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

"Xiao Nuan, listen to me. I've never considered you as products of Xiao Xue's illness. In my heart, you are all independent individuals. I..."

"Then why did you refuse when I proposed to you before Xiaoxue, and then refuse again when I proposed to... before Xiaoxue?"

In a TV drama, the woman would probably cry her heart out and scream these words, but Xiao Nuan's expressionless delivery makes them seem even more impactful.

"Doesn't this just show that in your heart, Xiaoxue still holds more weight than me?"

……

In short, Ye Shuqian was completely drained of his power.

He looked at Xiao Nuan's face, wanting to tell her that no, that's not how it is.

But when he opened his mouth, he couldn't say a word.

Yeah, why is that?

Around the Chinese New Year, Xiao Nuan was indeed the first to bring it up. At that time, Aunt Shen had just told her that neither set of parents had any objections to her marriage to them. Xiao Nuan was sitting next to her, looking up at her and making it very clear:

"Ye Shu, I'm willing to marry you."

What was his reply?

Seems to be……

"Xiao Nuan, there's no need to be in such a hurry."

Then Xiao Nuan stopped talking, nodded, and acted as if nothing had happened.

later……

Later, Xiao Nuan also suggested to Xiao Xue that she was willing to have sex with him, but he still shook his head, saying that he had to wait for their consent and couldn't just do it like that...

But the result?

He turned around and, without Xia Qing's knowledge, consummated his marriage with Xiao Xue.

I rely on.

Ye Shu's mind seemed to suddenly go blank, and he even broke out in a sweat in the 24-degree air-conditioned room.

What were you thinking at the time?

Is it because you think Xiaoxue is the most timid and fragile, and therefore it's only natural that she should be the first one?

No, no, no, I love them!

It's not that I love her, it's that I love them!

He loves Xiaoxue, Zhiqiu, Xiaqing, and Xiaonuan. He truly loves each and every one of them!

But... Xiao Nuan is right...

If they were truly placed on equal footing, why was the one who proposed first rejected, while Xiaoxue ended up getting everything first?

I wonder if I truly love them and treat them as independent individuals.

Or is it that subconsciously, you really do regard Xiaoxue as the main character and the other three as secondary characters?

Ye Shu lowered his head, his eyes fixed on Xiao Nuan's hand.

Her hands were still on her lap, her little hands were white and clean, and her nails were neatly trimmed, making them look very clean.

He had held her hands countless times, and each time Xiao Nuan would quietly let him hold them, never taking the initiative, but never pulling away either.

But now the owner of these hands is looking at him with her calm, expressionless eyes, waiting for him to give an answer.

But Ye Shu couldn't provide it.

"I……"

After much effort, Ye Shu finally managed to say the word "I".

His mind was in a mess, just like when Li Yunlong attacked Ping'an County in northwestern Shanxi. Everything was in chaos, with all sorts of thoughts fighting each other in his head.

He wanted to explain, but what was there to explain? How could he explain it? The facts were right there, and he couldn't refute them.

Xiao Nuan sat next to him, looked at Ye Shu like this, blinked, and then suddenly spoke:

"Alright, that's enough for the simulated argument."

"What?"

Ye Shu looked up, completely bewildered:

"So fast?"

Can this even be called arguing? Shouldn't arguing involve a back-and-forth exchange?

He hadn't even said anything yet, but Xiao Nuan's words had already convinced him. He felt that Xiao Nuan made sense and was right.

Xiao Nuan's eyes swept over his face:

"You said that if either party feels uncomfortable, the simulation should be stopped immediately. You just reached that stage; your breathing quickened, your pupils dilated, and your fingers curled up. If we continue, it will damage our relationship."

After she finished speaking, she picked up the black notebook again, opened it, and wrote on it with a pen, saying:

Test terminated, simulation failed.

Conclusion: Ye Shu exhibits significant self-doubt and avoidance tendencies when faced with issues involving fairness and subconscious preferences.

Recommendation: In the future, when allocating time, attention, and making major decisions, a more proactive and transparent approach is needed to avoid any party feeling neglected.

After Xiao Nuan finished writing, she put the notebook face down on the coffee table.

Ye Shu, still looking incredibly guilty, kept her head down, scratching her fingers on the sofa. After a long pause, she finally whispered:

"Xiao Nuan... I'm sorry..."

Why are you apologizing?

Xiao Nuan turned her head, blinked, and was a little confused as to why Ye Shu wanted to apologize to her.

"because……"

Ye Shu looked up at Xiao Nuan, but when she met Xiao Nuan's direct gaze, she still looked away slightly.

"After thinking about what you just said, I realized that I really... haven't done enough for you, for all of you. I haven't done a good enough job..."

After listening, Xiao Nuan simply shook her head:

"Ye Shu, this is just a simulated argument, and I already said before the simulation that I would bring up an opinion that you would most likely disagree with. So this is a pre-arranged excuse, not a real situation, and you don't need to apologize to me."

Ye Shu blinked repeatedly, and Xiao Nuan continued calmly:

"The two points I mentioned about marriage and having a physical relationship are because you feel you need to wait for other people's consent. These two judgments are choices you made based on your sense of morality and responsibility, and there's nothing wrong with that."

At this point, Xiaonuan's face seemed to show an expression—was it helplessness? Or perhaps a hint of dissatisfaction?

"Furthermore, the purpose of simulating an argument is to argue; we can only find solutions by experiencing arguments. According to the procedure, you should argue with me, contradict me, or get angry. But you compromised directly and started self-reflection and self-attack, which does not achieve the purpose of our simulation. Therefore, this simulation is a failure."

amount……

Ye Shu sat on the sofa, looking as if someone had removed the battery.

So all that heartache, self-doubt, and even replaying his past actions were just him scaring himself?

Xiao Nuan never thought that way at all; those words were just a sharp question she deliberately made up to test her.

But Ye Shu hadn't doubted Xiao Nuan's words at all just now, which made him suddenly realize that he seemed to have subconsciously trusted Xiao Nuan.

He doesn't know when it started, but no matter how outrageous Xiaonuan's words were, he would subconsciously choose to believe her unconditionally.

She said, "You're blushing," and Yeh Shu felt that she was blushing.

She said, "Your heart rate is abnormal," and Ye Shu felt her heart rate indeed increase.

She said, "You are subconsciously biased towards Xiaoxue." Ye Shu didn't even refute her, and immediately began to examine herself.

In his heart, Xiao Nuan seemed to have become the standard of truth.

However, although this simulation with Xiao Nuan failed, Ye Shu did not come away empty-handed. At least he realized that he had not achieved the level of impartiality he desired.

Regardless of whether he could objectively treat everyone equally, at least in his mind, it seemed that there was a priority.

The scales in his heart may really need to be readjusted.