Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 392 Setting Off with Our Backs to the Setting Sun
"go home?"

Upon hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar word, Xiao Xiaoxiao suddenly felt a little nervous. She instinctively gripped her wheelchair tightly, not letting anyone push it. "Which home?"

She had heard from the police officers who came to see her that if a minor like her could not find her biological parents or any relatives, the government would likely find a family to adopt her or send her to an orphanage. In short, they would try their best to give her a relatively complete childhood.

Despite her repeated insistence that she did not need adoption or to go to an orphanage, the police simply shook their heads and smiled wryly, offering no further comment.

She was very worried that she would be sent to a strange family.

No wonder Han Zhou took me out today; it turns out it's because they're about to part ways?

"I still want to continue..."

"Of course I'll go back to my home."

The words "I still want to stay in the hospital" were still on her lips when Han Zhou suddenly said something that made her gasp for breath.

"Go back...to your house?"

"Where else do you want to go?"

Han Zhou gave her a strange look. "I heard from the police that you neither wanted to be adopted nor wanted to go to an orphanage. I had to persuade them to agree to put you in my home. Since you are in a hurry to be discharged from the hospital, you can only come back to my home with me."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned for a long time, then her eyes suddenly dimmed: "I don't want to go to your house."

Han Zhou wasn't surprised and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"I...I want to stay in the hospital."

"You wish," Han Zhou said irritably. "Hospital fees are too expensive. If I weren't about to be unable to afford it, I wouldn't want to bring you home."

Xiao Xiaoxiao said those words because she didn't want to drag Han Zhou down. Seeing the disdain in his tone, she immediately became furious: "What do you mean by that? I'm not going to leave you with your money!"

"Besides, you clearly didn't want me to stay in the hospital any longer. Why didn't you just say so? Why did you keep testing me and trying to make me say I didn't want to stay in the hospital?"

Han Zhou said seriously, "I wasn't testing you. I just wanted you to understand the pros and cons of being discharged early. Since you don't care, then of course there's no problem."

"I care, I want to stay in the hospital!"

"But I really don't have the money to pay your hospital fees. I've almost finished all the hospital admission procedures, and I'm just waiting for you to sign them."

"I won't sign!"

"You really don't want to come to my house?" Han Zhou sighed and said helplessly, "Actually, if Director Wang hadn't said he would be coming to visit in a while, I wouldn't have wanted to bring you home either."

"What do you mean by that?" Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes widened. "So you just wanted to take me home to use me?"

"To say it's exploitation is an overstatement," Han Zhou coughed lightly. "At most, it's mutually beneficial."

"Where is there any mutual benefit?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked warily.

"Look, I've already applied to the school to become a day student, so it'll be more convenient for me to come home and take care of you. And you can help me with housework and stuff too. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

After a pause, Han Zhou continued, "Of course, the most important point is that you owe me a large sum of money. I know very well that a good creditor is one who stays close by, so I feel more at ease leaving you at home."

In truth, he knew very well that Xiao Xiaoxiao would not refuse his suggestion to go home with him. The reason he went through all that trouble was simply to make it easier for her to accept.

Xiao Xiaoxiao, of course, understood this as well.

She knew she already owed Han Zhou a lot. If she really went home with him, she would be completely dependent on him. If he could recover, that would be fine, but if he couldn't, she would only become a burden to him.

She can accept that one day he might abandon her because he can no longer take care of her, but she worries that if that day really comes, it might cast a shadow over his heart.

So she was conflicted, and the more Han Zhou tried to tell her not to care, the more conflicted she became.

This guy is really a good person, even though he always denies it, he really is a good person.

She could make herself into an unwanted, defective product to torment those hateful human traffickers, but she couldn't drag down such a good person.

Xiao Xiaoxiao made a decision in her heart that even if she went to the orphanage, she would never go home with Han Zhou. However, just as she was about to say it, she heard him suddenly give a bitter laugh: "It just so happens that I don't have any family either. It would be nice if I could see someone in the house every day when I came home."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, unable to speak for a long time.

"I told you you were a jerk."

After a while, she muttered with a pout, "This must be what people call PUA."

Han Zhou smiled and said, "So we're going to complete the discharge procedures?"

"Ah."

Perhaps feeling that her persistence was too easily shattered, Xiao Xiao lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly and said in a voice barely audible, "Whether it's the money I owe you or the kindness I owe you, I will repay you in the future... I hope you can live a little longer."

The last sentence was spoken in a very low voice, so soft that Han Zhou couldn't hear it even when he leaned close. He asked in confusion, "What was your last sentence?"

"I said--"

Xiao Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and shouted loudly in his ear, "Good people don't live long, but evil people live for a thousand years. You will definitely live to be a hundred!"

The loud voice echoed along both sides of the street, attracting the attention of many people.

Fortunately, Han Zhou never cared about other people's opinions and wasn't embarrassed. He just smiled and said, "Then I'll take your good wishes."

"shameless."

Xiao Xiaoxiao spoke with disdain, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Winter nights come quickly; in just a few steps, darkness has completely spread, and the air is cool, swirling under the streetlights.

Han Zhou pushed the wheelchair for a while, then suddenly remembered something and said, "Xiao Xiao, there's something I think it's time to tell you."

"Is it about my parents?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked.

She's not stupid. When the police came to see her before, they hesitated to speak several times, clearly intending to tell her something but not knowing how to bring it up.

In order to bring all human traffickers to justice, she has already told the police all the clues she knows, including information about her previous sets of parents and her biological parents, after being persuaded by Han Zhou.

The police were grateful to her for providing these clues and sympathized with her situation. It was normal that they didn't know how to start the conversation, so they probably told Han Zhou the relevant information and hoped that he could convey these words to her at a suitable time.

"Yes."

As expected, Han Zhou nodded.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Xiaoxiao clenched the piggy bank in her hand: "Tell me, I can accept whatever the result is. Were they caught? Or are they already dead?"

"neither."

Han Zhou shook his head and smiled bitterly, "They've disappeared. The police have been searching for a long time but haven't been able to find your biological parents. According to the villagers nearby, they moved away a long time ago, and nobody knows where they went."

Xiao Xiaoxiao hummed in agreement.

Disappearance is fine; in a sense, it's the outcome she can accept the most—regardless of whether those two people are dead or alive, happy or unhappy, everything from now on is no longer her concern.

She now has a new home.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Han Zhou asked curiously.

"Should I say something?"

Xiao Xiao glared at him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "If I had to say something... it would be that I am very grateful for their upbringing, so even though they abandoned me, I don't hate them at all, really." She was implying to Han Zhou that if one day he didn't want her anymore, it wouldn't matter, she wouldn't hate him.

Han Zhou smiled, shook his head, and said with a sigh, "That's why I said you're still a child."

Several white shadows streaked across the sky; they seemed to be pigeons, though I wasn't sure if they were the same ones I'd seen not long ago.

Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't dare to look up at him, but said with a dissatisfied expression, "I'm going to get my ears pierced and wear earrings in a couple of days, so you won't say such stupid things anymore."

"Using earrings to flaunt maturity? That's just stupid!" Han Zhou chuckled.

He put his hands in his pockets and suddenly felt a chill on his hands. He looked down and found two silver rose earrings in them.

If I remember correctly, the earring suddenly appeared in his pocket last week. He asked many people afterward, but no one said they had lost the earring.

"Speaking of which, I have a pair of earrings here that I don't know where they came from. They're quite pretty. If you like them, I'll give them to you."

He placed the earring in Xiao Xiaoxiao's hand.

"I wonder where it came from?" Xiao Xiaoxiao examined the earring with disdain. "Don't you know what it means to return lost property?"

Although she said that, she was immediately drawn to the silver earrings on her hand.

"I already said I don't know where it came from. I've asked everyone I know. I can't just go around asking strangers if they've lost their earrings, can I?"

Seeing Xiao Xiaoxiao staring at the earring in her hand with great affection, Han Zhou smiled and said, "Since you like it so much, I'll give it to you, but I need to disinfect it first."

"Are you sure these earrings really don't belong to anyone?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked with some concern.

"I'm not sure, but a week has passed and no one has come to ask me for it. I can't exactly keep it as a family heirloom, can I? I was planning to throw it away anyway. If you like it, you can take it. It looks quite suitable for you."

After thinking for a moment, Han Zhou reminded him, "But I've heard that getting your ears pierced hurts quite a bit. Can you bear it?"

He regretted asking the question as soon as he said it, realizing he had said something pointless. This was a girl who dared to jump off the car and roll down the slope bit by bit, how could she be afraid of getting her ears pierced?
"Of course."

As expected, Xiao Xiaoxiao gave an affirmative answer.

She hadn't really wanted to get her ears pierced, but in order to wear these earrings, she gritted her teeth and persevered, even though she was afraid of the pain.

She carefully put the earring away, then held up the piggy bank in her hand: "Then this piggy bank is for you."

The little pig, painted with gold, looks adorable and has a "福" (fortune) character written on its body, making it appear especially festive.

Han Zhou accepted the piggy bank with some surprise: "Is this a return gift?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao nodded first, then shook her head and said seriously, "I will try my best to fill this piggy bank in the future, and then it will be a return gift for you."

Han Zhou laughed: "I'm really looking forward to it, but this shouldn't count as you returning the money to me, right?"

He suddenly became wary.

"It doesn't count!"

Xiao Xiaoxiao's face immediately fell, and she cursed the guy inwardly as a miser.

The two arrived at the hospital, found the doctor and completed the discharge procedures. They patiently wrote down all the precautions the doctor mentioned after discharge. Han Zhou promised to come to the hospital regularly for check-ups and dressing changes, and then pushed Xiao Xiaoxiao away from the hospital.

Strangely enough, even though I left the hospital during the day, the air seemed much better at night.

Xiao Xiao muttered to herself, took a deep breath, and suddenly remembered something. She asked, "Didn't you say before that the wheelchair was rented from the hospital? How come it was still able to come out?"

"I can't carry you around everywhere, can I?"

Han Zhou explained helplessly, "I bought it."

"Did you buy it?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was shocked and heartbroken, and urged him to return the wheelchair.

"Don't worry, it's not expensive."

Han Zhou knew what she was worried about, and said with a smile, "The hospital learned about your great deeds in saving many children and gave me a very high discount. I only paid a symbolic amount, so it was almost free."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was skeptical: "Are you lying to me?"

"Why did you lie to me?"

Han Zhou shook his head and said seriously, "You have no idea what your jump a week ago meant. Dozens of families were made whole again because of you, and many more families will be spared because of you in the future—you are a great hero, Xiao Xiao."

Xiao Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, then lowered her head somewhat awkwardly: "Is...that's how it is?"

"That's not all. Many people want to thank you. Knowing that you didn't want to stay in the hospital, they specially raised money to buy a batch of rehabilitation equipment, which was delivered to my building a long time ago. There's also a bunch of health supplements, milk, fruits and vegetables. My refrigerator is almost full."

Han Zhou jokingly said, "Actually, I'm doing this thanks to you."

Xiao Xiaoxiao listened, somewhat lost in thought, and suddenly asked in confusion, "How did they know I wanted to go home with you?"

"Who knows."

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe we look more like family."

"Tch." Xiao Xiaoxiao knew he wasn't telling the truth as soon as she heard it.

Han Zhou continued, "I've always felt that kindness in this world is fluid. You've done such a great thing, you're bound to be very lucky in the future, and I'm sure I'll continue to benefit from it."

Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and said dismissively, "Even if I'm a crippled...bad kid?"

Han Zhou pressed her head down and said helplessly, "I've already told you you're a great hero."

"but I……"

"It's okay if it isn't."

He interrupted the girl with a smile, "None of these things are important."

"Then what's important?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked.

“From now on, we will really depend on each other for survival—that’s the most important thing.”

Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned.

"Come on, go home."

A cheerful voice rang in my ears, and the wheelchair beneath me was pushed, slowly moving away from the hospital.

The signs behind us, illuminated like the setting sun, grew farther and farther away until they disappeared from sight.

For some reason, her nose suddenly felt a little sore.

If the day of being abandoned will eventually come again, then let's wait for it to come.

At least for this moment, she has a new home.

"Hmm... going home."

(End of this chapter)