Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 122 Roommate
The boys' dormitory room is arranged with bunk beds and desks underneath. Han Zhou chose a bed on the right side of the entrance, which Gu Zheng helped him choose, saying that it was far from the air conditioner so that he wouldn't be exposed to a cold draft.

Not only did Gu Zheng choose the bed, but she also made it up. There was no other way; Han Zhou had injured his hand.

However, she quickly realized a problem: given Han Zhou's current condition, it was clear that he couldn't easily climb into bed, and getting in and out of bed would be very inconvenient. This made her feel even more that her previous judgment was correct, and that Han Zhou should stay in the hospital for a while.

Han Zhou was amused. This guy had been running around for him, even considering buying some things and asking his roommate to help take care of him, acting like his mother. Han Zhou felt both helpless and touched.

He repeatedly assured them that these were not problems, and it took him a while to get rid of Guzheng and Zhongling. After all, it was the first day of school, and they had their own things to do. Besides, it wasn't good for two girls to stay in the boys' dormitory. He was just injured, not disabled, and he could handle the rest himself.

After the two guzheng players left, he finally had time to take a look around room 617.

As a four-person room, the dormitory space is quite large, with a balcony and bathroom. However, after being idle for a summer vacation, many places have accumulated dust and it is necessary to clean it.

Zhong Ling had already cleaned the area around Han Zhou's bed and also swept the entire dormitory room. She wiped the table, but didn't mop the floor, nor did she clean the balcony or the bathroom outside. Even though Gu Zheng and Zhong Ling didn't mind the trouble, Han Zhou couldn't possibly let them thoroughly clean his dormitory room.

He had originally promised to take good care of the two of them, but now that he was the one being taken care of, he couldn't just accept it and treat them like maids.

Moreover, in Han Zhou's opinion, cleaning should be done by roommates together, which is also a way to improve relationships. Of course, it's not impossible to clean the dormitory by oneself. Who knows, one might win the thumbs up of roommates on the first day of school and become the dormitory head. But Han Zhou is too embarrassed to take credit for Gu Zheng and the others' work, and he doesn't want to be the dormitory head.

Many positions in university are just asking for trouble, not to mention wasting time, and may even be thankless. Although they can help improve personal abilities to some extent, Han Zhou does not want to waste time on such things.

He is currently the only person in the dormitory. However, apart from his bed which is already made up, the other two beds have luggage on them, leaving only one bed empty. This means that two of his roommates arrived at the school before him and are probably outside now.

Just then, footsteps and voices suddenly sounded outside the door. Han Zhou turned his head and saw two boys walk into the dormitory, carrying a newly bought broom and mop, as well as two trash cans.

Upon seeing Han Zhou, the two boys were visibly taken aback. One of them, who was shorter, exclaimed in surprise, "Dude, what's going on with you?"

This must be his future roommate... Han Zhou knew that many of the new people he met today would be curious about his hand injury, so he had already prepared his words and said, "There was a bit of an accident, I broke my hand."

He didn't intend to deliberately hide the reason for his injury, but he couldn't possibly explain to everyone that he was injured while saving someone, so he chose to be vague about it.

The shorter boy stared at his arm for a while, then said in surprise, "This cast looks fresh. Did you get injured today?"

"That's right, I'm having a bad day."

"It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone. A hand injury is no small matter. You need to rest and recuperate properly. If you need any help in the future, just let me know."

The shorter-statured boy seemed to have a rather outgoing personality. He introduced himself, "By the way, my name is Chen Long, you can just call me A Long. I'm from Luocheng."

Jackie Chan?

Han Zhou was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "Do you know kung fu?"

"Did you see it?"

Chen Long was somewhat surprised, then sighed and said, "I initially wanted to be a sports student. I was always working out and even practiced Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) for a while, but later I found that I didn't meet the height requirements, so I had to switch to the academic route."

The minimum height requirement for physical education students is 1.68 meters, but he is only 1.65 meters tall, which is really a pity.

Han Zhou and his other roommate were stunned. They had heard of people finding other ways to succeed in their studies, but this was the first time they had heard of someone coming back to study after failing to find other paths. Moreover, judging from Chen Long's tone, he seemed to still be resentful about not becoming a sports student.

Another bespectacled, refined-looking boy introduced himself: "My name is Chen Zheng, I'm a local from Lincheng. Please take care of me. My home is near the school, you're welcome to come over for a visit sometime."

Chen Zhen?

Han Zhou was silent for a moment: "Do you know kung fu too?"

Jackie Chan, Chen Zhen, and maybe my roommate is named Ip Man...

Chen Zheng quickly shook his head and said, "I won't. I'm committed to studying, and I hate sports. I plan to take the postgraduate entrance exam and find an easy job that doesn't require much physical activity in the future."

This is surprisingly a college student with clear goals.

There might be jobs that don't require physical exertion, but it's hard to say how long one could stick with them...

Han Zhou smiled and said, "My name is Han Zhou, and I'm also a local of Lincheng, but I live in the city center. It takes about four hours to travel there and back by car."

Upon hearing that he was also a local, Chen Zheng was visibly pleasantly surprised and became much more enthusiastic.

The three of them sat in the dormitory and chatted for a while. Seeing that the last roommate had not yet arrived, and Han Zhou's hand was injured and it was inconvenient for him to do anything, Chen Long and Chen Zheng decided to clean up first.

They had good personalities and were easy to get along with. Chen Long was generous and Chen Zheng was easygoing. They had originally wanted Han Zhou to help out, but after learning that Han Zhou's right hand was also inconvenient to move, they quickly gave up the idea and told him to just sit and rest.

The three had only known each other for a short time and didn't have much to talk about. They chatted intermittently for a while before falling silent and focusing on cleaning.

Han Zhou looked at the messages in the freshmen group on his phone and said, "We need to gather at the playground at seven o'clock to confirm the registration, and then we'll be divided into squads. Military training will start tomorrow."

"So soon it's military training... "

Chen Zheng put down the mop, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with a troubled expression, "It's still terribly hot these days. I hope I won't get heatstroke during military training at this time."

He was rather thin and looked like the kind of guy who exercised regularly and was afraid of the hardships of military training.

Chen Long, full of anticipation, said, "It's just military training, how easy is it to get heatstroke? Besides, I'll be able to see the girls in my class soon, I wonder how many beauties there are in our class..."

As a former sports student who knows kung fu, he has no fear of military training, only anticipation. What's there to be afraid of in training? Who knows, he might even find an opportunity to show off his skills and win the hearts of a group of girls.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zheng immediately became interested, momentarily forgetting the horror of military training. He pushed up his glasses and said, "I heard from my cousin, who is a sophomore, that the male-to-female ratio at our school is about six to four. There's no shortage of girls, and this year's freshmen are of high quality, with quite a few pretty girls. There should be some in our class too."

"High quality?" Chen Long's eyes lit up. "How high?"

After a moment's thought, Chen Zheng looked at Han Zhou and said, "You can tell just by looking at Han Zhou's appearance. He is probably a typical representative of the quality of freshmen. I bet that when we gather this afternoon, there will be no less than ten girls who will ask for his contact information under the pretext of being curious about his injuries."

The "quality" Chen Zheng was referring to was, of course, his looks. He wasn't exaggerating at all; Han Zhou would definitely be considered handsome anywhere, and he was the kind of popular young heartthrob who would definitely attract attention.

"I thought your glasses prescription was all from studying, I didn't know you were also into these things..."

Chen Long was a little surprised, thinking to himself that Chen Zheng was probably the introverted type. He admitted that Han Zhou was handsome, but he was not bad himself, so he asked, "What do you think of me? How many girls will ask me for my contact information?"

He tossed his hair, raised his arm to show off his strong biceps, and looked confident. Chen Zheng was silent for a moment, then picked up the mop again: "I'll go clean the bathroom."

Chen Long had no choice but to change his posture and cast an expectant look at Han Zhou.

Han Zhou couldn't bear to discourage him, so he stood up and said, "I'm going out to buy some drinks."

Chen Long: "..."

Han Zhou went downstairs. He couldn't help with the cleaning this time, so he planned to buy some snacks and drinks for Chen Long and Chen Zheng as compensation. There were vending machines downstairs. He originally planned to go back after buying the drinks, but suddenly he had an idea and decided to go outside for a walk first.

There were quite a few people at the university, and he tried his luck to see if he could find any new characters to unlock.

Although he already has enough points and has two sources of points, the guzheng and the bell, the rate of point acquisition is relatively slow. In addition, each time he meets the bell, he has to spend four points to change the "leave it to fate" status. Sometimes, he even ends up spending more than he earns. It would be best to find a new character to unlock.

However, this matter is not urgent at the moment, so we can just let things take their course. Otherwise, Han Zhou could have simply bought a detector from the mall. He just planned to wander around and familiarize himself with the school, and he didn't intend to spend all day observing the crowds like he did when he found Mo Yixia.

Speaking of Mo Yixia, he suddenly missed her. Although it had only been a few days since they last met, they had been tutoring each other for almost a month and spent so much time together every day. It was strange not being able to see her again.

He had considered messaging Mo Yixia, but considering Jiang Baiqian's surveillance of her, it was best to avoid doing anything. He figured Mo Yixia would contact him on her own when the opportunity arose, as she herself had said.

But it's already September 2nd, that guy has probably already started school, and he probably hasn't been slacking off at school...

Thinking about how Mo Yixia might behave in class, Han Zhou couldn't help but smile. Suddenly, he heard a "click" sound, which seemed to be the sound of a phone taking a picture.

Turning my head, I saw a girl passing by suddenly blush and quicken her pace, running away into the distance with her phone in her hand. Clearly, she was the one who had just taken the picture, and it was of Han Zhou.

Han Zhou was already used to this. If nothing unexpected happened, this girl would probably post his photo on the school's confession wall soon, along with the caption "Anonymous, just trying to find this handsome guy. If he has a boyfriend, forget it." This was a common occurrence on campus.

However, such photos are usually taken from a distance and candidly. This is the first time Han Zhou has seen someone take a photo so close up. He probably didn't expect that he would hear the shutter sound immediately.

Han Zhou didn't pay much attention and walked around the school several times. He wasn't worried about getting lost, since he had a photographic memory. This stroll was a way for him to familiarize himself with the school in advance.

As he passed the stadium, he noticed a large crowd gathered around the basketball court, with many people shouting "Zhang Ziwen" and cheering from time to time, resembling enthusiastic fans.

Han Zhou recognized the name "Zhang Ziwen" because Zhong Ling had mentioned it earlier today. He was also one of the six famous figures at Lincheng University, but his nickname was more sophisticated than "covered in wounds" or "the mute bride"—he was called "the basketball court tyrant."

Well, it doesn't seem that high-end.

Since he heard this name on the basketball court, it was probably not just a coincidence. The person on the court must be the "basketball king" himself. Han Zhou originally planned to go in and see the celebrity, but there were too many people watching, so he was too lazy to join the crowd.

However, he was still quite curious about what was happening on the court. What kind of basketball could attract so many people to watch? Surely it couldn't be the NBA?
Han Zhou walked around the school, looking over the heads of all the male and female students, but he didn't see a single character he could unlock. This was expected, so he wasn't too disappointed.

Moreover, this doesn't mean there aren't any unlockable characters in the school. After all, many students haven't arrived yet, and he couldn't have seen everyone in the school just now. Maybe he'll find one after a few more tries.

By now, Han Zhou had a better understanding of the criteria for selecting targets in the status bar. Judging from the three characters that could be unlocked so far, it seemed that this thing was only interested in high-quality beautiful girls; youth and beauty were prerequisites. If necessary in the future, he could start looking in that direction...

When they returned to the dormitory, Chen Long and Chen Zheng had already finished cleaning. The dormitory, inside and out, looked brand new. The water on the floor was still wet, indicating that they had just finished cleaning.

Han Zhou handed the two of them the iced cola he had just bought and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work."

Chen Long, covered in sweat, took the cola and drank it all in one gulp, letting out a satisfying sigh. He waved his hand and said, "It's not that it's hard work, it's just that the toilet is really hard to clean. I don't know what the previous residents put in there."

He had a disgusted expression on his face.

Chen Zheng drank his cola with much more elegance than him. While taking off his glasses and wiping them, he said, "The dorm is almost cleaned. Let's take a shower and then go eat. After that, we'll meet at the gymnasium to let the dorm air out."

Han Zhou and his companion had no objections; it was indeed almost time for dinner. Their last roommate hadn't shown up yet, and they didn't know what was going on.

Just then, Han Zhou's phone rang. It was a message from Gu Zheng, inviting him to dinner and saying that she had bought a spoon and planned to feed him later.

Han Zhou was speechless. He couldn't even imagine being fed by Gu Zheng. He replied with a voice message, "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious, it's because both of your hands are injured."

"My right hand is just not suitable for strenuous exercise, it's not broken. I can still eat by myself. But you reminded me that I can buy a spoon."

"Then I'll give you the spoon I bought."

"No need, I'll buy one myself."

Guzheng replied after two seconds, seemingly a little unhappy: "So you don't want to have dinner with me?"

"I've already made plans to have dinner with my roommates. Today is the first day of school, so you should also have a meal with them to get to know each other better," Han Zhou earnestly reminded him.

Given Guzheng's competitive nature, it's hard to say whether she'll fall out with her classmates and roommates in the future. He won't say much about it, but if possible, he still hopes Guzheng can make a couple more friends. He doesn't ask for anything else, just that they don't develop into really bad relationships.

He doesn't want to see the guzheng isolated.

My roommate did invite me to eat together...

Gu Zheng understood Han Zhou's meaning, but she was still a little worried about him. She hesitated before sending a message, "I can go with them, but are you really okay?"

"No problem, it's just a meal, not a fight."

Han Zhou laughed and said, "Besides, I've already told the counselor that I don't need to participate in military training. I'll just sit in front of you and watch you sunbathe every day."

"Pah, if you dare to get too cocky, I'll beat you up."

Gu Zheng pursed her lips, then relaxed and continued to send messages, "Then I'm going to eat with my roommate. Remember to message me if you need anything."

"Okay, okay."

Han Zhou put down his phone, shook his head, and smiled.

Guzheng is being way too attentive to him today. Could it be that she's worried he'll ignore her after they're no longer in the same class when school starts?

(End of this chapter)