Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 263 Not yet

Knowing that her aunt, who considered herself a "guest," wouldn't be so considerate as to open the door, Ouyang Lianyu pushed her wheelchair to the door and opened it.

"You are here."

Seeing Mo Yixia wearing a mask and a baseball cap, she was slightly taken aback, feeling that the girl looked somewhat familiar, but she didn't show it. She nodded slightly to the other girl and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Come in and sit down."

Han Zhou and Mo Yixia entered the room. Mo Yixia closed the door behind her, while Han Zhou instinctively grabbed the handle behind the wheelchair and said awkwardly, "Excuse me, Professor Ouyang, there's another apartment building next to this one. I went to the wrong place along the way and bought some things, so I was delayed... And who is this?"

He pushed Ouyang Lianyu into the room, placing the fruit he had bought on the table as he spoke. Then, as if belatedly realizing something, he looked at the woman on the sofa with a puzzled expression.

Mo Yixia glanced at him and silently watched as he put on his clumsy acting.

They weren't careless fools; how could they have gone to the wrong place? They arrived at the door a few minutes ago, but this guy hadn't knocked; instead, he was standing at the door eavesdropping.

"It's okay. I also easily got lost when I first arrived. This is my aunt."

Han Zhou's poor acting was only apparent to Mo Yixia; to most people, it seemed quite sincere. At least Ouyang Lianyu didn't notice anything amiss. She smiled slightly, introduced the woman's identity, and then said, "Please make yourselves at home. I'll get you some water."

"No need for that, we're not thirsty."

Han Zhou calmly grabbed Ouyang Lianyu's wheelchair, turned his head and greeted the woman with a smile, "Hello, Auntie, we are Ouyang's students, and we are here to help."

Hello everyone.

The woman smiled elegantly, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. Such a handsome young man was a rare sight. Although the girl was wearing a mask, it was not hard to tell that she was a pretty girl, but she seemed to lack manners.

She turned her head and glanced at the motionless Ouyang Lianyu, saying indifferently, "Lianyu, have you forgotten the Ouyang family's precepts again? Even if the guest doesn't need tea out of politeness, the host should still show proper etiquette. Why don't you go and get the tea?"

Before Ouyang Lianyu could speak, Han Zhou laughed and said, "No need, Auntie. We've drunk several bottles of water on the way, and we can't drink anything now."

The woman shook her head slightly: "It has nothing to do with how much water you drank. This is the Ouyang family's way of treating guests, and we cannot neglect etiquette."

What the hell is this Ouyang family's hospitality? I've never heard Teacher Ouyang mention that the Ouyang family is some kind of big family...

Han Zhou thought to himself, "This woman is really putting on airs." He then smiled and said, "Then I'll go get it myself. Teacher Ouyang isn't able to move around easily right now, so there's no need to trouble her."

He had heard it clearly outside the door. This woman only knew how to act like an elder or a guest, and she didn't consider her niece's health at all. How could she be so harsh on a patient in a wheelchair for not making tea for her?

Ignoring the woman's gaze, he took two glasses of water from the refrigerator, handed one to Mo Yixia, and when she shook her head, he put one glass back in the refrigerator, kept the other in his hand, and then sat down next to Mo Yixia.

Upon seeing the glass in Han Zhou's hand, Ouyang Lianyu's expression changed slightly. She seemed hesitant to speak, but unsure if she had used the glass, she said tactfully, "Han Zhou, didn't you just say you drank a lot of water on the way here?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

"N-nothing... I just wanted to ask what kind of water you were drinking?"

"Full of bad intentions."

Before Han Zhou could speak, the girl next to him said something indifferent.

"what?"

Ouyang Lianyu was stunned for a moment, then realized that the voice sounded familiar. She quickly remembered who the other person was, "Yixia, you are Yixia, right?"

"It was me. I was just joking when I said that."

Mo Yixia took off her mask, revealing her delicate face. She didn't like people calling her by her name directly, except for the guy next to her. But since she was this guy's teacher, it didn't matter.

Ouyang Lianyu was somewhat lost in thought. As a woman herself, she had to admit that the girl in front of her was quite stunning. Even though it wasn't the first time she had seen her, she still couldn't take her eyes off her.

Ouyang Lianyu's aunt was also lost in thought. She had never seen such a beautiful and unique girl before, and she wondered about her family's financial situation.

She asked softly, "Your name is Yixia, right?"

Seeing that Mo Yixia seemed too lazy to answer, Han Zhou had no choice but to speak up: "Mo, her surname is Mo, and her full name is Mo Yixia."

"A nice name," the woman said with a smile. "May I call you Yixia?"

“No.” Mo Yixia shook her head. “I don’t like strangers using overly affectionate terms to address me.”

She nudged Han Zhou with her elbow, and he immediately understood, laughing, "Sorry, Yi Xia doesn't really like talking to strangers. Just ask me if you have any questions."

As she spoke, she picked up the cup and took a sip of water. Ouyang Lianyu wanted to stop her, but it was too late. She could only silently pray that this was not the cup she had used.

“It’s alright.” The woman maintained her elegant demeanor, then asked, “Are you two on good terms?”

"is very good."

Han Zhou readily admitted that he didn't really want to talk to this woman, but since she was Teacher Ouyang's elder, he greeted her with a smile mainly to give Teacher Ouyang face, lest she later say that a teacher couldn't even teach students well.

It has to be said that having a relative who likes to use their seniority to act superior is quite suffocating.

Fortunately, he had little contact with his relatives throughout his life.

"A couple?" the woman continued to ask.

Faced with this question, Mo Yixia, who had initially shown little interest, immediately looked at Han Zhou with great interest. Ouyang Lianyu also became interested. She had always had doubts about Han Zhou's love life, but had not found a suitable opportunity to ask, so she cared a lot about his answer.

That's really bringing up the very thing I shouldn't have said...

Han Zhou had a bit of a headache. What's wrong with people these days? Why do they always ask if a man and a woman are on good terms as soon as they see them together? And if the answer is yes, they always ask if they're a couple?
Why do they have to be lovers? Can't they just be friends?

Well... pure friendship between men and women may exist, but it's clearly not between him and Mo Yixia.

Facing the gazes of Mo Yixia and Ouyang Lianyu, Han Zhou did not hesitate for long, and said with a slightly serious expression, "Not yet."

This is an ambiguous answer, but in nature it is much better than "friendship". It can be understood that he has such thoughts, but for various reasons he cannot realize them for the time being.

Ouyang Lianyu felt conflicted. She realized that this was actually Han Zhou's answer to her; his relationship with Gu Zheng was clearly unusual, and now he had indirectly revealed his relationship with Mo Yixia, obviously telling her that her previous suspicions were correct.

This student of hers really is a scumbag. The woman asked, somewhat puzzled, "What do you mean by 'not yet'?"

"It means we're not a couple yet, but we will be someday," Mo Yixia answered her question casually. "This is a matter between us, so please don't ask any more questions."

The woman was taken aback, then frowned slightly and said, "You're being incredibly rude, child..."

Mo Yixia remained noncommittal, picked up the cup in front of Han Zhou, took a sip of water, and said unhurriedly, "Would you mind talking to us about your relationship with your husband?"

Ouyang Lianyu opened her mouth. Wasn't this obviously an indirect kiss?

If she used this cup, wouldn't that mean all three of them indirectly kissed?
Her mind went blank.

Han Zhou didn't notice this at all. Ouyang Lianyu's refrigerator was filled with many glasses of water, so he didn't think much of it.

"Yixia, speak properly."

Looking at the composed girl beside him, he pretended to offer a reminder, but inwardly he wanted to laugh. Mo Yixia was certainly not an impolite person, but her indifferent nature meant she was not bound by etiquette and hierarchy. Coupled with her almost mind-reading ability, she was quite offensive in her words.

He had a feeling that the guy was about to ask about sex, but he stopped asking after seeing Ouyang Lianyu.

"Oh."

Mo Yixia responded lazily, but without any intention of apologizing, "If it's considered impolite to be bothered by others asking about one's personal love life, then this is my answer."

Ouyang Lianyu was stunned. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt like the other person was talking to her too.

Before she could speak, her aunt suddenly picked up her bag and stood up, saying indifferently, "Lianyu, I have something to do, so I'll leave first. You should educate your student properly. I'll come back in a few days."

After speaking, she left the room quickly in her high heels without giving the others a chance to reply.

Seeing the door slam shut, Ouyang Lianyu gave a wry smile. Han Zhou, thinking she was angry, quickly stood up and apologized, "I'm sorry, Teacher Ouyang, Yixia didn't mean it... okay, she did mean it, but she..."

"Okay, I know what you want to say."

Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him, and said with a wry smile, "You guys were actually eavesdropping outside the door the whole time, weren't you?"

"How did you know?" Han Zhou asked in surprise.

"Although there are two apartment buildings nearby, they are quite far apart. No one would easily get lost."

"Then you said back then that you'd also gotten lost before..."

"That's obviously nonsense," Ouyang Lianyu said helplessly.

Han Zhou was skeptical and subconsciously looked at Mo Yixia, hoping that this "human lie detector" could help him see if Ouyang Lianyu was lying.

Mo Yixia ignored him.

He sighed, abandoning the idea, and looked at Ouyang Lianyu in the wheelchair, asking, "Teacher Ouyang, you wouldn't happen to be a runaway heiress from some powerful family, would you?"

"Of course not, why do you ask?"

"Your aunt kept mentioning the Ouyang family, it sounded like they were very powerful."

Ouyang Lianyu didn't really want to gossip about others behind their backs, but after thinking about it, she felt that it didn't count as gossip, so she explained with a wry smile: "That's because she's now a wealthy lady and likes to consider herself as someone from high society. Her husband's family is rich, but her own family and several siblings are from ordinary families. She's worried about losing face when she goes out, so she likes to consider herself as someone from a scholarly family and often mentions the Ouyang family."

Han Zhou seemed thoughtful, then asked curiously, "So the Ouyang family really is a scholarly family?"

"Not really. My grandfather told me that one of our ancestors was a high-ranking official, but that was many years ago."

Ouyang Lianyu smiled, pushed her wheelchair to the table, picked up the cup on the table, and said, "This is just ordinary purified water. Let me get you some drinks."

"No need," Han Zhou shook his head. "We weren't thirsty to begin with. If your aunt hadn't insisted that you talk about hospitality, I wouldn't have even taken this glass of water."

Why did you drink the water if you weren't thirsty...?

Ouyang Lianyu was now certain that this was the cup she had used. She smiled bitterly to herself, but did not show it. She said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't call you here for anything else. My aunt always thinks I can't take good care of myself. She thinks that even if I fainted at home one day, no one would find out. That's why I called you. I hope I didn't bother you?"

"No, what could I possibly have to do on the weekend? But if you really feel guilty, teacher, then you could consider giving me a day off tomorrow," Han Zhou said with a smile.

"Don't even think about it."

Ouyang Lianyu gave him a disgruntled look, glanced at the wall clock, and smiled, "It's almost noon, why don't you stay at my house for lunch?"

"Sure, but Professor Ouyang, are you even capable of cooking in your current condition?"

Ouyang Lianyu's smile froze as she realized that she was now having difficulty even cooking. If she were just cooking for herself, it would be fine and she wouldn't need to be too particular, but since she was entertaining guests, she couldn't be so casual.

She was a little embarrassed and said shyly, "Then let's go out to eat, it's on me."

Han Zhou looked her over for a while and chuckled, "Let's forget it. You'd have a hard time eating out like this. You'd probably need a spoon. I might as well cook for you."

“How can this be…” Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback.

"What's wrong with that? Didn't you just say that you're a beloved teacher who can have students come to take care of you just by waving your hand?"

Han Zhou smiled and walked to the refrigerator to check what vegetables were in it.

"I never said that..."

Ouyang Lianyu blushed slightly. Although she had said something similar, she hadn't meant it at all. Being brought it up again now inevitably made her feel ashamed.

However, she could tell that Han Zhou was actually trying to cheer her up, and that cooking for her was his way of refuting her aunt's words—even if she were truly unconscious at home and unable to move, she wouldn't be without someone to rely on.

Han Zhou never asked her about being pressured to get married by her family, nor did he bring up the conflict between her and her parents. It seemed that as long as she didn't bring it up herself, he wouldn't ask easily.

This is undoubtedly a sign of respect for her.

Ouyang Lianyu felt a warm glow in her heart.

(End of this chapter)