Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 246 I do

As the music ended, the guzheng player also stopped playing.

Dancing is a very physically demanding activity. Even after practicing for so long, she couldn't keep up. Her face was flushed from the intense physical exertion, and her not-so-curvy chest rose and fell slightly. She took a towel out of her backpack and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Even during her break, she didn't completely relax. Instead, she was thinking about how to optimize her movements. It wasn't until she heard the whispers of the other people in the dance studio that she looked up as if she had a premonition and noticed the figure outside the glass door.

Upon seeing Han Zhou, Gu Zheng was first taken aback, then her eyes lit up with surprise. Wiping her sweat, she jogged to the door, her tone excited.

"How did you come?"

"I came to see you." Han Zhou smiled and joked, "It's quite rare to see you so out of breath."

The two were standing quite close, and he could feel the heat emanating from the guzheng. Her rosy cheeks added to the girl's youthful charm.

"I'm not out of breath, I'm just breathing a little heavier," Gu Zheng habitually explained, then asked curiously, "Didn't you say you were having dinner with Teacher Ouyang? You finished eating so quickly?"

She knew that Han Zhou was going to have dinner with Ouyang Lianyu, and the agreed time was around now, so she was very curious as to why he was here.

Han Zhou sighed helplessly: "I didn't eat. Teacher Ouyang's old problem flared up again. He accidentally hurt his hand and went to the hospital to see his old friend."

He thought to himself, "Normally, no matter how careless a person is, they shouldn't get injured every now and then. I suspect that Ouyang Lianyu might just be unlucky, but if you're going to say she's unlucky, then every time she gets injured, it's always somewhere between serious and not serious. At most, a car accident would just result in a leg injury, and there would be no danger to her life."

In a way, this could be considered a special ability...

"What?" Gu Zheng was slightly startled, and paused in wiping the sweat from her hands. "Is it serious? Why don't we take some time to go see her?"

She didn't usually pay much attention to rumors on campus, but she did know something about the six famous people. Although she knew some of their strange nicknames, she didn't expect them to be so exaggerated. Teacher Ouyang's leg hadn't fully recovered yet, and now he had injured his hand as well.

"No need. I heard the injury isn't serious, and Teacher Ouyang doesn't want us to see her in such a disheveled state. She repeatedly emphasized on the phone that we absolutely shouldn't go to see her."

"You don't want you to see her, do you?" Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him.

"It's pretty much the same."

Han Zhou casually skipped over the topic, then looked at the girl in front of him suspiciously and asked curiously, "You're sweating so much, how long have you been practicing?"

"It hasn't been long," Guzheng said nonchalantly. "I only come three times a week, so I need to practice a little longer, right?"

Han Zhou didn't believe the phrase "not long ago." To exhaust this guy with an 8 out of 10 stamina like this, it was obvious how long he had been training.

However, Guzheng wasn't just being stubborn; she probably genuinely felt she hadn't practiced for very long.

Han Zhou didn't say much, handed the other person the water he had bought on the way there, and asked, "How much longer are you going to practice?"

"I usually practice until around seven o'clock, then go to the cafeteria for lunch." Guzheng took the water, said "thank you," and then asked, "What's wrong?"

Looking into those bright eyes, Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "I have something I want to discuss with you..."

"Is it important?"

"It's not that important."

"Wait for me a moment, I'll practice two more times and then I'll be out."

"it is good."

Han Zhou wasn't in a hurry. Watching the guzheng dance was quite interesting. He might not have many time to watch her practice in the future, so he naturally wanted to watch her for as long as possible now that he had the chance.

As soon as Guzheng returned to the dance studio, she heard a girl whisper, "Guzheng, is that boy outside your friend?"

"Yes."

She hung up the towel while stretching her body.

"Boy friend?"

Gu Zheng paused in her movements, glanced at Han Zhou outside the door, coughed, and said, "Not yet."

In the past, she would have answered "no" without hesitation, but now she can't be so hypocritical anymore. Although she only added the word "still" before it, the meaning has clearly changed.

Although it isn't now, it will be sooner or later.

"All right……"

This answer was tantamount to asserting sovereignty, and the girl who had just asked was somewhat disappointed, so she had to give up the idea of ​​asking the boy for his contact information from Guzheng.

Gu Zheng appeared calm, but her heart was pounding. She turned her back in a panic, using the indoor mirror to observe Han Zhou outside the door, trying to judge from his expression whether he had heard what she had just said.

So nervous, she even forgot about the "reversibility of light path"—since she could observe Han Zhou through the mirror, Han Zhou could naturally see her expression at that moment as well.

Isn't this guy's face even redder...?

Han Zhou, standing outside the door, muttered to himself.

Just then, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw a tall figure behind him—Zhang Tao, a robust man with delicate features.

In the cool autumn air, most people were wearing coats, but this extreme sports enthusiast was only wearing a sleeveless short-sleeved shirt, revealing his strong and muscular arms, and said with a friendly smile, "Long time no see."

Han Zhou also smiled and said, "It hasn't been that long, has it?"

This was the first time the two had met at school since they parted ways at the snow mountain, but even though a few days had passed, it wasn't exactly a "long time apart".

Zhang Tao paused for a moment, then smiled wryly, "You're right, but unless it's by name, this is all I know how to say hello... By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for a friend."

"friend?"

Zhang Tao looked surprised. As a frequent visitor between the gymnasium and the playground, he naturally knew that this classroom was a dance studio, usually used as an activity room for dance clubs. The people inside were mostly girls who liked to dance. After thinking of the "friend" named Mo Yixia that he had seen on the snow mountain, his expression became a little strange.

He glanced around the dance studio through the glass door and quickly recognized the pretty girl who had participated in the club recruitment with Han Zhou. He became even more certain of his guess and his tone became somewhat unnatural.

"Oh, I see... I just got back from the playground and I have some things to do, so I'll be going now."

He had originally intended to take advantage of this chance encounter to discuss the matter of developing extreme sports with Han Zhou again, but the current situation was clearly not convenient, so he turned around and left without any hesitation.

However, Han Zhou quickly called out to him, "Senior Zhang Tao, is there something you want to tell me?"

Han Zhou still remembers the kindness of Zhang Tao and others who searched for him and Mo Yixia when they fell off the cliff. Moreover, he had promised to repay them properly when he asked for their help in finding Mo Yixia, but everyone said there was no need to take it to heart.

Although no one else cared, he still kept it in mind, so when he sensed that Zhang Tao seemed to have something to say to him, he decided to listen carefully.

Although he had a general idea of ​​what the other person wanted to say.

Zhang Tao stopped and hesitated before turning back: "I do have something I'd like to discuss with you."

……

After Gu Zheng changed her clothes in the dressing room and left the dance studio, Han Zhou was standing outside the door, looking in the direction of the basketball court.

"What are you looking at?"

Curious, she walked over to Han Zhou and followed his gaze. She saw a large crowd gathered on the basketball court in the distance, looking quite lively.

Han Zhou had been observing for a while and said with interest, "It seems that the 'court tyrant' has appeared. How about it, are you interested in going to take a look?"

He has now met four of the six famous figures from Lin University, and there are only two he hasn't met yet. He wants to take advantage of his free time to go and see them, so as to achieve the achievement of collecting them all.

However, Gu Zheng was completely uninterested: "No interest, what's so interesting about basketball?"

"I heard that this 'basketball king' became famous not because he was good at basketball..."

"That would be even less interesting."

Gu Zheng was a little unhappy. She gave up the rest of her training time to spend more time with Han Zhou, not to watch some basketball champion.

"Okay, then I won't go see it."

Seeing that the guzheng was not interested, Han Zhou stopped talking and walked with her into the sunlit campus, asking, "You've been practicing dance for several weeks now, how's it going?"

"It's a bit difficult. My body isn't very flexible, so I can't do many of the movements perfectly."

It was rare to hear the word "difficult" from Guzheng, so Han Zhou was a little surprised. He pretended to look in the direction the sun was setting and said, "The sun shouldn't be rising in the west today, right? You actually admit that dancing is difficult?"

"What's so strange about that? I'm not an egomaniac." Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "But it's mainly because I don't have a dance background. It won't be difficult after I practice for a while."

At this point, she revealed a confident expression, "I'm currently stretching and studying in my dorm room, and I'll catch up with the others soon."

Han Zhou chuckled and said, "Then you'd better be careful. You're so strong, you might accidentally tear your ligaments."

"Do you think I'm a fool?"

Han Zhou didn't care about being punched, and asked in surprise, "Speaking of which, you've been practicing your dance so hard, are you planning to perform on stage?" "Of course I am. Performing on stage is like taking an exam, it's a time to test your results. Since I've participated in the training, I'm definitely going to perform on stage, and I'll definitely have a spot."

“Going on stage to perform…” Looking at the girl’s proud and upright posture, Han Zhou suddenly felt a sense of anticipation and smiled, “Then you will definitely look very impressive when you go on stage.”

"I'm dancing classical dance, where does the prestige come from?"

Gu Zheng glared at him, annoyed. This guy couldn't even speak properly. If he could dance classical dance with a sense of grandeur, it meant he wasn't dancing well.

"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue," Han Zhou corrected with a smile. "What I meant was that you must have been the center of attention and shining brightly back then."

"That's more like it." Gu Zheng's eyes crinkled, and her steps seemed to lighten a bit.

"By the way, wasn't that Zhang Tao, the senior student, outside the door just now? What were you guys talking about?"

Ever since she learned that Han Zhou was watching her from outside the door, Gu Zheng, although still maintaining sufficient focus, still spared some attention for Han Zhou, and thus saw him chatting with Zhang Tao outside the door.

"He wanted to invite me to participate in a challenge project of some extreme sports."

"Extreme sports? You want to go? Why?" Gu Zheng frowned slightly.

Han Zhou laughed and said, "Maybe it's because he thinks I'm more capable."

Seeing that the guy was still grinning, Guzheng was furious and said with a stern face, "No, extreme sports are too dangerous, you are not allowed to go."

She still can't forget the scene on the first day of school when Han Zhou rushed over to catch a child falling from the building. She was terrified at the time. Although Han Zhou only injured his arm in the end, she still feels scared every time she thinks about it.

"But he helped me before, so I don't feel comfortable refusing him."

Han Zhou could tell that Zhang Tao hesitated when he brought this up, probably because he was worried that Zhang Tao would think that he was taking advantage of Han Zhou's kindness. This time, he was mainly trying to discuss and request something, and he probably just wanted to give it a try. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought it up in person; he could have just said it on Feixin.

Gu Zheng was taken aback, and asked with a puzzled look, "Helped you? Did you two have any dealings before? How come I don't know?"

Han Zhou's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm: "He helped me when I was injured before."

This answer was quite clever. He was referring to a minor injury he sustained on the snow mountain, while Guzheng would interpret it as something that happened when he injured his hands at the beginning of the semester. It wasn't exactly a lie, and he could answer calmly even if the questioning continued.

The reason he didn't tell Guzheng directly that he and Zhang Tao had met on the snow mountain was because, given Guzheng's keen senses, once she focused on this matter and thought about it carefully, she might notice something was amiss. He couldn't guarantee that he could fabricate a flawless lie to cover up Mo Yixia's presence during the trip to the snow mountain.

Gu Zheng didn't think much of it and pouted, saying, "I even helped you back then. Extreme sports are too dangerous, and you've never been into them before. Wouldn't it be harming you if he asked you to go? Anyway, I won't let you go. If you insist on going, I'll go in your place. I'm much better than you."

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment: "You're replacing me?"

"Can't you?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I have a question."

"what is the problem?"

"You're so capable, how could you end up in the hospital because of a cold?"

"I told you not to mention this again!" Gu Zheng punched him.

Han Zhou chuckled and said, "Alright, there's no need to worry so much. He just came to discuss it with me, and I haven't agreed yet."

"But you didn't refuse either, did you?" Gu Zheng asked warily.

Oh no, this guy has not only become much more perceptive, but he's also started to nitpick over words. I have a feeling he's activated some kind of ominous passive skill...

Han Zhou, though worried, smiled and said, "My answer was 'I'll think about it some more,' which is similar to 'I'll definitely do it next time'—both are polite ways of refusing."

"Really? Whatever you want."

Gu Zheng was skeptical, but she didn't press Han Zhou for a decision. Somewhat sullenly, she asked, "So what do you want to tell me?"

Han Zhou looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong? Is it hard to say?"

After not hearing Han Zhou speak for a while, Gu Zheng looked puzzled, thinking that he was worried that she would be angry, so she said, "I promise I won't be angry, go ahead and say it."

"Promise you won't get angry?"

"not angry."

For a moment, Han Zhou really wanted to take this opportunity to tell Mo Yixia about it, but he also knew that Gu Zheng's "not angry" was "Schrödinger's not angry," and the right to interpret it was in her hands, so he didn't dare to risk his life.

After a moment's hesitation, he tentatively asked, "Besides classical dance, have you practiced any other dances?"

"No, practicing one dance takes a lot of time, how could I have time to practice other dances?" Guzheng shook her head.

"If I wanted you to practice another dance in your spare time, but I asked that you not spend too much time on it, just practice casually, would you agree?"

Guzheng rolled her eyes: "You want me to practice, but you won't let me practice properly? What kind of ridiculous request is this?"

Han Zhou truthfully expressed his concerns: "Because this is not something that must be completed, it can be treated as entertainment, but I'm afraid you'll want to compete with others for first place again."

He spoke briefly, but Guzheng understood what he meant. He was worried that she would subconsciously try to do her best and wouldn't be able to stop practicing a new dance, thus wasting too much time and energy.

She thought for a moment, still unsure of Han Zhou's intentions, and asked casually, "You want to see me dance?"

"It's pretty close." Han Zhou did not deny it.

Seeing the other person's hesitant expression, Guzheng blushed slightly and said warily, "It can't be one of those random things..."

She had recently heard a lot of strange dances from club members, some of which were quite vulgar. However, before she could finish speaking, she saw Han Zhou touch his nose with a somewhat unnatural expression.

"To be precise, I want to dance with you."

Gu Zheng froze, standing there like a fossil, before finally asking uncertainly, "Does wanting to dance with me mean...?"

"literal meaning."

Han Zhou took a deep breath. "There's a dance party on the day of the social event. I'd like to dance with you."

The air was silent for two seconds.

He thought he could easily say those words to Guzheng, after all, it was just a simple dance invitation. However, when the girl actually stood in front of him, he realized that he had overestimated himself and that it took a lot of courage to say those words.

If even someone with an incredibly thick skin is like this, then it goes without saying that Gu Zheng's skin is thinner than paper.

After confirming that she was not hallucinating, Guzheng's face instantly turned red, the blush spreading all the way to her ears, and her heartbeat quickened. She was both expectant and afraid, trying her best to pretend that she didn't care, but she couldn't control her trembling voice at all.

She didn't know why she felt this way. It was just a dance, but she felt an urge to cry for no reason.

"You...you're not kidding me, are you?"

Her expression was more complex than ever before, mixed with too many emotions other than joy, and she couldn't even manage a fierce look.

Han Zhou was taken aback.

This girl, who was usually fearless except when it came to ghosts and monsters, now had a hint of caution in her voice.

His heart felt like it had been squeezed tightly, and a wave of sadness and guilt washed over him. He suddenly realized that this invitation might have extraordinary significance for Guzheng.

What he needs to do now is to give a firm enough answer.

He then smiled and said, "Of course not. I made up my mind to invite you several days in advance, just in case you were invited by someone else."

A gust of autumn wind blew by, rustling the leaves. Sunlight streamed down the campus, and melodious music drifted from some building.

It was a song I'd never heard before, but it felt strangely fitting for the occasion.

Han Zhou bent down slightly, placed his left hand on his waist, and extended one hand like a gentleman.

"So, Miss Guzheng, would you like to dance with me?"

He felt a little ashamed, but he didn't feel much embarrassment at the moment.

Gu Zheng blushed even more, not daring to meet his gaze, and awkwardly turned her head away, then subconsciously offered an explanation.

"I...I won't let anyone invite me away, and I don't like dancing..."

Mingming was very excited and happy, and couldn't wait to agree immediately, but she felt she should be more reserved and decided to put into practice the "I'll think about it" phrase she had just learned.

However, whether it was his mouth or his brain that were disobedient, the words that were about to come out somehow slipped into three.

The withered yellow leaves drifted down in the wind, and even the hand seemed to become disobedient, uncontrollably resting on the outstretched hand.

"I am willing."

(End of this chapter)