Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 218 Heart-shaped Pattern
Unlike Mo Yixia, who usually only wears her school uniform, and Gu Zheng, who changes her clothes almost every day, Zhong Ling's attire is neither monotonous nor flashy, giving off a clean and simple feel.

She was dressed the same way today, wearing an orange sweatshirt and apricot cropped pants, with her ever-present small cloth bag slung around her waist. It was a simple outfit, yet it exuded a gentle and tranquil temperament.

With clear eyes and a slightly youthful oval face, she resembled a cute and shy young girl. She was clearly nineteen years old, but if you put her together with the two girls in the room, probably no one would think she was the oldest.

Although he had guessed that the girl outside the door was likely Zhong Ling, Han Zhou was still somewhat surprised when he actually saw her.

Seeing the senior student staring at the floor with her head down, looking embarrassed, Han Zhou first changed "leave it to fate" to "leave it to others," and after skillfully improving his listening skills, he finally spoke: "Senior?"

"Yes...I'm sorry..."

Zhong Ling didn't dare to look up, but cautiously apologized.

Han Zhou was taken aback: "Why should I say sorry?"

"I shouldn't have hidden and eavesdropped..."

Finding that Han Zhou could still hear her voice, Zhong Ling felt inexplicably relieved and became a little bolder. She looked up at him, then quickly looked down again.

Han Zhou looked bewildered, which was exactly what puzzled him: "It's okay, I'm not blaming you, but why did you hide?"

Although Zhong Ling is a bit shy, she is not socially anxious. Given their relationship, the other party could have simply greeted her directly. Was it necessary for her to hide?
He quickly realized something, swallowed hard, and tentatively asked, "Wait... Senior, you didn't just greet me, but then you realized I wasn't responding, so you hid away, did you?"

Zhong Ling clutched the small cloth bag, nodded weakly, and looked somewhat aggrieved.

She had just mustered up her courage and greeted him several times in her loudest voice, her feet almost aching from stomping, but the junior student still didn't respond. This made her a little worried that he didn't want to talk to her, so she secretly hid outside the ward.

Han Zhou felt a sharp pain in his tooth. He knew it was like this. He couldn't maintain his enhanced hearing forever. Once Zhong Ling was out of sight, it would be difficult for him to notice her. And since she was a sensitive girl, it was easy for her to overthink things at times like this.

He gave a wry smile: "I'm sorry, senior, if we're too far apart I won't be able to hear you. It's not that I don't want to talk to you, but you can just walk up to me or pat me on the shoulder."

Zhong Ling then dared to look up at him: "Like friends?"

"Yes, like friends."

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Shouldn't we have been friends already?"

“They’re friends!” Zhong Ling nodded repeatedly, nervously tugging at her small bag, and said with a troubled expression, “But I’ve never patted someone on the shoulder before…”

"It's ok."

Han Zhou was amused by the pitiful look. To ease the other person's mood, he joked, "Then you can hang a bell on your hand or something. When you see that I'm ignoring you, ring it. That way, I'll definitely turn around immediately."

Zhong Ling paused for a moment, then her eyes gradually brightened: "Is it okay?"

"Of course, that suits your name too, senior."

Han Zhou was joking, but Zhong Ling seemed to take it seriously. However, he didn't notice this and instead asked, "By the way, senior, what are you doing here? Did Sister Yin come too?"

Zhong Yin is a complete sister-obsessed person. Whenever she has time, she probably won't let Zhong Ling come to the hospital alone.

"My older sister is here too."

Zhong Ling nodded gently and said softly, "We came to the hospital for a physical examination. On the way back, we saw Teacher Ouyang. My sister wanted to get along well with her, so she went to buy fruit."

As she spoke, she bent down and rummaged through her small cloth bag, pulling out a small box about the size of her palm. She carefully handed it over, saying, "When I went out, I was wondering if I might run into you, so I brought this with me. I didn't expect to actually run into you... Would you like to try some?"

After learning that Han Zhou didn't actually want to ignore her, her nervousness and unease dissipated considerably, but she was still somewhat reserved.

"What is this?" Han Zhou asked curiously as he took the box.

"I also helped my sister make the mooncakes. I have some more if you like."

The sound of the bell is sweet, soft and chewy, just like freshly made cotton candy.

"……Thanks."

The box is new, looks small and exquisite, and has a pretty pattern; it must have been bought specifically for this purpose.

For some reason, the moment Han Zhou met the girl's gaze, his feelings suddenly became somewhat complicated.

Looking at the mooncake in his hand, he quickly realized the reason for his change in mood—

Like Guzheng and Mo Yixia, this senior student also seems to have no friends.

Not only that, but apart from her older sister who she relied on for survival, she had no family at all.

Of all the people he knew, this girl's fate must be the most tragic. Han Zhou suddenly remembered the side quest he had put aside for a long time.

"Don't you want to eat?"

Seeing her junior staring blankly at the mooncakes, Zhong Ling's clear eyes flashed with nervousness, thinking that he didn't like the mooncakes she and her sister had made.

"No, I just suddenly thought of something."

Han Zhou snapped out of his thoughts, smiled, and opened the box. Ignoring how strange the mooncakes were, he took a big bite and said, "They're delicious, but I prefer savory mooncakes."

This wasn't just a perfunctory remark; while the mooncakes might not taste exceptionally good, they were definitely made with care.

"Salty ones are also available."

Zhong Ling smiled with relief, spoke a little faster, and then looked down to rummage through her small cloth bag.

Han Zhou was somewhat surprised. He finished the rest of the mooncake in one bite, then suddenly realized something, but then thought he was probably overthinking it.

Just then, a cool voice sounded softly behind him, accurately expressing his innermost thoughts.

"Senior and Sister Yin probably only like sweet mooncakes. People who like sweet mooncakes don't need to make savory mooncakes, and they even bought such a pretty box... So, could these savory mooncakes have been made specifically to give to someone?"

Han Zhou felt a chill run down his spine. He turned to look at Mo Yixia, who had appeared at the door at some point, and asked nervously, "When did you get behind me?"

"Who knows."

Mo Yixia smiled faintly, her expression showing no remorse for eavesdropping on others' conversation.

Han Zhou felt a headache coming on, as if he could see the figure hiding by the door through the wall. He said irritably, "Stop hiding, I can see you."

Gu Zheng must be hiding by the door right now, otherwise Mo Yixia wouldn't have been able to sneak up behind him so quietly.

"She begged me to bring her here! I wasn't eavesdropping!"

Gu Zheng didn't dare show herself, but hid by the wall and loudly defended herself.

In fact, she wasn't eavesdropping. To be precise, she wanted to hear but couldn't. She could only hear Han Zhou talking to himself.

Mo Yixia, on the other hand, was able to roughly determine the conversation between Han Zhou and Zhong Ling by combining the context with her knowledge of lip reading.

Han Zhou could understand this, but what puzzled him was that the reason he suspected Zhong Ling had made the savory mooncakes for him was because he knew the sisters liked sweets, but Mo Yixia shouldn't know that.

Did this guy figure it out by analyzing Zhong Ling's expression, or did he read her thoughts from the back of her head?
Han Zhou looked at Zhong Ling with a puzzled expression and asked, "Senior, didn't you see this guy eavesdropping just now?"

“I saw it.” Zhong Ling nodded gently.

"Then why didn't you remind me?"

Zhong Ling tugged at her small cloth bag, nervously saying, "Because Yi Xia shook her head and told me not to tell you, and I also overheard your conversation just now..."

She had met Mo Yixia before and knew that she and Han Zhou were close. Back then, the two of them had even pretended to be siblings to tease her and her sister, so she never thought of avoiding them.

Han Zhou gasped.

Have you taken your sister's "no one owes anyone anything" philosophy to this level?
He was both amused and exasperated. He turned around and looked at Mo Yixia with a headache, saying, "Why aren't you back in your beds? You two don't look like patients at all." Mo Yixia wanted to speak, but before she could open her mouth, she suddenly grew taller and disappeared from the doorway, returning to the ward.

Han Zhou's lips twitched. This guy really was carried here by the guzheng...

He didn't know whether to say he was happy or unhappy.

However, even though Mo Yixia had disappeared, her voice still came from the ward.

"Stop chatting outside, let your senior come in and sit down."

Han Zhou knew this guy was doubting him, but he still had a clear conscience about Zhong Ling. However, before he could speak, Zhong Ling shook her head, looked at her phone screen and said, "No need, my sister is back. I'm going to take her to see Teacher Ouyang."

"That's it..."

Han Zhou was actually a little afraid of seeing Zhong Yin, or rather, afraid of seeing the wrench she always carried, so he didn't plan to say something like "How about I introduce you?" Instead, he asked, "Do you know where Teacher Ouyang is?"

While I cannot provide direct introductions, I can still point out the direction.

"I know, I saw it."

Zhong Ling nodded gently, took out all the mooncakes from the small cloth bag, and said with a slight smile, "Take these and eat them with Yi Xia and Gu Zheng."

Han Zhou only took three and said with a smile, "No need for so many. You and Sister Yin can keep the rest for yourselves. I'll thank you on behalf of those two guys."

"But……"

Zhong Ling hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Han Zhou insisted on not taking any more, she had no choice but to put away the other mooncakes.

"That... is."

"Is it?" Han Zhou looked puzzled. "What is it?"

A sudden gust of cold wind blew through the corridor, lifting the strands of hair on the girl's forehead.

Zhong Ling tightened her clothes, a gentle smile appearing on her face. Her clear eyes showed no embarrassment or shyness, only openness and sincerity.

"The savory mooncakes were indeed made for you."

Han Zhou paused for two seconds, then asked, "Why?"

"Because we're supposed to give mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, I wanted to give you one, but I didn't know if you liked sweet or savory. My sister said we could make a little of both, so the savory mooncake was indeed made for you."

"No, that's not it. What I wanted to ask was... why did you want to give me mooncakes?"

Han Zhou was a little nervous. Although he wasn't narcissistic enough to have one of the three great illusions of life, "she likes me," it was hard to say whether making mooncakes for someone during a holiday had some special meaning...

"Because you brought me barbecue at school."

Zhong Ling tilted her head and looked at Han Zhou, seemingly wondering why he looked troubled.

I knew it... it was definitely the "no one owes anything" principle again.

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear the girl's soft voice continue: "And I feel happy just thinking about the scene of you accepting the mooncakes, and I am indeed very happy now... What's wrong, aren't you happy?"

"No no."

Han Zhou glanced behind him reflexively, forcing a smile, and said, "I'm happy too."

No, no, that's impossible. It's definitely one of the three great illusions of life...

After watching Zhong Ling leave, Han Zhou composed himself and returned to his ward.

The rain outside the window had suddenly intensified.

Seeing the two girls lying on the bed pretending to be asleep, he sighed and said with a pained expression, "I think you need to apologize to me."

Gu Zheng, being easily embarrassed, couldn't keep up the act any longer and muttered, "Why should I?"

"First of all, you shouldn't have eavesdropped on my conversation with my senior. It was very disrespectful to me."

"You're talking nonsense!" Guzheng retorted confidently. "I clearly didn't hear anything!"

“Eavesdropping and attempted eavesdropping are two different things.” Han Zhou glanced at her. “Can you honestly guarantee that you didn’t intend to eavesdrop at the time?”

"It was Mo Yixia who begged me to carry her across..."

The guzheng's response was irrelevant, and its previous high spirits vanished in an instant.

Mo Yixia opened her eyes, glanced lazily at her rival's chest, and silently took out her phone, as if the matter had nothing to do with her.

Han Zhou knew very well that it was impossible for Mo Yixia to reflect on her actions. This girl was incredibly thick-skinned, and it was rare to see her shy. In this respect, Gu Zheng was much cuter.

"second."

His expression was solemn, like a judge in court. "After that nurse said there was a pretty girl outside, you all looked at me with eyes that said, 'You and she are definitely having an affair.' This is an insult to my character."

"An insult?" Mo Yixia stared at her phone screen and clicked her tongue indifferently. "Is that so?"

"I never looked at you like that." Gu Zheng pouted, her eyes involuntarily sweeping over Mo Yixia, and said with dissatisfaction, "It's clearly you who's guilty."

It's perfectly understandable to have doubts about you—and the two girls seem to share the same view on this point.

Han Zhou seemed completely oblivious to their sarcastic remarks, and said without changing his expression, "In short, you need to apologize to me."

"No way."

Gu Zheng reluctantly burrowed her head under the covers. "I'm sleepy, don't bother me!"

Han Zhou was amused. He didn't expect the two of them to apologize to him; he just wanted to dampen their spirits. It would be even better if they could just "feel sleepy" like Gu Zheng.

"It's not impossible for me to apologize to you."

Just then, Mo Yixia suddenly spoke up.

She looked at her phone screen, a look of interest appearing on her delicate face. "But you have to answer one question for me first."

Guzheng quietly poked her head out from under the covers.

Han Zhou's heart skipped a beat. His intuition told him that this was not an easy question to answer. He turned to run away, saying, "I suddenly remembered that I still have something to say to my senior. I'll go out for a bit."

"Alright," Mo Yixia said nonchalantly. "You can go and ask her where she bought her phone."

Under Han Zhou's extremely tense gaze, she reached out and flipped her phone screen over. The screen was on a search page with two phones side by side.

The two phones are different colors and each has a broken pattern on the back cover. However, if the phones are placed close together, they will form a tilted, complete heart shape with vibrant colors. The pattern will also change to some extent when viewed from different angles.

It's so flashy...

At any other time, Han Zhou would definitely think the same way.

But he's not in the mood to complain right now.

...because he himself is the one using this kind of phone.

Mo Yixia smiled faintly, her voice revealing neither joy nor anger, seemingly just genuine interest.

"This pattern... you two should be able to piece it together with your phones, right?"

This chapter will also be polished and revised.
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(End of this chapter)