Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 430 Cause and Effect
"how so……"

Looking at Gu Zheng, who was standing still with her fists clenched, Zhong Ling and the others in the distance all showed worried expressions.

They knew very well how obsessed the guzheng was with winning first place, and that losing the competition before even taking a single step, or even finishing in last place, was something that no one, let alone the guzheng, could accept.

Yet, no one can blame the girl who accidentally fell and got injured.

It's clear that she's been trying to get up from the ground despite the pain, but that's obviously not an easy task. It's already quite remarkable that she's managed to persevere until now without giving up.

Spectators on both sides of the track were already urging the girl to withdraw; clearly, they valued her safety more than the outcome of the race.

Gu Lang's carefree expression vanished. His brows furrowed, and he looked at his daughter, who stood unnoticed at the starting line, with a pained expression. After a long while, he finally sighed.

"There's nothing we can do. It's just bad luck. It has nothing to do with the guzheng. Anyway, we all know her skill level. It's just a competition. If she loses, she loses."

Although he said that, his expression was not good.

Miao Yan'er's smile vanished as well. After a long silence, she was forced to accept the reality: "Han Zhou, will you come with us to comfort Xiao Zheng later? She might... Han Zhou?"

She looked down and found that Han Zhou seemed not to have heard her at all. He was just staring straight at the girl who had struggled to get up from the track, his face expressionless.

“Intentional…”

……

"Tsk tsk tsk, that was a pretty bad fall."

Standing on the platform in front of the rostrum, Chen Fei stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance with an expression of watching the excitement. Suddenly, he looked melancholy, turned to look at Xia Qing beside him, and sighed.

"Hey, President Xia Qing, you wouldn't actually have feelings for me, would you? Someone got injured in the competition your student council was organizing. As the president, why aren't you going to deal with it? What are you doing here staring at me?"

Xia Qing didn't speak, but kept filming the girl in the distance with the camera for a while, as if confirming something. Suddenly, she said, "If I remember correctly, that girl should be one of your ex-girlfriends, right? Don't you feel any heartache at all?"

Her expression was serious, as if she had no longer been the gossip paparazzi who liked to look for big news, but had become the student council president who had won the election entirely on her own merits.

Chen Fei was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Really? That person is my ex-girlfriend? I don't even remember what my ex-girlfriends look like. How do you know?"

He seemed to suddenly perk up, and quickly stood on tiptoe again to check, wanting to see if it was really true.

"Stop pretending to be garlic."

Xia Qing pointed the camera at him and said confidently, "Although you have many ex-girlfriends, I believe you don't have a bad memory. As for why I know what your ex-girlfriends look like..."

She waved to the person next to her, and the student council member who had been standing there quickly took out a list and handed it to her.

"...Of course, it's because I have the right to view student information at any time."

She handed the list to Chen Fei, who opened it and his mouth twitched. The list was densely filled with names, each accompanied by a photo—a half-body photo against a blue background—clearly taken from the student files.

Damn it, is this woman bored out of her mind? She actually used her power in the student council to find photos of most of my ex-girlfriends!

Chen Fei was dumbfounded; he truly hadn't expected Xia Qing to go to such lengths.

For Xia Qing, knowing just one name was enough for her to access information about any student in the school. After all, the student council was responsible for entering and modifying student files. But who would have thought she would use her authority in this way?

Chen Fei pressed his temples, tearing the list to shreds as he looked at the girl beside him: "Xia Qing, I have no grudge against you, right? Why the hell... why are you investigating me for no reason?"

He was really angry, and he almost swore.

"I just want to figure out what you really want to do."

Xia Qing ignored his angry gaze, paused, and asked, "Why are you pretending not to know your ex-girlfriend?"

"No, what's it to you!"

"Why did you have people target that girl named Guzheng before?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. What's so special about the guzheng?"

"Chen Fei, you'd better answer my questions truthfully."

Xia Qing stared at Chen Fei for a long time, then suddenly turned off the camera and placed it on the table on the podium.

"The reason that girl fell...it must be related to you, right?"

She had seen Guzheng's injury before, and it looked much more serious than the girl on the track, yet she was still able to get up quickly and finish the race. After a few days of rest, she was even able to compete again. Even if there are differences in physical condition between people, there shouldn't be such a big difference.

To make matters worse, this girl happened to be Guzheng's teammate, and coincidentally, she was also Chen Fei's other ex-girlfriend. Considering what happened a couple of days ago, Xia Qing couldn't help but suspect that Chen Fei was involved. There was no need to wonder why Chen Fei would do this; the reason this guy was called a "celebrity," besides his well-known scumbag nature, was because he loved doing strange and childish things.

And all these messy things...

Most of them are related to the requests made by his current girlfriend.

……

"That's right, that girl deliberately fell down. I asked my boyfriend to help me get revenge and make Guzheng lose the competition, so he came up with this plan."

On the second floor of the gymnasium, He Ling stood by the window, looking at the guzheng standing alone on the starting line, a happy smile on her face.

"That's really a rather weak and ineffective way to get revenge."

Mo Yixia shook her head, seemingly with some regret, "If I were you, I would at least put a few nails in that guy's shoes to vent my anger."

He Ling looked at her in surprise: "Do you have a deep grudge against the guzheng?"

"That's not it."

Mo Yixia tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and said calmly, "I'm saying this based on the premise that 'if I were you,' but I'm not you, and I have no grudge against her. It's a very simple logic."

"..."

He Ling gritted her teeth: "So you're saying this just to tease me?"

"You can understand that."

Mo Yixia nodded calmly, seemingly oblivious to the expression on the other person's face, and said thoughtfully, "Speaking of which, aren't you curious why that girl was willing to hurt herself to help your boyfriend fulfill his wish?"

"not good……"

Before the word "strange" could be uttered, the girl wearing a mask and a baseball cap continued, "Have you ever considered that that girl might be your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend?"

"...I don't care."

"It's 'I don't care' rather than 'impossible,' so it seems you don't deny the possibility."

"I already told you I'm not here..."

"I have a way to help you confirm this. Would you like to try?"

"...Thank you, but no need."

He Ling's forehead veins bulged, and after a long silence, she couldn't help but add, "You're such a kind-hearted person."

"You're welcome. To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard someone praise me like this."

"..."

He Ling fell completely silent.

Doesn't this guy realize he's being sarcastic?

She took a deep breath and couldn't help but ask, "More than that, I'm curious why you suddenly became interested in chatting?"

Wasn't this guy just ignoring me before? Why is he suddenly so talkative?

“Because I thought you could tell me a good story,” Mo Yixia said calmly.

She originally wanted to hear about Han Zhou's high school days and learn more about the guy named Gu Zheng, but she never expected that this person would actually be Gu Zheng's junior high school classmate. He had only heard about Gu Zheng's high school days from others.

This guy was just spouting some trivial rumors, yet he always kept using the word "simp."

It's really annoying.

Mo Yixia didn't care if someone belittled others' character in front of her, a person of high moral character, even if it was done to her face. But if the person being belittled was Han Zhou, then the situation would be different.

Just as the book says, you will unconsciously protect the other person, even if you are covered in wounds, that's how you show that you like someone.

...even if he's an incorrigible guy.

(End of this chapter)