Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 325 Xiaoxiao
When Han Zhou got closer, he realized that what was under the streetlight was not a shadow, but a dirty girl.

She wasn't wriggling, but rolling slowly down the slope, her cheeks and forehead covered in tiny wounds.

"Could this child have rolled down the slope?"

Han Zhou was startled and bent down to check on the other party's condition. Suddenly, he heard a series of hurried footsteps. He turned around and saw two men running down the slope, their faces hidden in the shadows.

Perhaps not expecting someone to suddenly appear, the two men abruptly stopped, seemingly hesitating whether to continue approaching. After a moment's hesitation, they exchanged a glance and turned to leave.

Han Zhou sensed something was wrong and was about to ask the two what they were doing when he suddenly felt a force on his arm. He saw the girl lying on the ground weakly grabbing his arm.

"Call the police...who are they...?"

Due to her weakness, the girl's voice was quite faint, but it sounded especially clear in the quiet environment. The two men who were about to leave immediately stopped and turned to look at them.

They cursed inwardly, "What's wrong with this brat? She's rolled down from such a height and she's still conscious!"

Although he couldn't see their faces clearly, Han Zhou could still feel the cold and fierce gazes of the two men.

As expected, the next second, the two rushed over like mad dogs, clearly trying to stop them from calling the police.

Fortunately, Han Zhou was already on guard. He immediately tore open the plastic bag on the ground, took out two pieces of chopped ribs, and threw them heavily at the two men. This was his lunch for tomorrow, but now it had become a powerful projectile.

Han Zhou possesses the "Powerful Throwing" skill extracted from the guzheng, enabling him to throw accurately and powerfully at any time. This is why he was able to knock the knife out of the human trafficker's hand with a stone last week.

However, with only three points of stamina, each powerful throw is a huge strain on his body, and excessive force could even dislocate his arm. He was in pain for several days last week.

However, at this point, he couldn't worry about dislocating his shoulder. These two were clearly not good people, and if he let them close the distance, he would definitely be unable to resist with his weak body.

"Help!"

While throwing the zither, Han Zhou also shouted for help. With Gu Zheng not around, he felt quite unsafe. Although the area was relatively sparsely populated, it was not an uninhabited area. Besides, it wasn't time to sleep yet, and someone would definitely come to check if they heard his cries for help.

Han Zhou's cries for help were quite loud, and the two men panicked instantly. They cursed the troublesome girl in their hearts and regretted not dealing with her immediately. Seeing that many houses nearby had lights on, they had no choice but to turn around and flee.

However, before they could fully turn around, two dark figures appeared in front of them. Before they could see what they were, they felt as if they had been hit in the chest with a heavy blow, as if they had been struck by a hammer.

One man fell backward instantly, groaning in pain. The other man was stunned, not understanding why his companion was reacting so dramatically, falling to the ground after just one hit. Seeing a figure appear in the distance, he didn't care about his companion on the ground, clutching his chest and running away.

Han Zhou wanted to keep him, but he was powerless to do so—the two throws had dislocated his right hand. If he hadn't been a little exhausted after the first throw, this guy wouldn't have been able to escape.

"Young man, what's going on?"

At the same time, hurried footsteps sounded, and an uncle and an aunt carrying a rolling pin rushed over, staring warily at the man lying on the ground groaning.

Han Zhou gasped, enduring the pain as he explained the situation, saying, "Please restrain the person on the ground first, then call the police and tell them that someone else has escaped. Also, please call 120 for me. Thank you."

He looked worriedly at the girl on the ground, who had already fallen into a coma.

……

The ambulance arrived quickly and took Han Zhou and the girl to the hospital. Han Zhou's condition was relatively good; he would recover after resting for a while after his arm was repositioned. However, the girl's condition was not optimistic.

According to the doctor, the girl has multiple fractures throughout her body, especially her leg bones, which are severely damaged. She should be prepared for long-term hospitalization.

Fortunately, there was no danger to his life.

Han Zhou was a little puzzled. The slope wasn't very steep. Unless there was a huge pushing force, it would be difficult for a normal person to roll down it, let alone break any bones.

The doctor stated that the girl's injuries were likely caused by a severe impact, and not simply by rolling down the slope.

Violent impact...

Han Zhou seemed to be deep in thought, and soon thought of the two men he had seen earlier, thinking that the girl's injury must be related to them.

The police arrived at the hospital soon after. Han Zhou was a little surprised, as he didn't expect to find familiar faces, the same officers who had arrested the human traffickers last time.

The police officers were quite surprised to see him. What had this kid done to be a hero again?

They took a statement from Han Zhou and said, "The person who was arrested kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything. At first, he even said he was just passing by and was trying to fool us. Don't worry, we will catch the other suspect as soon as possible. By the way, how is the girl doing?"

Han Zhou replied, "He's still unconscious, but the doctor said he's not in any danger and will wake up soon."

"That's good." The officers breathed a sigh of relief, then stared at his freshly treated hand and asked, "And you, are you alright?"

Han Zhou shook his head.

The officers chatted with him for a while, saying they would leave a few men to wait for the girl to wake up so he could go home and rest. But just then, someone ran over excitedly and said, "The girl is awake!"

Everyone was overjoyed and rushed to the girl's ward. Han Zhou thought for a moment and followed, but he did not enter the ward to disturb the police's questioning. Instead, he sat outside the ward to rest.

About ten minutes later, the police officers left the ward one after another. One of the officers looked at him and said, "That girl called you in. It seems she wanted to talk to you about something."

Han Zhou nodded. He stayed here because he thought the other person might want to see him. So he pushed open the door to the ward and saw the girl on the hospital bed at a glance.

The girl's injuries received basic treatment. Unable to move freely, she could only look up at the ceiling, staring blankly at the fluorescent light.

Hearing the door open, the girl immediately looked over warily. Perhaps because the movement aggravated her wound, she gasped softly, a hint of pain flashing across her gloomy face.

Han Zhou had already heard that the girl had only had the doctor give her a simple treatment for her wound and hadn't had time to receive any further treatment. Even so, she insisted on enduring the pain to finish talking to him before receiving any treatment.

"Are you OK?"

Seeing that the girl was just staring at him without saying anything, Han Zhou had no choice but to speak first, "I heard you have something you want to tell me?"

The girl stared at him for a long while, then said weakly, "I didn't see clearly at the time, was it you who saved me?"

The voice was clear and pleasant, but it sounded rather impolite, giving off a domineering vibe.

"it's me."

"Thank you."

Even the tone of his thanks was quite stiff, as if he was very reluctant.

"You're welcome."

Han Zhou smiled kindly. He was very tolerant of children. This girl had obviously suffered a misfortune and was seriously injured, so it was normal for her to have emotional issues.

"So you contacted me just to thank me?"

He spoke gently, but he was a little puzzled. This girl wanted to see him even without treating her injuries. He thought it was something important, but she didn't say a word after thanking him.

Seeing that the girl remained silent, he hesitated and was about to leave, but she seemed to have read his mind and shouted, "Don't go!"

“But you should get treatment.” Han Zhou stopped and turned to look at the girl with a gloomy expression, speaking in a tone as if coaxing a child. “You can tell me what you need to say after you’ve recovered.”

"Once I recover, I won't be able to find you. Don't try to fool me like I'm a child," the girl said angrily. "I hate hospitals. Have the police take me out."

Han Zhou was taken aback: "But you're seriously injured..."

"Anyway, I don't want to stay in the hospital!" the girl interrupted him impatiently.

Han Zhou patiently and gently persuaded him, "You have multiple fractures throughout your body. If you don't receive treatment as soon as possible, you may suffer long-term consequences..."

"Won't receiving treatment leave no aftereffects?!" The girl interrupted him again, quite rudely. However, unlike before, this time her voice carried a hint of a sob, which Han Zhou quickly concealed, but he still caught it.

He paused, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Like most hospital wards, the room was filled with the smell of disinfectant. It was fine most of the time, but when the windows and doors were closed, and even when all the windows were drawn, the smell made the atmosphere in the ward particularly oppressive.

"You can't speak now, can you?"

After a brief silence, the girl said in a nonchalant tone, "I heard it when I first woke up. The doctor said I might never be able to stand up again. Why would he hide this from me? I'm not a crying little kid."

She bit her lip hard to keep herself from crying.

The child did find out...

Han Zhou sighed inwardly. For a young girl in the prime of her life, hearing such news would undoubtedly be a cruel blow. He suppressed his complicated thoughts and smiled to comfort her, "It's just a possibility. The doctor didn't rule it out, which means there's still a chance of a full recovery, isn't there?"

"Do you believe that?" the girl scoffed and sneered. "Anyway, you're the one who sent me to the hospital, so hurry up and figure out a way to get me out of here."

Han Zhou frowned: "Isn't this a bit too much like repaying kindness with enmity?"

"You brought me to the hospital, and I don't have the money to pay the hospital fees, so you have to pay for me. It would be an act of repaying kindness with enmity if I stayed here," the girl said impatiently.

Han Zhou was stunned for two seconds by this reason, and then reassured him, "Don't worry, the police will contact your parents as soon as possible."

When her parents were mentioned, the girl became even more impatient: "My parents are both dead, how can I contact them?"

Han Zhou was taken aback: "What about the other relatives?"

"Dead too!"

"Do you know any adults...?"

"No, they're all dead!"

"..."

Han Zhou initially thought the girl's parents had really passed away, but now he realized that she was just venting her emotions and wanted to portray herself as a cursed lone star.

His patience gradually wore thin, and his expression lost its gentleness: "You stay here and focus on your treatment. I won't disturb you any longer!"

"Stop! Don't move! You stop right there!"

Seeing that Han Zhou didn't turn around, the girl finally panicked and said in a pleading tone, "Don't leave me here alone..."

"I say you……"

Han Zhou ultimately softened, sighed, and turned around, only to see the other person struggling to sit up. Startled, he quickly went over and gently pressed the restless fellow back onto the bed.

"You can't move around right now!" he said, sounding a little angry.

"I'll move, I'll move."

The girl winced in pain, but still maintained a defiant stance, saying, "Unless you take me to the hospital."

"You still say you're not a child?"

Han Zhou took a deep breath. If he hadn't thought the child looked familiar, he probably would have left already.

"I'm already fifteen years old, I'm not a child anymore!"

"How much?" Han Zhou was taken aback.

"fifteen!"

"You're fifteen?"

"Doesn't it look like it?"

"you sure?"

"Sure!"

"That's okay."

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, a relaxed expression on his face. As he walked towards the ward door, he said, "You're only a year younger than me, so you're definitely not a child. Take care of yourself, bye-bye."

He had tolerated this guy until now out of his tolerance for children and a sense of déjà vu. Now that the other party was no longer a child, he no longer needed to tolerate him.

This guy can do whatever he wants; he's not going to put up with it anymore.

With this thought in mind, Han Zhou felt a sense of clarity and left the ward directly.

"How did it go?" the policeman standing guard outside asked hesitantly. "You two didn't seem to be having a very pleasant conversation?"

"It certainly wasn't a pleasant experience."

Han Zhou didn't say much, but shook his head and said, "Then I'll leave this guy to you. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

"Okay, be careful on your way back."

The police officer nodded, then suddenly reminded her, "By the way, I don't know if that girl told you that the two people you just encountered were also human traffickers. She seized the opportunity to jump off the car and call for help. The reason she didn't treat them immediately was to tell us the location of the other children being held. We've already sent people over there."

"Although we can't confirm yet whether these human traffickers are related to the group of suspects from last week, the boss thinks it's highly likely they're accomplices—thanks to you, this girl provided us with a lot of useful information, which has been very helpful in our operation."

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment: "You mean, that kid... no, that guy jumped off the car himself and that's why he got injured like this?"

"Yes."

The police officer looked moved and said, "She said it was because there was a slope on that road, so even if she broke her arms and legs, she could roll down to call for help and avoid being caught by traffickers. That way, she would have a chance to tell others the location of other children... What a brave child she is."

Upon hearing this, Han Zhou subconsciously pictured the petite girl struggling to roll down the slope.

Such a long slope... So she endured the pain and rolled down it herself.

Even if her bones were broken and she was exhausted, she would still try to "wriggle" a few more times.

It was precisely because of those last few tenacious twitches that he had the chance to see the other person under the streetlight—

Han Zhou suddenly felt that the guy wasn't so bad after all.

"Officer, did you ask her name?"

He then realized that he had never asked about this matter before, and that the guy looked familiar.

Didn't she tell you?

The police officer was somewhat surprised and recalled for a moment.

"I didn't quite catch that, but it seems she doesn't like her own surname, so she only lets us call her... Xiao Xiao?"

(End of this chapter)