Forced into a romantic relationship

Han Zhou knew that there were all sorts of Valentine's Days in the world, but this was the first time he had ever heard of a Valentine's Day in a movie.

Upon closer inspection, it turns out there really is such a festival—

Movie Valentine's Day, also known as Orange Valentine's Day, is set on November 14th every year. As the name suggests, this day is suitable for couples to watch movies together, while single people are only fit to hide in a corner and drink orange juice, which symbolizes "waiting for love" and "enjoying freedom".

They talk about enjoying freedom, but really it's just that no one wants to go to the movies with them.

What? Why not let your brother come along?

Lincheng isn't Chengdu. Can a holiday with brothers present be called Valentine's Day?

Getting back to the point, in Han Zhou's view, this movie Valentine's Day is no different from the 520 Valentine's Day that emerged in the internet age; both are just ways for businesses to make money.

After all, the activity suitable for couples on this day is to watch two movies in a row, an action movie and a romance movie, to symbolize passion and romance.

Listen to this, you have to watch two movies in a row.

If it's not about making money, why not get straight to the point and encourage couples to watch a passionate and romantic adult film on this day?
Of course, whether November 14th is a holiday for movie theaters to make money is not the point. What really matters to Han Zhou is why Zhong Yin invited him to go to the movies together.
According to Zhong Yin, the Valentine's Day movie event might just be a pretext; the real factor affecting movie ticket prices might be a star concert that will be held in Lincheng soon.

Regardless of the reason, it's a fact that many cinemas will be lowering ticket prices this Friday, and couples can enjoy discounts as low as 20% off.

"Sister Yin, I understand that you want to save money, but what I mean is, why do you want me to buy couple tickets with you?" Han Zhou looked troubled.

"Otherwise what? Do you expect me to actually find a boyfriend? It's just asking you to help me buy and check tickets, it's not like I'm going to eat you."

Zhong Yin rolled her eyes at him and handed him the phone again. "Also, look here, the family package is free if the child is under twelve. Xiaoya and Xiaoling are about the same age, so they don't have to pay for their tickets. That means we only need to pay less than half the price of a movie ticket to see a movie together as a group of four. That's a huge bargain."

She gave Han Zhou a look that said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Han Zhou gave a wry smile: "Sister Yin, since it's a family-friendly package, why don't you let your aunt and uncle take you to the movies together?"

It wasn't that he was refusing, but he had to kidnap Xiao Yixia on Friday and might not be able to find the time. It would be great if Xiao Wang Lengqiu could go to the movies with Sister Yin's family.

"I also wanted to invite my parents, but they were busy that day."

Zhong Yin looked regretful, paused, and continued, "The family package is a special offer ticket, and it can't be refunded once it's bought, otherwise I wouldn't have contacted you."

She was telling the truth. If she hadn't already bought a set meal, as a girl, even if she wanted to save money, she wouldn't have specifically asked a guy to pretend to be her boyfriend. That would have been too silly.

But since the tickets had already been bought and couldn't be refunded, she felt it would be a waste to just leave them unused, so she kept thinking about how to use them.

Han Zhou thought for a moment and said, "I understand how you feel, but I have a question."

"what is the problem?"

"Family Set Meal... As the name suggests, it should be a set meal suitable for the whole family, right?"

"correct."

"Since it's a family, shouldn't there be parents and children?"

Are you talking nonsense?

"I mean……"

Han Zhou took a deep breath. "Given our ages, pretending to be a couple to check tickets isn't a problem, but isn't it a bit too much to bring two kids along? After all, Xiaoya and Xiaoling are already in elementary school. We don't look like we could have two kids that big, do we?"

"Yeah, nobody would believe it if I told them."

Zhong Yin gave him a strange look, then said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Otherwise, why would I look for you?"

Han Zhou: "..."

After a brief moment of stunned silence, he asked in an incredulous tone, "Sister Yin, you don't mean you want me to shamelessly say that Xiaoya and Xiaoling are our daughters, do you?"

"Yes, yes... Otherwise, do you expect me to go and tell them?" Zhong Yin finally realized the problem and turned her head away somewhat embarrassedly.

At first, she thought that this guy wouldn't care about such a thing because he was shameless, but now it seems that she was overthinking it. But since things have come to this point, she can only continue to assume that this guy is thick-skinned.

So she whispered to comfort her, "Don't worry too much. Discounts are just a promotional tactic. The difficulty isn't whether the ticket checkers will approve it, but whether you dare to be shameless enough to say it out loud."

Han Zhou looked dejected and said helplessly, "That sounds nice, so why don't you say it yourself?"

"She's a girl after all..."

"I can be one too."

Seeing his lack of tact, Zhong Yin stopped pretending and said with a dissatisfied look, "You were just calling me 'sister' a moment ago. Now that I need your help, can't you do me a favor?"

Han Zhou shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to help, but I have something to do on Friday and I can't spare the time in the afternoon."

"But Xiaoling and I can only go to the movies after school in the afternoon."

"So our schedules conflict."

"Ok."

Hearing this, although she couldn't hide her disappointment, Zhong Ling couldn't insist. She stood up and said, "Then if you have time, remember to let me know. I'm going to take a shower now."

She doesn't seem to be planning to ask anyone else for help.

"it is good."

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and got up as well.

Just as Zhong Yin was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, "By the way, did you really not see anything while you were standing here?"

She always felt that this guy had something on his mind.

"There's nothing here but walls and mud, what else can I see?" Han Zhou chuckled.

"That's true... It's cold outside, remember to come inside early."

Zhong Yin didn't ask any more questions. She picked up a small stool, swayed her ponytail, and left.

A pebble path leads from the gate to the house, while most of the rest of the area is flat dirt ground. One section has been fenced off and planted with green vegetables.

—Everything was just as Han Zhou remembered.

Or rather, it's all the same as nine years later.

The only difference was that, in his memory, there should have been a large, leafy tree growing near the wall, but that tree was nowhere to be seen.

It seems that someone will plant it here someday. With this thought in mind, he stood there for a long time, observing whether there were any roots or stems that were hard to detect, and pondering how many years it would take for a tree to grow to six or seven meters tall.

Of course, to say how significant this question is, it's really not that important; he was just suddenly feeling a bit bored and sentimental.

The tree that would later be tightly connected to one end of the clothesline had not yet taken root or sprouted at this moment.

What an amazing feeling.

"Let's go back."

After standing in the courtyard for a while, Han Zhou casually drew a cross on the spot in his memory with the toe, pretending it was the treasure trove of some great pirate. Suddenly, he chuckled to himself, thinking how childish he was. He wiped the symbol off with the sole of his foot and turned back into the house.

(End of this chapter)