Forced into a romantic relationship

The weather in Lincheng is changeable in winter. It rained intermittently several times at night. In the morning, the rain suddenly became heavier. The raindrops fell with a crackling sound, making the dog bowl in the yard clang.

It was almost nine o'clock when Han Zhou woke up. He felt cold as soon as he got out of bed, so he immediately huddled back into the bed. He struggled on the bed for a long time before he put on his clothes and got out of bed.

When I opened the curtains, the sky seemed to be torn apart, and the heavy rain gathered into an impenetrable rain curtain, making the scenery in the distance exceptionally blurry.

It's raining so hard, it seems I can't go out today...

Han Zhou thought so and looked back at the quilt on the bed. The scene of Wang Lengqiu leaving at night unconsciously emerged in his mind, and he felt a little complicated.

He walked to the bed and folded the quilt. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the anxious sound of the bell outside the door.

"What's wrong, senior?"

Seeing Han Zhou, Zhong Ling's eyes lit up as she was about to knock on the door, but soon turned anxious again and said in a hurry: "Oh no, junior, senior sister Wang Lengqiu is missing!"

"Gone?" Han Zhou was shocked. "When did it happen?"

"I don't know. When Gu Zheng and I woke up, she was gone. We looked everywhere, but Senior Wang Lengqiu wasn't at home. Gu Zheng and Grandpa Wang had already gone out to look for her."

Han Zhou's heart sank, and he walked quickly towards the door: "Did you call her?"

Zhong Ling followed him closely and said worriedly, "I called, but no one answered. The phone was turned off when I called the third time."

Han Zhou tried to call Wang Lengqiu, and sure enough, the phone rang with a prompt tone saying "The number you dialed is turned off."

He quickly sent a few messages on Fetion, asking where the other party was, and then asked, "Grandpa Wang doesn't know where Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu is?"

Zhong Ling shook her head: "I don't know. Doudou doesn't know where Senior Wang Lengqiu went. She didn't inform anyone when she left. It's like she was deliberately avoiding us."

Looking at the heavy rain outside, she said worriedly, "Where will Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu go in such heavy rain?"

Turn off your phone and leave deliberately avoiding everyone...

After hearing Zhong Ling's words, Han Zhou's heart sank a little bit, his brows furrowed, and a bad premonition gradually arose in his heart.

Seeing his serious expression, Zhong Ling hesitated for a moment and asked worriedly: "Junior brother...did something happen last night?"

It was the first time she saw her junior show such an expression.

Han Zhou didn't answer, he didn't even hear what Zhong Ling said.

He was in a very confused mood, his mind was filled with Wang Lengqiu's back as he left last night, and the cautious words he said before he left -

"If I leave, you won't be unhappy?"

He suddenly wanted to slap himself, regretting why he did not firmly deny this sentence at that time, but chose to remain silent.

Wang Lengqiu's way of thinking is different from that of ordinary people. Once she regards such a reaction as a default, it is entirely possible that she will practice the option of "leaving".

If it was just a literal departure, it would be fine. At least everything could be salvaged. The scary thing was that Wang Lengqiu would do something stupid.

This girl's life was already lacking in color. Last night, she didn't get the response she deserved after waiting for so long. Instead, she heard the cruel answer "maybe we can't even be friends anymore." Under such a blow, would she really not have thoughts of committing suicide?
In fact, Han Zhou had thought about this issue before.

However, he quickly dispelled his concerns, because in his opinion, Wang Lengqiu was actually a girl with a very strong heart, and he did not think that his position in her heart was that important.

Just as he said yesterday, Wang Lengqiu may only like his past self. Good memories will add a filter to the past. This kind of feeling may not be love, and this kind of love may not be real.

But now thinking about it, his idea was so ridiculous.

He didn't know Wang Lengqiu and had never gotten close to the other's heart. So why did he dare to label him as strong?

He kept telling himself that he should not escape but should face it bravely, but it seemed that he was too brave.

He has already let down the feelings of two girls, so he has been telling himself not to hurt anyone else's feelings again. That's why he wants to cut the Gordian knot and end it all as soon as possible. But if you think about it carefully, isn't such an unconditional rejection another kind of cruel harm to Wang Lengqiu?

There is certainly nothing wrong with refusing, but can't we really choose a gentler way of dealing with it?

Han Zhou clenched his fists. Regardless of whether he was being hasty or not, he had already blamed himself for Wang Lengqiu's disappearance.

Regardless of whether the other party’s disappearance was related to him or not, he owed the girl an apology.

"Junior?"

"Junior?"

"what happened to you?"

The constant sound of soft calls beside his ears pulled Han Zhou back to his senses. When he saw Zhong Ling's worried face, he had to force himself to calm down and asked, "What's wrong, senior sister?"

"No, nothing, I just..."

Zhong Ling was about to say something but stopped herself. Suddenly, she pulled the small cloth bag around her waist tightly and said with all her courage, "Junior brother, you...you look very ugly. You had the same expression when Guzheng left the house. Something must have happened last night, right?"

She stared into Han Zhou's eyes and said awkwardly, "You can actually tell me..."

Guzheng also had this expression when she went out...

Han Zhou immediately thought of something, his expression became more complicated, and then he forced a smile, shook his head and said, "Sorry, senior sister, I can't tell you for the time being."

"That was not what I meant……"

Zhong Ling shook her head quickly. Due to being too nervous, the small cloth bag around her waist was almost deformed. "You don't have to tell me, but, but like you said to me before, if you really have something on your mind and can't find anyone to talk to, you can also come and tell me. Although I'm not very good at comforting people, I may not be able to help you..."

The more she spoke, the softer her voice became, and her head kept lowering, almost burying itself in her chest.

Han Zhou was stunned.

It can be seen that this introverted girl has put in a lot of effort to say these words. It is obviously the rainy day that she fears the most. Maybe she herself is frightened and she is trying to comfort herself at this moment.

Seeing the girl's nervous look, his depressed mood suddenly improved a lot. He smiled and said, "I know. Thank you, senior sister."

"No...you're welcome."

After saying that, Zhong Ling was actually very embarrassed. Her face turned slightly red. It took her a long time to raise her head. Seeing that Han Zhou's face looked much better, she breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on her face.

Just as I was about to say something else, I saw Guzheng suddenly run into the house from the rain. Although she was holding an umbrella, her hair and coat were already wet from the heavy rain.

Seeing this, Zhong Ling hurried over to get a towel, while Han Zhou immediately asked, "How's it going? Did you find Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu?"

"No."

Gu Zheng threw the umbrella aside, took the towel and shook her head, "I went to the backyard to look for her, and asked several people on the street, and they all said they didn't see Senior Wang Lengqiu. I guess she probably left before dawn."

"Grandpa Wang went to look in another direction. He said that the umbrellas at home were not missing, which means that Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu didn't even take an umbrella with her when she left." She looked heavy, with worry between her brows, and it was obvious that she had some terrible guesses in her mind.

Han Zhou was silent for a moment and asked, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

Gu Zheng sat on a stool and wiped her hair with a towel. Her eyes were blocked by the wet hair. "At that time, no one knew that Senior Wang Lengqiu had run away from home. Didn't she say yesterday that she wanted to pick mushrooms? So we didn't take it seriously at first. We thought she was picking mushrooms and didn't rush to wake you up."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Han Zhou did not continue to ask. He had actually guessed that Gu Zheng might have overheard his conversation with Wang Lengqiu last night, and also guessed the reason for Wang Lengqiu's disappearance. He did not wake him up because he did not want him to feel too guilty and worried, so he wanted to find Wang Lengqiu alone before he woke up.

It is precisely because of this that this guy is in such a mess and has made himself look like a drowned chicken. I guess he has been looking for it outside for a long time.

Perhaps noticing Han Zhou's strange expression, Gu Zheng hesitated to speak, but in the end she didn't say much. She stood up and said, "Don't worry too much. I guess Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu didn't run far. I'll go out and look for her. I'm sure I'll find her..."

"Just sit here quietly."

Han Zhou pushed Guzheng back onto the stool, snatched the towel from her hand, and wiped her hair carefully. "You're all wet. It's so cold. If you don't want to catch a cold like last time, go take a hot bath later."

"I won't catch a cold..."

Gu Zheng struggled to get up, obviously reluctant. Compared to catching a cold, Wang Lengqiu's safety was obviously more important at the moment.

"Don't worry, I have a way to find Senior Wang Lengqiu." Han Zhou said.

"really?"

Guzheng stopped struggling, but it was obvious from her expression that she didn't believe it.

"You have to believe me."

"I believe you, but can't I go with you to look for it?"

"I said, your most important task now is to take a hot bath." Han Zhou said firmly.

"OK then……"

After hesitating for a while, Gu Zheng said, "Then you promise me."

"What's the guarantee?"

"I promise to bring Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu back."

"I promise."

Han Zhou's voice was not loud, but anyone could hear the seriousness in his tone.

He turned around to look at Zhong Ling and said with a smile, "Senior, please help me keep an eye on this girl and don't let her run around."

"Okay, okay, I'll go turn on the hot water."

Zhong Ling nodded repeatedly, then ran to the bathroom to turn on the water heater.

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng were the only ones left at the door.

The rain was pouring down. Han Zhou was silently wiping Gu Zheng's hair and didn't speak for a long time.

"You're the one running around..."

Amid the noisy sound of rain, only the dissatisfied sound of the zither could be heard.

After a while, the girl suddenly spoke, her voice a little more angry: "Han Zhou, you promised me that you would bring Senior Sister Wang Lengqiqiu back."

"Yes, I promised." Han Zhou looked puzzled, "Any questions?"

He didn't understand why this guy was suddenly angry.

"Any questions?"

Gu Zheng gritted her teeth, stood up and punched him twice, then snatched the towel back from his hand: "I've already promised you, why are you still dawdling? Go out and find someone! I can wipe my hair myself!"

Han Zhou was stunned for two seconds, then smiled bitterly and said, "I'm just wondering where she'll go."

He certainly didn't intend to waste time here, so in addition to helping Gu Zheng wipe her hair, he also did another thing, which was to buy a detection radar in the monthly mall.

[Detection Radar: A one-time item that must be used in conjunction with an unlockable character detector. Once activated, it will continuously display the real-time location of all unlockable characters within a ten-kilometer radius for ten minutes.]

During the trip to the snowy mountains a few months ago, he had used this item to successfully find the missing Mo Yixia, and thought that he would be able to quickly locate Wang Lengqiu this time. This was also the reason why he could make a promise to Gu Zheng. However, what made him feel depressed was that the radar did not show Wang Lengqiu's location.

This means there are two possibilities.

First, Wang Lengqiu has exceeded the detection range of the radar and headed to a place beyond a radius of ten kilometers.

As for the second possibility... Han Zhou didn't dare to think about it.

He knew very well that if he wanted to find Wang Lengqiu as soon as possible, the only thing he could rely on was the status bar. But now that the detection radar was out of service, he couldn't think of how to use the status bar to modify it into a state suitable for finding someone, nor could he find any other products that could be useful at this moment.

"Have you figured it out?"

Gu Zheng didn't notice Han Zhou's abnormality. Worry flashed across her eyes, and she urged him, "If you keep dawdling, the flowers will get cold!"

Han Zhou didn't want to make her worry, so he nodded and smiled, "I've figured it out. I'll leave first. When Grandpa Wang comes back, remember to tell him about it for me..."

Before he finished speaking, Chen Doudou suddenly rushed out of the room with his short legs, shouting, "Brother Han Zhou, Sister Guzheng, I found a note that seems to have been left by Sister Wang Lengqiu!"

Note?

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng looked at each other and ran over quickly, only to see that Chen Doudou accidentally tripped on the threshold because he was running too fast, and was about to fall flat on his face. His chubby face was distorted with fear.

Fortunately, Gu Zheng was quick-witted and grabbed the other person's collar, but due to her limited movements, she was unable to catch the note that was about to fall on the edge of the umbrella in time.

Han Zhou was farther away, and when he reached out his hand it was too late. He could only watch the note fall into the large puddle of water beside the umbrella.

His expression changed and he quickly picked up the note, but the paper was already soaked and the words on the paper were blurred and faded. It was completely unclear and he couldn't even tell how many words were originally on the paper.

Seeing this scene, Gu Zheng was shocked and quickly put down Chen Doudou and looked at the note in Han Zhou's hand.

Since they couldn't see the handwriting on the note clearly, the two could only guess and finally got the following words:

"I buried my last words in the soil. No need to wait for me." (End of this chapter)