Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 333 Fortune and Misfortune Are Unpredictable
Seeing Lin Anyu's pleading looks several times, Han Zhou couldn't pretend not to see them, so he had to change the subject again and turn to look at Gu Zheng, who was eating diligently beside him.

"Guzheng, how many events did you sign up for at this year's sports meet?"

"Three."

The guzheng's sound was muffled, and the tone sounded somewhat dissatisfied, "3000 meters, 4x400 meter relay, and triathlon."

Everyone was shocked to hear this, and Zhong Ling looked worried. These three events were probably the most tiring at the sports meet, but unexpectedly, they all fell on Gu Zheng alone. No wonder she was dissatisfied.

Han Zhou could only smile bitterly to himself. He knew perfectly well that Gu Zheng's dissatisfaction didn't stem from signing up for the three most tiring events, but from the fact that a person could only sign up for a maximum of three individual events.

"What about team projects?" he asked.

Gu Zheng immediately beamed: "I've registered almost everything I could."

As former high school classmates, Lin Anyu and Bai Tongtong were used to seeing Bai Tongtong's eagerness to participate in all sports related to the guzheng. Wang Runxue, a college classmate, witnessed Bai Tongtong's frantic signing up for guzheng, and all three remained relatively calm.

But Zhong Yin couldn't sit still. She thought that Gu Zheng had been bullied by her classmates and was forced to sign up for the hardest and most tiring projects. She frowned.

Fortunately, Han Zhou saw through her thoughts in time and whispered a reminder: "Don't worry, Sister Yin, no one is forcing Gu Zheng. She's still worried that the academy won't agree to let her participate in all the group projects."

Zhong Yin was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and then asked in a low voice, "Does Gu Zheng really like sports?"

This was the first time she had ever whispered to a boy like this, and she felt a little uncomfortable, as if something was off.

"You can say that."

Han Zhou smiled and said, "She's interested in any activity where she can win first place."

Zhong Yin had heard Han Zhou mention these words before, but she had always thought they were exaggerated jokes. Only now did she realize that they were true.

After a moment of silence, she suddenly asked, "Does that include the place in the heart of someone you like?"

To avoid being overheard by others, he spoke in a very low voice, barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, but because Han Zhou was in a state of heightened hearing, he still heard it clearly.

Noticing the fleeting helplessness in the other's eyes, Zhong Yin didn't continue. She picked up a piece of meat and put it in Zhong Ling's bowl, then asked in a normal voice, "Han Zhou, I heard from Xiao Ling that you also signed up for this year's sports meet. What event is it?"

Before Han Zhou could speak, Gu Zheng answered first: "It's the triple jump. Teacher Ouyang originally wanted him to run the 200 meters, but someone had already signed up for the 200 meters. Only the triple jump was open, so Teacher Ouyang let him do the triple jump."

Bai Tongtong was a little puzzled and said slowly, "I remember Han Zhou isn't very good at sports, so why is this teacher insisting that you participate in sports? Does he have a grudge against you?"

She didn't know Ouyang Lianyu, but judged by common sense that the university sports meet was not a child's play, and Han Zhou didn't look like he was good at sports. Forcing him to participate in sports events would not result in any achievements, but might even make him lose face. The only thing she could think of was to settle a personal score.

"You're wrong about that."

Seeing that the topic had successfully veered away from him, Lin Anyu became lively again and chuckled, "That Teacher Ouyang is quite famous at Lin University. Not only does she not have any grudge against Han Zhou, but they actually have a good relationship."

Bai Tongtong still couldn't understand: "Even if you have a good relationship, you can't disregard the honor and achievements of the department, right?"

Realizing she had misspoke, she looked at Han Zhou with a hint of apology on her face, "I'm sorry, Han Zhou, I didn't mean you couldn't achieve anything."

"It's ok."

Han Zhou smiled indifferently. If it weren't for the status bar, he really wouldn't have been able to achieve any results in the sports meet.

Gu Zheng put down her rice bowl and immediately defended Han Zhou, saying seriously, "Bai Tongtong, you misunderstood. Han Zhou has a strong athletic talent, and he is fully capable of achieving results in the sports meet."

Lin Anyu quickly chimed in, "That's right, that's right. Han Zhou is a completely different person now. You might not know, but there was a little accident when my sister had her birthday during the summer vacation, and it was all thanks to Han Zhou that she was saved..."

Most people were hearing for the first time that Han Zhou had saved Lin Youya with an amazing throw, and they were both shocked and impressed. They knew that if he had failed, Han Zhou would not only have not received thanks, but might have been blamed. Yet he still did it.

Zhong Yin looked at the boy beside her with a wry smile. Compared to when they first met, the boy seemed to have become more robust, but he was still rather thin. She wondered if it was because he didn't eat enough meat.

She had heard Zhong Ling mention that Han Zhou had broken his arm while catching a child falling from a great height, and thought to herself that this guy's character was indeed impeccable, his only flaw being that he was too much of a womanizer.

His gaze passed over Han Zhou and landed on the smiling girl beside him. Gu Zheng's eyes were crinkled with pride, as if she herself was the one being praised, not Han Zhou.

Thinking that one day such a smile would turn into pain and sorrow, Zhong Yin sighed inwardly.

"It seems that Teacher Ouyang should let you participate in shot put, so that you can bring out your best strengths."

Wang Runxue stared intently at Han Zhou, then suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and said with lingering fear, "But it's a good thing that it's like this. Without a formidable opponent like you, our academy has a higher chance of winning this year."

"With the guzheng, your chances of winning are already very high," Han Zhou said helplessly. "Besides, what Lin Anyu just said was too exaggerated. Even if I participated in the shot put, I might not be able to beat you."

Hearing Han Zhou praise her, Gu Zheng's eyes crinkled, and she unusually modestly said, "I'm not that good..."

As everyone was chatting, there was a knock on the door. Zhong Yin was startled, and then Han Zhou got up and explained, "It must be Teacher Ouyang. She said this morning that she would come over when she had time to give Guzheng a birthday present."

"Give me a gift? Why?"

Gu Zheng was stunned; it was the first time she had ever heard of this.

“You used to walk Ms. Ouyang up and down the stairs every day for a while, and you even went to her house to clean. Ms. Ouyang has been wanting to find an opportunity to thank you, so I told her it was your birthday.”

After Han Zhou finished speaking, he went to open the door. Sure enough, there was Ouyang Lianyu with a smile on her face. She was wearing a brown coat, a pom-pom woolen hat, gloves, and a plaid scarf around her neck, dressed in winter attire determined to keep warm to the end.

Seeing that the room was full of people, she smiled a little embarrassedly: "Did I disturb you?"

"No, no, Teacher Ouyang, please come in and sit down. Xiaoling, bring another set of chopsticks and a bowl!"

Zhong Yin came to open the door with Han Zhou. When she saw Ouyang Lianyu, she was very enthusiastic and quickly invited her into the house.

She wasn't familiar with Ouyang Lianyu, but since the latter was a university teacher, she had asked him to look after her younger sister, and he had indeed done so. She was very grateful for this, and since they were of similar age and both women, she was quite friendly towards him.

"No, no, no."

Zhong Yin's enthusiasm overwhelmed Ouyang Lianyu, who smiled and politely declined, saying, "I have important things to do later, so I'll leave the gift here and go."

She handed the gift box to Han Zhou, then cupped her hand to her mouth and shouted into the room, "Guzheng, happy birthday! I've given the gift to Han Zhou. Have fun, I have to go now!"

"Thank you, Teacher Ouyang!"

Gu Zheng responded loudly, got up and ran to the door in a few steps, grabbed the other person's arm and said, "Are you leaving so soon? We were just talking about the teacher. Why don't you come in and have something to eat before you go? Many of the dishes were made by Han Zhou, and they are delicious."

"No need, the teacher has already eaten."

Ouyang Lianyu smiled gently and asked curiously, "What were you talking about me about?"

Gu Zheng honestly replied, "You asked Han Zhou to participate in the long jump."

"I see." Ouyang Lianyu glanced at Han Zhou. "Is he dissatisfied?"

“No.” Gu Zheng shook her head, then added after thinking for a moment, “But he is actually better at shot put.”

"Is that so?" Ouyang Lianyu seemed somewhat surprised.

"No, that's not true." Han Zhou thought to himself that something was wrong, but urged him calmly, "Teacher, don't you have important things to do? Things are important, so go ahead and do them. I'll bring you a birthday cake."

Gu Zheng gave him a strange look and said with displeasure, "How could you send Teacher Ouyang away?"

"It's alright, Han Zhou is right, I really should go." Ouyang Lianyu could obviously tell that Han Zhou was worried that she had signed him up for another shot put event. She chuckled inwardly, but didn't show it on her face, letting the guy worry for a while longer.

She suddenly remembered something and continued, "By the way, I heard that this year's sports meet has added a lot of fun events. Although they don't count towards the total score, there are still rewards to be won. You can check them out if you're interested."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Just then, Zhong Yin, who had rushed back, hurriedly handed over a box of pastries, saying expectantly, "Teacher Ouyang, these are our shop's specialty pastries, please take them and try them."

Ouyang Lianyu wanted to refuse, but she couldn't resist Zhong Yin's insistence, so she had no choice but to accept the pastries and said with a wry smile, "Then thank you."

"You're welcome. Come visit anytime you have time," Zhong Yin said with a smile.

Sister Eun's attitude towards different people is so different...

Han Zhou felt a pang of emotion, but he also understood. He saw the shadow of most parents in Zhong Yin. In order to give their children a better life, they often did not hesitate to lower themselves to curry favor with others, and did not think it was a shameful thing.

Zhong Yin is not a parent, but she has been doing things for her younger sister in a way that resembles parental actions.

Han Zhou pulled himself together and suddenly said, "Teacher Ouyang, let me see you off."

Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback, then shook her head and laughed, "There's no need for this gift. You should go back and eat."

"I'll come back to eat later. There was too much smoke in the kitchen just now, and my eyes are a bit uncomfortable. I'll just go out for a walk."

Han Zhou gave her no chance to refuse again. He walked out of the room while talking, turned around and told everyone that he would be back soon. He gestured for Ouyang Lianyu to follow, and then strode towards the right.

"Han Zhou!"

"what happened?"

He stopped and turned back to look at Ouyang Lianyu with a puzzled expression.

"It's this way."

The latter stood still, pointing in another direction with a helpless expression.

"Oh, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Han Zhou wasn't embarrassed. He immediately turned around and, seeing that Ouyang Lianyu was still motionless, urged, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go. Don't you have something urgent to do?"

"..."

After watching the two leave, Zhong Yin, who was standing at the door, remained silent for a moment before asking, "Gu Zheng, may I ask you a question?"

"of course can."

"Which of them is the teacher?"

At the same time, Bai Tongtong, who was in the room, showed a thoughtful expression and slowly spoke out what everyone was thinking.

"I think I know why Teacher Ouyang insisted on having Han Zhou participate in the sports meet."

……

Meanwhile, Han Zhou and Ouyang Lianyu had already disappeared from everyone's sight.

Ouyang Lianyu said earnestly, "Han Zhou, your teacher really has something to do today and can't go back to help you 'smash the cup as a signal'. I won't criticize your attitude towards relationships, but you shouldn't keep dragging your teacher into your love life."

Han Zhou's offer to take her home clearly indicated that he had something to say, but he hadn't spoken a word to her since they started spending time alone together. After thinking it over, she felt that this was all he wanted to say.

"I didn't mean to say that."

Han Zhou seemed to have just snapped out of his reverie, and shook his head to ask a seemingly random question, "Teacher Ouyang, do you think a sunny day has any special meaning?"

"Sunny day?" Ouyang Lianyu looked puzzled.

"Yes, especially on sunny Saturdays."

Ouyang Lianyu was puzzled and asked, "Are you referring to today?"

"Yes, you could say that." Han Zhou nodded, then asked seriously, "Do you think there's anything special about today?"

He still couldn't think of any useful information from the clues in the "mysterious pouch," so he could only try to change his approach. The key might not be the sunny day or Saturday, but rather an event that was about to happen today.

Last week, he used the "interesting upper, middle, and lower fortune" method to predict his luck for today. The subject of the divination was himself, and interestingly, the result only gave a four-word hint—

Good or bad fortune is hard to predict.

Like the hint given in the "mysterious brocade pouch," this sentence is also quite nonsensical and doesn't provide any direction. However, if you combine the two, you can determine that there is a high probability that something important will happen today.

This matter probably doesn't refer to Guzheng's birthday, because he also consulted a fortune teller about Guzheng's fortune last week, and the result was similar to "everything will be fine," which is why he dared to attend Guzheng's birthday celebration.

Since the problem wasn't with Guzheng's birthday, it must be with someone or something else. Han Zhou suddenly realized this, which is why he came out to ask about Ouyang Lianyu's situation.

After all, although it's mostly due to carelessness, this guy is quite unlucky, and the possibility of him "triggering an event" is higher.

Unfortunately, Ouyang Lianyu couldn't provide him with any useful information. She shook her head and said, "I don't understand what you mean, but for the teacher, today is just an ordinary day, nothing special."

"ok, I get it."

Han Zhou wasn't disappointed, after all, he had only come along to ask casually. Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, he suddenly remembered something and asked suspiciously, "Speaking of which, this direction leads to the hospital, right? Teacher, you're not injured somewhere again, are you?"

Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him: "Can't you think of something better? Have you forgotten why the teacher made you participate in the long jump?"

Han Zhou chuckled awkwardly and changed the subject, asking, "So what urgent matter are you talking about?"

Ouyang Lianyu's expression turned slightly serious: "You're right about one thing. I do need to go to the hospital, but it's not because I'm injured. It's because Xiaoxiao is sick and hospitalized. I need to check on her condition."

"Who?"

Han Zhou was taken aback. A strange sense of unfamiliarity rose from the bottom of his heart, but it was fleeting. It took him two seconds to realize who the other person was talking about.

"Xiaoxiao was hospitalized? When did that happen?"

"last night."

Ouyang Lianyu looked worried and replied, "I heard that she started having a high fever yesterday afternoon, was sweating profusely, and kept talking in her sleep. Her roommate saw that she was too sick, so she took her to the hospital. I only received the news this morning."

At this point, she suddenly seemed puzzled, "Aren't you and Xiaoxiao on good terms? Didn't she tell you she was sick?"

Han Zhou was taken aback and quickly took out his phone to check his chat history with Xiao Xiaoxiao.

Above the chat box, a message sent last night is clearly visible.

"Han Zhou, I feel like I'm acting a little strange."

(End of this chapter)