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

The night breeze seemed to stop at that moment, and the sounds of fireworks, traffic, and music from shops in the distance all ceased.

The world was so quiet that only her eyes, reflecting the lamplight, and the slightly deformed cup of milk tea in her hand remained.

Ye Shu listened quietly without interrupting.

He never expected that Xiao Nuan, who usually seemed to care about nothing, would have such self-doubting thoughts.

Looking into her eyes at the emotions that even she herself might not fully understand, Ye Shu felt a lump in her throat.

A young man wearing a down jacket and headphones walked towards them from a distance. He saw the couple standing under the streetlight, their atmosphere not exactly harmonious.

But he didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was probably just a lovers' quarrel.

But just as he was passing by, Ye Shu suddenly reached out and stopped him.

"Dude, excuse me."

The young man was taken aback, took off one earphone, and looked at Ye Shu with some confusion.

Ye Shu turned to the side, pointed at Xiao Nuan, and asked the bewildered passerby:

"Look, this is my girlfriend. What do you think?"

The young man was stunned. He looked at Ye Shu, then at Xiao Nuan, not understanding what he meant.

He opened his mouth, but after a long pause, he managed to utter a sentence:

"Uh...it's...it's pretty, quite beautiful."

After saying that, he quickly put on his headphones, took a few quick steps to get away from this inexplicable person, and cursed inwardly, "Is he crazy? What does it matter to me if you have a girlfriend? What's he showing off for?"

Xiao Nuan didn't understand what Ye Shu was doing either, and looked at him with some confusion.

Ye Shu didn't explain, but simply held her hand and continued walking forward.

Not far along, another middle-aged man who had just finished get off work walked towards them.

Ye Shu leaned closer again, blocking the other person's path, and asked the same question, "She's my girlfriend, what are your thoughts on that?"

The middle-aged man frowned, glanced at Ye Shu as if he were looking at a lunatic, clicked his tongue impatiently, said nothing, and walked past them, not wanting to deal with this inexplicable person.

Ye Shu didn't think much of it. She then asked a few more passersby, and their reactions were similar. Some people said it was fine, some said it was none of their business, and some simply avoided the question.

After asking several times and receiving mostly dismissive or "none of my business" responses, Ye Shu finally stopped asking.

He turned around, placed his hands on Xiao Nuan's shoulders, and made her look at him.

"Did you see that?"

"What are you doing?"

Xiao Nuan looked up, unable to understand why Ye Shu was suddenly introducing himself.

Ye Shu said to her very seriously:

"I want you to prove something: how are we doing? Have we argued, or are we still sweet together? Do you laugh, or do you not? Will our future be happy, or will it be full of chaos... These things, apart from our family and friends who truly care about us, nobody else cares. They don't have that much free time to pay attention to the lives of two strangers like us."

He released Xiao Nuan's shoulders, rubbed his hands together to warm them, and then cupped Xiao Nuan's slightly reddened face in his hands, saying:

"Furthermore, I want to tell you something else: I don't care at all what they think or how they see things."

Xiao Nuan felt her face being covered by Ye Shu's hand, which was very warm. Listening to Ye Shu's words, her breathing quickened a little.

"Our life together, whether it's happy or troublesome, is our own business and has nothing to do with them. Besides, we're not marrying them or living with them, so why should we worry about what others think or think, and question our qualifications to be together?"

He bent down to look at her directly, bringing his face closer to Xiao Nuan's so she could clearly see his eyes:

Whether others think it's suitable or not is their standard. Our standard is only whether we ourselves are willing to accept it.

He winked at Xiao Nuan:

"So, regarding marriage, all you need to ask yourself is whether you're willing. As long as you're willing, and I'm willing, that's enough. If others feel it's not right, or don't want to offer their blessings..."

Ye Shu suddenly smiled as she said this:

"Then let's not invite them to the wedding banquet, let them be so envious, right?"

Xiao Nuan understood Ye Shu's words: other people's opinions were irrelevant; what mattered was their mutual feelings.

She began blinking rapidly again in Ye Shu's palm.

Ye Shu simply cupped her face, maintaining eye contact with her, and waited for her to process and organize this information herself.

The night wind blew through the street. After what seemed like an eternity, perhaps only a few dozen seconds, Xiao Nuan's blinking frequency gradually decreased.

She looked at Ye Shu again, but her eyes were clearer and more intense than before.

She looked at Ye Shu, opened her mouth, but her tone returned to its usual flat, news-broadcasting manner:

"Ye Shu, I just organized my personal emotional data, and I found that..."

She paused for a moment, then raised her voice slightly and said very firmly:

"I really love you so much. And this love is on a continuous upward trend; I love you more and more."

"Keep your voice down..."

Ye Shu felt her face flush.

He hadn't thought anything of it when he stopped people on the street like a madman and asked for their thoughts, but now that Xiao Nuan was confessing her love to him so loudly in the street, it really made him blush.

But Xiaonuan had no intention of listening. Once her logic was sound, she could move straight to the next core issue.

She blinked twice, feeling that now that the problem was solved, it was time to move on to the next step. She said to Ye Shu:

"Based on the above conclusions, and your answer regarding my qualifications to be a wife, I have reassessed the trajectory of our relationship. Ye Shu, let's get married. I will make this my highest priority and begin systematically learning the relevant knowledge and skills. I will strive to become a qualified wife who can make you happy and meet basic societal expectations."

Looking at her resolute expression, which resembled a military order, Ye Shu suddenly wanted to laugh, yet also wanted to hug her tightly.

But in the end, he still raised his hand and ruffled her hair.

"Okay, okay, I love you... so much too. But marriage... there's no need to rush it. Let's take it slow, okay? Right now, the most important thing is for us to go home."

Ye Shu took her hand, and Xiao Nuan also held Ye Shu's hand.

"It's freezing cold outside, almost bone-chilling."

Ye Shu shook their clasped hands, and Xiao Nuan nodded, following him back.

After taking two steps, Ye Shu spoke calmly:

"Besides, you don't need to force yourself to learn anything. I like you the way you are."