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

Ye Shu lay in Zhi Qiu's arms, listening with her still slightly sore ears to the carefully considered job requirements.

"First of all, it has to be a girl. Girls are meticulous and quick, and besides, as the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. Right, little Shu?"

Ye Shu has learned her lesson and is no longer quick to respond to Zhi Qiu's words. Who knows, she might say something wrong and end up having her ears twisted again.

We should maintain the strategy of "if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move" for now, and let Sister Zhi Qiu finish speaking.

"Secondly, the ideal age is between twenty and thirty. Girls in this age group are energetic and can handle the work in the store from morning to night. They won't complain about being tired all the time, and they won't quit after just two days. Stability is very important."

Ye Shu remained silent. Although what Sister Zhi Qiu said seemed quite normal, she still felt there was something fishy going on.

Seeing that Ye Shu was only looking at her warily, Zhi Qiu slightly curled the corner of her mouth, and then continued:

"And the third point..."

She tilted her head, as if she was thinking very seriously:

"Ideally, her personality... well, something more complex? Not too one-dimensional, too dull and boring, it'd be tedious to see her every day. Ideally, she'd be gentle and considerate sometimes, lively and cheerful sometimes, maybe even a little bit eccentric occasionally, and also a little bit pitiful, um... it would be best if she could be versatile, so that our little Shu wouldn't find working with her boring, right?"

Ye Shu's eyes started twitching. Why did this sound so familiar?

"The last point, and the most important one."

Zhi Qiu finally finished looking through the map of the Yan Kingdom. She lowered her head, smiled, and looked at Ye Shu, saying:

"Ideally, one person could do the work of four. That would be such a great deal! You only need to pay one salary, but you get to experience different work styles. It's the perfect employee!"

"Wait a minute."

Ye Shu lay on Zhi Qiu's lap, looking at the smiling face above her, and remained silent for a full three seconds.

"Sister Zhi Qiu, you're not talking about you guys, are you?"

"You got it right!"

Zhi Qiu burst into laughter. She raised the hand that had been curling Ye Shu's hair, pinched Ye Shu's nose, and shook it from side to side. It felt like the kind of reaction parents have when they see their kindergarten-aged child suddenly able to solve calculus.

"How come our little Shu is so smart? Whose little brother is this? He's so clever, huh?"

Ye Shu didn't struggle even though her nose was being pinched, but her voice sounded strange:

"No... Sister Zhi Qiu, don't you own a clothing store? You... you guys are living such a comfortable life, why would you want to work as a saleswoman here?"

Ye Shu now understood why his ear had been twisted; he hadn't really thought about them at all.

After all, Sister Zhi Qiu and her group have always run a shop, a clothing store, and now they have several branches in Nancheng, and business is very good.

You could say they're living the kind of hands-off, carefree life that Sister Chen Xing has always been pursuing.

A boss with freedom of time and money, working in a small beverage shop? Who would believe that?

"What's wrong with opening a clothing store?"

Zhi Qiu released his nose and instead touched his lips with her finger:

"Who says a clothing store owner can't go to a coffee shop to experience life? Besides, I mainly want to spend more time with you. You're not home when I wake up every day, and you're gone for the whole day, leaving us alone at home every day, like we're living in an empty house. I don't like that kind of life."

Zhi Qiu was right. Ye Shu knew that he had been busy lately. Although he got off work relatively early, he still had to do accounting, cleaning, and sometimes even work overtime because there were too many customers. This reduced the time he could spend with them.

They were still asleep when he went to work in the morning.

When he came back in the evening, he ate dinner and then went to bed to rest.

Ye Shu knew this wasn't good, but there was nothing she could do. The beginning stages of work and life are always the hardest. Not everyone can be as free as Sister Zhi Qiu and the others.

This does sound like a sophistry, after all, Sister Zhi Qiu had suggested more than once how to get free, like living off a woman, but he still didn't want to, and couldn't, rely on them one-sidedly forever.

However, Sister Zhi Qiu did not have the desire to have both Ye Shu earn money and Ye Shu accompany her, as the phone message suggested.

Instead, they chose a different approach: to adapt to their own rhythm, enter their own world, and accompany themselves in their work.

This really touched Ye Shu.

Seeing that Ye Shu remained silent and his eyes clearly showed that he was thinking, Zhi Qiu knew that she had touched on a crucial point.

She pressed her advantage, bending down and cupping Ye Shu's face in her hands, bringing her face very close, her eyes filled with longing and a touch of resentment.

"Is it not allowed? Little Shu, do you know how sad we sometimes feel at home? There's no one else around, and we can only talk to potato chips. We're okay, but what about Xiaoxue? When Xiaoxue is home alone, she's always a bit listless. This isn't good for her."

Although Ye Shu knew that Zhi Qiu's words contained a bit of punishment for using Xiao Xue as a shield, she still couldn't refuse Zhi Qiu's traps and had to jump into them.

I'm so busy right now, I'm bound to neglect Xiaoxue a bit, which seems to be detrimental to her personality.

"and……"

Seeing Ye Shu's wavering eyes, Zhi Qiu knew that the matter was most likely to succeed, and her eyes smiled again.

She straightened up slightly, but her eyes remained fixed on Ye Shu, and her voice carried a hint of jealousy:

"I can also keep an eye on you. Our little Shu is so handsome and has such a good personality. What if some girl in the store takes a liking to him and comes to the store to spend money every day, taking the opportunity to chat you up and steal his heart? I have to keep a close eye on him. There are a lot of bad-hearted girls out there. Don't let them deceive our little Shu."

"Look at you, here you go again."

Ye Shu was a little helpless. He was all too familiar with these words. Ever since the love letter that Sister Zhi Qiu dug up last year, and later Jiang Yining's appearance, Sister Zhi Qiu had been using these words to tease and put him down from time to time.

But what he didn't know was that Zhi Qiu's seemingly joking words were actually her true feelings.

Ye Shu is the pillar of their new life, and they are afraid that their happiness will be broken by any disturbance from the outside world.

Jiang Yining's appearance was like a reminder to them that Ye Shu, besides them, still had other people who liked her and who still attracted attention.

They were really scared, scared of losing Ye Shu, scared of going back to their old lives.

Only by keeping Ye Shu by their side, watching over him, and accompanying him, could they feel at ease.

This is less a sign of distrust and more an expression of insecurity.

"I'm serious."

Seeing that Ye Shu seemed a little uncomfortable, Zhi Qiu quickly softened her tone and changed the subject. She took Ye Shu's hand and rubbed it against her face, saying:

"Anyway, someone's watching over the shop, so I don't really need to keep an eye on it all the time. If I really need to handle something, I'll just ask you for leave. Besides, you see, helping out at the shop is a good experience for Xiaoxue, isn't it? It's good to meet more people, right? Xiaonuan and Xiaqing will definitely be happy to do it too, it's a win-win situation."

That makes sense...

Ye Shu touched Zhi Qiu's face, feeling as if she had been persuaded.

"So... how is the salary calculated? I'm a little hesitant to talk to Sister Chen Xing about it."

Although Sister Chen Xing said she would pay the salary if she hired someone, it seems a bit odd that she hired her girlfriend.

"You can decide on the salary; we're not after your meager pay anyway."

Zhi Qiu smiled and straightened up, leaning back on the sofa:

"Then it's settled, Boss Ye. From now on, we'll be working for you."

Seeing Zhi Qiu's happy expression, Ye Shu couldn't help but smile as well.

This seems really good. Just thinking about having them around gives me the energy to work.