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

The brief morning gossip session was over, and Ye Shu flipped the "Closed" sign on the shop door to the "Open" side.

Sure enough, within ten minutes, customers began to enter in twos and threes.

The store quickly returned to its usual bustling state, and even saw a greater flow of customers than yesterday, thanks to the clearer weather.

Chen Xing was both tired and happy at the control panel, his hands moving so fast they were blurry, and he could still give instructions in between:

"Xiao Ye, the coconut milk tea for table number three is ready!"

"The takeout order is printed, let's do this first!"

"Cash register, give me your change!"

Ye Shu also entered "cog-in-the-machine" mode, never idle for a moment.

However, just as he was carrying two freshly made drinks and turning to walk toward the two guests by the window, an indescribable strange feeling gently brushed against the back of his neck.

It seems... someone is watching this area?

It wasn't the casual eye-sizing of customers in a store, but the gaze of a predator observing its prey.

Ye Shu frowned, and while placing the drink on the guest's table, he quickly glanced in the direction of that gaze out of the corner of his eye.

The sun shines brightly outside the window, and pedestrians come and go on the sidewalk.

An elderly man walking his dog, laughing couples, children running around... everything was as usual. No one stopped or lingered, and no one's gaze was specifically fixed on the store, or rather, on him.

It's probably just my imagination...

Ye Shu thought to herself that he was probably too busy or hadn't slept well the night before and was suffering from neurasthenia.

He shook his head, attributing the fleeting feeling of unease to fatigue, and turned back to his work.

However, about half an hour later, when he bent down behind the bar to refill the pearl bucket, that feeling came back.

This time it was even clearer; Ye Shu could clearly feel that the gaze was locked onto him.

Ye Shu suddenly straightened up, turned around and went straight to meet that gaze.

He hated this feeling. As the old saying goes, "It's not the thief you should fear, but the one who has his eye on you." This feeling of being spied on made him very uncomfortable.

But the street scene outside the window remained unchanged.

A mother pushed a stroller past, several children bought grilled sausages by the roadside, and a bus slowly pulled into the station in the distance... nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The gaze vanished into thin air the moment he turned around, or perhaps it had never existed at all.

"hiss......"

Ye Shu frowned, her eyes still searching for anyone suspicious. Once was an illusion, but twice in a row... what was going on?

A: I'm so handsome that a talent scout discovered me and wants me to enter the entertainment industry.

B: I witnessed the feud between the wealthy families last night and was about to be killed to silence me.

C: I actually live under surveillance, just like in "The Truman Show." My life is like a reality show.

......

"Xiao Ye! What are you daydreaming about? The drinks are ready, hurry up and take them to table number five!"

Chen Xing interrupted his reverie and placed a drink piled high with grapefruit pulp on the table in front of him.

"Okay! Coming right away!"

Ye Shu snapped back to reality and suppressed the inexplicable doubt in her heart.

Who cares? Maybe some passerby thought he looked like a celebrity and took a second look? Or maybe I'm just too tired and overthinking things lately.

Right now, dealing with customers is the most important thing.

He picked up his drink, put on a polite smile again, and walked towards table number five.

As he walked toward his seat, his steps seemed a little faster than usual, and his back appeared somewhat tense.

Was that gaze... just an illusion?

I was busy until after 1 p.m., which was lunchtime and a nap time. Although there were still a few customers in the shop, it was a welcome relief compared to the chaos of the morning.

Chen Xing slumped on the high stool behind the bar, feeling completely drained, but her eyes lit up again when she checked her phone and saw the morning's sales figures.

She tapped the phone screen a few times, and Ye Shu's phone immediately chimed.

"Xiao Ye, hurry up and go to the shopping street to buy some good food to treat our lucky cat and me too! I really can't walk another step..."

Ye Shu looked at the not-so-small amount in the red envelope on her phone screen and smiled:

"Okay. Sister Chen Xing, what would you like to eat?"

"Whatever you want, I'll eat whatever you buy."

Chen Xing rested his head on his arm, his eyelids almost drooping.

"Whatever..." Ye Shu smiled helplessly to himself. Were all the people around him so easy to please?

He responded, took off his apron, hung it up, and pushed open the shop door before walking out.

The afternoon sun shone brightly on the commercial street, and the temperature was just right.

As it was lunchtime, the restaurants lining both sides of the street were filled with the aroma of various foods.

As Ye Shu walked, she pondered what to buy. Chen Xing seemed to prefer spicy food. Why not go to that Sichuan restaurant and buy some of their signature dishes?

Just then, that feeling of being watched came back!

Once was an illusion, twice was a coincidence, but this is the third time!

Again and again, it never ends! Ye Shu's pent-up emotions from the morning suddenly burst forth.

He stopped abruptly, turned around abruptly without warning, and glared fiercely behind him. Then, without thinking, he took off running, sprinting in the direction of that gaze.

Although he couldn't find out who was watching him, he knew that if he suddenly rushed towards that person, that person would definitely react.

Sure enough, almost at the same time he sprinted, his eyes caught sight of a figure not far away who seemed to be looking at a phone. He subconsciously shuddered and turned to the side in a flustered manner, trying to continue his disguise.

You're the one! That old man's been staring at me all morning, now I'll let you see him to your heart's content.

"stop!"

Ye Shu let out a low roar, exerted force with his feet, and became even faster.

When the figure saw Ye Shu rushing towards him, he seemed to panic completely. He subconsciously took two small steps back, almost dropping his phone.

After confirming that Ye Shu's target was him, he obviously realized that he couldn't escape it, and turned to run without hesitation.

As they ran, Ye Shu made out that the person was slightly overweight and about the same height as herself. Their running movements were somewhat clumsy, clearly indicating they didn't exercise regularly.

But this person seemed very familiar with the streets and alleys. Instead of running in a straight line, he weaved through the crowd, making several turns, and finally plunged into a relatively quiet alley next to the main street.

Ye Shu's blood boiled, and without thinking, he rushed into the alley.

But just as he rushed in a few steps, a figure suddenly appeared from around a corner ahead.

"Ouch!"

Ye Shu slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a direct collision.

Upon closer inspection, he saw a middle-aged man, around forty or fifty years old, wearing an inexpensive jacket, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, squinting at him.

The man seemed startled by Ye Shu's sudden appearance, and almost dropped his cigarette.

But he reacted extremely quickly. His eyes darted around, and almost at the same time Ye Shu stopped, he cried out "Ouch!" and fell backward, landing hard on his bottom. Then he grabbed Ye Shu's leg.

"Hey kid! You bumped into me! Pay up!"