Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 319 Hindsight
noon.

The hotel where Han Zhou and his group were staying was not the only place shrouded in the torrential rain; Lincheng University, which had been without power for two hours, was also affected.

It's Sunday, and not many people are staying in the dorm. Xiao Xiaoxiao's dorm is almost empty except for her. The desk lamp emits a faint light as the petite girl sits alone at her desk, staring blankly at the torrential rain outside on the balcony.

The balcony was covered with splashed rainwater, which had accumulated to the ground. The water rippled and reflected the broken, dim sky.

Xiao Xiaoxiao secretly rejoiced that she had put her clothes away early, otherwise she would be running around on the lawn with an umbrella, looking for her clothes, just like those people downstairs.

However, with such heavy rain, she couldn't go to the cafeteria for a meal. In addition, she usually lived quite frugally and never bought snacks to keep in her dormitory, so she was still hungry.

So what if I'm hungry? It's not like I've never been hungry before. Compared to hunger, Xiao Xiaoxiao hates this oppressive loneliness even more.

A gloomy sky, torrential rain, and an empty dormitory room—these elements combined create a sense of emptiness and disorientation, as if you're the only person left in the world, and you have to shout to speak, otherwise the sound of the rain will drown you out.

Xiao Xiaoxiao thought of her home, which leaked every time it rained. If this kind of weather happened, it probably wouldn't be long before everything in her home would be floating on the water.

Including her.

For some reason, besides her own empty and dilapidated home, the image of another 'home' keeps appearing in her memory lately.

That house didn't seem to be much better; it was small and old, and apart from not leaking when it rained, it didn't seem to have any other advantages.

But perhaps it was precisely because it was small that the place seemed unusually lively.

Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't know if she was dreaming. She wanted to tell Han Zhou about it, but that bastard hadn't replied yet.

"Dong dong dong."

Lost in thought, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

Xiao Xiaoxiao was startled. In such heavy rain, her roommate would never return to the dormitory in this weather. The dormitory supervisor had just checked the rooms, so it shouldn't be her either. Then who was knocking on the door?

The dormitory was unusually dark due to the power outage during the heavy rain, which immediately triggered a lot of thoughts in this timid girl.

"Xiaoxiao, are you there?"

Just then, accompanied by a knock on the door, a clear and resonant female voice rang out from outside. Xiao Xiaoxiao was startled for a moment, but quickly remembered whose voice it was—Guzheng.

She picked up the desk lamp, mustered her courage, and went to the door to open it.

The dormitory door opened, and standing outside wasn't a ghost that could mimic sounds, but a real guzheng. The girl had a lovely smile, and her eyes curved into beautiful crescent moons.

"How did you come?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was somewhat surprised. Because of Han Zhou, she and Gu Zheng had a fairly good relationship, but they didn't interact much on a daily basis. So why was she contacting them? But judging from their appearance, it seemed that they had come specifically to see her.

"I have something I'd like to ask you. May I come in?" Guzheng said.

Xiao Xiaoxiao nodded: "Okay, come in and sit down. It might be a bit dark inside."

"It's okay, it's about the same in our dorm, the rain is just too heavy today."

Gu Zheng didn't mind. As she walked into the dormitory, she picked up the self-heating rice in her hand and said, "I brought food. Have you eaten?"

"I've eaten." Xiao Xiaoxiao was a little embarrassed to say that she hadn't eaten.

Gu Zheng had heard Han Zhou mention Xiao Xiaoxiao's personality. Her eyes swept over the trash can in the dormitory, then looked at the other person's feigned calm expression, and said, "Eat some more, I can't finish it all by myself."

She handed a box of self-heating rice to the other person.

Gu Zheng knew Xiao Xiaoxiao's personality, and Xiao Xiaoxiao also knew her appetite, so she naturally understood that the other party was lying. Most likely, she had noticed that she hadn't eaten. After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and took the self-heating rice.

"Thank you."

Xiao Xiaoxiao had never eaten self-heating rice before, but fortunately there were illustrations on the lunchbox, so she quickly opened the lunchbox, poured the rice and vegetable packet into the box, and heated it with the heating pack.

As steam rose from the holes in the lid and the aroma gradually filled her nostrils, she swallowed hard. Suddenly remembering her business, she asked, "By the way, Guzheng, what did you want to see me about?"

Gu Zheng got straight to the point: "I want to know what exactly happened that night when you and Han Zhou were live streaming together. I always felt that you two didn't fall down the stairs, at least Han Zhou's eye injury wasn't from a fall."

Why would you say that?

Xiao Xiao was startled. She thought that only she and Han Zhou knew the truth about that day, but she didn't expect that Gu Zheng would actually notice something was wrong.

"Didn't Han Zhou tell you? I used to hit people a lot, including in the eyes. The injury on Han Zhou's eye was clearly caused by someone punching him."

Gu Zheng doesn't shy away from her "dark history" at all. When she got to this point, she was a little puzzled. "But it's strange that I only realized this belatedly. I originally wanted to ask Han Zhou directly, but he didn't answer the phone. I really couldn't figure it out, so I came to ask you."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned for two seconds. She hadn't expected that Gu Zheng, who was so cute, was actually a girl who admired violence. If she knew that Han Zhou was a womanizer, he would definitely be in big trouble...

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I don't remember what happened that night."

She was telling the truth. Like Han Zhou, her memory only went as far as punching Han Zhou, and she had no recollection of what happened after that.

"It's okay if you can't remember. Just tell me who injured Han Zhou's eye." Gu Zheng's face darkened, and she said fiercely.

Xiao Xiaoxiao was startled: "What do you want to do?"

"Of course it's to avenge him," Gu Zheng said menacingly. "Tell me, was it one of the people who were live-streaming that day who did it?"

"Yes." Xiao Xiaoxiao nodded hesitantly.

"Who is it? Is it that hippie...?"

"I……"

"It really was him... What? You?"

Gu Zheng was taken aback, seemingly doubting her ears, and frowned, saying, "Why did you hit him for no reason?"

Feeling the pressure emanating from the other person, Xiao Xiaoxiao chuckled awkwardly, "There's a bit of a misunderstanding here."

She had a bad temper with Han Zhou, but she was much more docile with Gu Zheng. She quickly told Gu Zheng everything that happened that night, but did not mention that Han Zhou had been sending messages to people.

"That sounds a bit unbelievable..."

After listening attentively, Guzheng gave this evaluation.

“I also find it incredible,” Xiao Xiaoxiao said with a worry. “Many times I’ve suspected that I was just having a dream, and that the truth is what everyone says about falling down the stairs. But Han Zhou says it’s real, and our memories do match up.”

Gu Zheng frowned, but she wasn't thinking about whether the matter was true or false. Instead, she said with dissatisfaction, "Why didn't Han Zhou tell me?"

Despite his usual use of terms like "bastard" and "scoundrel," Xiao Xiaoxiao still explained for Han Zhou: "He said that even if we tell you, you might not be able to accept it so quickly. He plans to see how things go first. If you can sense the problem yourself, you will come and ask us even if we don't tell you."

Han Zhou's worries were not unfounded. Leaving aside the fact that this matter was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, even in a real-world scenario, if a father suddenly told his son with a serious face that he was actually a billionaire and that the other party was about to inherit hundreds of millions of assets, without any evidence, the son would likely find it hard to believe his father's words, thinking he was joking, or even suspecting that his father was mentally ill. As for why he chose to tell Mo Yixia, it was because the latter had an extraordinary capacity for understanding and could quickly assess the veracity of the matter, providing him with some insights.

In Mo Yixia's words, Han Zhou's attitude towards Guzheng was different from his attitude towards her.

The former is a protection woven from lies and concealment.

The latter is cruelty built on truth and candor.

Han Zhou did not deny this.

However, this was a last resort. Faced with Mo Yixia's "mind-reading ability," the wisest choice was to tell the truth, even if it was cruel to tell the girl frankly that "I am going to have my cake and eat it too."

The same principle applies to the guzheng.

Of course, Gu Zheng clearly did not see this as a form of protection for herself. She was resentful that Han Zhou had kept something from her and wanted to call and question him. However, after making several calls, he did not answer.

Won't something bad happen?

Her frustration quickly turned into worry. Thinking about how Han Zhou had gone to the zoo with Senior Zhong Ling today, she tried calling Zhong Ling a few more times, but still no one answered.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked, sitting opposite her.

"Han Zhou did not answer my call."

Gu Zheng looked worried. It was raining so hard outside, and she wondered if Han Zhou had caught a cold.

"Maybe it's a bad signal," Xiao Xiao said.

"Ah."

Gu Zheng also felt that nothing unexpected should happen and there was no need to worry unnecessarily. She sent Han Zhou a Fetion message, telling him to call her back as soon as he saw the message, and then put away her phone.

"The food is ready, let's eat first." She looked at the self-heating rice on the table.

"it is good."

The aroma had been wafting through the dormitory, and Xiao Xiaoxiao was already quite hungry. The two of them lifted the lid and started mixing the rice.

Just then, Gu Zheng suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh right, you just said that Han Zhou said he wanted to study you, so you punched him?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao felt a little guilty and explained, "His expression and tone were so lewd that I thought he wanted to do something bad to me, so I..."

In fact, Han Zhou's expression and tone were normal at the time; she simply misunderstood the meaning of his words.

"Han Zhou is not that kind of person."

Gu Zheng earnestly defended Han Zhou, then said, "He probably thinks there's something special about you, and that's what caused your insomnia, and it's also the key to the 'haunted' dormitory."

Xiao Xiaoxiao took a big shovelful of rice and nodded, saying, "That's exactly what that guy said. You really know him; you even say the exact same thing."

Gu Zheng's eyes crinkled into a smile, but her face quickly straightened. After thinking for a moment, she continued, "Did you re-check your belongings after that?"

Since Han Zhou was keeping it from her and felt she couldn't help him, she had to find out the truth.

Thinking about this, Guzheng even forgot to eat and carefully considered all the possibilities.

“Of course there is,” Xiao Xiaoxiao said with dissatisfaction. “But I don’t have anything special on me. That guy even said he wanted to take my jacket zipper to study it, and I gave him a good scolding.”

"The jacket zipper?" Gu Zheng was taken aback.

"Well, it's nothing special. You'd be more suspicious of my jewelry than a zipper."

Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes, put down her chopsticks, took a sip of water, and continued, "But I never wear any jewelry, so I think the problem isn't with the things I wear, but with me."

Gu Zheng was slightly stunned. She subconsciously felt that something was wrong, as if she had forgotten something important, but she just couldn't remember it.

“By the way,” Xiao Xiaoxiao continued, “I’ve been having a lot of dreams these past few days… no, I don’t even know if they’re dreams. In my dreams, I’m in a room that’s neither too big nor too small. There’s a tree outside the window, and inside there’s a fan, a refrigerator, medical records, a big box… and lots of people.”

Gu Zheng didn't think much of it up to this point, after all, Xiao Xiaoxiao's narration was fragmented and lacked any noteworthy points, until she heard the other person's next sentence—

"After you go out and down the stairs, turn left and you'll see a very long slope. At the end of the slope, there's a very old tree..."

The guzheng gradually fell silent.

Although she had only visited Han Zhou's home once, out of interest in his childhood environment, she still asked him a lot about his childhood and walked around his house several times.

Therefore, she remembered very clearly that after leaving Han Zhou's house and walking a short distance to the left, she could see a slope with a very gentle incline and a huge banyan tree directly above it. She remembered that Han Zhou had told her that she first met Teacher Ouyang on that slope.

She asked incredulously, "You're not talking about Han Zhou's house, are you?"

"Han Zhou's family?" Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned.

“Yes, what you just said fits Han Zhou’s family situation very well.” Gu Zheng took a deep breath and asked doubtfully, “Have you been to the vicinity of Han Zhou’s house before? Or did he show you a picture of his house?”

"without……"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was about to shake her head in denial when she suddenly remembered the room model she had seen in the woods near her home. She realized that the layout of the model was exactly the same as the scene she had seen in her "dream". She was stunned for a moment and hesitated, "No, I should have been there, but I don't remember it."

“That’s normal. After all, you don’t even remember Han Zhou. It’s not surprising that you went to his house and then forgot about it…” Gu Zheng’s eyes lit up as if she had caught a spark of inspiration, but it quickly turned into confusion. “But that’s not right. I’ve never been to Han Zhou’s house before. How did you end up at his house?”

This statement didn't mean anything by it; Gu Zheng simply felt it was unreasonable. You see, Han Zhou wasn't the kind of person who would casually bring strange girls home. In fact, he only went to her house once, on the day she moved.

However, since Xiao Xiaoxiao could recall what Han Zhou's house looked like, it meant that the other party had indeed been to Han Zhou's house...

But why was she completely unaware of it?
Gu Zheng couldn't understand it more and more. Even if memories could be erased, the traces wouldn't all disappear, right? Unless Xiao Xiaoxiao appeared out of thin air and disappeared out of thin air, how could she be completely forgotten by everyone?

Gu Zheng lowered her head and fell into deep thought, beginning to recall everything that happened after she met Xiao Xiaoxiao. She and Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't have much interaction; the time they spent together was during their trip to Beicheng.

Speaking of those two days...

Just then, Guzheng suddenly paused, realizing what the important thing she had forgotten was—

She looked up at Xiao Xiaoxiao's empty earlobes. The rose earrings that she had never taken off or changed before were nowhere to be seen. She didn't know if she had forgotten to wear them or lost them.

"Xiaoxiao, where did your earring go?"

"Earrings?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously touched her earlobe. A look of confusion flashed in her eyes, followed by doubt and shock.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget... Han Zhou took my earring!"

(End of this chapter)