Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 143 Sending propositions

By mid-September, the sweltering summer had completely receded, and the noisy cicadas outside the window had been replaced by the calls of unknown birds.

Sunlight streamed obliquely through the window, casting a golden glow on the podium. The ceiling fan whirred and spun, repeatedly disturbing and blurring the shadows of the trees that crept in through the window.

The stack of test papers on the teacher's desk rustled loudly under the blowing of the ceiling fan, but fortunately a large hand held them down in time, preventing them from being blown to pieces.

The teacher, impeccably dressed, raised his hand and used the chalk box to hold down the test papers. His scrutinizing gaze swept across the faces of every student in the classroom. He took a sip of his tea and occasionally glanced at the clock on the wall behind him.

The classroom was unusually quiet; apart from the sound of the fan turning, the only other sound was the scratching of pens on paper.

Just then, the sound of a chair being dragged broke the silence.

As the sound rang out, a tall figure calmly stood up, tidied up the things on the table, picked up the test paper, and walked to the podium.

A gust of wind blew past the window, rustling the leaves, and the startled birds instantly flapped their wings and flew into the clouds.

The branches swayed, and sunlight streamed through the shadows into the window, then struggled to penetrate the heavy curtains. The few remaining rays of light barely reached the girl's face before being blocked by the black mask on her face.

"You finished so quickly?"

The teacher took the test paper and scanned it twice. He glanced at the girl in surprise and was amazed by the student's rapid progress. Putting aside everything else, her speed in answering questions was simply terrifying.

"Ah."

The girl made a nasal sound indifferently, slightly lowered her baseball cap, making it difficult to see her eyes. Her face was covered by a mask, and the only thing that could be seen was the beauty mark under the corner of her right eye.

"can I go now?"

The teacher nodded: "Of course, as I said before, if you finish early, you can go eat lunch and rest earlier. Now you can go, but please be quiet and don't disturb the students in other classes."

The girl nodded gently, put on her school uniform jacket, and turned to leave the classroom through the front door.

"Look, look, what's so interesting! Stop looking! If you want to leave early, learn from Mo Yixia. Finish the questions and hand in your paper, then you can leave. But everyone, pay attention! Don't let me see you answering questions carelessly! She finished the test paper very carefully!"

The teacher's stern warning came from the classroom behind her, and could be heard even from the stairwell. It made one wonder who could be disturbing the students in other classes. Mo Yixia seemed not to hear it and walked downstairs unhurriedly, then headed towards the school gate.

As a senior high school student, Mo Yixia's daily schedule is very tight. In addition to reviewing the knowledge for the senior year, she has to take several exams every week. She hates exams. The only one she hates is the math exam she just took because she can leave school early.

Although it's not much earlier than expected, since security guards won't easily let students leave the school before the designated time, it's still better than the tedious waiting that wastes time after other exams.

Mo Yixia is a day student and never goes to the cafeteria; she eats at home every day.

Walking to and from school takes about twenty minutes, which is both long and short. She rarely chooses to take a car because those twenty minutes are some of the few times she has without any constraints.

Stepping out of the school gate, the surrounding sounds were unusually noisy, with voices and car noises rising and falling in waves, like the incessant chirping of cicadas.

Mo Yixia disliked the liveliness, but she also disliked loneliness. Perhaps this feeling couldn't be called dislike; rather, it was more like a vague sense of unease. She would occasionally wonder what she didn't dislike. Logically speaking, liveliness and loneliness are largely opposites, and she should like one of them, but that wasn't the case.

She almost hated everything in the world.

Later, she simply stopped thinking about it, because she couldn't figure it out anyway. If she couldn't figure it out, she wouldn't think about it. Unless she was interested, there was no need to be fixated on any particular problem.

For her, the opposite of dislike is still dislike, but it doesn't always seem to be the case.

She had always thought the sound of cicadas was annoying, but occasionally she would find it pleasant, just like the surging crowds around her, which were mostly annoying, but sometimes pleasing to the eye.

Although such moments are quite brief.

"Sister Yixia?"

While she was pondering, Mo Yixia suddenly heard a questioning female voice behind her. The voice was childish and the tone was uncertain, as if she was not sure if she had mistaken the person for someone else.

She turned around but didn't see anyone. She looked down slightly and saw a girl with pigtails wearing a blue and white school uniform. She was not tall and had bright eyes, staring at her curiously.

"It's really you!"

Seeing the girl's signature beauty mark under her eye, Lin Youya's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed with delight, "I never expected to see you here! I thought you were a college student too!"

Seeing that Mo Yixia remained silent, Lin Youya felt no embarrassment at all and excitedly reminded her, "Don't you remember me? I'm Yaya, Han Zhou's friend, the female lead, do you remember the female lead?"

Mo Yixia has always had a good memory, so of course she remembered this child; otherwise, she would have left immediately. She said, "I remember you. What do you need me for?"

"Hehe, it's nothing, it's just that I'm happy to see you again."

Lin Youya looked at the school uniform on the other person, her little face full of excitement, "So Sister Yixia is still a high school student? You don't look like one at all. I always thought you went to university with Brother Han Zhou and Sister Guzheng."

Mo Yixia, who was about to leave, paused upon hearing this, stared at her for a moment, and then softened her voice: "Are you and Han Zhou... Brother Han Zhou very close?"

"Yes, that's great!"

Lin Youya nodded repeatedly. She regarded Han Zhou as her idol and mentor and always treated him with great respect. She thought that with her sincerity, she would one day be able to learn from him how to become more capable.

To this day, she remains convinced of it.

"Yeah."

Mo Yixia's eyes revealed a perfectly gentle smile. She sized up the chuunibyou girl for a moment. No matter how you looked at her, she was a typical junior high school student, and she didn't seem very bright. Then she asked, "What about Sister Guzheng? Is Brother Han Zhou on good terms with her?"

Although they hadn't met many times, she certainly knew who Guzheng was.

"Of course! They're really good friends, and they often come over to my house to play together!"

At this point, Lin Youya blinked and warmly invited, "My house is huge! Why don't you come over to my house to play, Sister Yixia? This weekend is fine!"

She always thought Mo Yixia was like a female protagonist who stepped out of an anime, dressed in a very cool way. She was extremely interested in her and had even hinted at it to Han Zhou a few times, but the latter basically rejected her, saying that Mo Yixia would never come to her house.

She initially thought Han Zhou was just being perfunctory, but Mo Yixia's response at that moment confirmed his words.

"I'm sorry, I'm very busy, I'm afraid I can't come to your house to play." Mo Yixia leaned down and smiled, "But if you really want me to come, then try to beg Brother Han Zhou more, plead and act cute, maybe he can make me less busy."

She's currently in her senior year of high school, and she basically has no free time, unless she's working with Han Zhou from the inside.

Lin Youya was a little discouraged after hearing the first part of the story, but her eyes lit up when she heard the last part. She nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Okay!"

She's changed now; she's learned how to act cute.

Without hesitation, Lin Youya immediately raised her arm and fiddled with her Little Genius watch, saying confidently, "Then I'll call Brother Han Zhou right now!"

Mo Yixia was slightly taken aback, her smile deepening: "Oh, so you have his phone number?"

"Of course, that big idiot said college students have plenty of time. We're about to eat, so making a call at this time shouldn't be a problem."

The "big idiot" that Lin Youya mentioned was obviously a new nickname she had recently given to Lin Anyu. As she spoke, she looked around and suggested, "Why don't we go sit over there?"

Mo Yixia nodded. The security guard opened the gate early today, so she left school fifteen minutes early and didn't need to rush home.

The two sat down on a bench. Lin Youya found Han Zhou's phone number in her contacts and was about to dial when Mo Yixia said, "Wait a minute, can you ask me a few questions later?"

Lin Youya tilted her head: "Who are you asking? Brother Han Zhou?"

"Okay, but be careful not to say I'm with you." Mo Yixia glanced at the small backpack on the other person's back and continued, "In exchange, I can help you with your homework today."

"really?"

Lin Youya's eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed, and she shook her head firmly, "No need, I want to do my homework on my own and not rely on others. That's the quality a strong person should have!"

Although Lin Youya, the "strong one," had the worst entrance exam scores in her class, she firmly believed that she could achieve great things later in life and amaze everyone in a critical moment.

This is the protagonist's script.

She asked curiously, "But Sister Yixia, what do you want me to ask Brother Han Zhou for you?"

"Let me think..." Mo Yixia pretended to ponder, but in fact she had already thought of the question. "First, ask him who he thinks is the prettiest among the girls around him, and let him choose his top three."

"Mmm." Although Lin Youya was a little puzzled as to why she was being asked this, she nodded and continued, "And then?"

"Then you ask him which of the girls he knows has the best relationship with, and he chooses the top three."

"Any more?"

“One last question…” Mo Yixia paused slightly, then said with a half-smile, “Ask him who he would save first if all these girls fell into the water at the same time.”

Such a classic, potentially fatal question—even if Lin Youya were incredibly dense, she could tell something was wrong. Her heart skipped a beat, and her expression became somewhat unnatural.

Something seems off...

At that moment, she suddenly remembered Yi Xia's reaction when she had confidently stated that Brother Han Zhou and Sister Guzheng had a good relationship—

The other person suddenly lowered the brim of her baseball cap, making it impossible to see her eyes or her thoughts.

Thinking of this, Lin Youya's heart pounded even faster, her teeth chattered, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Oh no, have I messed up...?

……

Meanwhile, Han Zhou, who was in his office, received a call from Lin Youya.

He looked at Ouyang Lianyu sitting at his desk. She nodded, indicating that he should answer the phone first, and then lowered her head to get back to her work.

Han Zhou understood and, too lazy to go out, simply sat in his office to answer the phone.

"Hey?"

"Brother Han Zhou, it's me, Ya Ya." Lin You Ya's voice was crisp and clear, sounding a little nervous.

"I recognized your voice. What's up? Is there something you need?" Han Zhou asked gently.

"Um...um." Lin Youya said in a low voice, feeling a little guilty, "Our teacher asked us to do a small social survey, so I would like to ask you to answer a few questions for me."

"Okay," Han Zhou said with a smile. "What's the problem?"

"The...first question!"

Lin Youya gritted her teeth, with a desperate expression, and asked, "Please name the most beautiful girls around you right now, and also choose your top three."

"The prettiest girl? And you want to choose the top three?" Han Zhou's smile changed, and he asked suspiciously, "Are you sure this is a social survey that the teacher asked you to do?"

Choose the prettiest girl?
Just as Ouyang Lianyu was about to flip through her textbook, her ears twitched. She pretended to open the book and pretended to eavesdrop.

No, this isn't eavesdropping. She was sitting right here; it's just that Han Zhou didn't pay attention to protecting her privacy.

Lin Youya glanced at the line of writing that Mo Yixia had just written beside her, and pretended to be clueless, saying, "It's a survey on psychology and sociology, mainly targeting adults. Anyway, I don't know much about it. Is it inconvenient for me to say?"

“No, not at all,” Han Zhou remarked. “I’m just surprised. Are they starting to do psychology and sociology surveys in junior high now? I don’t think we had this back then…”

He looked thoughtful and said, "Let me think... the three prettiest girls I know, in order, should be... No, Teacher Ouyang, how could you be eavesdropping?"

"You didn't eavesdrop? Ha! Your ear was practically pressed against my phone, and you still dare to say you didn't? That's a breach of professional ethics! Fine, I'll go outside to answer it..."

"..."

There was a noise on the other end of the phone. Lin Youya swallowed and turned to steal a glance at Mo Yixia. The latter's eyes were calm, and no particular emotion could be seen.

Shortly after, Han Zhou's voice came through the phone again.

"I'm so sorry, Yaya, there was a little accident just now. Actually, I'm in the office right now, dealing with some things. If this doesn't go well, I could get disciplined. My counselor is giving me a stern lecture..."

I get the feeling that you're the one harshly criticizing her...

Lin Youya wondered to herself, wanting to ask what had happened, when her gaze drifted again to another line of text written by Mo Yixia—

"Don't let him change the subject."

Lin Youya's face fell, and she had no choice but to ask, "Brother Han Zhou, can you answer my question first?"

"Oh, of course, it's a question about who's the prettiest, right?" Han Zhou's voice sounded unusually serious, as if he was really thinking about it. After several seconds, he said, "Actually, I'm a bit face-blind. Most people look pretty much the same to me, so I might not be able to rank them in the top three. How about a tie for the top three?"

Face blindness?

Lin Youya was taken aback and glanced at Mo Yixia cautiously.

The latter, with a cryptic smile in his eyes, nodded in agreement.

"But...it's okay."

"That's good." Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, it's Liu Lingyue, Yang Qiurong, and Lin Zi."

Lin Youya paused for a moment, feeling that these names were somewhat familiar. After a while, she realized, "Aren't these all the names of celebrities?"

"Oh right, didn't you ask me about the girl next to me? I forgot to mention, there's a film crew shooting near our school recently, and all three of the celebrities I just mentioned are in it. Even though I have face blindness, celebrities are definitely pretty. I heard that a lot of students go there every day to ask for autographs."

"This……"

Even if Lin Youya were incredibly stupid, she would never believe Han Zhou's lies, let alone Sister Yixia.

"Is this not going to work?" Han Zhou asked patiently.

"But...it's okay."

Lin Youya received another instruction from Mo Yixia, took a deep breath and said, "The next question is, please choose the three girls you are closest to from the girls around you, and rank them from highest to lowest. This time you can't say celebrities, you have to say people you know."

"Okay."

Han Zhou smiled, considered for a moment, and said, "To be honest, I think our dorm supervisor has been pretty good to me, so I might consider putting her third for now..."

Before he could finish speaking, a cold voice suddenly rang out from the other end of the phone, its tone devoid of emotion.

"Tell me, how did you know it was me?"

"Huh? Is that Yixia? What are you doing with Yaya?" Han Zhou seemed quite surprised.

Mo Yixia said indifferently, "Stop pretending. You already knew these questions were from me, otherwise you wouldn't have given such vague and incompetent answers."

She guessed correctly. In fact, Lin Youya sent a message to Lin Anyu as soon as she learned that she had caused trouble, and the latter relayed it to Han Zhou immediately. That's why Han Zhou was able to prepare and talk nonsense with a straight face.

However, despite his ramblings, he quickly realized a problem—

Why am I unwilling to answer these questions properly?

Was it simply because he wanted to answer Mo Yixia's inappropriate question with an inappropriate answer? Or was it that his inner sense of "justice" wouldn't allow him to presumptuously rate and rank the girls' appearances?

Or……

Am I just subconsciously avoiding certain answers?

"The first two questions are optional, but you must answer the last one carefully."

Mo Yixia's calm voice pulled him back to reality.

Knowing he couldn't escape, Han Zhou sighed and said, "Ask away."

Mo Yixia paused for a moment, then decided to revise the question.

"If all the women in the world fell into the water, who would you save first?"

There will likely be some minor modifications as well.
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(End of this chapter)