Forced into a romantic relationship

"I really don't know how your sister got into our yard, but thank goodness she woke us up, otherwise we might not have found you until dawn."

In the brightly lit room, a muscular man smiled as he looked at Han Zhou on the bed. It was clear that his home had been inexplicably invaded, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he showed an incomprehensible magnanimity and kindness, and took Han Zhou and Xiao Wang Leng Qiu home to settle them down.

Beside the man was a gentle woman whose appearance bore a striking resemblance to Zhong Ling. She was carefully wiping Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's hair and cheeks with a towel, and occasionally, when she caught Han Zhou's blank expression, she would give a slight smile.

Indeed, the man and woman in front of them were none other than Zhong Chengguang and Ye Xiaorou, the deceased parents of the Zhong sisters.

This is precisely why Han Zhou looked dazed.

Although he had expected it, he was still taken aback when he actually saw two people who should have died appear before him.

Especially Zhong's mother, Ye Xiaorou, whose smile was exactly the same as that of her senior, Zhong Ling. However, unlike her daughter, she was not easily shy. Instead, she appeared poised and generous. She was not annoyed when Han Zhou kept staring at her. Instead, she playfully winked at her husband.

"He's a very handsome boy."

As she spoke, she bent down again and smiled at Xiao Wang Leng Qiu in front of her, "You are also a very pretty little girl, just like our Xiao Yin and Xiao Ling."

Even with Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's relatively aloof personality, he couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and comfort upon seeing such a smile, and for a moment he felt somewhat uneasy.

"Yes...thank you."

She thanked him softly, then picked up a stool and sat down next to Han Zhou, carefully taking his sleeve.

Han Zhou looked down and smiled at her, indicating that she didn't need to worry.

The girl didn't say anything, but quietly loosened her sleeve and instead tightly grasped his hand, staring blankly at the few bite marks revealed under her sleeve.

“Your sister was really worried about you. After she climbed into the yard, she kept knocking on our windows, asking us to help her find you,” Zhong Chengguang said with a smile.

Han Zhou could roughly guess what had happened. Although "There Will Be an Echo" successfully teleported him and Xiao Wang Leng Qiu to Xiao Zhong Ling's side, the final landing point was slightly off, causing him to be teleported to the gate of Zhong Ling's house, while Xiao Wang Leng Qiu was teleported into the courtyard.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you both," he said apologetically.

It's only because Zhong Ling's parents have good tempers; otherwise, if they were more short-tempered, they probably would have called the police immediately. If that were the case, they would be facing a flight instead of a warm room and comforting soup.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou couldn't help but feel a subtle feeling. Since arriving in this time and space, he seemed to be surrounded by kindness. Without this kindness, he would never have had such a smooth time these past few days.

"It's not troublesome at all."

Zhong Chengguang smiled nonchalantly, "It's fate that we met, and besides, you guys are the ones who have done us a huge favor."

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean..."

Ye Xiaorou explained with a light smile, "If your sister hadn't knocked on the window and woken us up, my husband and I might not have been able to discover the gas leak in the kitchen in time, and it would have almost caused a disaster."

"Is that so?" Han Zhou was stunned, and looked down at Xiao Wang Leng Qiu.

The latter shook his head, indicating that he was not quite sure.

If this wasn't a white lie, then Han Zhou couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of fate. He didn't know if it was a preordained twist of fate or a chance occurrence.

Ye Xiaorou smiled gently and didn't continue the topic. Instead, she asked with concern, "Your mask is soaked. That's very unhygienic. Don't you need to take it off?"

"No need, I have the flu and I might infect you."

Han Zhou put on a mask before teleporting because he anticipated encountering Zhong Ling's family.

Unlike Xiao Wang, Leng Qiu, and Uncle Xia, with whom he would never cross paths again, he was unsure what kind of impact his future self would have on this family. Even if the status bar would be corrected for this past, he still felt it necessary to hide his face just to be on the safe side.

Ye Xiaorou and her husband exchanged a glance, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes. She wanted to say that they had extra masks at home, but her husband stopped her with a look. He chuckled and said, "Then how about I drive you to the hospital to get checked out? You both have quite a few injuries."

"No need, this is just a minor injury, no need to go to the hospital," Han Zhou said, forcing himself to speak.

He and Xiao Wang Leng Qiu are in a rather awkward situation. They can neither go to the police station nor the hospital, making them almost like wanted criminals. After all, they cannot explain how they came from Xinghua Town, which was flooded, to Lincheng, especially Han Zhou, who cannot even produce his ID card.

Hearing this, Zhong Chengguang and Ye Xiaorou were stunned. The little girl was alright, with only some scratches on her face and hands, but this young man was covered in cuts and bruises, and his clothes were tattered, as if he had been beaten by a group of people. He was even limping when he walked into the yard. It would be strange if he didn't go to the hospital.
and many more.

Wearing a mask to hide his face and refusing to go to the hospital... could this child be...?

Could it be that he ran away from home with his younger sister?
Of course, the couple couldn't associate Han Zhou and his companion with wanted criminals. After all, they were just two children, and the little girl was so cute that she didn't seem like the type to break the law—even though the little girl had recently climbed into their yard, they still didn't think they were bad kids.

So, after thinking it over, the only person wandering around Lincheng with injuries after the rain is probably a poor child who has been forced to run away from home due to domestic violence.
They had even confirmed with the little girl that the young man was so badly injured because he was protecting his sister.

Thinking of this, the couple couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. As people with two daughters, they simply couldn't understand how anyone could bear to inflict violence on their own flesh and blood.

Han Zhou had no idea that, a few days later, he was once again being treated as a runaway child.

At this moment, he was planning to find an excuse to leave. After all, his face was already a potential problem in Lincheng, and it would be even more troublesome if he ran into Zhong Yin and Zhong Ling when they were young.

However, despite it being their first meeting, Zhong Ling and her parents were excessively enthusiastic, insisting that they stay overnight. They even dragged their sleeping eldest daughter out of the room, saying that the room was for them to use that night.

Han Zhou used the bell as a "coordinate" to teleport to this place, but he didn't expect that the first thing he saw was not the little bell, but the little bell silver.

No, Zhong Yin was no longer young—in terms of age, of course. Zhong Yin was now a high school student, not much younger than Han Zhou. If she hadn't been living at school, the two of them probably wouldn't have met today. Han Zhou pulled his mask up a little and observed for a while. He realized that what Senior Zhong Ling said might be true. Young Yin was indeed completely different from later on, a lively and cheerful person. Even when she was woken up in the middle of the night, she wasn't angry. When she heard that she had to give up her room, she was more pleased than surprised. Without saying a word, she started tidying up the room, picked up her blanket, and rushed to her sister's bedroom, looking very impatient.

"Sister Yin is such a good person..."

Han Zhou chuckled inwardly. Of course, he knew why Zhong Yin was so excited. After all, she was a true sister-obsessed girl. She would probably wake up laughing in the middle of the night if she could sleep with her sister. But the fact that she was so generous in giving up her room to a man was enough to show that he was a very nice person.

"hello!"

The high school girl even greeted him with a bright smile, and then ruffled Xiao Wang Lengqiu's hair a dozen times before leaving, satisfied, carrying her blanket.

Her long, flowing hair danced freely under the warm-toned light. When Han Zhou saw that the girl didn't have a hearing aid in her ear, a strange feeling welled up in his heart, and his eyes gradually softened.

Do you know Xiaoyin?

Zhong Chengguang, who was carrying a change of clothes, noticed his gaze and asked curiously.

"No, I don't know him."

Han Zhou smiled and said sincerely, "I just really like seeing her happy."

"Yeah."

Zhong Chengguang assumed that the harmonious atmosphere of the family reminded him of his own home, a place he longed to escape from. He sighed inwardly and chuckled.

"These are my clothes from when I was young. I don't know if they fit you. This set of pajamas belongs to Xiaoling. Let your sister change into them. They are about the same height, so they should be able to wear them. Aunt Ye is changing the sheets. Once they're done, you can go to rest."

"Thank you so much for your help," Han Zhou said gratefully.

"By the way, Uncle Zhong, could I borrow your phone?"

He suddenly remembered that he needed to let Grandpa Wang, Uncle Xia, and Teacher Chen know that he was safe, so as not to worry them, especially the latter. After all, Teacher Chen had watched him rush into the flood, and there were some things that needed to be communicated, otherwise, things might get messy, and the search and rescue team was also working hard.

After finishing the phone call, Han Zhou took a hot shower in the bathroom, then went into Zhong Yin's room and lay sprawled out on the soft bed, feeling as if his bones had gone limp.

Looking at the large chandelier on the ceiling, before he could even express his feelings, a small head suddenly popped out in front of him. It was Xiao Wang Lengqiu, who had been sitting on the bed waiting.

He never expected that no matter how much he tried to avoid it, he would still end up sharing a bed with his wife... He smiled bitterly to himself, got up and asked, "Why didn't you blow-dry your hair?"

"I couldn't find a hair dryer," Xiao Wang Lengqiu said softly.

As she spoke, she kept staring at the bite marks on Han Zhou's arm, and suddenly asked, "Does it hurt?"

Han Zhou was looking around for a hairdryer when he heard this and thought the other person was talking about his injury, so he smiled and said, "It doesn't hurt."

When he found the hairdryer and returned to the bedside, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu was looking at the family photo on the bedside table. When she saw Han Zhou bring the hairdryer, she was about to reach out to take it when she saw him grab her hair, turn on the hot air, and skillfully start drying it.

"Thank you."

She wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat and she forgot them, so she just said these two words instead.

"You're welcome."

Han Zhou smiled and said while shaking the hairdryer, "I called Teacher Chen. The school will probably be closed for about two weeks. We don't need to rush back. How about we play in Lincheng this week?"

He promised to take this girl out to play.

"it is good."

Xiao Wang Lengqiu nodded gently, then added, "But I need to tell Grandpa."

She had already let her grandfather know she was safe, but she didn't mention that she wanted to play here.

Han Zhou wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Xiao Wang Leng Qiu seemed unusually "docile" today. He made several suggestions, and the other party agreed to them all, including calling him "brother".

"correct."

As if he had just thought of something, he suddenly said, "I'll go buy you a new copy of 'Witnessing Aliens' first thing tomorrow morning. The bookstores here are big; they'll definitely have it."

The previous copy of "Witnessing Aliens" has been lost in the brick kiln.

"No need," Xiao Wang Leng Qiu shook his head.

"Why?" Han Zhou was taken aback. "Didn't you want to see the ending?"

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu silently felt the temperature above his head, glanced again at the bite marks on his arm, and then shook his head seriously.

"No need, it's not important anymore."

(End of this chapter)