Forced into a romantic relationship

Although it comes from the status bar, the "Connecting Lines" function is actually far less convenient than on a mobile phone, and is even a bit useless.

It can only be used twice in total, and each call lasts only one minute. The real problem is that it cannot make two-way calls at any time like a mobile phone. Instead, it can only make one-way calls in a fixed order.

Specifically, if the two microphones provided by "One Line Connect" are named "A" and "B" respectively, then the first call can only be made by microphone A, and microphone B can only choose whether to answer. The second call is the opposite: only microphone B can be made, and microphone A can answer.

That's just how troublesome it is.

Aside from being unaffected by communication signals, this thing doesn't seem to have any other advantages. Han Zhou really couldn't understand why it was worth 100 points.

However, experience tells him that the items provided by the status bar are often what he needs in the current situation, and may play an unexpected role at some point.

He comforted himself with this thought, and then told Xiao Wang earnestly that Leng Qiu only had one chance to call, so he could only call him when it was very important.

He gave Xiao Wang Leng Qiu "Microphone A", which means that he cannot contact the other party before the other party takes the initiative to contact him.

The girl held the novel titled "Witnessing Aliens," and it was unclear whether she believed the claims. She simply hummed in agreement and then put the black microphone, which resembled a paper cup, into her backpack.

Han Zhou repeatedly emphasized that what he had just said was true, and then went to the kitchen to get busy, making two dishes with the pork belly he had bought that afternoon—braised pork and twice-cooked pork.

Although the ingredients weren't very fresh, which prevented him from triggering the "Advanced Chef" bonus, his already superb culinary skills still made the food delicious, filling the room with a wonderful aroma.

Unfortunately, Xiao Wang Lengqiu still didn't eat much.

"Eat more, you're too thin," Han Zhou couldn't help but advise.

To be honest, although Xiao Wang Leng Qiu is thin, she is not the kind of sickly thin who is skin and bones. It's just that because her frame is small, she looks frail.

But just like how firing two bullets in a shooting game automatically triggers a reload addiction, upon seeing a thin girl, Han Zhou also automatically triggered his adult instinct to urge her to eat more.

"I'm full," Xiao Wang Leng Qiu replied.

"But you only ate half a bowl of rice."

"I always eat only half a bowl of rice."

"Next time I'll get you a bigger bowl."

"No."

As she spoke, the girl's gaze would unconsciously drift past Han Zhou and land on the torrential rain outside. Before she knew it, dusk had fallen, and the raindrops were gradually blurring in the darkening sky.

It got dark faster today than yesterday.

Han Zhou followed her gaze to the outside and sighed.

As winter gradually approaches, it will only get dark earlier and earlier, but he will not live to see that day—he can only stay in this time and space until the end of autumn, after which he will have to return to the "present" to see his winter.

"Ah."

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu glanced at him, responded softly, and then continued to look at the torrential rain outside.

About five minutes later, Han Zhou put down his chopsticks with satisfaction and stretched.

"I'm full, and it's about time I left, otherwise I might not be able to leave later."

"Ah."

The response this time was a little slower than before.

"Then I'll have to trouble you to wash these dishes."

"Ah."

"By the way, could I borrow these rain boots? I'll return them to you next time I come."

"Ah."

"...What's wrong? Aren't you happy?"

"Ok?"

The girl tilted her head, her face showing no emotion other than confusion, including unhappiness.

"nothing."

Han Zhou shook his head and smiled, got up, picked up his umbrella, and waved as he walked outside. "See you tomorrow then. Remember to lock the door tonight."

"Will you try to break in?"

Through the dense rain, Xiao Wang Lengqiu suddenly asked.

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Let's talk about it next time you forget your keys."

"If it weren't for you today, I wouldn't have forgotten to bring my keys," Xiao Wang Leng Qiu said earnestly.

"Yes, that's why I'm relieved."

As Han Zhou spoke, he waved again and then walked into the increasingly torrential rain without looking back.

Inside the room, the girl sat quietly in her seat, watching him leave.

Seeing the blurry figure completely disappear into the night, she slowly got up, put away the empty bowls on the table, and went into the kitchen.

……

Large raindrops pounded against the umbrella, making a nagging sound.

Han Zhou, standing under the umbrella, glanced back into the distance and let out a barely perceptible sigh.

He could vaguely sense that Xiao Wang Leng Qiu seemed to be considering letting him stay overnight.

This girl is not yet close to her future self; for example, she still says "sorry" instead of "thank you," and she hasn't yet learned to speak her mind.

This should be considered a good thing for now.

……probably.

But he can't stay.

He wanted nothing less than everyone, but that was all.

Whether it's a kind of affected worry or an excessive sense of self, he's willing to become good friends with Xiao Wang Leng Qiu in this time and space, and hopes that the other party can rely on him, but the relationship should stop there. As for spending the night together, forget it.

If he truly only saw the other person as a twelve-year-old child, then he wouldn't have come to this time and space.

What is cause and what is effect is not important; what is important is that the process in between may be changeable.

If the cause and effect is always a long wait that leads to a time travel, or a time travel that leads to a long wait, then he only hopes that what he will finally see is no longer a heavy and unresponsive wait, but a long-awaited reunion between friends.

Once everything returned to normal, their relationship remained, but only as friends.

This is exactly what Han Zhou wanted.

Strangely, even though it was the optimal solution he had envisioned, his heart involuntarily clenched for a moment the instant he made the decision—a brief but undeniable pain.

He thought about it for a long time and suspected that it was probably a complex feeling mixed with guilt and unease, or perhaps it stemmed from an insatiable greed that was causing trouble.

"Han Zhou, you really are a shameless scumbag."

Amid the cacophony of rain, Han Zhou inwardly mocked himself, feeling as if the occasional raindrops landing on his face were gentle yet remarkably crisp slaps.

He didn't want to admit it, but he had to—

If he had never desired it, how could he have been greedy?

...Uncle Xia's house and Xiao Wang Lengqiu's house are located in two completely opposite directions, and you have to pass through a small town in between. Han Zhou found a convenience store, bought a bottle of water, and asked the cashier for directions to the vegetable market, planning to buy some fresh vegetables to cook for Xiao Wang Lengqiu when he had the chance.

The small town in the countryside has virtually no nightlife. It was already late, and after a day of continuous torrential rain, many small shops that already had little business had closed early. There were hardly any pedestrians on the street, only a few streetlights and the occasional flash of light from passing cars in the puddles.

To be honest, it's kind of creepy.

Adding to the fact that the rain was so heavy, the air was filled with a cold and damp atmosphere, and Han Zhou suddenly regretted leaving Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's house.

Visibility was poor in the rainy night. As he turned the corner, he almost bumped into a figure. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Teacher Chen, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's homeroom teacher.

"Teacher Chen?"

"It's you?"

Teacher Chen recognized him and a look of surprise appeared on her face. "It's so late, and it's raining so hard, why are you still outside?"

She was holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying a cardboard box in the other, which seemed to be heavy, and she looked quite strained.

"I came out to buy some things."

Han Zhou naturally couldn't say that he had just returned from Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's house, so he shook the shopping bag in his hand.

Seeing that the bag was full of snacks, Teacher Chen's expression became somewhat subtle. She thought to herself, "Is this person still so fond of snacks at such an old age? They even have to come out in the heavy rain to buy them."

However, she didn't meddle in other people's business. Instead, she asked, "How is Wang Lengqiu? Has her fever subsided?"

She wasn't at school in the afternoon, so she didn't know about Xiao Wang Lengqiu's situation. Han Zhou had asked another teacher to distribute the lollipops to the children in the class.

"I'm almost fully recovered," Han Zhou replied.

"That's good. Tell her to get some rest."

"I see."

The two weren't familiar with each other, so the conversation was basically over at this point. However, Han Zhou suddenly realized that he might be able to take this opportunity to improve his relationship with Xiao Wang Leng Qiu and get the other party to take better care of him in the future. So he said, "Teacher Chen, what you're carrying seems quite heavy. Do you need any help?"

The box in Teacher Chen's hand was indeed very heavy, so much so that she could barely hold the umbrella, and half of her body was soaked. Hearing this, she hesitated for two seconds and said, "It seems we're not going the same way."

If they were going the same way, they wouldn't have almost bumped into each other.

"Is your home far from here?" Han Zhou asked.

He's not in a hurry to go back. He could help if the distance isn't too far, but if it's too far, then forget it.

"It will take about ten minutes to walk."

Reassured, he said, "If it's only for ten minutes or so, then I can help."

"Won't this delay your journey home?"

"No delay."

"Then trouble you."

As a mature woman in her thirties, Ms. Chen seemed to have long since shed the shyness common among young girls, and accepted Han Zhou's help quite readily.

Han Zhou took the box from Teacher Chen. It was indeed quite heavy, but it wasn't heavy for him. He followed Teacher Chen back the way they came.

The two didn't talk much along the way, just exchanged a few casual words, which naturally mostly concerned Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu.

Xiao Wang Lengqiu has excellent grades and is pretty and well-behaved. She is the type of student that teachers like the most. Her only flaw is that she is too introverted and rarely takes the initiative to communicate with her classmates. Even if others take the initiative to talk to her, she will not give a positive response.

Children of this age, especially boys, still engage in childish pranks to attract girls' attention, and they often tease Xiao Wang Lengqiu.

Xiao Wang Lengqiu's attitude towards this was indifference. Apart from saying "sorry," she would hardly have any other reaction, nor would she tell the teacher. Over time, the students in the class gradually stopped talking to her, and no more boys teased her.

In her spare time, this girl mostly sits in her seat reading all sorts of books. Apart from asking questions in class, she rarely speaks to even the most approachable teachers.

Han Zhou already knew about these things, but his understanding was not comprehensive. Listening to Teacher Chen's narration, he felt that the image of the twelve-year-old girl in his heart had become slightly more vivid, and he felt even more sorry for her.

He started asking if Wang Lengqiu had any hobbies, but Teacher Chen gave him a strange look and said, "I'm just Wang Lengqiu's homeroom teacher, not her parent. Besides, that child doesn't like to talk. How would I know her hobbies?"

That's true, but as a fellow teacher, Ms. Ouyang knew all about my interests and even knew I was two-timing. It just goes to show how incompetent she is as a teacher…

Han Zhou muttered to himself, wondering, "I remember we often had to write essays about our hobbies in elementary school, didn't Wang Lengqiu mention anything about what she liked in her essays?"

Teacher Chen adjusted his glasses: "I'm a math teacher, I can't see the students' essays."

"Um... I'm sorry."

Han Zhou looked embarrassed. Perhaps because he had just mentioned the essay to Xiao Wang Leng Qiu that morning, he subconsciously mistook Xiao Wang's homeroom teacher for his Chinese teacher.

Teacher Chen didn't reply, but suddenly asked, "Are you very concerned about that child?"

"I guess so," Han Zhou replied ambiguously.

“You shouldn’t have the surname Wang, nor Sun.” Teacher Chen turned to look at him. “You’re not relatives, not even distant relatives.”

Sun is the surname of Xiao Wang Lengqiu's mother.

"Yes, my name is Han Zhou."

"Han Zhou... what is your relationship with Wang Lengqiu?"

"Um, just friends."

In other words, Teacher Chen doesn't understand Han Zhou. If it were someone who did understand him, they might have rolled their eyes to the heavens upon hearing this answer.

Teacher Chen didn't know Han Zhou, so this answer sounded strange to her, but it was still a reasonable explanation.

“It’s quite rare for an adult to be friends with a child,” she said.

Han Zhou immediately recalled the humiliating experience of being called "uncle" and became unhappy: "Teacher Chen, you said this morning that I am also a child."

That's only relative to me.

"You look quite young, at most in your early twenties."

Teacher Chen glanced at him but didn't reply.

Although it's obvious that this is just sweet talk, no woman dislikes being complimented on her youth.

She was a little curious before, but now she seems to know how this young man became friends with Wang Lengqiu.

The two walked for about five more minutes, and then Teacher Chen stopped under a street lamp and said, "It's enough to drop me off here. Thank you for today."

Her home is a short distance from here, and it's a good sign that a woman living alone shouldn't easily reveal her address to a stranger.

"You're welcome."

Han Zhou handed over the box he was carrying.

He was thick-skinned, but he was too embarrassed to just shamelessly ask Teacher Chen to remember his help today and, in return, to take good care of Xiao Wang Lengqiu in the future. That would be too awkward. Instead, he planned to mention it next time he went to school with Xiao Wang Lengqiu, which would be more effective.

Goodbye, and be careful on your way back.

"I will."

The two parted ways under the streetlights.

(End of this chapter)