Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 330 November 18th
November 18th, Saturday, sunny.

Just as the "mysterious brocade pouch" predicted, today was indeed a very nice sunny day, with bright sunshine and a temperature much warmer than the previous few days, making it hard to believe the torrential rain a week ago.

In early winter, the campus sunshine was unusually warm. The sky was clear, and the clouds drifted with the wind, sometimes gathering into a flock of white sheep, and sometimes scattering across the azure sky.

Walking along the basketball court towards Angel Lake, you'll see a tree-lined path covered with fallen leaves, which rustle underfoot. Groups of students sit on benches by the lake, enjoying the winter scenery.

"The temperature just dropped and then rose again, it looks like there won't be any snow this year."

Lin Anyu casually tossed the Coke can into the trash can, put his hands in his pockets, and glanced at the female students in long skirts on campus, his tone somewhat melancholy.

"Isn't this exactly what you've been hoping for?"

Han Zhou, who was standing next to him, yawned and said sleepily, "If it snowed, there wouldn't be as many girls wearing skirts as there are now."

He rubbed his face, feeling a bit strange, as if a similar conversation had happened before.

"I don't understand what you mean, but it's clear that you have a big misunderstanding about me."

Lin Anyu straightened his expression and said righteously, "Han Zhou, I don't know why you have such a deep misunderstanding about me, but I hope that when you see Bai Tongtong later, you can temporarily put aside your prejudice against me and tell her my most authentic and excellent side."

He gave Han Zhou a meaningful look.

Before the other party could expose him, he preemptively asked, "So, what were you doing last night? You look so listless."

"I'm preparing a gift for the guzheng."

You're only preparing a gift the day before your birthday?

Lin Anyu looked disdainful and said with great distress, "I even bought this gift well in advance, and I don't know how long I agonized over it. How could you be so negligent? How can you do this to Guzheng, who accompanies you on your night runs every day?"

"Why are you making such a fuss?" Han Zhou gave him a helpless look. "Do you think I don't want to rest early? But for someone's fluttering heart, I had to find a way to invite Bai Tongtong to Guzheng's birthday party, otherwise I would have already made the gift."

Just a week ago, Lin Anyu suddenly called him, saying that he had fallen in love with a girl at first sight. He thought it was another senior or junior student, but to his surprise, the girl was talking about Bai Tongtong. Moreover, she was adamant and insisted on asking him for advice.

After much thought, he decided that inviting Bai Tongtong to Guzheng's birthday party would be a good opportunity. He thought he would have to persuade her, but to his surprise, Bai Tongtong agreed without hesitation after learning that Lin Anyu would also be there.

Han Zhou had noticed that Bai Tongtong's attitude towards Lin Anyu was unusual during their last trip to Beicheng, but he didn't expect it to be that unusual. Unfortunately, Lin Anyu himself seemed completely unaware of this.

Upon hearing this, Lin Anyu immediately changed his tune, giving a thumbs-up and praising, "So it was a handmade gift! You stayed up all night working on it. Guzheng would definitely be moved to tears if she knew."

"Stop with the nonsense, I'm reminding you one more time..."

"I understand, I understand. Today is Guzheng's birthday. Everything should be done according to her wishes. Don't mention anything that could involve winning or losing... I've almost memorized it."

"Just memorize it."

……

Today's birthday holds special significance for the guzheng.

She usually celebrates her birthday at home. Since she has lacked friends since junior high school, she rarely has the opportunity to celebrate her birthday with a group of friends. Today can be said to be the day with the most people.

Gu Lang and Miao Yan'er originally planned to prepare a lavish feast to celebrate Gu Zheng's birthday as usual, but they quickly changed their minds. Upon learning over the phone that their daughter had made so many friends, the two were overjoyed and immediately abandoned the idea of ​​sending Gu Zheng home. They decided to let the young people have fun and celebrate with their daughter separately later.

The birthday party was held at Zhong Yin's newly opened "Silver Bell" pastry shop. Zhong Yin personally made a six-tiered cake for Gu Zheng—this was at Han Zhou's request. Gu Zheng's competitiveness was not reflected in her desire to compare herself to others, and the size of the cake was not important to her. But no one would be unhappy to see a big cake.

The people attending the birthday party included Han Zhou, Lin Anyu, the Zhong sisters, Bai Tongtong, and the shameless Wang Runxue, making a total of six people.

When Han Zhou and Lin Anyu arrived at the pastry shop, everyone else had already arrived. The two of them were the last to arrive. As the only two boys at this birthday party, they took it upon themselves to handle the purchasing and were also responsible for "scouting" the venue they were going to today, which is why they arrived a little later.

"I'm here to help!"

As soon as they entered the store, Gu Zheng, with her sharp eyes, rushed over and took the things from their hands, placing them on the table.

Seeing the cream on the girl's nose, Han Zhou knew that this guy was indeed busy and had probably been helping out everywhere, completely unaware that he was the birthday girl.

But this is Guzheng. Let alone her nineteenth birthday, even if it were her ninetieth birthday, she probably wouldn't be content to sit in the living room waiting for dinner.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou couldn't help but smile.

"why are you laughing?"

Gu Zheng saw the cream on the tip of her nose through the glass of the cabinet where the pastries were stored. She thought he was making fun of her, so she blushed slightly and immediately put on a serious face.

Han Zhou smiled and said, "I'm wondering what your ninetieth birthday will be like."

"Why think about this for no reason?" Gu Zheng was taken aback, then said nonchalantly, "I'm not even sure if I'll live that long."

She glanced discreetly at the gift box in the bag, curious about what kind of birthday present Han Zhou had prepared for her.

Lin Anyu said with a smile, "I don't know about others, but Guzheng, you will definitely live to be ninety. I remember when I had my college entrance exam physical, the doctor said you were too healthy."

These days, most people are in a sub-healthy state, let alone students who sit in classrooms all day. Even their physical education teachers are often sick and take leave. Therefore, when the doctor saw Guzheng's medical report, his expression was quite interesting.

"Really?" Wang Runxue, who had just walked over, looked surprised and exclaimed in astonishment, "There are people who are excessively healthy?"

"it is true."

Following closely behind, Bai Tongtong smiled gently and said, "Han Zhou was also assessed as healthy by the doctor. His biggest problem is that he is too thin, and the doctor advised him to eat more meat."

Wang Runxue stared wide-eyed, looking Han Zhou up and down incredulously for a moment: "You? Healthy?"

She believed that Guzheng was too healthy, but this guy didn't look healthy at all!

Han Zhou said without changing his expression, "I have a regular schedule, go to bed early and get up early, and I never pick at my food. If I'm not healthy, who is? Not to mention that I've been exercising with the guzheng recently."

His health was monitored by the status bar, but that was obviously something he couldn't say, and thankfully no one doubted his story.

To be honest, very few people can maintain a healthy lifestyle like him; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people in the world suffering from sub-health.

"It must be because your medical examination requirements are lower..."

Wang Runxue was still a little skeptical, but her attention was quickly diverted to something else. "By the way, it was clearly cloudy yesterday, and the weather forecast said there would be light rain today. Why did you insist that it would be sunny today, and you even guessed right?"

She stared intently at Han Zhou.

Han Zhou knew she wanted to ask him if he had divined his fortune for the day, so he casually replied, "I told you to read the weather forecast in Lincheng backwards."

"cut."

Wang Runxue looked unconvinced, with a "you can't fool me" expression, thinking to herself that this guy must have divined his fortune beforehand, which was why he knew it would be a sunny day. Just then, Han Zhou suddenly said thoughtfully, "But speaking of sunny days, what comes to mind?"

"Next Saturday will be a nice sunny day."

—This was the hint given in the "mysterious brocade pouch" last week, and he still couldn't figure out what meaning was hidden behind it.

Everyone was taken aback, not understanding why Han Zhou would suddenly ask this question.

Lin Anyu didn't think too much about it. After a moment of thought, he replied, "It probably symbolizes something beautiful. I usually feel much better when I see a sunny day—except when I have PE class that day."

For high school students, physical education class is something they can't have in their youth. The biggest worry on the day of physical education class is rain, fearing that the physical education teacher will "be sick and take leave". However, when they reach college age, rain becomes something many people look forward to. Perhaps this is the change in mindset as they grow up.

“I think of the sun,” was Guzheng’s reply.

“Some divinations can only be performed on sunny days,” Wang Runxue pondered.

"The weather is fine and sunny, perfect for an outing," Bai Tongtong said with a light smile.

"Okay, thank you."

Han Zhou realized he couldn't rely on others; it was too much to expect to connect a single word to key information. He immediately changed the subject, asking, "By the way, where are the senior students?"

"They're still busy inside." Gu Zheng pointed to the door behind her.

"Then let's go in and help," Lin Anyu said excitedly. "It's a rare occasion for everyone to get together today, and it's also Guzheng's birthday. Han Zhou, you have to cook a few dishes, right?"

Ever since he had eaten Han Zhou's cooking, he had wanted to eat it again.

"no problem."

Han Zhou smiled; of course, he was going to show off his culinary skills today.

Pushing open the door, one enters Zhong Yin's residence. The space inside is relatively small, and the kitchen can only accommodate two people. As soon as Han Zhou arrived at the door, he saw Zhong Ling wearing an apron, who was focused on chopping vegetables and did not notice his arrival at all.

Zhong Yin was nowhere to be seen, but her busy voice could be heard: "Xiao Ling, could you get me some garlic and ginger? Are the chilies with you? Pass me a plate, the one for holding the fish..."

He watched silently until he coughed from the sudden smell of cooking oil, at which point Zhong Ling turned around and looked at him with a happy smile on her face.

"Junior, you're here."

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Yes, thank you for your hard work."

Today is Guzheng's birthday. Actually, Zhong Ling and Zhong Yin shouldn't have to work so hard, but they took the initiative to "take over" the venue for the birthday party and are now in charge of cooking. It's really hard on them.

"Cough cough cough, what's wrong, Xiaoling? Is it...is it Han Zhou who's here?"

A few coughs followed, and Zhong Yin's voice rang out from the kitchen.

Zhong Ling nodded towards the room.

"Cough cough cough, it's a bit stuffy in here. Let him go outside and come back in later."

Upon hearing Zhong Yin's words, Han Zhou raised his voice and said, "Sister Yin, I'm here to cook, so please let me have the kitchen!"

He had already told Zhong Yin that he was going to cook before he came.

"Okay, I'll give it to you once this dish is finished. You can go out now."

Han Zhou wondered what Zhong Yin was cooking, as the whole house was filled with a pungent smell, but it smelled quite good. As soon as Han Zhou stepped outside, he saw Zhong Ling follow him out, coughing as she explained, "It was too pungent in the house, so my sister told me to come out too."

"What dish is she making?" Han Zhou asked curiously, handing Zhong Ling a water glass from the table.

He recognized the other person's water glass.

Zhong Ling wiped her hands on her apron before taking the water glass and said with a light smile, "This is a dish that Mom used to make for us often. It's a specialty from her hometown and it tastes delicious. My sister has been learning how to make it recently and wants to share it with everyone."

"It does smell really good," Han Zhou said with a smile.

Zhong Ling nodded, a nostalgic smile on her face: "Mom was a great cook. She said that she won Dad's heart and stomach with this dish. She also told my sister and me to learn how to cook from her when we had time. But we were still in school at that time and rarely had the opportunity to go into the kitchen. We only learned a little bit."

As she finished speaking, a hint of sadness flashed in her clear eyes.

However, she knew that today was a happy day, so she quickly composed herself and mustered up her courage to say, "So if my cooking isn't very good, please forgive me."

Han Zhou was taken aback, then laughed and said, "Of course, but it smelled really good just now, so Sister Yin will definitely be able to make it delicious."

"Ok!"

Zhong Ling nodded vigorously, a gentle smile appearing on her face.

A short while later, the door opened, and Zhong Yin's voice came from inside: "Han Zhou, come in!"

Han Zhou walked into the room, but before he could speak, the door was slammed shut. Zhong Yin, with her back to him, was taking off her apron and said emotionlessly, "The kitchen is all cleaned up. You can go in now. Remember to keep the range hood on. The ingredients are in the refrigerator."

"Thank you."

Han Zhou nodded, took the apron from Zhong Yin's hand, and seeing that she hadn't turned around to look at him, he asked in surprise, "What's wrong, Sister Yin?"

"It's nothing, go cook your dishes. It's almost noon, don't dawdle." Zhong Yin still had her back to him, her tone was not exactly cold, but it was definitely not gentle either, sounding quite stiff.

However, this is the result of Zhong Yin's long and hard work.

"Could it be that oil splattered on your face?" Han Zhou asked.

"No, don't make a fuss."

"So you didn't put on makeup when you woke up today?"

When have I ever worn makeup?

Zhong Yin was getting impatient and was about to tell the guy to get into the kitchen, but then there was no sound behind him.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly turned to look at her side. She immediately saw Han Zhou standing beside her, his face showing concern and a hesitant expression.

"Sister Yin...you're crying?"

(End of this chapter)