Chapter 571
Complete Concentration
“‘Concentration’ is such a great skill…”
A dozen minutes later, Han Zhou, feeling refreshed, was once again filled with emotion. At first, he thought this skill was not very useful, since the so-called time change was just a sensory illusion. But now that he had experienced it firsthand, he truly realized its wonders.
No... I'm afraid this skill has even more potential than this; we should explore it further if given the chance...
He lowered his head and looked at Wang Lengqiu, whose cheeks were flushed and who was wiping her mouth with a tissue. A mischievous smile appeared in his eyes: "Senior, now you know why you tie your hair up, right?"
For once, Wang Lengqiu was too shy to look up at him. Her gaze darted away, her eyelashes trembled, and her shy yet obedient appearance made one want to kiss her forcefully.
Even though her face was flushed, she still pondered his question seriously. She nodded first, then turned her head and asked softly, "If it's a guzheng, then you don't need to tie your hair up?"
Han Zhou's smile froze.
He pinched the girl's cheek, both amused and annoyed, and said, "Do you really enjoy bringing up other people when we're together?"
"Is it not allowed?" Wang Lengqiu asked, her eyes filled with doubt.
Han Zhou was actually worried that she would overthink things and that she would think he was a "newcomer," so he was tolerant of her in every way and even wronged himself, just to occupy a place by his side.
So he stopped smiling and said seriously, "Senior, although I am a complete scumbag, once I've decided on a relationship, there's no such thing as first come, first served. I will treat every relationship with my whole heart."
"You can understand it this way—every room in my heart is filled with my love for one person, so there's not much difference between these feelings."
"But a person only has two chambers in their heart," Wang Lengqiu reminded him softly.
She didn't say the last half of her sentence, but Han Zhou understood—a person only has two chambers in their heart, but he was already juggling three relationships.
He looked embarrassed for a moment, but quickly recovered and shamelessly asked, "Aren't there two ventricles?"
“Two atria, two ventricles…” Wang Lengqiu counted on her fingers, “Is there one more ventricle reserved for Sister Zhong Yin?”
Han Zhou's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't reply. He just continued, "Senior, although it's a bit shameless to say this, I hope we can get along like normal lovers. You don't have to wrong yourself. You can throw tantrums and be temperamental. In short, you don't always have to accommodate me."
"But I didn't give in to you."
Wang Lengqiu tilted her head and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Seeing you happy makes me happy."
Han Zhou was speechless for a moment, a warm, tingling sensation washing over him. But before he could respond, the girl continued:
"And even if there's a first-come, first-served rule, I was the first one here, wasn't I?"
Han Zhou was taken aback.
In a sense, what she said is actually correct. If she hadn't been too young nine years ago and couldn't make moves as freely as Zhong Yin did back then, she probably wouldn't have been satisfied with just leaving a memory with bite marks.
Perhaps this is why she has always wanted to prove that she is "no longer a child"—now that the pigeon has flown back, she will never let go again.
So... this isn't about compromising at all, but rather a kind of "composure of the empress"?
Han Zhou was somewhat amused and exasperated, and his voice softened unconsciously: "Of course."
Wang Lengqiu gently pressed her face against his chest, nestled quietly for a while, and then asked the same question again: "So does Guzheng need to tie her hair up?"
"..."
Seeing that she seemed genuinely eager to understand the matter, Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, then began to seriously consider it, his expression gradually becoming subtle: "As for Guzheng... she probably wouldn't be willing to do something like this..."
"What about Yixia?"
“Yixia is not yet an adult…”
“So…” Wang Lengqiu tilted her head and looked up at him, “None of you have done it yet?”
"what?"
Han Zhou was taken aback, not expecting her to ask such a direct question.
"……Correct."
After a long pause, he admitted somewhat hesitantly that it wasn't that he was ashamed of being a "virgin," but rather that it felt a little strange to talk about his relationships with his two "potential girlfriends" in front of his current girlfriend.
But it must be said that the other party successfully stirred up his inner restlessness again. You should know that before this, he had never thought about these things.
Wang Lengqiu, completely oblivious, asked curiously, "Can you control yourself in front of them?"
"The key is that they wouldn't tempt me like you do..." Han Zhou said, both amused and exasperated.
There's no need to say more about the guzheng. Although Mo Yixia is good with words, she only knows that he has the desire but not the courage. If it really comes down to a real fight, her performance may not be much better than the guzheng.
Don't you like it?
Wang Lengqiu looked up at her, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Looking at the undisguised cuteness of the person in front of him, Han Zhou couldn't help but reach out and gently rub the top of her head.
However, this action seemed to trigger some kind of switch. Wang Lengqiu, who was originally lying in his arms, suddenly blushed, silently lowered her head, and slowly crawled down to him.
Han Zhou was startled: "What are you doing?"
"Ok?"
Wang Lengqiu was slightly taken aback, "You're not..."
"……never mind."
Han Zhou interrupted her, took a deep breath, and took the hair tie off his wrist again, placing it back into the girl's palm.
"Since you're so eager to learn, I'll teach you one more time."
……
“‘Concentration’ is such a great skill…”
"Wait, didn't I say that before?"
"Never mind, let's get down to business first..."
While Wang Lengqiu went to the bathroom to wash up, Han Zhou, feeling refreshed, checked his status bar.
He was looking for the right moment to teach that family a lesson tonight.
Actually, if he wanted to teach this family a lesson, he had plenty of ways. The most direct way was, as Guzheng suggested, to give those three people a good beating. Anyway, with "there will be a response," they wouldn't be able to catch him; at most, they would think it was haunted.
But that would be too troublesome. He didn't want to waste his time on this kind of person. Besides, if he really injured the whole family, he might have to call Senior Wang Lengqiu over to take care of them, which would only cause more trouble.
What he needs is a simple, efficient, and trouble-free lesson that is still unforgettable.
After pondering for a long time, he changed two statuses in succession—
[Photographic Memory → Daily Memory (Modified): For three points, you can designate any target to experience the same monotonous dream repeatedly for forty-eight hours, and be haunted by it even when awake, as if trapped in an endless loop. Note that you can influence the dream's direction to some extent based on the target's emotional state.]
[Happiness First → Happiness Last (Modified): For 3 points, you can designate any target and keep their mood in a negative state for 48 hours. Note that you can specify the mood category to some extent, depending on the target's mental state.]
Just then, the bathroom door was pushed open, and Wang Lengqiu came out, asking curiously, "Brother Han Zhou, what are you thinking about?"
Han Zhou said frankly, "How do you want to teach your parents and your sister a lesson?"
"Have you thought it through?"
Wang Lengqiu climbed into bed and snuggled into his arms.
"I've roughly figured it out."
Han Zhou nodded. "But I'd like to confirm first, are you planning to give them a minor punishment as a warning, or a major punishment as a minor deterrent?"
Is there any difference?
"There's not much difference; the key is how you think about it."
Wang Lengqiu seemed to understand, but after thinking for a moment, she said, "Then let's give her a small punishment as a warning." She usually didn't care much about these things, but this time her younger sister had secretly taken away the photos she cherished, which made her very unhappy.
"I understand."
Han Zhou didn't explain what the so-called "minor punishment as a warning" meant, and Wang Lengqiu didn't ask either, only saying softly, "Are we going to stay at the hotel tonight?"
"If there's enough time, it's definitely better to go back, since everyone is worried about you... Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
Wang Lengqiu did not answer, but continued to ask, "What if there isn't enough time?"
Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then of course we can only stay at the hotel for one night."
It was still early, and he couldn't possibly sleep in the middle of the day. Besides, it was raining outside, so he couldn't go out. He looked at the controller in front of the screen and suggested, "How about we play a two-player game for a while?"
"Now?" Wang Lengqiu seemed to be taken aback.
"We can go have lunch first; it'll be almost noon soon."
"I don't really want to go out, is it okay if I order takeout?"
"of course can."
Han Zhou smiled, picked up his phone from the bedside table, opened the food delivery app, and asked while swiping the screen, "What would you like to eat, senior?"
I'll eat whatever Brother Han Zhou eats.
"Then I'll just order whatever?"
"Ah."
Han Zhou didn't have trouble making decisions; he placed his order in less than two minutes, then put down his phone and looked over thoughtfully:
"Senior, I think we need to sort out the issue of how we address each other. You can call me Brother Han Zhou in private, but you absolutely can't call me that in front of others, it's too inappropriate."
Wang Lengqiu nodded gently. Of course, she knew how to be tactful; otherwise, she wouldn't have held back from using that form of address until today. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Then what should I call you normally?"
"Just call me by my name, like everyone else."
"Han Zhou... Brother?"
It's clear that, at least in this moment when the two of them are alone, it's not easy for her to resist calling him "brother."
Han Zhou couldn't help but chuckle, reaching out to pat the girl's head and encouraging her, "Practice a few more times now, and try to swallow those last two words as soon as possible."
Despite his efforts to explain that the action was not implied, Wang Lengqiu's cheeks still flushed slightly, and he looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Do I...have to swallow it again?"
"But isn't lunchtime almost here...?"
Han Zhou: "..."
"...Senior."
"Ok?"
"If you have the chance, chat with Yixia more often."
He pressed his temples. "I feel like you two should have a lot in common."
"it is good."
Wang Lengqiu nodded obediently, then raised her eyes again and whispered to confirm:
"Then...do you still want to swallow it?"
Han Zhou remained silent for a moment.
"When you're chatting with Yixia, whatever you do, don't tell her that I taught you these things."
The sound of rain outside the window was soft and continuous, weaving a tapestry of sound. Raindrops slid silently down the windowpane, leaving winding trails of water, as if time itself slowed down and became viscous with the sound of the rain.
During the meal, Wang Lengqiu also brought up her idea—Han Zhou could call her "senior sister" in normal times, but when the two of them were alone, they should use a more intimate term of address.
"Shouldn't lovers have a special nickname for each other?" she said.
She was no longer satisfied with "Qiuqiu" or "Qiuqiu," feeling that those were only for children. As their relationship progressed, she wanted a more mature and intimate nickname.
Han Zhou was stumped. Although he was dating three women at the same time, he had never given any of them a nickname. He really had no idea how to come up with a special name for his lover.
After pondering for a long time, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he suggested, "What do you think of 'Little Leng Qiu'?"
The name isn't particularly special, but it's a unique memory between them.
"I like."
Clearly, Wang Lengqiu was satisfied with this title, even though it sounded just as childish.
After thinking for a moment, she suddenly said, "By the way, Brother Han Zhou, can you usually call me Senior Sister Leng Qiu?"
"of course can."
Han Zhou was taken aback, then asked curiously, "But why add a prefix specifically?"
"Because Xiaoling is also your senior."
Wang Lengqiu tilted her head, her gaze falling on the other person's slightly confused face. She seemed to want to say something, but held back and simply said softly, "You should distinguish between me and her."
"It wouldn't matter if we didn't differentiate, would it..."
"Do not."
She shook her head, her voice soft, yet unusually serious.
"They are related."
"okay, I get it."
Han Zhou smiled, not thinking much of it, got up and tidied up the plastic boxes on the table, and said, "Alright, we've almost finished eating, it's time for us to play games."
Wang Lengqiu paused slightly, then hesitated before asking, "Don't you need to digest this a bit?"
Han Zhou laughed: "It's impossible to go out for a walk to digest in this weather, right? It's okay, we can play and digest at the same time."
"Oh……"
Wang Lengqiu nodded as if she understood, slowly stood up, and then walked to the window and drew all the curtains.
The room gradually darkened, leaving only warm yellow light.
Han Zhou hadn't thought much of it at first—drawing the curtains while playing games did create a better atmosphere—but when he turned around to turn on the monitor, he was stunned.
In the shadows by the curtains, Wang Lengqiu began to take off her clothes again.
He was taken aback: "Senior, what are you doing now?"
"Weren't we going to play a two-player game?"
Wang Lengqiu's face flushed slightly, but she still looked intently into his eyes, indicating that she was ready: "I know what a two-player game means, I've heard my roommate talk about it..."
Han Zhou's lips twitched slightly.
"When I say 'playing games,' I really mean playing games." (End of Chapter)