Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 355 "Zhengxiatou" Plan

Q: How can I invite Ouyang Lianyu with a reasonable excuse without arousing Guzheng's suspicion?
A: Of course, we should try to get the guzheng to extend the invitation.

Another question: How can I get Ouyang Lianyu to accept the invitation and bring Mo Yixia along?
A: Take the initiative to ask her beforehand.

One last question: How can I clear myself of suspicion to the greatest extent possible?
A: Find a reason to be the last one to arrive.

As for how to explain why Mo Yixia didn't stay at school and instead suddenly appeared next to Ouyang Lianyu, Han Zhou hadn't figured it out either. When Gu Zheng asked, he just replied that he didn't know.

After all, according to the original plan, he only knew that Mo Yixia would arrive at Lin University on the weekend, and her early arrival was beyond his expectations.

In short, as long as Guzheng doesn't feel there's a problem after seeing Mo Yixia, the plan is mostly successful. Other things can be done if possible, but not if not.

Since the core objective of this plan was to facilitate a friendly meeting between Gu Zheng and Mo Yixia, and considering that he had shamelessly used the Ouyang Lianyu and Zhong Yin and Zhong Ling sisters to achieve his goal, Han Zhou felt extremely ashamed and gave the plan a self-deprecating name—

The "Han Zhou Zheng Xia Tou" project.

Xiao Xiaoxiao, an accomplice, readily agreed with the name.

After mocking Han Zhou for a while, she suddenly asked him a question very seriously.

Do you hope the typhoon will arrive tonight?

Han Zhou thought for a moment, and then gave his answer after two seconds.

His answer was both hopeful and hopeless.

If the typhoon really hits, the people in Lincheng may not be able to leave their homes for several days. He can't guarantee that nothing will go wrong if everyone is in the same room for such a long time. But if the typhoon doesn't come, everyone can go home tonight, and his "Zhengxiatou" plan will be meaningless.

Therefore, he both hopes the typhoon will come and doesn't want it to linger for too long.

However, this is just wishful thinking. The weather is something he can't control. Perhaps one day the status bar will have such an ability, but it would probably require a huge amount of points to achieve.

Putting aside his unimportant thoughts, Han Zhou bid farewell to Gu Zheng and Xiao Xiaoxiao, saying that he had some things to take care of at school and would go to the villa later on his own, asking the two of them to go ahead.

It was already 2 PM when I got back to school. It was clear that the school was much quieter than usual today. Many local students had already gone home, and many non-local students were unwilling to stay in their dorm rooms and get moldy. They had written pledges early on, either staying temporarily at the homes of classmates and friends or opening guesthouses and getting together in groups of three or five to play.

For inland cities like Lincheng, the damage caused by typhoons is extremely limited, so most people treat it as a rare holiday and even secretly look forward to the arrival of the typhoon.

A strong wind, a torrential rain, a warm room, and a few close friends sitting together, laughing and having fun – this is a scene many people dream of.

Back in the dormitory, Chen Long and Chen Zheng were excitedly discussing something. When they saw Han Zhou, they quickly called him over and said excitedly, "Han Zhou, come quick, we have good news for you!"

Han Zhou had something to say to the two of them, and upon hearing this, he wasn't in a hurry. He closed the door and went over: "What good news?"

The wind is very strong today. All the clothes on the balcony have been taken in, not even a single hanger. Even the cups and towels on the sink have been brought indoors, and the doors are tightly closed to protect against the howling wind.

Chen Long said excitedly, "We're not staying in the dorm tonight. We're taking our laptops to Hai Ge's house for a couple of days. His house is big, and there's no one there, so we can play as much as we want."

Han Zhou was taken aback and was about to speak when Chen Long continued excitedly, "Besides the four of us in our dorm, we also invited another girls' dorm. Can you guess which dorm it is?"

"Well, I..."

"Yes, it's the dorm of the girl who got really close to Hai Ge after the last social event. Our two dorms even ate together twice, you remember?"

Chen Long said with anticipation, "I always mocked Hai Ge for being incompetent, but I never expected him to be so awesome this time. He mustered up the courage to invite all those girls out. I underestimated heroes like him... Tsk tsk tsk, playing board games with four girls, just thinking about it is exciting."

"Ha, you're making a fuss over nothing."

Chen Zheng pushed up his glasses with a reserved air and waved his hand to indicate that such a trivial matter was nothing to worry about, but he couldn't hide the smugness on his lips.

He managed to invite four girls to his home in one go—that was his moment of glory.

He smiled faintly, but when he didn't receive any praise from Han Zhou, he asked in confusion, "Han Zhou, are you unhappy?"

"Of course not." Han Zhou smiled and shook his head. "I'm very happy for you."

"Happy for us?" Chen Zheng looked puzzled. What did that mean?

"I was just about to say that I already have plans for tonight, so I'm sorry, I can't join you."

"You don't want to go?" Chen Long was surprised.

"It's not that I don't want to go, it's that I've already made plans with someone."

"Han Zhou, are you out of your mind!"

Chen Long said with great distress, "Why didn't you ask about our arrangements earlier? Do you have big rooms? Do you have VR games? Do you have deluxe board games? Brother Hai has all of these things."

"Um, there should be one in the larger room..."

"You still don't understand. What's important is never the big room, but that we have four girls here, four cute girls! Do you have any there?"

Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "No, that's not the case..."

If nothing unexpected happens, he should have six girls with him... It's better not to tell Chen Long this.

"I knew it!" Chen Long said with a pained expression. "Han Zhou, Han Zhou, you missed a golden opportunity!"

"I'm also very sorry. Next time, I'll definitely ask about your arrangements first," Han Zhou said with a wry smile.

"Ugh."

Chen Long sighed, seemingly still feeling sorry for Han Zhou.

"Alright, alright, why do you have so many things to do all day?"

Chen Zheng glared at him with a dark expression. Based on his understanding of Han Zhou, he knew that the other man was never short of beautiful girls. He suspected that if Chen Long continued to say anything, he would only humiliate himself.

"By the way, where's Lao Huo?" Han Zhou asked.

"He went to help move things. A typhoon is coming, and a lot of things have to be moved indoors. We just moved several potted plants from the office building," Chen Long replied.

"Wherever he is, I'll go help him."

Han Zhou planned to stay in his dorm a little longer before heading to the villa later. Since he was free anyway, he figured he might as well help move some things.

Upon learning that the location was in the laboratory building, he quickly rushed over and saw Huo Zhencheng moving things downstairs. Besides Huo Zhencheng, there were about seven or eight other people moving things together, including men and women. Han Zhou also saw Xia Qing busy inside.

The other person seemed to be assigning tasks to others and didn't notice him immediately. It wasn't until he had moved two loads of things that they saw him and exclaimed in surprise, "Han Zhou, when did you get here?"

"It's been a while."

Han Zhou smiled, placed the items near the corner of the wall, and asked, "Is it okay to put them here?"

"That's fine, just put them on the floor. These are just odds and ends, no need to put them in the cabinet," Xia Qing replied with a smile.

It was working hours, so she didn't chat with Han Zhou. Only after everything was almost done did she stretch and say with a smile, "Thank you all for your hard work. Everything has been moved, and there's nothing else to do. You can all go home now."

Upon hearing this, Han Zhou turned to leave with Huo Zhencheng, but Xia Qing suddenly called out to him, "Han Zhou, wait for me!"

"Then I'll leave first."

Huo Zhencheng was an honest and simple man. Although he didn't understand social etiquette very well, he knew very well that he shouldn't be a third wheel for his friends at this time. So he said goodbye to Han Zhou and left.

Han Zhou turned to look at Xia Qing, who was jogging over, and asked in confusion, "Senior Xia Qing, is there anything else?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to you more."

Han Zhou smiled helplessly: "I've already answered most of the questions you could last night."

"I'm not trying to find out any gossip." Xia Qing looked around, then suddenly lowered her voice and said in a mysterious tone, "Actually, I want to tell you some gossip."

Han Zhou was taken aback: "What gossip?"

"Talking as we walk."

Han Zhou didn't know what Xia Qing was up to, but there was no harm in listening to gossip, so he kept his doubts to himself for the time being and silently followed behind her.

Just then, his phone rang; it was Guzheng calling.

He didn't try to hide it from Xia Qing, and answered the phone in front of her: "What's wrong, Guzheng?"

"Han Zhou, Xiao Xiao and I just ran into Teacher Ouyang on the street. She said the wiring in her house is down and she's on her way to find a repairman. I'm with her now..."

Han Zhou became increasingly alarmed as he listened, because according to Gu Zheng, Ouyang Lianyu's house suddenly lost power at noon today, suspected to be a line fault, and needed to find an electrician to repair it. However, she had just lost the repairman's phone number and had to go out to contact him, where she happened to meet Gu Zheng and Xiao Xiaoxiao on the way.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. But coincidentally, all the maintenance workers have already gone out to do repairs today. Not a single electrician is left at the company, and the earliest one who can spare the time is at least after six o'clock.

This greatly worried Ouyang Lianyu. A typhoon was approaching, and no electricity at home meant that even eating would be a problem. Especially after learning that the electrician would be leaving get off work early today, she panicked even more. Just then, Guzheng, after discussing with Xiao Xiaoxiao, took the initiative to invite her to stay at their villa for two days.

Under their persistent entreaties, Ouyang Lianyu couldn't find a reason to refuse and had no choice but to agree to their invitation, though she said with difficulty that she might need to bring someone else along.

Xiao Xiaoxiao immediately said no problem. Since it was a free reward from winning a prize, the more people the better, it would be a waste if they didn't stay.

"That's about it... But for some reason, Teacher Ouyang insisted that I call and ask for your opinion, saying that she would only bring people over if you agreed. It's really strange. I'll give the phone to Teacher Ouyang now, and you can talk to her."

Han Zhou listened to Gu Zheng's words in a daze. When he saw that Gu Zheng was about to hand the phone to Ouyang Lianyu, he quickly said, "No need. I have something urgent to attend to and it's inconvenient for me to take the call. Tell Teacher Ouyang that I have no objection and that she shouldn't have any concerns."

"Oh."

The guzheng's sound became fainter, as if it was talking to someone nearby. After a while, the sound returned to normal, and it said strangely, "Teacher Ouyang wants you to think it through before answering."

She found it strange that Teacher Ouyang cared so much about Han Zhou's thoughts.

“I’ve thought it through. It’s a villa with many rooms, and everyone lives in their own place. Tell her not to overthink it.”

Han Zhou knew, of course, what Ouyang Lianyu wanted him to "think it through," but he couldn't respond directly. Instead, he deliberately misled Gu Zheng, making her believe that Ouyang Lianyu was hesitant because she was worried that it wasn't good to live with a male student.

The reason she didn't answer Ouyang Lianyu's call was to prevent Guzheng from overthinking things after seeing Mo Yixia.

To be honest, Han Zhou was almost dumbfounded after hearing Gu Zheng's words. If he hadn't been so sure that he hadn't done anything, he would have suspected that he had taught Ouyang Lianyu her story.

Ouyang Lianyu obviously wouldn't lie to Guzheng and Xiao Xiaoxiao, which means that everything she said was true. Although it was a bit of a coincidence, there really was a wiring problem in her house, and her encounter with Guzheng was just a coincidence.

Of course, there is another possibility: that Mo Yixia did something behind the scenes. With her abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for her to cut off the power lines at home and then find a way to arrange this chance encounter. However, Mo Yixia obviously had no reason to do so.

After all, he hadn't even had the nerve to tell her about his "Zhengxia Head" plan, and even if he did, Mo Yixia might not be willing to help him solve the problem.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou hung up the phone and sent Mo Yixia a message: "Answer me honestly, did you do it?"

"No."

Mo Yixia didn't know what he was talking about, but she still gave a concise reply immediately. After a few seconds, she added, "If you're struggling to decide whether to choose me or Guzheng tonight, then don't hesitate, go and be with her. I'm very tolerant of the injured."

As someone who knows almost everything about Han Zhou, she naturally understands what kind of choice to make for Han Zhou during tonight's typhoon.

Han Zhou was taken aback, and a sudden pang of sadness welled up in his heart. However, before he could reply, Mo Yixia sent another message.

"There's no need to be moved. I know you'll ultimately choose to have them all. What I said just now was intentional, to make you feel guilty and ashamed for my understanding."

Han Zhou's lips twitched. Even through the screen, this guy's mind-reading ability was still working steadily.

So, was that statement meant to make me feel less guilty and ashamed...?

"The more you talk, the more touched I become," he replied with a wry smile.

"This is the effect I want. The more you like me, the more I will win in the end—I firmly believe this."

But you know perfectly well that I'm a very greedy person...

Han Zhou put away his phone with mixed feelings. He was still too embarrassed to tell Mo Yixia about his "Zhengxia Head" plan, but he believed that once Ouyang Lianyu returned home, she would understand everything.

However, on the other hand, he hadn't actually used his plan much at all. Whether it was "persuading" Gu Zheng or "persuading" Mo Yixia, it all relied on luck. Everything seemed to be going according to his plan.

It's so strange...

Is today his lucky day?

(End of this chapter)