Chapter 566
is terrible
rain.
heavy rain.
Large raindrops pelted down one after another, icy cold, splashing up murky water that quickly coalesced into trickles that gurgled in the low-lying areas.
In the muddy bushes, Han Zhou's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes, taking several seconds to barely focus his gaze.
The rain slanted down, blurring everything in front of me, as if through a mist, or as if through a long stretch of time.
He lay there motionless for a while, letting the raindrops hit his body, then wiped his face hard, covered his aching head, and struggled to get up.
I took out my phone, and the screen lit up—9:23.
It was just before I left.
came back.
That's terrible too.
Except for that umbrella, which remained completely in the past, he didn't change anything.
After a moment of silence, he found an old roof that could barely shelter him from the rain and sat down. He finally managed to wipe the rain off the screen, and his fingertips moved back and forth in the contacts list, finally stopping at the words "Sister Yin".
The call was quickly answered, and Zhong Yin's slightly indifferent voice came through: "Hello, what's up?"
In the background, you can faintly hear the soft hum of an oven and the clinking of utensils; she must be busy in the shop right now.
"Sister Yin..."
The lively, laughing voice he remembered overlapped with the distant tone coming through the receiver. Han Zhou opened his mouth, only to find his throat was dry.
On the other end of the phone, Zhong Yin was taking a baking tray out of the oven, his gloves only half off. He intended to end the call in a few words, but upon hearing that hoarse voice, his heart skipped a beat. For a moment, he forgot about keeping an eye on the oven and quickly took off his gloves, asking anxiously, "What's wrong? Did something happen to Xiaoling?"
"Couldn't it be me who gets into trouble?" Han Zhou said with a wry smile.
"What could possibly happen to you?"
Zhong Yin subconsciously asked back, then, as if suddenly realizing something, her brows furrowed, "Could it be that Gu Zheng found out you were two-timing me?"
At this point, her tone suddenly turned cold, and she said stiffly, "Then you really deserve it."
Although she said that, she didn't even realize that a look of worry had appeared on her face. She clearly wanted to say a few more sarcastic things, but she swallowed the words back down.
The only sounds coming from the receiver were the continuous sound of rain and suppressed breathing. Seeing that Han Zhou remained silent for a long time, she unconsciously softened her voice, her tone hesitant: "Gu Zheng really knows? She hit you?"
Clearly, in her view, given Han Zhou's scumbag behavior, he would definitely get a beating once he was discovered.
"Hmm." Han Zhou sniffed, his voice muffled and thick with nasal tone, "She hit me."
Zhong Yin was startled. Hearing the commotion, she thought Han Zhou had been beaten and was crying. Although her reason told her that this guy had only himself to blame, hearing that hoarse and dull voice and imagining the possible situation on the other end of the phone, a complex mix of anger, helplessness, and even a little panic welled up uncontrollably.
"This... we can't possibly resort to violence..."
As soon as she said it, she felt unsure of herself, and even suspected that she was speaking up for the scumbag, which made her even more agitated.
On the other end of the phone, Han Zhou gave a bitter laugh and said, "It's okay, scumbags never have a good ending. I knew this day would come."
Zhong Yin frowned upon hearing that self-deprecating tone. This was unlike the Han Zhou she knew, who was incredibly thick-skinned and would still make sarcastic remarks even if the sky were to fall.
But now was not the time to lecture her. She remained silent for a long time, as if considering something, then took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind. She spoke a little faster, but still with hesitation: "Is Guzheng with you? Give her the phone, I'll talk to her."
You could tell she went through a lot of internal struggle to make this decision. In the past, let alone defending a scumbag, she would have been lucky if she hadn't joined Guzheng in hitting that bastard with two wrenches.
"Hey?"
"Hey?"
On the other end of the phone, Han Zhou fell silent again, with only the continuous sound of rain. Just as Zhong Yin was wondering if he had been dragged away by Gu Zheng and was about to hang up and call Gu Zheng directly, Han Zhou finally spoke.
"I'm sorry, Sister Yin."
"what?"
The sound of rain on the other end of the phone was so loud that Zhong Yin almost thought he had misheard. Why was this guy suddenly apologizing to him?
I said I was sorry.
Han Zhou's tone was no longer mournful; instead, he seemed to smile. "I was just lying to you. Gu Zheng didn't find out I was two-timing, and she didn't hit me."
Zhong Yin was taken aback, and his expression suddenly turned stern: "You let Gu Zheng answer the phone, did she threaten you? No matter how wrong you are, it is absolutely wrong to hit someone!"
You have no right to say that...
Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated: "What are you thinking, Sister Yin? Guzheng didn't threaten me. I was just teasing you."
"Turn on the video." After a brief silence, Zhong Yin suddenly spoke.
"what?"
"I told you to turn on the video."
"I……"
"Open!"
Seemingly impatient, Zhong Yin's tone suddenly rose, taking on a commanding tone.
Han Zhou held his phone, looking at his disheveled face reflected on the screen. After hesitating for a few seconds, he obediently clicked on the video.
At the same time, Zhong Yin's beautiful face also appeared on the screen.
She was frowning, about to say something, but then she froze.
Han Zhou looked as if he had been pulled out of the water. His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, still dripping water. His face was pale, and his clothes clung to his body, outlining his thin figure. Large patches of mud could be seen on his shoulders. He was more than ten times more miserable and wretched than she had imagined.
She was stunned for a few seconds, then her expression suddenly darkened, and for the first time, anger appeared in her voice: "Guzheng went too far! She even kicked you out?"
"I already told you I was just kidding..."
Seeing that the joke seemed to have gone too far, Han Zhou was afraid that she would call Gu Zheng to cause trouble at any moment, so he quickly explained the whole story and told her that he had only come out to look for Wang Lengqiu and had not been kicked out of his home by anyone.
Zhong Yin had clearly not yet learned about this from Zhong Ling. After hearing Han Zhou's explanation, her anger had not subsided, but rather increased, and her beautiful eyebrows furrowed: "Why did you call me instead of looking for someone properly? Just to tease me?"
Han Zhou chuckled awkwardly and didn't reply, but instead looked away at the continuous rain outside the eaves.
In fact, his real purpose in making this call was to confirm whether the future had changed. And now it seems that everything is as he expected; the future is already fixed, and he can't change anything.
Even though he left that note, and even though he tried every possible way afterward, even spending almost all of his remaining points, Uncle Zhong and Aunt Ye still died in that accident.
He was unable to rewrite the tragedy.
That's the real reason he apologized.
What's wrong with you today?
Zhong Yin frowned slightly. She knew very well that Han Zhou was the kind of person who would even tie a fishing line to his body in a knot to save someone. Although he was an absolute scumbag, responsibility was something ingrained in his bones, so he would never leave Wang Lengqiu alone and would call to tease her.
There must be some reason behind this.
Amidst the clamor of the rain, Han Zhou remained silent for a long time before cautiously speaking, "...Sister Yin, if I said I missed you, would you believe me?"
This is the truth.
After parting ways with the Zhong Yin who existed in the past, who had never experienced the pain of losing a loved one, and whose eyes still held a vibrant life, he had always wanted to see the Zhong Yin of today again. Or rather, he wanted to see a Zhong Yin who had reached a "perfect ending," whose parents were still alive, and whose heart was as bright as it had always been.
Although he tried his best but failed to reach that ending, he still needed to check on Sister Yin's condition.
After all, he had promised that no matter what the outcome, he would take responsibility for the Zhong and Yin sisters.
Furthermore, he only recently realized that he had done something foolish—
He shouldn't have left his phone number with Zhong Yin from the past.
At that time, this number was still invalid.
The thought of how, over the past nine years, Sister Yin had dialed an unanswered number more than once, sitting in the yard holding her phone in a daze, filled him with frustration and bitterness.
No wonder Sister Yin disliked me so much when we first met.
It would be strange not to hate such a jerk.
"miss me?"
Zhong Yin, of course, had no idea what Han Zhou was thinking. Hearing this, she was taken aback at first, then frowned: "Are you telling another lame joke?"
Just take it as a lame joke.
Han Zhou snapped out of his thoughts, offered no explanation, and smiled, saying, "Alright, Sister Yin, you can go ahead and get busy. I should go find Senior Wang Lengqiu now."
"With such heavy rain, didn't you even bring an umbrella when you went out?"
Zhong Yin didn't press the matter. She wanted to reprimand him, but seeing Han Zhou's disheveled appearance, she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh. She just snorted and said, "I'll call Xiao Ling and have her bring one over to you."
"No need, isn't your senior afraid of rainy days? Let's not make her make the trip."
Han Zhou wiped his face again, saying nonchalantly, "Don't worry, I'll be taking Senior Wang Lengqiu back soon."
He was about to hang up the phone.
"and many more!"
Zhong Yin suddenly called out to him.
Han Zhou paused in his actions and looked up at the screen.
"Pull up your right sleeve and let me see." Zhong Yin's expression had turned gloomy at some point.
Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, not reacting immediately. He subconsciously pulled open his sleeve and then remembered that he was wearing the hair tie that Zhong Yin had given him in the past.
Amid the deafening roar of the downpour, Zhong Yin's gaze remained fixed on the hair tie, and she remained silent for a long time.
Just as Han Zhou was wondering if she had remembered something, he heard her sneer: "Tell me, where did you find this wrecked ship?"
She was a bit older, but you could tell at a glance that it was a girl's hair tie, a common style that you could see everywhere. The fact that such a hair tie was on a boy's wrist spoke volumes.
Gu Zheng has short hair and rarely uses hair clips, let alone hair ties, so this hair tie could not possibly be hers.
As for Yixia, she always wears a baseball cap and never ties her hair up, so this hair tie couldn't possibly be hers.
Therefore, this can only be the third "ship".
Seeing Han Zhou's troubled expression, as if he didn't know how to answer, Zhong Yin seemed to suddenly think of something, her sneer faded, and she hesitated before asking, "Was this given to you by Wang Lengqiu?"
If it was a gift from that girl, then that makes sense...
"No," Han Zhou shook his head.
Seeing his complicated expression and the strange look in his eyes, Zhong Yin realized that there must be more to this than met the eye. After a moment of thought, an absurd idea suddenly popped into her mind, and she blurted out, "Could it be that Teacher Ouyang gave it to you?"
How could you think that way!
Han Zhou almost coughed up blood. He and Teacher Ouyang were completely innocent. How did Sister Yin connect them?
"Heh." Upon learning that it wasn't Teacher Ouyang either, Zhong Yin breathed a slight sigh of relief and decided not to press the matter further. A mocking sneer reappeared on his face. "As expected, it's a broken ship."
She had seen all of Xiaoling's hair ties before, and they were definitely not this style. Since it wasn't any of the four girls, or even the seemingly least likely Teacher Ouyang, she had nothing to hold back when she spoke.
Han Zhou: "..."
His lips twitched slightly, and he hesitated several times, unable to explain the truth. He could only say tactfully, "Sister Yin, you've misunderstood..."
What's the misunderstanding?
Zhong Yin frowned, and her tone became stern, "Even if I misunderstood, Gu Zheng and the others won't take it as a misunderstanding! I advise you to take this off right away..."
Before she could even utter the word "lost," she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, followed by a strong sense of weightlessness—a feeling of resentment and bitterness, as if something extremely important was being forcibly ripped from her chest and was about to be lost forever.
The feeling came so suddenly and intensely that her breath caught in her throat for a few seconds, and her face turned slightly pale.
"Sister Yin, what's wrong?"
Han Zhou noticed her unusual behavior and thought she was unwell, so he looked concerned.
"……fine."
It took Zhong Yin a while to suppress the inexplicable flutter in her heart. Perhaps she felt she had gone too far, or perhaps she saw Han Zhou's disheveled appearance on the screen again, her tone softened unconsciously, "Anyway, if you don't want to really get beaten by Guzheng one day, you'd better wear this hair tie..."
At this point, that inexplicable, bittersweet feeling of excitement resurfaced. She clutched her chest, as if she had just gone through a brief but intense internal struggle, and finally gritted her teeth, squeezing out the second half of the sentence almost through clenched teeth.
"...Hide this hair tie well, at least don't wear it in such an obvious place."
Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, and wanted to say something more, but Zhong Yin had already hung up the phone in a hurry.
All that's left on my phone is the busy signal.
……
In the pastry shop, the ovens had long since stopped working, but the sweet aroma filled the air.
Zhong Yin leaned against the cold kitchen counter, holding her phone with its screen already blacked out, her fingertips turning slightly white.
Instead of going back to work immediately, she pressed her phone tightly against her chest, as if only in this way could she suppress the still erratic beating inside.
My heart is beating very fast, abnormally fast.
Besides that, there was an indescribable bittersweet feeling, heavy and stuck in her heart, making it hard for her to breathe.
She looked up at the continuous rain outside the window, her slightly pale face reflected in the glass wall, along with the lingering confusion and palpitations in her eyes.
strangeness……
Have you been too tired lately?
Or is there a problem with his heart?
No... he must have something wrong with his brain.
It was awful that I gave that kind of advice to that guy...
After a while, she shook her head, changed out of her work clothes, put on a coat, picked up the umbrella in the corner, and walked straight into the rain.
"Looks like I need to go to the hospital for a checkup." (End of Chapter)