Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 342 Accident
"There are five minutes left before the start of the women's 3,000-meter race. All athletes participating in the race, please proceed to your positions on the track as soon as possible."

"There are five minutes left before the start of the women's 3,000-meter race. All athletes participating in the race, please proceed to your positions on the track as soon as possible."

"distance……"

At 3:15 p.m., the women's 3,000-meter race was about to begin. As the announcer continued to broadcast reminders, athletes from various departments arrived at the track and took their positions, including Guzheng.

She had already taken off her down jacket and was only wearing a striped wool sweater that didn't restrict her movements. She was now standing on the outermost side of the track, warming up her body.

Among all the female athletes participating in the competition, Gu Zheng was undoubtedly the most eye-catching. Her beautiful and lovely appearance had already attracted a lot of attention from onlookers, but she seemed not to hear it. She would only occasionally glance around, as if looking for someone.

Wang Runxue, holding a down jacket by the track, was also looking around, wondering why Han Zhou hadn't arrived yet, which was making Gu Zheng distracted. Beside her was Xiao Xiaoxiao, who was wearing peach blossom earrings; both of them had come to cheer for Gu Zheng.

Zhou Ting was also present. She didn't have much interaction with Guzheng; she was mainly there to keep Xiao Xiaoxiao company. At that moment, she was looking at the top of Xiao Xiaoxiao's head with some confusion.

"Xiaoxiao, have you grown taller?"

"No, I'm still 1.52 meters tall." Xiao Xiao breathed hot air onto her hands, then put them in her pockets, saying nonchalantly, "It must be my imagination. I won't grow any taller."

Wang Runxue looked around several times but couldn't find Han Zhou. She cursed inwardly, then turned to look at him and said with a smile, "It's okay. 1.52 meters isn't short. Besides, you can grow a few more centimeters by wearing height-increasing shoes."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ting's expression changed slightly. She glanced cautiously at Xiao Xiaoxiao, hesitating as if she wanted to say something but didn't, unsure whether she should speak up to remind her.

"I'm already wearing height-increasing shoes, with a 5-centimeter inner insole."

To her surprise, Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't shy away from revealing her real height at all, frankly admitting that even with height-increasing shoes, she was only 1.52 meters tall.

Xiao Xiao used to care about this a lot...

Zhou Ting found it strange; she noticed that Xiao Xiao had become somewhat different since leaving the hospital last week.

Upon hearing Xiao Xiaoxiao's words, Wang Runxue paused for two seconds, scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly, and said awkwardly, "Sorry, I brought up the very thing I didn't want to talk about..."

"It's okay, being short has its advantages."

Xiao Xiaoxiao smiled nonchalantly, when she suddenly heard a gasp behind her. Turning around, she saw Han Zhou running towards her, about to collide with her.

At the critical moment, Han Zhou calmly and suddenly stopped behind her. His body leaned forward slightly due to inertia, and his chest gently pressed against her head. Then he leaned back and raised his hands in the air, stopping safely.

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked as if she had been hit by a hammer, staggering back a few steps, clutching her head and glaring at Han Zhou with dissatisfaction.

"Xiaoxiao, are you alright?" Zhou Ting quickly helped her up and asked with some concern.

"fine."

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head. This was the advantage of being short that she mentioned. If it weren't for her short stature, she would have kissed Han Zhou just now.

Thinking of this, she glared at Han Zhou and said irritably, "Why are you running so fast? Were you being chased by a dog?"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to." Han Zhou smiled awkwardly and asked with concern, "Did you hurt yourself?"

Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm fine now.

Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes at him and said with dissatisfaction, "Didn't you say you were on the playground a long time ago? Why are you only coming now? Guzheng has been looking for you."

"Something went wrong along the way."

Han Zhou gave a wry smile and explained, then raised his arm and waved to Gu Zheng, who was looking in his direction, while making a "go for it" mouth shape. Gu Zheng smiled and her eyes crinkled, instantly capturing the hearts of countless men, giving them the illusion that "she must be smiling at me."

Han Zhou didn't notice the expressions of the men around him. He smiled and watched the guzheng for a while, then gestured for her to focus on the competition. He then said to Xiao Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, come with me for a moment. I have something I want to say to you alone."

"understood."

Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't ask any more questions. She nodded gently, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment before shifting her attention to the guzheng that was already warming up on the playground.

Zhou Ting looked at the two of them with suspicion, wondering what they had been doing lately and why they always had secrets to tell each other.
"By the way, isn't the senior with you guys?"

Han Zhou didn't notice Zhou Ting's suspicious look. He looked around, trying to find Zhong Ling in the crowd. "I remember she said she was coming to the playground to cheer for Guzheng."

"You mean Senior Zhong Ling? She arrived a while ago, but she's with her roommate." Wang Runxue pointed to the crowd across the track. "Look, they were just over there."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhong Ling emerged from the crowd on the other side. She spotted Han Zhou and the others across the track and immediately smiled gently. She even mustered up the courage to wave to them.

She smiled at me!
The men were captivated once again, their hearts seemingly struck by Cupid's arrow. They longed to find a mirror and examine themselves, thinking that they must be incredibly handsome today, otherwise it would be impossible for two beautiful women to smile at them in a row, one of whom was the famous "mute bride".

Although it was only the beginning of winter, many boys felt as if spring had arrived early. Some of the bolder ones even waved in response to Zhong Ling's "greetings," but perhaps because they were too shy, Zhong Ling did not respond.

"These guys are really narcissistic..."

Zhong Ling's roommates thought to themselves, "It's obvious to everyone that Zhong Ling is greeting that really handsome guy across from us. Don't these guys ever look in the mirror before they go out?"

Just then, the handsome guy on the other side of the track suddenly smiled at them. The girls were overjoyed and so excited that they wanted to post it on their WeChat Moments right away, saying that a handsome guy had smiled at them.

Seeing her roommates' expressions change repeatedly, Zhong Ling was a little puzzled, but she didn't ask any questions. She just clenched her fist and pressed down hard, making a cheering gesture towards the guzheng.

Seeing that many people were looking at her, she lowered her fist somewhat embarrassedly and tugged at the small cloth bag at her waist.

"Attention, the women's 3,000-meter race is about to begin. Please move away from the track as soon as possible and keep a distance of at least two meters from it. Do not stay or walk on the track until the race ends."

"Attention, the women's 3,000-meter race is about to begin. Please move away from the track as soon as possible and keep at least two meters away from it. Do not stay or walk on the track until the race ends."

"Notice……"

A few minutes later, the announcer's serious voice came over the loudspeaker again, followed by a three-second whistle, which meant that the match was about to begin.

All athletes were ready, hands on the ground, crouching on the track, poised to start. The referees also took their positions beside the track, looking down at the time on their phones, their signal guns raised high, ready to fire at any moment.

"Students, please step back! The competition is about to begin. Please give the athletes some space and do not stop or walk on the track!"

Student council members were using megaphones to urge the students gathered on both sides of the track to back up. As Wang Runxue retreated with the crowd, she anxiously observed the athletes poised to start on the track. She knew Gu Zheng was very athletic, but all the girls participating in the competition were tall and strong with long legs. Gu Zheng's physique seemed to be at a complete disadvantage, and she worried that Gu Zheng would lose the competition.

Although they hadn't known each other for long, she already knew that Guzheng was a very competitive girl, and losing was something she couldn't accept.

"These girls all look so amazing. Do you think Guzheng can beat them?" Wang Runxue asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Guzheng will definitely win."

Someone quickly responded, but it wasn't Han Zhou who answered; it was Xiao Xiaoxiao, who smiled and seemed full of confidence in the guzheng.

Han Zhou glanced at her and smiled, "That's right, Gu Zheng will definitely win."

"Oh!"

As he finished speaking, the signal gun fired, and the athletes strained their legs and shot off like arrows. The leader quickly pulled ahead, creating a considerable distance between himself and the second-place finisher, and the gap continued to widen.

Everyone was shocked.

Because the person far ahead wasn't the tall senior, but the pretty short-haired girl.

"This is too fast..."

Not only the others, but even Zhou Ting, who was somewhat prepared, was dumbfounded. From the few words Han Zhou and the others had spoken, she could tell that this girl named Gu Zheng must be very fast, but she never expected it to be this exaggerated. This speed was nothing short of overwhelming.

Of course, this is a long-distance race, and you can't win just by running fast at the beginning. Endurance and energy management are sometimes more important than speed. At this moment, many athletes are conserving their energy, planning to exert themselves in the second half of the race.

However, it was easy to see from the astonished expressions on their faces that they were equally amazed by the girl's speed.

Even running at full speed, they couldn't catch up with the girl ahead who had almost completed half a lap.

"Guzheng, keep going! Go for it!"

Wang Runxue was so excited that she shouted and cheered loudly for the guzheng, just like an extremely enthusiastic fan, not caring that the guzheng couldn't hear her.

However, her excitement didn't last long. She soon became worried and said nervously, "You guys think Guzheng is running so fast now, won't she run out of energy later?"

She hadn't run long distances much; the 800-meter run in her usual physical fitness test was enough to kill her. But even without much experience, she knew the importance of conserving energy in long-distance running. The thought that Guzheng had to run more than three times the distance of the physical fitness test made her worry, fearing that Guzheng would get tired in the second half and be overtaken by others.

Han Zhou explained with a smile, "This speed is not yet Gu Zheng's limit, and she won't keep running that fast. After running two laps and completely widening the gap with the others, she should slow down."

Both he and Guzheng knew very well that even with Guzheng's stamina, she couldn't run three kilometers at an extremely high speed all the time. It would put a lot of strain on her stamina and body. Guzheng naturally wouldn't do something so foolish. As long as she could secure victory, she would slow down.

Wang Runxue first breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately widened her eyes: "What did you say! This isn't the limit of the guzheng?"

Zhou Ting also looked surprised.

"Probably not."

Han Zhou smiled. He vaguely remembered seeing Gu Zheng running at full speed before, though he couldn't recall exactly when, but it should have been faster than it was now.

However, according to his observation, Guzheng's real strength is its power, while its speed is relatively weaker. If you only look at the numbers, Guzheng should be able to outrun him when running at full speed. The physical attributes granted by "On the verge of death" are quite comprehensive and there are no weaknesses.

"This is too awesome..."

Wang Runxue's eyes lit up as she looked at Guzheng running towards her with admiration, and exclaimed, "Even you boys might not be able to outrun Guzheng, right?"

"We'll only know after we compete," Han Zhou replied tactfully.

"The boys' and girls' competitions are separate, how can we compete like this? But it's a good thing it's like this, otherwise you boys would definitely lose!" Wang Runxue said smugly.

Zhou Ting gave an awkward smile and whispered a reminder: "Um... just because one person is good at guzheng doesn't mean all of us girls are good at it..."

Wang Runxue then realized that she had gotten too carried away, so she quickly coughed, cupped her hands in front of her mouth, and shouted to the guzheng that had run up to her, "Go guzheng!"

"Go for it!" Han Zhou and Xiao Xiaoxiao cheered loudly.

Zhong Ling, who was on the other side of the track, also wanted to cheer for Guzheng loudly, but she was aware of her own volume, so she just waved her arms vigorously.

Once the guzheng was in the middle of the competition, it was very focused. Even when it heard cheers, it remained calm and quickly passed by the crowd.

All her rivals had been left far behind, and even the second-place runner was more than half a lap behind her. She planned to slow down after running one more lap.

Just when everyone thought the game was a foregone conclusion, an unexpected event suddenly occurred—

Just as Gu Zheng was about to finish half of the second lap, an eight or nine-year-old child suddenly squeezed into the crowded crowd. He seemed to be playing around with someone, completely ignoring the shouts and dissuasion from those behind him. He kept turning back and laughing as he ran forward, until he reached the empty track.

"Whose child is this? Can't you see there's a competition?!"

"Little friend, danger! Come back quickly!"

"Quickly pull him back!"

At this moment, most students' attention was focused on the guzheng that was far ahead of everyone else, and many of them were even recording videos with their phones, so few people noticed the child who suddenly ran into the track.

Even if someone noticed it, they didn't pay much attention to it at the moment, because almost all the athletes were on the other side of the track and couldn't run over in a short time.

...However, there was one exception.

"careful!"

The students, realizing what had happened, were horrified and rushed forward to stop the reckless child, but it was too late.

The guzheng, still running at high speed, had already rushed over.

(End of this chapter)