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

In the taxi heading to the city center, Ye Shu sat in the front passenger seat, while Tang Xiaotao and Xiao Nuan sat in the back.

The street scenes outside the car window kept receding, and inside the car, there was only the driver playing very soft music and the navigation voice, which sounded even more mechanical than Xiao Nuan's.

Tang Xiaotao felt a constant itch in her heart, secretly observing the "future sister-in-law" beside her, her curiosity like a kitten scratching at her.

Xiao Nuan sat very upright, her back straight, her hands naturally placed on her lap, as if she were doing eye exercises. Her gaze was fixed on the front... or rather, diagonally in front, or even more precisely, diagonally in front, on the passenger seat, on Ye Shu's face.

Tang Xiaotao noticed that ever since they met at the train station, this taciturn Xiao Nuan's gaze seemed to have never left her older brother. Her focused expression didn't seem like she was being affectionate; rather, it was as if she were conducting an observation experiment.

Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she leaned closer to Xiao Nuan and asked in a low voice:

"Sister Xiaonuan, I noticed you've been staring at my brother. What are you looking at?"

As she asked, she leaned closer and, mimicking Xiao Nuan, tilted her head to look at the back of Ye Shu's head to see if her older brother had flowers growing on his face.

Upon hearing the question, Xiao Nuan rotated her head at a steady pace, looking at Tang Xiaotao who was imitating her with a curious expression, and gave a very accurate answer:

"I'm looking at Ye Shu."

"Um?"

Although Tang Xiaotao spoke in a low voice, Xiao Nuan was not the type to whisper. Although her voice was not loud, it was still very clear in the taxi.

Ye Shu, who was sitting in front, heard his name called and subconsciously turned around.

"Xiao Nuan, you called me? What's wrong?"

"Oh dear, I wasn't talking about you, I wasn't talking about you!"

Tang Xiaotao quickly waved to Ye Shu, a little annoyed that her prank had been interrupted:

"I'm having a private conversation with Sister Xiaonuan, don't interfere, turn around, turn around!"

"oh."

Ye Shu was a little confused, but she still obediently turned back, her ears quietly perking up.

Tang Xiaotao leaned closer to Xiao Nuan again, this time asking a more specific question:

"No, I mean... why are you staring at him? Is there anything particularly interesting about him?"

She winked and gave Xiaonuan a knowing look.

Xiao Nuan seemed to have seriously considered the question before explaining:

"Because I am observing and recording Ye Shu's behavioral logic, facial expression changes, and stress response patterns in specific social situations."

"..."

Tang Xiaotao's gossipy smile froze for a moment. This answer... was quite different from what she had expected.

She tried to process this textbook-like answer and continued to press for answers:

"Then...why do you want to observe his...behavioral logic?"

She felt like she was running out of words. Why was her future sister-in-law speaking so stiffly?

Xiao Nuan wasn't bothered by the questioning; she simply blinked, glanced at Ye Shu's profile, and then explained to Xiao Tao:

"Because I've noticed that when I'm within about 1.5 meters of Ye Shu, or when he engages in certain interactions, my heart rate fluctuates by an abnormal increase of 8-12 beats per minute. Simultaneously, I occasionally experience slight dilation of the capillaries in my facial skin, and my body temperature also tends to rise slightly. Currently, I'm trying to establish a correlation model between 'Ye Shu's behavioral variables' and 'abnormal fluctuations in my physiological parameters' through continuous observation, in order to determine exactly which specific behavioral stimuli trigger these responses."

An eerie silence fell over the carriage, and the taxi driver quietly turned off the music.

Ye Shu, in the passenger seat, understood perfectly. He heard clearly that all the phenomena Xiao Nuan had described were happening to him.

He wanted to turn around and say something to stop this increasingly dangerous conversation, or at least alleviate the awkwardness that left him with nowhere to hide.

But as soon as he moved, the driver next to him, who had been seemingly focused on driving but was actually listening intently, suddenly reached out and placed his hand on Ye Shu's arm.

The driver, one hand on the steering wheel, eyes fixed ahead, couldn't help but smirk, displaying the expression of a seasoned onlooker who thought, "This is truly spectacular!" He then offered a "meaningful" whispered reminder:

"Young man, you're driving, don't move around, sit still, sit tight, safety first."

Ye Shu looked at the taxi driver next to her speechlessly. "You just wanted to hear the whole thing, didn't you?! Safety comes first, you idiot!"

In the back row, Tang Xiaotao recovered from Xiao Nuan's long academic report and quickly grasped the key words in the passage.

"Increased heart rate," "dilated capillaries," "rising body temperature"... Isn't this...?

Her eyes lit up instantly, shining like two flashlights on Xiao Nuan's expressionless face. She could no longer contain her excitement, grabbed Xiao Nuan's arm, and leaned closer to her.

He glanced at his older brother's bright red ears and somewhat stiff back, then turned back and continued to ask:

"Oh~~~! So, Sister Xiaonuan, do you... like my brother?"

This time, Xiao Nuan didn't pause or hesitate, because the answer to this question already had clear data. Meeting Tang Xiaotao's intense gaze, she nodded:

"Yes, I like Ye Shu."

"Ohhhhhhh!!!"

"Ohhhhhhh!!!"

Tang Xiaotao and the taxi driver in front of her almost simultaneously exclaimed, "The mountain roads here are so winding!"—a sound of utter satisfaction, as if they had nothing better to do than eat melon seeds.

The driver glanced at Ye Shu, his eyes saying, "You're something else."

Ye Shu felt as if the capillaries on his face were about to burst, and all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his face, making it so hot that it almost steamed.

He finally lost his temper, turned around abruptly, and glared at his mischievous sister with a bright red face. Although it sounded fierce, her bright red face didn't really intimidate him.

"Tang, Xiao, Tao! You sit still! Don't ask questions! What are you little brats asking about?! Don't meddle in adult matters."

"Okay, okay~"

Tang Xiaotao was completely satisfied at this moment. She had just gotten a great scoop and felt much better.

She released Xiao Nuan's arm, sat up straight again, and even hummed a tuneless little tune leisurely, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons as she looked out the window.

Ye Shu took a breath and subconsciously looked at Xiao Nuan.

Xiao Nuan was also looking at him, her gaze calm, as if there was no difference between saying "I like Ye Shu" and "I love to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes".

She simply blinked and tilted her head slightly, seemingly wondering why Ye Shu's face was so red and why she was reacting so strongly.

Ye Shu looked at her, who seemed completely unaware that she had been tricked into revealing information, and all the words in her mouth stuck in her throat.

He opened his mouth, but in the end it only turned into a sigh, and he squeezed out a dry sentence:

"Um... sigh!"

He simply couldn't give a decent response to Xiao Nuan's "academic report-style confession" under the taxi driver's perked-up ears and his younger sister's sparkling eyes.

In the end, he turned around in despair, crossed his arms, stared straight ahead, leaving only a red and stiff back view.

Xiao Nuan watched his retreating figure, blinked, and then silently turned her head away, no longer looking at him, and also looked out the car window.

The fingers resting on her lap curled slightly for a moment, then slowly relaxed again.

She sat quietly, but deep within her calm eyes, something seemed to be running faster in the background of her brain.