Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 281 Zhong Yin's Call
"Guzheng, Guzheng, I saw your sweetheart at the social event!"

At Ouyang Lianyu's home, Gu Zheng, who was tightening screws on her wheelchair, suddenly received a message from her roommate.

Her face flushed slightly, and she put down the screwdriver, replying, "You mean Han Zhou?"

To this day, she has begun to correct her bad habit of subconsciously denying her feelings for Han Zhou. She believes that as long as she continues to practice like this, she will be able to handle it easily and without revealing any flaws, even if Han Zhou suddenly confesses to her in the future.

"Yes, that heartless man was wearing a hat and a mask, but I still recognized him."

"What heartless man?" Gu Zheng frowned.

This roommate was clearly a straightforward person, and immediately retorted indignantly, "He's currently at a social event with Senior Zhong Ling, and he even invited you to dance tonight. Now he's flirting with other girls. What else could he be but a heartless man?"

Gu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief: "You've misunderstood. Han Zhou told me about this. Don't spread rumors."

"you know?"

"Ah."

"You knew that you had to hold hands to participate in this event?" The roommate thought Guzheng had been deceived.

"I know," Gu Zheng said, somewhat annoyed. "He told me."

Her displeasure didn't stem from Han Zhou or Zhong Ling, but from Teacher Ouyang's aunt. If it weren't for that woman's interference, she would be the one participating in the event with Han Zhou now.

"You don't mind this at all?" My roommate seemed dumbfounded.

"Of course I mind a little, but I trust Han Zhou and my senior, they won't do anything wrong..." Gu Zheng changed the last sentence, "They won't lie to me."

She was telling the truth. If it were another girl, she might have been more wary, but Senior Zhong Ling is a very innocent girl and would never do anything to steal someone else's love.

"You don't mind if we hug each other?"

"I don't mind..." Gu Zheng was about to deny it when her heart suddenly skipped a beat. "What do you mean by hugging each other?"

My roommate quickly replied: "The challenge they're playing is called 'Ashamed of Yourself.' It requires two people to stand on a newspaper, which keeps folding. The two people need to stay on the newspaper to win. If anyone's feet fall off the newspaper, it's a loss. To win, you have to pick up the other person from behind. Do you understand what I mean?"

Gu Zheng stared blankly, automatically conjuring up an ambiguous scene in her mind—

On a newspaper folded to the size of a palm, Han Zhou stood on one leg, holding a cute girl curled up in his arms. Because he needed to hold her hand the whole time, he had to adopt a rather strange posture to hold her, so that their bodies were pressed tightly together, their faces less than a centimeter apart, gazing deeply into each other's eyes in the quiet air.

Han Zhou's body trembled, but he still managed to hold the girl in his arms with difficulty, and whispered, "Don't be afraid, we will win."

The short-haired girl in his arms had her ears turning red, and she covered her burning cheeks with one hand, asking shyly, "Am I too heavy?"

"Of course not, you're lighter than a feather."

"You...you're just talking nonsense. If I were really that light, you wouldn't be trembling all over."

Han Zhou shook his head and laughed, "I couldn't stand steadily not because you're heavy, but because I couldn't help myself when I looked at you so closely."

The girl's face flushed even more, her beauty radiant: "What do you mean by 'unable to control oneself'?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to resist kissing him."

"You...you...you...what nonsense are you talking about!"

"Guzheng, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time."

"What's up……"

I like you more than anyone else.

"Me too... um, no, there are so many people watching..."

Are you shy?

"It's, it's not..."

Seeing Gu Zheng staring blankly at her phone, her cheeks flushed a terrible red, Ouyang Lianyu, who was working on the sofa, was startled and quickly asked, "Gu Zheng, what's wrong?"

She already felt guilty. Although there was a reason for what happened, she had still deceived the girl. She not only took advantage of the girl's trust but also made her do so many chores for no reason. If the girl got sick from the exhaustion, she would never be able to forgive herself.

"Guzheng? Guzheng?"

The repeated calls finally pulled Gu Zheng back from her increasingly erratic thoughts. She quickly covered her red lips, which were painted with lipstick, looking both happy and sad, with a lost and forlorn expression.

"W-what's wrong, Teacher Ouyang?"

"I was just about to ask you, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

Noticing the burning sensation on her cheeks, Guzheng quickly said, "It's nothing, I just suddenly feel a little hot."

Ouyang Lianyu clearly didn't believe it and shook her head, saying, "Come here and let the teacher touch your forehead."

"No need, I'm really fine."

Gu Zheng's mind flashed back to the scene she had just imagined, and her face flushed even more. However, she quickly realized that the girl in the scene was not herself, but Senior Zhong Ling.

Her expression immediately darkened.

Ouyang Lianyu naturally didn't understand why Gu Zheng's expression kept changing, but recalling her earlier action of checking her phone, she couldn't help but feel flustered—

Could it be that Gu Zheng discovered Han Zhou's plan?
Just then, Guzheng suddenly spoke up and asked, "Teacher Ouyang, can I ask you something?"

His tone was low, and he was clearly in a bad mood.

really……

Ouyang Lianyu's heart sank, but she forced a smile and said, "Ask away..."

Her thoughts raced as she considered how to cover for Han Zhou. After all, the die was cast, and only by continuing the lie could she avoid hurting both Han Zhou and Gu Zheng.

Although this is only temporary.

"You don't have to answer if it's inconvenient for you."

"Okay... okay."

With Ouyang Lianyu in a state of extreme tension, Gu Zheng gripped the screwdriver tightly and asked through gritted teeth:
Could you please tell me your aunt's address?

"what?"

A question mark appeared above Ouyang Lianyu's head. ...

"Are all social events these days so extravagant...?"

Upon hearing the game rules, which were described as "utterly shameful," Han Zhou couldn't help but gasp. He could naturally imagine the same scenario that Gu Zheng had envisioned, though not nearly as dramatic. If it were just about participation, that would be fine, but both Gu Zheng and Mo Yixia demanded that he win, which meant he would inevitably have to reach that point sooner or later.

He held Zhong Ling in his arms.

He looked at the girl in front of him. Zhong Ling could obviously have imagined that outcome. Her face flushed slightly, and she said softly, "It's okay, it doesn't matter if we lose."

I wonder if those two guys will regret it...

Han Zhou thought to himself, then smiled and said, "As long as you don't mind, senior, we're sure to win."

“I don’t mind.” Zhong Ling shook her head. She wasn’t really confident, but since her junior thought it was possible, she thought it was possible too.

At the host's prompting, two boys quickly brought ten newspapers, folded them twice, and placed them at the feet of the group.

The host laughed and said, "Everyone is already clear on the rules. The previous ones were too easy, so we'll skip them. The competition is about to begin. You need to stay on the newspaper for more than ten seconds to advance."

Seeing that everyone had stepped on the newspaper, he then pressed the timer in his hand.

The newspaper, after being folded twice, was only about the width of two books, making it difficult for two people to stand comfortably on it. Since the rules required them to hold hands at all times, their standing positions were quite limited, either facing each other or back to back, which was enough to create a relatively ambiguous atmosphere.

Han Zhou and Zhong Ling chose to stand face to face on tiptoe, which was also the way most men and women present chose to stand. They held each other's hands, stood on tiptoe and moved closer to each other to maintain their center of gravity.

It was obvious that this way of standing was quite ambiguous. Zhong Ling's face was almost pressed against Han Zhou's chest. Through a trench coat, she couldn't feel his heartbeat, but she could smell his masculine scent, a dry and pleasant smell with the fresh scent of laundry detergent.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she found that her breathing seemed a little heavier.

At this moment, Han Zhou could also smell Zhong Ling's scent. Unlike the scents on Gu Zheng and Mo Yixia, it was a completely different fragrance with a hint of sweetness.

He still doesn't know whether the scent is the girl's natural body odor or the scent of the shower gel, but one thing is certain: the scent is very attractive.

The boys watching were filled with envy, and Chen Long, who had just failed to enter the third round, was even more heartbroken and indignant, regretting that he had missed such a golden opportunity.

He looked at his sworn brother Chen Zheng with grief and indignation, and almost burst out laughing.

Compared to the other pairs, Chen Zheng and the shy girl's standing posture was quite unique. Although they were also holding hands, they were not facing each other. Instead, they were sideways with their bodies close together, each with one leg on the newspaper and the other bent and hanging in the air. Their heads were facing different directions, and they refused to look at each other, as if their embarrassment was written all over their faces.

These two are really talented... Chen Long quickly used his phone to record this beautiful scene.

At the same time, Chen Zheng, with his head down and eyes lowered, kept repeating a sentence in his mind.

"She is Chen Long, she is Chen Long, she is Chen Long..."

He didn't know that the girl was also silently reciting a sentence in her heart at that moment.

"He's not a man, he's not a man, he's not a man..."

Folding the newspaper twice was not difficult for the contestants, so no one was eliminated after the first round. However, as the newspaper was folded in half again, everyone's expressions became distressed.

A foothold the size of a book, while still allowing for a tiptoeing approach to face the opponent, significantly increases the difficulty. Such a small area offers virtually no room for error; losing your footing means failure.

Someone thought of using the method that Chen Zheng and the others had just used. Although the posture was comical, it was actually feasible. However, compared to before, the current foothold could only accommodate half of each person's foot, unless they stood on tiptoe one after the other.

"what should we do?"

Before each round of the competition begins, there are ten seconds to discuss the standing strategy. Seeing that the others have already taken action, Zhong Ling asked nervously, "Should we use the same method as before?"

"That's not safe."

Han Zhou shook his head and casually said, "You can step on my feet."

Zhong Ling stared blankly for a moment, then shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum: "How can this be?"

"It's okay, at most my shoes will just get dirty, I'll wash them when I get back anyway."

"I'm not worried about that, I... I'm afraid of hurting you if I step on you."

"Are you kidding me?" Han Zhou laughed. "Hurry up and come on up, it's almost time."

Although she is plump, Zhong Ling is a very slender girl overall, and there is no way she could hurt him by stepping on her.

Zhong Ling hesitated, but time was running out, so she had no choice but to agree to Han Zhou's plan and step on his tiptoes.

To maintain her balance, she had to grab the other person's shoulder with one hand, and the two remained face to face, pressed tightly together.

Zhong Ling's movement was hasty, so Han Zhou clearly felt what it meant to dribble a ball and charge at someone. It was soft and seemingly had a lot of elasticity. He was inwardly alarmed, but on the surface, he remained calm so as not to let others notice anything amiss. He simply wrapped his arms around Zhong Ling's waist to prevent her from losing her balance.

"I'm so envious..."

Chen Long, standing in the crowd, looked on with envy and sighed, expressing the sentiments of many men. However, it must be said that Han Zhou's foundation was quite solid; most people couldn't do what he did.

He turned to look at Chen Zheng and couldn't help but laugh out loud again.

The other person's stance was equally stunning. They each left one foot on the newspaper, tiptoed, and leaned forward, just barely passing each other. One hand was tightly clasped together, while the other hand stretched forward to be level with the raised leg behind them, thus maintaining their balance.

Chen Long was amazed. Were these two here to compete or to dance?
After the second round of competition, a total of five teams were eliminated, and with the newspaper being folded in half for the fourth time, the difficulty of the next round of competition increased dramatically.

Of course, for some guys who think they are physically strong, this round is not difficult. They just need to stand on one leg and pick up the girl. This is a method that almost everyone can think of. However, there is still some difficulty. After all, you need to hold hands with one hand, which means that you can only use one hand to exert force when picking up the girl, which tests your arm strength.

Of course, this was not something Han Zhou needed to worry about. Picking up Zhong Ling was a piece of cake for him. The only thing he needed to worry about was whether Mo Yixia would be unhappy about it. However, when he thought that he was fulfilling the other party's request, he didn't have any distracting thoughts and naturally relaxed.

"Senior, from now on I'll be the one carrying you," he said.

"Mm." Zhong Ling nodded gently, encouragingly saying, "I'll try my best to be gentle."

Han Zhou laughed: "How can I make myself feel lighter?"

Zhong Ling blushed slightly and lowered her head, remaining silent.

Just then, her cell phone rang, the ringtone being a very gentle melody.

This ringtone is exclusive and can only be owned by one person.

It was obvious that the caller was her sister, Zhong Yin.

(End of this chapter)