Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 145 The Guzheng Club

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng had arranged to have lunch together. On his way to the cafeteria, he happened to see Xiao Xiaoxiao hurrying by and waved to her from afar.

"Little?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao glanced back at him, then strode into the cafeteria with her short legs, shouting, "I have a part-time job to do, let's talk later!"

Han Zhou then remembered that this guy had found a part-time job in the cafeteria, which apparently included lunch and dinner, so he didn't say anything more.

He planned to find an opportunity to tell Xiao Xiaoxiao about finding the delivery thief, and at the same time use the mission detector on her to see if he could earn some points. Although getting the delivery thief to apologize would be a bit troublesome, it would be a form of revenge, and that should satisfy the guy.

Moreover, he hadn't forgotten Xiao Xiaoxiao's previous promise: as long as the delivery thief was found, she would be willing to share her past with him.

If he wasn't so enthusiastic about finding Xiao Xiaoxiao's memories before, he's quite interested now, since these memories not only concern Xiao Xiaoxiao, but also him and even Guzheng.

It was something all three of them remembered, yet none of them recalled even the slightest detail. Furthermore, the three of them had virtually no chance of meeting at the same time; before university, they had only lived in two far-flung cities, with no points of intersection whatsoever. This whole affair was undeniably strange…

Han Zhou stood at the entrance of the cafeteria waiting. If nothing unexpected happened, Gu Zheng would arrive soon from the direction of the library. This guy was still working too hard after entering university, practically treating the library as his dormitory. He was wondering if he should find an opportunity to go out and have fun with Gu Zheng. It's not a good thing for a university student to still have his mind full of studying all day long.

Speaking of which, Lin Anyu invited me to visit his school this weekend. Although he probably wants my help with something, I should still ask if it would be convenient to bring my guzheng along...

"Han Zhou".

While he was pondering, a greeting suddenly rang out from afar. Han Zhou looked in the direction of the sound and saw several boys walking over with their arms around each other's shoulders. He had a photographic memory, and could recognize everyone's name just by looking up. He immediately recognized them as his classmates.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

Mei Cheng walked up to Han Zhou, smiled, and offered him a cigarette. "No classes this afternoon. A few of us are going to play basketball later. Do you want to come?"

"Thank you, I don't smoke."

Han Zhou didn't accept the cigarette, and said with a smile, "I won't be going to play basketball either, my hand is still recovering."

Mei Cheng was taken aback, then remembered that Han Zhou's hand was injured. He awkwardly put away the cigarette, scratched his head, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I was a little confused. I didn't see the cast on your hand and thought you had recovered..."

"But since the cast has been removed, it means your hand should be almost healed, right?" another classmate next to me laughed.

"Yes, it'll be ready soon." Han Zhou nodded.

"That's great news! Let's go for a drink together once you've recovered!"

"That's true, but I don't think Han Zhou is the type to drink."

"Haha, beer will do, right?"

Listening to the others' discussions, Mei Cheng smiled, then hesitated before saying, "Um... Han Zhou, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Han Zhou looked into his eyes: "What is it?"

"Didn't you have a conflict with that guy from Land Rover before? Actually, he's my roommate and we get along pretty well. I also admire you from the bottom of my heart, so how should I put it... I don't want to see your relationship continue to be strained. I hope you can make up, after all, you're all classmates."

At this point, Mei Cheng quickly explained, "Of course, he was in the wrong that day, so I've already asked him to apologize to you in person. I just don't know what you think..."

Turns out he was a peacemaker.

Han Zhou smiled inwardly. He could tell that Mei Cheng meant well, mainly because he was thinking of Lu Hu. After all, because of what happened that day, Lu Hu's popularity in class had become very poor, and Mei Cheng probably didn't want things to continue like this.

"If Land Rover is willing to apologize, then of course I can accept and forgive him. But I'm curious about one thing: why did he target me that day?"

Upon hearing Han Zhou's answer, Mei Cheng was initially delighted, then chuckled dryly, "What else could it be? It's just that you think you're so capable that you can stand up for others. Didn't you have a conflict with someone during military training? I heard that there was someone there who was his friend... that's about it."

He didn't elaborate, but the meaning was already quite clear.

Han Zhou nodded. It was pretty much what he had guessed. He didn't know Land Rover, and if the two of them had no connection, the other party wouldn't have bothered him in front of the whole class. This reason was exactly what he had expected.

"I understand. I will accept his apology if he is willing to apologize."

It's normal for classmates to have some friction; he doesn't think it's an irreconcilable conflict.

Mei Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Could you talk to the class and ask them not to isolate him or anything... Don't worry, we'll definitely treat you to a meal afterward!"

It's clear that he really cares about Land Rover; his enthusiasm is probably about the same as Chen Long's.

Han Zhou laughed and said, "There's no need for a meal. Besides, I can't fulfill your request. I haven't done anything since that day, and I can't change the students' opinions. If you have any problems, you should go to Tang Wenshuang. I believe she would be happy to help you solve them."

He can forgive Land Rover, but other matters are none of his business. It's not like he asked his classmates to target or isolate anyone. If he were to go around asking his classmates to "please don't make things difficult for Land Rover for my sake," that would be presumptuous of him.

"I understand. Thank you anyway."

Mei Cheng gave a wry smile. He could roughly understand Han Zhou's thoughts and knew that some things couldn't be forced, so he didn't say anything more and said, "We're about to go eat now, do you want to come along?"

"No, I'm waiting for a friend."

"Okay, goodbye then. Let's play ball together when your hand is better."

Mei Cheng smiled and walked into the cafeteria with the other students.

He didn't even ask Han Zhou if he knew how to play basketball. Perhaps in his opinion, it would be strange if someone of Han Zhou's height didn't know how to play basketball. Basketball isn't difficult; it's just a matter of how well you play.

Han Zhou continued to wait at the cafeteria entrance, but after waiting for a long time, Gu Zheng still hadn't appeared. So he sent her a few messages, but she didn't reply. She also didn't answer his calls, which puzzled him.

Could this guy have fallen asleep in the library?

He pondered for a moment, then walked toward the library.

Guzheng players usually prefer to stay on the third floor of the library because it is the quietest floor compared to other floors. They can choose a relatively secluded spot to sit, where there are no messy people or things.

Han Zhou searched the third floor. It was lunchtime, and there were hardly any people in the library. Books were piled up on every table, some so high that it would be hard to spot someone hiding behind them to sleep. So he had to search table by table.

The library was quite quiet, with the scent of ink from books wafting around. After searching for a while, Han Zhou finally found Gu Zheng sleeping on a table in a corner, and couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.

The girl lay on the table, her face turned inward, her hair covering most of her face, revealing only one eye and a small part of her cheek. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her cheeks bulged outward slightly due to the pressure of her arms, making her round face look chubby and quite cute.

Han Zhou was amused. He had originally intended to wake Gu Zheng directly, but seeing this, he simply gave up the idea. He slowed down and sat down in the chair next to her, picked up a book and started flipping through it. He would glance at her from time to time, wondering whether he should take a picture of this scene.

Gu Zheng's senses were quite sharp. Upon hearing the noise, she immediately opened her eyes. After discovering it was Han Zhou, she lowered her guard, closed her eyes, and continued sleeping. Her slightly furrowed brows relaxed, and she seemed completely unconcerned about sleeping in such a place.

She must have been half asleep, because she didn't even ask why Han Zhou was there.

"Why come to the library when you're so sleepy..."

Han Zhou muttered to himself, still not planning to wake Gu Zheng. The cafeteria was open for a long time, so there was always food to eat, whether he went early or late. If all else failed, he could eat out. He wasn't worried about not getting a meal.

Time passed little by little, and about half an hour later, Gu Zheng finally woke up, stretched and got up. She wasn't surprised to see Han Zhou beside her, and started talking while tidying her hair.

"Han Zhou..."

She yawned, red marks still lingering on her left cheek and forehead, but she seemed oblivious, lazily saying, "I just had a dream. I dreamt I fell asleep in the library, and then you appeared..." Han Zhou tapped her head with a book, helplessly asking, "Do you still think you're dreaming?"

Is this guy still half asleep...?

Gu Zheng then realized what was happening, looked around, and asked in confusion, "Why are you here?"

"What do you say?"

Han Zhou took out his phone and waved it in front of her. "It's already 12:40. You slept for so long in the library, how could I not come to find you?"

12:40?
Guzheng was taken aback: "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"You're sleeping so soundly, how could I possibly wake you?"

Han Zhou picked up the book on the guzheng and flipped through it, then sighed, "But you wouldn't be studying at night, would you? Otherwise, why would you be so sleepy in the middle of the day?"

"No, I go to bed no later than midnight and get plenty of sleep. I'm just a little tired lately."

After sleeping for almost forty minutes, Guzheng instantly perked up and asked expectantly, "Did you bring me any food?"

Han Zhou wanted to tap the guy's head with the book again, but considering that the other party was already awake, he was afraid that if he did it again, he would be attacked. So he said irritably, "What are you dreaming about? I'll bring you some food from the library. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria to eat."

"Oh."

The two tidied up the books and left the library together.

"You've been spending all your time in the library lately, don't you feel tired?"

"Not tiring at all, quite interesting."

"Even if you're not tired, you can't keep doing this. You know you need to balance work and rest, right?"

Gu Zheng shook her head, saying dismissively, "I am labor, and you are leisure. Wouldn't it be a good balance between labor and leisure if we went out to eat together?"

Han Zhou was taken aback. If these words had come from Mo Yixia, he might have doubted whether there was something wrong with this "work-life balance". But Gu Zheng was a pure child and would never say anything ambiguous.

So the meaning of these words is quite clear: Guzheng is treating him as a lazy bum who does nothing.

He felt insulted and took a deep breath, saying, "You think I've been idle lately?"

"Isn't that right?" Gu Zheng glanced at him sideways.

"Of course... um... it seems like there's a little bit."

Han Zhou wanted to refute, but after thinking about it, he couldn't find any words to refute it. To be fair, he had been quite free lately.

Gu Zheng didn't really think he was doing nothing; after all, his arm still needed to recover.

In fact, Han Zhou did not fully understand the meaning of her words. What she meant was that having a meal with Han Zhou was enough to balance work and rest.

She inquired about Han Zhou's hand injury and learned that he would fully recover soon, which relieved her and brought a bright smile to her face.

Halfway there, Han Zhou suddenly remembered something and asked, "I remember you said you wanted to join the student council and clubs, right? Have you taken the time to look into it recently?"

"Yes, I'm still considering the student council, but I've already chosen a club."

"Oh? What club?" Han Zhou asked curiously.

He remembered that Guzheng had mentioned wanting to join a sports club, but he didn't know what it was. Could it be badminton?
To his surprise, Guzheng's answer was completely unexpected.

"I want to join the dance club."

"What club?" Han Zhou asked, somewhat doubting his ears, after a few seconds of hesitation, "Martial Arts Club?"

That's right, he would rather believe that there was something wrong with his ears than believe that Guzheng would join some dance club.

It wasn't that he thought Guzheng couldn't dance; to be fair, given this guy's appearance, he could probably look pretty good even if he just jumped around randomly. It was just that, based on his understanding of Guzheng, this guy shouldn't be interested in dancing.

Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him and repeated, word by word, "Dance club, I want to learn to dance."

Han Zhou thought for a moment and tentatively asked, "Street dance?"

That does fit the style of the guzheng quite well...

"Classical dance!"

Guzheng was a little unhappy and nudged him with her elbow.

Han Zhou was dumbfounded: "Why are you learning classical dance?"

"Of course it's for dancing!"

Although Gu Zheng has no dance background, her physical fitness and flexibility far surpass those of ordinary people, and she also has abundant stamina. Han Zhou is not worried that she will not be able to adapt, but he really did not expect that she would choose classical dance...

However, he didn't press the matter further, as it would be impolite to ask any more questions, making it seem as if he thought the guzheng couldn't be used for classical dance.

His only concern was that dancing is a very physically and mentally demanding activity, and mastering it requires a lot of time. Given Gu Zheng's tendency to strive for excellence in everything, he might spend a lot of energy on this, in addition to balancing his studies... Wouldn't that be too tiring?

He raised his concerns.

Gu Zheng said dismissively, "Your worries are unnecessary. I never thought about practicing the dance to perfection, otherwise I might have to wear awkward clothes to participate in the school performance, which is terrifying to even think about..."

She wasn't exaggerating; the scene was indeed quite terrifying for her.

Han Zhou asked in confusion, "Isn't the purpose of practicing dance to one day perform on stage?"

"What kind of outdated thinking is that? Can't I just practice for fun?" Guzheng looked at him irritably. "What I care about most is my academic performance, followed by my physical education performance. Whether I win first place or not is not that important."

"real or fake?"

Han Zhou's eyes widened as if he had discovered a new continent.

"if not!"

Gu Zheng got a little angry and suddenly punched him.

Gu Zheng's punches were heavy, but her punches to Han Zhou were always light. The latter felt no pain or itch, but just felt that this guy's mood was a bit strange today. Could it be that he's on his period?

But how should I put it...

Having discovered my interests, I've slightly reduced my competitive spirit, and even my temper during the school year has become much better than I expected before the semester started...

This should be considered a good thing, right?

(End of this chapter)