Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 413 So, do you like her?

"Excuse me, Auntie, what you mean by objective evaluation is..."

"Haha, don't be nervous. We don't mean anything by it. We just want to know how Yu'er is doing. That child hasn't been home for several years. She keeps all her grievances to herself and won't tell us. Just tell us what you know about Yu'er."

Liang Hongfei looked at Han Zhou with a smile, but Ouyang Wenhao beside her was a little embarrassed and scolded in a low voice: "Why do you tell everyone everything!"

Saying that Yu'er hasn't been home for several years and that she keeps all her grievances to herself is tantamount to telling others that the parents and daughter have a bad relationship!

"I'm telling the truth, and you still won't admit it? All you do is save face. If you're so concerned about saving face, do you think Yu'er will come back for New Year's Eve dinner this year?"

Liang Hongfei gave her husband a reproachful look, then smiled at Han Zhou again, "Child, tell Auntie, how has Yu'er been lately?"

Ouyang Wenhao grunted and turned his head to look elsewhere, seemingly somewhat unhappy, but his perked-up ears clearly showed that he also wanted to know about his daughter's recent situation.

Han Zhou pretended not to notice the minor conflict between the couple and smiled, "I think Teacher Ouyang has been doing quite well lately."

“Child, you must tell us the truth.” Ouyang Wenhao immediately looked at him and frowned. “You can’t deliberately show favoritism and say good things about Yu’er just because she is your teacher.”

"Look at what you're saying! You're just hoping Yu'er suffers, aren't you? Don't you dare interrupt again!"

Liang Hongfei was very dissatisfied with her husband's constant interruptions. She turned her head and gave him a stern warning before turning to Han Zhou with a gentle expression and apologetically saying, "Don't blame your uncle for interrupting. Yu'er's aunt told us recently that Yu'er wasn't doing well. He was just worried and confused."

"I understand."

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Everyone is used to looking at things from their own perspective. When Teacher Ouyang's aunt said that she was not doing well, it was from her perspective. I think that Teacher Ouyang is doing well is also from my perspective. In short, in my opinion, Teacher Ouyang is loved by her students, has a job and life that she likes, and is happy every day. Of course she is doing very well."

Liang Hongfei glared at her husband, signaling him not to interrupt, then said with a bitter smile, "But I heard that Yu'er is always getting injured at school, spending half the semester in a wheelchair and the other half in a hospital bed. Is she really doing well?"

Han Zhou shook his head: "Professor Ouyang is usually too focused on her mathematical research, which makes her a bit careless in other areas. It's inevitable that she would get injured. But even if she gets injured, everyone in the school will take care of her. Besides, Professor Ouyang hasn't been injured recently."

When Han Zhou casually mentioned that his daughter's carelessness in other matters was due to being overly focused on one thing, Liang Hongfei seemed to be taken aback for a moment, and then asked in surprise, "You mean Yu'er hasn't been injured recently?"

“Yes.” Han Zhou showed the wheelchair he was sitting in and said half-jokingly, “So she has already lent me the wheelchair.”

Liang Hongfei was about to ask Han Zhou why he was in a wheelchair, but Ouyang Wenhao, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn't help but speak up: "What's the use of having someone take care of you at school? You're still alone at home."

This sudden remark immediately created a somewhat oppressive atmosphere.

After a moment of silence, Han Zhou smiled and said, "Many people are alone when they go home, including me, but I think I'm doing just fine."

“A man should be upright and strong. He should learn to live alone. Otherwise, how can he become the pillar of the family in the future?” Ouyang Wenhao shook his head, obviously thinking that this was a matter of course.

No, so you mean men should live independently, while women are subject to a different set of standards?

Han Zhou thought to himself, he had talked to Teacher Ouyang several times and knew that her father was a rather old-fashioned person who still held onto the old ideas that women should get married as soon as possible to be good wives and mothers, and that careers and such should be men's business.

Ms. Ouyang clearly could not accept this idea. Although she never thought of becoming a career woman, she did not want to give up her job easily, nor did she want to get married and have children early. She just wanted to have a life of her own.

It was precisely because neither side could convince the other that Teacher Ouyang stayed away from home for so long, lest he be dragged off to a blind date as soon as he stepped inside.

According to Ms. Ouyang, the reason her parents have been calling so frequently lately is not only because they miss their daughter so much that they haven't been in touch with her for a long time, but also because they learned from her aunt that she "lacks the ability to take care of herself" and wanted to use this as an excuse to force her to go home and go on blind dates as soon as possible.

Admittedly, Ms. Ouyang's parents meant well for her, since their daughter lacked the ability to take care of herself, and it would be ideal if she had someone by her side at all times. However, this clearly disregarded the feelings of the person involved.

We live in an era of free love, where arranged marriages and parental consent are no longer relevant.

Han Zhou had no intention of correcting Teacher Ouyang's father's views. He only needed to keep emphasizing that Teacher Ouyang was doing well and taking good care of herself. Teacher Ouyang's mother didn't seem like a traditionalist; she had considerable influence at home and was a worthy ally. If he could gain her support, Teacher Ouyang might be able to relax a bit.

For some reason, Han Zhou felt that Teacher Ouyang's mother looked at him strangely, with a kind of excited gleam in her eyes, which made him inexplicably nervous.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and didn't respond to what Teacher Ouyang's father had said. Instead, he emphasized, "Teacher Ouyang is doing very well. Everyone at the school respects her, likes her, and finds it hard to leave her. That's what I wanted to say."

The sound of water in the bathroom had stopped, so Teacher Ouyang would probably come out soon. He needed to find an opportunity to rehearse with the other party to avoid letting anything slip.

"Do you like Yu'er?" Just then, an excited female voice suddenly rang in Han Zhou's ears.

He paused for a moment, then noticed that in the video, Teacher Ouyang's mother was staring straight at him with a mysterious smile on her face.

This expression...

Han Zhou felt that this expression was familiar, and after two seconds he remembered where he had seen it before—wasn't this the gossipy smile that the CP leader always had on his face?

No, is the "like" you're talking about the same as the "like" I'm talking about?

His lips twitched. It seemed that Teacher Ouyang's mother was not quite right either. Could this guy think that he had some improper relationship with Teacher Ouyang?

Wait a minute... it doesn't seem like that's impossible.

Han Zhou suddenly remembered something.

A few days ago, in order to stop his parents from nagging about blind dates, Teacher Ouyang had to lie on the phone and say that he already had a boyfriend. He happened to be dragged into this situation.

If I remember correctly, the person speaking on the phone was mainly a woman, who was obviously Teacher Ouyang's mother.

Han Zhou gasped.

If I can remember the other person's voice, why can't the other person remember my voice?
He finally understood why Teacher Ouyang's mother was looking at him so strangely; wasn't she obviously treating him as Teacher Ouyang's boyfriend?

Fortunately, it seems that Teacher Ouyang's father has forgotten his voice. Otherwise, given his conservative views, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood if he found out that his daughter, who is a teacher, was in love with a student.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou, who had been behaving casually, suddenly became somewhat restless.

Just then, Ouyang Lianyu's voice suddenly rang out from the bathroom: "Han Zhou, bring me my pajamas from the bedroom!"

Perhaps worried that Han Zhou wouldn't hear her, she shouted the words quite loudly.

Normally, Han Zhou would have jokingly asked if the other person had carelessly wet their change of clothes, but at this moment, his expression froze, and he looked awkwardly at the two people in the video.

The two people in the video also had different expressions. Ouyang Wenhao said with surprise and doubt, "Was that Yu'er's voice just now? It sounded like she was saying something like 'help her take her pajamas over'... Isn't Yu'er washing fruit in the kitchen? Why would she take her pajamas over there?"

After a moment's thought, he suddenly widened his eyes, "Could it be that Yu'er is taking a bath—"

"What are you hearing? A hoodie! Yu'er clearly said a hoodie!" Liang Hongfei interrupted him, saying irritably, "She's even wearing pajamas now, do you think Yu'er is taking a shower?"

"Hoodie...is Yu'er talking about a hoodie?" Ouyang Wenhao paused, then asked uncertainly.

“Otherwise what? I told you to interact with young people more often. These days, many young people like to wear hoodies as aprons. Don’t you even know this basic common sense? I think Yu’er is going to cook. Don’t you think so, Xiao Han?” Liang Hongfei looked at Han Zhou with a smile.

Auntie, you're really good at talking nonsense...

Han Zhou smiled and nodded: "Yes, it seems that Teacher Ouyang is preparing to cook."

He is now 80% certain that Teacher Ouyang's mother must be mistaking him for Teacher Ouyang's boyfriend!
He had never heard of using a hoodie as an apron before; this was already quite an obvious cover-up.

He felt both relieved and worried. It seemed like the other party was quite satisfied with him. What if she really considered him her future son-in-law...?

“You’re only starting to cook now? Yu’er must be quite busy with work usually…” Liang Hongfei seemed a little distressed. “Then we won’t bother you any longer. You should take the sweatshirt to Yu’er and tell her to call back when she has time.”

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Han Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was about to hang up when he suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Uncle and Aunt, you don't really need others to objectively evaluate whether Teacher Ouyang is doing well or not. I think it's actually a very subjective matter, and it mainly depends on the person involved—"

"As long as Teacher Ouyang feels that she is doing well, then she is doing very well."

(End of this chapter)