Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 332, are you right?
Han Zhou listened silently to Zhong Yin's narration while washing the pot.

The other person seemed to treat him like a garbage bag, or even just like trash. They didn't bother to organize their words properly, their speech was fragmented, they said whatever came to mind, and they only touched on the surface without revealing any important secrets or feelings.

To sum it up in one sentence——

Anyway, I cried, do whatever you want, but if you dare tell Xiaoling, you're dead.

Although he didn't hear much, Han Zhou roughly understood why Zhong Yin was crying. It wasn't due to a single factor, but rather the accumulation and outburst of multiple emotions.

Of course, he didn't think it was being pretentious at all. Since their parents passed away, Zhong Yin, as the older sister, had indeed carried too much burden, and it was perfectly normal for her to have accumulated emotions.

"I understand."

He glanced at the trash can on the ground and sighed softly, "The tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease; the child may wish to care for his parents, but they will no longer be there. Although it is not quite accurate, your obsession with this dish must stem from some kind of regret."

"The child wishes to care for his parents, but they are no longer there..."

Zhong Yin was slightly moved, murmured the same sentence, and looked at him with surprise, "Which book did you read this from?"

This statement is not quite accurate, but it must be said that it carries a profound meaning.

"A proverb from my hometown."

"Your hometown is..."

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you..." Han Zhou sighed inwardly, then interrupted her with a serious expression: "Tell me the recipe, and I might be able to recreate this dish."

"what?"

“I told you to tell me how to make this dish, and maybe I can recreate it.”

Zhong Yin paused for two seconds: "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure, I said it was maybe." Han Zhou put the washed pot back on the stove and said casually, "Since we still have time, we can give it a try. If we don't want to, then forget it."

He just had a sudden inspiration. The pungent smell he had smelled like Sichuan cuisine from his previous life. If he knew how to make it, he might be able to recreate the dish as closely as possible with the help of his "culinary expertise" and "senior chef" skills. Even if he couldn't recreate it, the taste would definitely not be too bad, and it would be enough to get by.

Zhong Yin didn't say anything, but immediately went to the living room and took out a bunch of ingredients from the refrigerator, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"I only remember part of the recipe."

She washed the vegetables, the water gushing through her fingers. Due to long hours of work, her hands weren't as fair and tender as other girls'.

"It's okay. Tell me everything you can think of now, including the taste. Don't talk when I start making it. I need to stay absolutely focused."

Han Zhou turned his gaze away from Zhong Yin's hands and reminded him, "Also, I can only do my best to recreate it; the possibility of a complete replica is very low, so it's best not to have too high expectations."

"I know."

Zhong Yin understood that this was difficult, so she placed the washed vegetables on the cutting board and began to chop them skillfully again, explaining the cooking method to Han Zhou in detail as she chopped.

Han Zhou noted everything down and roughly went through the process in his mind. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he asked curiously, "By the way, Sister Yin, can I ask you a question?"

"Ah."

"You cried because you overheard what I said and mistakenly thought that your senior had high expectations of you. If you had heard what she said and knew that she didn't have such high expectations of you, would you still have cried?"

"Why do you ask that?" Zhong Yin asked without looking up.

“I’ve been studying the topic of ‘expectation’ lately.”

"You're only a freshman, it's not time for you to write a thesis yet."

"I didn't mean to write a paper..."

"I'm just kidding."

Zhong Yin interrupted him expressionlessly, thought for a moment and said, "To answer your question, if that's really the case, I will still cry, but it will be tears of joy."

Crying with joy?

Han Zhou was taken aback and tentatively asked, "Are you joking?"

Zhong Yin glanced at him: "I can hear Xiao Ling's voice now, isn't that something to be overjoyed about?"

Han Zhou chuckled twice: "Worth it, of course it's worth it..."

Isn't this just a joke?
However, Zhong Yin did not finish her sentence.

"But even without this factor, I would still be happy."

"Why?" he asked, his face showing curiosity.

There's a saying in my hometown too.

Zhong Yin withdrew her gaze and looked out the window, where there was only an empty wall, but it seemed as if she could see much farther away.

"When a child no longer believes that his or her parents are omnipotent, that is when he or she has grown up for the first time."

……

"dinner time!"

With Lin Anyu's shout, a fragrant aroma suddenly filled the room. Gu Zheng's eyes lit up, and she immediately looked in the direction from which the food was being served. Zhong Ling and Bai Tongtong also cast curious glances.

Even Wang Runxue, who had doubts about Han Zhou's cooking skills, couldn't help but swallow hard. She got up and walked to Lin Anyu's side, pretending to be reserved as she asked, "What dish are you holding?"

"Chicken stew with mushrooms, isn't that obvious?" Lin Anyu asked, puzzled.

"It's obvious, but the taste isn't quite like the chicken stew with mushrooms I used to have..."

Lin Anyu looked devout, like a loyal follower of Chef Han Zhou: "That only means you didn't eat authentic food before."

As he spoke, he walked past Wang Runxue, placed the dishes on the table, and then returned to the kitchen to continue serving the dishes.

Wang Runxue stared intently at the chicken on the table, and it took her a great deal of effort, relying on what she considered to be strong willpower, to look away.

Before long, Han Zhou also brought the dishes into the room. Gu Zheng and the others had already set out the table, chairs, bowls and chopsticks, and took their seats one after another.

Zhong Ling sat to the left of the guzheng, her gaze quickly drawn to a dish that looked rather dark in color. She stared blankly at the plate, wanting to pick up her chopsticks and try it, but worried that it would be impolite.

Just then, Han Zhou's voice rang in my ears, his tone amused: "Try it and see if it suits your taste."

"May I?"

She subconsciously looked to her side and the first person she saw was Gu Zheng, who was fiddling with a birthday hat, followed by Han Zhou, who had just sat down.

She hesitated, worried that the younger student wasn't talking to her.

"of course."

Fortunately, the other person's voice came back quickly, clearly responding to him.

"Thank you."

Zhong Ling breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile appearing in her eyes. She picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of meat, and gently put it into her mouth.

At this moment, Gu Zheng was complaining to Han Zhou, saying reluctantly, "This birthday hat is so stupid, can I not wear it later?"

"Of course not," Han Zhou said seriously. "How can you prove that it's your birthday today if you don't wear this hat? It's a symbol of identity. Only when you wear it can the heavens hear your wish."

"Is there such a saying?" Guzheng muttered. "I never wore this on my birthday before..."

"That's why your wishes never came true before." Han Zhou shook his head and sighed. "Come on, you clearly think this hat is stupid too, and you want to see me make a fool of myself wearing it, right?"

Gu Zheng looked wary and was about to question Han Zhou's intentions when she noticed Zhong Ling standing motionless with chopsticks in her hand, her expression blank, like a statue.

She was startled and quickly asked, "What's wrong, senior?"

Wang Runxue hurriedly followed up with the question, "Was the food Han Zhou made poisoned?"

He swallowed hard as he spoke, looking as if he wanted to test the poison on himself.

Han Zhou's lips twitched.

Faced with everyone's concerned gazes, Zhong Ling quickly came to her senses, a gentle smile appearing on her face as she shook her head and said, "It's nothing, I just think it tastes delicious."

Han Zhou translated her words to everyone.

"Tch, just bragging." Wang Runxue deliberately pretended not to believe it.

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhong Ling looked over and shook her head seriously, indicating that what she said was wrong.

"I'm just kidding."

Wang Runxue chuckled awkwardly and didn't say anything more. She just wanted to seize the opportunity to try the dishes in advance.

"Where's Sister Yin? Is she still cooking?"

Seeing that Zhong Yin had not come out of the kitchen, Gu Zheng looked around and thought of getting up to go into the kitchen to take a look, but Han Zhou stopped her.

"There was too much smoke in the kitchen just now, and Sister Yin's eyes got irritated. She'll be out in a bit."

"Really?"

"real."

"Then how come you're alright?"

"I can cook with my eyes closed."

"You're just talking nonsense."

"..."

Zhong Ling stared blankly at the closed door, remaining silent for a long time.

About five minutes later, Zhong Yin, whose eyes were slightly red, finally sat down. After expressing his apologies, everyone began to eat.

Wang Runxue picked up her chopsticks and immediately targeted the plate of slightly blackened meat that Zhong Ling had just eaten. In her opinion, food that could make someone linger after eating it must either be extremely unpalatable or extremely delicious.

However, to her disappointment, the dish did not meet either of the above two criteria. It was indeed delicious, but it did not reach the level of being absolutely amazing that Gu Zheng had described.

In fact, the taste of this dish was not particularly amazing, because Han Zhou did not use "culinary expertise" to make it.

The moment the food hit the pan, he suddenly realized that Zhong Yin's mother didn't have any "cheat codes" like him; she relied entirely on her own skills to cook. Therefore, if he wanted to replicate her signature dishes, he couldn't rely on external help either.

With this in mind, and with Zhong Yin's constant reminders, he made several adjustments and actually managed to recreate the "taste of mom" that Zhong Yin had described. After eating it, Zhong Yin remained silent for a while, and then her eyes reddened.

Zhong Ling's reaction just now also shows that his recreation is quite close to the taste in the two people's memories.

Han Zhou was naturally quite surprised by this, but he could only attribute it to luck.

During the meal, everyone chatted, and soon the topic of the sports meet came up.

Lin Anyu and Bai Tongtong's school sports meet just ended this week, while the sports meet of Linda University will be held next week. As the first sports meet since entering university, this is a matter of great concern to everyone.

Lin Anyu spoke eloquently: "The 1,500 meters was indeed quite dangerous. At the beginning, the one in the lead was a long-haired monster. His speed was quite fast—of course, it was still far from Guzheng's. The one in second place was a tall guy. This guy was more steady and only started to exert himself in the second half. It looked like he was about to catch up with the long-haired monster, but then a speedster suddenly appeared out of nowhere. That person was initially unknown..."

Wang Runxue listened attentively, took a sip of her cola, and asked, "After all you've said, what was your final ranking?"

Lin Anyu gave her a strange look: "I didn't participate."

Wang Runxue almost spat out her cola: "You weren't even there, yet you're observing so closely?"

Lin Anyu looked a little awkward and laughed, "I heard it from my roommate."

"He must be talking nonsense," Guzheng said disdainfully. "What long-haired monster, speedster, why does your roommate give people random nicknames?"

If you knew that this guy used to call you "Super Strong Girl" behind your back, then you'd know who the real jerk is who loves giving out random nicknames...

Han Zhou mentally complained, but did not expose Lin Anyu's "fabricated friend".

Just then, Bai Tongtong said with a light smile, "What Lin Anyu's roommate said is true. That's exactly how it happened in the competition. In the end, 'Lame General' won."

"Who is the Lame General?" Everyone was taken aback.

"I don't know him. I heard that he sprained his ankle when he sprinted to the finish line. When I passed by the crowd, I heard someone say, 'This kid is extraordinary. He was willing to pay the price of a leg for victory. He has the demeanor of a great general and should be named the Lame General.'"

Bai Tongtong spoke slowly, but she still managed to perfectly mimic the person's tone of voice.

The others didn't catch the hidden meaning, but Han Zhou's lips twitched. Wasn't Lin Anyu the one who would talk like that?

Looking up, sure enough, Lin Anyu's chopsticks had fallen under the table at some point, and he was now "trying hard to pick them up."

"correct."

Bai Tongtong continued, "I came in first place in the girls' 800-meter race, and I heard that person talking about me at the time."

"Oh!"

The table suddenly made a loud noise, and Lin Anyu, who was picking up his chopsticks, seemed to have hit his head. Wang Runxue, who was next to him, was slightly startled: "Are you alright?"

"fine."

Lin Anyu gasped, then crawled out from under the table with the chopsticks in hand, chuckling dryly, "These chopsticks are pretty sturdy; they didn't break even after being dropped like this."

"Are your chopsticks easy to break?" Han Zhou said irritably.

He wanted to help Lin Anyu change the subject, but unfortunately Wang Runxue couldn't see the situation clearly. She looked at Bai Tongtong with curiosity and asked, "Go on, what did that person say about you?"

Gu Zheng and the others also showed curious expressions. Clearly, they were more interested in the topic Bai Tongtong was talking about than the chopsticks in Lin Anyu's house.

Bai Tongtong cleared her throat and mimicked Lin Anyu's tone, saying, "I laughed at Black Whirlwind for being reckless and Sister Qiuku for being dim-witted. If they had stood side by side in front of Bai Tuntun during the final sprint... hey, what do you guys think?"

It has to be said that, apart from speaking a little slowly, her imitation was really good. Even her "hey" was quite vivid, capturing Lin Anyu's carefree and irresponsible style.

"Is Bai Tuntun talking about you?" Guzheng asked.

"Ah."

Bai Tongtong's smile remained unchanged. "Perhaps they think I speak slowly and am a hesitant person."

"That's outrageous!" Wang Runxue said angrily. "That person must know you and even know your name, otherwise they wouldn't have called you that."

She looked at Lin Anyu, who was about to pick up his chopsticks again, and asked, "Don't you agree?"

Lin Anyu's expression froze, and he forced out an awkward but polite smile.

"Correct."

(End of this chapter)