Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 305 Footsteps

"Xiaoling, I have a message for you!"

The bathroom was filled with steam, and the mirror was fogged up. The girl hummed a tune that only she could hear as she stood under the shower, slowly washing her body. Her delicate skin flushed slightly under the water, and her perfect figure was faintly visible in the mist.

"understood!"

Even though she knew her sister couldn't hear her, she still subconsciously responded, turned off the shower, patiently dried herself off, and then put on her pajamas and walked out of the bathroom.

Zhong Yin was hanging clothes on the balcony when she heard the noise. She turned around and said, "It's chilly now. Put on a coat first, and I'll help you dry your hair before you go to bed."

Zhong Ling nodded, walked to the bedside, picked up her phone, and saw that it was a message from Han Zhou. Her mouth opened slightly, as if she was a little surprised.

The younger students usually don't message her at night.

She thought it was something important, but when she saw the message, she was clearly stunned, and a puzzled expression appeared on her slightly childlike and cute face.

"I heard there's a very famous zoo in Lincheng. Let's go check it out this weekend."

Is my junior inviting me out to hang out?

But why would he suddenly invite me? Could he have sent it to the wrong person?

The famous zoo... does it refer to the one that Mom and Dad used to take us to?

Just then, Zhong Yin's gentle laughter rang out from behind him: "What's wrong? Whose message is this?"

As the words fell, the sound of a hairdryer rang in my ears. My damp, long hair was gently grasped by a soft hand, and the hot air flowed back and forth over my hair, bringing waves of warmth.

Zhong Ling, like a docile kitten, silently felt the warmth of her sister's palm and raised the phone a little so that her sister could see the content on the screen.

Upon seeing the message, Zhong Yin was equally surprised, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Why would that kid suddenly ask you out this weekend?"

Her gaze lingered on the words "zoo" in the chat message, her expression somewhat complicated.

Zhong Ling gently shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.

"Could it be a wrong message?"

She typed a line of text into the chat box.

"impossible."

Zhong Yin shook her head firmly, "That kid isn't that reckless. He definitely sent the message to you. Why don't you ask him why he wanted to go out with you?"

Zhong Ling nodded, typed "Sure, but why?" in the chat box, then hesitated for a moment, deleted all the words, and retyped a new line.

"But what if it really was sent to the wrong person?"

Zhong Yin's tone became more serious: "If this kid really dares to answer you like that, then it means he has a big problem. He's testing your attitude."

"Testing?"

Zhong Ling tilted her head, seemingly not quite understanding what her sister meant.

Zhong Yin didn't explain, but said cautiously, "Let's see what he has to say first."

If it were someone else's invitation, she would definitely have told Xiaoling to refuse immediately. Of course, given Xiaoling's temperament, even if she didn't say anything, the other person wouldn't easily accept a boy's invitation. The fact that she didn't refuse immediately, and even just now when she was about to reply "okay" without hesitation, already meant that she was planning to accept the invitation.

Zhong Yin knew very well that this was a rare occurrence for Xiao Ling, who preferred to stay at home, and from a certain perspective, it was a good thing.

The doctor said that going out more would be good for Xiaoling's recovery. From this point of view, Zhongyin would certainly like to see his sister go out and play with her friends more often.

However, she also knew that Han Zhou was probably more than just a friend to her sister.

Xiaoling has always been oblivious to matters of the heart; she seems completely unaware of what her attitude means.

To be honest, although she felt a little lost because her younger sister had found someone she liked, Zhong Yin was naturally happy about it. She had considered this possibility before, and she was not against entrusting her younger sister to Han Zhou. On the contrary, she thought it would be a good choice.

To be fair, Han Zhou is a good guy, but the problem is that he might have a womanizing problem.

Even though she had never been in a relationship, with her more than 20 years of experience, Zhong Yin could naturally see the ambiguous relationship between Han Zhou and the two girls, Gu Zheng and Yi Xia, since she had seen Han Zhou alone with each of them.

The scene she witnessed at the hospital further confirmed her suspicions.

The reason she hadn't interfered was twofold: first, she felt she had no right to teach Han Zhou a lesson, and on the contrary, she owed him a favor; second, both Gu Zheng and Yi Xia were likable girls, and she didn't know the exact nature of the relationship between the three of them, but she didn't want her interference to cause any of them to be unhappy.

Of course, the main reason is that the younger sister was not involved.

Although Han Zhou was involved with two girls at the same time, he did not commit the shameless act of two-timing, nor was he morally corrupt; at most, he was just indecisive.

Zhong Yin understood the significance of someone who could respond to her at any time to her younger sister, so she didn't object to the two becoming friends, but as for becoming lovers... to be honest, she didn't think it was a good idea and didn't support it.

Zhong Ling didn't notice that her sister suddenly became a little absent-minded. Just as she was about to send a message to her junior, she saw that the other party had sent a message.

"Sorry, senior, I sent the message to the wrong person. Please don't mind it."

Zhong Ling was stunned for a moment, then breathed a slight sigh of relief, a relieved smile appearing on her face. She thought to herself that she had indeed sent the wrong message, but for some reason, she felt a little disappointed.

Just as I was about to reply "It's okay," my phone was snatched away.

"elder sister……"

She turned around and saw that her sister, who had just been gentle, now had a grim expression. One hand was still blowing her hair, while the other was rapidly typing.

"elder sister?"

"It's okay, that kid was just teasing you."

Zhong Yin looked at her phone and said softly, "I'll talk to him."

Her tone was gentle, but the message she sent was filled with a cold undertone.

"What do you mean? Are you messing with me?"

Han Zhou, on the other side, paused for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Sister Yin?"

This is clearly not Zhong Ling's tone of voice.

"It's me. Tell me, what do you mean? Do you think Xiaoling is easy to bully?"

Zhong Yin was blunt and had no intention of changing her attitude towards Han Zhou. She questioned, "Do you know that she was just about to accept your invitation, and now you're telling her that the message was sent to the wrong person?"

"But I really sent it to the wrong person..."

“I don’t care if you sent it to the wrong person. Since you’ve already extended the invitation, you have to take some time to accompany Xiaoling to the zoo.”

Seeing Zhong Yin's unreasonable attitude, Han Zhou frowned slightly and was about to refuse her directly when he saw that she had sent another message.

"Please, I'm begging you."

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment.

Even through the screen, he could still imagine Zhong Yin's silent, resentful expression. "Why?" he asked.

Instead of answering, Zhong Yin asked, "Have you heard Xiaoling talk about our parents?"

"I probably know a little bit."

“Our family went to the zoo once before. We wanted to take a family photo there, but it suddenly rained heavily that day, and the zoo closed. We had to go home.”

After a moment of silence, Zhong Yin continued, "My parents passed away a few days after that."

Although it was just a few simple words, Han Zhou could still feel the weight in them.

“I understand what you mean,” he said. “But Sister Yin, please believe me, I really sent the wrong message…”

Zhong Yin said to himself, "Xiao Ling likes kangaroos. She kept asking to see them when she was in junior high school."

"She also likes ostriches, saying it's funny to see them bury their heads in the sand."

"And the hippopotamus, she said there were no reference points on TV, so she couldn't determine exactly how wide the hippopotamus's mouth could open."

"And sheep..."

"I know, I know, I'll go, okay?" Han Zhou interrupted Zhong Yin's "rambling" and said helplessly, "But I'm only free on Saturday this weekend."

He never expected that Sister Yin would be so persistent... He had a bit of a headache.

"Then Saturday."

Zhong Yin had been waiting for these words, and as if afraid he might change his mind, he immediately said decisively, "I will have Xiaoling make preparations in advance, and I will cover all the expenses for that day."

"Okay, but you don't need to pay for it."

"No, I'll pay."

"Whatever you want," Han Zhou said helplessly.

"By the way, there's one more thing."

"Go ahead and tell me, but I might not agree."

"Thank you."

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said half-jokingly, "You're welcome. It's all about getting paid to do a job. I'm actually looking forward to a free day trip."

Zhong Yin hesitated for a moment, originally wanting to respond with a joke, but after thinking for a long time he couldn't think of one, so he could only say, "I hope you can take good care of Xiao Ling."

"No problem, but Sister Yin, since you know so much about my preferences, have you thought about what your favorite animal is?"

Looking at the last message Han Zhou sent, Zhong Yin was lost in thought for a moment, then shook her head, a barely perceptible smile appearing on her lips.

"You little brat, you're teaching me a lesson."

She deleted most of the chat history, keeping only the record of Han Zhou agreeing to go to the zoo with Zhong Ling, before handing the phone to the anxious Zhong Ling.

"See? Han Zhou was just teasing you. He hopes you can go to the zoo with him this Saturday."

Zhong Ling clearly didn't quite believe it, and even had a rough idea of ​​what her sister had done, but she didn't dare to show her suspicions, lest she upset her sister.

"I understand." She nodded hesitantly.

After her sister helped her dry her hair and went into the bathroom, she heard the sound of running water. Only then did she pick up her phone and hesitate before sending a message to Han Zhou.

"Junior, I'm sorry. If what I just said to you was something, please don't take it to heart, and don't take it seriously. Just go about your business and don't worry about me. I hope you have a great weekend..."

Seeing that her junior hadn't replied yet, she felt a little uneasy. Just as she was hesitating whether to add a couple more "sorry" messages, a new message popped up on the chat page.

"Senior, you are so kind."

This was Han Zhou's heartfelt sentiment. If he had any reservations about Zhong Yin's coercion before, Zhong Ling's words completely made him lose his temper.

Girls like this deserve to be seen and heard by more people.

It was precisely because he suddenly thought of this that he so easily agreed to Zhong Yin's request.

As one of the unlockable characters, Han Zhou had been hesitant about whether to complete the side quests related to Zhong Ling, since he couldn't be sure if it would cause her to fall in love with him, turning his love life into a complete mess.

However, upon closer reflection, there is no necessary connection between completing the side quests and whether Zhong Ling will like him. Hesitating because of this concern is unnecessary.

Most importantly, he and Zhong Ling are already very good friends, and even from a friend's perspective, he should do his best to help her resolve her inner conflict.

"I didn't dare to help my friend because I was worried she would fall for me."

It has to be said that this sounds incredibly presumptuous. If it were posted online, he would most likely be labeled a "narcissistic jerk"...

Han Zhou inwardly mocked himself, gave Zhong Ling a definite answer that they would meet this Saturday, and then temporarily put the matter out of his mind, intending to deal with another problem first.

Turning his head, he saw Xiao Xiaoxiao beside him with a sullen face, her two little fists clenched tightly together, as if she wanted to crush the high-powered flashlight in her hand, and she was glaring at him through gritted teeth.

"You said you were working hard for me, but all you did was discuss when to go to the zoo? Are you trying to drag me into the zoo?!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao couldn't take it anymore. Now was the time for everyone to split up and search for the ghost's whereabouts, but this guy was not only not serious, but was also staring at his phone and sending messages.

She could tolerate that, but this guy went even further, discussing with another person when to go to the zoo. He was chatting with two people at the same time, without even glancing at her. And he still had the nerve to say that he was working hard for her. Who could tolerate that!
Han Zhou knew he had neglected Xiao Xiaoxiao too much and felt a little embarrassed, but when he saw her standing on tiptoe and glaring at his phone screen, he couldn't help but laugh. Although he quickly suppressed his laughter, it was still caught by the sharp-eyed Xiao Xiaoxiao.

"You still have the nerve to laugh?"

She was furious and immediately kicked the bastard.

Han Zhou let her vent her anger, patting her trouser leg as he comforted her, "Believe me, what I'm doing is indeed related to you, and I promise I will never use my phone again."

He has already spoken with Mo Yixia, who said she will pay close attention to the upcoming live streams to see if she can find any useful clues.

"That's more like it." Xiao Xiao snorted angrily. "Let's go. There's nothing around here. We'll probably have to go to the third floor."

As she said, there was nothing noteworthy on the second floor. The group, having found nothing, soon gathered at the bottom of the stairs, their feelings being a mixture of disappointment and relief.

"Let's go to the third floor."

Once the live stream started, Zhang Tao was noticeably more serious than usual. Not wanting to waste any time, he went straight upstairs after finishing his speech.

One by one, the others followed. Perhaps because the second floor was too calm, everyone seemed much more relaxed. Seeing that the viewers in the live broadcast room were discussing the truth behind the flashlight malfunction on the first floor from a scientific perspective, they even joined in with great interest.

However, just as everyone was interacting with the live chat, something unexpected happened—

Suddenly, a series of unusually heavy footsteps echoed from the third floor above.

Clearly audible.

(End of this chapter)