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

After finishing breakfast, Ye Shu took a tissue to wipe his mouth, stood up, and said to Zhi Qiu:

"Sister Zhi Qiu, I'm going to work now. Just send me a message if you want to eat something tonight."

"Okay, drive carefully and be safe."

Zhi Qiu put down her spoon, stood up, straightened Ye Shu's collar, and said softly:

"If it's late at night, buy something to eat. Don't force yourself to eat on an empty stomach."

"understood."

Ye Shu nodded, smiled at Zhi Qiu, then bent down and touched the potato chips that were still obediently squatting at his feet before turning around and leaving.

The door was gently closed. Zhi Qiu sighed, returned to the table, and sat down to finish the remaining porridge in her bowl.

Eating alone slows down the pace, not because I'm savoring how delicious breakfast is, but because I'm adjusting to the sudden quietness of the space.

After finishing her porridge, she packed the leftover breakfast into a food storage container and put it in the refrigerator. She then washed the used dishes and chopsticks in the kitchen.

By the time we finished, it was already fully light outside.

She returned to the living room and sat down, and Potato Chips immediately came over, circling around her feet and wagging its tail.

Zhi Qiu bent down, picked up the potato chips, and placed them on her lap.

Potato Chips was very well-behaved, nestled on Zhi Qiu's lap, and stuck out its tongue to lick Zhi Qiu's fingers, making them wet.

Zhi Qiu gently stroked the fuzz on the back of the potato chip, her eyes fixed ahead, as if she were talking to the potato chip, or perhaps talking to herself:

"Little Shu... he's really responsible. Once he sets his mind on something, he throws himself into it wholeheartedly. That's what I really like about him."

Potato Chips naturally couldn't understand what she was saying, but it felt very comfortable to be touched, so it rubbed its head against Zhi Qiu's palm.

Zhi Qiu looked at the potato chips and smiled, but there was a hint of heartache and helplessness in her smile.

She continued speaking in a low voice, as if afraid of being overheard, daring only to speak to this mute little dog:

"However, sometimes, being too responsible can be quite... a headache. Even though the family doesn't need him to work so hard, doesn't need him to shoulder all the responsibility, he still insists on exhausting himself, without any consideration for our feelings. Sigh..."

The last sigh was so soft that it dissipated into the living room as soon as it left the lips.

She understood Ye Shu's meaning and his feelings.

But it is precisely because I understand this that I am more mindful of it. I cannot forcibly intervene or stop it. I can only vent this little complaint to the puppy in my arms who doesn't understand anything.

After sitting for a while, Zhi Qiu gently placed the potato chips on the ground.

The potato chip rolled on the ground, then stood up and stared at her longingly.

Zhi Qiu stood up, went to the bathroom to wash her hands, rinsed off the spots where the potato chips had licked her, and then picked up the broom leaning against the wall.

The house isn't actually dirty, but tidying it up seems to make people feel better.

Zhi Qiu picked up a broom and started from the living room.

Potato Chips, with its short legs, followed her around. Wherever she swept, Potato Chips followed, amusing itself by watching the shadow of the broom.

After sweeping the living room, Zhi Qiu went to Ye Shu's bedroom... or rather, their shared bedroom with Ye Shu.

Pushing open the door, the blankets on the bed were not yet made. Because when Ye Shu usually got up, they were still asleep, so Ye Shu had abandoned the good habit of making her bed after getting up, and the blankets were just left uncovered.

Zhi Qiu first folded the quilt before starting to sweep the floor.

The potato chip was sniffing around the room, then suddenly it seemed to smell something and trotted over to the bedside table.

First, it circled the cabinet twice, then pressed its nose against the seam of the bottom drawer of the bedside table, sniffing hard while humming anxiously.

"What's wrong? Did you find something?"

Zhi Qiu found it amusing to see it like that.

Potato Chips ignored her and started scratching at the drawer with its little paws, making anxious whimpering noises.

Zhi Qiu knew that Ye Shu usually used this drawer to store some odds and ends that she didn't use often. She hadn't opened it specifically to look inside, so what could be inside that would excite the potato chips so much?

"Okay, okay, stop scratching. You're going to break the cabinet."

Zhi Qiu put down the broom, squatted down and patted the potato chip's head, then reached out to pull the drawer.

The drawer was a bit tight, as if something was stuck in it; it took some effort to pull it open.

The contents looked rather mixed, mostly junk, but there was also a bag of... mixed nuts.

Judging from the portion size, I've already eaten about half of it. The packaging is crumpled, but the seal on the bag isn't tight, leaving a gap.

It seems this is what made them crave potato chips so much.

Zhi Qiu was already used to it. She picked up the bag of nuts and checked the production date and expiration date. They hadn't expired yet.

This is a habit of Zhi Qiu's. In the past, when she was cleaning, she would often find a bag of nuts in various corners and edges, but some of them were expired, so she would just throw them away.

Potato Chips was anxiously circling around Zhi Qiu, but Zhi Qiu patted its little head and said:

"You still want to eat this? You can't eat it, it won't digest."

As she spoke, she casually sealed the bag shut and then planned to put the bag of nuts back where it was, waiting for the person who hid it to remember and come back for it.

Just as she was about to put it back, her eyes inadvertently fell on the spot where the bag of nuts had been pressing down, and there was a notebook there.

It's just an ordinary loose-leaf notebook with a white cover and the words "notebook" written on it in big letters. It looks a bit old, and the corners are a little curled.

Seeing this notebook, Zhi Qiu suddenly remembered their black notebook.

In the past, anyone who had something to tell others or needed to remind others would write it down on it.

Later... it seems that it was gradually stopped being used, because Ye Shu came along.

Then, I don't know when, that notebook suddenly disappeared.

Zhi Qiu was so anxious that she even looked for it herself, but she searched all over her room and the places she usually kept in the living room, but she still couldn't find it.

As time goes by, you'll forget about it.

Anyway... Ye Shu is here.

He remembered everything that happened in the family, big or small, so the notebook didn't seem so important anymore.

Zhi Qiu squatted by the bedside, looking at the ordinary notebook, but she suddenly wanted to see what was written inside.

She knew it was wrong to peek into other people's privacy, especially Ye Shu's.

Ye Shu always respected each of them and didn't pry too much into their past or private affairs, so she closed the drawer, pretended not to see anything, and continued cleaning.

But... she couldn't get any leverage out of the drawer handle.

What might be recorded inside?

Is it something he's recently studied? Or is it from his diary? Will he mention them?

Perhaps this notebook contains a Ye Shu that she doesn't know at all?

Ye Shu, who secretly talks to herself when no one is around?

Just one glance... just one glance at what it is, I won't look any longer.

Zhi Qiu's curiosity won out by a narrow margin.

She put the bag of nuts on the cabinet and reached out to take out the notebook.

The notebook wasn't very thick. When I opened the first page, the handwriting was Ye Shu's, but it looked a bit immature compared to now.

The content... was surprisingly ordinary, just very detailed accounting.

[On [Date], lunch at the cafeteria cost 8 yuan, dinner with chicken leg cost 9 yuan, stationery cost 12.5 yuan, and the remaining balance was 220.5 yuan.]

[On [Date], I bought Han Yang breakfast (a type of savory crepe and soy milk) for 7.5 yuan, had steamed buns for breakfast for myself for 3 yuan, topped up my phone for 30 yuan, and bought professional books for 45 yuan. My remaining balance is 135 yuan.]

Page after page, line after line, it's all meticulously calculated, sometimes even including the amount of sausage added to a jianbing (Chinese crepe).

As Zhi Qiu read through the pages, the initial thrill of peeping into someone's privacy gradually turned into a feeling of heartache.

She saw Ye Shu all alone in an unfamiliar city, studying and carefully managing her finances.

I started keeping accounts when I entered university, and it continued for a long time before abruptly stopping one day.

The last accounting entry is:

[Date: Month X, Year X; Income: Monthly salary from the coffee shop: 4800 yuan. Expenses: Rent: 800 yuan; utilities: 150 yuan; groceries and daily necessities: approximately 200 yuan; barbecue buffet with Han Yang and Song Yunyun: 60 yuan; beer: 28 yuan. Savings: 5863 yuan.]

The date was last autumn, the very day Xia Qing confessed her feelings to him.

Turning the page further, it's no longer about bookkeeping, but rather some random lines and simple drawings, along with a few words whose meaning is unclear.

Zhi Qiu had no idea what Ye Shu was thinking during that time. Was it just a casual drawing, or was he preoccupied with something else?

She turned a few more pages, then suddenly stopped.

Because on a new page, the date has returned—this year, or more precisely, not long ago.

The content has changed from bookkeeping to planning, with a line of text written on it.

Give them all a wedding they're happy with.