Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 353: Meeting of the Century
Zhong Yin did not come to confront Han Zhou.

Although she was equally incredulous at the typhoon's deep inland penetration, she didn't think it had anything to do with Han Zhou's vow last night, unless he was actually blown up in the sky for three days and three nights.

She came to ask Han Zhou if he wanted to bring his guzheng to her place for the night.

According to the meteorological station's analysis, the damage caused by this typhoon will not be too great. After all, the intensity of the typhoon has been continuously weakening since it made landfall, and its intensity was already quite limited after reaching an inland city like Lincheng. It is unlikely to cause too serious natural disasters. Otherwise, the school would have already organized the students to evacuate.

However, this does not mean that we can ignore the threat of typhoons. The power of nature should not be underestimated. Once a typhoon enters Lincheng, aside from the strong winds, a torrential rain is inevitable. In such weather, it is almost impossible to go out, and you may have to stay indoors for several days in a row.

As a doting brother, Zhong Yin was naturally worried about not seeing her sister for so many days, so she told Zhong Ling to stay at the shop tonight. Compared to the dormitory, she had no worries about food and drink there, and even if there was a need to evacuate, she wouldn't have to fight with a group of people to go down several flights of stairs. It would be convenient for her to do whatever she wanted.

Considering that the injured guzheng needed someone to take care of her, and that Han Zhou had nowhere else to go besides his dormitory, she made this call to Han Zhou, asking the two of them to stay at her place for the night, and then make further plans after the weather station released the latest forecast tonight.

"I've already called Guzheng, and she's agreed to come with you. You'd better bring two sets of clothes to change into, because I don't have any clothes for you here... Oh, and remember to buy some candles when you come, because I'm worried there might be a power outage tonight."

Zhong Yin explained the arrangements for tonight in detail, but Han Zhou was dumbfounded.

Just before this phone call, Ouyang Lianyu had also mentioned in a message that he should stay at the other party's house for one night, for reasons similar to what Zhong Yin had just said. In addition to Ouyang Lianyu's concern for him, this was also Mo Yixia's suggestion.

In other words, he now faces two choices—

Should I go to Ouyang Lianyu's house or Zhong Yin's house tonight?

Or...

Should I choose Mo Yixia or the guzheng?

This is a difficult question to answer.

Han Zhou cannot be in two places at once, so once he chooses one of them, he will definitely be unable to take care of the other. At this critical moment when the typhoon is about to arrive, choosing either one is equivalent to sending a signal that "she is more important". Even if Gu Zheng and Mo Yixia don't care, Ouyang Lianyu and Zhong Yin, as bystanders, will definitely have complicated thoughts.

If you can't even treat everyone equally, what kind of scumbag are you?
They might not think that way, but when they see Gu Zheng or Mo Yixia looking sad and dejected, disappointment is inevitable.

Moreover, it's impossible for Guzheng and Mo Yixia not to care.

Han Zhou had a headache. He would rather be blown into the sky by the typhoon for three days and three nights than face this dilemma.

Hiding it won't work. In this dangerous weather with a typhoon approaching, both Guzheng and Moyixia will definitely find out his whereabouts.

Of course, he never intended to hide it, as that would require going behind one party's back to the other, and he had no intention of doing so.

Therefore, his choice is—

"Maybe I should stay in the dorm tonight. My roommates invited me to play games."

While explaining to Zhong Yin, Han Zhou sent the same message to Ouyang Lianyu.

"You can play games anywhere, why don't you just bring your computer?"

Even through the screen, he could almost see Zhong Yin's furrowed brow. "If a typhoon really comes, believe it or not, you'll have a hard time getting to the cafeteria. No one will bring you food then."

At the same time, Ouyang Lianyu also sent a message: "What game could be more important than safety? If it weren't for the fact that many students are from out of town and have to stay in the dorms, the school would have already sent everyone home to wait for further notice. Are you worried that there won't be enough room for the teachers here?"

There's only one bed there; if I went, I'd probably have to sleep on the sofa...

Han Zhou thought to himself, and after a moment's thought, it did seem like a good excuse. So he said, "It's so cold, I can't possibly sleep on the sofa, but sharing a bed with you would be too unfair to me, so I'll stay in the dorm..."

Before he could finish speaking, his heart suddenly skipped a beat—because he had unconsciously uttered the message that was meant for Ouyang Lianyu.

Meanwhile, the call with Zhong Yin had not yet ended.

As expected, Zhong Yin's cold voice rang out from the phone the next second.

"Who are you sharing a bed with? And who is the one who is wronged?"

Han Zhou broke out in a cold sweat and quickly explained, "No, Sister Yin, I was sending a message to Teacher Ouyang and accidentally read it aloud."

Zhong Yin remained silent for a moment, but instead of calming down, she became even angrier. Her voice was icy as she said, "Is this how you always talk to Teacher Ouyang?"

She really didn't know that before.

She was both shocked and furious. She had underestimated this kid before. If he could flirt with even a teacher, what else was he incapable of doing?
"Sister Yin, you've misunderstood..."

"Forget it, I don't want to hear it." Zhong Yin sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Why don't you pack your things and bring your guzheng over first? I'll talk to you properly then."

She was worried that if she listened any longer, she would lose her temper and punch this guy.

"Um... Sister Yin, do I really have to go to your place?" Han Zhou asked cautiously.

"Why, don't you want to?"

"No, it's just that I really want to stay in the dorm tonight..."

"Just to play your crappy game?" Zhong Yin interrupted him, her tone quite rude.

"Not entirely..."

"Ha, if you really don't want to come, then forget it. I'm not begging you. Go talk to Guzheng yourself. I don't care anymore."

Zhong Yin sneered. This was the first time she had ever invited a boy to her house for the night. Even with many considerations, making this decision still made her feel a little embarrassed. Who knew that this guy would not appreciate it at all, and even reject her because of a game. It would be a lie to say that she was not angry.

Just as she was about to hang up, she suddenly realized something, frowned, and asked, "Wait, you're not just making up an excuse to get rid of me so you can leave the guzheng behind and spend tonight with Yixia, are you?"

At the same time, Ouyang Lianyu also sensed something was wrong: "You've never been a game addict, how could you stay in the dorm because of a game? Han Zhou, answer me honestly, you're not planning to leave Yixia to go with Guzheng tonight, are you?"

Han Zhou sighed inwardly. He knew that such a reason could not be hidden from the two of them, but he only had one choice now: to stay in the dormitory and not keep either of them company.

Choosing to hide it from one of them to accompany the other is definitely impossible; he can't possibly accompany both Guzheng and Mo Yixia at the same time, can he?
and many more……

Thinking of this, Han Zhou suddenly had a flash of inspiration and a bold idea popped into his mind.

It seems not entirely impossible...

……

The wind was strong today, carrying cold air of six or seven degrees Celsius. It felt like a knife scraping my face, causing a slight sting. Fallen leaves swirled on the ground until they were crushed by a small foot wearing white platform shoes.

"So that's why you suddenly thought of me today. Turns out you wanted me to help you share the firepower. You were up to no good."

A gust of cold wind brushed against her cheek, and Xiao Xiaoxiao shrank her neck, burying her face in her scarf. Then, she kicked Han Zhou next to her with a dissatisfied look.

Today she was wearing a white hooded down jacket that reached her knees, with the large hood covering her head and a white scarf wrapped around her, half of her face buried in it, revealing only a pair of large, bright eyes. Occasionally, a silver peach blossom earring would peek out from her earlobe, making her look like a cute little snowman.

Han Zhou was already used to Xiao Xiaoxiao's attacks. He calmly dusted off his legs and shamelessly said, "You can't say that. I'm just trying to figure out the mystery surrounding you as soon as possible. Then we can brainstorm and maybe we can recover our lost memories. Besides, your roommates have all gone home, and I'm worried about you being all alone in the dorm." "Pah, shameless," Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and muttered, "If it weren't for Guzheng and Yixia, you wouldn't care if I'm all alone."

“You’re wrong about that,” Han Zhou said seriously, hands in his pockets. “If I hadn’t been worried about you having nowhere to go, I wouldn’t have even thought of this plan. Don’t get the cause and effect backwards.”

"That sounds nice, but you just want to take advantage of me."

"Ahem, I think this should be called mutual help."

Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and said with disdain, "I remember you weren't this shameless before."

"It's because of the pressures of life. You never used to kick my legs all the time, did you?"

"Get this straight, I kicked you because you're shameless!"

Seeing Xiao Xiaoxiao's angry expression, Han Zhou quickly apologized and said sincerely, "Xiaoxiao, don't be angry. You helped me this time, and I'll help you next time. Besides, I really didn't think of you because I wanted Guzheng and Yixia to meet safely."

"Really?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao clearly didn't believe it. She wasn't very tall, and she was also very cute, so when she was angry, she looked like a sulking child.

"Really," Han Zhou said earnestly.

The reason he invited Mo Yixia to visit the sports meet was not only to help her become friends with Gu Zheng, but also because he wanted to use Mo Yixia's wisdom to quickly figure out Xiao Xiaoxiao's situation.

"Alright," Xiao Xiao muttered softly, then reluctantly said, "I'll help you this time."

"Xiaoxiao, you are such a good person!"

Han Zhou was overjoyed. "If you ever need anything in the future, just come to me. I'll definitely help you."

"No need." Xiao Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him, buried her face in her scarf, and muttered softly, "You've already helped me."

The last sentence was spoken very softly, so Han Zhou didn't hear it clearly.

In a great mood, everything seemed pleasing to the eye. He looked at the white scarf around Xiao Xiaoxiao's neck and asked, "Did you knit this scarf yourself?"

"How did you know?" Xiao Xiaoxiao asked.

Because scarves of this quality are probably not easy to sell...

Han Zhou pondered in his heart, but smiled and said, "Because the weaving technique of this scarf is very special."

Xiao Xiaoxiao almost burst out laughing, and said with disdain, "You even know how to knit scarves?"

Han Zhou smiled reservedly: "I know a little bit about it."

Although he has never actually tried it, he knows how to knit a scarf and the simple steps involved, thanks to a female classmate from his junior high school days.

His deskmate had shown him how to knit a scarf several times during breaks, and even gave him a knitted scarf as a Christmas gift, but he refused it.

Because real men never wear scarves.

Xiao Xiaoxiao said irritably, "Knowing the steps and actually doing it are not the same thing."

"That makes sense." Han Zhou nodded, then asked curiously, "By the way, who taught you how to knit scarves?"

He was curious whether Xiao Xiaoxiao was able to weave such a unique towel because she was not skilled enough or because she had never met a good teacher in the first place.

“I learned it from an idiot.” Xiao Xiaoxiao glared at him.

"Just speak, why are you glaring at me?"

"Because you're an idiot too."

"You guy..."

Han Zhou's lips twitched, but he was too lazy to argue with her. He shook his head and said, "Remember to bring a few changes of clothes later. If the typhoon really comes, we may not be able to come back for a while."

"Oh."

"I wonder if it will rain heavily tonight. Speaking of which, a lot of accidents happened during the last rainstorm, and it even made us all fall asleep for a while... That's when you lost your earring," Han Zhou said with emotion.

"Ah."

“I’m suddenly worried that the same thing might happen tonight. Should we prepare a camera in advance to record tonight’s events? That way, even if we’re all asleep, we can still see what happened during that time.”

"it is good."

“I’ve thought about it many times. The last time we fell asleep must have had a very special meaning for us. Maybe we both had the same dream, a dream about our lost memories.”

"Makes sense."

Han Zhou sighed, turned to look at Xiao Xiaoxiao who was absent-minded beside him, and said helplessly, "No, you're being too perfunctory."

Xiao Xiaoxiao snapped out of her thoughts and said irritably, "You've said everything, what else can I say?"

She paused for a moment, then continued, "But if you really dare to bring a camera over there, I'm worried you might get a beating. After all, given your scheme to 'stir up trouble,' there should be a lot of girls there, and who knows what you're up to."

"To correct you, that's called a plan, not a conspiracy."

"Let's call it a conspiracy."

"You were a participant in this plan..."

"That's also called a conspiracy."

"Fine, let it be a conspiracy."

Han Zhou sighed helplessly and shook his head, saying, "I didn't really plan to bring a camera over, but if the same situation as last time happens, it would be a pity not to record it. This is a rare clue."

"You're overthinking it. Who said the last incident was definitely related to the rain?" Xiao Xiaoxiao retorted.

"That's right..."

Han Zhou temporarily put aside thinking about this problem. Right now, the most important thing is to ensure that Gu Zheng and Mo Yixia can meet safely. It's definitely not the time to think about other things.

Although the plan was brought forward considerably, as long as this historic meeting is successful, everything that follows will proceed much more smoothly...

Right?
(End of this chapter)