Forced into a romantic relationship.

She couldn't just not support her, and Sister Lianyu didn't seem like someone she could persuade... She sighed inwardly.

"Aren't you going home for the New Year today?" Ouyang Lianyu asked curiously.

"I'll go back this afternoon. You don't know, my family is counting on me to go back and do chores. If I go back too early, nothing good will come of it."

Zhang Xinyue pursed her lips, clearly indicating that she did not have a good relationship with her family.

Yan Mei appeared much calmer: "I'll go back this afternoon too."

"Then you can come with me to have lunch first."

When Ouyang Lianyu drove the two of them to Linshui Bridge, Han Zhou was already waiting by the roadside. Seeing the car door open, he walked over, took something out of the trunk, and carried it in his hand, looking as if he knew the way well.

Zhang Xinyue had been secretly scrutinizing him since she got out of the car. Seeing his disheveled appearance, she couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Why is your face so dirty?"

"Oh." Han Zhou smiled. "I was making a cake just now, and I got some flour on my hands. Sister Yin thought I was clumsy, so she kicked me out."

"You've finally met your match."

Ouyang Lianyu couldn't help but chuckle, took the umbrella from his hand, and held it above their heads. "Has Xiaoxiao finished drawing the cake?"

Zhang Xinyue and Yan Mei exchanged a glance, sharing an umbrella as they followed behind the two.

"I guess you could say it's barely finished."

As Han Zhou walked, he answered, exhaling puffs of white breath. "It's just a very ordinary cake. She only made one request—once the cake is finished, she wants to personally draw two smiley faces on it with jam."

“This is something you’ve experienced before,” Ouyang Lianyu said.

"It should be." Han Zhou nodded.

Xiao Xiaoxiao's willingness to reveal that she had bought a cake in Lincheng clearly proves that she no longer wants to hide it.

"Two smiley faces..."

Ouyang Lianyu smiled gently, "It seems you are very important to her."

"Ah."

Han Zhou still hasn't remembered the past, and he doesn't know if he will remember it in the future, but the fact that he traveled to the future and Xiao Xiao was willing to sacrifice everything for him is enough to prove that.

As they entered the courtyard, Zhong Ling was sweeping snow. Seeing Ouyang Lianyu, she smiled and nodded. Then, noticing Zhang Xinyue and Yan Mei following behind them, she felt a little nervous, but finally mustered her courage and greeted them.

"Hello, everyone..."

"This girl can talk?" Zhang Xinyue looked surprised. She remembered Zhong Ling; in her memory, this girl didn't seem to be able to talk.

“She can talk.” Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at her helplessly. “You guys come inside and sit down. I’ll help her sweep the yard.”

"That won't do. We're not here to eat and drink for free."

Zhang Xinyue quickly refused, grabbed the broom first, and started sweeping the snow diligently.

She wiped non-existent sweat from her forehead, looked up at Han Zhou, and asked expectantly, "Little Han Zhou, since your sister has worked so hard, can I order a dish on my own?"

Yan Mei sighed and rubbed her forehead, silently turning away as if to say, "I don't know this guy."

Han Zhou was silent for a moment: "Remove the word 'small' from your name. For Teacher Ouyang's sake, I might consider it."

"Sister Lianyu!"

Zhang Xinyue dropped the broom, hugged Ouyang Lianyu tightly, and said in an exaggerated tone, "It's so great to have met you, waaaah!"

Just then, Xiao Xiaoxiao exclaimed from the kitchen, "Han Zhou, why is this chicken still moving? Come here right now!"

Then came a commotion of chickens flying and dogs barking.

"I'm going in to get busy."

Han Zhou said something to everyone, and then quickly went into the kitchen.

Zhong Yin was baking a cake in the living room and couldn't leave for the moment. At this moment, besides Xiao Xiaoxiao, Wang Lengqiu was also in the kitchen. She had taken off her down jacket, and her thin body was wrapped in an apron. She was skillfully stirring the bottom of the pot, and her fair cheeks were slightly red in the firelight.

Xiao Xiaoxiao, holding a spatula, was confronting a headless, plucked rooster.

Han Zhou chuckled and stepped forward to tap the girl on the head: "You're afraid of even a plucked chicken, you're really useless."

"Hmph, you're the useless one! Did you even know that this chicken just moved?"

"Haven't you studied neural reflexes?"

"You even studied monogamy, and what happened?" Xiao Xiaoxiao said irritably.

Han Zhou's lips twitched. He glanced back at Wang Lengqiu and, seeing that she didn't react, lowered his voice to remind her, "Keep your voice down. There are outsiders here."

"You dared to bring those two back? I thought you weren't afraid they'd find out." Xiao Xiaoxiao said with disdain.

“Not being afraid of being discovered and actively letting them discover you are two different things,” Han Zhou said helplessly.

Xiao Xiaoxiao pouted, wanting to say something more, but then she saw the chicken on the cutting board twitch violently again. She was so frightened that she jumped up and clung to Han Zhou, saying, "Did you see that? It moved!"

"I saw it, I saw it."

Looking at the girl's panicked face, Han Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I'm here, what are you afraid of?"

He picked up a cleaver and slashed the chicken on the cutting board several times, quickly tearing it to pieces: "Okay, it won't move now."

"Oh……"

Xiao Xiao slid off him, seemingly a little embarrassed, and after a while, she said in a casual tone, "Um... have you noticed that I've grown taller?"

Han Zhou raised an eyebrow and looked down at her new shoes: "The latest platform shoes?"

"Get out of here!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was furious and wanted to kick his shin, but then she remembered that he was wearing new pants, so she withdrew her foot, jumped up and punched him in the chest, "I really have grown taller!"

Wang Lengqiu, who had just washed her hands, said, "We just measured her, and Xiaoxiao has indeed grown a little taller."

"What do you mean 'a little bit'? It's a full two centimeters, okay!" Xiao Xiaoxiao said with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face.

"Two centimeters is just a little bit, isn't it?" Wang Lengqiu tilted his head.

Wang Lengqiu wouldn't joke, which meant she was telling the truth, and Xiao Xiaoxiao was so angry she almost spat out blood.

Fortunately, Han Zhou, who is usually disliked by everyone, finally said something human: "Two centimeters is not a small amount for Xiao Xiao. Keep it up, she will grow even taller in the future."

He patted Xiao Xiaoxiao's head.

"Hmph, of course!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was finally satisfied, and raised her chin, saying, "I'll definitely be taller than you in the future!"

She turned her head slightly to look at the heavy snow outside the window. Although her tone was full of longing, a hint of melancholy flashed in her eyes.

The fact that the president is tall means that her time has begun to flow.

And the fact that time has begun to flow means that her time is running out.

Han Zhou didn't notice anything unusual about Xiao Xiaoxiao. He washed his hands, put on an apron, and started preparing lunch, while Xiao Xiaoxiao and Wang Lengqiu assisted him.

The kitchen was soon filled with a delicious aroma, making Zhang Xinyue in the living room swallow hard. She looked at Zhong Yin, who was baking a cake, and said with envy, "Sister Lianyu, you never told me before that you had a friend who could bake cakes. I'm becoming more and more supportive of you."

"Support what?" Zhong Ling asked curiously as she poured tea.

"nothing."

Ouyang Lianyu quickly changed the subject, "Today is New Year's Eve, doesn't your family put up couplets or anything?"

"My sister said to put it on after dinner," Zhong Ling replied with a light smile.

Their door is quite high, so it used to be a real hassle to put up couplets every time, even with a ladder they couldn't reach them. But this year is different. With the help of their junior, many things are much easier, even cooking is done with someone's help.

She really liked the atmosphere.

The snow fell even more heavily, and the small clearing in the yard was quickly covered with a thin layer of white again. But she didn't feel that her efforts were in vain. On the contrary, she enjoyed the feeling of her life being filled.

A short while later, Zhong Yin clapped his hands and walked over, looking slightly troubled, and said, "The oven is too small; I'm afraid it can't make a very big cake."

She nodded to Zhang Xinyue and Yan Mei. She had already heard Han Zhou mention that there would be two more guests at home. However, the cake was to be saved for Gu Zheng and Yi Xia tonight, so she probably wouldn't be able to share it with them.

Therefore, she specially took the time to bake a smaller cake; otherwise, she wouldn't have been so busy until now.

“It’s alright.” Ouyang Lianyu smiled. “A moderate size is fine; if it’s too big, we won’t be able to finish it.”

Zhong Yin nodded: "Where's the jam you brought?"

"I brought it."

Ouyang Lianyu took out two jars of jam, a pack of disposable piping bags, and a palm-sized blueberry cake from the bag.

"Thank you for your hard work." Zhong Yin took the things and turned back to the oven.

Ouyang Lianyu could sense that Zhong Yin's attitude towards her had become colder, no longer as warm and respectful as at the beginning. But this was actually a good thing, as it meant that there was no longer a barrier between them in terms of their status. In Zhong Yin's eyes, she was no longer just "a teacher at her sister's school".

About half an hour later, Han Zhou came out of the kitchen and said with a smile, "Get ready, we can eat in ten more minutes."

Zhang Xinyue had been impatient for a long time. Upon hearing this, she couldn't help but swallow and got up to wash her hands, with Yan Mei following closely behind.

Ouyang Lianyu stopped Han Zhou and handed him the box containing the blueberry cake, a gentle smile on her face: "Remember? I said I would make up for it by giving you a cake."

Han Zhou was taken aback, took the box and looked at it, then chuckled: "You're not trying to use this cake to test whether my sense of taste has really returned, are you?"

Ouyang Lianyu hadn't expected to be seen through so easily, and her cheeks flushed slightly: "I just happened to take the wrong box..."

Han Zhou chuckled softly, "Thank you."

"I'm the one who should be saying thank you."

Ouyang Lianyu tucked a stray hair behind her ear, her voice becoming even gentler, "My mother just called me and said that her health is getting better and better. She also asked if I had gone to worship some evil god."

"This is actually thanks to you," Han Zhou said earnestly.

Ouyang Lianyu shook her head, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Wait... the bet you mentioned earlier, you weren't referring to me, were you?"

"I already said it's a secret."

Han Zhou shrugged, did not answer, and turned to walk towards the restroom.

Please take one day off.

As the title says, I've caught a cold again. I took some medicine and wanted to finish writing, but I'm just too tired. I'll go to sleep instead. I'll take the day off today and get up early tomorrow to write.

We're almost at the end of this volume, which is the second time we go back in time. Once this part is finished, it will be a phase of completion.

What does "a partial ending" mean? It means that this can be seen as an ending. That way, if I end it poorly later, people can say, "Oh, it would have been better if Hagiin had ended in the previous volume. What kind of garbage is this?"