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

On her first day as store manager, Ye Shu woke up very early.

After nearly a month of getting up early every day for extra classes, my body has gotten used to the rhythm. Now, before the alarm even goes off, I'm already wide awake.

Once I'm awake, I can't fall back asleep.

Ye Shu dared not sleep anymore.

He knows all too well about taking a nap; if you're not careful, it might be dark when you open your eyes again.

A new official overslept on his first day in office? That's a bit unreasonable.

He lay on the pillow, not in a hurry to move, and listened quietly to the breathing sounds around him for a while.

Just hearing that sound gave Ye Shu a strange sense of satisfaction.

Then, he slowly turned his head to look at the person next to him.

Beside her, Xiao Nuan was fast asleep, or perhaps it wasn't Xiao Nuan.

Lying on her side, facing me, half her face was buried in the pillow, sleeping peacefully.

Ye Shu looked at her, and his mind drifted back to how silly and warm she was last night. She was always a beat behind in everything she did, and that "Ugh!" made him want to laugh.

And last night, after leaving the restaurant, I took a taxi home.

Not long after the car started moving, Xiao Nuan, who had been standing as straight as a pine tree, began to falter. She leaned on Ye Shu's shoulder, seemingly asleep.

Perhaps it was because she was already under the influence of alcohol, and with the car swaying like that, Xiao Nuan suddenly understood when she could already see the gate of the residential area.

She quickly raised her hands and covered her mouth tightly with both hands, her eyes still glaring at Ye Shu.

When Ye Shu saw her posture, he knew something was wrong!

Ye Shu asked the driver to stop the car on the side of the road. As soon as the car came to a stop, Xiao Nuan pushed open the car door and rushed out, squatting down by the green belt and exhaling rainbows.

Seeing that they were not far from home, Ye Shu decided to walk around and get some fresh air so that Xiao Nuan would feel more comfortable, and thus ended the order early.

He walked over to Xiao Nuan, squatted down, and gently patted her back.

After taking pictures for a while, Ye Shu looked up and saw a 24-hour convenience store next door. After telling her to "wait for me a moment," Ye Shu went to buy a bottle of mineral water.

When we came out, Xiao Nuan was still squatting there, head down, a tiny little bundle, looking pitiful.

After a while, Xiao Nuan seemed to have recovered a bit, and Ye Shu helped her slowly stand up.

Her face was a little pale, but she seemed a bit more awake than before.

She rinsed her mouth with mineral water, turned to look at Ye Shu, and her eyes returned to their previous warm and direct gaze. Usually, staring at someone like that meant she had something to say.

This is usually the time to say something like "Ye Shu, thank you" or "Ye Shu, I love you," right? After all, the atmosphere has been built up to this point.

Ye Shu looked at Xiao Nuan and opened her mouth, then said:

"Ye Shu..."

"Eh!"

It's coming, it's coming!

Ye Shu looked at her lips; the second half of the sentence was about to come!

"I'm hungry and I'm throwing up."

Ye Shu was truly... a lump in her throat, unable to breathe.

Looking at her pale face, I couldn't say anything. In the end, I could only cook her a bowl of noodles when we got home, and by the time I lay down, it was already late at night.

Now, looking at her sleeping face and thinking about all this, Ye Shu couldn't help but reach out and gently poke her cheek.

How can this face be so soft? It feels like poking into a sponge, but it's a bouncy sponge, and it's slippery too.

The person next to him, when poked, frowned slightly, turned their head slightly, trying to avoid it, but did not wake up.

Ye Shu withdrew her hand, looked at it quietly for a while, and then quietly got out of bed.

Wash up, change clothes, and make breakfast.

This has become his morning routine, but since Potato Chips arrived, there's been an additional step: adding dog food and changing the water for Potato Chips.

These potato chips are really smart. They learned to use the toilet at a specific location after only a few lessons, and they hardly ever had to worry about them.

He was lying on the mat on the balcony when he heard the noise. He glanced at Ye Shu, then wagged his tail perfunctorily twice before falling asleep again.

I ate a simple breakfast, covered theirs with a lid, and left a note on the table as usual:

Remember to eat when you wake up. If it gets cold, reheat it in the microwave.

The signature was still a three-stroke smiley face.

The microwave oven was bought by Ye Shu after he came here. When he first moved in, he always felt that the house had everything, but something seemed to be missing.

Later, after he took charge of their meals, he suddenly remembered that they were missing a microwave oven.

With a microwave, they don't have to eat instant noodles or takeout for lunch anymore; they can eat leftovers... but it doesn't seem to be much better...

After a morning of normalcy, he checked the time; it was still early.

But the feeling that belonged to Manager Ye urged him to pick up the keys.

Stepping outside, the morning air is always so refreshing.

Ye Shu walked down the street he had walked countless times before, turned that familiar corner, and there was Corner Tea House.

He pushed open the door and went behind the bar. Everything seemed the same as usual, but something felt different.

He habitually glanced at the direction Chen Xingjie came from every day, and he knew that Chen Xingjie wouldn't be coming today.

That always energetic figure is gone, the first cup of coffee in the morning is gone, and the greeting "Good morning, Xiao Ye!" is gone too.

The aroma of coffee beans remained, but the presence of a crippled person made the fragrance seem somewhat desolate.

From today onwards, I will brew my own coffee, inventory my own supplies, inspect the hygiene myself, process my own orders, and solve any problems I encounter myself.

No one will be there to help him when he's too busy, and no one will chat with him about random things when he's bored.

I can't bear to part with it.

Ye Shu knew very well that she was reluctant to let Chen Xing leave, but this reluctance had nothing to do with love.

To him, Chen Xing was like a mentor and friend, an older sister figure, and one of the few acquaintances he knew in the city.

She was Ye Shu's anchor at Corner Tea House. With her there, Ye Shu always felt a sense of security, like Chen Xing would hold up the sky if it fell.

She was the pillar of this store, but now that pillar is gone, it's her turn to shoulder the burden, and Ye Shu always feels helpless.

Yes, that's the word: helplessness.

Even though he was so familiar with every aspect and detail of the store, the feeling of bearing everything alone still put a lot of pressure on him.

From Ye Shu's shop assistant to Ye Shu's shop manager, there's only one word difference, but the responsibility to shoulder, the decisions to make, and the situations to face behind that one word all suddenly weighed on his shoulders.

For a moment, she felt a little lost, and he was a little unsure of what to do.

Ye Shu stood there blankly behind the bar for a few minutes, then took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

After thinking it over, he went to the coffee machine and made himself a latte. Today, he also made himself some latte art.

Holding the coffee, he didn't rush to drink it, but instead walked to the bar stool behind the bar where Chen Xing often sat.

He rarely sat here before, because this was the store manager's seat.

I sat down, picked up my cup, and took a sip.

The taste... is the same as what he usually drinks, but with an added flavor. I guess that's the manager's taste.

After finishing a cup of coffee, he cleared his mind, put down the cup, and started working.

While cleaning, I prepared for boredom by taking the chairs off the table one by one and arranging them properly.

After everything was tidied up, Ye Shu went to the door and flipped the "Closed" sign over to show "Open for Business".

He went back behind the bar, stood in the spot where Chen Xing used to stand, straightened his apron, and looked up at the door.

Store Manager Ye is preparing to open for business.

He seemed to have already seen it; the next second, the wind chimes on the door rang, and the first guest entered.

And he will stand here, like Chen Xing, with a smile on his face:

"Welcome to Corner Tea House. What would you like to drink today?"