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

The older generation often says that a house needs people to live in it. With people living there, with the warmth of home life, and with people nurturing it, the house will become better and better, and more and more vibrant.

The words may be crude, but the principle is sound. Look at those mansions and courtyards; even if the owners are away for years, they still have to hire someone to look after the house, open the windows for ventilation regularly, and occasionally cook a meal for them.

One reason is the fear of thieves, and another is the fear of the house falling into disrepair due to lack of space.

No matter how good the materials or how exquisite the decoration, without human presence, the furniture, the walls, and the floor tiles will deteriorate faster than ordinary houses with people walking around every day.

When Ye Shu and his group returned to the Yun Duan Yuan apartment after only half a month of absence, its desolate and cold atmosphere was already very noticeable.

Although the doors and windows were closed before leaving, the lack of human presence made the furniture and decorations feel dull, and the sunlight felt much darker than usual.

Under the bright morning sun, Ye Shu took a mop and scrubbed the floor tiles.

Actually, I have a robot vacuum cleaner at home, the kind that sweeps and mops all in one. You can just press a button and it will do the work by itself.

But Ye Shu always felt that the little gadget wasn't being used properly, and that it didn't take care of the edges and corners.

Moreover, having been away for several days, he felt that everything was covered with a layer of unfamiliar dust, so he thought it would be better to do it himself, put in some effort, and work up a sweat to clean the house and bring it back home.

However, Ye Shu didn't seem very comfortable mopping the floor; her movements were a bit stiff, and her eyes kept glancing furtively towards the sofa.

Zhi Qiu was leaning against the back of the sofa, her chin resting on the back of her hand, watching him mop the floor with a smile.

That smile had been on her lips ever since Ye Shu woke up that morning, and the two of them had tacitly avoided mentioning the nightmare.

Ye Shu finally couldn't hold back any longer. He cleared his throat, not looking at Zhi Qiu, but staring at the ground. As if on cue, he spoke in a very serious and solemn tone:

"Um... Sister Zhi Qiu, last night... I had that nightmare, I think I just cried a little or something, please don't tell anyone..."

As he spoke, he emphasized the word "others," making it clear that he meant no one should mention Xia Qing, Xiao Xue, or Xiao Nuan!

Especially Xia Qing! If she finds out, she'll laugh at me for ages!

"Oh?"

Zhi Qiu, who was lying on the sofa, responded softly, her smile widening and her eyes narrowing even more.

For some reason, Ye Shu felt that Sister Zhi Qiu's smile now was even more frightening than the smile of the Patriot in his dream!

Zhi Qiu spoke slowly in her characteristic playful tone:

"Of course I won't tell anyone. It's our little secret, you know what I mean."

Ye Shu was a little surprised. Why was Sister Zhi Qiu being so understanding today?

This might be an inappropriate word choice. Sister Zhi Qiu has always been quite understanding. It should be said, why did she suddenly let me off so easily? In the past, wouldn't she have tormented me first before giving in?

But thinking of this, Ye Shu cursed himself inwardly.

Ye Shu, are you being a jerk? Why are you so disappointed that people are quitting? Could it be that Sister Zhi Qiu has somehow developed some amazing qualities in you?!

Just as he was lost in thought, Sister Zhi Qiu's cheerful, loud voice continued, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"Of course I know I have to save face for you, right... little rascal?"

With a thud, Ye Shu lost her grip on the mop handle and it fell to the ground.

He froze on the spot as if he had been struck by a magic acupuncture point, his neck reluctant to face reality. With great difficulty, he turned his head little by little to look at Zhi Qiu on the sofa.

That expression, how should I put it, it's an expression that could be included in textbooks, a brilliant expression that even an Oscar-winning actor couldn't portray.

The top notes are a mix of disbelief and shock, the middle notes are a blank and bewildered state of mind, and the base notes are a sense of shame and despair of "it's all over".

She heard it?!

Ye Shu's complexion was a mixture of white and red, or red and black... just like a purple eggplant.

He wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground right now. This was ruined! What about his reputation? What kind of image did he have in Sister Zhi Qiu's eyes now? A repressed man who dreamt about his virginity in the middle of the night?

I really need to get rid of this habit of talking in my sleep!

But... how do I modify this thing?!

What to do now?! As usual, three options appeared in Ye Shu's mind:

A: Play dumb and deny it to the death. What virgin? I don't know! You must have misheard me. As long as I don't admit it, it never happened.

B: Let's switch the subject. Tell Sister Zhi Qiu that I actually dreamt I was eating roast chicken last night, and it was especially delicious. The chicken I ate was a young chicken.

C: What the hell? Since you already know, I'm not going to keep up the act! I'm a top-tier double agent, codename "Virgin Chicken"!

……

Choose A!

For the first time, Ye Shu had a clear answer to the options in her mind.

So Ye Shu took a deep breath and forced out a calm and composed smile.

He looked at Zhi Qiu and said in a voice as deep as a baritone, full of righteousness:

"Hahahaha... What 'virgin chicken'? Sister Zhi Qiu, what are you saying? I don't understand. Did you dream about it last night and get it mixed up?"

In Zhi Qiu's eyes, his acting skills were as weak as a baby's.

Zhi Qiu didn't expose her, but simply rested her chin on her hand and said slowly in a tone that said, "I'll just quietly watch your performance."

"My sister doesn't know either. Last night, she was sleeping soundly when she heard someone crying next to her, sounding so aggrieved. When my sister opened her eyes, she heard someone sobbing and muttering things like, 'I'm still a virgin,' 'I've kept my virginity for over twenty years,' and 'I'm so sorry.'"

At this point, she pretended not to understand and deliberately asked Ye Shu:

"Hey, little Shu, you've read a lot and seen a lot, can you tell your sister what this 'virgin chicken' or 'virgin kung fu' means? I don't quite understand."

Hearing this, Ye Shu felt like her hair was on fire.

Seeing his eagerness to ascend to heaven, Zhi Qiu finally couldn't help but chuckle softly.

She stopped pressuring him, stood up from the sofa, and walked step by step to Ye Shu's side in her slippers. She bent down to pick up the mop from the floor and leaned it against the wall, then gently took Ye Shu's arm.

Ye Shu shuddered, instinctively trying to dodge, but there was no way to escape.

Zhi Qiu leaned closer to him, whispered in his ear with a smile:

"Little Shu, the floor is almost mopped. How about we have lunch?"

"Either...it's fine with me...you decide..."

Zhi Qiu thought for a moment, then her eyes flashed, and she smiled:

"Shall we eat...KFC?"

She did it on purpose! She absolutely did it on purpose!

Ye Shu shuddered as if he had been electrocuted.

Zhi Qiu completely ignored his reaction and started reciting the names of the dishes:

"Don't like it? Then... how about roast chicken? Or fried chicken? Or... beggar's chicken? White-cut chicken? Three-cup chicken? Spicy chicken? Big plate chicken? Chicken stew with mushrooms?... "

Every time she mentioned a dish with "chicken" in it, Ye Shu would shudder. In less than a minute, Zhi Qiu's entire family of chickens was wiped out.

Finally, Ye Shu couldn't take it anymore and abruptly turned to Zhi Qiu, loudly rebuking her:

"Sister Zhi Qiu!!!"

His shout was so loud that it echoed in the living room.

Zhi Qiu stopped reciting the names of the dishes, tilted her head, and looked at him with a smile, her eyes full of innocence:

"What's wrong, little Shu?"

Seeing Zhi Qiu's innocent "I know nothing" expression, Ye Shu suppressed her anger and her momentum weakened.

"It's nothing... I mean, there's some food my dad gave me in the fridge at noon, we need to eat it quickly, or it'll spoil..."

After saying that, Ye Shu turned and went to the kitchen.

As Zhi Qiu watched Ye Shu's retreating figure, she smiled slightly, her eyes filled with love, and thought to herself:

Little Shu's younger brother has such a good temper; he doesn't even get angry with me despite being so upset.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I would want to entrust my whole life to him.