Page 209
Ouyang Lianyu blushed slightly and nodded in acknowledgment somewhat embarrassedly.
Han Zhou laughed: "Isn't it scary to wait here for the owner in the middle of the night? Besides, few people use wallets these days, right?"
Now we live in a society of mobile payments, and almost all transactions can be completed with mobile phones. Few people carry cash, so the usefulness of wallets has been relatively reduced. Not many people use them, and even fewer people lose them.
In addition, normally no matter how careless a person is, he would not leave behind such a large book. Han Zhou couldn't help but become suspicious and began to imagine all kinds of scams, such as the so-called owner holding the wallet and saying that the money in it was missing and needed compensation.
This world is not simple. He had heard of and even seen too many scams in his previous life.
And no matter what, it is too unsafe for Ouyang Lianyu, a woman with limited mobility, to stay outside alone late at night.
Ouyang Lianyu knew what Han Zhou meant. Although she had never been cheated, she was still very cautious. She even put a pair of men's slippers outside her house. Of course, she had considered whether this was a problem.
She explained calmly, "I checked the wallet and there was quite a bit of money in it, so it shouldn't be fake. I don't plan to wait too long, I'll leave in ten minutes. Otherwise, if the owner doesn't see the wallet when he comes back, he'll be very worried."
"Maybe others are just waiting for you to check your wallet, so that if they leave fingerprints or something, they can say that you took their money..." Han Zhou speculated sinisterly.
"Your thoughts are too dark..." Ouyang Lianyu was shocked by his words.
"It could be even darker. It's a good time like this, when it's dark and windy and there's no one around. It's possible that a group of people suddenly show up and capture you and cut off your kidney."
Han Zhou's face darkened slightly, and he said in a gloomy tone, "Teacher, you didn't live near here before, so you may not have heard of the rumor about the 'Midnight Butcher'. It is said that..."
Ouyang Lianyu became more and more frightened as she listened, and quickly interrupted him: "I told you not to scare the teacher!"
Han Zhou held back his laughter and stopped talking. In fact, he did not want to scare Ouyang Lianyu. There had indeed been rumors about the Midnight Butcher in this area before, but the Midnight Butcher did not kill humans, but other people's pet dogs.
He took out his phone and checked the time, then smiled and said, "It'll only take ten minutes anyway, so I'll wait here with you, teacher."
Ouyang Lianyu was stunned for a moment, then her expression softened: "Thank you."
"It's okay, but I remember you said you usually live near the school, so why are you here again?"
"My aunt lives here."
Ouyang Lianyu didn't explain too much, and asked, "What about you? You went out with a bag at night. Are you planning to go to the Internet cafe?"
As a teacher, she habitually associates things in this direction.
"Why would you carry a bag to an Internet cafe?" Han Zhou laughed and said half-jokingly, "My house has been occupied by a group of strangers. I'm homeless tonight, so I plan to stay under a bridge for the night."
He pretended to sigh pitifully.
"Don't lie to the teacher all the time." Ouyang Lianyu said helplessly, "You should show more respect to the teacher."
"I'm telling the truth." Han Zhou said seriously.
Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him and said, "Including living under a bridge?"
"Well...if there's really no place to go."
"Well, if you can send a photo of yourself living under a bridge to prove that you are really homeless, then you can stay at my house for a night."
Han Zhou was stunned: "Is this true?"
"Of course it's true. Do you think the teacher is as liar as you are?" Ouyang Lianyu shook her head with a helpless smile on her face. "Of course, the premise is that you have to prove that you are really homeless."
It can be seen that she obviously did not believe Han Zhou's words.
Han Zhou shrugged, as if he suddenly remembered something, opened his backpack and took out a rabbit doll from it: "Teacher, this is for you. It's a souvenir I brought back from Yecheng. It is said to bring luck to people."
It was a rare trip for him, so he brought back a lot of souvenirs. The one in his hand was also a leaping rabbit doll, but it was different from the one he gave to Yaya, as this one had blue eyes.
I have to say that the merchants at the tourist attractions are really good at talking. Although they are not good at fooling people, they are indeed good at sales. It is clearly the conventional routine of buying in a package to get a lower price, but it made Han Zhou feel like he had made a fortune and he bought three leaping rabbit dolls in one go.
He planned to give the remaining one to Xiao Xiaoxiao. That guy's arrogant look was a bit similar to Leaping Rabbit.
"For me? Thank you..."
Ouyang Lianyu took the doll with a slightly bewildered look and asked in confusion, "Did you go to Yecheng to climb the snow-capped mountains?"
"how do you know?"
"Teacher also traveled everywhere when he was young, and of course he has been to Yecheng. This doll seems to be the one under the colorful snow mountain, right?" Ouyang Lianyu looked at the leaping rabbit doll in his hand, with a hint of nostalgia in his tone.
"The teacher is really knowledgeable. He can recognize this at a glance." Han Zhou stood in awe, and then sighed, "But I didn't expect that this doll has been sold for so many years. I can actually see the things that the teacher saw when he was young."
Ouyang Lianyu was stunned for two seconds before she responded: "Are you saying that the teacher is old?"
"To be precise, I'm a little curious."
Han Zhou probed, "I heard that you are the youngest professor in the school, but I'm not sure how old you are by 'youngest'."
He was indeed a little curious. Ouyang Lianyu's intelligence was as high as eight points, which could be considered a genius. However, judging from her daily forgetful behavior, this intelligence did not seem to be reflected in her life, so perhaps it was concentrated in a certain area.
Maybe this is the reason why he was able to become a professor so early.
Unfortunately, Ouyang Lianyu obviously didn't want to answer his doubts, and taught him earnestly: "Student Han Zhou, you can't ask girls' ages casually, especially older women. You obviously have good relationships with so many beautiful girls, don't you even know this?"
As she spoke, her tone became teasing.
Han Zhou's expression straightened up: "Teacher, you also said that we can't ask about the age of 'older women', but you look younger than me, and people would believe you if you said you just turned 18. Even so, can't we ask?"
"Full of lies."
Ouyang Lianyu sighed helplessly, and a gentle smile quietly appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Although she knows it is nonsense, any girl would feel happy when being praised for her youth.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 203 Then Let’s Live at the Teacher’s House
Although he said a lot of nice things, Han Zhou still couldn't find out Ouyang Lianyu's age.
After the other party threatened to find him something to do after returning to school, he had to put away his curiosity and change the topic.
The two waited there for ten minutes, but the owner of the lost money did not show up. Seeing that Ouyang Lianyu was unwilling to give up, Han Zhou was not in a hurry either, so he simply waited with her for another twenty minutes. At the same time, he checked if there was anything else in the wallet besides the money. Unfortunately, there was no identity document in it.
"I'm increasingly suspicious that this is some kind of scam."
It was autumn now, and the temperature dropped as the night deepened. The two of them waited for a full hour in total. Han Zhou's patience ran out, and he said, "There's so much money in the wallet. If there really was an owner, he would have come back to look for it a long time ago."
"Maybe he was delayed on the way, or maybe he hasn't noticed that his wallet is missing yet."
Ouyang Lianyu smiled bitterly. She had advised Han Zhou many times to leave, but the student refused. "And didn't you also say that the money in the wallet was real? If you really want to commit fraud, it shouldn't cost so much, right?"
She looked at Han Zhou, asking for advice humbly. If she could understand similar scams, she could take precautions in the future.
"Who knows."
Han Zhou stood up from the stone steps, dusted himself off, and said seriously, "But as the saying goes, high risk means high reward. Maybe this is a long shot to catch a big fish."
Of course, this was nonsense. He was just hinting that Ouyang Lianyu could leave. If she waited any longer, she might have to sleep on the floor here overnight. There was no need to wait until the owner came. At worst, she could just hand the wallet over to the police station tomorrow.
"It's almost time to go, Teacher Ouyang."
Seeing Ouyang Lianyu's indifference, he sighed and got straight to the point, "It's getting late. I'll take you home first. After that, I have to hurry to get a good spot under the bridge."
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
Ouyang Lianyu was stunned for a moment, took out her cell phone to check the time, then realized that she had waited too long and felt a little ashamed.
It would have been fine for her to wait alone, as she had a wheelchair where she could sit and rest, but the main problem was that the student who was waiting with her wasted a lot of time.
She apologized, "It's really getting late. I'll take the wallet to the police station tomorrow morning. You should go and do your own thing. There's no need to take me home. I can do it on my own."
"I don't have anything to do. There are many bridge tunnels in Lincheng. I can still get a seat even if I go later." Han Zhou tightened his windbreaker and joked, "Besides, if I don't see you off, I'm afraid the teacher will slip back to my home halfway."
Recalling the embarrassment when they first met, Ouyang Lianyu blushed slightly and explained, "That was just an accident. I always went home alone before. Don't worry."
Of course she knew that Han Zhou had good intentions, and she also knew that it would be safer if someone took her back, but she had already wasted a lot of his time and didn't want to cause him any more trouble.
"Well, since the teacher has said so, I won't force it."
Han Zhou nodded indifferently, but even though he said that, he had no intention of leaving. "But before we part, I think it's necessary to tell the teacher the story of the Midnight Butcher of Lincheng."
His face was slightly gloomy, with a look of reminiscence on his face. "It is said that the guy chose a night similar to today to commit his first crime. During that period, there were constant screams every night... By the way, I heard that the Midnight Butcher's favorite targets are singles..."
His tone was grim. Before he finished saying the word "single dog", Ouyang Lianyu felt a chill down her spine and interrupted him hastily, "Alright, alright, stop talking."
The street lights can only illuminate a limited area, and beyond the light there are large areas of darkness. There is no one around. After listening to Han Zhou's words, she always felt that someone was spying on her in the darkness.
Han Zhou suppressed his laughter and pretended to be puzzled: "Teacher, are you scared?"
"How can I not be afraid when you scare me like this?"
Ouyang Lianyu looked embarrassed and annoyed, and suddenly felt a little regretful. She thought that she should not have read that suspense novel, otherwise she would not have become so timid and was laughed at by her own students.
"That……"
Han Zhou deliberately dragged out the ending tone.
"Then please send the teacher off."
Ouyang Lianyu sighed and said helplessly, "Do you often scare girls at night like this and then take the opportunity to send them home?"
Han Zhou raised his eyebrows and immediately put on a righteous look: "Teacher, you are judging others by your own standards. It's because I know you well, otherwise, let alone sending you home, I would not have been able to wait with you until now."
He was telling the truth. If it were an unrelated person, he wouldn't be so concerned about the other person's safety.
Besides, he knew very well that the area near his home was not safe. After experiencing the incident of Mo Yixia falling off the cliff, he became more sensitive to certain possible hidden dangers. At the same time, he began to regret why he did not send Guzheng home at night before.
Even someone as smart as Mo Yixia can make mistakes sometimes. Although Gu Zheng has amazing martial arts skills, she may still encounter danger when walking alone at night.
After hearing Han Zhou's words, Ouyang Lianyu felt warm in her heart and smiled gently: "You are the only one among all the students who can talk to me like this."
"Isn't it normal to talk like that?"
Han Zhou asked casually. He had a photographic memory, so he naturally remembered where Ouyang Lianyu lived. As he spoke, he pushed the wheelchair towards the other party's home.
"It's just too normal, so normal that it's more like a conversation between friends." Ouyang Lianyu shook her head and smiled, "You don't have the intention of respecting me as a teacher at all."
"I don't agree with that. I still respect my teacher very much." Han Zhou's face became serious.
"Have it?"
"Of course I have. I have always listened carefully in your classes."
"That's because you're worried that I'll ask you to answer questions." Ouyang Lianyu said, "And don't think I've forgotten that you said you wanted to skip class before. Judging from your current attitude, the class you're most likely to skip in the future is mine."
Han Zhou gave a thumbs up and praised: "Teacher Ouyang is really good at judging people."
Ouyang Lianyu turned around and rolled her eyes at him: "I've asked around, and you clearly respect other teachers very much. The only one you don't respect is me."
“This shows that we have a good relationship.”