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

"Xiao Ye, you're amazing! Who came up with this idea? A marketing genius!"

At 8:30 p.m., Corner Tea House had already closed. Ye Shu slumped on the long bench in the shop where customers could rest, feeling like all the bones in her body were about to fall apart.

He half-opened his eyes, barely holding up his phone, and was video chatting with Chen Xing.

Chen Xing looked quite energetic. The background seemed to be in a restaurant, where he was eating and chatting with Ye Shu. This contrasted sharply with Ye Shu's situation, which looked like she had just finished a battle.

Xiao Nuan sat quietly on the edge of the long bench, right above Ye Shu's head, holding a cup of hot milk tea with less sugar and more ingredients that Ye Shu had just made for her, and sipping it slowly.

This can no longer be called milk tea; it's filled with so many ingredients that it's almost like eight-treasure porridge.

Ye Shu was too tired to stand up and planned to lie down in the shop to rest for a while. She was worried that Xiao Nuan would be hungry, so she made her a special milk tea porridge and prepared a small cake for her to have something to eat first.

"What... idea?"

Ye Shu replied weakly, and judging from the noise, it seemed like he was about to faint at any moment.

It had been about twenty minutes since he got off work, but he still hadn't recovered and could only continue lying on the stool.

When Chen Xing heard Ye Shu ask what idea he had, he winked and smiled at Ye Shu, saying:

"Still pretending with me? Like that video online, the domineering female shop assistant and her puppy-like manager, right? It was so effective! I told you our store has unlimited potential, your marketing is absolutely brilliant, young girls these days fall for that!"

Ye Shu stared blankly at Chen Xing babbling on the other end of the phone, completely unable to understand what Chen Xing was saying:

"What kind of nonsense is this? What video? What domineering female shop assistant? Sister Chen Xing, I'm so busy every day that I don't even have time to drink water. How could I have time for this? I don't even watch videos when I get home at night anymore."

"It really isn't you?"

Chen Xing saw that Ye Shu's barely-alive appearance on the other side didn't seem fake, and then he realized:

"So it was natural fire after all? Your lucky cat skills have evolved again! Wait a minute, let me show you."

Chen Xing fiddled with his phone for a while, and then Ye Shu's phone buzzed. It was a link that Chen Xing had forwarded. After clicking on it, the video appeared.

Ye Shu watched as Xia Qing in the video exuded an aura of "don't mess with me," while he fawned over her from behind, trying to say something, only to be shooed away by Xia Qing's wave.

Looking at himself in the video, he wasn't angry about being kicked out. He just smiled and took two steps back, his eyes still glued to Xia Qing. That expression... tsk, even Ye Shu himself thought it looked a bit worthless.

After reading the caption below the video—"Domineering female shop assistant × gentle puppy shop manager"—Ye Shu blinked. Puppy shop manager? Me?

The video was posted around 10 p.m. last night, and in less than 24 hours, it had nearly 100,000 likes and quite a few comments, mostly things like "They're a perfect match," "I'm going to check it out tomorrow," "I'm totally into the shop assistant," and "Are they a real couple? Right, right?"

Ye Shu was speechless. He finally understood where today's abnormal customer flow came from.

It wasn't a glitch; I just drew a card and won a trial card for an internet celebrity.

Chen Xing asked on the other end of the phone:

"Have you finished watching? The person in the video doesn't look like Xiaoxue or Xiaonuan, so who is it?"

"It's Xia Qing."

Ye Shu felt even more tired after watching the video, mentally exhausted.

"They thought I was too busy at the store and wanted to come and help. Then we had a little argument over something... and that's how he got into it. I said, 'Why are there so many people here today? They're all like they're checking census records...'"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Chen Xing was laughing happily over there, but that's obvious, how could he not be happy when he made money?

"What a blessing in disguise, Xiao Ye! Alright, whether it was planned or not, we have to capitalize on this wave of traffic, but we also need to ensure sustainable development so we don't exhaust you."

Chen Xing thought for a moment, then said to Ye Shu:

"How about this, I'll give your girlfriend and the others a formal employee salary, that's separate. Besides that, you can hire one or two more people to help you, and I'll pay their salaries. The first month is a probationary period, depending on their abilities, they'll get 2,500 to 3,000. If you think they're reliable and suitable, they can stay. After that, it'll be 3,500 to 4,000. We can discuss the specific details later, how does that sound?"

Ye Shu was so moved upon hearing this that she almost burst into tears:

"Great job! Sister Chen Xing! You're truly like a sister to me!"

What he needs most right now is manpower; otherwise, even an iron body can't withstand this kind of work every day, let alone Xiao Nuan and the others.

Despite his excitement, Ye Shu remained relatively rational. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"However, I'll wait and see for a couple more days. After all, today's situation is quite special, relying entirely on the popularity brought by that video. This kind of internet celebrity effect comes quickly and fades just as fast. If the hype dies down in a couple of days and customer traffic decreases, and we've already hired staff, it won't be worth it if we don't have enough work to do."

He genuinely cares about money and is truly responsible for the store, after all, there are so many examples of trendy stores going out of business overnight.

Chen Xing, seemingly taking a sip of water and not taking it seriously, said to Ye Shu:

"It's alright, just keep recruiting. Even if the hype dies down, I see our shop's business is still steadily improving. Having two more people will make things easier for you. Don't overwork my little lucky cats, or who will make money for me?"

After speaking, Chen Xing looked up to the side, as if someone was talking to her. She responded and said to Ye Shu:

"It's settled then. You can keep looking, and once you find someone suitable, you can decide for yourself. Just let me know when you've made your decision. I have some things to do here, so I'll hang up now. Call me anytime if you need anything."

After saying that, Chen Xing hung up the phone without waiting for Ye Shu to say a few polite words.

Ye Shu stared blankly at the light above her head for a while, then let out a long sigh.

I'm exhausted, really exhausted.

But... the corners of his mouth still slowly turned up uncontrollably.

I'm exhausted, but today's sales... wow, that's equivalent to three days' worth! Three days' worth!

My goodness, this is going to be a huge windfall!

Motivated by the money, Ye Shu struggled to sit up, leaning on the chair. He turned to look at Xiao Nuan, who was still sitting next to him, chewing softly.

Xiao Nuan's eyes were vacant, her expression blank; she was just a milk tea-chewing machine devoid of any emotion.

Ye Shu didn't rush to leave. Instead, he leaned to the side and threw himself onto Xiao Nuan, pulling her into his arms and then taking a deep breath of her.

Mmm, Master Nuan, this is the taste!

If one is fortunate enough to smell it, one can gain 360 years of life. If one eats one, one can live for 47,000 years.

Nuanshenguo was held in Ye Shu's arms, her whole body leaning to the right.

But she didn't struggle. She just leaned against Ye Shu's chest, staring straight ahead with a blank expression, chewing the pearls in her mouth one after another.

"what!"

After taking a deep breath, Ye Shu let out a very satisfied "ah!" This wasn't just charging; it was like charging a high-voltage line! It was really exhilarating!

Ye Shu stood up, straightened his pants, and then said to Xiao Nuan:

"Let's go home."

"Um."

Xiao Nuan obediently stood up, but she clearly hesitated when she took a step forward.

Ye Shu noticed that she was hesitant to put too much weight on her feet when they landed, as her feet hurt.

Xia Qing stood all day yesterday, and Xiao Nuan followed suit and stood all day today. It must be painful.

This morning, Ye Shu was thinking about whether to let Xiao Nuan rest at home for a day, but after remembering Xia Qing's words yesterday, "Why do you make decisions for me?", he still woke Xiao Nuan up and asked her if she wanted to come along.

Xiao Nuan did indeed come after hearing this, and this is the result; her foot hurts even more now.

Ye Shu felt a pang of heartache seeing this. The two walked to the shop entrance, and after Ye Shu locked the door, he didn't say anything. He just took a few quick steps and squatted down in front of Xiao Nuan.

"Come on, I'll carry you back."

Xiao Nuan blinked, still holding the unfinished milk tea cup in her hand, looked at Ye Shu squatting in front of her, and then obediently hummed in agreement.

Xiao Nuan is never polite, which makes things very convenient in some ways. For example, right now, she just carries it on her back without any hesitation.

After Xiao Nuan lay on his back, Ye Shu supported her knees with his arms, and then stood up with a little effort.

This was the first time he had carried them on his back, and Xiao Nuan was a little lighter than he had imagined.

Xiao Nuan hugged Ye Shu's arm, her face pressed against the back of Ye Shu's nose, and lay there quietly without saying a word.

However, her face felt slightly flushed.