Chapter 645
Severnana
Han Zhou certainly didn't have the ability to repair that old charger.
At least not when that line of text was typed.
He lied again.
However, as it turned out, the lie was necessary. At least it stopped the panic and helplessness boiling in Zhong Yin's eyes, and she is now sitting on the sofa, absentmindedly flipping through comics.
"Give me three hours, you can read comics while you wait."
This was the third sentence he typed into the input box. After seeing it, Zhong Yin didn't question whether he was lying to her; she simply stared at the screen and asked:
Why do you want me to read this comic book so badly?
"Don't you like Fox Shadow Warrior?"
Han Zhou continued typing on his phone, "It's rare to have a break, wouldn't it be better to do something you enjoy?"
Zhong Yin was silent for a few seconds, then turned the page of the comic: "I'd rather not rest."
With her hearing aid out of power, she can't do anything now, and can only communicate through her phone. How is this forced "rest" any different from punishment?
"A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise."
Han Zhou was studying the charger, and it was a bit troublesome to type while distracted, so he simply switched to voice input. "Sister Yin, look on the bright side. Not being able to hear for the time being may not be a bad thing."
He forgot one thing: the story of the old man who lost his horse doesn't exist in this world. The speech recognition failed, turning it into a nonsensical string of text.
"Sevenshana, Rouge Rose".
Who is Seven Shana?
Looking at the unfamiliar name, which clearly belonged to a foreign woman, Zhong Yin frowned slightly. Gu Zheng and Yi Xia were both unavailable tonight, and she had assumed that this guy was planning to behave himself, which was why he had come to the store to find something productive to do.
But now it seems she was overthinking things. This bastard dared to mention another woman in front of her. Did he really think she wouldn't complain to Gu Zheng and the others? What does "Rouge Fragrance" mean? Does it mean that the woman is very beautiful?
For some reason, when the words "foreign," "woman," and "beautiful" were combined, Zhong Yin felt a surge of unease, and even her gaze towards Han Zhou turned hostile. However, she didn't react; she simply asked expressionlessly:
What are the benefits of not being able to hear?
"The advantage is..."
Han Zhou was about to continue using voice input when Zhong Yin interrupted him: "I only have hearing loss, not deafness. As long as you speak loudly in my ear, I can still hear you."
Han Zhou was taken aback, then realized that Sister Yin had a strong sense of self-respect and hated being treated as a disabled person. She probably didn't want to continue communicating in this way.
He hesitated for a moment, then carefully brought his face close to the other person's ear and raised his voice, "Can you hear me at this volume?"
Hot breath hit his ear, and Zhong Yin's body tensed slightly as he instinctively became wary, but he did not react to the sound beside his ear.
"And what about the volume?" Han Zhou raised his voice.
Zhong Yin still did not respond.
It seems that Sister Yin's hearing loss is more serious than I imagined... Han Zhou's heart sank. He knew that Zhong Yin's hearing loss was caused by the explosion four years ago. In that accident, she covered her sister's ears in time during the explosion, but did not care about herself, which led to a perforated eardrum and a severe decline in hearing.
He gradually increased his voice, and it wasn't until the fifth time he spoke that Zhong Yin finally responded.
"I heard you." She asked, head down, "How loud were you?"
"Anyway, shouting like this all day long is no problem!" Han Zhou shouted, but his face had a calm and nonchalant expression.
Zhong Yin frowned slightly and turned her head away: "But it hurts my ears to hear you call me that."
Han Zhou had anticipated this outcome. Hearing loss only raises the threshold; it doesn't mean the eardrum can withstand greater impact. If someone shouts in his ear, it will still be very uncomfortable.
In other words, even if Sister Yin can hear it, it doesn't mean she can tolerate that volume.
So he pulled out his phone again: "It's definitely more convenient to communicate by phone..."
"Need not."
He spoke at a normal volume, which Zhong Yin didn't hear, but he knew what he wanted to say from his actions. He snatched the phone and slammed it on the table.
"That's good, it's better than not being able to hear anything at all."
Han Zhou tried to take his phone back, but Zhong Yin stopped him each time, eventually even putting it in her pocket. He was at a loss and could only helplessly ask, "Are you sure this won't further damage your hearing?"
Zhong Yin didn't answer. Instead, she stared intently at him and brought up the same question again: "Now answer me, what's the benefit of not being able to hear you?"
Han Zhou was taken aback.
He didn't know how to describe Zhong Yin's expression at this moment. It wasn't fragile, nor was it strong, and it certainly wasn't as cold as usual. Perhaps at this moment, she really wanted to figure out the problem.
But what he said just now was only to comfort her, to tell her not to overthink in the silent world, and to just wait patiently. It wasn't that he really thought there was anything good about not being able to hear.
How could there possibly be any benefit in something like this?
Meeting Zhong Yin's scrutinizing gaze, he chuckled awkwardly, and after a long pause, managed to utter a sentence:
"Uh... does it count if you don't tell me to shut up when you think I'm noisy?"
Zhong Yin frowned slightly: "Do you really enjoy telling lame jokes?"
Han Zhou looked embarrassed, then his smile faded, a hint of self-reproach flashing in his eyes: "Sorry, I can't think of any benefit..."
If he had been able to find a way to prevent that accident, none of this would have happened.
Seeing his expression as if he were the culprit, Zhong Yin felt a surge of annoyance. After a moment of silence, she suddenly spoke up, "Isn't it a good thing that I'm not in the mood to pick a fight with you right now?"
Han Zhou paused, carefully observing her expression, and asked uncertainly, "Is this also a lame joke?"
"If you think it is, then it is."
"Sister Yin..."
"what happened?"
"I suddenly realized that you're quite proud and arrogant..."
He didn't raise his voice, so Zhong Yin naturally didn't hear him, but judging from his expression, it wasn't something nice. He said coldly, "Are you trying to ask if I'm deliberately picking on you?"
Before Han Zhou could react, she continued, "I can answer you, that's right, I just don't like the look of you."
As soon as she finished speaking, she thought Han Zhou's expression would change drastically, or at least become complicated. However, he remained calm and indifferent, as if it didn't bother him. She didn't know if he had a strong mentality or if he thought it was unimportant.
For some reason, the lingering irritation in her heart suddenly surged even more intensely.
It was precisely because this bastard had such a strong mentality and a thick skin that a woman with such a terrible personality could be tolerated time and time again. She knew this very well and had been taking advantage of it without restraint. But now that she was being tolerated again, she only felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Perhaps this bastard tolerates me time and time again not because he has a good temper, but simply because he thinks my attitude is unimportant.
Zhong Yin suddenly realized how vulnerable she was without her hearing aid. Emotions she had never felt before and had never cared about before surged up all at this moment, but she couldn't find the source at all.
Seeing that Han Zhou still didn't react, but instead lowered his head to fiddle with the hearing aid, her chest heaved violently: "Don't you want to know why?"
Han Zhou certainly wanted to know, but he was also afraid that the truth was as he suspected, which would be troublesome, so he shook his head vigorously.
"Sister Yin, I still need to fix the charger. Let's talk after I'm done."
“I remember you just said it would take three hours to fix.”
Zhong Yin placed the comic book face down on the table, her tone indifferent, "It's almost ten o'clock now. By the time you finish fixing it, it will be one o'clock at night. Do you think I'm in the mood to stay up and chat with you?" In fact, she didn't know why she always disliked this guy.
If it was just a first impression, that incident would have been over long ago. In fact, the other person had risked their life to save her not long ago. Now, they're even lying, pretending to be a confident person who can fix a charger, even though they're clearly novices. They're trying to deceive her with such a lame excuse, even though they know they'll get a scolding afterward.
She should have thanked them, and she wanted to.
But these are the very words he can say to anyone, yet he just can't bring himself to say them in front of him.
Han Zhou thought she was tired, so he smiled and said, "If you're sleepy, you can go back to your room and sleep for a while. Don't worry, the charger should be fixed by the time you wake up."
Zhong Yin persisted, "You tell me to read comics one minute and go to sleep the next. Are you always so fickle?"
Han Zhou had a toothache: "Sister Yin, don't criticize me for not being faithful at a time like this. I told you, whether you're reading comics or sleeping, just do what you like."
Zhong Yin was silent for a moment: "I want to chat."
"Oh, chatting."
Han Zhou nodded to indicate that he understood. "Okay, open your phone, open Fetion, and find the group chat we created that day..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhong Yin had already given him a cold look: "I was talking to you."
Han Zhou was flattered and said tactfully, "It's my honor, but it might delay my work on repairing the charger..."
Seeing his cautious demeanor, Zhong Yin felt a pang of pain in her heart. She wanted to say, "If you don't want to talk, then forget it," but the words that came out were something else entirely:
"You can stay at the shop and sleep tonight."
She suddenly realized something: this guy had the nerve to sleep at Xiao Xiao's house, Wang Lengqiu's house, and Teacher Ouyang's house, but he had never stayed overnight at her house.
There are certainly reasons why she never spoke up, but could this also suggest that, in this guy's eyes, their relationship is actually less important than that of others?
She didn't know why she suddenly cared about this; she only knew that this strange feeling arose after she saw the hair tie on the other person's hand that day.
She had already confirmed that the hair tie did not belong to anyone she knew, which meant that there was indeed a woman of unknown origin around Han Zhou. The fact that this guy was willing to risk being discovered to wear the hair tie on his wrist could only mean that their relationship was not simple.
Actually, she had no interest in this guy's messy affairs at all, so she didn't tell anyone about it. But this guy was so carefree; he hadn't asked about it for so long. She didn't know if he trusted her too much or their relationship too much.
In fact, these things had nothing to do with what happened tonight, but she still extended an invitation for the first time, and Han Zhou, unsurprisingly, froze on the spot.
I stayed overnight at Sister Yin's house? Really?
After a long while, as if he had finally figured something out, he muttered something to himself, then suddenly put down the charger and said in a conciliatory manner, "What do you want to talk about?"
He didn't answer whether he wanted to stay overnight at the shop, and Zhong Yin didn't press him further, only frowning slightly: "Did you just laugh?"
"What are you laughing at? You must have seen wrong." Han Zhou asked, puzzled.
"What are you looking around for?"
"sock."
"sock?"
Zhong Yin thought she must have misheard because her hearing was so bad, and subconsciously glanced at the pantyhose hanging on the balcony. "What are you looking for socks for?"
It's Christmas Eve.
Han Zhou said in a serious tone, "As long as you hang a stocking by your bed on Christmas Eve, you'll receive a gift from Santa Claus tomorrow morning, so don't forget to hang a stocking by your bed tonight."
The air was quiet for a moment.
Zhong Yin took a deep breath: "What kind of lame joke is this?"
"I was serious."
Han Zhou looked helpless. "Sister Yin, believe me this once. I've reformed and won't lie anymore."
Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain, and although he built this mountain brick by brick with his own hands, now he wants to try to move it away little by little.
"I can tell you're still lying all the time."
Zhong Yin said coldly, "You clearly laughed just now, but you still won't admit it."
Han Zhou hadn't expected her to still be fixated on this point, and sighed, "I was just afraid you'd be angry if I told you the reason..."
"explain."
"Promise you won't get angry."
"Speak," Zhong Yin said, raising his voice slightly.
"All right……"
Before speaking, Han Zhou shrank slightly to the other side of the sofa, trying to keep his distance from Zhong Yin. But as soon as he moved half an inch to the left, Zhong Yin immediately frowned and followed. When he moved another half an inch, the other party immediately pressed against him again.
Just as he was about to protest, Zhong Yin spoke up, "How can I hear you when you're so far away?"
Her tone was soft, not exactly gentle, but it no longer gave off a cold feeling like before. Perhaps because it involved hearing issues, she didn't want to take her anger out on others, and her emotions were somewhat restrained.
Han Zhou then realized what had happened and quickly said, "I'm sorry, Sister Yin, I didn't mean to."
Seeing that Zhong Yin did not respond, he leaned closer to the other's ear again, first repeating the apology he had just given, and then explained, "I laughed because I suddenly remembered that there are special Christmas stockings for storing gifts abroad, but not in China. Even if you believe in Santa Claus, you can only hang a small stocking by your bedside, which is not big enough to hold any gifts."
"Is this funny?" Zhong Yin asked coldly.
Han Zhou chuckled awkwardly, "It's not funny, but I just saw your pantyhose hanging on the balcony and couldn't help but think that if I hung them by the bed, I could put more gifts in them..."
Zhong Yin's eye twitched, but she didn't get angry as he had feared. Instead, she quickly walked to the balcony, hastily pulled up her pantyhose, and turned her back to him, seemingly gritting her teeth.
"You're really quite boring."
"I've already said there's nothing nice to hear..."
Han Zhou subconsciously tried to reply, but Zhong Yin was already far away from him and obviously couldn't hear him.
When Zhong Yin returned to her room after putting away all her clothes, Han Zhou was examining the hearing aid in his hand with a rather curious look.
Zhong Yin now only thought he was childish, so she didn't scold him for putting it down. She just pursed her lips almost imperceptibly, then sat down next to him and picked up the comic book that was lying face down on the table again.
"Oh, right..."
Just then, she suddenly remembered something and turned to ask who the woman named Sevensana was.
But just then, Han Zhou also had something to ask, and turned to look at him as well.
And let’s not forget that, in order to make it easier to talk and whisper to each other at any time, the two of them always stood very close together.
So close that they only needed to turn their heads at the same time—(End of Chapter)