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

Ye Shu took a quick shower, dried her hair, and came out of the bathroom. Only one bedside lamp was on in the room, providing soft light.

This suddenly reminded him that he hadn't given them the gifts he bought. He glanced at the small alarm clock on the bedside table... "I'll do it tomorrow."

He threw himself onto the soft, large bed and let out a cry from the depths of his soul:

"Ah~ precious bed, precious bed."

This bed is like magic; as soon as you lie down on it, you feel sleepy. Ye Shu practically falls asleep the moment her head hits the pillow. Presumably, Princess Ailuo, the 18th generation successor of the Sleeping Arhat Fist, also slept on this bed back then; otherwise, how could she have slept so soundly?

After letting my mind wander, I picked up my phone, intending to browse through some news about carpet cleaning, knife forging competitions, or cattle hoof repair to help me fall asleep. But as soon as I swiped the screen, I saw a message notification.

Sister Chen Xing.

【Xiao Ye, I have some things to take care of here, so I won't be able to go to the shop for the next few days. The shop will be closed for two days, so you can rest too, consider it a vacation】

Ok?

Closing down? So suddenly? They must have run into some serious trouble.

Ye Shu tapped her finger on the screen, afraid that Chen Xing might have something urgent but was too embarrassed to speak up:

[Okay, sis, what's up? Is it serious? Is there anything I can help you with? Don't be shy.]

The message had barely been sent when the chat window displayed "The other party is typing...", and then a new message popped up:

Oh dear, there's really nothing I can do to help with this.

It was followed by a laughing emoji with someone covering their mouth.

My brother-in-law and I are getting engaged, so I need to go home with him in the next few days.

what......

Ye Shu looked at the message on the screen and smiled. So it was good news. She then replied with a message:

[Congratulations, sis! Have fun! Just call me anytime you're coming back.]

They replied very quickly:

Thank you, Xiao Ye. I'll bring you something delicious when I get back.

Ye Shu put down her phone, put her arms behind her head, and looked up at the ceiling again.

on vacation.

Without any prior planning, the sudden start of the holiday left Ye Shu's mind blank, giving her a feeling of emptiness.

But now he doesn't seem so sleepy anymore.

Since I'm not sleepy and I have a real holiday, what should I do?

He raised his phone again; the screen's light was a bit blinding. He squinted, found Han Yang's profile picture—a silly cat with a blank expression—and without any pleasantries, asked directly...

Are you free tomorrow?

After sending the message, Ye Shu started counting down the seconds in her head.

One, two, three, four, five...

The fifth number had just settled in my mind when my phone screen lit up; Han Yang was calling.

Before I could even put the phone to my ear, I heard a jumble of noise coming from the other end.

"Hey? Xiao Shu, what do you want so late? Missing your dad?... Ouch, hey! Stick with the group! Don't wander off!"

Ye Shu held the phone a little further away, waiting for Han Yang to finish speaking before speaking:

"Get lost! Where are you? It's so noisy."

Actually, he probably already guessed it.

"An internet cafe? Where else would you be? What's wrong? Is Teacher Ye checking up on us in the middle of the night?"

Upon hearing that it was at an internet cafe, Ye Shu was also tempted to go, so she asked:

"All night?"

"No, why would I stay up all night? I'll be off the plane in half an hour."

From Han Yang's side came a "crunch crunch" sound, probably from chewing potato chips.

"I'm old now, not like when I was in school. Even if I stay up all night, I'll just sleep on my desk. Why don't I just go home and sleep in bed? ... Wait, what do you want from me? Get to the point, I'm playing games here."

Even over the phone, Ye Shu could imagine Han Yang's current state. His eyes were glued to the screen, typing on the keyboard while tilting his neck to hold the phone between his fingers.

"Nothing much, just wondering if you're free tomorrow. I have the day off, and I'm free anyway, so how about we find somewhere to have a drink?"

"Sure, have a drink."

Han Yang agreed without even thinking:

"I'll pick you up tomorrow. It seems like a new shop opened near the university town. I heard the taste is... Holy crap! Does this idiot even know how to play?! Alright, alright, I'm not talking to you anymore. You're interfering with my game. Bye."

The words had barely left his mouth when Ye Shu died without even a chance to say another word.

That's what friendship is like. It doesn't need much preparation. An invitation and an acceptance are enough.

The next morning, Ye Shu opened her eyes promptly at seven o'clock. Although she had turned off her phone alarm the night before, her internal biological clock couldn't be turned off.

There is an idiom that describes the spirit of a dragon and a horse, but Ye Shu calls his own state "the spirit of an ox and a horse".

Now that she was awake, Ye Shu had no intention of going back to sleep.

I made breakfast as usual, ate it alone as usual, and left a note on the door of the bedroom opposite as usual. But today, there was an extra line:

I'm going out for a bit, I'll bring you something delicious when I get back at noon.

There was also a retro-style smiley face following it :)

After lying on the sofa and playing on his phone for a while, Ye Shu saw that it was almost time, picked up his phone and keys, and went out the door.

The August sun was shining brightly. Ye Shu walked to the entrance of the residential area and stood guard with the security guard who was standing very straight for a while. Then, the "Seven-Handed War God" appeared on the street corner again, wobbling and bumping. Then, as if it was braking with all its might, it stopped in front of him.

Ye Shu bent down to get into the car. As soon as she was settled, she instinctively reached for the seatbelt beside her. After tugging twice and finding it wouldn't budge, she realized that the seatbelt in this car was just for show.

Han Yang stepped on the gas, and the minivan sputtered and started moving again. He held the steering wheel with one hand, reached into the back seat with the other, pulled out an apple, and casually tossed it to Ye Shu.

"Try it, is it good?"

Ye Shu caught the apple; it was heavy in her hand, large and red, and certainly looked appealing. She casually rubbed it with her hand and took a big bite.

Mmm! It's sweet and sour, and juicy.

"Mmm, it's delicious! The flavor is really authentic. Where did you buy it?"

Han Yang looked straight ahead and pointed to the back seat of the car:

See for yourself.

Ye Shu, biting into an apple, turned to look back and saw that the back seats of the van had been folded down, and boxes of apples were neatly stacked inside.

Ye Shu blinked, swallowed the apple in her mouth, and asked in disbelief:

"You...you're delivering goods for someone? Wait a minute, didn't you own a neighborhood supermarket? Did you switch to fruit wholesale? Did the supermarket go out of business?"

"Yellow my ass."

Han Yang looked a little depressed:

"My dad has a friend who leased an orchard a couple of years ago and grows this kind of fruit. This year, the harvest was bountiful, and he couldn't sell it all himself, so he brought several truckloads to my family's supermarket and asked my dad to help sell it."

He scratched his hair in frustration:

"My dad, he's the kind of person who can't refuse, so he agreed when he saw that the apples were really good. But the result was that they sold too slowly, and nobody buys apples every day."

Ye Shu understood:

"So, your dad let you drive it out... to set up a retail stall?"

"Absolutely!"

Han Yang had a "you know what I mean" expression on his face:

"They told me to drive and find a lively place to set up a stall and sell my wares."

Ye Shu looked back at the truckload of apples again, feeling that the task was daunting.

"So... have you found a place yet?"

"no."

"what?"

Han Yang's face darkened even more:

"Yesterday afternoon, I drove to a place, thinking there would be a lot of people. I had just set up my stall, but before I even opened for business, no customers came. Then the city management officers came and said that street vending wasn't allowed there, so they chased me away. I tried to find another place, but as soon as I stopped at the entrance of a residential area, the security guards chased me away too."

He grew angrier as he spoke, slamming his fist on the steering wheel, the car horn blaring a hoarse whine.

"Damn it, this made me so angry! When I got angry, I drove straight to an internet cafe. Screw Apple!"

Looking at his frustrated expression and then at the back seat of the car full of apples, Ye Shu felt a mix of amusement and pity.

"Then I'll buy two pounds to support the work."

Han Yang wasn't in the mood for jokes anymore, and sighed.

"If you like it, just take it and eat it yourself..."