Forced into a romantic relationship

At five o'clock in the afternoon, a light drizzle began to fall outside.

Seeing that it was almost time, Han Zhou said goodbye to Uncle Xia, washed his hands quickly, and then picked up his umbrella and left the restaurant.

This umbrella was taken from Wang Lengqiu's house when I left "yesterday". It traveled through time with me and I thought I wouldn't need it for a while. I didn't expect it to come in handy so soon.

Also traveling through time with him was that yellowed group photo. All afternoon, aside from helping Uncle Xia, he spent almost every spare moment examining the photo, trying to find some useful details.

A reddish sky, rolling green meadows, a girl with a gentle smile holding a boy's hand tightly, her eyes shining, as if she were saying something.

The scene is quite simple, the picture is quite ordinary. If you ignore the incredible concept of time travel, it's just an ordinary photograph.

Han Zhou couldn't glean anything from Wang Lengqiu's actions and expressions, but whenever he noticed the smile on the girl's face, he couldn't help but sigh, "So Senior Wang Lengqiu can smile like that too."

In fact, his main focus was not on Xiao Wang Lengqiu, but on himself in the photo.

He wanted to analyze his expression at the time to understand what he was thinking when the photo was taken.

Perhaps humans are truly fickle creatures; even we ourselves may not be able to understand or empathize with our past or future selves.

He didn't see anything.

Han Zhou sighed, wishing Yi Xia were here. That girl's "Han Zhou Mind Reading" had reached a state of perfection; she could even guess his thoughts through a phone, let alone through a photo with his face clearly visible.

However, even if Yixia, who has mastered the art of mind reading, couldn't come here, there's really no need for her to figure out what she was thinking in the photo.

If the past is destined to remain unchanged, then this photo will surely reappear, and at that time he will be able to personally experience that feeling.

If the past is not fixed, then this photo will most likely cease to exist, or it may become a different photo.

Of course, there is another situation.

That is, even though the past has been changed, this photo has still been preserved.

In conclusion, in a sense, this group photo is also an important basis for judging whether the past has changed.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou took out the photo again and looked at it for a while, carefully memorizing all the details in the photo before carefully putting the photo away and walking towards the school.

At the restaurant entrance, watching Han Zhou gradually disappear into the rain, Uncle Xia shook his head secretly. He had noticed long ago that the boy had been secretly looking at a photo, which was probably a picture of him with that friend. It was clear that the boy had very deep feelings for that friend. He wondered if the meeting would go smoothly.

Sigh, anyway, I hope this child won't have any regrets...

……

Xiao Wang Lengqiu's school is called Chenguang Primary School. As Uncle Xia said, it is indeed very easy to find. It was close to the end of the school day, and you could see many parents holding umbrellas waiting at the school gate from afar. There were also many cars parked nearby.

Han Zhou stood under the eaves and waited, carefully observing the crowd. He didn't see Grandpa Wang Lengqiu, which made him a little strange. However, this was actually a good thing for him. If Grandpa Wang had come, it would have been difficult for him to approach Little Wang Lengqiu.

As soon as the school bell rang, the school became noisy, with excited voices that could be heard from afar. Children of this age are lively and active, and they have a special enthusiasm for leaving school, especially the boys, who tirelessly compete every day to see who can run out of the school gate first, even on rainy days.

The ground was slippery from the rain, and a few unlucky kids slipped and fell. They got up as if nothing had happened, laughing and joking, but when they looked up, they saw their parents with gloomy faces at the school gate. They quickly lowered their heads with bitter faces and continued to wink at their friends.

Han Zhou knew that it was something only Xiao Guzheng would do to see who could run out of the school first. Xiao Wang Lengqiu wasn't like that, and he estimated that she would leave the school gate a while later. However, as he watched the children walk out of the school one by one, and even after all the parents at the school gate had left, Xiao Wang Lengqiu still hadn't appeared, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

If he hadn't already confirmed that the school only ever opened one gate, he would have suspected that the other person had left through another exit.

Fortunately, just then, a familiar figure finally walked out of the school. It was Wang Lengqiu, wearing a school uniform. The girl obviously did not bring an umbrella. She held a huge piece of cardboard above her head with one hand and protected her schoolbag hanging in front of her chest with the other. Ignoring the different looks from the crowd at the school gate, she immediately ran away from the school gate.

Han Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The piece of cardboard was obviously torn from a cardboard box. The whole process must have taken the girl a lot of effort, which explained why it took her so long to come out of the school.

He didn't rush to talk to Xiao Wang Leng Qiu, otherwise he might be mistaken for a criminal with ill intentions. Seeing that the girl wouldn't get wet in the rain anytime soon, he simply followed her from a distance, planning to try to contact her when they were in a secluded place.

Han Zhou has already confirmed that it was nine years ago. At this point in time, he was in the fourth grade, and Wang Lengqiu was two years older than him, so she should be in the sixth grade, around twelve years old.

Although girls are often more precocious than boys, they are still just twelve-year-old children. Han Zhou's understanding of children in this age group mainly comes from Lin Youya, who has just entered junior high school. Youya is obviously still in the innocent and carefree stage. Although she is a little more immature than her peers, she is not too different. Even if Xiao Wang Lengqiu is more mature, it should not be too difficult to get along with her.

As for what to do after getting to know her, the natural thing is to teach the girl to always have a positive and strong inner self.

He didn't know what his "last self" had done to make a twelve-year-old girl remember him for nine years, so this time he planned to be careful and interact with Xiao Wang Lengqiu as a mentor. He thought that this way there shouldn't be any problems.

Han Zhou followed Xiao Wang Leng Qiu and soon arrived at a deserted dirt road. By this time, the cardboard on Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's head was almost soaked. He planned to approach him under the pretext of sharing an umbrella, but just as he was about to go forward, he suddenly heard a commotion not far ahead.

Before long, a group of carefree junior high school students surrounded them, laughing and blocking Xiao Wang Lengqiu's way.

The reason we could tell these guys were middle school students was because they were wearing school uniforms that were completely different from Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu's, and their height was obviously much greater than that of elementary school students. Uncle Xia had said that there was only one elementary school in this area, so these people were most likely from middle school.

These middle school students, all with smug smiles and askew collars, practically had "we're not good people" written all over their faces. A dozen of them couldn't even scrape together an umbrella, so their purpose in stopping Xiao Wang Leng Qiu was clearly not to take her home.

Han Zhou's expression was strange. He felt that some of the faces among these guys looked quite familiar. After a moment's recollection, he finally realized where this sense of familiarity came from—

He once encountered a group of troublemakers at the repair shop owned by the Zhong sisters, and some of the blond-haired guys looked just like the grown-up versions of those guys.

Good grief, are all the villains in this world the same group?
Han Zhou took out a mask he had prepared beforehand and put it on, thinking to himself that he and these guys were really destined to meet. But these kids came at just the right time, since nothing could bring two people closer than a "hero saves the beauty".

He recalled something else.

He remembered that when Wang Lengqiu was a child, she was blocked by more than a dozen students. A boy suddenly appeared and protected her, and quickly chased away the more than a dozen students. After that, the two became friends, and that boy was him when he was a child.

When he first heard about it, he thought it was outrageous. After all, he wasn't Superman when he was a child, so how could he possibly be a match for a dozen students? But if it were him now, then everything would seem reasonable.

So, is this some kind of destiny?

Han Zhou's mood became complicated, but he quickly adjusted his mindset. He rushed to Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu, too lazy to waste words with the group of cursing brats. He kicked each of them into the mud, and then gestured for Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu to come with him.

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu cooperated very well, without saying a word. He picked up the cardboard that the group of junior high school students had just thrown on the ground, washed the mud off the cardboard with rainwater, and then silently followed behind him.

Seeing this, Han Zhou first handed her the umbrella, and then asked her to stand under it, but the girl shook her head and refused, preferring to continue standing under the soaking wet cardboard and keep her distance from him.

Han Zhou tried to force the umbrella on her, but every time he took a step back, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu would immediately take several steps back, clearly wary of him. It has to be said that it is quite rare for a twelve-year-old child to have such vigilance, but for Han Zhou at this moment, it was obviously not a good thing.

What's going on? Didn't Senior Xia Qing say that I became friends with Senior Wang Lengqiu after I chased away those dozen or so students? Why is the plot different from what she said?
Han Zhou was puzzled and couldn't understand why Xiao Wang Leng Qiu was so wary of him. If she didn't trust him, why did she follow him? He didn't know what to say and was afraid that he would scare her away if he opened his mouth, so he could only walk forward in silence.

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu continued to follow silently behind him.

The rain intensified at some point, the wind grew stronger, and amidst the intermittent rumble of thunder, for some reason, Han Zhou suddenly recalled the scene of their "first" meeting at the hospital.

It was another rainy day, and another meeting that didn't go very smoothly.

Speaking of which...

Did Wang Lengqiu, my senior at that time, know that I no longer remembered her?

What were her feelings when she spoke to me?

He turned to look at Xiao Wang Leng Qiu and found that she was also looking at him.

The girl had clearly been observing him silently from behind. Unlike most people who would immediately look away once they were discovered, she made no attempt to hide herself even when their eyes met. She simply paused for a moment and seemed to whisper something.

Han Zhou hadn't enhanced his listening skills at that moment, so he couldn't hear the content of the sentence clearly.

But that didn't matter. Seeing that the other person's hair and shoulders were completely soaked, he couldn't hold back any longer and asked in the gentlest tone he could muster, "Are you afraid of me?"

He met Xiao Wang Leng Qiu yesterday. The girl didn't seem shy at all. She gave him food on their first meeting and told him that he couldn't eat sheep dung. Why is she acting like a completely different person today?
Perhaps realizing that the cardboard above her head was no longer effective, Xiao Wang Lengqiu threw it away, hugged her schoolbag tighter, and replied after a moment of silence, "You've been following me ever since I got out of school."

Han Zhou was taken aback. He hadn't expected the child to be so observant, having noticed his following from the very beginning. No wonder the child was so wary of him.

He wanted to make a defense, but the words that came out were something else entirely: "I meant no harm."

Her tone was sincere, but Xiao Wang Leng Qiu was clearly not buying it, and gently shook her head: "I'm sorry."

It was clearly wrong of her to stalk him, but she was the one saying "I'm sorry."

"There are some things I can't tell you right now. You don't have to believe me, but you can take this umbrella and use it first, okay?" Han Zhou said.

Seeing that the girl didn't react, he continued, "Or you can tell me where you live, and I'll take you home and then leave immediately, how about that?"

However, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu still shook his head: "I'm sorry."

Han Zhou had a headache. He thought that perhaps just like he had treated the other person as a lunatic back then, the other person might now be thinking of him as a stalker with ulterior motives.

After thinking for a moment, he had no choice but to take off his mask, point to his face and say, "Do you remember me? You brought me food in the woods yesterday, and I came here today to repay you."

This is undoubtedly a rather absurd reason, but the identity of a person repaying a debt of gratitude is always better than that of a follower with unclear motives.

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu clearly still remembered what happened yesterday. Upon hearing this, he stared at him carefully for a while and asked in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Mushrooms that eat sheep dung?"

"..."

Han Zhou was silent for a moment: "...I didn't eat sheep dung."

"So, are you a mushroom?"

"No."

"Then what are you?"

Han Zhou's lips twitched, and he forced a smile, saying, "I'm human, that shouldn't be hard to tell, right?"

The rain fell in continuous lines, and water droplets slid down Xiao Wang Lengqiu's hair to her chin. She raised her hand to wipe them away, her small face revealing no emotion. After a while, she suddenly shook her head: "You're lying to me."

Han Zhou opened his mouth: "Where did I lie to you?"

Does he no longer look like a human being?
Fortunately, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu did not question the other person's identity. Instead, she asked in a very serious tone, "You clearly didn't eat my bread yesterday, so why are you repaying me?"

This was indeed a problem. Han Zhou was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to answer. He couldn't very well say, "I appreciate your kindness, that's why I'm rewarding you with good deeds," could he?

Putting aside the question of good deeds being rewarded, he at least felt the consequences of his actions—he ignored the future Wang Lengqiu, and he couldn't afford to associate with the current young Wang Lengqiu. It's true that karma is a cycle, and no one escapes the judgment of Heaven.

As he was pondering what reason to come up with, he heard Xiao Wang Lengqiu speak again.

"You know I've discovered your secret, that's why you came to see me today, right?"

A secret? What secret?
Han Zhou was puzzled, but he remained outwardly calm, silently waiting for the other party to continue.

The air was quiet for a moment.

In the rain, the girl quietly hugged her schoolbag tighter, as if she had made up her mind about something. She took a deep breath and after a while said, "You're actually an alien, aren't you?"

alien?
Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, not understanding why the other party would come to such a conclusion. Then he immediately reacted, and quickly looked around in a pretentious manner, then pressed his index finger to his lips, as if afraid that the secret would be revealed.

"As expected, you found out..."

A few seconds later, he took a deep breath and spoke solemnly.

"That's right, I'm actually a stick figure from the planet Match."

He handed over the umbrella, his tone earnest.

"If you don't take this umbrella away from me, I'm going to set myself on fire."

(End of this chapter)