Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 183 Did you do this on purpose?

"What do you think would happen if I kissed him right now?"

A voice that sounded like a half-smile rang in his ears, and Han Zhou's expression changed slightly. He immediately turned to look at Mo Yixia beside him, only to see that the latter's expression was normal. She was looking at the cards in her hand thoughtfully, as if considering whether to continue playing.

If Han Zhou didn't have enough confidence in his enhanced hearing, he might have doubted whether he had misheard.

Perhaps noticing his gaze, Mo Yixia raised an eyebrow and looked over, asking, "What's wrong?"

His tone carried a sense of disdain and helplessness, as if asking, "Haven't you seen enough yet?"

"nothing."

Han Zhou shook his head; he had already realized that this guy was doing it on purpose.

As expected, the strange expression on his face didn't escape Xiao Yuyan and Zhang Tao's notice. They both agreed that the reaction wasn't intentional, but rather an involuntary response, making the meaning of that expression rather intriguing.

How dare you?

This is Xiao Yuyan's interpretation of the expression, so she immediately looked down, wondering if the two were secretly doing something under the table like couples on TV.

However, she quickly realized that it was a low table, and they were all sitting cross-legged on the electric blanket, so they couldn't do anything like hooking their feet together or rubbing their legs together. Even if they did, it wouldn't escape other people's eyes, and she was a little disappointed.

What a waste of your excitement...

Zhang Tao was also pondering. As an adult, logically speaking, no one would lose control of their expression after seeing a few cards, so this expression shouldn't be directed at the cards themselves, but at something else.

So what could it be?

I felt like this wasn't a card game, but a game of Werewolf. I had a feeling these two were thinking about something very complicated...

Han Zhou thought to himself, then suddenly his heart skipped a beat as he realized Mo Yixia's "malicious" intentions.

The main reason why the four of them were gathered in this room was because of him. After all, without him as the central figure, the other three would not have any connection and would not have been able to get together.

But that's secondary.

The key point is that these kinds of quiz games are usually played among acquaintances. After all, it's more fun and more relaxed to pry into the secrets of people you know than to play with strangers.

The other three people present were all strangers to each other, except for those who knew him. This meant that the questions would most likely focus on him, the only "acquaintance" in their eyes, or would revolve around him.

In other words, he may become the person who receives special attention next.

That's at least how it was in the first round.

What Mo Yixia is doing now is probably to increase Zhang Tao and the other person's curiosity about him, thereby increasing the probability that he will receive special attention.

Well, things might not be that complicated. I guess I've been thinking about it quite a bit...

Han Zhou felt heavy-hearted. He wasn't sure if this was part of Mo Yixia's "conspiracy," but there was no doubt that he had to use all his wisdom to win and not give these guys a chance to ask any questions!
……

"I'm sorry."

Five minutes later, he threw away his cards without expression.

Can't afford it?
Zhang Tao, who was standing to the side, was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and said, "If I remember correctly, this is the fourth round in a row that you've folded. You're playing way too conservatively, aren't you?"

I don't want to play it safe, but what can I do with just a string of phone numbers...?

Han Zhou sighed inwardly. That's why gambling is something you can't get involved in. No matter how well you prepare, if luck is on your side, you can't win no matter what.

He flipped over the cards he had left on the table and said with a wry smile, "I haven't had much luck these past few rounds."

Two, three, five.

This is the lowest card in Texas Hold'em.

"puff."

Mo Yixia glanced down and chuckled softly. The next second, she regained her composure and said calmly, "In a sense, this kind of luck is quite extraordinary."

Han Zhou said irritably, "What's so funny? If you have a weak hand, fold it early, at least you won't lose too badly. Unlike you, who had a bunch of phone numbers and tried to play mind games with people, you lost terribly, didn't you?"

That's right, Mo Yixia lost.

In the first round of the card-fighting battle, Mo Yixia and the other two each threw out a full ten points to engage in a fierce battle, which ultimately ended with Zhang Tao emerging victorious.

He had a pair of Aces, slightly better than Xiao Yuyan's pair of Kings, while Mo Yixia's hand was much weaker, clearly indicating that he was aiming for a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

She appeared calm, giving the illusion that she truly held a powerful hand. Unfortunately, Xiao Yuyan wasn't as composed. She was worried about losing everything in one go, yet unwilling to fold, so she revealed their cards one after the other, and Mo Yixia's gamble failed.

Han Zhou laughed for a long time at that time.

It wasn't just to mock Mo Yixia's rare mishap; it was also because this troublemaker and Xiao Yuyan, that gossip queen, had both suffered serious injuries in the first round, losing more than half of their points. There was a high probability that they would become losers by the end of the first round, making it impossible for them to gather intelligence on him.

However, his smile soon faded as he drew low cards for four consecutive rounds. Such poor luck made him seem like a sure loser.

Currently, there is only one person with a score of over 20 points, and that is Zhang Tao.

"and."

Mo Yixia chose to call, a strategy she had been using since the beginning. Hearing this, she calmly said, "If you keep being timid just because you have a weak hand, victory will be a distant dream. Anyway, no one can see your hand, so why not be bolder?"

You can't actually see my card, but staring at my face is practically the same as seeing it...

Han Zhou sighed: "You have a classic gambler's mentality."

"First of all, what is happening now is not gambling. Secondly, from the perspective of gambling, the gambler's mentality refers to the behavior of wanting to win back what you have lost and wanting to keep winning after you have won, constantly satisfying your own possessiveness."

After a pause, Mo Yixia continued, "Everyone has this kind of mentality, including me, but I wouldn't use it in this kind of situation."

So where do you plan to use it?

Han Zhou didn't dare to ask this aloud. He suspected that this guy was implying something about him, but he had no evidence.

Xiao Yuyan listened silently, a maternal smile gradually appearing on her face. She first discarded her cards, then said with a smile, "You two have such a good relationship."

She usually starts shipping couples from this sentence.

"is it?"

Mo Yixia remained noncommittal, and accused him in a lukewarm manner, "This guy gets along well with everyone, especially women. I'm just one of them."

As she spoke, she put down the cards in her hand, breathed warm air into her palm, and glanced casually at Xiao Yuyan.

After observing, she had basically concluded that although the girl was not bad-looking, Han Zhou did not have any affection for her. Similarly, the girl did not have any romantic feelings for Han Zhou. Although she had some affection for him, it was mostly curiosity and admiration.

However, this appreciation doesn't seem to be entirely based on appearance...

Hmm, it's necessary to test the waters.

Han Zhou kept a straight face and didn't reply. Mo Yixia was clearly being sarcastic, which inexplicably reminded him of a line from a song in his past life:
There are so many hot girls on your Weibo, it turns out I'm just one of them.

Mo Yixia is expressing this meaning right now.

Xiao Yuyan naturally sensed the dissatisfaction in Mo Yixia's words. Considering the other party's slightly cold attitude from the beginning, her first reaction was that the other party was testing the relationship between her and Han Zhou. So she smiled and said, "No way, my relationship with Han Zhou is not as good as yours, but we haven't known each other for long."

Han Zhou's lips twitched. He thought to himself, "Have you been watching too many idol dramas? How can you talk like that?"
Sister, your relationship is really great. Unlike me, I'm afraid it would take a lot more time to reach this level. Oh dear, I hope you're not angry that I said this. Unlike me, I only feel sorry for Geigei... No doubt about it, if the context and tone were different, this would be the standard green tea talk.

However, Xiao Yuyan certainly didn't mean that; she felt she was just telling the truth.

"Have you known each other for very long?" Mo Yixia asked casually.

"Ah."

Xiao Yuyan nodded, and perhaps worried that her answer wasn't convincing enough, she continued, "My cousin and Han Zhou are good friends, they have a very close relationship, and we met through my cousin."

My very close cousin...

Mo Yixia glanced at Han Zhou thoughtfully.

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant. Wait, what's with that look? You don't mean you also suspect I like men, do you?
"Speaking of which, I forgot to ask before..." As if suddenly remembering something, Xiao Yuyan looked at Han Zhou, "Han Zhou, has your hand fully recovered?"

"Yes." Han Zhou smiled and nodded, "I've recovered long ago."

"Your hand is injured?"

Mo Yixia raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at him, her eyes filled with the question, "How come I didn't know?"

Han Zhou was taken aback, then realized that he hadn't told Mo Yixia about his injured hand. As for how Xiao Yuyan knew, it wasn't surprising; she probably heard it from Lin Anyu.

"do not you know?"

Seeing that Mo Yixia seemed unaware of this matter, Xiao Yuyan was somewhat surprised.

"do not know."

Mo Yixia shook her head slightly and said calmly, "I take back what I just said. It seems that my relationship with someone is not yet 'good'."

If there were outsiders present, otherwise this guy might be forcing out a couple of tears...

Han Zhou thought to himself, then explained, "You were in class at the time, I was just worried you'd worry."

Mo Yixia glanced at him: "You had a holiday the day before yesterday, and with yesterday and today, you had at least forty-eight hours to confess to me, but you didn't."

"I……"

"Don't tell me you forgot."

I really forgot...

Han Zhou shook his head inwardly. He had indeed forgotten, after all, this kind of thing didn't necessarily need to be publicized.

Mo Yixia didn't intend to make things difficult for him and said, "It's not too late to tell me now."

"Let me tell you!"

Xiao Yuyan volunteered and explained how she knew about this: "My cousin told me."

Seeing that Han Zhou did not object, she immediately told everyone about Han Zhou's injury while saving people, expressing great admiration in her words.

Zhang Tao had been curious before, and after hearing this, he was full of praise and looked at Han Zhou in surprise: "I think I heard similar rumors at school, but I didn't expect that person to be you."

"Rumors?" Xiao Yu asked curiously.

"Well, there are two rumors circulating widely in our school recently. One is that a freshman injured his hand while doing a good deed and later got into a conflict with someone during military training. The other is that there is a girl with super strength in the school. When school started, she carried the luggage of several people to register by herself and could lift people, wheelchairs and all, up to the sixth floor in one go."

Zhang Tao laughed and said, "I heard that girl is quite pretty, and she seems to be a freshman this year as well. She and Professor Ouyang seem to have a good relationship... By the way, you should know Professor Ouyang, right?"

He looked at Han Zhou.

Such a trivial matter, yet the guzheng has become the subject of rumors at school?
Han Zhou's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it on his face and smiled, "Of course I know, Teacher Ouyang is my tutor."

"counselor?"

Zhang Tao was taken aback, then suddenly realized, "I remember now, I heard that Teacher Ouyang used to spend a lot of time with a student whose hand was in a cast. Could that student be you?"

"It's me." Han Zhou sat up straight and corrected him, "But we don't spend a lot of time together, that's a rumor."

He and Ouyang Lianyu didn't spend much time together, so it's unclear how the rumor of them spending a lot of time together started.

"Haha, of course I know that." Zhang Tao laughed nonchalantly. "There are a lot of boring gossips and rumors at our school, but not many of them are actually credible. For example, those supernatural rumors are all fake. I even heard that you and Teacher Ouyang went on a date in the woods."

Han Zhou's eyelids twitched.

He and Ouyang Lianyu had never been to the grove, but they had been to the park together. Although it wasn't a date, Mo Yixia might not have thought that way.

"Speaking of which, there seem to be quite a few rumors about you. I suddenly remembered another one."

Perhaps realizing this was an opportunity to connect with everyone, Zhang Tao continued to share the rumors he knew.

No, you can't remember...

A bad feeling rose in Han Zhou's heart.

However, Zhang Tao obviously couldn't hear his thoughts and said to himself, "Have you heard of Zhong Ling? She's the girl who, like me, is known as one of the six famous people of Lin University. Her nickname is 'The Mute Bride.' I heard that the boy with the cast on his hand knows her too... No, the rumor is that they don't just know each other, but have a very good relationship."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuyan, who had been listening attentively, suddenly became visibly surprised and glanced cautiously at Mo Yixia.

The latter listened with interest, seemingly unconcerned.

Zhang Tao continued, "You may not know much about Zhong Ling. Because of her personality and physical condition, I've never heard of her getting close to any boy, not even her classmates of a year. How could she suddenly become so close to a freshman?"

Xiao Yuyan's expression became even more subtle. She secretly glanced at Han Zhou again, and then froze the next second.

The latter had somehow put on a pair of sunglasses.

Zhang Tao looked at Han Zhou, equally taken aback by his attire, then chuckled, "To be honest, some guys are just too bored. There are only three girls among the six famous figures at Lin University, and rumors say you're already closely connected to two of them. Maybe in a few days, rumors will start circulating that you're involved with Wang Lengqiu... You've heard of Wang Lengqiu, haven't you? She..."

Han Zhou couldn't hear what was said after that, because he clearly noticed Mo Yixia's scrutinizing gaze.

The sunglasses on his face did not give him any sense of security.

He really wanted to ask Zhang Tao if he did it on purpose. He'd only ever met a handful of girls since entering university, and this guy had just blurted it all out in one go…

Just then, Mo Yixia suddenly asked, "Senior Zhang Tao, can you tell me why Han Zhou had a conflict with someone during military training, as rumored?"

Among countless pieces of information, she directly identified the most crucial and fatal one.

Zhang Tao was taken aback, then thought carefully for a moment: "It seems to be because..."

Before he could finish speaking, he seemed to suddenly remember something, coughed twice, and shut his mouth, no longer speaking.

The atmosphere at the scene became somewhat eerie.

Han Zhou had mixed feelings. He could tell that Zhang Tao had realized the problem and was trying to help him conceal the key information.

But the problem is...

What's the difference between this and saying it directly?
We'll make some more careful adjustments. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!
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(End of this chapter)