Forced into a romantic relationship

When Han Zhou woke up, the movie had already ended, and the audience was leaving the theater in an orderly manner.

Xiao Lengqiu and Xiao Zhongling remained seated, presumably waiting for him to wake up. Zhong Yin, on the other hand, leaned back in his seat with a lifeless expression, gazing at the sky with vacant eyes, as if he had lost all hope in life.

Han Zhou was startled and immediately regained his composure, asking hastily, "Sister Yin, what's wrong?"

He had accidentally swallowed sleeping pills and was truly asleep, unaware of what happened in between. If he hadn't been preoccupied with something, he wouldn't have woken up so quickly.

His gaze fell on the seat to Zhong Yin's right, where Xiao Yixia was nowhere to be seen. Presumably, she had gone downstairs to wait as agreed.

"tragedy."

Seeing that he had woken up, Zhong Yin still had that lifeless expression. She sighed and said, "You guessed right. The ending of this movie is indeed a tragedy. The male and female leads did not end up together."

"Huh?" Han Zhou looked bewildered.

Is Sister Yin's empathy really that strong? Just because the movie has a tragic ending, she's so upset that her eyes are almost lifeless.

He was about to complain when he suddenly remembered his important task—

Oh right, those guys blocking the door, we need to send Xiao Lengqiu out and deal with them first...

"no need."

However, before he could speak, Zhong Yin let out another long sigh, as if he had guessed what he was thinking, and shook his head and sighed, "It's too late, my innocence is completely ruined."

Seeing Han Zhou's surprised expression, Xiao Lengqiu explained softly, "Those older sisters came in again and saw you sleeping with Sister Zhong Yin."

what?
Were they still seen?
No wonder Sister Yin is so depressed...

Han Zhou's expression hardened slightly. He didn't have time to think about what "sleeping together" meant. He looked around but didn't see the others, so he asked, "Where are they?"

"At the door."

Zhong Yin rubbed his temples and said worriedly, "They should be waiting for us to come out."

It was too dark in the theater to see clearly, so those guys must have wanted to get a closer look at what their "boyfriend" looked like. Then they would swarm around him like gossip reporters, asking all sorts of questions, and finally hold a press conference on Monday to spread the news far and wide.

"I see."

Han Zhou nodded, then suddenly stood up, his expression serious. "Don't worry, Sister Yin, I'll make them shut up."

His tone was cold, which frightened Zhong Yin so much that she thought he was going to go out and kill someone to cover it up. She looked nervous and quickly grabbed his hand tightly, saying, "What are you going to do?"

"What else can you do?"

Han Zhou smiled faintly, "Of course, I should reason with them, explain the whole story clearly, and then ask them not to tell anyone about what happened today."

"So...so it's just about reasoning?"

Zhong Yin was somewhat worried and hesitated before asking, "But how do you plan to explain this?"

It really happened that she was forcibly kissed by this guy. So many people were watching. It's not something that can be denied and forgotten. What explanation does this guy have?
To be honest, she was really curious to hear how this guy would explain it.

Han Zhou considered for a moment, seemingly finding it troublesome to explain, so he shook his head and said, "Then I won't explain, but I promise I can keep them from talking nonsense."

"Aren't you just making things worse by explaining yourself?"

Zhong Yin looked worried, fearing that this guy might not know the gravity of the situation and might say something shocking like "pregnancy before marriage".

"No, please wait here for me for a few minutes, I'll be right back."

Han Zhou gave her a reassuring look, put his mask and baseball cap back on, and then left the theater.

He didn't know if those girls were easy to talk to, but if they really refused to cooperate, then he would have no choice but to resort to that tactic.

Although Han Zhou appeared confident, Zhong Yin was still a little uneasy. After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't help but stand up and carefully walk towards the entrance of the theater, while Xiao Lengqiu and Xiao Zhongling silently followed behind her.

Zhong Yin didn't dare get too close, lest her presence affect Han Zhou's performance. Because there was still some distance between them, she could only vaguely hear a few words, such as "get straight to the point," "be honest with each other," and a sentence like "Classmate, you don't want your secret to be known by others, do you?"

After that came a burst of panicked screams, and someone seemed to cry, sobbing twice and saying in a whimper, "How could you bully me like that?"

Bullying?
Zhong Yin's eyes widened suddenly.

Did that bastard really force a kiss on Wang Ying and the others?

Otherwise, why would they cry, and why would they say he was bullying them?
Is this how this guy tries to reason?
"You bastard..."

She was furious and rushed out of the theater. Just as she was about to speak, she saw that guy standing in front of Wang Ying and the other two with his hands clasped together, bowing and smiling repeatedly, as if he was begging for something. He looked so humble that her heart softened and she felt a pang of sadness.

Seeing that no one had noticed her, she quickly shrank back and eavesdropped through the wall.

"That's right, I begged Sister Yin to come with me so that I could save money on movie tickets."

"Valentine's Day? Yes, yes, yes, I just made up an excuse to invite her to the movies because it's Valentine's Day today."

“I am interested in her, but she really has no feelings for me at all, and I haven’t done anything with her. You must have been mistaken before.”

"I'm begging you all. Sister Yin can't be burdened with this kind of reputation for no reason. I don't care what happens to her, but if her family finds out, I'm dead!"

"..."

So this is how this guy makes sense...

Zhong Yin was stunned. Han Zhou had actually pinned all the blame on himself. The last sentence was clearly intentional, meant to provoke Wang Ying and the others.

As expected, Wang Ying and the others fell for it. Perhaps they genuinely believed that this was a selfish person who dared to do something but not take responsibility. They immediately said in an impatient tone that they would keep today's events a secret, and then hurriedly left.

Of course, their bad attitude might also be related to Han Zhou's previous "bullying".

For a moment, Zhong Yin was both touched and helpless. She thought this guy had some brilliant plan. She wanted to clear her name, that's true, but did he have to portray himself in such a bad light?
After Wang Ying and the others left, she walked out of the theater and saw Han Zhou looking over. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's all taken care of."

"I heard it all."

Zhong Yin sighed and gave him a complicated look. "But are you sure they'll keep today's events a secret if you say that?"

"I'm sure," Han Zhou said firmly.

After a brief conversation, he realized that these three girls were not the type to be reasoned with, so he used the "asking questions will only lead to guilt" approach to uncover one of their secrets, which could be seen as making an example of her.

If you can gossip everywhere without a care in the world, then I can certainly expose your secrets to the public as well—this is a blatant threat, and also the reason why he is so confident that he can resolve this matter.

However, he soon realized a problem.

Solving the problem in this way is indeed simple and effective, but it might cause Zhong Yin to be disliked by the three girls along with him. That's why he added another scene to separate himself from Zhong Yin.

In this way, they might see Zhong Yin as a victim harassed by a selfish jerk, and instead of disliking her, they might even stand on the same side as her.

"Is this how you usually reason with people?" Zhong Yin said irritably.

The problem was clearly solved, but she didn't feel relieved at all. Instead, she felt that it would be better to let the gossip spread.

"Yes."

Han Zhou smiled, then suddenly seemed to be thinking, "Do you think I have a chance to become a negotiation expert or something in the future?"

"No."

Zhong Yin rolled her eyes. "Instead of negotiating like this, you might as well beat them up." "Hitting people is illegal, especially hitting people with a wrench, so you must never do anything like that again," Han Zhou said meaningfully.

A wrench? What kind of wrench?
Zhong Yin's original intention was to tell Han Zhou that there was no need to solve the problem in this way—she only saw the second half and thought that this guy was both begging and making fun of himself, which was why he reluctantly asked Wang Ying and the others to keep it a secret. But he seemed to be indifferent and even had the mood to say inexplicable things, which made her furious.

"Aren't you afraid they'll all think you're a jerk for saying these things on purpose?"

"I don't even know them, so why should I care?" Han Zhou smiled indifferently.

Not to mention that he doesn't care about other people's opinions, even if he did, he's leaving Lincheng next week and won't be back for nine years. Why would he care about such a trivial matter?

Zhong Yin was speechless for a moment, and after a few seconds she managed to organize her thoughts: "What if they see us together again in the future? Am I supposed to become a jerk with you?"

"Don't worry, Lincheng is so big, you won't get caught."

"But... but what if you get seen picking me up from evening study sessions in the future?"

Zhong Yin didn't know why she said those words.

This guy never mentioned that he would pick her up from evening self-study sessions in the future.

Is it because today's movie ended in tragedy?
Or perhaps it's because of what this guy said while he was asleep?

Han Zhou paused for a moment upon hearing this, then turned to look at the somewhat flustered girl with surprise, and suddenly smiled: "Then I'll hide like this today."

Zhong Yin's face flushed instantly. She immediately recalled the scene of pressing the other person against her chest not long ago and said angrily, "Who asked you to hide!"

Han Zhou smiled without saying a word, took Xiao Lengqiu's hand, and the group walked out of the movie theater together.

What he really wanted to say was that there would be no future; he would be leaving Lincheng next week and probably wouldn't have the chance to pick her up from school again.

But for some reason, perhaps thinking of Sister Yin, who was cold and short-tempered nine years later, he suddenly felt reluctant to say such things to this girl who was still young and cheerful at the moment.

So he decided to stay a few more days.

Zhong Yin walked alongside him, hesitating for a long time, but ultimately did not voice her questions about those dream-talking questions.

The main concern is that I'm afraid this guy will feel ashamed.

but……

What do you mean by "you can't save me"?

Could this guy be dreaming that he's Sun Wukong and mistaking me for Zixia Fairy?
No, he seemed to have said "you all" at the time...

Who does "you all" refer to?

Since this guy called my name first, it means I'm the most important one...

Let's assume he, like me, had dreams related to the future, and considering his tense and anxious expression at the time...

This "you"...

hiss--

Could it be that I'll really get pregnant out of wedlock in the future?
……

Han Zhou, of course, had no idea what Zhong Yin was thinking.

He hadn't forgotten that Xiao Yixia was waiting for him downstairs, so he didn't chat with Zhong Yin and the others for too long. He quickly found an excuse to leave, saying that he hadn't finished his business yet and that he probably wouldn't go back tonight.

In fact, he hadn't even finished his important business.

Upon arriving downstairs, Han Zhou cautiously looked up and observed for a while. Seeing that Zhong Yin hadn't followed, Han Zhou felt relieved and met up with Xiao Yixia at the mall entrance.

He put his hands in his pockets, stepped forward, and asked, "So, have your parents contacted you?"

He had thought about it. If Xiao Yixia was behind the massage chair activating in the movie theater, then she must have a smartphone.

Xiao Yixia, carrying her little schoolbag, followed behind him while looking down at a picture book: "I've only been missing for less than half a day, and you're already planning to ask my parents for ransom?"

"It seems they haven't contacted you," Han Zhou said.

He wondered when the parents would realize their daughter was missing... He sighed inwardly.

Xiao Yixia didn't deny it, and without looking up, she asked, "If they contact me, what do you plan to do?"

"That depends on what you want to do," Han Zhou replied casually.

Xiao Yixia looked up at him.

Han Zhou realized it was time to use his "mind-reading" ability. This guy must want to know what he meant by that, so he smiled faintly and said, "If you want to go back, I'll send you back. If you don't want to go back, I'll take you to play for a couple more days. That's all."

"I just wanted to ask where we're staying tonight," Xiao Yixia said casually.

Aren't you going home tonight?

Han Zhou was stunned. Although he had prepared a place to stay last night, he did not expect that Xiao Yixia had actually made the plan to stay out all night.

Even if he wasn't a professional robber, he was still a complete stranger we were meeting for the first time.

Is this because he's too trusting, or because he's already convinced he won't hurt her?

Instead of answering, Xiao Yixia asked, "Why do you think I carried my schoolbag out of school today?"

"To pack a change of clothes?"

Han Zhou suddenly realized that this guy had really been prepared to live outside all along.

"Do not."

Unexpectedly, the girl shook her head, "It's so that you can use the backpack to prove my identity and go to my parents to ask for the ransom."

"..."

So this means it doesn't matter where you live, you're just giving up?

Han Zhou was silent for a moment: "I don't believe you can't tell that I'm not a real robber."

"I can tell, otherwise why do you think I would bring my phone?"

Han Zhou pondered for a moment, unable to immediately grasp the connection between the two, and tentatively asked, "Is it to contact your parents in time?"

"No, it's to pass the time."

Xiao Yixia put away her sketchbook and said honestly, "I originally thought today would be very boring."

Han Zhou was taken aback: "And now?"

He was never really sure how Isha defined whether something was interesting.

A night breeze blew from afar, making their clothes flutter loudly.

Xiao Yixia tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"This seems a bit more interesting now." (End of Chapter)