Forced into a romantic relationship

Han Zhou, holding a muddy umbrella, wandered aimlessly through the woods.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows at his feet.

Although he had decided to avoid Wang Lengqiu from his childhood and completely sever all ties with him until he returned to the "present" time a month later, he had no idea what to do during that month.

This was a world a few years ago; it's obvious that many things would be different from what he knew. For one thing, simply showing his ID card would be a problem. Staying in the city for a month was probably unrealistic; if he wanted to minimize unnecessary trouble, staying in the countryside might be the best option.

In addition, the status bar also requires him to avoid interfering too much with the timeline. So whatever he does next, he must keep a low profile to avoid triggering a butterfly effect that could cause the future to deviate completely from the "now" he knows.

Han Zhou stopped to rest for a while. Although he had taken several powerful pills, he still couldn't completely get rid of the weakness brought about by time travel, and his spirits remained low.

This reminded him of the days when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

He was just as weak and exhausted then, and just as lost as he is now.

...Yes, I'm confused.

Despite having made up his mind, this was probably the most confused time in Han Zhou's life.

After all, when you are suffering from a terminal illness, you don't have to worry about the future, no matter how confused you are. But now he is in the past and has to face the future in the "present".

He needs to consider the consequences of all decisions he makes at this point in time and be held accountable for them at some point in the future.

Driven by a desire for a swift and decisive approach, Han Zhou intentionally avoided many questions when he first made his decision.

After all, if one really wants to avoid any changes to the timeline, and even worry about the butterfly effect... wouldn't his attempt to completely erase himself from Wang Lengqiu's childhood memories have an extremely serious impact on the future?

It can be said that without this encounter, there would be no time travel, and without this time travel, there would also be no encounter.

Changing such a crucial, destined encounter—won't this have a significant impact on the original timeline?
Even with status bar fixes, will the future changes simply mean they disappear from each other's worlds?

Han Zhou felt he needed to find out what was going on.

His goal was to save Wang Lengqiu, but if he not only failed to save her but also messed up their existing relationship, he might not even have a chance to correct his mistakes in the short term.

It's getting dark.

Han Zhou vigorously wiped his face, temporarily putting aside his complicated thoughts, and decided to first leave the woods and find a place to eat.

If we were to accidentally starve to death here, then there would truly be no chance to correct our mistakes.

With the status bar on his phone, Han Zhou naturally wasn't worried about not being able to afford food. He quickly found a restaurant, ordered a large bowl of rice and mutton soup, and since the food would take time to arrive, he also ordered two steamed buns to tide him over.

He had already observed the surroundings; it was a very unfamiliar place, one he had never been to when he was a child.

In other words, the reason he was able to establish a connection with Wang Lengqiu when he was a child was indeed entirely due to this time travel. As for the memories that occasionally appeared in his mind, perhaps it was the result of the status bar being corrected.

In short, he didn't understand it very well either.

And the more he tried to figure out these details, the more easily he recalled Wang Lengqiu's pitiful face and those words that conveyed little emotion yet seemed full of resolve—

"Will you stop being unhappy if I leave?"

No.

of course not.

If given another chance to answer, Han Zhou would definitely choose to firmly deny those words.

Ironically, despite consistently denying it, at least for now, his decision is clearly contributing to a future where the other person leaves forever.

...Once this time travel ends, he will no longer be a part of Wang Lengqiu's future.

Similarly, Wang Lengqiu will no longer be a part of his future.

They might get to know each other again and become ordinary friends.

Or perhaps they will never have the chance to meet again, and their lives will become two completely parallel lines.

—Even though he had already anticipated this outcome and thought he could accept it, Han Zhou felt a strange pang in his heart at this moment.

...Perhaps it's because at that moment, I happened to be holding two steamed buns in my hand.

Perhaps it was the bleakness of the evening wind that made even the rustling of the leaves sound melancholic. As Han Zhou bit into his steamed bun, he suddenly remembered many things.

Their first encounter was on a rainy day. The girl's first words, "You don't belong in this world," almost made him think that his identity as a time traveler had been exposed.

After that, one night in October, because of his perfunctory reply, the girl started appearing on the street, asking him repeatedly if he wanted to eat steamed buns.

Later, they went to the square to feed the pigeons together. Even though she could see his indifference and avoidance, the girl still took out a discount coupon she had specially prepared and treated him to a luxurious buffet.

...They said there were many things, but the actual time they spent together was very little, and what they could remember were mostly fragmented memories.

It wasn't until he started recalling those moments that Han Zhou realized that the girl seemed to be quietly watching him from some corner most of the time, neither daring to approach nor willing to leave.

"Han Zhou, you really are a bastard."

After finishing the last bite of the steamed bun, Han Zhou suddenly couldn't help but mutter a curse to himself.

Because he suddenly thought of something—

Wang Lengqiu said she had never eaten steamed buns.

Did he not even bring this girl a single steamed bun when he "traveled" here before?

He didn't know why he suddenly started worrying about this; he probably just wanted to scold himself.

"Young man, here's your mutton soup."

The restaurant owner's voice suddenly pulled Han Zhou back to reality. He came to his senses and said, "Thank you."

The shop owner was a very enthusiastic middle-aged man. Seeing that he seemed to be in a bad mood, he smiled and asked, "Young man, your umbrella looks dirty. Would you like me to clean it for you?"

"Is that okay?" Han Zhou was taken aback. "Of course." The shopkeeper took the umbrella and left.

Han Zhou watched his retreating figure walk into the kitchen, said "thank you" again, and lowered his head to drink the mutton soup.

Outside, dusk was falling, and the streetlights on both sides of the road had turned on at some point, casting long shadows of the public phone booths not far away.

For the first time in many years, Han Zhou experienced the taste of something bland and tasteless.

It wasn't that the mutton soup was bad, but rather that he wasn't in the mood to taste it.

If the past were to change, and Wang Lengqiu forgets me the moment... I probably would forget her too, right?

...I guess this umbrella is the only one that will be kept.

As for the true meaning of stick figures, perhaps we'll never know.

...It was still the result I had expected, but for some reason, Han Zhou felt somewhat unwilling.

Despite possessing the ability to remember everything he saw, he felt as if he had forgotten something very important.

But then again...

Will the future truly change because of changes in the past?

Or, to put it another way, does deliberately interfering with the past really affect the future? Could it be that all the efforts made not only fail to work, but the more we try to avoid it, the more we create the future we don't want to reach?

Han Zhou suddenly thought of a term—

The paradox of destiny.

All the actions of time travelers who try to change the past will actually contribute to the future they originally wanted to avoid, forming a causal loop.

In this theory, the future is immutable because corrective actions are themselves part of history.

So... will the status bar be fixed in the same way?
If the future truly cannot be changed, then is the choice I'm making now even meaningful?
Just then, the shop owner returned with the cleaned umbrella and two steamed buns, smiling as he said, "Young man, your umbrella is clean."

"Thank you." Han Zhou took the umbrella.

The shopkeeper placed the steamed buns on an empty plate on the table and tentatively said, "You must be from somewhere else. It's been a long time since we've had such heavy rain here."

He had been secretly watching this young man for a long time. The young man was disheveled and seemed absent-minded. He was wandering around with a dirty umbrella on a sunny day, and he couldn't even afford a few coins. He was worried that the boy had deliberately come to a place where his family couldn't find him to commit suicide.

"Yes, I come from a very far place."

The shop owner was secretly alarmed, but said in as gentle a tone as possible, "I knew it, your accent didn't sound like a local... So what brings you all this way? I've been running this shop for decades, you can come to me with any problems you have."

Han Zhou opened his mouth, he really wanted to confide in someone, so he replied, "I... I had a little conflict with a friend, I was looking for her, and I found her, but I don't know if I should see her."

The boss was a little confused: "You mean you're afraid to see her?"

Han Zhou shook his head, then nodded: "I dare not, and I cannot."

"You... what conflict between friends can't be resolved? Just talk it out, right? You can't let a small disagreement turn into a lifelong estrangement, can you?"

Han Zhou did not answer, because things were clearly not as simple as his boss had said.

The boss didn't know what young people's views on friendship were like these days, and since he was bad at talking and didn't know how to comfort people, he hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Well... um... even if we really never see each other again, you should at least say goodbye properly, right? Let me tell you, I used to have a friend, a girl..."

Han Zhou was stunned for some time, so much so that he didn't hear a word his boss said afterward.

Should we say goodbye properly?
In an instant, a clear female voice suddenly rang in his ears, cutting through the torrential rain, crossing space, and even traversing distant time, and burrowing into his ears with an almost domineering manner.

"When you find Senior Wang Lengqiu, remember to apologize to her!"

"And—remember your promise to me, you must bring her back!"

It's the sound of a guzheng.

Han Zhou finally remembered what the thing he had forgotten was.

Yes, didn't Guzheng remind him a long time ago?

You still owe Wang Lengqiu an apology.

and so……

"...Boss, is that phone booth over there working?"

The sudden sound interrupted the boss's recollection. He hesitated and nodded, thinking to himself that this child went on a long trip without even taking a cell phone. It seemed that he was indeed planning to commit suicide.

But since they're willing to make phone calls... they must have figured it out, right?
"Could you lend me two yuan?"

"Yes, of course!"

The shopkeeper quickly pulled out some change from his pocket. "You can call as much as you want, for as long as you want. If you don't want to, you can use my phone."

"Thank you."

Han Zhou stood up. He could see the boss's good intentions, and he also realized that he didn't have to bear everything alone.

Changing the past was too heavy a burden for him, and he felt he might seek advice from someone.

He walked toward the phone booth, silently reciting a number.

This happened almost ten years ago. If the phone number he wrote down in the future could be dialed, it might even reach the right person...

Perhaps it really was all destined.

(End of this chapter)