Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 321 The Late Autumn Sunshine

"Han Zhou, what's wrong?"

In November, the lingering autumn air gradually faded away, but winter seemed to be in no hurry to arrive this year. The sun was still shining brightly, dispelling the already lingering chill in the city.

If it weren't for the fallen yellow leaves covering the ground, perhaps no one would realize that it's autumn, just before winter.

"nothing."

Han Zhou snapped out of his daze, raised his hand to sweep away the fallen leaves that had somehow landed on his head, and laughed, "I guess I didn't sleep well last night, I feel a bit tired."

"That's strange, I feel the same way..."

The short-haired girl next to me took a big bite of ice cream, then mumbled, "But I'm just a little sleepy, I'm definitely more energetic than you."

Even the debate over who is more energetic is a testament to their skill with the guzheng... Han Zhou nodded perfunctorily: "Yes, yes, you are the best, you are the best."

Why do I get the feeling that you're quite unconvinced?

Gu Zheng turned her head and looked at him suspiciously, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel storing food for winter.

Han Zhou had wanted to study the structure of this guy's mouth for a long time. No matter what kind of food it was, whether it was cold or hot, this guy could stuff it full into his mouth. He wondered if there was a temperature regulator inside.

"No, I'm completely convinced," he exclaimed sincerely.

Even if he were healthy, let alone being a patient, he wouldn't dare to eat ice cream in this kind of weather.

At least show some respect for the climate...

Han Zhou mentally complained and looked up at the status bar that only he could see.

【Name: Han Zhou】

【Intelligence: 7】

【Charm: 7】

Stamina: 3 (Weak)

[Skills: Efficient learning, culinary expertise, speed reading, practical medical knowledge gained through experience, powerful throwing]

[Current Status: On the verge of death (modified) → On the verge of death: Ten breaths remaining, can survive for one day, will enter a near-death state after twenty-four hours]

[Status bar level: 2, current points remaining: 1]

Looking at his meager points, Han Zhou sighed inwardly. He wondered when this kind of life would end. He didn't dislike being with Gu Zheng, but he couldn't stay by her side forever, could he?

However, if he doesn't stay by the other person's side to get the two points from the daily mission, he won't be able to maintain his "near death" state and thus won't be able to survive.

Although Petőfi once said, "Life is precious, love is more precious, but freedom is the most precious of all," he currently prefers life to freedom. Therefore, he can only rely on the guzheng to survive for now, while intensifying his search to see if there are any new characters to unlock.

If we can find it, then perhaps life, love, and freedom will all be secured...

Han Zhou tried to find humor in his predicament, but suddenly felt that the panel in front of him was a bit strange. Apart from the few points he had left, everything else gave him a feeling of familiarity yet strangeness.

"Han Zhou, what's wrong with you again?" Gu Zheng's puzzled voice rang in my ears.

Han Zhou fell into deep thought, muttering to himself, "It's nothing, it's just that I feel like I've been castrated..."

"Castration?" Gu Zheng blushed and almost spat out her ice cream, choking as she exclaimed, "Cough cough cough, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Han Zhou did not respond. He looked up at the clear sky, and the feeling of disharmony in his heart grew stronger, but he still could not figure out the reason.

Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I won't think about it anymore.

He snapped out of his reverie. He'd had enough of shopping, and it was time to finish his daily task. Once he got his two points, he could live another day.

Seeing that Han Zhou didn't speak, Gu Zheng was a little unhappy. She followed his gaze to the sky and muttered, "I feel like today shouldn't be such a sunny day."

Han Zhou was taken aback and turned to look at her: "What kind of sky should that be?"

"Who knows, maybe it was a rainstorm."

Without thinking much, Gu Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up, and she excitedly pointed to a food stall not far away, saying, "They have hand-pulled pancakes there, let's go try them!"

Han Zhou said helplessly, "Didn't you realize you've already eaten enough today? We still have dinner to eat in a little while."

"There are still at least three hours until dinner, and I'll be starving by then. Let's go!"

"Wipe your mouth first."

Han Zhou sighed and took out a tissue, but Gu Zheng seemed not to hear him and ran excitedly towards the cart selling hand-pulled pancakes. He had no choice but to speed up and follow her.

He didn't know if he hadn't slept well last night, but he felt a little unsteady. When he got to the cart, Guzheng had already paid and was watching the stall owner make scallion pancakes intently.

"I bought one for you too," the girl said, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

Han Zhou handed her a tissue, shook his head and said, "I can't eat anymore, wipe your mouth."

"If you can't finish it, give it to me." Gu Zheng took the tissue and looked at him suspiciously. "You're too weak. What boy has such a small appetite?"

"I should say, what girl has such a big appetite as you?"

"What's wrong with eating more?" Gu Zheng said, dissatisfied.

"I didn't say it was bad," Han Zhou smiled. "Just don't get an upset stomach."

Gu Zheng smiled and then continued to watch the old lady make scallion pancakes.

Han Zhou looked around, feeling a vague sense of disorientation. He suspected that he had been studying too hard these past few days, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted, which was why he was experiencing these strange feelings.

Just then, he saw a family of three walking towards him from not far away. The parents were a middle-aged couple. The man was stern and unsmiling, while the woman had a smile on her face. A little girl with her head down walked between the two of them, her hands being held by each other. She struggled from time to time, as if she was not used to being held like that.

The woman looked down at the girl, her eyes reproachful, and asked gently, "What's wrong with you now, child?"

"What else could it be? He throws a tantrum if we don't buy him a new toy. He has so many toys at home that he doesn't play with, and he always wants something new. He always does the same thing. We can't keep indulging him like this," the man said sternly.

"Let's talk about it when we get home."

The woman gave a wry smile, whispered a reminder to the seemingly angry man, and then looked apologetically at the passersby who were watching her, her expression gentle.

"If we have candied hawthorns at home, the kids won't fuss if they eat them."

After hearing the woman's words, the little girl indeed stopped struggling and seemed genuinely attracted to the candied hawthorn, though she still appeared downcast. It turned out the child was just being difficult… Everyone averted their gaze, ignoring this family duo that you'd see anywhere on the street.

Han Zhou sensed something was amiss and glanced at the three of them again. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow, his gaze focusing on the little girl, and his expression gradually became serious.

"What's wrong?" Guzheng followed his gaze and immediately saw the little girl being led by the hand. Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "What an adorable child!"

It's no wonder Guzheng was so excited; she has no resistance to cute things. And this girl was indeed quite cute, but perhaps because she couldn't buy the toy she wanted, her eyes were a little dim, and she looked listless, which was heartbreaking.

Han Zhou stared at the girl for several seconds, then suddenly said, "She seems to be sick."

"sick?"

Gu Zheng was taken aback. Before she could ask what was going on, Han Zhou had already walked up to the little girl and blocked the way for the family of three.

Seeing someone blocking their way, the man frowned immediately, and the woman's smile became somewhat unnatural as she asked, "Excuse me, is there something you need?"

Han Zhou hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Hello, may I see your child?"

"What do you want to do?" The man's eyelids twitched, and he immediately looked at him with hostility.

"I suspect the child may be sick. You should take her to the hospital for a check-up when you have time."

"What did you say?!"

"I'm saying this child..."

"roll!"

The man angrily interrupted Han Zhou, shouting, "My child is perfectly healthy, what illness could he possibly have? Get out of here!"

Han Zhou stopped looking at him and patiently turned to the woman who seemed more approachable. He said earnestly, "I'm sorry, I know what I'm saying might sound a bit presumptuous, but please believe me, this child is really sick. You'd better take her to the hospital for a check-up when you have some time."

Seeing that many people had stopped and were watching nearby, the man seemed to get a little anxious and said angrily, "Are you fucking never going to stop? Wife of the child, take your daughter away!"

As she spoke, she was about to push Han Zhou away.

Just then, a figure flashed into the crowd, and the man's thick arm was immediately gripped firmly by a hand that looked much smaller. It was Gu Zheng who had rushed over.

"What do you want?" she asked the man opposite her with a hostile look.

The man was startled and tried to pull his arm away, but the girl's strength was astonishing, and he couldn't move at all. Seeing more and more people gathering nearby, a flash of panic crossed his eyes, and he shouted angrily, "This kid suddenly ran over and said my daughter is sick. What do you think I want to do?"

“That’s absolutely right. My daughter has been healthy since she was little. Who would curse her to go to the hospital right away?” The woman hugged the girl in her arms, pressed her head down, and explained to the onlookers with a wronged expression, “My husband is an impatient person. He was just too excited to do that.”

Gu Zheng didn't believe what the two of them said. Han Zhou must have his reasons for saying that. She snorted and said, "I heard everything just now. My friend was just reminding you to take the child for a check-up when you have time. Did you have to react so strongly? Besides, the child does look uncomfortable. Can't you parents tell?"

The woman was startled and hugged the child even tighter, pressing the child's head tightly into her arms, as if afraid that others would see the child's face.

Han Zhou frowned slightly.

"Even if she's not feeling well, it's our family matter. What's it to you? Let go of her right now!"

The guzheng was too strong, and the man couldn't free his hand no matter what he did. Seeing that the crowd was growing, perhaps in order to calm things down as soon as possible, he had to change his attitude. He took a deep breath and said, "Young lady, how am I supposed to take my daughter to the hospital if you don't let go of my hand?"

Gu Zheng didn't speak, but turned to look at Han Zhou.

"Let him go, I'm fine," Han Zhou said.

Gu Zheng then let go and, at Han Zhou's signal, made way for the three of them to leave.

Watching the three figures disappear into the distance, she asked in confusion, "You just let them leave like that?"

Han Zhou shook his head: "Go and observe them. I suspect there's something wrong with these parents."

"I knew it... You noticed something was wrong with these parents from the start, which is why you used the excuse that the child was sick to stop them?" Gu Zheng looked at Han Zhou in surprise.

She also felt that there was something wrong with the parents, but that was after she saw what had just happened.

"Roughly the same……"

Han Zhou coughed lightly. The truth was that he hadn't noticed anything wrong with the two at first. He only figured out that the child was sick through his "experience in illness." But there was no need to explain, and he couldn't explain it anyway.

"Let's go, follow up and take a look."

Gu Zheng nodded, quickly ran over to take the scallion pancake from the stall owner, took a big bite, and then followed the family of three with Han Zhou.

It was more of an observation than a stalking. The two followed the girl all the way and increasingly felt that the two middle-aged men were not the girl's parents. They never let go of the girl's hand the whole way, as if they were a pair of human handcuffs.

Moreover, they showed no intention of going to the hospital. They bought two bottles of water on the way, but didn't share with the girl. While one person was drinking water, the other person was responsible for holding the girl's hand, which seemed quite strange.

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng exchanged a glance, suspecting that the parents might be human traffickers, and immediately called the police.

"Should I go and deal with them?" Guzheng asked softly.

"No need. What if they really are a family? Let's keep following them. If nothing happens, we'll wait for the police to arrive."

Han Zhou glanced at her. "Also, we're far apart, so you don't need to whisper in my ear."

"I...I was just afraid you couldn't hear me."

Gu Zheng blushed, only then realizing that she had somehow gotten so close to Han Zhou. She quickly moved away and pretended to be calm as she took a bite of her scallion pancake.

After following for a while, the surrounding area became increasingly sparsely populated. Suddenly, a minivan drove up in the distance, stopped beside the two middle-aged men, and opened the door.

It was clear that the girl was very reluctant to get on the bus, but she was forcibly dragged on by a middle-aged man and woman.

Seeing this, Han Zhou and Gu Zheng were completely certain of their thoughts: these two people were definitely not the girl's parents!
They knew they couldn't wait any longer, since they couldn't be sure where the car would go, and it would be troublesome if they couldn't find it, so they immediately rushed towards the van.

They had just noted that, including the driver, there were four adults in the car, and unless these guys were armed, they wouldn't pose a threat to the two men.

This stems from confidence in the power of the guzheng.

Of course, even knowing Guzheng's skill level, Han Zhou still repeatedly emphasized that Guzheng should be careful, because weapons like swords, spears, and clubs are indiscriminate and one could easily suffer losses if one is not careful.

He wasn't as fast as the guzheng, so his primary task wasn't to stop the chartered car, but to report their current location to the police again.

Explaining the situation at top speed, Han Zhou put down his phone and sped off forward.

(End of this chapter)