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

Oh no, Xiaoxue is sick.

The snowball fight was a lively affair in the morning, but everyone collapsed, exhausted, in the afternoon.

The kang (heated brick bed) in the inner room was very hot, making the room very warm.

But An Suxue was curled up in bed, only her small face, flushed red from the fever, showing. Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyebrows were furrowed, her breathing was heavy, and even her exhaled breath was much hotter than usual.

Ye Shu sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and gently touched An Suxue's forehead with his hand.

He's kicking himself now. What was he thinking this morning? Why did he have to start a snowball fight?

The thought of rolling around in the snow and being caught in the wind on the way back... made him want to slap himself.

Because he always treated the four of them as independent individuals, respecting their individual personalities and feelings.

In addition, Xia Qing has always had a very lively and outgoing personality, which gives people the impression that she is very healthy and has a great appetite.

For this reason, Ye Shu overlooked the most fundamental point.

No matter how their personalities switch, they share the same body. No matter how resilient Xia Qing is, she can't withstand the cold northern wind.

Now look what's happened, karma has caught up with them.

The illness struck like a landslide, and it was Xiaoxue, the one who was least able to withstand the ordeal, who collapsed.

Seeing her looking so uncomfortable with her brows furrowed even in her sleep, Ye Shu felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

During the Spring Festival, while everyone else is happy, she has to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) and suffer.

The door to the inner room was a wooden door with a pane of glass inlaid in it. The glass window was divided by the window frame into a grid pattern that often appears in children's simple drawings, and a curtain covered the glass.

Although it looks quite secure, the sound insulation is extremely poor.

As a result, the atmosphere in the outer room became much more subdued, and everyone spoke in hushed tones so as not to disturb Xiaoxue's rest.

An Jianxing was also extremely anxious, but with so many people watching, he couldn't show too much agitation. He could only sit on the sofa and chat with others, saying, "It's nothing, just a minor cold, I'll be fine in a bit," but his eyes kept involuntarily glancing towards the door.

With a creak, the door to the inner room was pushed open.

Shen Jingwan carried a small bowl and walked in gently, then pushed the door shut behind her. The bowl contained a pot of even thicker ginger and brown sugar water that Aunt Ye Shu had just brewed for her.

Seeing her daughter's flushed face and Ye Shu's remorseful and distressed expression, Shen Jingwan's heart ached.

He placed the bowl on the kang table beside him and asked Ye Shu in a low voice:

"Asleep?"

"Um."

Ye Shu responded:

"She took fever reducer and fell asleep shortly after. Auntie, I'm sorry, it's my fault, I let her play too wildly."

"Why are you apologizing, kid?"

Shen Jingwan reached out and ruffled Ye Shu's hair:

"How can you blame yourself? Everyone catches a cold or fever sometimes. It's nothing to worry about."

Looking at Ye Shu's guilty expression, she continued:

"Then you stay here and keep her company. Call me anytime if anything happens."

She knew that with Ye Shu around, Xiao Xue could probably rest more peacefully.

"Um."

Ye Shu nodded.

Shen Jingwan glanced at her daughter one last time before gently turning and leaving.

Not long after the door closed, An Suxue slowly opened her eyes.

Because of her fever, her eyes were dull and misty, which was distressing to look at.

"Ye Shu..."

She blinked, turned her head slightly towards Ye Shu, and let out a soft, whimpering sound, like a kitten's meow.

"It hurts..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shu quickly bent down and asked, much like the autocomplete function in a browser's search bar:

"Where do you feel unwell? Headache? Body aches? Or cold?"

An Suxue gently shook her head, her brows still tightly furrowed, and said:

My mouth is so dry...

Fever makes one thirsty, so Ye Shu immediately picked up the bowl of ginger and brown sugar water from the kang table next to her; it was still warm.

He took the small porcelain spoon from the bowl, scooped up about half a spoonful, blew on it, and then brought it to An Suxue's lips:

"Here, have some water. Slow down, don't choke."

An Suxue opened her mouth slightly and drank the ginger and brown sugar water from the spoon.

However, the moment the ginger tea entered her mouth, her entire face scrunched up, and she couldn't help but let out a soft "Mmm..."

"What's wrong? Is it too hot?"

Ye Shu quickly asked, because any reaction from An Suxue was a big deal to him.

An Suxue swallowed the small mouthful of food, shook her head on the pillow, looked at Ye Shu, and said with a hint of grievance:

"I don't want to drink this...it tastes like ginger...I hate eating ginger..."

She has never been able to stand the taste of ginger since she was a child. Just now in the outer room, Aunt Ye Shu handed her a bowl of ginger and brown sugar water. Because it was a kind gesture from an elder and there were so many people watching, she couldn't refuse and could only grit her teeth and finish the bowl.

Now that only Ye Shu is here, she can boldly express her dislike to Ye Shu.

Listening to her complaints, although her face was still burning red, she seemed to have some energy.

Ye Shu put down the spoon and touched her forehead with his hand; it was still very hot.

"You hate ginger that much?"

Ye Shu touched it gently and asked:

"I used to put ginger in my cooking too, why didn't you say so?"

"I could tolerate the milder flavor of the other one, but this one is too strong..."

An Suxue closed her eyes, feeling Ye Shu's hand on her forehead; it felt very comfortable.

"But drinking some of this will help you sweat and recover faster. How about you drink some more? Just this one bowl."

Upon hearing Ye Shu say this, An Suxue immediately pursed her lips tightly, shook her head, and used her actions to firmly show that she did not want to drink this stuff.

Seeing her pitiful state, Ye Shu knew that she couldn't get any water down her throat.

After placing the bowl back on the kang table and exchanging glances with Xiaoxue for a while, Ye Shu stood up after thinking for a moment:

"Then you wait patiently for a while, I'll go find you something nice to drink, okay?"

"Um."

An Suxue immediately nodded obediently. Watching Ye Shu walk out of the inner room, An Suxue closed her eyes again, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upwards.

Being cared for so attentively by Ye Shu, watching him busy himself for me and coaxing me like this, it felt... really good.

But being sick is really unpleasant; my whole body aches, my head is dizzy, and the corners of my mouth that had just turned up in a smile can't help but fall down again.

When Ye Shu returned, An Suxue opened her eyes and turned to look at her.

"Xiaoxue, look what good stuff I brought!"

Ye Shu smiled mysteriously, took his hand out from behind his back, and held a glass jar containing canned yellow peaches.

"My mouth tastes bland, dry and bitter, and drinking plain water is no fun at all."

As Ye Shu spoke, he patted the bottom of the canned food jar, then gritted his teeth and twisted it open with a "pop".

I picked up the small spoon that I had used to feed the ginger and brown sugar water and scooped up a little bit of the canned juice.

"Come on, Xiaoxue, open your mouth and drink some of this."

Ye Shu spoke to him in a soft, gentle voice, as if coaxing a child.

An Suxue opened her mouth and felt the sweet, cool syrup enter her mouth, which made her feel much better.

"Is it good?"

"Mmm...sweet."

An Suxue nodded; she looked quite obedient.

Ye Shu then used a spoon to cut a small piece of yellow peach and held it to her lips:

"Open it up, have some yellow peaches. Here, the god of canned yellow peaches will equally bless everyone with a fever. After eating canned yellow peaches, you'll feel better in a little while."

One of them dared to speak, and the other dared to believe.

Seeing Ye Shu's serious expression, An Suxue blinked:

"Really?"

"certainly."

Ye Shu spoke as if it were the truth, and then fed her a spoonful of sugar water:

"Sincerity brings results."