Forced into a romantic relationship.

Zhong Ling stared at the chessboard silently for a while, then recalled for a moment and realized that it seemed to be exactly the same as before. She couldn't help but open her mouth slightly in surprise.

Mo Yixia remained silent.

The game continued, and Han Zhou, who already held a considerable advantage, was quickly defeated because Zhong Ling seemed somewhat distracted during the match.

She stared blankly as she was checkmated. Instead of quickly setting up her pieces and starting the next game as she had done before, she picked up her phone and sent a message asking, "Is this 'Han Zhou'? I'm afraid I mistyped it."

It turns out she had been thinking about the nickname all along, seemingly because she felt the previous nickname was too hurtful and she still felt guilty.

"it is this."

Han Zhou nodded as he looked at the message, but suddenly felt that this wouldn't work. He thought to himself that communicating by sending messages all the time wasn't going to work, and that he was just making himself mute. So he suggested, "Senior, you can just speak. I should be able to hear you if I listen carefully."

Zhong Ling gripped her phone tightly, her eyes dimming slightly. She had previously thought her condition had improved, so when she discovered that Han Zhou couldn't hear her, she assumed he was deaf. But later she learned that her problem had not only not improved, but had become more serious.

She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it, typing, "My voice is too soft, you can't hear me."

"But we all heard you apologize just now."

"Yes."

Mo Yixia snatched Han Zhou's phone and said seriously, "Sister Ling, you can't communicate with your brother by sending messages anymore. Your voice is so beautiful, it should be heard by the whole world, not hidden away. So I'm confiscating your brother's phone for now."

Han Zhou was somewhat displeased. These were supposed to be his lines, so how did this guy steal them? Also, it wasn't me who sent the message, so why did you take my phone?

He looked at Zhong Ling and sincerely agreed, "That's right, senior. If it was as loud as just now, we could still hear it. Even if it's a little quieter, it doesn't matter."

The girl has the ability to make a sound, but it's unclear why her voice is so soft. Could the problem be psychological rather than physiological?

Zhong Ling was silent for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

And that was indeed the case. In Han Zhou's eyes, she only moved her lips, but didn't make a sound.

However, he could roughly understand what the other person meant and said, "But you just did it, didn't you? We all heard it clearly. Why don't you try again?"

Zhong Ling hesitated for a moment, then simply shook her head slightly, rearranged the chess pieces, and prepared to continue playing.

Han Zhou didn't intend to force the issue. If it were so easy to solve, it would have been solved long ago. He wouldn't have had a chance to do it now. But then he saw Mo Yixia lean in again and press her phone screen directly against his face, coldly asking, "Brother, can you tell me how to pronounce these words?"

She had clearly seen the nickname Han Zhou had given her in his contact list. Perhaps that was why he had taken her phone in the first place. Now he was here to confront her.

Han Zhou quickly feigned ignorance, shifting his head back slightly, and said earnestly, "Little sister, if you don't understand something, you should look it up in the dictionary. You can't rely on your brother for everything. You must understand that some roads, in the end, you have to walk alone..."

"is it?"

Mo Yixia calmly held her phone up to Zhong Ling's face and said nonchalantly, "Then I'll just have to ask Sister Ling."

"This is outrageous!" Han Zhou grabbed her hand and said sincerely, "I think your brother will definitely be there for you for the rest of your life. Feel free to rely on me, there won't be any problem."

Mo Yixia looked down at her hand that was being held and chuckled, "You can't just say things like 'forever' carelessly, okay... brother?"

However, this answer seemed to satisfy her. She returned the phone to Han Zhou, stood up, and said, "Come out for a moment."

He then walked towards the door.

The game of chess was still going on. Han Zhou apologized to Zhong Ling and then followed her out. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Zhong Ling hadn't seen the nickname "Non-pure yellow-material agent," otherwise it would have definitely ruined his image.

Although Zhong Ling was very curious about what kind of notes were being added, she restrained her curiosity, sat on the stool, looked down at the chessboard, and waited quietly.

The two went outside, and Han Zhou, under the scorching sun, asked, "What's wrong?"

Mo Yixia regained her composure and said calmly, "This family seems to be planning to have us stay for dinner. Did you and that woman just make some shady deal behind my back?"

Don't make it look like you're catching someone cheating...

Han Zhou ignored the second half of the sentence and asked doubtfully, "Really?"

He didn't realize that Zhong Yin intended to invite them to dinner.

"That must be it, otherwise they wouldn't have started preparing in the kitchen so early."

"That's good." Han Zhou smiled, this was an unexpected delight. "But was it really necessary to say this out loud?"

Mo Yixia said calmly, "You may have forgotten something. I have to be back before five o'clock, so I definitely can't stay. Besides, I don't like eating out."

She doesn't like to take off her mask in front of strangers.

Han Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll take you back."

"No need, I'll just make up an excuse to go back by myself. You probably really wanted to stay for this meal, right? You'll have the nerve to come back and freeload again after you leave?" Mo Yixia scrutinized his expression.

Han Zhou said helplessly, "Can you please stop pointing out what I'm thinking every time? Is psychology really that amazing? I just can never guess what you're thinking."

"Do you really want to know what I'm thinking?" Mo Yixia stared into his eyes.

"Of course."

Mo Yixia was silent for a moment, then said, "And then you can take the opportunity to break into my heart and win over this not-so-pure, lewd agent?"

"I still prefer you calling yourself an innocent high school girl..."

Han Zhou also remained silent for a moment before saying, "Never mind, I suddenly don't want to know anymore."

He suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, didn't you say you had something you weren't telling me? Now that I've won the chess game, shouldn't you tell me?"

Mo Yixia was indeed hiding something from him, but she didn't intend to tell him. Instead, she said meaningfully, "You'll find out when you come to my house tomorrow. Remember not to be angry."

Han Zhou was exasperated. "Are you trying to film a suspense drama with me? Are you ever going to stop? Can't you just say it now?"

Mo Yixia didn't answer, but changed the subject, saying, "I'll cook again tomorrow. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

"Anything is fine?"

"Anything you can buy, but it depends on whether you're worthy of it."

Han Zhou pondered for a moment, then casually said the simplest thing, one he was sure he could answer: "Old Mo, I want to eat fish."

He wouldn't say he particularly liked eating fish, but getting Mo Yixia, who didn't like fish, to cook it was a small form of revenge, a way of "repaying" her for being sarcastic and sarcastic towards him all day.

"I knew you needed to boost your brainpower. Eating fish is fine, but don't call me Old Mo, it sounds awful."

"What's that called? Sister?" Han Zhou looked at her, puzzled. "Aren't you disgusted?"

"Have you forgotten the exchange condition for us changing our names? You can even remember a chess game, so you'd better remember what I said from now on."

Mo Yixia sighed and turned to walk into the house.

"Call me Yixia."

Chapter 60 New State

Back inside, Mo Yixia continued to play the role of the younger sister.

This was probably a rather novel experience for her, and she seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit, at least on the surface. If Han Zhou didn't know Mo Yixia well, he might have forgotten that this was an act and instead thought it was her most authentic self.

However, he suddenly realized a problem—do I really understand Mo Yixia?

In fact, he had never really gotten to know the girl. The two hadn’t known each other for long, and all he had ever seen was Mo Yixia with a mask on. But if the role of the younger sister was an act, then was the side she had shown all along necessarily real?

Han Zhou wasn't sure either.

He could never understand Mo Yixia's thoughts. Although she usually acted normally, he never forgot that she was a world-weary girl. Therefore, even though he had completed the task of making her not hate him, he still felt very distant from her because her personal information on the status bar remained unchanged.

Therefore, when the other party said "Call me Yixia", his feelings were quite complicated - this was not a joke or a tease, but a simple and straightforward request.

A change in a relationship can often be reflected in a change in how the way people address each other, something that anyone can intuitively perceive.

Han Zhou hadn't forgotten another of Mo Yixia's words, which was another request of hers, and this request seemed to be the most important one—that is, she hoped that he could remember her words well in the future. It seemed that she had said something similar before.

Han Zhou found it hard to describe his feelings at the time. He only remembered standing there stunned for several seconds, when a strange and indescribable emotion suddenly arose in his heart.

What emotions they felt is unknown, but one thing is certain—the distance between the two people has indeed narrowed.

For no apparent reason, Han Zhou suddenly remembered the scene not long ago when Mo Yixia reached out to touch the leaves.

Sunlight, tree shadows, wind, and a young girl.

Just by tiptoeing slightly, a breeze will blow, enough to lower the branches. No one knows where this breeze comes from, but when it blows, the distance between your fingertips and the leaves will be naturally erased, and you can reach out and touch them.

The changes in distance between people are probably similar; it all depends on whether you're willing to tiptoe and seek out such a breeze.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou suddenly felt a pang of regret—he really should have filmed that scene back then.

"Have you been sleepwalking since the beginning? This is a soldier; once you've crossed the river, you can't retreat."

Mo Yixia's disdainful voice came from across the table. Han Zhou and Zhong Ling's three-game chess match had ended not long ago, with Han Zhou winning two and losing one. Now it was his turn to play chess with Mo Yixia.

Han Zhou's thoughts were pulled back, and he realized that he had made a mistake. He shamelessly laughed and said, "I'm a special forces soldier, so it's reasonable for me to retreat, right?"

Mo Yixia was silent for a moment, then picked up the cannon, raised it high, and then cleanly and neatly placed it on the opponent's general. The pieces collided and made a crisp sound.

"This is an anti-aircraft gun; it's perfectly reasonable for it to take your head from a thousand miles away, isn't it?"

Zhong Ling, who was watching from the sidelines, was stunned, her small mouth slightly agape.

"I only took a step back, it's too much for you to checkmate me with an anti-aircraft gun."

Han Zhou chuckled and moved the cannons and soldiers back to their original positions.

The game continued, and the situation on the board was quite tense. The two players were evenly matched, and they fought for several rounds without a clear winner.

Mo Yixia didn't use her full strength when she played chess with Zhong Ling before.

Zhong Ling took some plums out of the refrigerator, put them on a plate, washed them, and placed them on the table for the two of them to eat. She also carefully picked out a few for herself, took small bites, and stared at the chessboard in a daze.

She had always played chess with her sister before, and this seemed to be the first time she had ever watched someone else play chess like this.

Perhaps because the plums weren't fully ripe, they were slightly sour and astringent, causing the girl's brows to furrow slightly from time to time, and her clear eyes to ripple with emotion. However, even though the sourness made her teeth chatter, she still ate each plum in small bites, as if she couldn't bear to waste them.

Han Zhou then noticed that this guy had silently picked out all the green plums from the plate, leaving mostly dark red ripe plums.

He didn't say much, but simply took one, popped it into his mouth, tasted it, and said, "It's very sweet. Did you grow it at home?"

He remembered there was a plum tree in the yard.

Zhong Ling nodded slightly, a faint smile on her face. She looked at Mo Yixia, picked up a plum and handed it to her, seemingly wondering why she wasn't eating it.

Mo Yixia smiled and politely declined, saying, "Sister Ling, I won't eat. I'm going to sing karaoke with my friends later and we'll be eating lots of delicious food, so I need to save my stomach for now."

This was clearly her prepared reason for leaving.

Zhong Ling paused for a moment, put the plum back on the plate, and nodded gently.

At the same time, Zhong Yin came out with a water ladle. He seemed to have heard what Mo Yixia had just said and asked in surprise, "Are you leaving? I was planning to have you stay for a meal. The dishes are all prepared."

Mo Yixia feigned shock and said helplessly, "Is that so? How could I possibly accept this?"