Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 323 Gears
A week has passed in the blink of an eye.

With the arrival of a cold front, the temperature in Lincheng finally dropped significantly, but it was only enough to make people put on an extra layer of clothing. There were still quite a few girls with bare legs on the streets.

"It looks like it won't snow this year."

Lin Anyu finished the last sip of his cola, tossed the can precisely into a roadside trash can, and sighed, "Han Zhou, why is it that I can't shoot as accurately when I play basketball?"

Han Zhou said expressionlessly, "Because the backboard isn't with you."

"You mean I should jump and shoot?"

"What I mean is, you practically have your hand in the trash can, so you could just put the can in directly. Why do you have to make a throwing motion?"

"You don't play basketball, so you wouldn't understand. This is something that basketball enthusiasts embody in their very soul..."

Lin Anyu shook his head slightly, then suddenly took a step back, raised both hands above his head, and jumped up to perform what he considered a spectacular fadeaway jump shot.

Amidst the astonished gazes of passersby, he maintained his shooting posture, tossed his hair in a flamboyant manner, looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and then uttered the last two words in a deliberately profound manner.

"……instinct."

Han Zhou glanced down at the soles of his feet, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"I don't know if your instincts told you that you might have stepped in poop."

Lin Anyu's smile froze.

He felt it in disbelief and realized that there was indeed a sticky sensation under his feet.

"Who's so inconsiderate!"

"..."

Most high schools in Lincheng have a habit of holding extra classes, and they only have Sundays off each week. Han Zhou's high school is no exception. However, it's not just one day off every week. Usually, they have a monthly break once a month, with two days of rest.

Today is the first day of my monthly holiday.

Han Zhou always dreads his monthly leave, not because he dislikes resting, but because he worries that Gu Zheng might go off to play somewhere far away during those two days, thus delaying his "check-in".

Therefore, he would go to Guzheng's house early every day to get the points that would save his life.

It's worth mentioning that although Guzheng's parents have strong personalities, they are not difficult to get along with. Guzheng's genes are very likely inherited from her mother. Han Zhou has heard this mother, who doesn't look her age, teach Guzheng several key points about hitting people more than once, and even personally demonstrated it twice.

Every time Han Zhou saw this mother and daughter, he wondered if he had transmigrated to an era of spiritual revival, only that the spiritual energy had been absorbed by these two.

I finished my points at Guzheng's house in the morning, and at noon I received a message from Lin Anyu. Lin Anyu invited me to go to the bookstore to buy exercise books. But I hadn't been out for long when I saw that this guy step in dog poop.

Seeing Lin Anyu's gloomy face, Han Zhou patted him on the shoulder and, suppressing a laugh, comforted him, "Stepping in dog poop isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe you'll encounter something good today?"

"If something really good happened, I wouldn't have stepped in dog poop."

Lin Anyu, his face contorted with grief and indignation, cursed the dog and its owner for a full two minutes. Then, channeling his grief and indignation into strength, he revealed a fierce glint in his eyes and said menacingly, "Looks like I'll have to buy a few more workbooks today."

"Speaking of which, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now," Han Zhou said, somewhat puzzled. "Don't you hate putting pressure on yourself? Why did you suddenly decide to buy a workbook?"

Lin Anyu grinned maliciously: "I bought it for my sister."

Han Zhou suddenly realized that Lin Anyu had mentioned a few times that the other party had a silly elementary school cousin, and the two often teased each other. It seemed that this guy had recently suffered a loss, so he planned to buy her a workbook as revenge.

Han Zhou wasn't curious about the story behind that ferocious smile, but asked curiously, "Buying exercise books for Ya Ya isn't a big deal, why did you specifically ask me to come along?"

Lin Anyu was taken aback and looked at him in confusion: "How do you know my sister's name is Ya Ya?"

Han Zhou was equally taken aback: "Didn't you say that?"

"Did I say that?"

Lin Anyu recalled for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "Never mind, maybe we talked about it before. Let's get down to business. I didn't call you here for Ya Ya's sake, but for..."

He looked around, gestured for Han Zhou to come closer, and whispered a few words in the other's ear.

"You like Bai Tongtong?" Han Zhou looked at him in surprise.

"Why are you shouting so loudly, you brat!"

Lin Anyu looked around in a panic, looking guilty, and pretended to cover his mouth.

Han Zhou blocked his hand and said irritably, "There's no one I know around here, you're overreacting."

"Who said I don't know anyone here? I haven't finished speaking yet!" Lin Anyu stared intently at the bookstore not far away and said in a low voice, "I received a tip this morning that Bai Tongtong would be coming to this bookstore to read today, so she could appear nearby at any time, do you understand?"

Han Zhou nodded, then asked suspiciously, "You wouldn't be asking me to create opportunities for you to bump into each other, would you?"

“The bookstore is so small, I can just walk in and bump into her, why would I need you to create an opportunity for me?” Lin Anyu was a little embarrassed, but quite frank. “I just felt a little awkward and wanted you to be there to give me some courage.”

Han Zhou's eyes widened as if he had heard a fairy tale: "You have such a thick skin, you're actually embarrassed?"

"What do you mean I'm shameless? I've always been shy, okay! And mainly, my heart races when I see Bai Tongtong, unlike when I see other girls..."

"Really? But I remember you always bragging that you were a dating expert, although I knew you were just bragging a long time ago."

"Stop talking nonsense. When did I say such a thing? Wait... you must be having some kind of weird dream, right?" Lin Anyu looked wary.

"I dream of beautiful girls with long, straight black hair, I would never dream of you."

Han Zhou said irritably, then walked straight to the bookstore across the street. "Let's go, I'll give you courage, but I suggest you clean the dog poop off your feet before you go in."

"I've cleaned it very well, okay?"

Han Zhou felt a pang of guilt.

You just stepped on it again.

Lin Anyu was struck dumb.

……

Stepping in dog poop twice wasn't without its benefits; at least Lin Anyu's intelligence was accurate. As soon as the two entered the bookstore, they spotted Bai Tongtong quietly flipping through a book on a nearby bookshelf.

Just as Han Zhou was about to step forward, he suddenly felt his sleeve being tugged. Turning his head, he saw that Lin Anyu, who was usually carefree, looked quite nervous and only dared to glance at Bai Tongtong out of the corner of his eye, which looked rather comical.

He chuckled inwardly, but put on a confident look and reassured her, "Why are you so nervous? I'm here for you. I'm a dating expert."

Lin Anyu was extremely nervous, but still managed a disdainful smile: "Aren't you Guzheng's simp? What kind of love expert are you?"

"I told you I'm not a simp."

Han Zhou sighed, too lazy to explain, and after thinking for a moment said, "We'll go there directly later. Be bold and just say we can't find the elementary school students' workbooks, and ask Bai Tongtong if she knows."

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple, don't overthink it, just get in touch."

After speaking, Han Zhou dragged the stiff-bodied Lin Anyu toward Bai Tongtong's location.

Bai Tongtong was quiet and focused on reading a foreign classic, unaware of the two people getting closer.

Just then, a rather stiff voice entered her ears.

"Yo...yo! Isn't this Bai Tongtong?!"

Looking up, I saw Lin Anyu with an ambiguous smile on his face, standing in front of me at some point, with Han Zhou, the class's perennial runner-up, beside him.

She was a little surprised, closed the book, and looked at her two classmates with a slight smile: "Good afternoon, what a coincidence."

"That's quite a coincidence." Lin Anyu couldn't utter a word for a while, his smile stiffening. "Oh...oh! Reading a book?"

Han Zhou was greatly troubled. Was this guy rapping?
With Bai Tongtong right in front of him, he couldn't very well correct Lin Anyu's question in her presence.

"Yes, The Wild Garden, a book I really like."

"Oh, I've heard of it. I'll take a look when I have time."

Lin Anyu chuckled awkwardly, "Well... now that we're preparing for the college entrance exam, I'd like to find a set of elementary school practice questions to work on. Do you know where I can find one?"

Han Zhou closed his eyes in pain.

Bai Tongtong covered her mouth and chuckled, holding the book in one hand and pointing in a direction with the other: "I remember all the practice problems from elementary to high school are over there. Do you want me to help you find them?"

Lin Anyu was overjoyed; this was the best outcome Han Zhou had predicted. He quickly forced a smile and said, "Yes, yes, thank you."

"You're welcome." Bai Tongtong temporarily put the book back on the shelf, led him to the workbook, and asked, "What type of workbook are you looking for?"

Without hesitation, Lin Anyu said, "Give me a set of all the most difficult elementary school problems!"

Are you sure this is a primary school exercise?

"Yes, I bought it for my sister. She loves challenges, and last night she cried and begged me to buy her a set of practice questions."

"Oh, I'm so envious of you. I've always wanted a little sister too."

"Really? Maybe you won't have that thought anymore after you've met my sister..."

"Is he a very naughty child?"

"I should say it's chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), you know what

"Sorry, I don't quite understand."

"that is……"

"..."

With a topic in the works, Lin Anyu gradually relaxed and began to fully utilize his comedic side, frequently making Bai Tongtong laugh. The two seemed to be having a good chat.

Seeing this, Han Zhou, who was pretending to flip through a book in the distance, was very pleased and put the book back on the shelf.

He rarely visits a bookstore, so he planned to buy a book to take home and read. However, he wasn't very interested in literature; novels were more to his liking.

"Find a suspense novel to read."

Thinking this, Han Zhou walked to the bookshelf where suspense novels were displayed, put his hands in his pockets, and scanned the titles of the books one by one.

The bookshelf was full of mystery and suspense series, some of which were as famous as the Sherlock Holmes series from his previous life. Han Zhou had already read many of these works, so he decided to buy a book he had never heard of before.

Just then, he noticed a suspense novel with a black spine on the top shelf. It wasn't one of the books in the series, but because the spine color was similar, it was hard to tell the difference without a close look. He wondered if some careless customer had put it in the wrong place.

"This one, please."

Han Zhou was somewhat interested in the book's title and was about to reach out to take it down when he saw a chubby hand reach for it first.

However, because the book was placed too high and the owner of the hand was not tall enough, he tried for a long time but could not take the book down.

Han Zhou casually took the book down and handed it to the chubby girl next to him who was trying to stand on tiptoe.

"You want this book, right?"

He smiled at the girl, but she didn't answer or respond; she just stared at him blankly.

Han Zhou was puzzled and was about to speak when he saw the girl extend her chubby hand, palm down, as if she was uncertain. It didn't seem like she wanted to take the book, and he wondered what it meant.

"What does this mean?" Han Zhou looked at the girl, puzzled.

He subconsciously looked at the top of the other person's head, but unfortunately, ever since he discovered the pair of rose earrings, the status bar had been displaying an abnormal status, and it could no longer show the person's name and status information as before. He didn't know if it would be restored in the future, otherwise he would not be able to find new unlockable characters.

Fortunately, the ability to modify the state was not affected.

The girl remained silent for a long time. Seeing that Han Zhou did not move, she turned her palm upward and slowly took the book, then hugged it to her chest with a look of reverence.

"Thank you."

Her voice is quite pleasant.

After saying that, he turned around and left.

"Han Zhou!"

Just then, Lin Anyu suddenly appeared from behind the bookshelf and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing here?"

Upon hearing the name "Han Zhou," the chubby girl, who was about to leave, froze and turned back to stare at the boy who had just helped her carry the book.

"Why don't you find a book to read?"

"Have you forgotten that you came to encourage me? I didn't see you when I turned around, and I didn't dare say a word to Bai Tongtong!"

"That's your problem. I don't have the habit of being a third wheel."

"What third wheel? You don't know... wait, you know that girl?"

"Who?"

At Lin Anyu's prompting, Han Zhou turned around and looked behind him, only to notice that the chubby girl had not left but was staring intently at him, which startled him.

After confirming that the other person was indeed staring at him, he hesitated and asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

The girl didn't speak, but hugged the book in her arms even tighter, looked at him for a while, shook her head gently, and then turned and walked towards the cashier.

Han Zhou and Lin Anyu looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Do you know?"

"do not know."

"So that's how she sees you?"

"Lots of girls look at me like that."

"Hiss—that's true, but aren't you getting a little narcissistic?"

“Recognizing your own strengths in a timely manner is not narcissism. People who think you are narcissistic are often those who are jealous of you. I am just good at recognizing my own strengths. This is not narcissism, but a manifestation of self-confidence.”

"You have quite the eloquence to put it..."

The two talked as they watched the girl leave.

They noticed that after the girl paid, an elderly man riding a tricycle appeared outside the bookstore.

The girl boarded the bus with difficulty and seemed to say something to the old man, who kept glancing into the bookstore. However, he did not get off the bus but took the book from the girl's arms, carefully wrapped it in newspaper, put it in the small box next to him, and locked it.

"This means you're going to treat them like royalty..." Lin Anyu exclaimed in astonishment. "You two really don't know each other?"

Han Zhou did not respond; he was certain that he had never seen this girl before.

For some reason, although he had no recollection of the girl, he suddenly felt that the book he had just read looked somewhat familiar.

I feel like I've seen it somewhere before.

(End of this chapter)