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

The car stopped in front of a restaurant decorated like a palace. Ye Shuxiaonuan and Chen Xing got out first, while her brother-in-law went to find a parking space.

"This is it. Their food is pretty good. You should try it later."

Chen Xing was clearly a regular customer, and he led the two inside while introducing the place.

The restaurant had a very grand entrance, and the waiters were in uniform. As soon as the group entered, they bowed and greeted each other.

After giving them their phone numbers, a waiter led them upstairs to the second floor.

The first floor is the main hall, which was mostly full, indicating that the food here is indeed quite good.

Upstairs are individual private rooms, which are much quieter than downstairs.

There were only four of them, so the private room they booked wasn't very big, and the decor was typical of a classic restaurant, nothing special.

I had just sat down for a short while when my brother-in-law came back, and the waiter followed him in with tea and menus.

Waiters in restaurants of this caliber usually develop a knack for judging people.

Being able to tell at a glance who's in charge and who's the main character at the meal from a group of people.

As soon as the waiter entered, his eyes quickly scanned the faces and seats of the four people. Compared to the boy on one side, who was obviously a bit reserved, and the expressionless girl next to him, the girl on the other side was much more composed, and it seemed that she was paired with the person in front of her who looked like he was not short of money.

The waiter immediately handed the menu to Chen Xing, who took it without even glancing at it and handed it directly to Ye Shu.

"Xiao Ye, come on, order whatever you want. Don't be shy, just eat what your brother-in-law earns in a month! Let him bleed a little today!"

Ye Shu grinned when he heard this, and subconsciously glanced at his brother-in-law who had just sat down next to Chen Xing, and he was also smiling.

Ye Shu looked at the menu in her hand. It was very uniquely designed, with a black velvet hard cover, a gold-stamped restaurant logo on top, and the restaurant's name below. At first glance, it looked like Death Note.

Once you open it, each page has a picture of a dish, along with descriptions of its name, the high-quality ingredients used, and how delicious it is. At the bottom is a number.

Ye Shu had originally thought that if the prices were right, she would order one or two affordable dishes, which would also be considered as participating in the ordering process.

But now, a simple stir-fried vegetable dish costs several tens of yuan, and if it has a little meat or sounds fancy, it easily costs three figures. Not to mention those exquisite-looking signs and secret recipes in the photos.

Ye Shu read several pages in a row and found that the numbers, like page numbers, kept getting bigger and bigger as she turned the pages.

Although this meal was a kind gesture from Sister Chen Xing, and her brother-in-law seemed to be someone who wasn't short of money—you could tell just by looking at the watch on his wrist.

But since the other party was paying for the meal, he felt really embarrassed to order the most expensive dishes, making it seem like he was there to freeload.

But if we only order the cheapest dish, it will seem too formal, and Sister Chen Xing will feel that we are not open and honest. Moreover, if no one eats the dish, it will be a waste.

Thinking of this, Ye Shu closed the menu, pushed it back in front of Chen Xing, and said somewhat embarrassedly:

"Sister Chen Xing, you guys order. I... I've never eaten here before, and I don't know what's good here. I don't want it to be a waste if it's not to my liking."

He was too embarrassed to say it was too expensive, so he quickly came up with a more respectable reason.

Chen Xing didn't pay much attention after hearing this, but then the menu mentioned:

"That's right, let's order then, it's sure to be delicious."

Xiao Nuan sat next to Ye Shu, not saying much, just sitting quietly with her eyes fixed on the tea in the cup in front of her.

Ye Shu knew that this was Xiao Nuan's habit—to speak less when she was out.

He quietly reached out from under the table, took Xiao Nuan's hand, and gently squeezed it.

Then he leaned close to Xiao Nuan's ear and whispered:

"Write down what you'd like to eat, and we'll come back to eat together in a couple of days. Order whatever you like then, okay?"

He didn't let Xiao Nuan order, afraid that if she really wanted something, he would be too embarrassed to ask because of the price and disappoint her.

Although the dish was expensive, Ye Shu was just reluctant to spend the money, not that she couldn't afford it.

If Xiaonuan really wants to eat something, then come and eat it. You don't need to be so reserved if you're paying for it yourself.

Xiao Nuan didn't turn her head when she heard Ye Shu's words. She just slightly pulled back the hand that Ye Shu was holding and hooked her fingers around Ye Shu's as a response.

Chen Xing, sitting opposite, held the menu and started ordering from the waiter standing next to him.

She clearly knew this store well; she turned to the next page and clicked on a picture:

"Give me one of these fish."

Turn another page:

"One serving of this meat, please. And four servings of this, please. And this, and this..."

She ordered quite quickly, and it seemed she hadn't considered the price at all.

Her brother-in-law sat next to her, slowly sipping his tea, occasionally reminding her, "That's delicious too," without showing any sign of distress.

As Ye Shu watched, she wondered to herself when she could be like her brother-in-law.

It took several minutes just to order the food. The waiter's fingers were practically blurring out of shape on the ordering machine. He finally went over the menu again before turning around and leaving the private room.

With only four people left in the private room, Ye Shu took advantage of the lull and spoke to Chen Xing:

"Sister Chen Xing, we're already so close, there's really no need to go to such lengths and make such a big fuss. A simple meal will do."

"Xiao Ye, you don't need to be so polite with us."

Before Chen Xing could speak, his brother-in-law, holding a teacup, spoke first:

"Xiao Xing told me that business has been getting better every day since you came to the store. To put it bluntly, the profits you've brought to the store this year wouldn't be much even if I treated you to ten or eight meals. To put it more intimately..."

At this point, he smiled at Ye Shu:

"It's only because we're good friends that Xiaoxing is willing to treat you here and let you try all this delicious food. If it were a stranger, she wouldn't even bother coming here; she's so stingy... um..."

As soon as the word "stingy" was mentioned, my brother-in-law suddenly stopped talking, winced in pain, shuddered, and spilled some of the tea he was holding.

Then he bent down as if rubbing his leg, smiled at Ye Shu, took a sip of his tea, and said nothing.

Ye Shu immediately understood that Chen Xing had used some method under the table to physically silence her brother-in-law.

Seeing his brother-in-law, who looked like a handsome CEO, looking so embarrassed, he wanted to laugh but held it in and quickly lowered his head to drink some tea as well.

Chen Xing glanced sideways at his brother-in-law, then picked up the teapot to refill Ye Shu's cup, saying:

"Don't listen to his nonsense. Xiao Ye, this meal today is for two reasons. First, to thank you for your hard work at the shop this past year; you've been a huge help to me, really. Second, it's also a way of officially entrusting this shop to you. I'll be relying on you to take good care of it from now on."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shu also picked up his teacup and nodded to Chen Xing:

"Don't worry, Sister Chen Xing, I will do my best to run the store well. This is... a beginning for me."

Chen Xing smiled and raised his teacup to clink with Ye Shu's.

"May your business flourish!"

May everything go smoothly!