Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 260 You'd better not lie to me

Han Zhou wasn't sure if he felt any anticipation, but he was certain he was very nervous.

Mo Yixia's sudden arrival caught him off guard.

This guy suddenly showed up at school without a word, and to make matters worse, he chose to come on the day of the social event, which caught him completely off guard.

You know, he invited Gu Zheng to dance with him today. If Mo Yixia sees this, nothing good will happen. This is most likely the crisis mentioned in the "Interesting Upper, Middle and Lower Fortune" section.

Fortunately, Mo Yixia is leaving at five o'clock, while the ball doesn't start until seven. As long as she is careful not to reveal this information before then, the crisis can basically be resolved... probably.

Another issue that needs attention is the social event itself. He needs to go to the playground at 3 o'clock, and Mo Yixia will likely stay by his side the whole time. He's not afraid of anything else, but he's afraid of running into Guzheng, who is also heading to the playground at that time.

Between 3 and 5 o'clock, there are two full hours, and the playground is not big. In addition, Guzheng will definitely come to find him on her own, so this matter is almost inevitable. Unless he contacts Ouyang Lianyu now and tells her that he will not participate in the social event, but such concealment may not be able to hide it from Mo Yixia's eyes. Once she finds out, she will most likely be unhappy.

After much deliberation, Han Zhou decided to adopt the suggestion given by Xia Pingqian—to use a tug-of-war tactic to deal with this crisis. However, he did not intend to lie to Mo Yixia, but instead tried to steer the conversation away from the topic. If all else failed, he would confess and be treated leniently.

Hopefully nothing goes wrong...

Putting his thoughts aside, Han Zhou arrived at the school gate and immediately spotted Mo Yixia standing there.

To his surprise, although she was still wearing a mask and a baseball cap, Mo Yixia was not wearing her school uniform as usual. Instead, she was wearing a beautiful sky-blue dress, with her long, shiny black hair draped down her back, reaching all the way to her slender waist.

He quickened his pace and walked over. Before he could say anything, the girl seemed to sense something and turned to look at him. Then she naturally walked to his side and asked, "Would you like to show me around the school?"

"Ah."

For some reason, when Han Zhou actually saw Mo Yixia, he wasn't so nervous anymore and smiled, "Where do you want to go?"

“Either is fine.” After a pause, Mo Yixia added slowly, “My leg is just healed, so I’ll walk slowly.”

"Hasn't he fully recovered yet?" Han Zhou asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but he should have recovered pretty much. The key point is the last sentence."

"Walk slower?"

"Ah."

"How slow would that be?"

"The kind of slow pace that allows you to keep going."

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "The school isn't that big."

Mo Yixia glanced at him: "Then let's go a little further away."

"The kind of distance that can be walked indefinitely?" Han Zhou asked tentatively.

"If you want."

"Then we'll have to prepare several pairs of shoes."

Mo Yixia sighed: "Your jokes are still so lame."

"I actually think I'm quite humorous..." Han Zhou asked curiously, "By the way, why did you wear this outfit today?"

Mo Yixia casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said unhurriedly, "Doesn't it look good?"

"It looks good, but it would look even better if you took off the mask and baseball cap," Han Zhou commented earnestly.

Mo Yixia glanced at him, a half-smile on her face, and said, "Wouldn't it look better if you took your clothes off?"

"You bastard..." Han Zhou sighed helplessly, "I'm serious."

"It's no use being serious; I'm doing this for your own good."

"Thinking of me?" Han Zhou looked puzzled.

Mo Yixia said calmly, "You can imagine, if I were to reveal my stunning beauty here and walk with you, wouldn't the news quickly reach someone's ears?"

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then looked blankly at the girl beside him.

Seemingly noticing his gaze, Mo Yixia chuckled softly, "How about it? Aren't you incredibly touched by my thoughtfulness?"

"Well, you could say that..."

"Would you like to consider being with me?"

The sunlight fell on the girl's face, making both her eyes and voice sound gentler. "Only with me."

She knew this greedy guy wouldn't give a definite answer, but that didn't matter. Just like she said at the beginning, she wouldn't force him to make a choice; she just needed to make him like her more.

“Isha, I…”

“There’s another reason why I don’t wear my school uniform,” Mo Yixia interrupted Han Zhou, speaking to herself. “Remember our promise before we parted? Every time we meet after that, we have to treat it as a date. You have to do the things that are expected on a date with me, like walking around the school together.”

"You definitely can't wear your school uniform on a date, or you might get caught by the teacher. You should hold hands, but I know you won't dare, so I won't make things difficult for you. But you'll have to make it up to us next time."

Han Zhou hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Are you asking me why I'm so tolerant of you?

Mo Yixia saw through his thoughts. "Actually, there are prerequisites. If you didn't dare to come see me just now, or if you suggested meeting me outside of school, then my mood would be much worse."

This means that she doesn't hold the same place in Han Zhou's heart as the girl named Guzheng.

"Although you seemed a little nervous, you still came to see me, so I'm in a good mood now."

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then gave a wry smile and said, "Was my nervousness very obvious?"

"It wasn't obvious at first, I was just guessing, but now it's very clear."

Mo Yixia analyzed, "Being nervous means that the girl named Guzheng is at school right now. You must be worried that we'll run into her along the way, right?"

"Correct."

Han Zhou nodded guiltily; there was no point in denying it now.

"Great, then take me on a tour of every corner of the school, but remember to walk slowly."

Seeing Han Zhou's expression turn blank, Mo Yixia rolled her eyes at him, "You don't actually think I'd tolerate you to the point of 'deliberately changing the date location to a place far away from school just to prevent you from crashing,' do you? If you actually run into her along the way, then you're on your own."

Han Zhou certainly didn't dare to hope for that. Mo Yixia was already being incredibly tolerant of him by not deliberately causing trouble. He was just hesitating about whether to tell her about the social event.

Why don't we just say it directly?
Mo Yixia's meaning was quite clear: she could tolerate him jumping back and forth between two boats for the time being, but she had to ensure that the two boats moved forward in tandem. Therefore, keeping things from her was not a wise choice.

Well, you could say that, but it would be best to choose a suitable time... Han Zhou was thinking, and was about to remind Mo Yixia to hide behind him if she really bumped into the guzheng, when he heard her suddenly say, "By the way, I just encountered something very strange."

"What is it?" He snapped out of his thoughts.

"I just saw a girl at the door. She looked familiar, but my memory tells me I've never seen her before."

Han Zhou was taken aback, and his expression immediately turned strange: "Is the girl you're talking about short, wearing an earring, quite cute, and walking with her nostrils pointing to the sky?"

Mo Yixia recalled for a moment: "Apart from walking with her nostrils pointing to the sky, all other descriptions match."

"That's probably a stereotype..."

Han Zhou muttered something to cover up the turmoil in his heart, his expression gradually becoming serious—if it were just him and Gu Zheng, that would be one thing, but why would even Mo Yixia have an impression of Xiao Xiaoxiao?
"What, do you know that girl?" Mo Yixia noticed the unusual look on his face.

"Hmm, I was just about to ask you what you think about this."

Han Zhou told Mo Yixia everything about Xiao Xiaoxiao. Mo Yixia is very intelligent and might be able to notice some details that he might not be able to.

Mo Yixia pondered for a long time. Just when he thought the other person might have figured something out, he heard the other person suddenly ask, "So when you sent me the message last week, you were actually playing on the beach with Gu Zheng and that girl named Xiao Xiaoxiao?"

Han Zhou was taken aback, and quickly explained, "We're just wandering around and maybe going to the beach to see if we can find any clues about the footprints. Besides, isn't your focus a bit off-topic?"

"is it?"

Mo Yixia remained noncommittal, "Tell me more about Xiao Xiaoxiao, as much as you can."

A girl who left a deep impression on this guy but had no related memories is worth studying.

Han Zhou now has a photographic memory and recounted almost everything that had happened since he met Xiao Xiaoxiao, including the guzheng. Mo Yixia listened quietly without interrupting.

As she passed a vending machine, she bought two drinks, handed the Coke to the vending machine owner, and said, "Your memory is really good."

Isn't this all thanks to you...?

Han Zhou thought to himself as he pulled open the can, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp of cola. He sighed contentedly and said, "Maybe it's because I'm someone who likes to observe things carefully."

"Should one observe carefully or be promiscuous?"

Mo Yixia took off her mask, took a small sip of coconut juice, and then put the mask back on, her tone revealing little emotion.

Han Zhou's expression stiffened: "Isn't this the point of our discussion right now?"

"It's not that things that aren't important are unimportant. For example, the carbon dioxide in the cola you're drinking right now isn't important, but it's indispensable for a bottle of cola."

Mo Yixia said calmly, "Similarly, the few things you just mentioned are quite interesting to me."

Han Zhou understood what she meant; it seemed she had discovered something. He quickly asked, "What is it?"

"For example, the recent ghost story in the girls' dormitory."

"A ghost story?" Han Zhou was slightly taken aback. "You mean the one about the boy who committed suicide after being rejected and then wandering around the girls' dormitory?"

"Well, if you only look at this matter, it might not be surprising. Almost every school has rumors of ghosts, but it's rare for one to be mentioned repeatedly in a short period of time, which means it might not be fictional."

"You mean ghosts really exist? But how is that even possible..."

Han Zhou frowned, about to deny Mo Yixia's statement, when suddenly a thought struck him, and he exclaimed absentmindedly, "Footprints on the beach! This can also be seen as a kind of paranormal phenomenon!"

“That’s right. Since you can see footprints that don’t exist, there are naturally people who can see so-called ghosts, and the two can be connected.”

Han Zhou understood Mo Yixia's meaning. If both ghosts and footprints were considered "paranormal phenomena" and the two were to be linked, then the only thing that could be the common point was people.

The girls' dormitory is haunted, and the hotel is haunted... If you had to find someone who could connect the two things, Xiao Xiaoxiao would undoubtedly be the most suitable person.

No, not necessarily...

Han Zhou asked doubtfully, "Do you mean that both of these things are related to Xiao Xiaoxiao? But the guzheng also fits the criteria."

Mo Yixia sighed and said helplessly, "You and she have slept in the same room. How could you not know if there's anything wrong with her?"

Han Zhou choked and almost spat out the cola in his mouth, feeling that the other person's words were strange.

This evidence is actually not quite correct. Although he slept in the same room as Guzheng, he did not get up at night to observe the situation outside. However, Guzheng was a boarding student in high school and had never heard of similar rumors about girls' dormitories. This should prove that the ghost story has nothing to do with Guzheng.

He shook his head and said, "These two things alone are not enough to prove that Xiao Xiaoxiao is the cause of the 'haunting'."

"So all you need to do is find out if the girls' dormitory was haunted during the days you were gone, and if it has recovered recently, isn't that enough?"

Han Zhou thought the same thing, so he immediately sent a message to Gu Zheng. After thinking for a moment, he also sent messages to the class monitor Tang Wenshuang and the vice class monitor Deng Xue to inquire. These were the only two girls he was close to in the class, and that was only because they had been communicating frequently during the recent social events.

It's obviously too late to inquire about something that happened a week ago now. Most people will answer based on vague impressions. Asking one person isn't enough; you have to ask enough people to get the answer.

Gu Zheng didn't ask anything and quickly replied that she would immediately inquire with the girls in her class.

After learning that this matter was important, Tang Wenshuang and Deng Xue, who were preparing for the social event, also said they would help, but they were a little curious as to why he was paying attention to this matter.

Han Zhou replied that he had recently become quite interested in this kind of thing, and after promising the two that he would attend the social event on time, he ended the chat.

“I’ve already asked around among the girls I know, but it will take some time to get the results. I haven’t told Xiaoxiao yet, otherwise, if your judgment is true, I’m afraid she’ll overthink it.” He put away his phone and said to Mo Yixia beside him.

"I see."

Mo Yixia, unusually interested in something, seemed to still be pondering, "You really can't remember anything?"

"I can't remember." Han Zhou shook his head regretfully, then looked surprised and sighed, "Speaking of which, you're really quite accepting of this kind of abnormal phenomenon. You believed me as soon as I told you."

“Of course I believe you,” Mo Yixia said in a matter-of-fact tone. “So you’d better not try to lie to me.”

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Then I'd have to be able to fool you first."

Just then, he suddenly realized something was wrong—

Based on current inferences, his encounter with Xiao Xiaoxiao should have occurred two years ago. At that time, he and Guzheng were already in close contact. If he really had a deep connection with Xiao Xiaoxiao, it wouldn't be surprising if Guzheng recognized her and had a sense of déjà vu.

But what about Mo Yixia?
It's important to know that he only met Mo Yixia this summer. It's impossible for Xiao Xiaoxiao to have had any interaction with her two years ago, unless Xiao Xiaoxiao was constantly running around them at that time. But that's highly unlikely, since Mo Yixia had almost no freedom back then. She was confined to school and home to study every day, so there was no opportunity for her to see Xiao Xiaoxiao regularly.

Then the problem comes...

Why did Mo Yixia have an impression of Xiao Xiaoxiao?

If Xiao Xiaoxiao and Mo Yixia were to meet, what would they remember?

(End of this chapter)