Chapter 639
Nowhere to Place
Twenty minutes later, the car stopped at Linshui Bridge.
Perhaps because her head had been repeatedly resting on Han Zhou's shoulder and then being pushed away, Ouyang Lianyu was now much more awake and was fumbling around for her glasses, looking quite busy.
Han Zhou got out of the car, opened the door, and softly called out to Zhong Yin.
"Sister Yin? Sister Yin?"
"You can't walk right now, so I'll have to carry you back. Is that alright?"
"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."
Seeing that there was no response, he no longer hesitated and nimbly carried Zhong Yin on his back. After Zhong Ling also got out of the car, he tapped on the car window with his finger.
"Teacher Ouyang, please lock the car doors first and keep an eye on Xiaoxiao. I'll take the senior students home and then come back. Call me if anything happens."
"Oh, okay... okay."
Ouyang Lianyu didn't dare to look up at him, still looking down for her glasses. Upon hearing this, she hurriedly pressed the lock button. Only after the car was locked did Han Zhou carry Zhong Yin and walk into the night at the alley entrance.
Seeing that Han Zhou had completely walked away, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, bent down to pick up her glasses that had fallen under the seat, took out the glasses cloth she always carried, and carefully wiped away the fingerprints and fog on the lenses.
No matter how much I wiped, I couldn't get rid of the shocking heat on my face.
Drunk people come in all sorts of ways, but ultimately they can be divided into only two types:
A condition where one wakes up with no memory of anything, commonly known as a blackout.
One type remembers everything, also known as "social death".
Ouyang Lianyu unfortunately belonged to the latter category.
She was still drunk and her head was still a complete mess, but she remembered everything that had happened before very clearly.
She remembered mistaking the water dispenser for Xiao Xiaoxiao and even asking why she didn't take her with her when she left; she remembered her loose tongue in the elevator, uttering a bunch of nonsense; and she also remembered mistaking Han Zhou's action of fastening her seatbelt for being tied up after getting in the car.
What made her want to crawl into a hole was—
She recalled how, along the way, she had repeatedly and deliberately turned her head toward Han Zhou's shoulder.
Thinking of this, Ouyang Lianyu's cheeks burned even more.
"How could I have done such a thing..."
Her heart was ashen, and her fingers tightened so much that she almost bent the temple of her glasses.
They say practice makes perfect, which is why she decided to try drinking tonight. But when she truly experienced what it means to make mistakes while drinking, it was too late to regret it.
"I guess... it's better to pretend I don't remember anything?"
She muttered to herself, and just as she came to her senses, she saw a pair of clear, bright eyes in the rearview mirror, showing no signs of intoxication.
"Teacher Ouyang, I think it's better not to forget anything."
……
Zhong Yin was the one who was the most drunk of all.
The reason is simple: everyone else got drunk after drinking half a glass of wine, but she drank a whole glass. At first, Han Zhou thought it was because she had a high alcohol tolerance, but later he realized that she just drank very fast.
With the thought that "as long as I drink fast enough, the drunkenness won't catch up with me," Zhong Yin finished a whole glass of wine in just one minute at an astonishing frequency of "small amounts, multiple times."
The price she paid was that she remained unconscious until now, and the bumpy ride had even made her feel nauseous.
Zhong Ling noticed her sister's discomfort and had already run home to make hangover soup. Han Zhou was afraid that any sudden movements would make Zhong Yin vomit, so he didn't dare to run and could only carry her slowly, muttering to himself:
"Please, Sister Yin, you can throw up anytime, just please don't throw up on me now..."
The alley was deep and dark on a winter night, and the old street lamp overhead struggled to stay afloat in the mist, casting their shadows long and short.
This was Han Zhou's first return to this alley since returning to the past. Nine years seemed to have left no trace on the bricks and tiles, or perhaps the alley had long been filled with the passage of time and could no longer accommodate any new changes.
The cold wind swept over him, making him feel as if he had returned to the days when he picked up and dropped off Zhong Yin after evening self-study. The cold was the same, the road was the same, and even the glow of the streetlights was exactly the same.
The difference is that back then it was autumn, and the two walked side by side. The girl was still a naive high school student, but now he is carrying her, nine years later, in the cold wind of a winter night.
Nine years is just the transition from autumn to winter for Han Zhou, but for most people, it is one-eighth of their lives, and from seventeen to twenty-six years old, it is an entire period of youth.
And what fraction of her youth did I, who briefly appeared in her life, actually occupy?
Han Zhou suspected that he might be the one who was truly drunk, for he was actually thinking about such a strange question. He turned his head and saw Zhong Yin's head resting heavily against his neck, his warm breath mixed with a strong smell of alcohol spraying onto his neck.
"If Sister Yin had been this drunk back then, even if Uncle and Aunt had the best tempers, they would probably have been furious, right?"
"However... after all these years of hard work, it doesn't seem so bad to indulge herself once in a while."
Looking at Zhong Yin's furrowed brows, Han Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. He held the other's legs tightly and was about to adjust his posture when the weight on his back suddenly shifted.
The next second, Zhong Yin opened her eyes groggily.
Her eyes were unfocused, her gaze wandering aimlessly to some point in the void before finally focusing on Han Zhou's face. Her lips moved slightly, as if she were muttering in her sleep.
"You bastard..."
Her voice was very soft, yet it was like a needle pricking Han Zhou, making him pause in his steps.
"There are no scoundrels here, only Han Zhou."
He responded softly, subconsciously lifting the hand supporting her knees slightly to make her lie more steadily.
“Isn’t Han Zhou just a scoundrel…” Zhong Yin murmured.
“Han Zhou is not a scoundrel,” he corrected earnestly.
“Exactly,” Zhong Yin said softly.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No, at least not now."
"Just... ugh—"
"Okay, that's me."
Perhaps this tactic worked, because Zhong Yin didn't vomit after all; she just nestled softly against his ear, her breath warm.
"It's not now... so it won't be in the future either..."
"what?"
It wasn't that Han Zhou had hearing problems; it was just that Zhong Yin's voice was too muffled. He subconsciously turned his head and brought his ear closer.
The next second, I felt a slight pain in my earlobe.
Zhong Yin gently bit him.
The force of that touch was actually very light; it was less of a bite and more of a grazing of his earlobe with his teeth. His breath, reeking of alcohol, swept across his skin, causing a tingling, itchy sensation.
Han Zhou froze, his steps halted, as if someone had pressed the pause button on his body.
The alley was quiet; even the wind had stopped. The dim light from the streetlights cast small shadows on Zhong Yin's face, revealing the fine lines of her eyelashes.
She seemed unaware of what she had done. After biting him, she softly buried her face back in the crook of his neck, her breathing becoming long and even again, as if the action was merely an unconscious act of drunkenness.
But Han Zhou's heartbeat became erratic.
"...Sister Yin?"
He called out tentatively, his voice very low, as if afraid of disturbing something.
no respond.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he carefully turned his head to the side, only able to see the other person's quiet profile.
It seems she's fallen asleep again.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but a strange sense of melancholy welled up in his heart. He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but at some point just now, he suddenly felt that Sister Yin from nine years ago seemed to have returned.
Shaking his head to dismiss the inexplicable thought, he carried Zhong Yin on his back and continued walking forward. But not long after, he heard Zhong Yin's voice again.
"What are you doing……"
Her tone was still dreamlike, but the previous softness had faded, replaced by her usual coldness, indicating that she had regained some clarity.
"I'll take you home," Han Zhou replied.
Zhong Yin gave a strained "hmm," seemingly processing the answer, before speaking again after a while: "Where's Xiao Ling?"
Han Zhou was somewhat surprised. He had thought that Sister Yin would be furious when she woke up and found herself being carried on his back, but she accepted the situation calmly.
Is it because I'm not fully awake yet?
"I'm going back ahead to make you some hangover soup."
Why are you walking so slowly?
Han Zhou naturally didn't dare to say it was because he was afraid she would throw up on him, so he casually said, "You're a bit heavy."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Zhong Yin didn't reply, but just started groping around on his body.
"Sister Yin, don't move, my neck is so itchy... Are you looking for something?"
“A wrench,” Zhong Yin said coldly.
So you really do carry this thing with you... Han Zhou broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said, "Actually, I drank too much tonight, and what I said just now was just drunken talk."
"you've been drinking?"
"I drank it." He lied through his teeth.
"How much did you drink?"
Two cups.
"How come I didn't see it?"
"Because you were already drunk by then."
"Yeah."
Zhong Yin didn't stop; instead, his groping became more vigorous, his voice chilling: "Truth comes out when you're drunk. It seems you really think I'm heavy."
"I was just kidding..."
"Ha, just kidding... Ugh—"
"Sister Yin, hold it in! Don't throw up!"
Han Zhou's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly turned to look at Zhong Yin, only to see the latter with a cold smile, her flushed face still showing signs of drunkenness: "I was just joking."
She didn't even open her eyes.
"I find it hard to believe you're joking..." Han Zhou thought helplessly, and had no choice but to slow down again.
The old street lamp behind us grew farther and farther away, and the road ahead became darker. Fortunately, the light from a few houses' courtyards peeked out from over the walls, barely illuminating the bluestone path beneath our feet.
The night fog had thickened again, like a semi-transparent veil, enveloping the two as they slowly moved forward.
Han Zhou could feel that the body on his back had softened at some point, no longer as tense as before, and even that always sharp, cold hardness seemed to have been softened by the smell of alcohol and the night.
“I thought that as soon as you woke up, you would yell for me to put you down so you could walk on your own,” he said with a smile.
Zhong Yin didn't reply, and it was unclear whether she had fallen asleep again.
After a long while, Zhong Yin's voice, tinged with the smell of alcohol, finally rang in my ears: "What did you do with Gu Zheng today?"
Han Zhou shook his head: "It's a secret, I can't tell you."
Zhong Yin didn't press further, but instead asked, "What did Xiaoling say to you in the car?"
"You heard that?" Han Zhou was a little surprised; he had thought the other person was completely drunk and unconscious.
"I only heard you talking to yourself."
"for example?"
Zhong Yin fell silent again.
Han Zhou turned his head slightly and could feel the slight rise and fall of her chest, as well as the ticklish sensation of her hair brushing against her neck.
He smiled and said, "Did you hear me say 'Sister Yin will hear me someday'?"
Zhong Yin remained silent for a while before softly humming in agreement. It was unclear whether she was slow to react due to being drunk or hesitating about whether to admit it.
"Isn't it said that people speak the truth when they're drunk? I feel like you're not being very honest, Sister Yin."
Zhong Yin ignored him and said seriously, "Don't lie to Xiaoling."
“I didn’t lie to her.” Han Zhou held her legs tighter and said just as earnestly, “I will heal you.”
He was looking straight ahead, so he couldn't see Zhong Yin's expression at that moment. After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Also, Sister Yin, it's rare for you to get drunk like this. Shouldn't you think more about yourself?"
"What do you mean?"
“What I mean is, at this point, you should be saying ‘Don’t lie to me.’”
Zhong Yin remained silent for a long time, then sneered: "Just because I told you not to lie to me, does that mean you won't lie to me anymore?"
"Uh... if it's just a problem of this magnitude, then I wouldn't lie to you."
"Doesn't that mean they're still lying to me?"
"Why don't you just ask questions of this level?" Han Zhou said shamelessly.
Zhong Yin seemed to sigh deeply, and a long trail of white mist rose in the cold night: "You really are incorrigible."
Han Zhou wasn't embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Why don't you answer one question for me first?"
Zhong Yin didn't speak, and it was unclear whether she didn't want to talk to him or was quietly waiting for him to continue.
“I heard Xiao Xiao say that when you were playing Truth or Dare this morning, one of the questions was, ‘Have you ever secretly hoped that something that shouldn’t happen would happen at the end of tonight?’”
Han Zhou carefully chose his words, "I heard that you didn't answer this question, but instead chose Truth or Dare, which is why you sent me the couple request. It was actually to appease Gu Zheng, right?"
"……Um."
"That's why I said you should think more about yourself. Although I appreciate you, you don't really need to solve the problem in this self-sacrificing way."
"Are you lecturing me?" Zhong Yin asked.
She seemed to be somewhere between being conscious and unconscious; her tone was neither as cold as usual nor as gentle as it had been at the beginning.
“That’s called a suggestion,” Han Zhou corrected.
"What if I don't take this suggestion?"
"Then there's nothing I can do."
Han Zhou subconsciously shrugged, which caused Zhong Yin on his back to bounce up and down, almost making him vomit again.
Fortunately, it ended without any serious harm.
The rest of the journey was so quiet that only the sound of footsteps and the soft rustling of the night wind through the alleys could be heard. Han Zhou slowed his pace, trying to minimize the bumps, until he pushed open the familiar door of Zhong Yin's house and stepped into the warm yellow light. Only then did he truly breathe a sigh of relief.
His gaze lingered briefly on the old tree in the yard before he carried Zhong Yin to the sofa in the house and entrusted him to Zhong Ling.
Before leaving, he seemed to suddenly remember something, turned back, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Oh, right, Sister Yin, Xiao Xiaofei asked me to help her find out the answer to that truth question..."
Actually, he wanted to ask the other person if they remembered the ear-biting incident, but his intuition told him that once he asked that question, he probably wouldn't be able to leave the room that night, so he wisely chose to forget.
Zhong Yin lay on her side on the sofa, her eyes closed, her face pale under the light, only her lips flushed with the rosy hue of alcohol, as if she were already asleep.
"Never mind, forget I asked. Goodnight."
Han Zhou chuckled and gently closed the door.
After a long while, Zhong Yin on the sofa finally opened his eyes slightly.
She stared at the ceiling, her lips twitched slightly, and she murmured something softly.
Unfortunately, there was no one else present, so no one could hear what she said.
……
After sending the Zhong sisters home, the next step was naturally to take Ouyang Lianyu home. Han Zhou drove all the way to Ouyang Lianyu's previous residence.
The streets were unusually quiet on the winter night, with only the sound of engines. The streetlights cast flickering shadows of the trees outside the car window. Ouyang Lianyu sat in the passenger seat, and perhaps because she was still a bit drunk, she was somewhat absent-minded the whole way. She only froze when she reached for the keys.
"Han Zhou, it seems the teacher has forgotten something..."
"Forgot your keys?"
Han Zhou unbuckled his seatbelt and said nonchalantly, "It's okay. I recently learned a new skill: I can open doors without a key. Let's get out of the car first."
"Isn't that just picking the lock?"
Ouyang Lianyu was startled at first, and wanted to reprimand her, but then she remembered what she had forgotten, and became even more embarrassed. She stammered, "It wasn't that I forgot to bring my keys..."
She lowered her head, somewhat unable to meet Han Zhou's eyes, "I forgot my rent was due..."
"what?"
Han Zhou's lips twitched. "You can forget this? What about all the things in your room?"
"I asked Xinyue and the others to help me pack it, but I've been too busy lately and haven't gotten around to picking it up yet..."
Ouyang Lianyu became increasingly guilty as she spoke, "So..."
"So you're so busy that you've forgotten you're homeless, huh?"
Han Zhou looked somewhat helpless, then shook his head and chuckled, restarting the engine. "Then I'll take you to a hotel for the night, and I'll help you move your luggage tomorrow... You must have your ID card, right?"
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback. She subconsciously wanted to turn around and look at Xiao Xiaoxiao in the back seat, but she held back and nodded gently: "I brought it."
Han Zhou turned the car around and was about to drive out onto the street when he suddenly saw flashing police lights in the distance. He quickly reversed the car back.
"No, there are traffic police patrolling. I don't have a driver's license, and it would be troublesome if I got caught."
After considering for a moment, he suggested, "Why don't you stay at my place tonight?"
His former residence is very close to Ouyang Lianyu's former residence, only a ten-minute walk away. Since I can't drive now, it's safer to stay at his house.
Ouyang Lianyu hesitated, "Wouldn't that be inconvenient...?"
Han Zhou sighed, "That's what I said when you insisted I stay at your house."
As he spoke, he parked the car on the side of the road, unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, opened the back door, and steadily carried the still-sleeping Xiao Xiaoxiao on his shoulder.
"Can you still walk?" He looked at Ouyang Lianyu, who was getting out of the passenger seat.
Ouyang Lianyu's head was spinning, but the night breeze immediately cleared her mind. Although her steps were unsteady, she knew very well that if she answered that she couldn't walk, then Han Zhou's other shoulder would belong to her. So she quickly nodded, her expression firm.
"You can walk."
"Don't be reckless." Han Zhou locked the car door, reminding him, "There's a long downhill stretch to go later, you should remember that, right?"
Ouyang Lianyu certainly remembered that slope, which was the place where the two first met. At this moment, Xiao Xiaoxiao, who was perched on Han Zhou's shoulder, also quietly opened her eyes and looked at the dark slope not far away.
Seeing that Ouyang Lianyu absolutely refused to let him carry her, Han Zhou didn't force her. He simply reached out his hand and said, "Then I'll help you walk. Remember to hold on tight to my shoulders. We're far from the school, and nobody knows us."
Ouyang Lianyu nodded gently, walked over unsteadily, reached out and grabbed his shoulder, hesitated for a moment and said, "Why don't you carry Xiaoxiao on your back? It's not comfortable for her like this..."
Han Zhou glanced at the fluffy head on his shoulder: "Okay."
In the darkness, the long slope resembled a tunnel sinking into the deep sea, with only a few streetlights casting a small, dim yellow glow.
Han Zhou adjusted his position and gently moved Xiao Xiaoxiao behind him, supporting her knees with his arms. She then rested her head on his shoulder, her chin against the back of his neck, like a cat that had finally found its home.
Ouyang Lianyu grabbed his shoulders and moved down step by step.
Drunk people have a poor sense of direction, and she was no exception. After stumbling several times, she finally abandoned her reserve, wrapped her arms around Han Zhou's arm, and pressed herself tightly against his side.
The slope was long, and the wind blew up from below, making her feel both awake and cold. She walked slowly, but her breathing was a little erratic. She didn't know if it was because she was still drunk or because the two of them were too close.
Occasionally, if you turn your head slightly, you can see Han Zhou's face.
It was a face that was impeccable from every angle, with the fresh and vigorous spirit unique to young people. At this moment, he seemed to be thinking about something, but his expression showed no impatience. He seemed to be used to taking care of people, and he even slowed down his pace to match her speed.
In a daze, she recalled her conversation with Xiao Xiaoxiao in the car not long ago—
“Teacher Ouyang, it’s better to sober up a little later if you’re drunk. We’ve taken care of Han Zhou for so long recently, it’s time for him to take care of us.”
She didn't know what she was thinking at the time; she probably wasn't really awake yet. Instead of immediately reprimanding him, she hesitated and said, "But he just dropped off Zhong Yin and the others, and now he has to take care of us. Won't that be too much trouble..."
“If he finds it troublesome, he wouldn’t be Han Zhou.”
Xiao Xiaoxiao's voice carried a triumphant smile, or perhaps it was due to her drunkenness, "Besides, it's rare to get drunk like this, so if I don't do something I wouldn't normally dare to do, wouldn't it be a waste of my drunkenness?"
"What are some things you wouldn't normally dare to do..."
"It's what you want to do right now."
What is it that I want to do right now?
Ouyang Lianyu had been pondering this question the whole way, but she still had no answer. By the time she came to her senses, she had already arrived at the foot of Han Zhou's building.
Han Zhou first went upstairs alone to check and make sure there were no thugs coming to collect debts before bringing the two men into his home.
Gu Zheng must have cleaned the room when she came in the morning; the floor and furniture were spotless. Because of the move, the room was empty, with hardly any furniture left. Fortunately, Han Zhou had anticipated this situation and had left two quilts, which would be useful tonight.
He went to the kitchen to boil some water, intending to test the water heater in the bathroom, but then he remembered that the two of them could barely stand, so he said, "Don't take a shower tonight, we'll do it tomorrow morning."
"This……"
Ouyang Lianyu hesitated. She was used to taking a shower before going to bed every day, and besides, she was covered in the smell of alcohol. If she didn't take a shower, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
Han Zhou took out the honey water he had bought at the convenience store on the way from the shopping bag, unscrewed it and handed it over: "You can wash it if you want, but don't lock the door. In case of any accident, I can go in and save people at any time."
Ouyang Lianyu blushed, instinctively crossed her arms, and said hesitantly, "It's not that easy for something to go wrong..."
"Anyone can say that, but you can't," Han Zhou said helplessly. "Don't you have any sense of your own reputation?"
"I've already changed it..."
"It won't work even if it's changed."
"Then I'll wash it tomorrow morning..." Ouyang Lianyu gave in.
Han Zhou was finally satisfied and put the two pairs of newly bought slippers on the ground: "I'll go tidy up the bedroom. You two can squeeze in for the night. Call me anytime if you need anything."
After saying that, he went into the bedroom.
A few seconds later, Xiao Xiaoxiao quietly opened one eye, propped herself up and looked towards the bedroom. Seeing that Han Zhou wouldn't be able to come out for a while, she whispered, "Teacher Ouyang, we can sleep together again tonight."
The sudden sound startled Ouyang Lianyu. She said, both amused and exasperated, "Is there anything to be happy about?"
"Of course I'm happy. I'm happy as long as I can be with Teacher Ouyang."
Xiao Xiaoxiao casually agreed, but her gaze wandered back and forth in the empty room, lost in thought for a moment.
Ouyang Lianyu, oblivious to Xiao Xiaoxiao's unusual behavior, chuckled and said, "How come I never realized you liked me so much before?"
"I only realized it suddenly myself."
Xiao Xiaoxiao looked away and winked at her, "It's not too late to find out now, right?"
Ouyang Lianyu felt that she was implying something, and was about to speak when she heard Han Zhou's footsteps in the bedroom, so she quickly shut up, while Xiao Xiaoxiao lay back down on the sofa.
At the same time, Han Zhou walked out of the bedroom, carrying two sets of clean clothes: "There are still a few clothes in the closet that I didn't take with me. If you don't mind, you can wear them for now. It's better than smelling of alcohol." (End of this chapter)