Forced into a romantic relationship.

They really do look alike...

It's important to know that this crack wasn't man-made; it was caused by an accident. Calling it a kind of fate wouldn't be an exaggeration.

He exclaimed in surprise, "You noticed this a long time ago, senior?"

"Yes, so I found it amazing when we first met."

"It's really amazing..."

Han Zhou nodded in agreement and asked curiously, "How did your senior's phone break?"

I tripped and fell on the subway.

"What a coincidence? My phone also fell on the subway."

Han Zhou looked at Zhong Ling in surprise, and seeing the gentle smile on her face, he couldn't help but ask, "Senior, do you really believe in fate and destiny?"

"I don't believe in fate; it's supposed to be unpredictable. But I think destiny might exist. What do you think, junior?"

"Me?" Han Zhou thought for a moment, "I don't really believe it."

But thinking about it carefully, there really is a bit of fate involved in his meeting with Zhong Ling.

If it weren't for taking Mo Yixia out, he probably would never have gone to that remote little square in his entire life, and naturally he wouldn't have discovered Zhong Ling that day.

Of course, they attend the same university, and there is always a possibility that they will meet again on campus in the future, but to meet in such a remote place before then, it seems like fate.

The second time we met, his random status was "Leave it to fate," a phrase that was quite interesting in itself. And the modified status happened to be able to hear the sound of bells, which could also be considered a kind of fate.

However, to be frank, fate is a very subjective thing. If you want, two people can even call it fate if they blink at the same time, but if you don't want to, two people can complain about bad luck if they spend the night together.

For most people, the phrase "destiny" may exist, but it usually only applies to outstanding individuals. The "love at first sight" trope in TV dramas is always used to describe handsome men and beautiful women. If you happen to share the last bus with an unattractive man or woman at night, probably no one would consider it destiny.

Even something as elusive as fate ultimately depends on a person's self-awareness.

Although he didn't quite believe it, the fact that even bizarre things like time travel and status bars had appeared on him made Han Zhou more respectful of the unknown than before.

Han Zhou's thoughts wandered, and when he came back to his senses, he saw Zhong Ling laughing and saying, "Indeed, junior brother doesn't seem like the kind of person who believes in these things."

At the same time, the waiter brought over two cups of cola and placed them on Han Zhou's and Zhong Ling's tables respectively. Zhong Ling also had a cup of milk tea on her table.

“This is…” Zhong Ling asked, somewhat puzzled.

Han Zhou knew the shop assistant couldn't hear her, so she stopped him and asked, "What's the meaning of this milk tea?"

The waiter stopped and smiled, "This was ordered by a customer for this customer."

Zhong Ling paused slightly, pushed the milk tea away, and gently shook her head.

Han Zhou said, "Excuse me, my friend said he doesn't like this drink, could you please take it away?"

The shop assistant was taken aback and hesitated before saying, "That customer said he could choose another flavor if he didn't like it. He can drink whatever he wants, and he will pay for it."

Zhong Ling frowned slightly.

Han Zhou raised his voice and said, "I told you, my friend doesn't like milk tea, and she doesn't need strangers to order anything for her. Please take this away now."

"But now that everything's made, someone has to drink it, right? This is our shop's signature milk tea, you can try it..."

"This is not something we should be thinking about; you can drink it yourself."

The shop assistant hesitated for a moment, then Han Zhou continued, "Never mind, don't bother, let's go somewhere else."

After saying that, he and Zhong Ling got up with their Cokes and headed for the door.

Han Zhou's hearing is excellent now, so he knows that it was the boys sitting near the door who did it. Although he didn't listen carefully just now, he roughly knows what their purpose was. They just wanted to show off in front of the beautiful girls and also put him down.

However, what Zhong Ling disliked most was people who offered help for no reason. Moreover, she had heard those laughs before and could roughly guess what those people meant, which made her very angry.

Seeing the two preparing to leave, the boy at the door couldn't sit still any longer. One of them, with a buzz cut, said sarcastically, "Your phone is so broken and you're still using it. You're really frugal. But it's one thing to suffer yourself, but you can't even let your girlfriend drink a slightly more expensive milk tea?"

This guy with the buzz cut is in a bad mood.

He had just been cheated on, and his mood was terrible. With Qixi Festival approaching, sitting in a bubble tea shop full of couples was already unpleasant, but recalling the scene of being cheated on made it even more painful. He was confiding in his best friends when he suddenly saw Han Zhou and Zhong Ling.

He spent a fortune treating his ex-girlfriend like a princess, but she still ran away. Now he sees such an innocent and beautiful girl willing to drink the cheapest Coke with a poor guy. Thinking back to how his ex-girlfriend always drank the most expensive milk tea, the man with the buzz cut gritted his teeth, feeling extremely unbalanced.

He certainly didn't think that his feelings were out of envy, jealousy, or hatred, or even harboring any thoughts of poaching her. Instead, he felt that he simply wanted to help the girl escape her misery and recognize the differences between people.

Of course, he had no idea that the guy who cheated on him had the same idea.

Han Zhou knew that the guy's head was covered in grazing grass, and he couldn't help but look at the top of his head with pity. However, he was too lazy to talk to such a person and walked towards the door with Zhong Ling.

Feeling ignored and embarrassed, the man with the buzz cut became even more irritated. He even tried to grab Zhong Ling's hand and said, "I don't mean anything by it, I just want to invite you to have some milk tea."

Han Zhou reacted quickly, grabbing his wrist with surprising force, and said with a smile, "If you're so generous, you can treat everyone here to a drink."

The man with the buzz cut was in so much pain that he was sweating profusely, but he couldn't yell in front of so many people, so he forced a smile and said, "Why should I listen to you?"

He thought the guy would confront him, but to his surprise, the other person let go of his hand the next second and left the milk tea shop with the girl, who didn't even glance at him once from beginning to end.

Just then, a tall boy walked into the milk tea shop, glancing back at something every now and then. He plopped down in the spot where the crew-cut guy and the others were, clicking his tongue in amazement.

The milk tea shop was quiet for a while, then a murmur broke out.

The tall boy had a loud voice and quickly noticed that something was off. Seeing many people glancing in his direction, he asked curiously, "What's going on?"

One of them felt a little embarrassed, glanced at the man with the buzz cut, and quickly recounted what had just happened.

The tall guy was stunned, his expression growing increasingly strange, then he looked at the crew-cut man with an idiot's gaze: "You don't really think he's broke, do you?"

What do you mean?

He spoke loudly, and everyone in the milk tea shop looked at him and immediately pricked up their ears.

The man with the buzz cut frowned, annoyed, and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

The tall guy sighed, "I bet that guy's clothes cost at least three thousand yuan, and his sunglasses looked like a designer brand. He's probably a rich kid. He's wearing cheap pants and shoes just to pretend he's poor. Why are you trying to show off in front of others?"

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this. The man with the buzz cut was stunned for a moment, then said unwillingly, "Then he had that broken phone..."

"What do you know? That girl also has a crappy phone. Most of the time, he just doesn't want to use his rich kid status to pursue girls. Besides, even if he's not rich, he's handsome enough."

After a pause, the tall man said with exasperation, "I've wanted to tell you this before. Your ex-girlfriend just treats you like an ATM. Every time I warned you, you got angry with me. And look what happened?"

"What did you say!"

The crew-cut man was furious, his face turning pale and then red, mainly because his voice was so loud that everyone present probably heard what he had just said.

The tall guy was a straightforward fellow and didn't realize how loud he was. He said earnestly, "Why are you getting so worked up? I want you to learn from this experience. Don't act like a simp in the future, and don't be so childish. What you did just now was very impolite. That girl wasn't alone. What you did was like trying to steal her away."

He glanced at the others and said with dissatisfaction, "Why didn't you stop him?"

As the scars were gradually revealed, the man with the buzz cut felt as if everyone's eyes were on him. Overwhelmed with shame and indignation, he grabbed the tall man's collar and roared angrily.

"Fuck your mother, you want to fight?! Who the hell is a simp?!"

The tall guy was stunned for a moment, then got angry. Damn it, this guy never listens to reason and never reflects on himself. Since he thinks honest advice is hard to swallow, he's too lazy to say anything more.

He took a deep breath: "Let go of my hand."

"Apologize."

“I’m telling the truth, why should I apologize? I told you to let go of my hand.”

The man with the buzz cut was incredibly proud; with so many people watching, how could he possibly let go obediently? He yelled, "I'll fucking make you apologize!"

The tall guy, unable to bear it any longer, shoved the guy down onto his seat, straightened his collar, and left cursing.

His voice remained undisguised, so much so that everyone present could hear his last words clearly.

"What an idiot, no wonder you got cheated on."

Chapter 90 "Silver Bell"

Han Zhou was completely unaware that he had unknowingly become a rich second-generation. At this moment, he and Zhong Ling had arrived at another milk tea shop and found a seat near the door.

Of course, it wouldn't be very good to just sit in a bubble tea shop with a drink in hand, so he ordered two more Cokes.

This time, however, Zhong Ling didn't listen to him and find a seat first. Instead, she held her phone to her chest as soon as she entered, followed him, and paid the bill first, looking like she didn't want him to take it from her.

Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated, finding Zhong Ling's behavior quite amusing. After they sat down, recalling what had just happened, he sighed, "This is the first time I've ever encountered such a strange person."

Zhong Ling knew he was referring to the guy with the buzz cut from before. She put the small cloth bag aside and said in a low voice, "Maybe it's because of me, I've always had bad luck and often run into people like that."

Han Zhou shook his head: "It has nothing to do with my senior. That guy was just targeting me and looking for trouble. Besides, don't you not believe in luck?"

"I don't believe it, but I really haven't had much luck," Zhong Ling said somewhat embarrassedly.

Han Zhou asked, puzzled, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I often slip and fall when I go out."

Isn't it because you walked too fast...?

Han Zhou muttered to himself, then chuckled, "This shouldn't have anything to do with luck, right? The two times I traveled with you, there were no problems, weren't there?"

“Yes,” Zhong Ling said with a gentle smile, “That’s why I feel we are really destined to be together.”

Han Zhou was taken aback: "You call this fate?"

"Is not it?"

Zhong Ling looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ah, well, you can't say it isn't..."

Han Zhou chuckled dryly, inwardly thinking, "What does not falling have to do with me? I'm not a crutch..."

Sure enough, if you're willing, you can connect everything to fate.

After a moment of silence, Zhong Ling said softly, "I'm really not a very lucky person. I often trip and fall while walking, and the taxis I take are always late. But I never thought I was unlucky before. On the contrary, I thought I was very lucky back then."

Han Zhou remained silent. If he was not mistaken, the "back then" that Zhong Ling mentioned should refer to the time when her parents were still alive.

Judging from this opening, the other person is probably preparing to recount their past.

Although he was curious about the reason why Zhong Ling had lost her voice, he had not urged her to ask before, but waited for her to tell him on her own initiative.

Sure enough, Zhong Ling put down the cola, placed her hands on her lap, sat very upright, and a look of reminiscence appeared in her clear eyes.

"My sister and I are six years apart. Although we weren't born in the same year, we share the same birthday, and we were both born at night. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"My parents are not highly educated. They didn't think too much when they named my sister and me. However, like most parents, they also put beautiful meanings into their names, which are full of their expectations for my sister and me in the future."

"The two names together are 'Silver Bell,' which comes from 'a silver bell-like laugh.' My parents think this word is beautiful. Being able to laugh so beautifully means being happy. They hope that my sister and I can be happy every day and have smiles on our faces every day."