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

Feeling drowsy and half-asleep.

Xia Qing felt as if she were floating in a pool of warm water, her consciousness rising and falling intermittently.

Every time she was just dragged into a short sleep by exhaustion, the next second, a faint churning in her stomach would feel like an invisible hand, forcibly pulling her back to reality from the edge of light sleep.

My head felt like it was filled with mush, my thoughts were stuck, and all that remained was the clearest feeling of discomfort.

She could only close her eyes tightly, placing all her weight on the shoulder beside her, mechanically counting meaningless numbers in her mind, hoping that the journey would end soon.

One second, two seconds... a hundred seconds... time stretched out infinitely in discomfort.

Just as she had lost count of how many times she had broken free from her brief daze, feeling a familiar wave of unease wash over her, Ye Shu's voice rang in her ears:

"Sister Xia Qing, we've arrived at the station, we're getting off soon."

Xia Qing reluctantly raised her head slowly, leaving the warm source that had given her support and comfort all the way.

The moment I was freed, my neck and shoulders ached from maintaining the posture for so long, but what was even clearer was the emptiness I felt after leaving that stable support.

Ye Shu's shoulder felt very comfortable to lean on; it was warm, stable, and gave off a reassuring aura.

When was the last time I leaned on someone's shoulder like this?

It seems like it was... the time I dislocated my arm? Right, that night after leaving the hospital, in the taxi, I was in terrible pain, and I was leaning against something, feeling groggy...

That time... I felt like...

I have an urge to lean in and kiss him.

!

What's going on?! Why did you think of this at a time like this?!

A sudden panic made her sit up straight instantly, instinctively wanting to get away from Ye Shu and from this memory that was making her heart race!

She didn't want Ye Shu to discover her current thoughts, even though Ye Shu didn't have mind-reading abilities, she was still panicking.

However, she forgot that she had just experienced several hours of drowsiness and prolonged sitting, and overestimated her current weakness and limpness. Her legs were completely powerless, numb from the soles of her feet all the way down to her calves, as if countless tiny needles were pricking them.

She had only gotten halfway up when her knees buckled, and she slumped back into her seat.

Ye Shu was startled by Xia Qing's commotion and tried to reach out to help her, but he was a beat too slow.

Xia Qing's waist bumped right into the armrest between the two seats.

"Well--!"

Xia Qing gasped in pain, her beautiful features instantly contorting.

"How are you? Where did you hit yourself? Is it serious?"

Ye Shu was startled and quickly leaned over, disregarding the distance, to check how badly she had been hit.

Xia Qing was in so much pain that she couldn't speak for a moment, and could only press her waist tightly with her hands. The pain temporarily pulled her out of the blushing and heart-pounding memories, but it was replaced by shame and annoyance.

That's incredibly stupid! Ye Shu was still watching from the side!

"I...I'm fine..."

She gritted her teeth and squeezed out a few words, trying to sound relaxed, but her pale face and furrowed brows were anything but convincing.

"You said you were fine, but your face turned pale."

Ye Shu frowned, his heart clenching as he watched her gasp in pain. But it seemed like nothing serious, just a minor bump.

"Don't rush to move, take it easy for a while, we'll go down when it's almost time."

The train pulled into the station, and passengers around them began to get up to collect their luggage, gradually creating a commotion. But in their corner, it was as if a slow-motion scene had been played.

Xia Qing pressed her aching side, still throbbing with pain from the impact. But even clearer than the pain was the clean scent emanating from Ye Shu, who was so close, and the undisguised worry in his eyes.

Pain, leg numbness, the weakness after motion sickness, a burning, dull ache in my lower back, and that lingering flutter in my heart, rekindled by memories and the approach of this moment...

All the feelings were mixed together, making her mind even more confused.

She lowered her head, avoiding Ye Shu's gaze, and felt that her heartbeat, which had lessened a little due to the pain, seemed to be starting to beat again.

This damn arrival time...this damn motion sickness...this damn memories...and this...damn tenderness.

Seeing her expression, Ye Shu assumed she was in pain from the impact and feeling carsick, so he quickly started a conversation:

"Xia Qing, you get so carsick, why didn't you say so beforehand? I should have brought some motion sickness medicine."

Upon hearing this, Xia Qing replied with an air of matter-of-fact acceptance:

"How was I supposed to know I'd get motion sickness? We've never left Nancheng in our lives, how would we know if we get motion sickness on buses or high-speed trains?"

"Never left Nancheng?"

Ye Shu found it somewhat unbelievable. Although there are young people these days who have never traveled far from home, in his understanding, people like "them" should have had some different experiences.

Xia Qing glanced at him, her eyes seeming to say, "What's the big deal?" But deeper down, a very complex emotion seemed to flash by, so fast that it was impossible to grasp.

"Yes, we've never left. Think about it carefully. What will happen to Xiaoxue if we go out? She's grown up and has hardly ever left the house. What will she do all by herself out there?"

"That's right!" Ye Shu suddenly understood. He had never thought about what "travel" meant for their special "family" from this perspective before.

An Suxue's fear of the outside world is like an invisible shackle, not only locking herself up, but also greatly limiting the possibility of all other personalities going out.

For them, leaving might mean putting An Suxue in a dangerous situation to some extent.

Ye Shu paused for a moment, then followed this line of thought to another question:

"Then...why did Xiaonuan come out to find me all by herself this time?"

This clearly breaks the convention of "not leaving the South City".

"have no idea!"

Xia Qing's answer came out almost instantly, her tone even more impulsive and tinged with annoyance than before. She finished quickly, then, as if that wasn't enough, added curtly:

"Go ask her yourself!"

But Ye Shu clearly saw that in the instant she quickly turned her head away from his gaze, a very faint blush seemed to rise on her cheeks again, whether from pain, anger, or... something else.

Xia Qing turned her head to look out the window, thinking to herself:

Why else?! Because I trust you! I think you can handle it, I think asking you will solve the problem! Otherwise, who would be willing to break the rules of so many years, travel so far alone, and... and suffer terribly from motion sickness! You blockhead!!

Ye Shu was taken aback by Xia Qing's sudden outburst of temper, but he automatically attributed Xia Qing's current attitude to her physical discomfort and pain causing her to be in a bad mood, without thinking too much about it.

He nodded, then turned his attention to another, more practical issue:

"So... is it just you who gets carsick, or... do you all get carsick?"

Xia Qing frowned, stretching her aching and numb legs as she tried to think.

"I don't know. But I guess everyone gets carsick? I remember seeing something on TV or somewhere that carsickness is related to something in the ear... a balance organ? It's a matter of physiological structure. Since we're using the same body and have the same physiological structure..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear. If motion sickness is determined by the body's physical constitution, then no matter who lives inside, if that body experiences motion sickness, then most people will likely suffer from it.

Ye Shu fell silent.

He recalled the scene of eating with Xiao Nuan before. Xiao Nuan ate very little. At the time, he only thought that she had a small appetite or was not used to food outside.

Looking back now... it probably wasn't an appetite issue at all, but rather that she was also suffering from motion sickness. But she didn't say anything, she just ate quietly.

A person, enduring this unbearable feeling, traveled a long distance to find him...

Ye Shu felt a pang of bitterness rise in her heart, as if someone had grabbed her hand.

Most of the passengers in the carriage had left, and Ye Shu took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing her turbulent emotions, and stood up to get her luggage from the luggage rack.

Xia Qing also tried to stand up from her seat and slowly move to the aisle.

She had been sitting for hours in an awkward position, and all her joints felt like they were rusty. She tried to stretch, wanting to loosen her stiff back and arms.

However, just as she stretched out her arms and leaned back slightly, a tiny object slipped out of the pocket of her loose sweatshirt, fell onto the floor of the carriage, and bounced gently.

"Um?"

Xia Qing subconsciously looked down.

It was a very small plastic bottle, about the size of two knuckles of my little finger, white and semi-transparent. On the bottle, a rolled-up strip of paper was stuck with a small piece of transparent tape.

Xia Qing bent down and picked up the small bottle and the note.

She held the bottle and looked it over, then her gaze fell on the small roll of paper.

The note contained several lines of very small, clear, and neat handwriting. She recognized the handwriting immediately; it was Xiao Nuan's.

The note reads:

I've noticed I'm experiencing motion sickness. Here's some motion sickness medication, one pill at a time.

Xia Qing: "..."

She stood there, clutching the small note and the even smaller medicine bottle, as if she had been put on pause.

one second.

two seconds.

"..."

So all the way here, I was practically dying! My head was spinning! My stomach was churning! I endured it for hours! And then I even hurt my back!

And I always have motion sickness pills in my pocket?! How come I never thought to check my pockets?!