Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 313 Toothache
Should we help her look for it?

The rain was getting heavier, and the damp, cold wind kept blowing into the car. Zhong Ling looked out at the gloomy sky with a worried expression.

"This kind of weather is hard to find."

Han Zhou considered carefully and said, "The best way is to go to the staff and see if we can access the park's surveillance footage. This is much better than us searching for a needle in a haystack."

The zoo covers a large area with complex terrain and dense jungle, so finding such a small dog is not an easy task.

“We’ve already asked the staff, and the surveillance footage does show a white dog running into the zoo. But that’s about it. There are a lot of blind spots in the zoo’s surveillance system, and the dog just happened to disappear into one of them,” said Mo Yixia, who was sitting in the front.

"Then we should be able to find it by searching along the blind spots of the surveillance cameras, right?" Zhong Ling asked tentatively.

Han Zhou felt that this method was unlikely to be feasible, but he still relayed the message to Mo Yixia.

"Theoretically, that's true. But let's not even talk about how checking each blind spot in the surveillance would take a lot of time. Even if we confirmed the location of all the blind spots early on, it would be difficult for us to get to all the locations in a short time. Not to mention that there are some places we simply can't get into."

Mo Yixia also felt that this method was not feasible. After a pause, she continued, "And this is based on the premise that the dog is staying in a blind spot of the surveillance camera and not moving at all."

Han Zhou understood what Mo Yixia meant. In a place like a zoo, there are too many possibilities for a dog to go missing. No one can guarantee that the dog is really waiting in a blind spot of the surveillance cameras for its owner to find it.

It's important to know that some animals may be harmless to humans, but they may not necessarily be friendly to dogs.

Wang Lengqiu probably understood this as well, and had likely made many attempts before finally falling asleep because he was too tired to continue.

Looking at the thin figure ahead, whose coat was soaked with sweat, Han Zhou couldn't help but sigh.

After listening to Mo Yixia's words, Zhong Ling also realized the difficulty of finding the puppy and hesitated, "So, are we not going to help look for it?"

She actually wanted to help, but lacking her own opinions and not wanting to trouble her junior and Yixia with her ideas, she decided to let them make the decision and just follow along.

Unexpectedly, Han Zhou immediately threw the question back at him: "What do you think, senior?"

"Me? I hear..."

"I'll listen to you, senior," Han Zhou interrupted her.

"Huh?" Zhong Ling was startled and exclaimed in panic, "But I..."

“I’ll listen to my senior too,” Mo Yixia said slowly, glancing back at the two of them.

Seeing that both of them were looking at her, Zhong Ling froze. After stammering for a while, she finally lowered her head in frustration, clutching her small cloth bag with both hands, and whispered, "I want to help her..."

Han Zhou smiled, turned to look at Mo Yixia, and relayed, "Senior sister said she wants to help her."

The latter looked at him meaningfully for a moment: "Is it just that your senior wants to help?"

"Anyway, we're just killing time." Han Zhou rubbed his nose. "Isn't that what you thought too? Otherwise, why would we bring her to the car?"

"Let's go then."

Mo Yixia remained noncommittal, turned the car around, and drove down the slope.

"Where are we going?" Zhong Ling looked up and asked curiously.

"It's unlikely that the dog ran to this area. It should have stayed somewhere near the zoo entrance without moving, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to avoid the cameras all the time."

Zhong Ling's eyes lit up, but Mo Yixia immediately poured cold water on her, "Don't be so happy yet. Maybe it is moving, we just can't see it."

It's also possible that it's already unable to move...

Han Zhou silently added in his mind, and said, "Anyway, let's go and take a look first, and do our best."

Zhong Ling felt somewhat lost, sensing that her junior and Yi Xia didn't seem to have much hope of finding the dog.

The sightseeing bus was moving slowly in the rain. The three of them remained silent the whole way, and even when they did talk, they kept their voices down so as not to wake Wang Lengqiu.

Zhong Ling was initially careful to control the volume, but she quickly realized that she didn't seem to need to worry about this issue, and for a moment she didn't know whether she should be happy or not.

She looked at the thin girl directly in front of her. Whether it was because she felt cold or because she was having a nightmare, Wang Lengqiu's body was trembling slightly, as if she might wake up at any moment.

She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently patted the girl's back. After thinking for a while, she began to hum softly again.

Seeing Han Zhou's curious gaze, she smiled slightly and said somewhat shyly, "When I was little, I had trouble sleeping, and my sister liked to use this method to lull me to sleep. But I can't sing as well as my sister..."

At this point, she belatedly realized another problem: apart from her junior, no one else could hear her singing. She felt even more embarrassed and didn't know whether she should continue singing.

Han Zhou saw through her thoughts, shook his head and smiled, "Although only I can hear it for now, you sing very well, much better than me."

These words came from the heart. Zhong Ling's voice was naturally soft and sweet, and when she sang, it was exceptionally gentle, like a gentle breeze in March.

“Singing better than you is nothing to brag about,” Mo Yixia said abruptly.

Han Zhou pretended not to hear, hummed a couple of lines of the melody Zhong Ling had just sung, and asked, "Yi Xia, can you sing this song?"

Of course, he hadn't forgotten that Mo Yixia was a truly talented singer.

"meeting."

Mo Yixia nodded, pondered for a moment, and continued, "Also, I take back what I just said. Being better at singing than you should be a basic requirement for being a human being."

"That's going too far..." Han Zhou retorted, "Does being tone-deaf mean you deserve to be expelled from the human race?"

Mo Yixia glanced back at him: "Who do you think the phrase 'tone-deaf' is used to describe?"

You mean I'm tone-deaf?

Han Zhou felt as if a sharp sword had pierced his heart. He had always thought that his singing was just average, but now he was being criticized for being tone-deaf. How could he bear it?
He was filled with grief and indignation, and immediately turned to look at Zhong Ling, wanting her to give an objective evaluation.

"Senior, tell me honestly, how good is my singing?"

Zhong Ling paused, tugged at the small cloth bag at her waist, and forced a smile, saying, "I think it's actually fine..."

Mo Yixia couldn't hear Zhong Ling's words, but she could infer her answer from her expression, and said, "It's okay, senior. What someone needs is an objective and truthful evaluation."

Zhong Ling hesitated for a moment, then, seeing the approving look in Han Zhou's eyes, cautiously said, "There...there's still a lot of room for improvement..."

She clenched her little fists and placed them in front of her chest with an encouraging look.

Han Zhou was struck dumb.

Seeing his expression, Mo Yixia looked away with satisfaction and said slowly, "So you want me to 'sing' for my senior?"

"Hmm." Han Zhou nodded stiffly, though it was more of a whim than a genuine thought.

Mo Yixia did not refuse, and her clear and melodious singing voice soon filled the car.

"That sounds so good..."

Zhong Ling's mouth was slightly open, clearly shocked by Mo Yixia's singing. She quickly came to her senses and gently patted Wang Lengqiu's back in rhythm with the song.

Outside the car, a fierce storm raged, but inside, the atmosphere was peaceful.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Wang Lengqiu's body didn't seem to be trembling as much as before.

Mo Yixia's beautiful singing voice surrounded him, but Han Zhou had no heart to enjoy it. Instead, the more he listened, the more uncomfortable he felt, still unable to accept the fact that he was tone-deaf.

You know, he successfully hypnotized Xiao Xiaoxiao with his singing a few days ago. Although he had the boost from the status bar, putting aside the status bar, doesn't he have any real talent?

He reluctantly took out his phone and sent a message to Guzheng.

"Guzheng, I have a very important question to ask you."

"You don't mean to ask me what I think of my senior, do you?" Gu Zheng always replies to messages very quickly.

"No, do you remember the choir competition in your second year of high school?"

Han Zhou's high school life was not just about studying. His second year of high school was relatively free, and it also happened to be the 70th anniversary of the school, so many activities were held, including a choir competition.

"I remember, our class got first place, so what?"

"Do you remember when you were the class monitor and you made everyone sing in front of you one by one to check the training results?"

"Why bring this up all of a sudden?" Guzheng asked suspiciously. "You're not just now trying to say I'm too strict, are you?"

"No, I just want to confirm something."

Han Zhou took a deep breath and asked expressionlessly, "When I sang in front of you, you said you had a toothache and kept covering your face... Actually, you didn't have a toothache at all, you were just trying hard to hold back your laughter, right?"

……

Although Gu Zheng's answer was quite tactful, stating that their class winning first place in the choir competition was enough to prove that everyone in the class had the ability to sing, Han Zhou still drew a cruel conclusion from it—

I'm definitely not good at singing.

That's right, it's just that I'm not good at singing, not that I'm tone-deaf.

He repeatedly reassured himself and soon regained his confidence.

"Junior, are you alright?" Zhong Ling asked with concern.

"She's alright, how is she?"

Han Zhou refers to Wang Lengqiu.

"She seems to be asleep, but she's still trembling a bit," Zhong Ling said worriedly. "I'm worried she might have caught a cold. It would be best if she took off her wet coat and put on something thicker."

Han Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Let her rest first. It won't take long anyway. We'll wake her up when we find the dog."

"What if we can't find it?" Zhong Ling asked worriedly.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the rainwater flowing down the slope had become turbulent, which made her a little worried and gave her a bad feeling.

"If we can't find it, we'll just have to give up."

Han Zhou shook his head and looked at Mo Yixia, who was driving, "Yixia, do you know which direction that dog disappeared from in the surveillance footage?"

"It disappeared after disappearing into the bushes, so theoretically it could be from any direction. I personally lean towards the two roads on the left because the camera coverage there is smaller and there are more blind spots."

Han Zhou frowned slightly: "If I remember correctly, it seems that over there is..."

Amidst the lightning and thunder, Mo Yixia spoke up, continuing his words: "That's right, that's the 'Beast Zone'."

The so-called predator zone does not refer to an area entirely populated by large predators, but it does contain a number of large animals. Although there are fences separating the area, these predators are not likely to pose a threat to humans. However, for the safety of visitors, the zoo has still put up a warning sign at the entrance.

Zhong Ling paused for a moment, and seeing Han Zhou's serious expression, she asked nervously, "What's wrong? Are you worried that the puppy will get hurt by other animals? It shouldn't, right?"

“That dog is quite small, and some gaps in the fence might not be enough to stop it,” Han Zhou explained. “But don’t worry too much, this is the worst-case scenario. Dogs have a very keen sense of instinct and shouldn’t run into dangerous places.”

The sightseeing bus continued for a while, and then two forks appeared ahead. Mo Yixia stopped the bus and said, "We've arrived. If we want to be efficient, we'd better split up and look for something else."

Han Zhou picked up the umbrella at his feet, stood up and said, "Then I'll go to the left road. You guys drive on the right and call me if you find anything."

"I'm helping people find their dogs in this heavy rain. I guess I've lived up to my reputation as a 'passionate youth'..." he thought to himself. He was about to get off the bus when his right hand was suddenly grasped by a slightly cold little hand.

Turning around in surprise, she saw Zhong Ling with a worried expression and a trembling voice saying, "It's raining so hard, why don't you stay in the car? We can drive and search slowly..."

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Senior, have you forgotten? We're in a hurry now, so we can't take our time looking. I'll be back soon."

However, Zhong Ling showed no sign of letting go; instead, she tightened her grip even more, as if afraid that he would disappear into the heavy rain at any moment.

"I'm not looking anymore..."

"what?"

"I said we're not looking anymore, okay?"

Zhong Ling suddenly changed her attitude, grabbing Han Zhou's hands with both of them, a pleading look in her eyes, determined not to let him get out of the car.

"why……"

Han Zhou paused for a moment, about to ask a question, but quickly realized that this might be related to the passing of Zhong Ling's parents.

He knew that Zhong Ling had planned to visit the zoo with her parents, but a sudden downpour that day forced them to cancel the trip. He had assumed she was just disappointed, but he had just seen fear and regret in her eyes.

Could it be that the heavy rain meant more than just disappointment for the zoo for Zhong Ling; it was also related to the passing of her parents?
Han Zhou wasn't entirely sure, but Mo Yixia's whisper quickly confirmed his thoughts.

"The current scene seems to overlap with a memory of yours; she was worried that you wouldn't be able to come back if you went out."

Mo Yixia lowered her voice so much that only Han Zhou, whose hearing had been enhanced, could hear her.

"Take this opportunity and get off the bus together."

(End of this chapter)