Forced into a romantic relationship

Besides taking Xiao Wang Leng Qiu out to play, Han Zhou also had a serious matter to attend to today: to check on Xiao Yi Xia's school.

That's not difficult; just use an "unlockable character detector" in conjunction with a "detection radar."

But he doesn't have many points left and there's no income for the time being, so he's trying his luck today. If he really can't find anything, he'll use the status bar.

That's why he deliberately went out at noon when he was going to school, and chose a route that passed by a certain primary school.

It's school time now, and elementary school students are heading to school one after another. Han Zhou is confident that he will recognize Xiao Yixia immediately, even if she is wearing a mask and a baseball cap.

However, most Yixias haven't developed this habit yet.

There are plenty of milk tea shops near the school. Han Zhou sat down with Xiao Wang Leng Qiu at a milk tea shop across from the school, ordered three cups of hot milk tea, and rested while keeping an eye on the students walking into the school gate.

He wasn't just taking a chance; he had thought it through carefully. Given Xiao Yixia's family situation, the school he would choose for her would definitely be one with abundant educational resources and relatively close to home, and the Shengyan Primary School in front of him clearly met this requirement.

If we happen to run into Xiao Yixia here, we can confirm tomorrow's plans with her in advance.

Why buy three cups of milk tea?

On Thursday noon, the milk tea shop wasn't crowded. After the staff left, Xiao Wang Lengqiu said earnestly, "If you don't have enough, I'll just have one sip, and you can have the rest."

Han Zhou laughed, thinking she was worried about wasting money, and said with a smile, "When you're out having fun, you shouldn't think about saving money. Besides, I'm not short of drinks, this cup of milk tea might be useful for something else."

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu turned around and looked towards the school gate, her gaze falling on the students coming and going: "Is the friend you mentioned here?"

She was indeed perceptive; she actually guessed the purpose of the third cup of milk tea right away.

"I'm not entirely sure if she's here either," Han Zhou said frankly.

Are you a student?

"Yes, but not necessarily the school here... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Seeing that Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu were looking at him strangely, Han Zhou couldn't help but ask.

"You seem to really enjoy being friends with elementary school students." Xiao Wang Leng Qiu looked away and glanced up at the digital clock on the wall.

"Kids are easier to get along with."

Han Zhou said with a smile, "And they... no, you all have a childlike innocence that adults have long lost. It's easy to forget the troubles of life when you're with them."

He was speaking from the heart. Children are mostly innocent and carefree, and their happiness is very contagious. Even if he doesn't particularly like children, he does feel much more relaxed when he's with them.

Of course, naughty and unruly children are an exception.

Han Zhou looked at the school gate across the street and thought to himself that it was better to say this to Xiao Wang Leng Qiu than to tell Xiao Yi Xia, because who knows which "innocence" that girl might hear.

Admittedly, Xiao Yixia isn't yet the future yellow-collar agent, but her memory is amazing. If this past incident isn't corrected in the status bar, and the other person happens to recall it in the future, he can already imagine what that guy would say to him—

"Oh, so adults lose their virginity early? But you still seem to have a childlike heart."

—We must never let this happen.

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu naturally had no idea what Han Zhou was thinking at the moment. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "When you're with me, do you forget the troubles of life?"

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Of course."

"So, you like being with me, right?"

"Correct."

"really?"

"real."

The girl hummed in agreement, sat quietly in her seat gazing into the distance, and said nothing more.

A short while later, the shop assistant came over with three cups of milk tea and smiled, saying, "Hello, these are your milk teas."

"Thank you."

Han Zhou took the milk tea and pushed one of the cups in front of Xiao Wang Leng Qiu. Just as he was about to insert the straw, the girl holding the cup suddenly spoke.

"Brother Han Zhou".

"Ok?"

"If one day I'm no longer a child, will you still like to be with me?"

Han Zhou paused in his movements.

The question was so sudden that he was momentarily dazed, recalling some things he had almost forgotten—

So what was my initial plan again?

Oh yes.

It was to serve as Xiao Wang Lengqiu's mentor in life, to warn her not to give up on life so easily.

In fact, the girl was much stronger than he had imagined, and didn't seem like the type to commit suicide.

In other words, the other person does not need a life mentor.

The other person also said they didn't want to be friends with him.

In a sense, his plan has actually succeeded; all he needs to do now is keep his distance from the girl.

But why did he forget about it?

Han Zhou was stunned for two seconds before forcing himself to remain calm and inserting the straw into the cup, forcing a smile as he asked, "Why do you ask that?"

"Because you just said that you like being with children. If I grow up and lose my childlike innocence, will you not like being with me anymore?"

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu remained calm and composed, their tone unchanged from usual. It seemed they were simply finding a strange point of focus, as usual, without any particular meaning.

But Han Zhou dared not think that way. This girl was quite perceptive; her sudden question was most likely not accidental, but rather a sign that she had sensed something.

Even if she were incredibly perceptive, she couldn't possibly connect this to something like time travel. So what led her to ask that question?

—Would you stop being unhappy if I left?

The words echoed in his mind again, and having learned his lesson, Han Zhou immediately gave a sincere reply: "No, childlike innocence is just the reason I like being with children, not the reason I like being with you."

"but--"

Before the other person could press for an explanation, he quickly continued, "But I've said it many times already, don't always try to please others. When you grow up, you should be thinking about whether you still want to be with me, not whether I still like being with you, understand?"

"What's the difference?" Xiao Wang asked Leng Qiu.

"Of course there is a difference."

Han Zhou sat up straight and coaxed, "You have your own life. You shouldn't be trapped by anything or anyone. Even if I really don't like being with you in the future, you don't need to be sad. Just go find the person you want to be with."

He paused, then continued, “And I’ll be going back to my planet soon, and we might never see each other again… What I mean is, you have to learn to live for yourself, and put aside all irrelevant people and troubles that have nothing to do with you.”

For some reason, a sense of sadness inexplicably arose in Han Zhou's heart the moment he finished speaking.

He couldn't deny that he seemed to be reluctant to part with this girl, whether it was from the past or the future.

But whatever the reason, it can only be attributed to greed now.

In order to avoid causing harm to more people in the future, he had no choice but to stick to his initial choice.

He and Wang Lengqiu could be friends, but they could only be friends.

Even if Xiao Wang Leng Qiu doesn't understand now, she will eventually understand when she grows up.

“I still don’t see any difference,” Xiao Wang Lengqiu suddenly said.

"what?"

Han Zhou suspected that she hadn't heard a word of what she said after that.

“I want to be with you, and you like being with me, so we should stay together.”

The girl, who was only twelve years old, probably didn't know what liking someone meant. All she wanted was to be with him, which made Han Zhou breathe a slight sigh of relief.

He said helplessly, "But this is only now; the future is uncertain."

"Don't you want to be with me in the future?" Xiao Wang asked Leng Qiu.

"I said, the future is unpredictable..."

"But I still want to stay with you."

Seeing Han Zhou staring at her in disbelief, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu tilted her head and said, "I should go find the person I want to be with, without worrying about whether it's troublesome or not, and without caring whether he wants to or not, right?"

Han Zhou was wrong. The girl hadn't ignored him; she had not only listened but had also formed her own complete logic.

This...this is Wang Lengqiu from the future!

He was startled and suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem. He quickly said, "But I will have to fly away on a spaceship sooner or later. Even if you want to stay with me, you are powerless to do so."

“But the spaceship will always come back, right?” Xiao Wang Lengqiu said.

"Why do you say that..."

"Because if you're not coming back, you won't keep talking about the future."

Han Zhou was stunned and didn't dare to say anything more for a moment.

……

The two sat in the milk tea shop for nearly twenty minutes, and Han Zhou didn't see Xiao Yixia until the school gates closed.

This means that either he went to the wrong place, or Xiao Yixia had already started school.

But whatever the reason, they should leave now and try their luck at another school when they go back in the afternoon.

Along the way, Han Zhou had a lot to say, but he didn't know how to start.

It's impossible for him to say something so shameless to a twelve-year-old girl like, "Hey, you don't like me, do you? If so, you should give up on that idea. I'm not interested in you."
Thinking about it carefully, he actually brought it on himself. After all, he was the one who taught Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu to speak their minds directly from the beginning. Now that the other party has actually said it, he can't be unhappy, can he?
However, now that things have come to this, one thing is basically certain—it seems that the future was already predetermined. His return to the past did not change anything; on the contrary, it became a factor in shaping the future.

At least Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu's personality change is inextricably linked to him.

Although he wanted to sigh and say, "Please, it's only been less than a week," it was the truth.

The past drives the future, and the future influences the past; the two intertwine and weave together to form his destiny.

This can be considered a good thing, as it means he doesn't need to be overly cautious to avoid affecting the future course of certain events, nor does he need to try to avoid the matter of Wang Mengqiu. He can just let things take their course, which is why he calmed down so quickly.

But this is also a bad thing. If the future is already predetermined, it means that he can't change anything. The death of Zhong Ling's parents is a foregone conclusion, and perhaps all he can do is remember their last words in advance.

Being stuck in the past and unable to change anything is probably the most painful thing. He could give a warning beforehand, but that might just become the trigger for an accident. But if he just stood by and did nothing, he would feel guilty.

Even setting aside his relationship with the Zhong sisters, he really didn't want to see such a gentle and kind pair of parents pass away.

What's even more painful is that he can't confide these concerns to Zhong Ling's family. Xiao Wang Leng Qiu is more mature and intelligent than he imagined, but that's precisely the problem—as the person who knows him best in this time and space, the other party will inevitably make some connections when they hear these words.

So after much thought, I decided that I'll have to ask my strategist, Xiao Yixia, for advice tomorrow.

The two are completely unfamiliar with each other. Even if that guy is very smart, he wouldn't associate these words with his identity as a time traveler.

If the future is indeed predetermined, then the matter of "kidnapping" Xiao Yixia needs to be handled with even more care. After all, it might be related to their future encounter, so secrecy is very important. It's best not to let Xiao Wang, Leng Qiu, and the others know about it...

With this in mind, Han Zhou and Xiao Wang Leng Qiu finally arrived at the entrance of the amusement park.

On a stone step to the left of the gate, a flock of white doves danced alongside fallen leaves. (End of Chapter)