Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 241 Pretend I didn't ask

The afternoon sky was dazzlingly blue, as if it had been washed clean. A small area was tinged with a pale golden yellow by the sunlight, and white clouds floated lazily in the air, being kneaded into various shapes by the autumn wind.

The warm sunshine seemed to scatter gold dust across the vast square. In the distance, an old man sat on a bench, dozing off, while his yellow dog lay quietly beside him, basking in the sun with its eyes closed.

The sun is just right, the breeze is not dry.

No one dislikes autumn like this until a significant temperature drop arrives.

Qingyuan Square is a huge circular square, somewhat like an ancient arena. The overall layout is staggered, with circular steps descending from the outside to the inside. There are circular seats for people to rest around the steps, and the surrounding area is decorated with green plants. The space at the bottom is quite open, and there is a small fountain in the center. Small streams of water spray into the air and fall into the pool, splashing water droplets.

Such a square is already eye-catching enough, but when the pigeons took flight, everything around it paled in comparison.

Hundreds and thousands of pigeons took flight, the sound of their wings flapping clearly audible, and pure white feathers drifted down, like angels descending to earth.

By this time, a large number of people had gathered in the square. They were clearly attracted by the sight of pigeons flying together, exclaiming in surprise and taking pictures with their mobile phones.

Han Zhou had only ever seen such scenes on television before. He had to admit that many things could only be truly felt when experienced firsthand. Therefore, when he saw this scene with his own eyes, he was momentarily stunned.

The same applies to Wang Lengqiu.

Even though she had seen it many times, she still couldn't take her eyes off the flock of pigeons whenever she saw them take flight again.

“It’s spectacular, isn’t it?” she said.

"quite splendid."

Han Zhou took out his phone and snapped a few photos, then exclaimed, "I never expected a place like this to be free of charge."

"Tickets?" Wang Lengqiu tilted his head.

"You have to pay money to come and see and feed the pigeons, otherwise you can't get close."

Wang Lengqiu thought for a moment: "It seems like they'll be charging for it after a while."

"Then it seems we arrived at the right time."

Han Zhou smiled and then got straight to the point, "So, can we feed the pigeons now?"

To prevent any unforeseen complications, he planned to complete the task as soon as possible, so that he wouldn't have too many concerns about whether he chose to stay or leave.

"can."

Wang Lengqiu nodded slightly, seemingly sensing something, and asked, "Are you in a hurry?"

"No rush. Feeding pigeons is a new experience for me, and I want to try it out as soon as possible," Han Zhou said seriously. Feeding pigeons was indeed a new thing for him.

"Fresh? Haven't you ever fed pigeons before?"

Wang Lengqiu gave him a strange look, then turned and walked in one direction.

"No, I've only seen others feed them occasionally." Han Zhou followed behind her, asking with a puzzled look, "Where are we going?"

"Find a less crowded spot; the pigeons over there might not have been fed yet."

From behind, Wang Lengqiu's figure appeared even more slender, her waist so delicate it could be described as slender and delicate. Today, she wore a white sweatshirt and white trousers, her thick, black hair simply tied up with a white hair tie, and her long neck made her look like a large white dove as she walked in the square.

It's hard to imagine that such an excessively thin girl was once ridiculed for being overweight.

Han Zhou shook his head inwardly.

White pigeons can be seen everywhere in the square, on the steps, by the pool, and even on the benches. They have red claws and sharp beaks, bright black eyes, and pure white feathers without a single blemish.

Occasionally, you can see pigeons of other colors, but their unique feather colors do not make them unpopular with people in the square. Instead of looking out of place among the flock, they are more like a special embellishment.

Han Zhou looked around with interest, when he suddenly heard Wang Lengqiu, who was walking ahead, ask, "Do you prefer white pigeons or non-white pigeons?"

Han Zhou was taken aback, thought for a moment, and replied, "I don't really have any particular preference; whether someone is fair-skinned or not is about the same to me..."

He didn't know why Wang Lengqiu would suddenly ask this, and asked in return, "Where are you?"

"Me too."

After a pause, Wang Lengqiu asked again, "So, do you prefer relatively ordinary people, or more special people?"

His tone was gentle, like a soft breeze in early autumn.

"If I had to choose, I'd definitely pick the special one," Han Zhou answered honestly. "After all, the special one is more attractive."

In his view, the reason why people can attract each other is simply because of that "special" quality. He is particularly kind, she is particularly cute, she is particularly gentle... All simple and ordinary attributes become precious once they are given the word "special".

It is worth mentioning that there are no truly mediocre people in this world. After all, even if someone is extremely mediocre, the phrase "exceptionally mediocre" is still a rare and special quality.

It is precisely because everyone is unique that people can attract each other.

"Me too."

Wang Lengqiu didn't turn around, and said very seriously, "I also like special people."

I know, after all, you seem to like me, this one and only stick figure...

Thinking about this, Han Zhou finally couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Senior Wang Lengqiu, can I ask you a question?"

“Okay.” Wang Lengqiu nodded, then patiently corrected him, “Also, call me Qiuqiu, or Qiuqiu.”

Han Zhou ignored the second half of the sentence and tentatively asked, "Do you still want to date me?"

"Ah."

"Just because I'm a stick figure?"

"Correct."

Han Zhou's eyes lit up: "What if I'm not a stick figure?"

Wang Lengqiu turned to look at him, thought for a moment and said, "Then I won't have to turn into a stick figure anymore, and I'll pursue you right now."

"..."

"Pretend I didn't ask."

"it is good."

……

The square was almost full of people. The two finally found a less crowded spot. Wang Lengqiu opened the bag containing pigeon feed, took out some, and handed it to Han Zhou.

She said softly, "You can feed them little by little, or you can drop them on the ground. If you're not afraid, you can also put some pigeon feed in your palm, and pigeons will fly to your hand to peck at it. It won't hurt."

Han Zhou took the pigeon feed and saw Wang Lengqiu squat down and scatter the feed in front of several pigeons. He also squatted down and scattered some pigeon feed in the same place.

The temporary task required him and Wang Lengqiu to feed a total of ten pigeons, so he planned to follow Wang Lengqiu wherever she went, feeding them as well as she did, in order to complete the task as soon as possible.

Wang Lengqiu, who was focused on watching the pigeons eat, glanced at him upon seeing this and reassured him in a slow voice, "Don't be afraid, these pigeons aren't fierce."

She seemed to think that Han Zhou was only staying with her because he was afraid of pigeons.

"It's not that I'm afraid, I just want to learn more from you," Han Zhou casually made up an excuse.

Wang Lengqiu tilted her head: "Is it necessary to learn this?"

Feeding pigeons only requires learning some precautions beforehand; the feeding itself is not difficult at all. She didn't quite understand what the other person meant by "learning."

"Observing more is also a form of learning."

"I understand." Wang Lengqiu said no more. Although she didn't quite understand, she certainly wouldn't send Han Zhou away and let him stay by her side.

The two fed the pigeons in silence, a process that was far from interesting and rather rather tedious.

Han Zhou silently counted in his mind, but even though he had fed more than a dozen pigeons, the status bar never popped up with a task completion notification, which puzzled him.

Every pigeon he just fed ate the pigeon feed that he and Wang Lengqiu scattered. Shouldn't that be considered feeding them together? Could it be that he misunderstood the mission requirements?
Thinking that there might be a delay in the task notification, he silently counted to ten again, but still no task notification popped up. So he had to give up his wishful thinking and read the task requirements again.

[Task Requirements: A feeding session is considered complete only when you and the target simultaneously feed a pigeon. Forced feeding is not allowed, and the pigeon must not be harmed.]

Feeding a pigeon at the same time as the target... No problem, isn't that what I've been doing all along?

Han Zhou became increasingly puzzled, but since the task could not be completed, it meant that his thinking was wrong, so he had no choice but to reinterpret the meaning of "feeding at the same time".

Seemingly noticing the confusion on his face, Wang Lengqiu asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

Han Zhou initially wanted to brush it off, but then he thought that perhaps how to define the task requirements was not up to him, but rather depended on Wang Lengqiu's ideas. Even if that wasn't the case, he could still ask the other party to help him broaden his thinking.

So he asked, "Senior Wang Lengqiu, what kind of feeding method do you think qualifies as 'two people feeding a pigeon at the same time'?"

"what?"

A hint of confusion flashed in Wang Lengqiu's eyes, as if she were a little bewildered, so much so that she didn't bother to correct the other person's form of address this time.

Han Zhou organized his thoughts and then explained again, "What I mean is, if I want to feed the same pigeon as you at the same time, what do we need to do?"

"Feed them at the same time..." Wang Lengqiu finally understood and asked in confusion, "Isn't this what it is now?"

Okay, it seems it wasn't a problem with my comprehension...

Han Zhou muttered to himself, then suddenly thought of something and asked in a different way: "If you were to choose, what feeding method do you think is closer to the meaning of 'feeding at the same time'?"

"Shall I choose?"

"Yes, you choose."

Wang Lengqiu thought about it seriously: "Then we should put the pigeon feed in our palms and let the pigeons fly onto our hands to eat."

Han Zhou raised an eyebrow: "Putting it in the palm of your hand means..."

"like this."

Wang Lengqiu stood up, put the small bag of pigeon feed into his pocket, put his hands together in front of him, and said, "Put one of your hands together with one of mine, and then scatter the pigeon feed in your palms. That will count as feeding the pigeons together."

At this point, she seemed to suddenly realize something, tilting her head to look at Han Zhou, "So you were following me just now because you wanted to feed the pigeons with me?"

Han Zhou's expression stiffened, and he nodded somewhat awkwardly.

Now that things have come to this, his intentions are quite clear, and there's no need to deny them.

I originally thought I could complete the task quickly and get away with it before the other party noticed, but who knew that this temporary task was not as simple as I imagined, and it dragged on to the point where I had to "find a strategy guide".

Wang Lengqiu looked at him for a while, then slowly extended her left hand.

"Then give me your hand."

Han Zhou subconsciously looked at the outstretched hand.

Girls' hands are naturally smaller, and Wang Lengqiu was a thin girl with almost no flesh on her hands. They were so delicate that they looked like they would break if you broke them. Just looking at them made people feel sorry for her.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I also want to feed the pigeons with you." Wang Lengqiu was quite honest.

That's not what I asked...

Han Zhou stared at the slender hand, his emotions inexplicably complicated: "But can pigeons really stand on your hand?"

“Yes, you can.” The girl nodded, emphasizing it as if showing off, “Two can stand at a time.”

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "I suggest you stop coming here to feed the pigeons all the time. You should eat more yourself when you have time."

This guy doesn't look like he eats much.

"Eating too much will make you fat."

For some reason, Han Zhou felt a pang of sadness when he heard those words.

“Eating in moderation won’t make you fat.” His tone softened a bit. “Besides, being a little chubby isn’t bad at all; it’s just as cute.”

Do you like chubby girls?

Wang Lengqiu tilted her head and looked at him, as if as long as he answered "I like it," she would immediately go back and eat her fill, trying to become the person he liked.

Han Zhou hesitated for a moment. If he were to follow his heart, he would certainly prefer a slender girl. He was not averse to chubby girls, but he couldn't say that he didn't care about being fat or thin. So he avoided the main point and said, "There's a problem with how you phrased your question."

"Have it?"

"You should ask, 'If the girl you like gets fat or becomes less attractive, will you still like her?' If that's the question, my answer is yes."

"But you don't like me."

Wang Lengqiu's logic was quite clear. After a pause, he added, "You won't even let me pursue you."

"..."

Knowing this, why did you still try to get close to me?

Han Zhou opened his mouth, then sighed a few seconds later: "Has anyone ever said that chatting with you is a difficult thing?"

"Have."

Wang Lengqiu nodded honestly, "That's what everyone has always said."

"..."

"Pretend I didn't ask."

"it is good."

As the sun gradually set in the west, the originally azure sky was tinged with a crimson hue.

Seeing that Han Zhou remained silent, Wang Lengqiu thought he was angry, so she carefully reached out her hand and asked, "Do you still want to feed the pigeons with me?"

"Ah."

The task still needed to be done. Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, then tentatively extended his right hand and joined it with the other person's left hand.

He believes Wang Lengqiu's statement is correct, and this process of creating opportunities for ambiguity is more in line with the current "face" of the status bar.

Fortunately, they managed to restrain themselves somewhat.

The girl's hands were really small, probably only three-quarters the size of his palm, or even smaller.

Although it looked somewhat bony, it was actually soft to the touch. However, the other person's body temperature seemed a bit low, and the hand was also not very warm, feeling slightly cold.

Wang Lengqiu remained silent, lost in thought, feeling the warmth of Han Zhou's hands. It wasn't until a cool breeze blew by that she snapped out of her reverie and silently poured the pigeon feed into their palms.

(End of this chapter)