Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 131 Cause of Injury

Due to the school's last-minute adjustments, all freshmen at Lincheng University had their class meetings moved to tonight, and Guzheng was no exception.

In the dormitory, a roommate was putting on makeup in front of the mirror. Seeing Guzheng still sitting at the table reading, she couldn't help but remind her, "Guzheng, aren't you going to get ready?"

"Prepare what?" Gu Zheng looked at her with some confusion.

"What do you think? Of course, it's about fixing our hair and putting on makeup. I heard we have to do self-introductions tonight, and we'll be meeting the rest of the class soon. We need to try our best to show our best side."

Upon hearing this, another roommate joked, "With a natural talent for the guzheng, you don't even need makeup. Just standing there, you can captivate everyone."

The roommate who had just spoken retorted, "Look at what you're saying. Wearing makeup isn't about pleasing others, so why should we care whether they're infatuated with it or not?"

"Then why did you specifically emphasize 'I'm about to meet the rest of the class'? Why didn't I see you putting on makeup in the dorm?"

"I...no, why are you picking a fight for no reason?"

"I'm just telling the truth."

"What kind of truth is that?"

"..."

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Guzheng closed her book and interrupted their conversation.

She checked the time on her phone, stood up, and said, "There's no need to argue. There's no point in trying to please anyone. I don't need to put on makeup. Are you all ready? If you're ready, let's go."

She stretched and opened her chat with Han Zhou. At the bottom was a photo he had sent her that day. In the photo, she was smiling, her hair was being whipped up by the howling wind, and the background was an office building under a gloomy sky.

These are photos that Han Zhou secretly took yesterday, which clearly violated her portrait rights. She was already being lenient by not confronting him, but instead of thanking her for her great kindness, he shamelessly said that she had to pay to receive the photos. He was utterly shameless. It wasn't until recently that he finally sent her the photos, after much beating around the bush.

To be honest, this photo was quite nice when I first saw it, but after seeing it many times, it became nothing special. It's actually quite ordinary. I don't know if Han Zhou's praise yesterday was sincere.

"The gloomy sky, the torrential rain, the bright girl, and her sun-like smile were just like the clear sky after the rain."

However, even though she increasingly felt that the photo was just so-so, whenever she thought of Han Zhou's words from yesterday, she couldn't help but smile, her smile overlapping with that of the girl in the photo, making the dormitory seem much brighter.

That guy rarely praises her so frankly; it's like the sun has risen in the west.

Gu Zheng found herself starting to like rainy days, because they were always gloomy and lacked sunshine, and she could reluctantly be the sun.

"Time's almost up, let's go."

Soon, everyone in the dormitory was ready to go, and they left the dormitory with their umbrellas.

Just as she was about to step into the rain, Gu Zheng couldn't help but send Han Zhou a message.

A very simple message.

She doesn't need to show her most perfect side to anyone, nor does she need to bewitch others.

She just needs to be the same as always, showing only her most authentic self.

Be the sun for one person only.

That's enough.

……

"If it's still raining tomorrow, let's go out for a big meal."

The phone screen on the table suddenly lit up. Han Zhou picked it up and glanced at it; it was a message from Gu Zheng.

"Okay, I think it would be good if there was a congee place in the cafeteria."

"You stingy guy, is porridge a feast? I didn't ask you to treat me!" Gu Zheng sent an angry pig head emoji.

"Just kidding, if we're having a big meal, then we're having a big meal. I'll treat you; consider it payment for the photo's copyright."

Han Zhou smiled and didn't ask Gu Zheng why she wanted to have a big meal when it was raining. He replied, "I'm in a class meeting right now. We'll talk later."

He put down his phone, looked up at the podium, and saw that everyone in the class had just introduced themselves. The self-introduction session was over, and now the class committee self-nomination session was underway.

Calling it a class committee self-nomination process is actually a bit inappropriate. To be precise, it should be called a class committee election process, since there are more than one person nominating for each position, but only one person can hold a position.

There are many class committee positions in university, including class monitor and vice monitor, Youth League secretary, sports committee member, and psychology committee member. However, the temporary class committee is not the formal class committee, so it is not necessary to appoint people to all positions for the time being. For now, it is only necessary to elect class monitor and vice monitor, Youth League secretary, and sports committee member. The remaining positions will be elected by the whole class in a month.

Not everyone is as afraid of trouble as Han Zhou. There are quite a few people who want to run for class committee. You should know that for college students, being a class committee member is not only a responsibility, but also represents certain benefits, such as extra points and awards. This is very attractive to some people.

After two rounds of voting, the candidates for class monitor and deputy class monitor have been determined.

As expected, the class monitor was Tang Wenshuang. Han Zhou was not surprised, since everyone had only known each other for a short time and did not have a clear understanding of each other's abilities. At this time, someone who frequently makes an appearance is more likely to get everyone's attention and support. As the organizer of the first class meeting, Tang Wenshuang had obviously made enough appearances and also made a small contribution. It was only natural that she became the class monitor.

Moreover, some people believe that having Tang Wenshuang organize this class meeting is enough to show the counselor's attitude. Perhaps the counselor has high hopes for her, and this move has the implication of "pre-selection".

In fact, this was indeed Ouyang Lianyu's idea. The reason she initially wanted Han Zhou to organize the class meeting was to make it easier for him to become the temporary class monitor. In her view, this was a benefit. However, Han Zhou, because he found it troublesome, mistakenly thought that this was making things difficult for him.

The choice of the vice class monitor was somewhat unexpected for Han Zhou; he never imagined it would be Deng Xue, whom he had met briefly during the first assembly.

What surprised him wasn't why Deng Xue was chosen as the vice class monitor. After all, her act of distributing chocolates to everyone in the class was also a way of winning people over, so it wasn't surprising that she gained a lot of goodwill and support. What truly surprised him was that Deng Xue, who seemed shy, actually had the courage to take on the role of vice class monitor.

The results for class monitor and vice monitor have been finalized, both of whom are girls. Currently, the position of sports committee member is being contested, and Chen Long is determined to win it, showing no fear even though there are as many as four classmates who have nominated themselves.

He swaggered onto the stage and said loudly, "Hello everyone, it's great to see you again. To prevent you from forgetting my name, I'll say it again: my name is Chen Long, you can just call me A Long."

"In my opinion, the responsibility of the sports committee member is very simple: to lead everyone on the path to health. If I become the sports committee member, I can share my years of experience learning karate with everyone at any time, and teach everyone some simple self-defense techniques so that everyone can grow up strong and healthy. I believe that after a while, everyone will be like me—"

As Chen Long spoke, he looked up at the ceiling and, seeing that there was no chandelier above him, he did a somersault on the spot, which immediately drew gasps from the audience. Tang Wenshuang, who was standing next to him, was startled and quickly stepped forward to help him, afraid that he would hit his head on the ground.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened. Seeing Jackie Chan land safely on the ground, Chen Zheng at the back of the classroom looked completely bewildered, glancing around and saying, "Seriously, do you guys really think this guy's speech was like he was running for sports committee member?"

Moreover, if he remembered correctly, Chen Long's "skill library" has been constantly updated these past few days. When they first met, he said he had practiced Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), then he said he knew Taekwondo, and now he knows Karate. It's just bragging without any basis.

Huo Zhencheng didn't seem to care about Chen Long's incoherent ramblings, and said with a simple smile, "Ah Long is very good. I can't do that kind of backflip."

Han Zhou said, "Whether it looks like them or not is not important. We are all meeting for the first time and we don't know who is more capable. Choosing who to be a class committee member depends entirely on my mood. Compared to other people's conventional campaign speeches, someone like Chen Long who can leave a deep impression is more competitive. Speeches are secondary."

Chen Zheng was taken aback. After thinking about it, it seemed to be true. In most people's minds, the sports committee member should generally be someone who is good at sports and physically strong. This has been the case almost from elementary school to high school. It may not be a stereotype, but it is enough to affect everyone's judgment.

However, in reality, the sports committee member is not leading troops into battle. They don't actually need to be very strong. All they need to do is have a loud enough voice to keep the team in line. And everyone knows that Chen Long has a loud voice.

Moreover, most college students are "rebellious by nature" and like to do things differently. Compared to the other big guys, people like Jackie Chan, who are not tall but have real "kung fu", obviously meet their expectations more.

In addition, Chen Long seemed like a righteous person, a personality that was popular with boys. Some people even planned to ask him for self-defense tips, so they voted for him without hesitation.

Most of the girls voted because of his backflip vote, which they thought was impressive.

Thus, Chen Long won the position of sports committee member with an overwhelming majority of votes.

Watching Chen Long smugly step down from the stage, Chen Zheng felt quite complicated. This guy had really struck it lucky; it was a complete fluke. He'd probably be exposed for what he really was in a month.

Next up was the election of the Youth League branch secretary.

As a very important position in university life, there are quite a few people eyeing the position of Youth League Branch Secretary. In addition, there are no strong competitors like Tang Wenshuang, so a total of six people went on stage to run for the position, including the tall and thin Land Rover.

Xiao Xiaoxiao couldn't stand this guy, and whispered to Han Zhou, "How about it, do you want to consider my suggestion?"

"Not consider."

"Why? My method is absolutely foolproof, okay? Don't you want to really annoy this guy named Land Rover? I saw him talking to quite a few people before, maybe he's already built relationships with them, and his vote count might be very high later. If you don't go on stage, he'll succeed."

Han Zhou gave a wry smile: "I don't want him to become the Youth League Secretary, but I don't want to become him either. Besides, how can you be so sure that if I run for election, I will definitely get more votes than him?"

That's right, the foolproof method Xiao Xiaoxiao mentioned was to have him also go on stage to run for the position of Youth League Secretary.

"You're so stupid!" Xiao Xiaoxiao said, exasperated. "You were just talking so confidently with others, saying that since it was the first time we'd met, who we voted for depended entirely on our mood. Don't you know that with your face, most girls' 'moods' would be more inclined to side with you?"

"And what about you?" Han Zhou looked at her.

"I'm not that vulgar," Xiao Xiaoxiao pouted. "But I'll still vote for you."

Han Zhou pondered for a moment: "Even so, there's no guarantee that my vote count will be higher than that guy's. Besides, I really don't want to be a class committee member. Even if I succeed, doing this would be like hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of my own."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was at her wit's end. Hesitating and looking around, she realized this guy was no match for her. She crossed her arms and asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

Han Zhou looked her up and down for a while, then said enticingly, "To be honest, I think your look is quite competitive, and I estimate you'll get a lot of support from both boys and girls. Besides, I've known since we first met that you're a capable person, and I'll definitely vote for you if you go on stage."

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked wary: "Don't treat me like an idiot. Do you think you can get me on stage to disgust that guy by saying a few nice words? Although I know my chances of winning the election are very high, I'm like you, I don't want to be a class committee member, and this isn't my business."

Han Zhou sighed and said dejectedly, "Is that so? Then there's nothing we can do. Let nature take its course."

"There's no use pretending to be pitiful."

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked disdainful. "Besides, you're a wicked guy. I don't believe you can really hold back from retaliating."

Han Zhou laughed: "Where did you hear that I'm full of bad ideas? Wasn't it you who suggested stopping that guy from becoming the Youth League branch secretary?"

"Just tell me if you have any bad ideas."

Xiao Xiaoxiao glanced at him sideways with disdain in her eyes. Although it was only the second time the two of them had met, her intuition told her that this guy was not a magnanimous person.

Han Zhou said with a righteous expression, "Don't talk nonsense. Ideas are neither good nor bad."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was right; he did indeed come up with a way to prevent Lu Hu from becoming the Youth League branch secretary, but this idea was a bit difficult to implement.

While the two were talking, the last boy who volunteered to be the branch secretary went up on stage.

He began with a passionate campaign speech, but unfortunately, the previous five candidates had already used similar phrases, and the audience was getting tired of it and lost interest.

However, this boy had no intention of running for the position of Youth League Secretary; he went on stage simply to confirm and explain something.

After finishing his campaign speech, before the sparse applause from the audience had subsided, he suddenly looked at Han Zhou, who was clapping his thigh with one hand, and asked, "Han Zhou, can I ask you a question?"

Han Zhou raised an eyebrow slightly. Why was someone asking him a question again? He remembered this boy; his name was Li Kaiyang, from Haicheng. The two had no connection before today.

The others were also drawn to Li Kaiyang's sudden question and became interested. They turned to look at Han Zhou at the back of the classroom, their faces full of anticipation.

"Ask away," Han Zhou said calmly.

Li Kaiyang took a deep breath and asked, "What I want to ask is, did you pass by Chengyang Avenue on the day you injured your hand?"

Han Zhou was taken aback, unsure of the meaning behind the question. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'm sorry, I'm not very familiar with the area around the school, so I'm not sure if I've passed through the place you mentioned."

"Then let me ask you another question. On the first day of school, did you save a child from falling from a building?"

When Li Kaiyang said this, everyone in the class was stunned.

Li Kaiyang, looking excited, continued, "When you first came on stage to introduce yourself, I felt like I recognized you. I felt like I'd seen you somewhere before. Later, after Lu Hu reminded me and I thought about the injury on your arm, I realized it might be you."

“That day I saw someone catch a child who fell from a building. That person must have been you. Your hand was injured because of saving someone that day, right?”

I had a brain fart yesterday and there was a problem with something. Lu Hu wanted to be the Youth League Secretary, not the Deputy Class Monitor. I've already corrected it to Xiao Xiaoxiao remembering it wrong and then Han Zhou corrected her.



(End of this chapter)