Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 43: Maybe it's because I don't look like the female lead.
The elevators in Huadu residential area were working fine today.

When Han Zhou arrived at Gu Zheng's house, the class monitor was wearing a bear apron and making soup in the kitchen. The rich aroma wafted into the living room.

Why did you suddenly start cooking?

Han Zhou wiped his sweat with a tissue, went under the air conditioner to cool off for a while, and finally went into the kitchen to observe. The more he looked, the more curious he became.

It's quite rare to see a guzheng player wearing an apron.

Although he knew this guy could cook, he rarely saw him cook. Usually, Guzheng's mother was in charge of cooking, and Guzheng was only responsible for washing the dishes.

"What do you mean by suddenly starting to cook? I just rarely cook well, it's not like I can't."

The soup pot was bubbling and steaming. Gu Zheng felt underestimated. While chopping carrots, she said, "My mom actually said before she left home today that my cooking is definitely not as good as hers, so I specially bought some vegetables to let her taste them and face reality."

As she said this, a cold smile appeared on her face.

If I'm not mistaken, your auntie was simply too lazy to cook today, which is why she said those things on purpose to provoke you...

Gu Zheng herself probably knew that this was a provocation tactic, but it still worked on her time and time again.

Han Zhou shook his head inwardly, looked around, and asked in confusion, "Aren't your parents home today?"

It's 4:30 now. Usually, if Guzheng isn't away on a business trip, one of her parents should be home at this time. For example, yesterday Guzheng's mother was chopping ribs in the kitchen right now.

"They said they were busy today and couldn't leave. They probably won't be back until six or seven o'clock."

Gu Zheng glanced at him. "By the way, my mom specifically told you to stay at my house for dinner today and see who has better cooking skills, me or her."

Han Zhou observed her chopping vegetables and found that her knife skills were quite superb. She chopped vegetables cleanly and neatly, which meant she must have practiced a lot. He figured the food she made wouldn't be bad either.

But he wasn't interested in being a referee. Neither of the mother and daughter were easy to deal with, so he declined, saying, "Uncle Gu is enough as a referee, I won't get involved."

"no!"

Gu Zheng scoffed and said with a pout, "My dad, that coward, will definitely side with my mom unconditionally. That kind of judge is useless. You're much more impartial than him. You'll definitely praise my cooking as being better."

Han Zhou smirked: "So, the so-called fairness in your mind is unconditionally favoring you, is that it...?"

Gu Zheng rolled her eyes: "Anyway, you have to stay. I rarely cook, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don't regret it later."

"Alright, alright, I didn't say I wouldn't stay. But I'm a very impartial person and I will never deliberately favor anyone. You should be prepared."

Han Zhou didn't stand on ceremony; after all, he often ate at Gu Zheng's house, so there was no reason for him to feel embarrassed.

He boasted for a few moments with righteous indignation, then, seeing an apron in the kitchen, eagerly offered, "Need any help? My cooking skills may not be as good as yours, but I'm sure I can manage."

"You're very self-aware."

Gu Zheng smiled, her eyes crinkling, and divided the chopped vegetables into different plates. She took off her bear apron and said while washing her hands, "But no need. The soup takes a long time to make, so we need to prepare it in advance. There's no need to rush the other dishes. We can prepare them when my parents are almost back. Let's rest for a bit first."

Han Zhou had no choice but to give up.

The two walked out of the kitchen. Gu Zheng looked up at him for a while, then suddenly said with a look of disgust, "Could you take off those ugly sunglasses?"

Wearing sunglasses indoors is indeed not very comfortable, so Han Zhou obediently took them off and then asked suspiciously, "You didn't laugh enough yesterday, did you?"

"You don't appreciate kindness, you deserve to be beaten by a woman." Gu Zheng lightly punched his arm and said irritably, "I just wanted to see if your injury was serious."

Han Zhou was taken aback. He suddenly remembered that although the class monitor laughed non-stop when he saw his panda eyes yesterday, he immediately applied a cold compress to his wounds with a towel. He couldn't help but feel a little touched.

However, when I thought about how he continued laughing after the cold compress and even took out his phone to take pictures, all that feeling of being touched vanished instantly...

He shook his head and said, "It wasn't serious to begin with, otherwise I would have gone to the hospital yesterday. I should have recovered in a few days."

Zhong Yin's punch yesterday wasn't actually very powerful. He ended up like this mainly because his body was in poor condition. The panda eyes look exaggerated, but he didn't actually suffer any serious injuries.

Otherwise, he might not have been so good-tempered back then.

Moreover, this punch earned him Zhong Ling's contact information, so it was a trade-off. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to get close to that girl through normal means. Now that the two sisters feel they owe him something, they're completely at his mercy.
Miss, you wouldn't want people to know that your sister hit someone, would you...?

Gu Zheng clearly didn't believe Han Zhou's words. She stared at him with a tense expression for a while, then silently turned her head away, shrugged her shoulders, and walked into the bathroom. She was obviously trying not to laugh.

He kept muttering to himself, "Cold compress within 24 hours, pfft, hot compress after 48 hours..."

Han Zhou knew he couldn't persuade this guy, so he simply ignored him and plopped down on the sofa. Turning his head, he noticed a photo album on the coffee table. He immediately became interested and loudly asked, "Class monitor, may I look at this photo album?"

"See? Don't make it dirty for me."

A few seconds later, the sound of a guzheng came from the bathroom, followed by the sound of running water, as if someone was turning on the toilet.

With permission, Han Zhou opened the photo album and found that it was mostly filled with photos of Gu Zheng when she was a child. She looked about twelve or thirteen years old, probably just starting junior high school.

Back then, Guzheng still had long hair, tied in two short ponytails, and her round face was quite cute. In the photos, she was mostly seen with her arms crossed over her chest, and her expression was reluctant, as if she didn't really like taking pictures.

Han Zhou laughed, thinking to himself that Gu Zheng must have been very mischievous at that time. Her skin was already tanned, and she probably ran around in the sun every few days.

Flipping further, you see photos of Guzheng a little older.

She still has long hair, but instead of tying it into a ponytail, she lets it hang loose. Her eyes are also less wild than before, and at first glance, she looks quite demure.

Han Zhou looked at each picture and couldn't help but sigh, "This guy is the kind of person who's been beautiful since he was a child."

The album is mostly filled with Guzheng's solo photos, as well as some photos with her parents. It's worth mentioning that as Guzheng grew older, the reluctance on her face gradually disappeared, replaced by a bright smile.

"This must be a photo from junior high school. Her hair was quite long back then. When did Guzheng cut her hair short...?"

Han Zhou was a little curious and continued flipping through the pages. However, even after flipping to the middle school graduation photo, Gu Zheng still had long hair.

In his memory, Gu Zheng had shoulder-length hair since the beginning of high school, which means she cut her hair during the summer vacation after graduating from junior high school.

The junior high school graduation photo took up an entire page of the album. Gu Zheng in the photo was still smiling happily, her eyes curved into crescents, and she even made a peace sign at the camera.

But Han Zhou suddenly frowned.

Because what is depicted in this photo is clearly not a happy scene.

As a group photo of dozens of people, this photo was taken on a long staircase, which was densely packed with people. Guzheng, however, stood alone on the far left edge of the photo, unable to even stand on the staircase. It is unknown whether she was pushed off by someone.

There were empty spaces on the steps to the right, but for some reason, Guzheng did not choose to stand there.

In addition, there was a full body length between her and the classmate closest to her, with a clear gap between them, as if she did not belong to this class.

It's like a piece of white paper torn off; it's white paper, but it can't be reintegrated into the white paper.

Fortunately, Guzheng wasn't really alone; a teacher was standing next to her in the photo, though his expression looked somewhat helpless.

"What's going on..."

Han Zhou was somewhat lost in thought when he suddenly heard a smug voice behind him.

"How do I look? Do I look good with long hair?"

Looking back, Guzheng appeared behind the sofa at some point, holding a wet towel in her hand, her arms were wet, and the dolphin pendant around her neck was swaying slightly.

"nice."

Han Zhou nodded in agreement, and then added tactfully, "You look good with short hair too."

Gu Zheng beamed with joy and then displayed amazing jumping ability. She supported herself on the back of the sofa with one hand, spun and jumped easily to Han Zhou's side, and sat down without any effort.

She handed over the towel, her gaze intense as she asked, "Which one looks better?"

"Since it's all yours anyway, there's no need to compete with yourself for first or second place..."

Han Zhou sighed softly, placed the damp towel on his left eye, and felt a significant relief instantly.

The two fell silent.

Looking at the graduation photo, Han Zhou couldn't help but ask, "But why did you suddenly start growing your hair short?"

"If you ask why..."

Gu Zheng picked up the photo album, rested her chin on her hand and thought seriously for a moment, then tucked her disheveled hair behind her ear, her eyes curving into crescents as she revealed a casual smile.

"Maybe it's because I don't look like the female lead."

(End of this chapter)