Forced into a romantic relationship

After hanging up the phone and looking at the dim sky, Han Zhou stopped thinking about Xiao Yixia for the time being and instead thought about a more pressing issue -

Where should he live during this one-month period?

Although it is in the countryside, there are hotels here. However, most of the money he has is in his mobile phone, and he will not be able to use this money if he is in the past. This means that he cannot afford to stay in a hotel, but he can't sleep on the streets, right?

Looking back in the direction of the hotel, Han Zhou smiled bitterly in his heart. Could it be that he had traveled through time twice and still had to work to earn money?
With the status bar, it would be easy for him to make money, but when he went back to the past, he had important things to do and it was impossible for him to really spend a lot of time on making money.

Alas, the status bar is good in every way, but it can’t directly turn money into money…

Han Zhou sighed in his heart and wondered where to get the money.

He himself doesn't care, but if he is really penniless, it is impossible for him to let a little girl pay for the meal when he meets Xiao Yixia next week, right?
Although he had relied on Yixia for money many times before, it would be too embarrassing if he even relied on Yixia, a primary school student, for money.

While he was thinking, the hotel owner walked out of the phone booth at some point. He seemed to see Han Zhou's embarrassment and asked tentatively, "Young man, have you not found a place to live yet?"

He had just been standing at the entrance of the hotel observing and saw the young man making several phone calls in a row. He didn't know whether he had contacted his family or not. He was always worried, so he couldn't help but come over to take a look.

“I haven’t found it yet.”

Han Zhou smiled bitterly and thought about asking the boss for more money, but he couldn't bring himself to ask. After all, this was the first time they met, and even if the boss was kind-hearted, there was no reason for him to continue lending him money.

"I knew it."

The boss had an expression of "as expected". He could see that the young man had run out of money long ago, at least he couldn't afford to stay in a hotel, so he waved his hand to signal him to follow him.

"There is an empty room on the second floor of my house. It's my son's room. He has been working in the city and may not come back for several months. This room is empty anyway. If you don't mind, you can stay at my house for a while."

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said: "This is not appropriate, right? And I can't afford the rent for the time being..."

"Well, what's the point of talking about rent? Just live here peacefully. This isn't the first time I've let young people like you live in my house."

The boss smiled and waved his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then said something in a roundabout way, "Everyone encounters difficulties these days, but difficulties are only temporary, there is no need to take them to heart. As the old saying goes, there will be a rainbow after the storm."

He was worried that the young man still hadn't given up the idea of ​​committing suicide, but he didn't dare to call the police or contact his family. After all, suicide was just his guess, and it might be a misunderstanding. It would be troublesome if he meant well but ended up with a bad result.

Besides, young people nowadays are very concerned about their reputation. If you meddle in other people's business, it may arouse the child's rebellious psychology, so it is better to observe for a few days first.

I think that with me watching over him, even if this young man really has a desperate decision, I can stop him from doing stupid things in time.

Thinking of this, the boss turned around and said, "It's settled. Come on, I'll take you to the room now."

Seeing the boss's firm attitude, Han Zhou didn't want to continue to refuse his kindness. Besides, he didn't want to sleep on the street, so he thanked him earnestly: "Sorry for bothering you."

The boss said nothing more, walked in front and began to lead the way. After walking for a while, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, young man, did you contact the friend who had a conflict with you just now?"

"not yet."

"I see, but I saw you made several phone calls just now, and I thought..."

"I don't have her phone number."

"Ah? But aren't you friends? How can friends not even call..."

The boss shut up before he finished speaking, suddenly realizing that his friend might have changed his number in order to avoid this young man, and the conflict between them might be more serious than he thought.

The air was quiet for a moment. To make the atmosphere more relaxed, the boss asked jokingly, "Hey, young man, your friend should be a girl, right?"

Changing one's phone number deliberately to avoid someone is something only women would do.

Han Zhou didn't know that his boss had completely misunderstood the other party. He was a little surprised to hear the other party's words, but he didn't ask any more questions and just said "hmm".

The accommodation problem has been solved, so there is no need to rush to make money. He is thinking about how to contact Xiao Wang Lengqiu in the future and what identity he should use to get along with the other party.

After that phone call with Xiao Yisha, he had made up his mind completely - he would try to change the past, but not by escaping from Xiao Wang Lengqiu's world in such an ugly way.

If the past will have an impact on the future, then what he needs to do is to create a better future and avoid Wang Lengqiu's disappearance.

And if the future is already fixed, then there is no need for him to be timid in this month and worry about things that should be considered in the future.

But then again, can I earn points from Xiao Wang Lengqiu? I have to stay there for a month, and if the points only go out but not in, I always feel insecure...

But if you want to get points from Xiao Wang Lengqiu, then don't you have to make her say "I want to fall in love"? It's too sinful to trick a little girl into saying such a thing...

Han Zhou had a complicated expression. He suddenly remembered that when he first met Wang Lengqiu in the "future", the other person still had the "unlockable" label on his head. He suddenly had an idea and realized that the last time he came to the past, he should not have done such a shameful thing as seducing a little girl. So he couldn't embarrass himself this time.

And after all, he couldn't let Xiao Wang Lengqiu have any thoughts about love this time.

No, there is no last time and next time, they are obviously the same time...

Han Zhou secretly shook his head, feeling sad about the complexity of time travel, but the hotel owner didn't think it was such a big deal. He just thought he was in a bad mood and hesitated to speak for a moment, but ultimately didn't say anything more.

It's better for an old man like him to stay out of the relationship between young people.

However, at this moment, Han Zhou's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"I plan to go find her tomorrow."

The boss was stunned for a moment, then a smile suddenly appeared on his face. He said in a nostalgic tone: "You are much better than I was when I was young."

"I hesitated for a long time before making this decision," said Han Zhou.

"That's amazing too."

The boss shook his head. "Many people waste their time hesitating. By the time they make a decision, it's too late. Then they can only regret it. After regretting for a while, they start to regret why they didn't try to make amends. They live in regret for the rest of their lives."

Hearing this, Han Zhou suddenly remembered what Xiao Yixia said on the phone not long ago -

“One should not regret what one has done.”

He laughed dumbly. No wonder that guy never fought against himself. It turned out that he already understood this principle at such a young age. But then again...

Is it true that that guy doesn't have even one thing he regrets?

After that, the boss did not mention anything about that friend again. He quickly took Han Zhou to a bedroom, gave him a few brief instructions, and left.

The restaurant hasn't closed yet, and there might be customers later, so he has to go back to the store to check.

I have to say that this boss is a kind-hearted person, a simple-minded one at that, who could actually let a stranger stay in his home so confidently.

This bedroom is very tidy, and you can tell that someone cleans it regularly. There is a desk and a row of simple bookshelves near the window, but there are not many books on the shelves. I don't know if it is just a decoration or someone has taken the books away.

Having just stayed in Wang Lengqiu's room for one night yesterday, he moved to another room today. Han Zhou didn't feel unaccustomed to it, but he felt a little emotional for some reason. He had stayed in other people's rooms many times, but they were all girls' rooms. This was the first time he stayed in a man's room.

But it's a good thing that it's like this. If it was a strange woman's bedroom, he would really be embarrassed to live in it.

Han Zhou collected his thoughts, put the umbrella against the wall, went to the bathroom to wash off the mud, then washed his clothes, and then lay down on the bed to rest.

The effect of "There Must Be an Echo" took him across time and space, but it also consumed a lot of his mental energy. He needed a good sleep to replenish his energy.

"By the way, I should ask Xiao Yixia for a photo, so that I can go to her anytime..."

"Come to think of it, I've seen photos of Senior Sister and Sister Yin when they were little. I can try to use 'Must Have Echoes' to teleport to them, and I can also quickly reach Lincheng..."

"There is one more thing I need to pay attention to. To be safe, my current self should not be able to meet my past self. Although if I remember correctly, I should not be in Lincheng at this time, but I'd better pay attention and wear a mask and a baseball cap when I go to Lincheng..."

"I have to be careful about my disguise when I 'kidnap' Xiao Yixia next week. I can't let her remember my face, so as to avoid any impact on her future..."

"I hope that after this journey is over, everything will go in a good direction when I return..."

Just like that, with all kinds of thoughts in his mind, Han Zhou fell into a deep sleep.

……

When I woke up the next day, it was already twelve o'clock noon.

If someone hadn't knocked on the door, Han Zhou suspected that he would have probably slept until the afternoon.

Of course, sleeping for a long time also has its benefits. After waking up, he felt much better, at least his eyes were not blurry anymore. However, the feeling of weakness as if "the body was hollowed out" did not completely go away, and it was obviously not something that could be made up for by sleeping.

But if you think about it, it is understandable. After all, it is a time travel. It would cost thousands or tens of thousands of points to convert it into points. If the consumed mental energy can be replenished by a good sleep, then the price is too insignificant. He can go to any time he wants.

Han Zhou got out of bed, stuffed a pill into his mouth and opened the door. Outside the door was Uncle Xia, who was calling him to have lunch.

As a restaurant owner, Uncle Xia naturally eats most of his lunch in the restaurant and rarely cooks at home, so Han Zhou quickly got dressed and went to the restaurant with him to eat.

It was just after school at noon, and many students in school uniforms could be seen along the way. Han Zhou's mind moved, and he suddenly asked, "Uncle Xia, how many elementary schools are there nearby?"

Uncle Xia smiled and said, "How many schools can there be in a small place like this? There is only one, and it is in the town ahead."

There is only one primary school, which means that little Wang Lengqiu goes to school in this school...

Han Zhou came up with an idea and decided to wait for Xiao Wang Lengqiu to finish school this afternoon at the school gate, and then find an opportunity to contact him.

That's right, since he has no intention of escaping from Xiao Wang Lengqiu's world, he might as well take the initiative to contact the other party. He doesn't have so much time to let things take their course, and opportunities are created by himself.

As for what to do after coming into contact with Xiao Wang Lengqiu, regardless of anything else, the first thing to do is to cultivate a correct outlook on life for this little girl, and warn her that no matter what happens in the future, she must not choose to commit suicide.

He only hoped that the girl would remember this.

"Uncle Xia, do you know what time school ends in the afternoon?" he asked.

"It seems to be around five o'clock... But that was in the summer. Now it's fall and it gets dark quickly. It should be a little earlier."

Uncle Xia thought for a moment, and suddenly felt a little strange, wondering, "Why are you asking this?"

This child is an outsider, why would he care about what time the children here get out of school and what they do?
"I'm just a little curious whether the school dismissal time for children in the countryside and in the city is different."

It was naturally impossible for Han Zhou to say that he was going to "pick up the child", so he made up an excuse.

But Uncle Xia still felt something was wrong. Didn’t this kid say last night that he was going to go find that friend today? Why is he concerned about other things now?

and many more.

Friends, after school, children...

There was a look of shock in his eyes, and he suddenly came up with an extremely absurd guess in his mind -

Could it be that……

The friend this young man was talking about...

She is actually a married woman who even has a child?
Some are even children old enough to be in primary school?!

No wonder that was a friend that he wanted to see but couldn't, no wonder that friend even changed his phone number in order to hide, and no wonder this young man ran to such a far place to commit suicide...

In an instant, Uncle Xia felt that all his previous doubts were suddenly cleared up, and there was a hint of complexity in his eyes when he looked at Han Zhou.

He didn't know what happened between this young man and his friend with children, but he thought it must be a story full of regrets.

After a long silence, he finally couldn't help it. He raised his hand, gently patted Han Zhou's shoulder, and said something meaningful.

"Except for the possible difference in household registration, there is no other difference."

(End of this chapter)