Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 101 Mo Yixia's Father?

Pushing the wheelchair up the long slope, Han Zhou finally saw a huge banyan tree at the intersection.

This banyan tree has been here since he was a child, but unlike what he remembers, the barbecue restaurant under the banyan tree is gone, and the sign has been replaced with "Aunt He's Breakfast Shop".

"Wow, things have changed a lot here."

Han Zhou looked around. He remembered that this street on the slope used to be similar to the area near his home, with mostly residential buildings and hardly any shops. But now it had changed drastically. Not only had the road been widened, but there were also many more shops on both sides of the street. There were quite a few pedestrians coming and going, and vehicles passed by from time to time. Even the streetlights were exceptionally bright. No wonder Ouyang Lianyu dared to go home in her wheelchair at night.

Hearing Han Zhou's remark, Ouyang Lianyu asked curiously, "Han Zhou, has this place changed a lot? What was it like around here before?"

Since learning about their teacher-student relationship, she straightened her back considerably. Not only did her tone change, but she also changed how she addressed Han Zhou, now acting as his teacher.

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Teacher, you probably don't live around here all the time, do you?"

Ouyang Lianyu had just shown him her teacher's ID card from her bag, forcing him to accept the fact that the other person might really be his counselor. As a result, he became much more obedient and didn't dare to continue mocking her.

There's no way around it; what if this woman makes things difficult for him after school starts?
"I moved here during the summer vacation because I had some things to take care of, but I won't be staying here for long. I'll mainly be living at the school."

Ouyang Lianyu asked, "Did you grow up here?"

"That's it."

Han Zhou smiled. He had been moving around a lot since he was a child, and spent a long time wandering around before returning to high school. So, strictly speaking, he couldn't say that he grew up here.

"I haven't been here for a long time. I remember there was a barbecue restaurant under the banyan tree when I was a child. The owner was quite friendly. I don't know when it became a steamed bun shop. I don't know if the owner changed careers or if the shop changed hands. But I didn't expect that the massage parlor over there is still there. It's really strange. I remember that shop never did very well..."

Based on his vague memory, Han Zhou roughly described the former landscape of this street to Ouyang Lianyu.

"The times are developing very quickly, so people have to keep up."

Ouyang Lianyu listened quietly, offering her evaluation while pushing her wheelchair. Han Zhou instinctively grabbed her, asking in confusion, "Teacher Ouyang?"

"Don't be so nervous, I just want to go to the convenience store across the street to buy some drinks."

"It's inconvenient for you to cross the street, let me go buy it for you."

Ouyang Lianyu wasn't too coy. After thinking for a moment, she took out a banknote from her bag and said, "Then I'll trouble you. I'll just have a bottle of mineral water, nothing cold. You should buy yourself a bottle of water too. Consider it a treat from your teacher."

She secretly rejoiced that she had brought cash with her, otherwise she wouldn't even be able to afford water now.

Han Zhou looked at the other person's slender fingers and hesitated, "But teacher, you're holding a one-yuan coin..."

"Oh? Sorry, I didn't notice."

Ouyang Lianyu looked embarrassed and quickly took out another fifty-yuan bill from her bag and handed it to him.

This woman is such a careless person...

Han Zhou shook his head secretly, and before leaving, he didn't forget to remind him: "Then wait for me here, be careful, don't slip down again."

He then crossed the street and ran to the convenience store on the other side. He returned shortly afterward, handing Ouyang Lianyu a bottle of room-temperature mineral water and the remaining money, while holding a bottle of iced tea in his own hand.

His favorite drink is actually cola, but he's already had enough today.

Ouyang Lianyu is definitely clumsy. She accidentally dropped a bill on the ground and had to bend down to pick it up while holding onto the handrail, but Han Zhou picked it up first and put it in her hand.

"Thank you...thank you."

Ouyang Lianyu was a little down, feeling that she had embarrassed herself today.

"You're welcome."

While unscrewing the bottle cap, Han Zhou asked curiously, "But teacher, with your eyesight so bad now, can you even see where the money fell?"

Ouyang Lianyu carefully folded all the money and put it into her bag, saying helplessly, "I have poor eyesight, not blindness. A single bill is that big, even if it's a little blurry, I can still see it."

She discovered that the student was quite vengeful and seemed to still be bothered by the fact that he had been deceived not long ago, so she decided to take the initiative to admit her mistake.

She said earnestly, "Han Zhou, I'm sorry for deceiving you before, but please understand that I didn't mean to lie. There were only the two of us at the time, and I have difficulty moving around. If you knew that I couldn't see you clearly, it would put me in a dangerous situation. What if you had any bad intentions..."

"Of course, I also want to apologize for not trusting you, but I didn't mean to doubt you. It was mainly for my own safety. Can you understand?"

Ouyang Lianyu looked at the telephone pole beside her with a sincere expression.

"Teacher, I'm over here."

Seeing this, Han Zhou, who was standing on the other side, almost spat out the iced tea in his mouth. He said with a mix of laughter and tears, "No need to apologize, I understand."

It's normal to be wary of strangers, especially at night, and Han Zhou could understand that. However, he couldn't help but wonder, "Teacher, aren't you afraid I'll do something bad by telling me all this now?"

Ouyang Lianyu was surprised that Han Zhou had secretly changed seats. She looked in the direction of the voice and asked, "Then are you willing to forgive your teacher?"

"I didn't take it to heart," Han Zhou said indifferently.

"really?"

Ouyang Lianyu was suspicious, but didn't take it to heart why this guy kept mocking her.

"Really," Han Zhou said with a smile.

"Then you can no longer make fun of your teacher by saying you have face blindness or are forgetful."

Ouyang Lianyu adopted a teacher's demeanor, coughed twice, and began to salvage her image, "Actually, there's a reason why I'm so forgetful. It's mainly because I injured my head when I was hit by the motorcycle that day, so sometimes I'm not very clear-headed..."

Han Zhou would be a fool to believe him. He bet this guy was just being stubborn to save face, but since the other person was his future tutor, he decided to give him face and not expose him.

"I understand, I understand. Teacher, you need to get more rest."

He thought for a moment, "But since we're already here, why don't I just take you home?"

Faced with Han Zhou's suggestion, Ouyang Lianyu agreed without much hesitation. Although it was their first meeting, she was no longer wary of Han Zhou because of their relationship as saviors and teachers.

Ouyang Lianyu's home wasn't far from the intersection of Xiepo Road, otherwise she wouldn't have felt comfortable troubling Han Zhou any further. The two quickly arrived at a rented room, which became Ouyang Lianyu's temporary residence.

"Han Zhou, thank you so much for your help tonight. I will remember this."

Han Zhou had lost count of how many times Ouyang Lianyu had thanked him. He was too embarrassed to ask whether "today's events" included his repeated mockery of her, and said with a smile, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

"I'm home now. It's dangerous outside at night, so you should go home too. Get some rest and don't stay up late. If you need anything in the future, you can come find me here. I should be here until the start of the semester."

Han Zhou hadn't explained beforehand, so Ouyang Lianyu assumed he had very dark circles under his eyes and offered a few words of advice in the manner of a teacher.

"I understand. I'll leave then."

"Take care and be careful on the road." Han Zhou had no intention of lingering here, but after turning around and taking a few steps, he saw Ouyang Lianyu sitting motionless in her wheelchair. He thought something had happened, but when he got closer, he found that she was staring blankly at the bag on her lap.

"Teacher? Teacher Ouyang?"

Seeing the other person looking distraught, Han Zhou suddenly realized something and said with a strange expression, "Um... you didn't leave your keys at the hospital, did you?"

Ouyang Lianyu was struck as if by lightning. Her body trembled, as if her soul had been ripped out. She nodded dejectedly.

Han Zhou suppressed a laugh and suggested, "Teacher, why don't you just wear your keys around your neck like a child, and never take them off even when you sleep? That way you won't lose them no matter where you go."

Ouyang Lianyu blushed and ignored him. She remembered that the key should be in her bag, so she picked up the bag and searched through it several times before finally finding the key in a corner.

She breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, she had finally found the key, and she had almost been laughed at again.

No... it's that I've already been ridiculed.

Thinking of this, she expressionlessly inserted the key into the lock and pretended to be angry, saying, "Han Zhou, it's not good to make fun of the teacher again and again. I will remember this."

Han Zhou's smile froze as he realized he had been too complacent. He took a deep breath and suddenly said solemnly, "Teacher, there's something I lied to you about before."

"what's up?"

"Actually, my real name is not Han Zhou, but Lin Anyu."

"Really?" Ouyang Lianyu seemed somewhat surprised. "Then why did you lie to your teacher?"

Han Zhou lied through his teeth, saying with distress, "There are so many extortion cases these days, I'm scared too. That's why I used a fake name to protect myself. Teacher, can you understand?"

"This lie is so lame," Ouyang Lianyu said helplessly. "Do you think the teacher will believe this? What, do you think I'll hold you accountable for laughing at me after school starts?"

"No way?"

Hearing that it was a small matter, Han Zhou's eyes lit up and he breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Teacher is so generous."

"No, I will."

Being constantly ridiculed by students was still very hurtful to her self-esteem, so Ouyang Lianyu decided to scare him a little. So she said with a straight face, "After the start of the semester, there are many things that require capable people to take responsibility for. I think you are very capable, Han Zhou."

This is clearly an attempt to use me as a laborer...

"Teacher, my name is Lin Anyu..."

Han Zhou struggled desperately.

Ouyang Lianyu smiled and said, "I still prefer the name Han Zhou."

Han Zhou felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he cautiously asked, "Um... Teacher, can't you really see my face clearly?"

"Well, I have a hard time seeing things up close without my glasses, and the light outside isn't very good. Could you wait a moment? I have a spare pair of glasses at home..."

"No need, no need, I'm relieved that I can't see clearly."

Han Zhou was overjoyed and, not giving the other party a chance to see him clearly, immediately turned and ran.

"goodbye teacher!"

Watching the blurry figure gradually disappear into the distance, Ouyang Lianyu paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly.

Although I couldn't see his face clearly, with his name and phone number, finding this guy among the freshmen would be incredibly easy.

They will meet again soon.

……

Han Zhou didn't fall asleep until after 3 a.m. last night.

Although the energy pills could quickly replenish energy, they couldn't make people give up sleep. He was sleep-deprived, so much so that he yawned repeatedly when he woke up and had to wash his face several times to barely shake off his drowsiness.

"I've already met a senior and a teacher before the semester even started, so I guess I've won at the starting line. But the fact that someone as careless as Ouyang Lianyu can be a counselor makes me worry about the teaching quality of Lincheng University..."

Han Zhou mentally complained as he washed up and carefully looked in the mirror. The bruises around his eyes had faded a lot, and at this rate, they would probably be fully healed in two days at most.

The abrasion on his foot wasn't serious to begin with, and it's almost healed now, at least it doesn't affect his mobility at all. This is probably related to the effect of the "power pill" in promoting wound recovery.

I have to say, this stuff is really useful, but it's not suitable to take at night.

The weather was quite nice today; it was a relatively cool, overcast day with no sun in sight. Han Zhou, wearing his freshly washed floral shirt, took the subway and arrived at Yunhuan Residential Area on time, ringing Mo Yixia's doorbell.

He hadn't forgotten that he had a rather arduous task today: to find a way to keep Mo Yixia here. The most important step in this task was to successfully persuade Mo Yixia's mother, Jiang Baiqian. According to Mo Yixia, as long as Jiang Baiqian didn't agree to leave, the matter would be basically settled.

As Han Zhou was pondering, the door was suddenly opened. However, to his surprise, it wasn't Mo Yixia or Jiang Baiqian who opened the door, but a middle-aged man with a cold expression who looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze as soon as he opened the door.

Han Zhou was taken aback. The man was wearing an open-collar shirt, had a fierce look in his eyes, and was wearing ill-fitting women's slippers, giving him a very strange first impression.

Is this Mo Yixia's father? He doesn't look much like Mo Yixia...

And didn't he just get back this afternoon? Could it be that he's changed his mind again?
Seeing that the man remained silent, Han Zhou forced a smile and introduced himself: "Hello, my name is Han Zhou, and I am Yi Xia's tutor."

"Yisha?"

The man coldly repeated his form of address.

Han Zhou was slightly taken aback, but his smile remained unchanged: "That's right, Yi Xia."

The man gave him a deep look: "Go back, my daughter doesn't need a tutor anymore."

After saying that, he was about to close the door.

Han Zhou grabbed the doorframe, his immense strength preventing the other person from closing the door: "Excuse me, you're not the one who hired me, and I haven't even been paid yet. It doesn't seem reasonable for you to let me leave like this."

His goal was to see Mo Yixia and Jiang Baiqian, so how could he just leave like this? This guy was Mo Yixia's father, and he should have left a good impression on him, but he couldn't care less now.

"You haven't been paid?" The man frowned slightly and asked, "How much money do you want?"

He seemed to have gotten used to speaking to people in this condescending tone, “I am Mo Yixia’s father, and I hereby announce that from today onwards you are no longer my daughter’s tutor. I will transfer your salary to you, so please do not come to my house anymore.”

Han Zhou suppressed his smile, finding this guy utterly inexplicable.

He's been tutoring his daughter for almost a month and he didn't even know she had a private tutor. He's never seen this guy involved in Mo Yixia's life from beginning to end, but as soon as he appears, he's planning to arrange her fate... Is this really a father?

This was the first time he had ever disliked someone so much upon first meeting them.

(End of this chapter)