Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 236 Bracelets and Bangles

Clearly, Chen Long is someone who listens to advice.

After hearing Chen Zheng say that wandering around the streets wouldn't win over a rich woman, he resolutely chose to accompany Han Zhou to set up a stall, trying to attract the attention of a rich woman by presenting himself as a handsome young man who works hard to support himself.

What? You're asking him why he wants to attract the attention of rich women?
Of course, it's because without practice, one has no right to speak. He's a man of action, and in order to properly criticize this social trend, he decided to get involved himself and write his own experiences into an autobiography in the future to warn future generations.

Unfortunately, Han Zhou cruelly rejected his suggestion, arguing that bringing him along might slow down the closing time tomorrow.

That's strange. Wouldn't it be a good thing to pack up quickly?

Moreover, compared to this, isn't the noble ideal of writing an autobiography to educate future generations infinitely more sublime than setting up a street stall?
Chen Long discussed this issue with Chen Zheng with a serious expression. The latter hesitated for a long time before finally not uttering the word "idiot".

Han Zhou remembered their previous agreement. That night, he played a few games with Lin Anyu on his newly bought laptop and also invited Chen Long and Chen Zheng to join in. However, since he had an early morning shift the next day, he logged off at nine o'clock.

The next day, with a full schedule of classes, Han Zhou got up on time as usual to wash up, glancing at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth.

His daily routine is quite regular, and thanks to the long-term use of stimulants, he is now full of energy and vitality. His eyes are bright in the mirror, and although his skin is still fair, it no longer looks sickly. His figure is no longer as thin as before.

This discovery greatly excited him.

It should be noted that his current physical condition is entirely maintained by being on the verge of death, and his physical condition is basically fixed. Whether he exercises or not, it cannot be changed. The fact that his body is now showing changes means that long-term use of the "power pill" is effective. This is an external manifestation of his health gradually improving.

This suggests that the idea of ​​using stimulants to get rid of a terminal illness is feasible, although it may take a long time.

As usual, Huo Zhencheng's bed was empty. This kind-hearted roommate had a habit of jogging in the morning, so he always got up very early. If it was a morning without classes, he would bring breakfast for everyone when he came back. If this kind of feat were in other dormitories, he would probably have become everyone's godfather long ago.

In contrast, Chen Long, who once aspired to be a sports student, is obviously much lazier. He usually arrives at the classroom two minutes before class. It's hard to say whether he will be able to perform high-difficulty moves like somersaults on the spot in the future.

After washing up, Han Zhou patted Chen Long and Chen Zheng's beds before leaving, indicating that they could get up soon, and then left the dormitory for the cafeteria.

The sun had just peeked out from behind the clouds, and the campus was still shrouded in a thin mist in the early morning. The faint morning light spilled down and poured into the branches and leaves of the plane trees on both sides of the road, casting scattered spots of light on the ground.

The dew hanging on the leaves looked like tiny pieces of silver under the sunlight. Occasionally, it would slip down onto the back of a student's neck. A girl walking in front of Han Zhou was hit by it and let out a cry of surprise, which drew laughter from her friends.

Han Zhou took in this scene and thought to himself that he should find an opportunity to bring his guzheng here sometime in the future.

Arriving at the second floor of the cafeteria, he stood in line at the window selling fried dough sticks as usual. Fried dough sticks with sweet soy milk were his favorite breakfast combination.

Directly in front of him were two girls chatting and laughing. They were laughing and talking when one of them noticed him first and quickly whispered to the other girl to turn around. The two girls looked at each other several times, their faces gradually turning red. They subconsciously pretended to be quiet and ladylike, and would steal glances back from time to time.

Han Zhou remained calm, as he was used to this situation. However, he was somewhat puzzled, feeling that more girls seemed to be paying attention to him recently. Although there had been quite a few in the past, it had never reached the point where girls would blush when they saw him.

He pondered for a moment, then temporarily shut down the "passionate youth" professional mode and focused his attention on the charm attribute, thinking to himself, "Just as I thought."

The "Passionate Youth" ability not only increases luck but also enhances attributes in all aspects. Moreover, it doesn't require points to turn on or off, so Han Zhou has always used it as a permanent feature.

It was precisely because of the "Passionate Youth" attribute boost that his charisma attribute was able to rise from seven to eight points, although this boost was temporary.

Therefore, after the "Hot-blooded Youth" skill was turned off, his charm attribute should have dropped back to seven points. However, it is still at eight points, which means that his charm attribute has been permanently increased.

It's not surprising when you think about it. Charm isn't entirely determined by appearance; it's also related to temperament, state of mind, and age. Even with the same face, simply changing your hairstyle can give you a completely different feeling.

Now his energy and spirit have improved to a certain extent. He is no longer as sickly as before, so his temperament has naturally improved and his charm has increased.

Han Zhou's thoughts were wandering as he pondered whether there were people in the world with ten points of charm, when he suddenly heard a clear bell sound behind him.

He was taken aback at first, then remembered something, turned around and looked behind him, and immediately saw Zhong Ling looking a little nervous.

She was still dressed simply, with a small cloth bag slung around her waist, her ponytail tied behind her head, and two clear, flawless eyes set in her slightly youthful face.

However, unlike usual, she now had a milky white bracelet and a silver bracelet with bells on her right wrist.

The sound just now was clearly made by those two things.

"Senior?"

Han Zhou stared at the bell for a while, then said with a wry smile, "You actually bought a bell to wear on your wrist?"

He has a good memory and remembered their conversation at the hospital last time; the other person seemed to have taken his joke seriously.

"Ah."

Seeing that her junior had noticed her quickly this time, Zhong Ling seemed pleasantly surprised. The tension on her face disappeared, replaced by a gentle smile.

“It works very well,” she said.

Seeing that Han Zhou was staring at her wrist, she tilted her head, raised her wrist, and asked softly, "Does it look good?"

As she raised her hand, the sound of bells and the clinking of bracelets and bangles rang out together, clear and melodious.

Jewelry is always a matter of personal taste, and the bracelet on Zhong Ling's wrist was probably quite inexpensive, but it looked very nice. Her skin was already fair, and the bracelet created a striking contrast; the milky-white bangle immediately accentuated her slender, fair wrist, subconsciously reminding Han Zhou of a poem—

People in Lubian are like the moon, and their arms are frosty and snowy.

"It looks good, and it suits you very well," he exclaimed sincerely.

"really?"

A smile spread from Zhong Ling's eyes, so bright it was hard to look away. "That's what my sister said too."

For her, it was a very happy thing to be recognized by both of them at the same time.

Seeing that Han Zhou was staring at her, she asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Han Zhou shook his head, too embarrassed to say that the other person's smile was too beautiful. He couldn't help but take a few more glances before changing the subject, saying, "I was wondering if this thing would disturb the neighbors."

"Will not."

Zhong Ling looked down and fiddled with the bracelet, saying softly, "Look, as long as we take this out and wed it here, neither the bell nor the bracelet will ring. Besides, it's not very loud to begin with."

"You've thought of everything so thoroughly." Han Zhou had only mentioned it casually, but he hadn't expected her to actually consider it. He asked curiously, "Did you choose this yourself, senior?"

"No, I just mentioned the idea, and my sister helped me choose it." Zhong Ling lowered her head somewhat shyly. "I don't have much of my own opinion."

"Being able to put forward an idea already shows that you have your own opinions. Sister Yin has strong execution skills, but she may not consider things as much as you do." Han Zhou smiled.

Zhong Ling shook her head and earnestly defended her sister: "No, my sister is very capable."

Her voice was soft, and even when she was serious, it wasn't very intimidating. Han Zhou couldn't help but chuckle and nodded earnestly.

"Yes, Sister Yin is indeed very capable."

As an older sister, Zhong Yin is indeed very capable, a fact he never denies.

The group continued to move forward, and soon it was Han Zhou's turn.

He bought two cups of soy milk and two fried dough sticks, and after thinking for a moment, he also bought two steamed buns. He asked the cafeteria lady to divide them into two portions and pack them up. After paying, he handed one portion to Zhong Ling.

Before the girl could refuse, he immediately said in a serious tone, "This is a thank you gift for the pastries you gave me the other day."

Zhong Yin paused, her expression hesitant.

Han Zhou handed the bag to her and smiled, "I let my roommates try those pastries, and they all said they were delicious. They asked me to thank you on their behalf. You treated me to pastries, so it's not too much for me to treat you to breakfast, is it?" "Well, okay... thank you."

Seeing Han Zhou's resolute attitude, Zhong Ling had no choice but to carefully put her meal card into her small cloth bag, then weakly took the bag, ultimately too embarrassed to tell him that she didn't like fried dough sticks.

"You're welcome." Han Zhou didn't notice her unusual behavior.

The two found a place to sit down.

Zhong Ling picked up the steamed bun and ate it in small bites, occasionally glancing up at Han Zhou. Seeing that he was enjoying his food, she hesitated for a moment before saying softly, "Um... junior, I've had enough steamed buns, but I can't finish the fried dough sticks. Why don't you take them?"

"One steamed bun probably isn't enough, is it?" Han Zhou looked at her in confusion.

"I have a very small appetite."

Han Zhou recalled that Zhong Ling's appetite was indeed not large, but not to the point that she couldn't even finish a fried dough stick. Seeing her evasive eyes, he said thoughtfully, "Could it be that you don't like fried dough sticks, senior?"

Zhong Ling paused for two seconds, wanting to shake her head in denial, but ultimately gave up, weakly saying, "Is it... really that obvious?"

"It wasn't obvious before, but it's very obvious now."

Han Zhou found her somewhat aggrieved look amusing and pushed the uneaten bun towards her, saying, "You should have just said you didn't like it. You should have told me earlier."

"But this is your kind intention..."

"Good intentions don't necessarily have to be accepted."

Han Zhou shook his head, suddenly remembering that Zhong Yin had once said that Zhong Ling wasn't good at refusing others, and had even taught her a simple and direct way to refuse—

"roll".

However, after spending time together, he discovered that Zhong Ling was not actually an introverted person, but rather had a gentle nature. This girl's nervousness and anxiety often occurred in specific situations, such as when she was ignored or rejected by others, which may be related to her past experiences.

Seeing Zhong Ling holding the steamed buns without saying a word, he smiled and asked, "Are two steamed buns enough to fill you up?"

"OK."

Zhong Ling nodded, hesitated for a moment, then handed over the fried dough sticks on the table and asked in his tone, "Are two fried dough sticks enough to fill you up?"

Han Zhou found it inexplicably funny and replied in the same tone, "Sure."

Zhong Ling tilted her head, seemingly not understanding why her junior was laughing, but soon followed suit with a faint smile.

She held the steamed bun in both hands, just about to take a bite, when she suddenly said, "The steamed buns here are delicious, would you like some?"

"No need," Han Zhou said, sipping his soy milk. "I used to eat at this place a lot of steamed buns recently, and they're really good. You even recommended this stall."

"You still remember."

Zhong Ling's smile softened further as she lowered her head and ate her steamed bun in small bites. After a while, she said, "By the way, have you read the book you borrowed from me? You can ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

"Now that you mention it, there are indeed some parts I don't understand..."

Han Zhou immediately asked for advice.

……

After breakfast, the two chatted as they left the cafeteria, only parting ways when they reached the teaching area.

Their classrooms are not in the same teaching building.

Because of the delay, there were already quite a few people in the classroom when Han Zhou arrived. He planned to find an empty seat and turned around to see Xiao Xiaoxiao dozing off in the corner by the window.

There was a girl sitting next to me, and the seats to my right were all empty.

Han Zhou remembered that the girl's name was Zhou Ting. He walked over with his book and asked in a low voice, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Zhou Ting was playing on her phone when she heard the voice. She was startled at first, then turned around and saw Han Zhou. She immediately smiled, shook her head, and gestured for him to sit wherever he wanted.

Although there was someone between them, Xiaoxiao was petite to begin with, and she would basically sleep on her desk during the first class, so it didn't affect her looking at handsome guys during class at all.

Han Zhou put down his book. He had originally wanted to tease Xiao Xiaoxiao, but seeing that she was sleeping soundly, he gave up on waking her up. He was just more and more curious about what this girl was doing at night.

The morning class was on Ideological and Moral Cultivation. The teacher was a somewhat old-fashioned middle-aged man surnamed Yan, about fifty years old, who spoke with great vigor.

Generally speaking, classes like Ideological and Moral Cultivation are mostly for students to slack off on, but this teacher clearly doesn't like this atmosphere. He takes attendance every time he teaches, just like a troop roll call before going into battle. Anyone who dares to flee without a fight will surely suffer a great disaster.

With class about to start, Lao Yan had already entered the classroom with his thermos, but Han Zhou still couldn't see Chen Long and Chen Zheng, so he frowned slightly.

At the same time, he received a message from Chen Long via Fetion.

"Han Zhou, Hai Ge and I overslept. Could you cover for us during roll call? Old Huo is too honest; I'm afraid he won't be able to handle it."

“I’m very honest too,” Han Zhou replied immediately.

“I know, but your bottom line is more flexible.”

"Ok?"

"What I mean is that you're better at adapting to changing circumstances."

Han Zhou thought for a moment: "I might receive two packages around 10 o'clock."

"We'll help you get it!"

"It might be a bit heavy."

"Weight is not a problem!"

Han Zhou was very satisfied: "Okay, I'll help you get through this, but you'd better pray that Old Yan uses the traditional roll call method today, otherwise I can't help you either."

"I know, I know, it's not your fault. Okay, I'm going to sleep a little longer, please!"

Han Zhou put away his phone, and the class bell rang. He glanced at Xiao Xiaoxiao and saw that she was still sleeping on the table. Just as he was about to wake her up, Zhou Ting stopped him in a low voice: "No need to wake Xiaoxiao. I'll answer for her later."

Han Zhou was taken aback and said in surprise, "This guy has quite the grand entrance."

Zhou Ting chuckled: "Let her sleep a little longer."

Han Zhou didn't mind and quietly waited for Lao Yan to call his name.

In this era where QR code attendance is becoming popular, Lao Yan still prefers to call out names one by one to make sure all the students are present. This also helps him get to know the students better.

Fortunately, today was no exception. As soon as the bell rang, Teacher Yan took out the attendance book and began calling out names one by one.

The recommendation didn't significantly boost my ratings, so I'll update one chapter today to try and raise the average daily subscriptions as much as possible, breaking my previous record. I'll resume two updates a day tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)