Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 126 I knew you would win

"It looks like it's going to rain."

Han Zhou looked up at the sky. The once bright sky had turned gloomy, the sun was blocked by clouds, and the air became more stuffy, as if it was about to rain.

Perhaps sensing this as well, the freshmen who were resting on the playground became even more excited, hoping for a heavy rain so they could go back to their dormitories to rest.

Han Zhou didn't care whether it rained or not, since he was resting regardless. He had already escaped Chen Long's formation and had taken some photos along the way.

Of course, he wasn't the only one responsible for taking photos during military training. There were also senior students with professional skills among them. Therefore, Ouyang Lianyu didn't have too many requirements for him. She just hoped that he could take this opportunity to make some new friends.

Unfortunately, Han Zhou failed to live up to her good intentions. Over the course of several days, he didn't get to know many people. The ones he did interact with were mostly girls who stopped him on the street to ask for his contact information, but he politely declined them all. If that girl hadn't spoken up in full view of him just now, he would have refused her directly without hesitation, worried that it might embarrass her.

When Han Zhou arrived at the guzheng team, he witnessed a lively scene: a group of girls were excitedly shouting "Go for it!" in a circle, seemingly cheering on the person in the circle.

The tall instructor did not stop their shouting, but instead stood in the crowd with his arms crossed, watching with great interest.

Han Zhou went over to take a look and his expression immediately turned strange. He saw two girls arm wrestling on the lawn. This kind of scene was rare. No wonder it was so lively. Although they were wearing loose military training uniforms and hats, he recognized one of the girls as Gu Zheng at a glance.

Guzheng was facing away from him at that moment, so she didn't notice his arrival.

Han Zhou was puzzled as to why these girls were suddenly arm wrestling, so he asked the girls watching nearby.

The girl had slipped over from another group to watch the commotion. She didn't really know what was going on, but she patiently explained, "I heard it from someone. Two girls suddenly started arguing, apparently about two celebrities. They're both die-hard fans of those two stars. They were chatting and laughing, but then they started arguing about something, and it got so bad that they almost came to blows."

"Fortunately, the instructor stopped them in time and gave them a stern lecture. He originally wanted to punish them by making them do squats, but when he found that they were still defiant, he suggested that they arm wrestle. Whoever won would be right, and the loser would be punished."

Han Zhou listened silently. The instructor's original intention was probably to get the two of them to back down and stop arguing. After all, it was much more humiliating for one person to be punished than for both of them to be punished together. However, the two of them were both holding back their anger and insisted on defeating each other to prove that they were right. They actually agreed to the suggestion of arm wrestling.

To avoid embarrassing the losers, the instructors turned the arm-wrestling match into an activity that all the girls in the team could participate in, with the winner getting a longer break. That's how the situation turned out.

Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated. For Gu Zheng, "final victory" meant "winning first place." This girl might not care about getting more rest, but she would never give up the chance to compete for first place. And with her strength, winning first place would be an easy thing.

And that's exactly what happened. This was the tenth opponent that Gu Zheng had easily defeated. Because she was worried about hurting others, she had been holding back her strength the whole time, but even so, no one could beat her.

It's just that these people aren't familiar with the guzheng. If it were back in high school, almost no one, male or female, would dare to challenge the guzheng to an arm wrestling match. There's a reason why Lin Anyu used to call her "super strong girl" every day.

Gu Zheng sat on the lawn without moving, defeating her opponent with overwhelming force each time, appearing as an invincible war goddess. The other girls weren't stupid; they could tell from the situation that this girl was very strong. Those who were weaker had already given up the challenge, and only those who were slightly confident in their strength dared to step forward to challenge her.

The instructor glanced at the time and said, "The break is about to end. If no one can beat this student in the last three minutes, then she will be the final winner and can rest for ten more minutes than the others."

He was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that this girl was not only beautiful, but also so strong. She had clearly not used her full strength to easily defeat the others. If nothing unexpected happened, this victory would definitely be hers.

Han Zhou stood quietly in the crowd, watching Gu Zheng's back. His expression softened. Gu Zheng's competitive nature might not be pleasing, but it was never a flaw for him. Capable people should stand in the most dazzling place.

However, just as everyone was hesitating about whether to continue challenging the guzheng, a short boy suddenly squeezed through the crowd and said with a grin, "Can I join?"

The girls watching were stunned, and their faces turned angry. The instructor frowned instantly and shouted, "This is a girls' team. What are you doing having boys participate? Which team are you in? Go back now!"

He forced the word "get lost" back down.

The boy gave an awkward smile, seemingly afraid of the instructor, and shrank back before leaving.

However, as he left, a disgruntled murmur suddenly arose from the crowd: "Why can't boys participate? Some guys who are stronger than boys can participate..."

Her voice was loud, clearly intended for everyone to hear, and the target of her words was obvious: the one stronger than the boy was naturally Guzheng.

The instructor turned his head and looked over, saying sternly, "What did you say?"

The one who had just spoken was a tall girl. Seeing the instructor's gloomy expression, she not only didn't shut up, but instead stubbornly retorted, "Reporter! I say it's unfair!"

She pointed at the guzheng and said, "This girl is incredibly strong, stronger than many boys. This kind of strength should be in the 'boys' group.' It's unfair to make her arm wrestle with us!"

Han Zhou was shocked. This was the first time he had ever heard such shameless remarks. If you can't beat someone in terms of strength, just expel them from the female group. This tactic felt strangely familiar. The problem is, you're tall and strong, and you don't seem like the kind of contestant who should be in the female group.

The instructor seemed stunned by these words, and asked in shock, "Are you serious, student?"

The onlookers whispered among themselves, clearly shocked by the tall girl's logic. However, a very small number of girls who had personally experienced the power of the guzheng felt that her words made sense. It was indeed unfair to let someone with such overwhelming strength participate in arm wrestling; otherwise, wouldn't it be tantamount to pre-determining the winner?
The tall girl said loudly, "Linda is a top-tier key university. Everyone here got in based on their grades. We rely on hard work, not innate physical strength. It's too superficial to judge the outcome with such mindless things."

The instructor laughed in exasperation: "What does this have to do with grades? If you felt it was unfair, you should have brought it up from the beginning, instead of making a fuss now because you can't accept defeat. Besides, didn't others get in based on their grades?"

His face darkened. "Alright, I'm not going to waste my breath on you. The break is over, everyone get into line and stand up straight!"

He had heard before that he might encounter some strange situations during military training, but he never expected that he would actually encounter them today.

But just as he was about to gather everyone, an instructor suddenly ran over from a distance and said, "Old Yang, the head instructor wants everyone to assemble on the platform."

Instructor Yang asked in surprise, "Why?"

The instructor lowered his voice: "They should be telling us the arrangements after it rains. The weather forecast says there will be a downpour later. As for whether the students will go back to their dormitories or to the gymnasium, we're not sure yet. We need to discuss it depending on the situation."

"What about the students?"

"Let them continue to rest. Hurry up and go. I was the last to notify you. Everyone else should have arrived by now."

"it is good."

Instructor Yang took a deep breath and shouted, "Everyone, continue to rest where you are! No arguing or causing trouble!"

He gave everyone a warning look, then hurriedly left with another instructor.

The group hadn't quite heard the two instructors' conversation, so they didn't know what had happened, but being able to continue resting was a good thing for them, so they were very happy.

Liu Qiumin was equally pleased. It was much easier to talk now that the instructor wasn't around. She immediately perked up and said to Guzheng in a sarcastic tone, "Now that the instructor is gone, some people won't be able to be so smug for long. Their reward of an extra ten minutes of rest is probably gone."

Gu Zheng had simply ignored her before, but she didn't expect the other party to take advantage of her kindness. She said coldly, "I'm not as smug as you are." Liu Qiumin shook her head and said, "I'm serious, you really should consider my suggestion. With your strength, you should be using it with the boys, instead of continuing to swagger around in our girls' group."

The short boy who had previously suggested participating in the arm wrestling suddenly reappeared, looking at Guzheng with a grin and saying, "I agree. Why don't you join our squad and train with us? You'll definitely be very popular."

Gu Zheng frowned. She realized that the short guy was obviously in cahoots with that guy named Liu Qiumin. He had deliberately suggested participating in the girls' arm wrestling to cause a conflict.

She glanced at Liu Qiumin and said disdainfully, "You're really sensitive. When did I ever show off?"

"Isn't there any?"

Liu Qiumin sneered, "I've disliked you for a while now. Every time we stand at attention, you have to pretend to be relaxed just so the instructors will praise your perfect form. It's the same when you're marching; you always have to act like you're working really hard. I don't know who you're trying to impress. It's made the instructors raise their expectations for all of us, and we always have to wait a long time to rest."

The girls watching the commotion fell silent. What Liu Qiumin said was true. Gu Zheng had been praised by the instructors almost constantly during the military training. They demanded that everyone follow her example, and the standards for everyone's practice were indeed much higher than those of other teams, leaving them exhausted every day.

Although most people believe that the guzheng cannot be blamed, and that the instructor's high standards may only be due to personal requirements and have nothing to do with anyone else, and that the guzheng should not be made the scapegoat, they still can't help but feel uncomfortable.

They had long harbored resentment about this situation, but they had never dared to bring it up with the instructors, otherwise they might have to endure dozens more squats.

Gu Zheng lowered her head and remained silent. It wasn't that she couldn't refute Liu Qiumin's words—what did the instructor's high standards have to do with her? But this situation reminded her of her experiences in junior high and high school. She wasn't afraid of being isolated, but the feeling of repeatedly causing trouble for those around her made her feel somewhat guilty.

Even though she knew perfectly well that she wasn't the one causing the trouble.

"Roll, roll, roll! The whole class will roll along with you!"

"You're so happy to get first place again, huh? Haha, you're really something, you've raised the passing score for the whole class."

"Please, can you stop thinking only of yourself? You're dragging everyone down with you!"

"..."

Since junior high school, Gu Zheng had heard similar accusations more than once, but she never cared. She wanted to always be number one, so she couldn't stop for anyone. Besides, it was clearly not her fault.

But perhaps she had heard these words too many times, or perhaps her parents had repeatedly emphasized before she left home that they hoped she could get along well with her new friends, she gradually began to doubt her own judgment.

Are you really wrong?
Liu Qiumin looked at Guzheng with a cold smile. To win an argument, you don't necessarily need to have the upper hand in reason. All you need to do is bring everyone to the opposite side of the opponent. After all, it is people who drive public opinion. So as long as you bring everyone to the same side, public opinion will naturally be controlled.

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and the rain intensified. The sky was overcast, and the air felt oppressive, much like the zither's mood at that moment.

Just then, she suddenly felt someone put their hand on her head.

"The hat is all crooked, it's really outrageous."

A helpless voice rang in her ears. Although it was a sigh, there was no blame in its tone, only gentleness.

The moment her head was pressed down, Guzheng knew who it was. After hearing the voice, she had no more doubts. She looked up and met a face with sharp features. It was strange. This guy hadn't changed at all, but he had inexplicably become more handsome.

"Han Zhou..."

Her gaze shifted downwards, and her tone became somewhat low.

"It's me, I've come to see you."

Han Zhou smiled, carefully adjusted the other person's hat, and casually said, "I was watching from the side the whole time, and I knew you would win."

I knew you would win.

It was a perfectly normal tone and words, but for some reason, Gu Zheng suddenly felt a lump in her throat and an urge to cry.

She suppressed her emotions and tried to move Han Zhou's hand away, but then she gave up when she remembered that his hand was still injured. She pouted and said, "Do you need to tell me?"

"Indeed, I don't need to say anything."

Han Zhou smiled, then turned to look at Liu Qiumin, his smile instantly vanishing.

"To be honest, I don't usually attack someone based on their values ​​or appearance, but if your values ​​and appearance attack me first, then don't blame me for being impolite."

His tone was quite calm, and he didn't use any profanity, but his words were full of attacking power, which immediately amused many people, including Guzheng.

The sky remained overcast, the kind of overcast that foreshadowed a downpour, but her mood suddenly brightened.

Liu Qiumin was so angry she gritted her teeth: "What do you mean?"

Han Zhou chuckled and said, "Does that mean with your devilishly large physique, you should be in the boys' group?"

He doesn't really like to over-judge someone's appearance, but if the other person goes overboard first, then he can't be blamed.

Although Liu Qiumin didn't know who Bo Gang was, she knew very well what a demon meant. Demons were mostly ugly creatures. She was not very confident in her appearance, which was why she felt jealous of the beautiful Gu Zheng and couldn't help but target her.

She flew into a rage and shouted, "How dare you insult me?"

"No, no, I wouldn't dare," Han Zhou shook his head and said, "Who would dare to insult a top student like you from Lin University? You got in based on your own merit, unlike us who got in through connections. But please allow me to ask, could you tell me your college entrance exam score?"

Liu Qiumin's face turned pale and then red. How could she not tell that this guy was being sarcastic? She had just barely made it into Lincheng University by barely meeting the admission requirements. She was lucky. Such a score would be enough for most people, but everyone else had gotten into Lincheng University based on their own abilities, and their scores were all above the admission line. It was impossible for them to have a lower score than hers. It was really embarrassing to say such a score out loud.

At this moment, she was like a player who had just criticized someone for having a low score in the game's comment section, but couldn't utter a single word after being asked about their rank.

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, she chose to sneer and not respond: "Why should I tell you? Why don't you tell me your college entrance exam score first?"

Han Zhou smiled modestly.

"I did poorly on the test, and I'm really embarrassed to tell you my score, but if you really want to know, I can tell you."

(End of this chapter)