Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 322 The Forgotten Time
This was the first time Han Zhou had seen Gu Zheng running at full speed.

He couldn't quite describe what that speed was like, but if you ran at that speed, your ears would definitely be filled with wind.

He didn't know why he had such thoughts; he was experiencing so many inexplicable emotions today.

"careful!"

As he struggled to shout out his name, Gu Zheng had already rushed to the van, opened the driver's side door as quickly as possible, and forcefully pulled the driver out.

"Oh!"

The driver, who was smoking, fell heavily to the ground. Although he didn't hit his head, the force of the fall caused him to lose consciousness briefly. The cigarette flew out of his mouth, and the reddish cigarette butt landed on his cheek, burning him awake.

What's going on? The police are here?

He gasped, staring blankly at the short-haired girl who had appeared out of nowhere. He was stunned for a moment, then propped himself up and looked around. However, apart from a skinny boy running towards him, there was no one else around.

So that force that almost broke his hand bones just now came from this girl?

At this moment, Gu Zheng had no idea what the driver was thinking. After pulling the driver out of the car, she did the same thing, pulling the passenger out of the car as well, in order to prevent someone from suddenly driving away.

"What are you going to do?"

The woman in the car recognized Gu Zheng and exclaimed in surprise, "If you keep doing this, I'll call the police!"

"Go ahead and report it, if you dare."

Seeing the girl inside the car with a deathly pale face and marks on her wrists, Gu Zheng felt a surge of anger. Too lazy to waste words with this woman, she turned around and punched the driver who was trying to sneak up on her, knocking him to the ground. Then she was about to open the back door and get in the car.

"Don't come any closer! I'm really calling the police! I'm really calling..."

The woman spoke in terror, her expression suddenly turning ferocious as she pulled a fruit knife from her feet and stabbed the zither viciously.

Gu Zheng was prepared and struck the woman's wrist with a palm strike. The force of the blow contorted the woman's face, and the fruit knife crashed to the ground. She clutched her arm and wailed in pain.

The fact that these people could pull out fruit knives at the drop of a hat meant there was no doubt about their identities. Therefore, Gu Zheng did not hold back at all, turning around and kicking the driver and another man to prevent them from attacking her.

"stop!"

Just then, the last man left in the car suddenly picked up a fruit knife from the ground, held the blade to the girl's neck, and said menacingly, "Get away from me, the farther the better, or I'll kill her!"

Gu Zheng stood at the car door, looking at him expressionlessly.

Sweat beaded on the man's forehead. If he hadn't witnessed her take care of all his companions in such a short time, he would never have believed that such a beautiful girl could knock someone unconscious with a single punch.

At the same time, the woman inside the car finally stopped wailing. Her face was pale and contorted with rage, a stark contrast to the gentle and amiable demeanor she had displayed on the street: "Don't waste your breath on her. If she doesn't leave, just stab that brat in the face, or her hands and legs. What are you waiting for, all this fuss about? Are you waiting for the police to arrive?"

She was certain that the girl had called the police before coming over.

The man hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and warned Gu Zheng to back away again. Only when he saw her slowly moving away from the car did he breathe a sigh of relief, and the sharp blade left the girl's neck in his arms.

"Too slow! Can't you tell she's deliberately stalling for time? You rascal! Give me the knife, I'll teach her a lesson for being slow!"

The woman snatched the knife from the man's hand and was about to slash the girl's leg.

"Oh!"

Just then, a pebble suddenly flew into the car through the half-open window and hit the woman's wrist, which was holding a knife.

"what!"

The knife fell to the ground from the woman's hand again, accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream—both her hands were now completely useless.

Gu Zheng seized the opportunity, rushed into the car, and punched the man in the face. The man tried to defend himself, but unfortunately, he was no match for Gu Zheng's speed and soon lost consciousness.

Gu Zheng didn't dare to be careless. She picked up a fruit knife and threw it out the window, pushed the still screaming woman aside, bent down and picked up the somewhat shaken girl, and gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid, it's alright now, you're safe. Tell your sister, are these two your parents?"

She pointed to the unconscious man in the car and the woman who was still screaming, feeling slightly uneasy.

Although she was fairly certain of these guys' identities, she was still a little worried that she might have hit the wrong person. After all, she had hit them quite hard just now, and if she made a mistake, it would be a big problem.

The girl stared blankly for a few seconds, carefully observing the pretty older woman for a while. She didn't think the woman was a bad person. After a long pause, she finally mustered her courage, gently shaking her head with a very small movement. Then, she cautiously looked at the woman, bracing herself for a beating. This same test had happened more than once before, sometimes on the street, sometimes at "home." If the older woman was a bad person, she would immediately pull out a "candied hawthorn" and prick herself with it.

Half a minute passed, and the older sister still didn't take out the "candied hawthorn". She just carried her away from the van, her movements as gentle as her mother's, as if it was another older sister who had just knocked down the bad guy in a few moves.

"Don't be afraid, it's all over now. The police will be here soon, and they will take you to your mom and dad, okay?"

A gentle voice sounded in her ear. The girl looked up and stared blankly at her sister's beautiful eyes, which looked like crescent moons when she smiled, and then looked up at the bright sky above.

The sunlight, which we had been gazing at for so long, now seemed exceptionally glaring.

The girl could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down her face as she burst into loud sobs.

Caught off guard, Gu Zheng thought she had hurt her by using too much force, so she quickly apologized while frantically wiping away her tears.

At the same time, Han Zhou walked over, panting, and asked with his hands on his knees, "Are you and the child alright?"

He was panting heavily, looking utterly exhausted.

Gu Zheng was taken aback. She had heard similar questions more than once, usually in TV dramas when a woman had just given birth, and the doctor's answer was usually that both mother and child were safe.

Her face flushed slightly, and she quickly shook off these chaotic thoughts, saying nonchalantly, "What could possibly happen to me? Thanks to your pebble, the child wasn't hurt."

"That's good."

Han Zhou smiled with relief. Luckily, the car window wasn't closed, otherwise he might not have had enough strength, and even if he hit the woman's wrist, he might not have been able to knock the knife away.

Seeing Gu Zheng raise her chin, looking like she was waiting for praise, he didn't hold back his compliments and said with a smile, "You were just like a female warrior just now—no, I should say that a female warrior is like you."

Although he had witnessed Gu Zheng's formidable power more than once, the scene just now still shocked Han Zhou. He vowed never to provoke this guy again.

Guzheng smiled, clearly pleased with his praise, and then continued to frantically comfort the girl who was still crying in her arms.

Shortly after, police sirens sounded.

It must be said that the police responded quite quickly, but Gu Zheng cleaned up the scene even faster. When the group of police officers saw the four human traffickers who looked terrible, they looked at each other and were unsure who the real suspect was.

Fortunately, a little girl helped explain the situation.

The police praised Han Zhou and Gu Zheng for their keen sense of awareness, but criticized their reckless actions, saying that it was too dangerous and they must not repeat the same mistake in the future.

Of course, this was mostly verbal reprimand. The officers still acknowledged the two men's bravery and decisiveness; otherwise, they might not have been able to catch the group in time.

It's worth mentioning that more than one police officer asked Gu Zheng if she had any thoughts about becoming a policeman, but before Gu Zheng could even speak, Han Zhou immediately rejected her.

Given Gu Zheng's personality, once she enters police academy training, she will definitely not stop until she trains herself into a king of police officers. This process will be quite arduous, and Han Zhou does not want to see her working herself to the bone.

During the process of giving their statements at the police station, an officer told the two that they had confirmed the identities of four suspected human traffickers and excitedly said that they might be able to follow this lead and uproot an entire human trafficking ring.

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng were naturally happy about this. After learning that the police had already begun to help find the family of the little girl named Yao Yao, they were completely relieved. After saying goodbye to Yao Yao, they left the police station.

After having dinner with Guzheng, Han Zhou walked home alone.

The night added a touch of chill to the autumn day. He tightened his coat, but still felt a bit cold, so he put his hands in his pockets.

"what is this?"

A short while later, he pulled out two silver objects from his pocket, shaped like roses, which looked like a pair of earrings.

Han Zhou remembered clearly that he had nothing in his pocket, let alone these earrings that were obviously for girls.

He recalled for a long time and ruled out many possibilities, including "it was something from a guzheng", "he accidentally wore someone else's clothes", "someone secretly gave him a pair of earrings", "a warning from a human trafficking group", and "a gift from the status bar".

In other words, the origin of this thing is unknown.

"Today is really a strange day..."

Han Zhou couldn't figure it out. He examined the earring for a while and decided to keep it for the time being. If no one came to ask for it back after a while, he would just give it away to someone who was destined to have it.

(End of this chapter)