Forced into a relationship

Zhong Ling looked at him puzzledly.

"Ah, I can't say it's not..."

Han Zhou laughed dryly twice, and couldn't help complaining in his heart, what does it have to do with me if I don't fall? I'm not a crutch...

Sure enough, as long as you are willing, everything can be related to fate.

After a moment of silence, Zhong Ling said softly, "I'm really not a lucky person. I often fall when I walk, and my taxis are always late. But I never felt that I was unlucky before. Instead, I felt that I was very lucky at that time."

Han Zhou didn't say anything. If things were as expected, the "that time" that Zhong Ling mentioned should refer to the time when his parents were still alive.

Judging from this opening statement, the other party should be preparing to talk about his past.

Although he was very curious about the reason why Zhong Ling "lost her voice", he had never urged or asked before, but just waited for the other party to tell him on his own initiative.

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

"My sister and I are six years apart in age. Although we were not born in the same year, our birthdays happen to be on the same day, and we were both born at night. What a coincidence, right?"

"My parents are not well educated, so they didn't think too much when naming my sister and me. But like most parents, they also gave good meanings to the names, full of expectations for my sister and me in the future."

"The two names together form 'Yinling', which comes from 'silver bell-like laughter'. Mom and Dad think this word is very beautiful. Laughing so beautifully means being happy. They hope that my sister and I can be happy every day in the future and have a smile on our faces every day."

"If we separate the names, the silver ornaments represent peace and tranquility, while the bells represent peace and tranquility. They also carry the meaning of missing. Mom and Dad have nothing else to ask for, but their biggest wish is that my sister and I will be healthy and happy without any illness or disaster in the future."

Han Zhou listened silently.

This is a very simple wish. What most parents want is actually that simple. Perhaps happiness itself is a relatively empty concept, but this word is not that difficult to define. When it comes to explaining happiness, many parents have a relatively unified and simple standard, which is that they hope their children can live better than themselves.

This is also a very simple wish.

According to Zhong Ling's description, Mr. and Mrs. Zhong were undoubtedly an enviable pair of gentle parents. Han Zhou suddenly thought of Han Long who had disappeared, and felt a toothache.

Keeping the voice low is not without its advantages. At least one does not have to worry about others eavesdropping. This conversation seems to be a secret between Han Zhou and Zhong Ling alone. Everyone else in the store finds it strange. When they see that no one speaks after they sit down, they think they are in a cold war.

It can be heard that Zhong Ling's life was indeed very happy in the past.

She has a gentle temperament and is cute. She is a good girl that everyone loves. She is loved not only by her parents but also by her sister Jong-eun. She has basically never done any heavy work since she was a child. Every time she wants to help, her parents have no objection, but Jong-eun always refuses, and says with a smile that Xiaoling is me yesterday, and there is nothing wrong with me pampering myself, and then she rushes to do the work.

Speaking of this, Zhong Ling said softly: "My sister's personality was not like this before. At that time, she was lively and enthusiastic, and she loved to laugh. She would take me out to play when she was free. It's just that I was not very active since I was a child. I have no interest in playing, and I seldom go out to places too far from home."

"Compared to going out, I prefer to watch my dad play chess with the neighbors. My dad saw that I was interested in chess and would teach me when he was free. I also practiced often, but my level was never very high."

"I heard that my sister later found out about this and went to learn how to play chess. She even joined a chess club in college so that she could play with me. But her level was average."

A bitter smile appeared on Zhong Ling's face.

Han Zhou laughed, shook his Coke cup casually, and said with emotion: "Sister Yin is really a complete sister complex."

"Sister complex?" Zhong Ling looked puzzled.

"You can understand it as meaning that you dote on your sister very much." Han Zhou explained.

Zhong Ling smiled and said, "Sister really dotes on me."

She recalled, "On my sixth birthday, my parents gave me a string of wind chimes. When the wind blew, it would make a sound. The sound was very nice and I liked it very much. I remember my sister also had a string of similar wind chimes hanging on the windowsill of her room."

"I heard that this was a gift my sister received on her sixth birthday. Before that, my parents asked her if she wanted a brother or sister. She excitedly said yes, but compared to a brother, she hoped she could have a cute sister whose laughter sounded like wind chimes. Later, I was born, and my sister always said that she contributed a lot to my name."

"When I was a kid, I fell down almost every day. My parents were so worried that they took turns to stay by my side during the day, afraid that I would fall down again. In fact, my falls were not serious and did not hurt at all, but they refused to believe it."

"My father is very good at repairing cars. He can get the car moving again by just tinkering with the tools. It was his idea to connect the repair shop with the home so that he can take care of me and my sister at any time. My mother would help my father when he was repairing the car. When she has time, she would plant vegetables and trees in the yard. She used to spend a lot of time in the countryside and is very good at planting crops."

"My sister used to work in a big company. She likes racing, but my parents think it's unsafe and often scold her..."

Zhong Ling's speech was not fast. It would be more accurate to say that she was revisiting her past happiness rather than recounting past events. She talked about whatever came to her mind, sometimes elementary school, sometimes junior high school, sometimes father, sometimes mother, and she only talked about interesting things.

It was the first time that she talked about the past with someone other than her sister, and she felt quite delicate. Especially when she saw Han Zhou listening attentively, she had an indescribable feeling in her heart.

For most people, sharing happiness is not a difficult thing, but Zhong Ling is obviously an exception. No one can hear her, so naturally no one can respond to her.

Of course, she could reminisce about the past with Jong-eun, but for the two of them whose parents had passed away, this was undoubtedly a very heavy topic, and they rarely talked about the past.

Moreover, Zhong Ling was very clear that she owed something to her sister. Although her sister didn't seem to care, both she and her sister had been avoiding talking about what happened that day.

If it weren't for me, my sister wouldn't have to wear hearing aids because of her hearing loss.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 91 You are dead

The newly chosen milk tea shop is relatively quiet. There is soothing music playing in the shop. The tunes are sometimes cheerful and sometimes sad, flowing along with the cool air from the air conditioner, just like Zhong Ling’s mood at the moment.

"Hello, this is Coke for both of you."

The clerk was a quiet young girl, probably a student working part-time during the summer vacation. She handed two cups of Coke to Han Zhou and took the opportunity to look at him a few more times.

"Thank you."

Han Zhou took the Coke with a smile and placed one of the cups in front of Zhong Ling.

"You're welcome."

The waitress blushed and hurried back to the bar.

Zhong Ling glanced at the girl in surprise and said, "The clerk seemed to be blushing."

"Maybe it's too hot."

Han Zhou didn't take it seriously and didn't look back. He just casually inserted the straw into the cup.

Zhong Ling was speechless. Blushing was a sign of shyness. That girl was obviously shy. The book said that appropriate jokes could bring people closer together. She originally wanted to tease Han Zhou when he turned around, "She must think her junior is very handsome," but when Han Zhou didn't turn around, she didn't know what to say.

She is not very good at making jokes, and she doesn't know how to make jokes in a timely manner.

After hesitating for a while, she pushed the Coke in front of her to Han Zhou, pointed to the half-full cup of Coke she had left, and said softly, "You drink this one, I can't drink any more."

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Senior sister, you are making it too difficult for me. I can't finish three cups of Coke by myself."

Zhong Ling showed encouragement on her face and said, "You can drink slowly. Food cannot be wasted."

You can also keep it for yourself and drink it slowly...

Han Zhou didn't say anything. He thought that he just couldn't finish three cups in one go. It was okay to drink them slowly. However, he didn't expect that this senior sister had such a small appetite. It seemed that he didn't see her eat much when he was at her house last time.

Seeing Han Zhou's silence, Zhong Ling immediately misunderstood and thought that he was in trouble. Feeling a little embarrassed, she carefully suggested: "How about this, you drink two and a half cups, I drink one and a half cups, and we share this cup, okay?"

Han Zhou was stunned and asked in surprise: "How to divide it?"

"like this."

Zhong Ling placed her white index finger in the middle of the Coke cup and said seriously, "I'll pour this much for you later, and I'll drink the rest."

As she spoke, perhaps because she was not sure about her stomach, she slightly shifted her gaze and quietly moved her fingers a little lower down the cup.

Han Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. No wonder the other party didn't just pour half for him. It turned out that he was too embarrassed to lie. However, this little action was so obvious. Did he think that he couldn't see it?

He laughed and said, "It's okay. There's no need to finish the drink here. At worst, you can drink it while walking later. It won't be wasted."

He didn’t know whether other girls could finish two cups of Coke in one breath, but Guzheng could definitely do it. He didn’t know whether Guzheng’s appetite was too big or this senior girl’s appetite was too small.

But then again, what happened to Guzheng? He didn’t even reply to my message. I didn’t do anything today. Why did his whole family suddenly have such a big grudge against me?

Strange, so strange...

"That... junior."

While he was thinking, Zhong Ling spoke again.

But what she wanted to talk about was obviously no longer about Coke. Her expression became a little awkward and she said nervously, "Um... can we stop here today? I don't want to continue. I..."

She seemed to not want to talk about the past anymore.

"Of course, this is your freedom. Just tell me when you want to say it someday."

Han Zhou didn't take it seriously, his expression was gentle, and he half-jokingly said, "Also, you can just call me Han Zhou. Otherwise, when school starts, all the boys in the first year will be your juniors, and then I won't be sure if you are calling me that."

Zhong Ling was silent for a moment, then whispered, "But you are the only one who can hear my voice, so calling me junior is actually calling you..."

The smile on Han Zhou's face froze.

Fortunately, this sentence did not evoke the girl's feeling of loss. Instead, she began to think seriously: "When I call you junior brother, I am definitely calling you. On the contrary, when you call me senior sister, you are not necessarily calling me. In this case, you should change the way you address me, right?"

"Makes sense."

Han Zhou thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. He couldn't help but smile and said, "So how do you think we should change it?"

Zhong Ling was a little surprised and asked tentatively: "Can I make the decision?"

"of course can."

"That, that..."

Zhong Ling kept saying “that” for a long time without uttering a complete sentence. She looked very conflicted. It was not just that she lacked her own opinion, she seemed to lack confidence as well.

Seeing this, Han Zhou smiled and said, "Then don't worry about it. When the day comes when the senior sister can't tell whether I'm calling you or another senior sister, we can reopen this topic. You can always ask me to change my name."

Of course, he could express his own opinion and call the other party "Sister Ling" or "Senior Sister Zhong Ling" or something like that, but he still felt that it was better to let the other party take the initiative to give a name.

Hearing this, Zhong Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief, nodded slightly, and said, "Okay, then the same goes for you. If you can't tell whether I'm calling you or not, then you can ask me to change my name, but I don't think there will be such a day."

Her last sentence should have been intended as a joke, but Han Zhou felt that it was quite heavy. If possible, no one would be willing to be a "mute".

However, it can be seen that Zhong Ling is not too concerned about her "loss of voice". She does not avoid it and perhaps she has become accustomed to it.

This means that her real concern should be about the death of her parents, and the reason why she suddenly didn't want to continue talking about it was probably because of fear.

Han Zhou could more or less understand this feeling of worry and fear. This incident was obviously the biggest cause of Zhong Ling's change. It involved the death of her parents and was undoubtedly a tragic family upheaval. This kind of experience was sometimes painful enough just to recall, let alone speak it out.

The reason for her sudden change of mind was probably because the experience made Zhong Ling feel very uneasy, or she felt guilty about it and thought that such a tragedy was related to herself.

Sometimes talking requires a lot of courage, and Han Zhou will not force others on such matters.

But he felt a little strange. Since the death of her parents was so painful for this girl, why didn't Zhong Ling cry at that time?

Is she too strong? Or is there another reason?

If such an experience is not enough to make the other person cry, then how can you make the other person cry?

Han Zhou couldn't jump to conclusion for the time being. After all, he knew too little about this senior.

But no matter how curious he was, he certainly couldn't ask the other party such a stupid question as "Senior, didn't you want to cry when your parents died?" He didn't know whether Zhong Ling would be unhappy, but Zhong Yin would definitely be unhappy.

Seeing Zhong Ling lowering her head and holding a Coke cup with a worried look on her face, Han Zhou suddenly said, "Senior, how about I tell you about my past."

Zhong Ling was stunned: "Is it okay?"