Forced into a romantic relationship

After washing the dishes, Xiao Wang Lengqiu returned to her bedroom to continue doing her homework.

However, perhaps worried that the alien in the house would be bored, she soon came out of the room again, waved the remote control in her hand, and looked somewhat hesitant.

Do you want to watch TV?

To be honest, Han Zhou hadn't watched TV in a long time, but that was only when his phone had internet access. Now that his phone didn't have internet, and the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, watching TV was the only way to pass the time.

So he nodded: "I want to see."

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu turned and walked into the room: "Then come in, the TV is in my room."

Han Zhou was taken aback. Since he often imagined the girl in front of him as an adult, he felt a little strange about her suddenly inviting him into her room. He hesitated and subconsciously asked, "Won't this affect your homework?"

"I've finished my homework," Xiao Wang Leng Qiu said without turning his head.

She paused for a moment, then continued, "But there's one question I can't answer."

Han Zhou looked at him strangely: "You don't mean you want me to help you with your homework, that's why you asked me if I watch TV, do you?"

"sorry."

The girl did not deny it.

Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated, feeling it was time to teach this kid his first lesson. As he walked into the room, he said, "Just say what you want directly. There's no need to beat around the bush like this."

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu remained silent.

Admittedly, Han Zhou had been to many girls' bedrooms before, and was quite familiar with them, but this was the first time he had entered a little girl's room.

The general layout is naturally different from what it looks like now, but overall it's pretty much the same – neat and simple, with a faint lavender scent in the air, the same as the laundry detergent I used not long ago.

Hmm... that is a big difference. Although Wang Lengqiu's room also had a fragrance after she grew up, it was obviously not the smell of laundry detergent, but a different kind of fragrance.

He had carefully smelled the scent of each girl around him. Even if they used the same shower gel, each girl's scent was different, and the same was true for their respective rooms.

Does this mean that a girl's natural fragrance only develops as she gets older?

Ugh, what am I thinking!
Han Zhou snapped out of his thoughts and followed Xiao Wang Leng Qiu to the desk, looking at the problem that had troubled the other person for ten minutes.

He figured it out at a glance. Although it would take some effort to translate it into knowledge that elementary school students could understand, it was still no challenge for him.

Nonsense, if a college student from a prestigious university can't even solve a primary school student's problem, then what's the point of his education?
Xiao Wang Leng Qiu is very quick to understand, almost instantly grasping concepts. The reason he's been stuck on this question for so long is probably because it involves some junior high school knowledge points—that should be it. Too much time has passed, and Han Zhou isn't even sure what he specifically learned in elementary and junior high school.

After closing his workbook, Xiao Wang Lengqiu packed all his homework into his schoolbag, then turned on the TV with the remote control and suddenly asked a question: "Are aliens omnipotent?"

"of course not."

Han Zhou shrugged. "For example, I can't make you my friend."

“You can teach me how to do my homework,” Xiao Wang Leng Qiu said earnestly.

"Your standards for aliens are really low."

"Ok?"

The girl tilted her head, seemingly not quite understanding what she meant.

"If you were to meet an alien, shouldn't your first thought be to ask them to take you to the heavens and the earth?"

The girl thought for a moment and asked, "Can you take me to the heavens and the earth?"

"No." Han Zhou shook his head with a regretful expression.

"Oh."

"Oh? Just 'oh'?" he asked, puzzled. "Aren't you disappointed at all?"

Should I be disappointed?

"Shouldn't it be?"

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu hesitated for a moment: "Then...then I'll be a little disappointed?"

She thought back to what her grandfather usually looked like when he was disappointed, and then sighed softly.

No, you really are trying to coax a child...

Han Zhou suddenly felt like a fool and said expressionlessly, "Let's watch TV instead."

"What kind of shows do you like to watch?" Xiao Wang asked Leng Qiu.

"I'm an alien, how would I know what shows are on Earth? I'll watch whatever you watch."

Han Zhou spoke casually, but he actually wanted to take this opportunity to learn about the other person's preferences.

During that period in the "future," he never actively sought to learn about these things.

"I don't have any favorite shows. I used to watch TV with my grandpa."

"Then watch the shows your grandfather likes."

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu nodded and changed several channels in a row. Soon, he switched to a TV station that Han Zhou had never seen before. On the screen, several people were singing Peking Opera.

It should be Peking Opera... Han Zhou had never learned about opera culture, so he wasn't sure if it was Peking Opera, but that didn't stop him from showing a blank expression.

"You...you usually watch this?"

"I only watch it when I'm with my grandpa," the girl corrected.

"Can you understand this?"

"I don't really understand, but Grandpa will explain it to me."

"Then...why don't you tell me about it too?"

"I can't," Xiao Wang Leng Qiu honestly shook his head.

It’s okay if it doesn’t.

Han Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, coughed lightly, and said, "Then let's change the channel... Is there anything more interesting?"

He was an ordinary person, and Peking Opera was far too boring for him; he was worried that he would fall asleep while watching it.

"interesting……"

While pondering, Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu changed the channel until the television screen stopped at an acrobatic performance.

"Is this okay? I think there will be a lion jumping through a ring of fire later," she said.

"..."

Han Zhou didn't understand what this child's definition of "fun" was. There were clearly two idol dramas, one fantasy drama, one animated film, and even an educational program that deciphered the mystery of a water monster, but she didn't choose any of them. Instead, she chose the lion jumping through a ring of fire.

It's not that acrobatics isn't interesting, but it's much more fun to watch it live; watching it on TV can be a bit boring.

However, since he had already said "I'll watch whatever you watch," he shouldn't keep denying the other person's interests—although it might not necessarily be the child's interests.

Lions jumping through hoops of fire, clowns throwing colorful balls, aerial unicycles... Han Zhou and Xiao Wang Leng Qiu watched the acrobatic performance for half an hour. The performance was very exciting, but he really couldn't muster any interest and was too embarrassed to ask Xiao Wang Leng Qiu what she thought.

Fortunately, just then, to the accompaniment of festive music and a long summary by the host, the acrobatic performance finally came to an end and transitioned into the commercial break.

However, even when faced with a boring milk powder advertisement, Xiao Wang Lengqiu still appeared very focused, which made Han Zhou, who wanted to take the opportunity to suggest changing the channel, hesitate to speak up.

"Do aliens eat baby formula?" Just then, the girl's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

He paused for a moment, then casually replied, "Anyway, I'll eat it."

"Are aliens mammals too?" the girl asked again.

"Just because someone drinks formula doesn't mean they're a mammal," Han Zhou lectured earnestly, then added nonsensically, "I'm actually an oviparous animal."

He planned to wait until the two of them were a little more familiar before revealing everything. After all, the girl seemed to prefer spending time with aliens. He didn't mean anything by saying that; he just wanted to tease her.

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu seemed intrigued: "Oviparous animals... are they animals that hatch from eggs?"

This was the first time Han Zhou had seen the other person show such interest, and he became interested as well. Without changing his expression, he said, "Well, when a stick figure is born, it needs to rub its head against the eggshell, releasing a lot of heat" to break through the shell.

He said with a sigh, "Like humans, the birth of a stick figure is an extremely difficult process, so we cherish life immensely and consider suicide a very shameful thing—can you understand this feeling?"

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu nodded as if she understood, and asked curiously, "So how old are you this year?"

"When you saw me, I had just hatched from my egg, so even though I look like this now, I'm still a child. We're about the same age."

"Peers..."

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu rarely showed a shocked expression. After thinking for a while, they asked, "Like an ostrich?"

She tried to use her own knowledge as a reference—ostriches are the largest birds in the world, and she had heard that when the young birds are born, they are larger than many other birds, just like this stick figure in front of her.

"That's understandable."

Han Zhou got more and more into his story, but then he suddenly remembered something and said solemnly, "Sorry, I've been talking too much. Please keep this a secret between us and don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay." Xiao Wang Leng Qiu nodded seriously.

As the two were talking, the commercials on TV ended, and the next program, the late-night Animal World, began.

Han Zhou's eyes lit up. Compared to the acrobatic performance, this show was much more interesting. Come to think of it, he hadn't watched Animal World for many years, so he could take this opportunity to relive it.

Xiao Wang Lengqiu also started watching TV intently, or rather, she seemed very focused no matter what she did, but no one knew if she was really interested.

Anyway, Han Zhou couldn't tell.

Today's Animal World episode was about birds, and after watching for a while, his interest waned considerably. He then realized that what he might actually enjoy was not Animal World itself, but rather those online videos edited in various quirky ways.

It seems that people only learn to cherish things after they've lost them, like Wang Lengqiu who will disappear in the future, and a mobile phone without internet access.

Unlike Han Zhou, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu didn't have many inner thoughts; she was focused on watching the TV program about ostriches.

The program just mentioned a concept called imprinting.

Imprinting refers to the rapid, persistent, and irreversible recognition and attachment formed by young animals to "parents" or other similar individuals during a brief critical period in early life, through exposure to specific stimuli such as moving objects, sounds, or smells.

This critical period usually refers to the few hours after birth or hatching; if missed, imprinting behavior will be difficult to form.

To put it simply, imprinting is a common behavior where a person follows the first creature they see after birth and identifies it as their "mother."

Ostriches are such birds.

Not only ostriches, but a significant number of birds exhibit this behavior.

Birds are all oviparous animals.

Xiao Wang Lengqiu turned her head and couldn't help but glance at the other "oviparous animal" beside her.

When he saw her looking over, Han Zhou, who had been uninterested, immediately forced a fawning smile.

This deepened Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's suspicions, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

It seems that the first person this alien saw after being born was her.

He would follow her, rush to protect her, and even find strange reasons to leave the only umbrella for her...

A very subtle and strange feeling suddenly arose in her heart.

This kid...

Does she see me as her mother?
It was nearly 9:30 when the rain outside became particularly noisy. Large raindrops pounded against the windows, showing no sign of stopping.

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his arm. Han Zhou turned his head and saw that Xiao Wang Leng Qiu had fallen asleep on his arm at some point, breathing evenly, with an exceptionally gentle expression on her face.

He slowed his breathing, bent down quietly, and carefully carried the girl to the bed. He covered her with a blanket, then turned off the TV and the lights, closed the door, and quietly left the room.

It's almost time. If we don't go back soon, Uncle Xia will probably start to worry.

Han Zhou picked up the umbrella that was leaning against the corner, shook off the rain, and walked outside while thinking about how to lock the door.

He's thick-skinned, but not to the point of staying overnight at a child's house without asking. Rather than waiting for the other person to feel annoyed and embarrassed to ask him to leave, it's better for him to leave on his own.

Moreover, he had already witnessed Wang Lengqiu's feelings for him in the future. Although he didn't know where things went wrong, if he didn't pay attention now, he might repeat the same mistake in the future.

However, before he could even step out of the room, he heard the sound of the door opening behind him.

Turning around, I saw Xiao Wang Lengqiu, who should have been lying in bed.

"Didn't we say we'd wait until the rain stopped before leaving?" she asked.

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "If the rain keeps falling, does that mean I don't have to leave?"

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu shook their heads.

"sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, you really should change this habit."

Han Zhou didn't say much, but smiled and said, "Then see you next time. Thank you for your hospitality. I'll take the umbrella with me."

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu stared at the umbrella in his hand for a while, then suddenly asked, "Is your teleportation malfunctioning?"

"Um, I guess so..."

Han Zhou recalled the scene of being seen while hiding in the woods to avoid the rain that afternoon, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Won't it take you a long time to walk back?" the girl asked again.

"It wasn't too long, I can run very fast."

"Can't we just send a spaceship to pick you up?"

Han Zhou laughed: "If that thing is really that intelligent, I can take you to the heavens and the earth."

Seeing the girl fall silent, the smile on his face gradually disappeared. After thinking for a moment, he tentatively asked, "Is there something you want to say to me?"

He slowly walked up to the girl, bent down, looked at her patiently, and said in a gentle tone, "I told you, you can speak your mind directly."

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu silently met his gaze, her eyes gradually moving to the top of his head before settling on his gentle eyes. Her eyes revealed little emotion as she slowly exhaled, and after a long while, she spoke softly.

"sorry."

"My alarm clock seems to be broken."

"Could you wake me up tomorrow... and then take me to school?"

(End of this chapter)