Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 344 It's a bit small

Gu Zheng opened her eyes and found herself in an unfamiliar room.

However, the clean white sheets and covers, as well as the smell of disinfectant in the air, immediately made her realize that she was in a hospital ward.

A sharp pain shot through her forehead and leg simultaneously. Her wounds had already been treated. She frowned slightly, quickly recalling what had happened before she lost consciousness—

During the afternoon's 3,000-meter race, as she was about to finish her second lap, a child suddenly appeared on the track ahead of her.

Despite her best efforts to dodge, she couldn't completely avoid the child. She grazed the child's arm, lost her balance, and fell, scraping her leg and hitting her head on the ground.

She scrambled to her feet immediately, glanced back at the child, and seeing that he seemed unharmed, gritted her teeth and kept running, mentally calculating the remaining laps. She fainted after completing the last lap, and it seemed that Han Zhou caught her in the end…

"Guzheng, you're awake!"

Gu Zheng was trying to recall whether it was Han Zhou who had hugged her when she heard Han Zhou's joyful voice. Startled, she looked towards the door in a flustered manner and saw Han Zhou carrying a bag of medicine and quickly walking into the ward, closing the door behind him.

She smiled and immediately felt relieved. She knew Han Zhou wouldn't leave her alone; he had gone to get her medicine.

"You can still laugh."

Seeing the girl smiling, Han Zhou sat down on the edge of the bed, helped her sit up and fed her a sip of water, saying helplessly, "You were injured like that and you still wanted to run forward. Didn't you hear me calling you from behind?"

"Cough cough cough."

Gu Zheng choked on the water, but didn't seem to mind. She pushed the cup away and asked, "Did you call me?"

"You really didn't hear me."

Han Zhou sighed, took out a tissue to wipe the water droplets from the other person's mouth, and said, "I told you not to run so fast, the people behind you can't catch up with you, just run slowly, but who knew you would run faster and faster, and I couldn't stop you no matter how I called you."

Gu Zheng was stunned for a moment. She said that she always felt that there were footsteps behind her. She thought it was her opponent catching up, but she didn't expect it to be Han Zhou.

"You didn't even know to run in the opposite direction from me..." she muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?" Han Zhou leaned closer to hear.

"It's nothing." Gu Zheng blushed slightly, quickly pushed him away, and asked nervously, "So, did I win?"

"Nonsense, you left the second-place runner almost a lap behind, and there was your blood on the track. Everyone was terrified." Han Zhou laughed in exasperation, saying irritably, "I knew that was what you cared about most. You didn't even worry about your injury. The doctor said you..."

"How is that child?" Guzheng interrupted him.

Han Zhou casually replied, "It's thanks to your speed that you managed to dodge in time. The child is fine, but his parents are a bit of a hassle. But don't worry, we'll handle it."

What happened to the child's parents?

“What else could happen? They couldn’t keep an eye on their child and let him run on the track. When the child got hurt, they blamed it on me. I’m already being lenient by not bothering them. They still have to come here to seek attention.”

Han Zhou shrugged. "Lin Anyu is dealing with them right now. If they can handle it, they will; if they can't, they shouldn't bother."

At this moment, his tone and expression were quite calm, but this was only because he was in front of the guzheng; in fact, he was quite unhappy.

He was already furious enough to see Gu Zheng injured by a brat who suddenly appeared. Gu Zheng's injury wasn't serious, and he couldn't be bothered to argue with a child. Who knew that the brat's parents would have the nerve to come and ask Gu Zheng for compensation for medical expenses? If Lin Anyu hadn't arrived in time to reason with them, he would be paying for those two guys' medical expenses for the next two weeks.

He considered himself to have a fairly good temper, but only when necessary. As he had said more than once, he was never a good student.

Although Gu Zheng felt a little guilty for bumping into the child, she certainly didn't think it was her fault. She nodded slightly, indicating that Han Zhou could handle it. Suddenly, she remembered something and asked worriedly, "You didn't tell my parents about what happened today, did you?"

"Of course not." Han Zhou shook his head with a wry smile. "If they found out, it would be a big problem."

Given Sister Miao's personality and her fondness for the guzheng, he had no doubt that the other party would come and grab the child to kick around like a ball.

Of course, he wasn't just worried about today's problem escalating; he also wanted to ensure Mo Yixia's arrival tomorrow afternoon would be peaceful, so he absolutely couldn't let this matter reach Gu Zheng's parents' ears.

Otherwise, he might be the one who gets caught and used as a football...

He had already spoken to Ouyang Lianyu and asked her to inform the guzheng's tutor not to contact the guzheng's parents.

"That's good."

Gu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief; her biggest worry was that her parents would go to too much trouble for her.

Han Zhou seemed to be thinking about something, so she didn't disturb him for the time being. She stared at his face for a while, then suddenly hesitated and said, "Han Zhou, do you... do you sometimes think I'm a very heartless person?"

"ruthless?"

Han Zhou was taken aback by this sudden question.

"Ah."

Gu Zheng lowered her head slightly, her expression somewhat complicated. "My first concern was whether I won, and only then did I care about the child's condition. Isn't that too selfish?"

Han Zhou was taken aback. Gu Zheng was not a person who liked to wallow in self-pity, so the fact that she would suddenly ask such a question meant that she must have something on her mind.

He chuckled and said, "If you were really selfish, you would have waited until you understood your own injury before worrying about that brat. You've been very kind. If it were me, the first thing I'd do when I thought of that kid would be to ask his family for medical expenses... What's wrong? Did something happen?"

He put down his water glass, adopted a patient listening posture, and his smile was reassuring.

Gu Zheng gripped the edge of the blanket, took a deep breath, and answered frankly, "I just had a dream that reminded me of something I had almost forgotten."

She didn't hide anything and told Han Zhou the truth about what happened in her dream.

This dream was not entirely a replay of past memories, but rather a compilation of various opinions she had heard. Her junior high school homeroom teacher was actually a very good person; even though he didn't particularly like her, he never spoke ill of her.

Having such dreams, or even suffering such injuries today, is perhaps retribution for ruining someone else's future.

She thought to herself, feeling somewhat down.

Outside the window, the setting sun was about to disappear into the horizon, the sky was slightly red, and the silhouettes of birds flying by could be faintly seen.

Han Zhou listened patiently to Gu Zheng finish her story, but did not immediately express his opinion. Instead, he sighed and said, "Why are you only telling me these things now?"

"Because I don't remember."

Gu Zheng was silent for a moment, somewhat afraid to look him in the eye, and gripped the edge of the blanket tightly. "I can even forget such a cruel thing. I am actually a very heartless person."

"let me guess……"

Han Zhou stroked his chin, feigning a thoughtful expression. "Cruelty refers to injuring that PE student?"

"Ah."

"Do you really think he got hurt because of you?"

"No, but I do bear some responsibility." Gu Zheng said somewhat dejectedly.

"What responsibility do you have?" Han Zhou said irritably. "You're not wrong. The reason that boy lost was simply because he wasn't strong enough. Even if he hadn't lost to you today, he would have lost to someone else sooner or later. Does the person who beat him need to apologize to him?"

"Why does he only play friendly matches with you and not with Olympic champions? Because he is only prepared to win, but not prepared to lose."

"But……"

"Nothing but."

Han Zhou continued to scoff, "If this can be considered your responsibility, then your teacher really should retake the teacher qualification exam. The Olympics could be turned into a competition of who has the most tragic experience, and whoever has the most inspiring story can be number one, because everyone has to give way to them."

After a moment's consideration, he hesitated and said, "To be honest, my experience is actually quite inspiring. I'd probably be able to get into the top three at the Olympics, right?"

"Pfft!"

Seeing Han Zhou say such shameless things in a serious tone, Gu Zheng was amused, but she quickly suppressed her laughter because Han Zhou didn't seem to be joking; he was serious.

"Listen to me talk about the guzheng—"

Taking a deep breath, Han Zhou said, "What effort and future, what compromise to satisfy other people's wishes, what consideration for other people's feelings—just treat them as bullshit. In this world, as long as you compete fairly and squarely, you can win with confidence. Why should you suppress your brilliance for others?"

"Han Zhou..."

As Gu Zheng stared blankly, Han Zhou suddenly reached out and gently placed his hand on her head, a warm smile appearing on his face: "I know better than anyone how hard you've worked. You've been working so hard until today, isn't it all for the sake of winning again and again?"

As the perennial runner-up in high school, he has the right to say such things.

The heat from above made Guzheng stiffen, her face flushing slightly. She turned her head away shyly and whispered, "But...but it seems like nobody likes me like this. Sometimes I even ruin other people's dreams..."

She didn't care what others thought, but she was worried that one day Han Zhou would also hate her for being like this.

"Don't take those meaningless words to heart. Dreams aren't something that can be easily destroyed."

Han Zhou smiled and gently patted the girl's head.

Gu Zheng's hair is very soft, and at this moment, her hunched-over neck and non-resisting posture makes her look like a docile kitten.

"And those guys are really good at talking without understanding the situation. They keep talking about future dreams, and they only know that other people have dreams."

Seeing the somewhat uneasy girl on the hospital bed, Han Zhou suddenly felt a pang of sympathy and spoke with a soft laugh.

"Being number one has always been your dream." Perhaps this world is filled with too many packaged flowers, and everyone seems to have forgotten that those that can grow wildly on cliffs are the truly rare and precious plants.

Why should someone who is willing to fight tooth and nail for victory bow down to a few words from others?
A gust of cold wind swept into the ward and lifted the curtain embroidered with unknown flowers beside the bed.

Gu Zheng was stunned when she met Han Zhou's smiling eyes. Suddenly, she felt her eyes well up with tears, and a warm current spread across her cheeks.

Am I crying?
Realizing that she had actually cried, she quickly slapped Han Zhou's hand away, lay down and buried her face in the blanket, one hand tightly gripping the edge of the blanket, afraid that Han Zhou would pull the blanket open and look inside, while the other hand hurriedly wiped away the tears from her eyes.

If Han Zhou hadn't mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten that she also has dreams.

Although this dream doesn't quite seem like a dream.

But if anyone asks her again why she's so determined to be number one, this is how she'll answer.

"Because this is my dream."

"Han Zhou!"

To avoid Han Zhou noticing that she was crying, she quickly spoke loudly, trying to change the subject.

Han Zhou was closing the window. In fact, he had already figured out what Gu Zheng was doing under the covers, but he didn't expose her. He was just worried that it might touch the wound on her forehead, so he immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"You...you've always thought this way?" Gu Zheng's voice became softer.

Han Zhou was confused: "What do you mean, 'thinking like that'?"

"Being number one is my dream..." The guzheng's voice grew softer and softer.

"Isn't this obvious?" Han Zhou asked, puzzled.

"It's obvious?"

"It is clear."

Guzheng, hidden under the covers, quietly smiled, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and then abruptly threw off the covers.

"Okay! It's alright now!"

She seemed to have been reborn, looking at Han Zhou with boundless energy, but the next second she noticed that he had a blank expression and was staring intently at her.

She was startled, thinking it was because she hadn't wiped her tears properly, and hurriedly tried to pull herself back under the covers to wipe them, only to find that Han Zhou wasn't looking at her face, but at her body.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and she felt a chill on her body.

This coolness wasn't the kind you get from wearing too little clothing, but rather like the coolness after taking a shower...

As if suddenly realizing something, Guzheng quickly looked down to check, and immediately froze.

Although she was wearing a hospital gown, she hadn't fastened many buttons, and the movement of lifting the blanket had made her collar almost completely open, revealing large areas of skin.

A blush instantly crept up her cheeks and spread rapidly to her neck and collarbone, then to her entire body.

Gu Zheng's mind went blank, and she felt like a fully cooked shrimp, with steam rising from her forehead.

Where are my underwear?
Where are my underwear?
Where are my underwear?
The same question kept swirling in her mind. Perhaps because she had never encountered such a situation before, she even forgot to pull the blanket up in time.

The air quieted down, leaving only the sound of my restless heartbeat.

When Gu Zheng finally realized what was happening, Han Zhou was still staring blankly at her. She was both ashamed and angry, so she quickly pulled up the blanket and grabbed a pillow, throwing it at his face.

"Don't look!"

At the same time, there was a knock on the door outside the ward, accompanied by Wang Runxue's call: "Guzheng, may we come in?"

Hearing the doorknob turn, Han Zhou's expression changed drastically. He quickly threw the pillow back onto the bed, then rushed to the door with incredible speed, slammed it against the door, and shouted emotionally, "No!"

What a joke! There were more than one footstep outside. Who knows if there was a man inside? He couldn't allow other men to see the guzheng right now.

Wang Runxue's suspicious voice immediately rang out from outside the door: "Han Zhou? What are you doing in there? Why can't we go in?"

"You guys wait a minute!"

Han Zhou looked at the guzheng on the hospital bed and could tell that the other person's hands were very busy under the covers, obviously re-buttoning the clothes.

"Why are you waiting? What are you doing inside?" Wang Runxue asked warily.

"One minute! Come in one minute later!"

"Sneaking around like that... You're definitely up to something! If you can get in, why can't I? I even helped Guzheng change her clothes!"

Han Zhou's lips twitched as he noticed a chilling murderous aura on Gu Zheng's face on the hospital bed.

This guy insisted on walking right into the line of fire; he's no one to blame but himself if he dies.

"Behave yourself. What's the rush of a minute? Don't be nervous. Han Zhou's time isn't that short."

Wang Runxue seemed to want to barge in, but was stopped by a lazy voice. Han Zhou's heart skipped a beat; he knew that voice and tone all too well—

Yixia? What's she doing here?

Isn't she supposed to come here tomorrow afternoon?
Why wasn't I notified?
He quickly glanced at the guzheng, which seemed to be engrossed in how to deal with Wang Runxue's anger. In addition, Mo Yixia's voice hadn't been loud, so she hadn't heard Mo Yixia's voice.

so far so good……

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had prepared for the two to meet, now was clearly not the right time. He had to go out immediately to get Mo Yixia away.

Thinking of this, he gave Guzheng a look, asking her if she could open the door now.

The latter had already buttoned up her clothes, peeked under the covers to check her face, touched her cheeks and found that they weren't so hot anymore. Then she nodded casually, as if nothing had happened.

In fact, at that moment, she was silently reciting a phrase in her mind—

Confess your feelings, confess your feelings, you absolutely must confess!

Han Zhou has already seen everything, I have to become his girlfriend!

We won first place today!

Take first place tomorrow!

We'll take first place the day after tomorrow!

Once I win first place in all the sports, I'll go and confess my feelings to Han Zhou!

I'm not afraid of being touched once or twice! Whether it's a friend or a rival, I'll always be the winner!

I'm going to keep winning!

Gu Zheng kept encouraging herself, becoming more and more excited and determined. She quickly forced herself to forget about being seen naked and finally calmed down completely.

She took a deep breath, rubbed her stiff cheeks, and said with a calm expression, "Let them in."

Han Zhou knew that her somber expression wasn't directed at him, but at Wang Runxue.

He silently mourned for the guy for two seconds, then tentatively said, "I'll open the door now. I'll be back in a bit after I go out for a while."

"Okay." Guzheng nodded.

She doesn't dare to look at Han Zhou much now.

Han Zhou opened the door, giving the people outside no chance to react, and rushed out of the room to see the girls gathered outside.

They are Wang Runxue, the Zhong Ling sisters, and Mo Yixia, who has her arms crossed and a half-smile on her face.

She was still wearing a mask and a baseball cap, with a backpack on her back, and seemed to be deliberately standing in a position away from the ward door, not wanting the guzheng player in the ward to see her.

Seeing this, Han Zhou felt slightly relieved. It seemed that Mo Yixia had probably already informed the others, and the senior students should not reveal Mo Yixia's arrival to Gu Zheng.

As if to confirm his idea, Mo Yixia, who was not far away, nodded slightly, with a smug look on her face, as if to say, "I've been pretty good to you, haven't I?"

Han Zhou pretended not to see it.

"Senior, Sister Yin, you're here too. Come in, Guzheng is already awake."

To avoid arousing Gu Zheng's suspicion, he didn't stand at the door for too long. He greeted Zhong Ling and the others, and only walked towards Mo Yixia after the ward door closed.

"I know you have a lot of questions to ask, but you'd better answer mine first before I answer yours."

Mo Yixia stared at his face for a while, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.

"What's with that relieved look on your face, like, 'It's alright, it's a bit small, but it's better than nothing'?"

(End of this chapter)