Forced into a romantic relationship

I'm probably overthinking it. This kid's still a kid, probably still in school, and hasn't experienced the harsh realities of society, which is why he dares to look down on us...

Hmph, wife? Where would someone this age get a wife?

I haven't even managed to find a wife yet!

The thought of being almost forty and still single stung the bald man with a pang of pain. He raised his hand to signal his restless underlings to calm down and said, "How about this? I'm not an unreasonable person. I don't care who you rented the house from. I'll call him now and have him hand over Han Long to me. That way, we'll be even."

"Even if we're even? I don't think I owe you anything, do I?" Han Zhou said coldly.

"Since you're staying at Han Long's house, you owe us something."

Seeing that he wouldn't budge, the bald man got angry and said sternly, "I don't want to argue with you. Just call the landlord and we'll leave immediately, it's that simple. If you're too embarrassed to say it, give me your phone and I'll talk to him, okay?"

Han Zhou shook his head: "I'm sorry, I don't know the landlord's phone number, but I can guarantee that the landlord's name is definitely not Han Long."

Not to mention that he couldn't produce the landlord's phone number at all, even if he did, he wouldn't tell these guys, otherwise it would be the landlord who would be getting his door banged on in the middle of the night.

"Go to hell! You rented a place and you don't know the landlord's phone number?" the skinny guy behind the bald man yelled.

"Your mother gave birth to you, but you didn't treat her much either, did you?" Han Zhou looked at him coldly.

These guys keep using terms like "your mom" and "his mom," and he's been putting up with it for a long time.

"Are you fucking asking for it?!"

Seeing that this idiot dared to talk back, the tall, thin man became enraged and made as if to rush over. The bald man then said, "My brothers have hot tempers and are not as easy to talk to as I am. I hope you think it through before you answer."

He was the one who was cursing the most just now, but now he's pretending to be a good person.

Han Zhou said expressionlessly, "I've said it many times, I have nothing to do with Han Long. If you want to find him, go look elsewhere, don't make things difficult for me."

"Fuck your mother, I'm going to make things difficult for you today!"

The tall, thin man was clearly hot-tempered. He rushed over while cursing and shoved Han Zhou hard.

The bald man didn't stop them, coldly watching his underlings surround Han Zhou.

It's good to teach him a lesson first, so he doesn't think they're collecting debts with words.

At this moment, Han Zhou, who had been pushed into the corner, suddenly looked pained and shouted, "How dare you hit me!"

This shout was delivered with great force, enough for all the neighbors on the same floor to hear. If Guzheng were here, she would definitely understand what he wanted to do.

The two were students of Miao Yan'er, and whenever they were about to hit someone, they would shout this first, and this move was named the self-defense warning.

But the bald man and his gang had no idea what Han Zhou was thinking. They assumed he was scared and laughed. The tall, thin man even had a ferocious look on his face and grabbed Han Zhou's collar: "Now you're scared? Too late!"

The bald man said with a stern face, "I'll give you one last chance. If you open the door now and let us in to see your 'wife,' and then call the guy who rented the house to you, I guarantee they won't give you any trouble. How about it?"

This kid is a bit of a hothead. Who knows if his oath just now was a lie? What wife? The one hiding in the room is that bastard Han Long!
While he was thinking, he saw that Han Zhou, whose collar had been grabbed, showed no fear in his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Why won't you let me see your wife?"

The bald man looked annoyed. This kid really knew how to bring up the most sensitive topics. Where did he get a wife?

"You think I'm being too nice to you, huh?"

The tall, thin man noticed his older brother was unhappy and immediately tried to slap Han Zhou across the face.

But then Han Zhou shouted again, "I'm warning you, don't you dare lay a hand on me!"

As he spoke, he kicked out, sending the tall, thin man flying two meters away.

Everyone only felt a blur before their eyes, and then they saw the tall, thin man lying on the ground, groaning continuously.

"Damn it, this bastard actually dared to lay a hand on me!"

The group of henchmen were furious and immediately began to punch and kick Han Zhou, cursing as they did so.

"Are you fucking opening the door or not?!"

"I'd rather die than open it!"

Han Zhou's voice was filled with grief and indignation, as if he had been severely beaten. In reality, he kicked each thug one by one, and if they could get up, he would kick them again. He was afraid of accidentally injuring these guys, so he deliberately held back.

Seeing his underlings being kicked around like a ball, the bald man was both shocked and furious: "What's your relationship with that bastard in the house? Why are you protecting him so much!"

"What bastard? I already told you that's my wife!"

Han Zhou kicked him hard, then shouted loudly, continuing to maintain the victim's image.

"Stop hitting me! I'd rather die than open fire!"

"..."

Meanwhile, in the entryway of their neighbor's house, a couple was pressing their ears against the door to eavesdrop.

Hearing Han Zhou's scream, the woman looked worried and said in a low voice, "This young man is too irrational. There are so many people on the other side, how dare he make a move?"

"You really do believe whatever they're told."

The man, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, sneered, "It's obvious that these thugs started it. They only shouted that to deal with the police later, saying that this young man started it, so that even if they beat someone up, they won't get away with it."

The woman suddenly realized, then hesitated, pressing her ear tightly to the door, seemingly puzzled: "But why do I hear those thugs screaming in pain..."

"Nonsense, if they didn't scream and pretend to be badly injured, how could they possibly bring themselves to hurt us?"

The man glanced at his wife with a cold smile, slowly exhaling a smoke ring, looking like a know-it-all, just short of saying "long hair, short brains."

"Are you going to go even further?" The woman looked terrified. "What should we do? Should we call the police?"

"What's the point of calling the police? It's useless! These bastards are like flies; they'll come back tomorrow even if we chase them away today. Calling the police won't solve anything; it'll just cause us more trouble."

"Then... then just watch it like this?" The woman felt a pang of pity.

The man sneered repeatedly: "Otherwise, you still want to go out and help? How are you going to make a living after that?"

"Hmph, you're always bullying me, but you're unreliable when things get tough!"

The woman glared at him fiercely. "Tell me, if I were ever cornered at home by someone, would you be like that young man, willing to take a beating to protect me?"

The man turned his head away, his smile gone.

The two, unaware of the situation, believed Han Zhou's words and thought he was truly a tenant who had suffered an undeserved misfortune. They believed that his tough stance was simply because he didn't want his wife in the room to be harassed by the group of thugs outside.

Two minutes later, the bald man and the others outside the door were all lying on the ground. They looked at each other, not caring about "your mother" or "his mother" anymore. Instead, they finally remembered their own mothers and groaned weakly.

"My god, what kind of monster is that? How can it be so powerful..."

Han Zhou sighed, squatted down, looked at the bald man on the ground, and asked in a low voice, "Can we communicate properly now?"

"Yes, yes!"

The bald man looked terrified and nodded repeatedly, afraid that if he answered too slowly he would get kicked again.

He didn't understand why everyone else's kicks felt like nothing, but his were so powerful; he almost thought his ribs were broken.

Is it just because he's the eldest brother?

"It's good that we can communicate."

Han Zhou nodded in satisfaction and said, "I'll emphasize again, I have nothing to do with Han Long. It's your business if you want to collect your debts from him, but don't mess with me, and don't bang on my door. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I can understand!" The bald man nodded vigorously.

"You've been kicked so many times, you should be able to tell that I went very lightly. I don't want to cause you any trouble, and I hope you won't bother me in the future, okay?"

Han Zhou's tone was sincere, yet carried a hint of threat, giving the impression that he was asking, "After I finish speaking, who agrees and who disagrees?"

Baldy really wanted to object, after all, those two kicks he took were really hard, but his underlings all agreed, shouting, "Sure, of course!"

"I shouldn't need to pay for medical expenses, right?" Han Zhou asked again.

"No need, no need!"

"Then please leave quickly and don't disturb the neighbors' rest."

Baldy and the others felt as if they had been granted a pardon and hurriedly got up to leave. However, they were stopped by Han Zhou behind them just as they reached the top of the stairs.

"stop."

The bald man froze, turned around stiffly, and chuckled awkwardly, "Is...is there anything else?"

"You guys aren't going to call the police, are you?" Han Zhou asked casually.

Although he has left evidence of legitimate self-defense, he is now a person who "cannot be seen in the light of day," and it would be troublesome if these thugs called the police without any sense of morality.

"?"

Upon hearing this, bald man and his gang were all puzzled, wondering who was the thug, smirking or the thug. This was a question they usually asked debtors with when they were collecting debts; now they were being asked the same thing. "N-of course not, we're the most law-abiding citizens..." bald man said, forcing a smile.

The underlings behind him looked at their boss with strange eyes, and some of them quickly lowered their heads. If they didn't know that the situation was not right, they might have already laughed out loud.

Han Zhou was relieved and waved his hand, saying, "Then you can go."

Upon hearing this, the bald man and his men immediately stopped and fled downstairs as if they were escaping.

Stepping out of the apartment building, the autumn night air was exceptionally chilly. The bald man shrank his neck, glanced back, and saw one of his underlings looking hesitant. The underling lowered his voice and said, "Boss, do you think that guy just now might be a retired gangster? His skills, his demeanor... he wouldn't even let us call the police..."

"Go to hell with your gangster boss nonsense! You've been reading too many novels! There's no such thing as a gangster boss that young!"

The tall, thin man slapped him on the back of the head, chuckled coldly, looked around, and then said mysteriously, "If you ask me, that guy looks more like a retired elite soldier. He's probably on a mission to protect the school beauty right now..."

"You've read just as many novels as I've ever had!"

The bald man slapped him on the back of the head.

……

At the same time, Han Zhou picked the lock and returned to the house, where he saw Xiao Yixia sitting on the sofa flipping through a picture book, seemingly not caring about the situation outside at all.

He first went into the bathroom to wash his hands before returning to the living room. He picked up a glass of water from the table and took a sip. Then he heard Xiao Yixia say without looking up, "I thought you would come back with a bruised and swollen face."

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe I'm suffering from internal injuries."

Xiao Yixia remained noncommittal: "Why didn't you call the police?"

“You’re with me now. If the police come, not only will I be in trouble, but you’ll also be sent home, which would be even more troublesome,” Han Zhou replied casually as he sat down on the sofa.

As he spoke, he handed the phone back.

Xiao Yixia looked up and found that this guy seemed to be serious, but she didn't understand. Did this guy think that it was more unacceptable for her to be sent home than for the other person to be unlucky?

"So you'd rather take a beating with your head in your hands?" She put down the picture book.

In her opinion, this guy was just too proud to admit it; the reason he had no injuries on his face was because he had been covering his head while being beaten.

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly became excited.

Finally... finally!

Finally, this guy didn't see through my thoughts!

Little Mo Yixia is nothing special!
I won again!

He felt a surge of intense excitement, and deliberately probed, "Couldn't I be the one to hit them?"

Xiao Yixia had considered this possibility, after all, the guy's screams were too exaggerated, but she didn't think that this skinny guy could fight against several people, and it was more likely that he would get beaten up.

She didn't answer, but instead asked, "You seem very happy?"

He was happy after being beaten up. Does this guy have masochistic tendencies?

"I'm really happy," Han Zhou said with a broad smile.

Compared to the future, Xiao Yixia's imagination is still not rich enough... he thought to himself.

If I'm not mistaken, this kid will ask me next why I'm happy...

As expected, the next second, Xiao Yixia asked, "Why are you happy?"

Sure enough, I won again.

Han Zhou was in a great mood and replied with a smile, "Of course it's because of you."

I thought that such a strange question would make Xiao Yixia want to ask more questions, but the girl not only didn't care, but a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.

After a moment, she came to a conclusion.

"You really are a pedophile."

Han Zhou's smile froze.

"what?"

Xiao Yixia stood up and said slowly, "I heard you swear to those people outside that I am your wife."

“I heard you say you’d rather get beaten than open the door and let them in.”

"You must like me, that's why you're trying so hard to get close to me, right?"

She approached Han Zhou and looked up into his eyes.

After a brief moment of surprise, Han Zhou suddenly laughed: "Has anyone ever told you that you're narcissistic?"

Is it wisdom or luck? Although the reasoning process was far from the truth, the conclusion was actually correct.

Whether now, in the past, or in the future, how could he not like Yixia?
“You’re the first one,” Xiao Yixia said.

"Aren't you afraid that if I answer yes, I'll take you to the mountains to be a child bride, and you'll never be able to go home again?"

"afraid."

This was an unexpected answer. Han Zhou had thought Mo Yixia had always been fearless since childhood, and asked curiously, "Then why do you still dare to ask?"

"The important thing isn't whether I dare to ask, but whether you dare to answer, isn't it?" Xiao Yixia said earnestly.

For a fleeting moment, Han Zhou seemed to see the future Yi Xia in her—the girl who always wore a mask and a baseball cap was actually waiting for him to confess his feelings, but he could never reciprocate her expectations.

But if it were now...

He smiled, lowered his head to meet the girl's gaze, and said softly, "I'm not a pedophile, but I do like you."

This wasn't said to the little Yixia in front of me, but to the Yixia in the future.

Although I don't know why things suddenly turned out this way, I can't say he didn't confess his feelings anymore.

If the future is fixed, then it doesn't matter what he says now.

If the future is not fixed, then he must start now to firmly bind Xiao Yixia to his side.

hiss--

So, it seems like it wouldn't be wrong to say that Yixia was my childhood sweetheart...

"How much do you like it?" Xiao Yixia asked again.

"let me see……"

Han Zhou was about to answer when he suddenly realized something. He looked down at the other person's hand in his pocket and exclaimed in surprise, "Wait...you're not recording, are you?"

"No." Xiao Yixia shook her head.

Before Han Zhou could even breathe a sigh of relief, the girl continued, "I'm recording a video."

She pointed to the backpack on the sofa. The backpack zipper was not fully zipped up, and half of a mobile phone could be vaguely seen under the cover of the picture book.

Han Zhou paused for two seconds, then smiled faintly and said calmly, "And then?"

He remained calm and showed no intention of rushing over to delete the video.

"Then?"

"Yes, and then."

Han Zhou leaned back comfortably on the sofa, a smile on his face, and said calmly, "Even if you recorded a video like this, what can you do to me?"

It's no secret that he likes Yixia. His only worry before was that Guzheng would find out, but Guzheng isn't here now. Even if she were, she'd just be a little girl who has nothing to do with him. What does he have to fear?
He brazenly said, "I knew you were trying to scheme against me. I was just putting on a show for you. But I need to remind you that this video poses no threat to me whatsoever."

They turned the tables on him and outmaneuvered him.

As expected... I won again.

Although there was no real strategy involved, he shamelessly believed that he was one step ahead.

"Yeah."

Xiao Yixia walked to her schoolbag, took out her phone, and held it to her ear.

"Sister Zhongyin, that's what he said."

Zhong... Sister Zhong Yin?
Han Zhou was struck dumb, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. (End of Chapter)