steady.

"Have you eaten? Are you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry. I've been riding in this car all day, I don't even realize I'm hungry."

Ye Shu forced a slightly silly smile, looking at his father's face, which was red from the cold, and couldn't help but speak:

"Didn't you say I didn't need to be picked up? I can just take a taxi home myself. It's the middle of the night and I'm freezing outside."

Ye Guoqiang didn't respond to that, but just pulled his suitcase and walked out, his voice muffled by the wind:

"It's alright, let's go."

Ye Shu followed beside him with her bag on her back. The only sounds around them were the wheels of their suitcases and their footsteps.

They're speechless again.

Ye Shu is usually a very talkative person, but for some reason, in front of his father, his mind seems to be frozen by the cold wind. He racks his brains but doesn't know what to say.

After walking a short distance, Ye Guoqiang spoke first. He didn't look at Ye Shu, and asked as if it were a casual question:

"Is your partner doing well?"

"what……"

Ye Shu quickly responded:

"That's great. Before I came back, she bought a bunch of things for our family."

"Why spend that money? We have everything we need at home."

Ye Guoqiang immediately added a sentence.

But Ye Shu could sense that his father was actually happy when he said those words.

The night was deep and the wind was biting, but walking beside his father, looking at the no longer so upright figure pulling his suitcase, the trepidation he felt about returning home slowly subsided, replaced by a sense of peace and security.

Home, I'm home.