Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 433 We are rivals in love

On the second floor of the gymnasium, listening to the arguments on the playground, He Ling smiled, as if she had finally untied the knot in her heart that had troubled her for many years, and even her tone of voice became much lighter.

"See? Just like I said, this guy's obsession with winning and losing has reached a twisted level. Even though he's already lost, he still insists on fighting to the very end. Compared to that, his injured teammates are not important at all. He's the same way when it comes to his friends."

Mo Yixia remained noncommittal, her gaze sweeping across the playground, searching for someone's whereabouts: "In comparison, I think your obsession runs even deeper than that guy's."

He Ling was stunned for a moment, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared: "Where did my obsession come from?"

“A person who doesn’t even dare to admit what they’re thinking is often more obsessive and ‘dark’ than those who frequently talk about their thoughts,” Mo Yixia said calmly.

"Are you saying that I've always held a grudge against Guzheng for betraying me back then? Is this my obsession?"

“I didn’t say anything, you said it yourself.”

Mo Yixia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said with interest, "So you characterized what happened back then as 'betrayal'? Is that why you hate that guy?"

He Ling paused, realizing that her inner thoughts couldn't be hidden from the girl in front of her, so she simply sneered and spoke her mind: "Isn't that right? I've been so good to her, but she won't even help me with the smallest thing. Don't you think that's a betrayal?"

"It's your problem if you feel betrayed, and I won't try to change your mind. But to me, it's just a trivial matter."

"A trivial matter?" He Ling laughed angrily. "Why do you think this is a trivial matter? Gu Zheng abandoned our friendship for the sake of winning, causing me to be scolded by my parents and even afraid to go to school. Do you think this is just a trivial matter?!"

Her voice suddenly rose high, attracting the attention of many people in the stadium, but Mo Yixia didn't care at all.

"So can I interpret this to mean that your desire to be in the top ten is more noble than that guy's desire to be number one?"

"What do you mean by that?" He Ling frowned.

"As you said, you know very well how obsessed that guy is with winning, and you understand that getting first place is his most persistent wish. But in order to increase your chances of getting into the top ten, you didn't hesitate to use your emotions to force him to give up the competition. Isn't that trying to make his wish give way to your wish?"

Mo Yixia turned to look at her, each word seeming to pierce her heart like a sharp sword, "Besides, you should understand better than anyone else that even if that guy really gave up the competition, you still have no chance of getting into the top ten, just like you wouldn't be able to get into Lin University without her."

"All along, you've just been looking for an excuse to make up for your dissatisfaction..."

"enough!"

He Ling interrupted her, gritting her teeth, "You don't understand anything at all. My family has always had high expectations for me. If I hadn't made it into the top ten in that competition, everyone would have been disappointed! Guzheng doesn't understand, and neither do you! You have no idea how important that competition was to me!"

Mo Yixia was silent for a moment: "So have you ever figured out just how important the first place is to that guy?"

These words struck He Ling like a thunderbolt, leaving her frozen in place.

Mo Yixia seemed to know she would react this way, and continued, "It's not that you haven't thought about figuring it out, it's just that you don't want to, because you know that only in this way, when your own wishes conflict with the other person's wishes, can you subconsciously forget what the other person is carrying and force them to give in for you by waving the banner of friendship."

"But you forgot that since you keep calling yourselves friends, when you ask the other person to make concessions for you, you should also be prepared to make concessions for their wishes... right?"

Looking at the silent He Ling, Mo Yixia shook her head slightly, "Most people in this world like to use the word 'difficulty' to emphasize their own hardships, thereby imposing certain expectations on others. Little do they know that what they are imposing on others is also their own difficulty."

She pulled down her hat brim, her gaze sweeping over the throng of people on the playground, as if she found it somewhat dull. "Giving expectations, responding to expectations, rejecting expectations—that's the essence of interpersonal relationships. Similar things happen every moment, which is why I say it's a trivial matter."

He Ling remained silent for a long time, then suddenly gave a bitter laugh: "Now that you mention it, this world is really quite boring."

"Yeah, it's so boring."

Mo Yixia remained noncommittal, then thought for a moment and said, "But there are also interesting aspects."

"What is it?"

He Ling was curious to know what kind of thing could make this girl describe it as interesting.

"Don't tell you."

Mo Yixia's answer was quite concise.

"..."

He Ling sighed, hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "Um... can I ask you a question?"

"You want to ask me, with my superior intellect, how I view the right and wrong of the conflict between you and that guy back then?"

"Um, I guess so..."

He Ling was speechless at this guy's narcissism, but quickly realized that he had the right to be narcissistic. After thinking for a moment, she continued to ask, "Besides that, I also want to know why you never call Gu Zheng by her name, but always refer to her as 'that guy'. You two can be together, so even if you're not friends, you must know each other, right?"

"Don't you know?" Mo Yixia stretched, her tone casual, as if she were asking what she wanted to eat for dinner.

The afternoon wind rustled the branches, making the windows rattle.

"That guy and I are rivals in love."

He Ling was struck dumb, her eyes widening in shock, her expression more stunned than ever before, as if she couldn't believe her ears. It took her a long time to recover, her expression blank.

"You mean... Guzheng has someone she likes?"

……

When Guzheng ran back to the starting line, all the other teammates had disappeared. Wang Runxue quickly ran over to help her put on her coat, asking worriedly, "Is your leg alright?"

In her mind, Guzheng's leg injury shouldn't have fully healed yet. She wondered if Guzheng was stupid; why was she running so fast when she was already in last place? What if she suffered long-term consequences?
"I am fine."

Gu Zheng's eyes crinkled with amusement as she asked, "But what's wrong with your voice?"

"No, nothing..."

Of course, Wang Runxue wouldn't say that it was because she had just been arguing with those despicable guys, and even used some swear words that she would never normally say, for fear that saying it would damage her good image in Guzheng's eyes.

The verbal battle ended not long ago with a resounding victory for "Guzheng Fang". Speaking of which, given how intense the argument was, could it be that Guzheng actually heard her cursing, but didn't expose her to save face?
"Are you really okay? But your voice sounds hoarse..."

Okay, she didn't hear it.

"It's really okay!"

Wang Runxue quickly shook her head in denial, and only after much effort did she dispel Guzheng's doubts. To her relief, Guzheng did not seem discouraged by this failure; her face showed no signs of pain or sadness, and she remained full of energy.

Gu Zheng has a very strong competitive spirit, especially in formal competitions. Those who know her well know this. Compared to her leg injury, this was actually what Wang Runxue was most worried about. Fortunately, it seems that these worries were a bit unnecessary now.

"Where are Han Zhou and the others?"

Ignoring the strange looks around her, Gu Zheng walked towards the edge of the track while looking around, but she didn't see Han Zhou and the others.

"I don't know, I think I saw the girl in front of you fall down and then leave," Wang Runxue replied.

"Oh."

Gu Zheng nodded, her expression remaining unchanged.

"stop."

Just then, a tall boy suddenly blocked their way, his expression very unfriendly.

"What do you want to do?"

Wang Runxue tried to pull the guzheng behind her, but found that she couldn't move it at all. She felt slightly embarrassed, but her expression remained very serious.

She recognized the boy. He was very agitated after the senior student named Liu Xueyi fell, as if he couldn't wait to carry her to the school hospital. However, the student council members kept stopping him, so he had to run over and humbly beg Gu Zheng to persuade Liu Xueyi to give up. But Gu Zheng ignored him completely and didn't say a word until Liu Xueyi finished running. He was embarrassed and ridiculed for being useless, and he was probably already full of anger.

If I remember correctly, it was this boy who started talking badly about the guzheng. He was scolded by a short boy who spoke up for the guzheng until his face turned blue. Wang Runxue felt good at the time, but she didn't expect this person to be so unreasonable and actually come to cause trouble after the competition.

She was now certain that Guzheng hadn't heard the surrounding argument at all, because Guzheng's expression was clearly confused in the face of the tall boy's angry glare.

"who are you?"

It was clear that Gu Zheng had tried very hard to recall, but she really couldn't remember any of this person.

Such an expression in front of a tall man is clearly a blatant insult—"I begged you for so long, and you don't even know who I am?"
In an instant, all the humiliation and resentment that had been building up inside him erupted and filled the boy's heart.

Especially when he recalled how, not long ago, when he offered to carry Xueyi to the hospital, she not only refused but also absentmindedly replied, "You're too nosy. Don't always do meaningless things," his anger surged, and his eyes became bloodshot.

If I had handled things better back then and gotten Xueyi to the hospital as soon as possible, would she have stopped saying that my efforts were meaningless?

More and more anger surged into his head, the tall boy's breathing became heavier and heavier, and he couldn't help but raise his palm.

He originally just wanted the girl to visit Xueyi at the infirmary and apologize, but now he's changed his mind.

(End of this chapter)