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

Ye Shu was busy in the kitchen, filling the room with the aroma of stew and the sizzling sound of the wok.

The meal was served, a simple two dishes and a soup.

Ye Shu initially wanted to maintain the standard of four dishes and one soup, since people were paying for the food, and it wouldn't be right to be stingy and not serve them well.

But he eventually gave up. It was too tiring. After a day of working at the shop, he still had to prepare four dishes, which was too much for him.

Another issue is that it's too late. I get off work at 8 PM, and by the time I get home after tidying up, it's already 8:30 PM. By the time I cook four dishes, it's already past midnight. So the meal allowance has been reduced again and again, down to the current two dishes and one soup. If it's reduced any further, it would be a bit too much.

Ye Shu walked to An Suxue's bedroom door and gently knocked on it.

"Dinner is ready, come out and eat."

He paused for two seconds, didn't urge him, but turned around and went back to the dining table to sit down.

After a while, there was a slight turning sound from the doorknob, and An Suxue slowly moved out.

This time, she wore those fluffy bunny slippers and hugged the carrot pillow. Head down, her gaze fixed on her toes, she slowly moved to the dining table and sat down opposite her, making almost no sound throughout the entire process.

Ye Shu was serving her rice in a bowl when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that An Suxue's face was still flushed, and her nose and eyes were slightly red from crying.

She had already washed her face and combed her hair, but she was huddled in her bunny pajamas, making her look even smaller than usual. It was as if she was about to put up a sign on her head that said, "I'm shy, please don't pay attention to me."

Ye Shu placed a bowl of rice in front of her without offering any further comfort. Since everything was fine now, bringing up the earlier incident again would only backfire.

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Um."

Ye Shu didn't rush to eat. First, she picked up the drink she had brought back and took a few big gulps to moisten her throat before picking up her rice bowl and saying as she ate:

"Let me tell you, when I came back just now, there was a group of people doing cosplay in the small square over at the shopping street. It was so lively. The mall was having an event, and I think they even had a raffle."

"Um."

An Suxue still didn't look up, but just used her chopsticks to pick at the rice in her bowl, as if the words "I miss you" from earlier made her too ashamed to face Ye Shu.

However, Ye Shu was used to her reaction. She swallowed the food in her mouth and tentatively suggested:

"Well, after we finish eating, how about... we go out and have a look around? It's not far downstairs, let's join in the fun?"

This idea didn't just come to him on a whim. Once he understood An Suxue's personality, he had always wanted to take her out to see the world.

This idea became even stronger when I learned from Xia Qing on the train yesterday that An Suxue had almost never left the house.

Although he knew it would be difficult, just like now, he didn't expect An Suxue to agree.

But let's take it slow, like gently pushing a door that we know is tightly closed. We don't expect it to open immediately, we just want it to know that there is scenery outside, and that he can watch it with her.

As soon as he finished speaking, sure enough, An Suxue looked up at him and shook her head like a rattle drum, her two long rabbit ears swaying back and forth.

"Okay, okay, I won't go. I was just saying it offhand because I was worried you'd get bored at home."

Seeing this, Ye Shu quickly changed the subject:

"Where were we? Oh right, cosplay. What's funny is, among that group of magical girls, I saw two with completely different art styles."

He paused deliberately, trying to pique An Suxue's curiosity.

"Those two were incredible. One was wearing a Zhongshan suit with his hair slicked back and slicked back, just like someone from an old TV drama. The other was dressed like a Taoist priest. The two of them standing there looked like they'd come to the wrong show."

He picked up a piece of food and commented:

"Although it seems a bit...out of place, I have to admit, he really nailed the vibe. Especially that Zhongshan suit, it was really handsome, had a certain air about it... Hey, do you think I'd look good in a Zhongshan suit?"

Hearing his words, An Suxue paused in her eating with her head down, slowly raised her head, looked at Ye Shu, and said:

"No...you're too old, it doesn't look good..."

"Alright."

The current state of the two is the gradually forming relationship between Ye Shu and An Suxue.

At these times, Ye Shu would tell An Suxue everything she had seen and heard that day, even the most trivial and boring little things.

They would talk about everything, such as what kind of customers they encountered, which stores were having promotions, or seeing a big fat cat on their way to or from get off work.

Ye Shu seemed to be using language to gradually depict the world outside An Suxue's home, the world that An Suxue was afraid of.

Ye Shu's descriptions were not critical at all; they were simply statements, breaking down the scenery into pieces that made her feel less afraid and gently placing them in front of her.

An Suxue listened quietly the whole time. She rarely responded and almost never interrupted, but she would answer if Ye Shu asked a question. The rest of the time, she just kept her head down and ate her food in small bites.

Ye Shu didn't know how much she heard, how much she remembered, or even if she cared. But he kept doing it, allowing her to gradually connect with the outside world, even if the process was slow.

With her rice bowl empty, Ye Shu got up, tidied up, and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Instead of retreating to her bedroom immediately after finishing her meal as usual, An Suxue slowly moved to the sofa in the living room and curled up in the innermost corner.

She didn't turn on the TV or play on her phone; she just sat quietly, her eyes hidden behind a cushion, watching the figure in the kitchen.

Ye Shu washed the dishes quickly. After cleaning up the dishes, she wiped her hands with a cloth and turned around to see An Suxue nestled on the sofa, staring at her.

"What's wrong?"

Ye Shu sat down at the other end of the sofa, neither too close nor too far from her.

"Why didn't you go back? Is something wrong? Tell me, I have connections."

After he finished speaking, he pointed upwards with his finger.

There are people living upstairs, and that's no exaggeration, because... there really are people living upstairs.

An Suxue's lips curled up slightly at his pretentious gangster act, but the smile quickly faded. Her fingers, gripping the cushion, tightened and loosened repeatedly, as if she were struggling with something.

Ye Shu wasn't in a hurry, so he waited quietly for her to speak, folding the rag in his hand into a small square.

After a short while, An Suxue slowly got off the sofa, stood by the coffee table, hid her face behind a cushion, and said softly:

"after......"

Those two words exhausted her courage. After a long pause, she took a deep breath and continued:

"From now on... I will definitely... go out..."

She stopped again, like someone in a game preparing a powerful attack, and Ye Shu waited quietly for her to speak:

"Together with you..."

After saying those last four words, An Suxue's face began to steam like a dryer before she turned around, hugged her pillow, and crawled back into her room.

Ye Shu sat on the sofa, clutching the rag he had folded into a small square in his hand. He stared at the tightly closed door for a long time, motionless.

I will definitely go out from now on... with you.

A sense of accomplishment welled up within her. Although she didn't know how long "later" it would be, it was the bravest promise An Su-xue could make.

His actions were not without effect.

The seeds he planted, though growing slowly, were indeed breaking through the soil, stubbornly and persistently pushing out their tender tips towards the light.