Forced into a romantic relationship

At eight o'clock in the evening, night quietly descended upon Lincheng.

Compared to the bustling commercial street, the street where Han Zhou's house was located was rather deserted. It was still early, and the lights were still on in every household.

"Is this the place you found to stay?"

Seeing Han Zhou lead her into an old-looking residential building like a thief, and then lead her upstairs, furtively using a wire to pry open the door lock, even Xiao Yixia, who was usually very composed, couldn't help but show a strange expression.

"Shhh."

Han Zhou turned around and made a shushing gesture to avoid attracting the attention of the neighbors on the same floor.

With a "click," the door lock was pried open. He pushed open the door, gesturing for Xiao Yixia to come inside with him. While glancing towards the stairwell, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, the house is a bit old, but I've cleaned it all up. The sheets and blankets are all new."

He knew that Yixia didn't like using things that other people had used, so yesterday he specially set aside three hours to tidy up the room and even refurbished the bed.

Who cares about this?

If Xiao Yixia was initially certain that the guy in front of her wasn't a bad person, his current behavior made her somewhat suspicious.

"Is this your home?" she asked.

She couldn't help but be curious. If this wasn't his home, how could he so casually pick the lock and enter the house, then casually throw his coat on the sofa as if he were the homeowner? He seemed quite familiar with the layout of the room, and almost simultaneously turned on the light switch as he opened the door.

It's not hard to tell from what the other person said that this wasn't his first time here. If he's a thief, then this guy is incredibly audacious.

But if this is supposed to be his home, he's been acting suspiciously the whole way. Not only did he stop in the middle of the stairs and peek out for a while as if to check if anyone was in the room, but now he can't even take out his key to open the door. His fear of being discovered by the neighbors doesn't seem fake.

If he really is the owner of this house, then he seems far too guilty.

What Xiao Yixia couldn't understand the most was that this guy had been acting suspiciously the whole way, yet he dared to openly pick the lock right in front of her, and she didn't know what his purpose was.

"Could it be that, just like when I deliberately used a prank in the movie theater to test this guy's attitude, he was also using this incident to test my attitude?"

"Does he not care if I call the police? Or does he not believe I will call the police?"

Looking at the living room illuminated by the lights, many possibilities came to mind for Xiao Yixia.

"That's it."

Faced with Xiao Yixia's question, Han Zhou remained calm and smiled, "Come in and sit down. There are too many people and too much attention outside. Let's talk after you come in."

His thoughts weren't that complicated.

The main reason he picked the lock in front of Xiao Yixia was that he didn't have the key right now. Other than that, he just wanted to enjoy the child's adorable, dumbfounded expression.

After all, it's almost impossible to see a similar expression on Isha's face in the future.

Besides, he hadn't forgotten how Xiao Yixia had schemed against him at the movie theater tonight, so he might as well tease her with this, as a form of revenge.

Unfortunately, even nine-year-old Yixia only showed a slightly strange expression in the face of such an unexpected situation; he did not get the expression he wanted.

But that's enough.

He has already won.

To put it bluntly, Han Zhou is naive.

In the future, he will be manipulated by Mo Yixia at almost every turn, and will be constantly subjected to mind-reading and ridicule. He will lose miserably and humiliatingly.

He had to admit that he probably would never be a match for Yixia in the future. Now that he had the chance to go back to the past, he naturally had to get revenge on Xiao Yixia first.

Of course, that's true, but he couldn't bear to actually do anything for the child, so he could only rack his brains over trivial matters and resort to psychological tactics.

In short, he has already won.

"What do you mean by 'consider'?" Xiao Yixia asked again.

Despite her doubts, she followed Han Zhou into the living room.

Han Zhou locked the door as if to scare him, and replied, "It means this is indeed my home, but not entirely."

"Yeah."

This was no different from stating the obvious, but Xiao Yixia did not continue to ask questions as he expected. Instead, she nodded slightly, looked around, and commented, "You really are a poor wretch."

“If I weren’t poor, I wouldn’t have needed to bring you back.” Han Zhou sighed. “If I used you to ask your parents for ransom, I could definitely get a lot of money.”

“You just admitted that you weren’t a kidnapper,” Xiao Yixia said calmly.

"Really? I forgot."

Han Zhou wasn't embarrassed. He went to the water dispenser, filled two cups with hot water, and when he came to Xiao Yixia, his expression had become somewhat sinister. "But just because I'm not a kidnapper doesn't mean I can't be someone else."

If it were an ordinary person, they would most likely ask "What is your identity?" at this moment, but Xiao Yixia was obviously not an ordinary person. Not only did she not ask, but she also took the cup of hot water without caring and gently blew on it.

She examined it carefully for a moment. It was a brand new glass, and the water was freshly changed with purified water. It seemed that Rhino wasn't lying; he had probably cleaned the room just yesterday.

This guy really has a big heart...

Aren't you afraid the water might be poisonous?

Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, but ultimately felt too embarrassed to speak alone. He took out a pair of brand-new slippers from the bathroom and said, "These are new. Change into them. Your pajamas are on the bed in the bedroom. Pick one you like. I'm going to take a shower now."

Just as they were about to leave, Xiao Yixia suddenly asked, "If you have money to buy so many new things, why don't you just stay in a hotel?"

"No hotel is as comfortable as home."

Han Zhou answered casually, but regretted it as soon as he said it. Perhaps in Xiao Yixia's eyes, being at home was the least free thing.

After a moment's hesitation, he added, "At least in my house, you can do whatever you want."

"Is it okay to disturb the neighbors?" Xiao Yixia asked, holding her water glass, as if she were being argumentative.

Han Zhou knew she was just saying it and wouldn't actually do it, so he smiled and said, "Of course, no one will cause you any trouble."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud knocking sounded at the door, and one could vaguely hear curses such as "That bastard is finally back."

"...I haven't started disturbing the peace yet."

Xiao Yixia's eyes became somewhat subtle.

"..."

Han Zhou felt a little embarrassed and had a headache. He knew without a doubt that the group of guys who came to collect debts from Han Long had arrived. He didn't expect them to come at such an inopportune time. They didn't come when he was cleaning the room yesterday, but chose to come today when he brought Xiao Yixia home.

"It's alright, it's nothing. There must be some misunderstanding. I'll go out and handle it. You can wander around the house as you like, but remember not to come out," he said.

We can't leave this unattended. If we don't deal with it soon, those guys outside might tear the door down, and if the police come, we'll be in big trouble. "Can you handle it?"

Although she didn't know what was going on, Xiao Yixia could tell that there were many people standing outside the door.

"Of course you can. Like I said, it's probably a misunderstanding. Once we clear things up, everything will be fine." Han Zhou smiled.

Of course it's a misunderstanding. It's Han Long who owes the money, what does it have to do with him?
If that guy borrowed money everywhere to support himself and his son, that would be one thing, but that bastard used all that money for gambling. Even if they were father and son, he had no obligation to bear this debt.

Of course, he couldn't use his identity as Han Long's son to negotiate with those guys outside. Even if he did, it might not end well. If reasoning with them was completely ineffective, then he would have to resort to other methods.

"Is it really just a misunderstanding?" Xiao Yixia asked.

His tone was indifferent; it was less about concern and more about a kind of humanitarian concern.

"You have to trust me, just don't go out."

Han Zhou sighed, and as he spoke, he had already put on a mask and a baseball cap.

Just as he was about to leave, he saw Xiao Yixia suddenly take out her phone from her schoolbag and hand it to him.

"What do you mean?" Han Zhou was stunned.

"If you really can't handle it, then call the police." Xiao Yixia didn't seem to have much faith in him.

Han Zhou asked, puzzled, "Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to call the police for me?"

“If I were the one who called the police, it would be difficult to explain to my parents.”

"makes sense."

Han Zhou quickly understood, and without wasting any more time, he put away his phone and walked straight towards the door.

He was afraid that the group of debt collectors outside would rush into the house and scare Xiao Yixia, so he first shouted "Coming!" and waited until the noise outside subsided before opening the door. Without giving anyone a chance to react, he immediately went outside and closed the door behind him.

There were five or six people standing outside the door. The leader was a bald man with a muscular face and a tattoo on his neck. He looked like someone you didn't want to mess with.

Seeing someone come out, the bald man immediately sneered: "Han Long, you bastard, you've been hiding from us for so long, and you've finally decided to come back..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly frowned. "If you're not Han Long, then who the hell are you?"

Although the face was not clearly visible, the person in front of him was vastly different from Han Long in both build and height, so they were clearly not the same person.

"Excuse me, I don't know who Han Long is, but I am now the tenant of this house. Please do not disturb me and the neighbors. Please speak politely."

Faced with these menacing-looking people, Han Zhou's attitude was relatively friendly. After all, it was best to resolve the issue with words. Besides, Han Long did owe these people money and had been hiding for so long, so he could understand their feelings.

Moreover, he remembered the short man and others who had come to his door to collect debts. Although those guys looked fierce, they were actually quite reasonable. Perhaps these people were the same.

Unexpectedly, the bald man seemed not to listen to him at all, and spat out, "Go to hell, tenant! That bastard Han Long owes us money and won't pay it back. The house has already been mortgaged to us. Who the hell dares to live here? Who are you renting from?"

It seems this group isn't on the same wavelength as the short guy...

Han Zhou sighed: "Please calm down. Go find whoever owes you money. I'm just a tenant. Your grudges have nothing to do with me."

The bald man sneered, "I've been dreaming of finding that bastard, but he keeps hiding from us. What can I do?"

"Yes, that beast is like an eel, you can't find it anywhere."

"Damn it, if I see this, I'll make him regret it!"

"You little brat, you wouldn't happen to be related to Han Long, would you?"

"..."

The henchmen behind him cursed and swore.

These thugs seem to lose their voice when they're away from their mother...

Han Zhou glanced intently at a tall, thin man behind the bald man, thinking to himself that this guy had guessed correctly; he was indeed Han Long's relative.

But he absolutely could not admit to this, otherwise he would be in for a lot of trouble these next few days. So he calmly said, "I don't know Han Long at all, it's no use you coming to me."

"Who said it's useless to contact you?"

The bald man kicked the door open and said menacingly, "Maybe that bastard Han Long is hiding in the room right now... What do you think?"

He stared intently into Han Zhou's eyes. The way Han Zhou immediately closed the door after leaving the room bothered him. His intuition told him that there must be someone else in the room, and most likely the person they were looking for.

“I told you, I don’t know Han Long.”

Han Zhou frowned slightly, wondering if his kick had startled Xiao Yixia in the room.

The bald man knew he would say that, and said coldly, "Then do you dare to open the door and let us in to search?"

As he spoke, he made a gesture as if to kick the door again, but his foot bumped into Han Zhouxian's outstretched calf, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"What the hell do you want?!"

The henchmen behind him were furious and immediately surrounded Han Zhou.

Han Zhou remained expressionless: "Speak if you want to, don't kick the door."

"Do you fucking want to die?"

One of the henchmen had a fiery temper and was about to make a move, but the bald man stopped him. His foot was in excruciating pain, but he couldn't show it because of his pride, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it, making his voice sound like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

Is there anyone else in the room?

"What does this have to do with you?" Han Zhou asked.

"who is it?"

Han Zhou had lost his patience. Seeing that this group was difficult to communicate with, he decided not to continue trying to remain calm. He sneered and said, "She's my wife, so what?"

The bald man looked suspicious: "Are you sure it's your wife?"

"I'm sure, and I guarantee there's no one else but her, or I'll be struck by lightning and die a horrible death. Is that alright?" Han Zhou said impatiently.

Upon hearing this, the bald man and the others exchanged bewildered glances, wondering if what he was saying was true, and if Han Long really wasn't hiding in the room.

As petty thugs, they still believed in this quite a bit.

After hesitating for a while, the bald man's arrogance gradually subsided. This was mainly because the other party was too calm, as if he didn't take their large group seriously at all. It was unclear where he got his confidence from.

He certainly wanted to lead his brothers to give this guy a good beating, which would make communication much easier. But he had a feeling the other guy thought the same thing, as if he was just waiting for them to make the first move. (End of Chapter)