Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 255 The end of remembering is forgetting
Upon seeing the wooden room, Han Zhou was no less shocked than when he first saw the status bar, and perhaps even more so.

After all, he was somewhat prepared for the status bar, as transmigrators with systems were not uncommon in novels from his previous life. However, the scene before him was truly unexpected and even somewhat terrifying.

Despite being so far away, in the jungle near a village he had never been to before, a "handmade model" of his house appeared.

This is practically the beginning of a horror story.

If we combine this with the eerie footprint incident from last night, the level of horror in this matter can be increased by several orders of magnitude.

In less than half a second, a multitude of possibilities flashed through Han Zhou's mind.

A spiritual resurgence, a mastermind behind the scenes, fragmented memories, a conspiracy that transcends time, a pair of eyes that have always been watching from the shadows, and a puppet being manipulated...

He broke out in a cold sweat, instinctively imagining the worst-case scenario, when suddenly he heard Guzheng's questioning voice: "Xiaoxiao, is this what you're going to show us?"

Then came Lin Anyu's voice: "It's just a wooden model, but what is it? I'm not saying this is any better than my sister's craftsmanship."

"Sorry, I don't quite understand," Bai Tongtong said with a wry smile. "Did you come to Beicheng just to see this wooden box?"

"Don't say anything! Didn't you see Han Zhou was stunned? It's normal that you don't understand, he must feel the same way I do!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao loudly urged everyone to be quiet so as not to disturb Han Zhou's thoughts, completely unaware that she was the noisiest one.

This guy is as noisy as ever...

Han Zhou smiled bitterly to himself, then suddenly froze on the spot.

and many more……

Why did I say "as always"?
He tried to grasp the fleeting thought, but couldn't recall anything. However, one thing was certain—the thought didn't originate from his impressions since the start of the semester, but rather from much earlier.

But the problem is, he had never seen Xiao Xiaoxiao before the start of the school term!
Suppressing his increasingly chaotic thoughts, Han Zhou pressed his temples in exasperation, thinking that it was no wonder the status bar had given him a "mysterious brocade pouch" item this month. Without some hints, he probably wouldn't have been able to figure out the truth of the matter even if he racked his brains.

At the same time, he also keenly realized something else—

Unlike himself, neither Gu Zheng nor Lin Anyu showed much shock, which meant they did not recognize that the wooden room was the room he had lived in before.

Is it because they haven't been there often enough to make the connection immediately?
With a desire to verify, Han Zhou ignored Xiao Xiaoxiao's expectant gaze and turned to look at Gu Zheng and Lin Anyu.

What do you think this thing looks like?

"What else could it be like? A wooden box, of course. To be honest, calling it a box is a compliment."

Lin Anyu shook his head and sighed. He couldn't figure it out and even suspected that it might be a prank by Xiao Xiaoxiao.

However, seeing Han Zhou's serious expression, he patiently examined it carefully for a while longer, and finally shook his head helplessly, "I really can't see what it looks like."

Guzheng shook her head blankly: "Does this box look similar to something?"

"No, I was just asking casually."

Han Zhou smiled nonchalantly, then turned to look at Xiao Xiaoxiao. Before he could ask, she hesitated and said, "I think it's like a room..."

Perhaps afraid that people would laugh at her, she quickly ran to the wooden model and said earnestly, "Look, this is the door, only half of it is burned. This is the living room, the TV is against the wall, this is the refrigerator, and the bathroom is in this location..."

No one seemed to be mocking her. They listened silently to her description, their expressions varying. Finally, Lin Anyu hesitated before speaking, "Your description is too far-fetched... Putting everything else aside, a refrigerator should at least be a cube, so why do you think this sphere is a refrigerator?"

"I said it was because half of it was burned."

"Even if it's half burned, it shouldn't still be a sphere."

"Can't we just melt it down and recast it?"

"Um... I know a few abstract artists. Would you be interested in getting to know them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Alright, alright," Han Zhou interrupted, worried that the two would start arguing. "What it looks like isn't important, but I do have a feeling that I've seen this thing before."

It's more than just vaguely familiar; how could he not know his family well?
"Really?" Lin Anyu was taken aback.

"real."

Han Zhou took out his phone and carefully took photos of the wooden room from various angles, saying earnestly, "Although I have absolutely no memory of it, Xiao Xiao and I have definitely seen it before."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

Bai Tongtong didn't know much about the situation, so she didn't feel much, but Lin Anyu and Gu Zheng were genuinely stunned. Why would Han Zhou say such a thing after seeing this wooden box? Could it be that he also thought it looked like a room?
Seemingly sensing the doubts in everyone's hearts, Han Zhou nodded and said, "That's right, I also feel that this thing is like a room. There's no reason why, it's just a strange feeling."

After Lin Anyu mentioned it, his idea that the wooden model resembled his room faded considerably. To be honest, from an objective point of view, this thing really doesn't look like a room. Apart from both being hollow, they have nothing in common. Yet, he still had a strong feeling about it, which speaks volumes.

Besides, although Xiao Xiaoxiao's description was quite abstract, it was actually about the layout of his room. The reason why Gu Zheng and Lin Anyu didn't make the connection immediately was because they couldn't truly understand the world through Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes, and also because they had rarely been to Han Zhou's house and didn't have a strong impression of it.

Han Zhou's conclusion that he had definitely met Xiao Xiaoxiao before was not only due to their amazing understanding of this, but also because of the activity task given in the status bar to help Xiao Xiaoxiao regain her memories. The task description mentioned that he and Xiao Xiaoxiao had met once before, but he couldn't remember anything now, which meant that this memory was likely lost.

I was originally planning to save my points and buy the "Mysterious Pouch" later, but given the current situation, it seems I have no choice but to buy it...

On the way back to the village, everyone seemed distracted. What they saw and heard on this trip was much more mundane than they had imagined, but the information behind it was quite unbelievable.

Especially after hearing about the strange footprints from Lin Anyu last night, the three girls were dumbfounded. Gu Zheng thought last night that Han Zhou had just not seen clearly and hadn't paid much attention to it, but now that she heard it was so strange, she couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine.

Lin Anyu said in a sinister tone, "Everyone heard it on the bus this morning, right? Beicheng used to be known as the bandit city, with many robberies happening there. As far as I know, murder and robbery are often linked. Do you think it's possible that a vengeful spirit is behind this..."

"no way."

Han Zhou calmly interrupted him, and his composed tone eased the tension of the three girls.

"Why? Don't you find it strange?" Lin Anyu asked, puzzled.

"It's eerie, but I don't think it's the work of vengeful spirits. Maybe it's just that the room we stayed in last night was in a special location, and we could see something that looked like footprints from the window. People standing on the beach couldn't see anything because their view was limited."

"But when I got back to my room last night, I looked again and didn't see any footprints." "At a specific time and in a specific place, most inexplicable phenomena are born from coincidences that cannot be replicated."

Han Zhou looked serious, though he wasn't entirely sure himself. However, considering that they were in a remote village and it was getting dark soon, he didn't want them to panic at this time.

However, he genuinely didn't believe in the existence of ghosts or monsters, and the footprints from last night were likely unrelated to any paranormal phenomena.

As they returned to the village, the group discussed the matter, and at Bai Tongtong's suggestion, they even created a five-person group chat to continue their analysis that evening.

"By the way, where are we staying tonight?" Lin Anyu suddenly asked.

Xiao Xiaoxiao was annoyed that he had interrupted the discussion, and said, "Ask the driver if he plans to go to town later. If he does, we'll get in the car and stay in town for the night. If not, you can stay at my house."

Do you have that many rooms in your house?

"We can just squeeze in, my bed is very big." Xiao Xiaoxiao said a little embarrassed.

Han Zhou smiled and said, "I remember you said before that you would let us stay at another villager's house for the night. Why do you suddenly want us to come to your house?"

"Don't act innocent after getting a good deal. They won't treat you to a big meal like I did!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was too embarrassed to say that she was frightened by what Lin Anyu had just said. She already had trouble sleeping at night and was prone to overthinking. Staying at home alone might cause her to have insomnia all night.

"You're going to cook yourself?"

"Otherwise, are we supposed to hire a cook to prepare meals for you?" Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at Han Zhou.

Gu Zheng smiled and said, "Then let's help out too."

"Okay, but I didn't leave any groceries at home when I left, so I need to go buy some first."

"Is the market still open at this hour?" Lin Anyu asked curiously.

"Who said I was going to the farmers' market? The farmers' market is closed, but the supermarket is open."

"There's a supermarket here?" Lin Anyu exclaimed in surprise.

Xiao Xiaoxiao sighed: "This village is just remote, not isolated from the world."

The group arrived at the village supermarket. Although it was called a supermarket, it was actually quite small. However, though small, it had everything you needed. The owner was a middle-aged woman who was quite curious to see so many unfamiliar faces and chatted with everyone enthusiastically.

Lin Anyu usually handled these conversations, while Han Zhou took the opportunity to buy a mysterious brocade pouch. Like the interesting fortune slips, this item also had a physical form. Its appearance was no different from an ordinary brocade pouch, but it was quite plain and unadorned. It was about the size of a palm, flat, and seemed to be empty. You could feel nothing when you squeezed it.

Han Zhou glanced at the product information again.

[Mysterious Pouch: A one-time use item. Opening it will grant you a mysterious message that may provide some clues or help in your current situation, or it may provide invalid information. Please use it carefully according to your current circumstances. It can be used 3 times and will disappear after three uses. It costs 66 points and can be purchased once a month.]

Please carefully consider whether to apply this policy based on the current situation...

He thought for a moment and realized that the situation clearly required guidance and assistance, which should meet the conditions for opening the brocade pouch. So, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he secretly opened the thin rope on the brocade pouch.

Strangely enough, the shriveled pouch suddenly became full the moment it was opened, and a slip of paper popped out and landed right in Han Zhou's palm.

Seeing everyone discussing what dishes to choose, Han Zhou unfolded the note and began to read it. The first sentence on the note stunned him—

"The end of remembering is forgetting."

Although it was a puzzling statement, it perfectly reflected his current situation, meaning that the information provided in the brochure was correct.

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and continued reading.

“Go back to your old home and search patiently; you may discover things that don’t exist in your memory.”

"If you get nothing, you can seek help from others."

"If you still come up empty-handed, I suggest you put this matter out of your mind and focus on living your life now."

"The end of remembering is forgetting, and the end of forgetting is remembering."

The contents of the brocade pouch were not as mysterious as Han Zhou had imagined. It gave him a very straightforward hint: to go back to his old home before he moved away and look for something.

The problem is that he just moved not long ago, and he checked almost the entire house during the move but didn't find anything special. Will he really be able to find anything when he goes back?

If it can be found, it means that it is an item he once painstakingly hid, and it might even be directly related to the lost memory.

It's not hard to understand why he was asking for help from others. He figured that "others" probably referred to Xiao Xiaoxiao, since his closest friends, Lin Anyu and Gu Zheng, had helped him when he moved and had carefully checked the room without finding anything unusual.

As someone who, like him, has lost a portion of their memory, Xiao Xiaoxiao might offer some unique insights during the search.

As for the suggestion that if nothing is found, it means that it doesn't matter whether he remembers the matter or not, and it won't affect his current life.

"The end of remembering is forgetting, and the end of forgetting is remembering..."

Looking at the last sentence on the note, Han Zhou was completely bewildered. The first few pieces of information provided by the brocade pouch were straightforward and effective, but he couldn't understand this one sentence. He didn't know if it was just a pretentious attempt to fill up the word count or if it contained important information that he couldn't decipher for the time being.

Should we try it again?
A mysterious pouch can be used three times, and he was considering whether to use it more often to get all the information he could.

Without much hesitation, Han Zhou untied the rope binding the brocade pouch again, deciding to obtain the information one more time. This wasn't a game; there was no need to piece together clues bit by bit. Even if he failed, it wouldn't matter. It was better to figure out the conditions for using this thing in advance.

The rope was untied, but nothing jumped out of the brocade pouch.

A line of text appeared before Han Zhou's eyes.

[Can be used again after three calendar days]

I saw someone asking why yesterday's episode ended there. Actually, it should have ended there, but I left it as a cliffhanger to introduce a new plot. However, I was worried about being criticized, so I wrote this part, even though it still didn't explain much.

Just to clarify, both Xiao Xiaoxiao and Wang Lengqiu were mentioned in snippets before their official appearance, though not very clearly. The story will continue with the daily main plot and won't delve into any magical adventure or puzzle-solving content. However, as mentioned before, the abilities in the status bar are quite bizarre, so it's reasonable for them to occasionally exhibit some surreal developments, right?

Also, besides the four unlockable characters, the other female characters aren't necessarily the main heroines, and the romantic storylines aren't limited to just romance; however, we'll have to see how things develop.
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(End of this chapter)