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

If... the person standing next to Ye Shu right now were myself, how wonderful that would be.

This thought was no longer just a fleeting thought, but rather like a stone that had been smashed into the most uneasy corner of her heart.

She didn't want to just watch him from afar, from a distance, as he busied himself in another world, showing a side of himself she had never seen before.

She didn't want to always be the one receiving his care, his tenderness, and all the good things he brought.

She also wanted to be a part of his world, to stand as close to him as possible, within reach.

I want to be there for him when he needs it, even if it's just handing him a clean cup or wiping his sweat while he's working.

She wanted to share the little-known details about his work that she didn't know.

They longed for those moments of leisure that belonged only to the two of them.

These thoughts were so clear, yet so distant. So clear that they made her heart clench, so distant that they made her nose sting with tears.

Perhaps because I had been in this unfamiliar environment for a while, my initial courage had gradually worn away.

The inferiority and fear that had been temporarily driven to a corner in her heart by Ye Shu's appearance and companionship, because she had long been accustomed to retreating and self-denying, suddenly pounced like a shark in the sea smelling blood.

I can't do it.

Even just standing here like an ordinary person requires me to muster all my courage and have someone with me.

I'm afraid of strangers' gazes, afraid of outside noises, afraid of anything unexpected.

I don't know anything. I don't know how to communicate with people or how to handle unexpected situations.

Standing beside him? What can I do to help him? I'd be lucky if I didn't cause any trouble.

I'm just a burden who needs his constant care and attention...

Once this self-denying voice starts, it can't be stopped. One voice pulls another outwards, bringing up many old stories along with it.

In a daze, she seemed to see the room from her childhood, the one where the door was always tightly closed.

She hugged her knees, shrinking into the corner furthest from the door, yet she could clearly hear the sounds outside.

Sometimes it's relatives coming from home, sometimes it's friends of my parents. The people who come are different, but what they say is pretty much the same, basically using that "I'm thinking of you" tone:

"Old An, sister-in-law, if you ask me... while you're still young, have another one."

"Xiaoxue...sigh, what will we do with her in the future?"

"She's like this now, who will take care of her when you get old? Isn't she... sigh, ultimately a burden?"

"You all need to think about yourselves too. What will you do in your old age? You need someone to rely on..."

Whenever she heard these words, she could only bury her face in her knees, silently shedding tears, listening to her father cursing those people outside the door and then slamming the door shut.

But those words, those phrases—"burden," "drag," "what to do"—had already taken deep root in her heart.

Will Ye Shu hear something similar one day?

Will there come a day when he, too, silently connects those words with me in his heart?

What if he realizes that despite all the effort he's put in, I might never be able to stand beside him like an ordinary girl...?

What if... he doesn't want me anymore?

This final thought completely consumed the last shred of courage she had left.

The fear of losing Ye Shu far outweighed the aversion to the unfamiliar environment at this moment.

The voice, which she had begun to adjust to after Ye Shu appeared, now seemed to have been suddenly turned up in volume. Conversations, the clinking of cups and plates, music from the shop... countless sounds crowded in from all directions, constantly compressing her safe space.

Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and she instinctively wanted to shrink herself even smaller, just like when she was a child. It was as if by becoming small enough and inconspicuous enough, she could escape the imagined gazes of others and avoid the seemingly impending loss.

Tears began to well up in my eyes, and the cup of strawberry milk and the cake in front of me started to sway slowly.

She bit her lower lip hard, and her tongue tasted a faint metallic rust.

She was struggling to fight the unease and panic that had been amplified in her heart, trying to use a little bit of real intuition to clear her mind.

But her breathing betrayed her first, quickening and trembling.

Qin Lili remained seated opposite, scrolling through his phone, occasionally glancing out the window. He ignored An Suxue's blatant, infatuated stares at Ye Shu, and also paid no attention to Ye Shu's unintentional glances back eight times a minute from behind the bar, giving the young couple some space.

However, a suppressed sob suddenly came from the other side.

She looked up at the sound and saw that An Suxue, who had been fine just moments before, was now pale-faced, huddled in her chair, trembling uncontrollably, and with unfocused eyes, as if she had been frightened out of her wits by something.

"Xiaoxue?! What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Say something!"

Under the relentless onslaught of increasingly intense self-doubt and the fear of reality, An Suxue felt her head buzzing and her breathing becoming increasingly difficult, as if someone had pressed a stone against her chest. Under the intense feeling of suffocation, the whole world seemed to become blurry and unreal. Then everything went black, and she knew nothing more.

I don't know how much time passed, but my consciousness returned to my body.

An Suxue felt as if she were lying on a bed, but the bed was a bit hard and not her own.

Moreover, there was a smell of disinfectant, and hushed voices nearby, sometimes near, sometimes far, making it difficult to hear clearly.

An Suxue slowly opened her eyes. Everything was blurry and double-image. She blinked a couple of times before her vision gradually cleared.

She looked to the side and saw a person sitting on the edge of the bed, holding one of her hands.

It's Mom.

Shen Jingwan was looking at the person next to her with a worried expression, saying something.

"Mother……"

An Suxue opened her mouth and called out softly.

Hearing her daughter call her name, Shen Jingwan turned around with a complex expression—a mixture of surprise, joy, relief, and lingering fear.

"Hey, Mom's here. How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Are you dizzy?"

Shen Jingwan reached out a hand and gently touched An Suxue's forehead repeatedly.

"Old An, come quick, Xiaoxue is awake."

Before she could finish speaking, An Suxue heard a thud, as if something had fallen over, and then she saw An Jianxing appear on the other side of the bed.

Compared to Shen Jingwan, he looked even worse now, with red-rimmed eyes, slightly swollen eyes, and a pained expression on his face.

Bending over, he wanted to touch his daughter but was afraid of hurting her. He gestured a couple of times before finally gently placing his hands on An Suxue's arm.

"Xiaoxue, how are you? Tell Daddy, where does it hurt? Are you dizzy? Nauseous? Or does your hand hurt? Did the injection hurt?"