Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 441 After the Match
After meeting with Han Zhou and Gu Zheng at the milk tea shop, Gu Lang and Miao Yan'er boarded the bus back home.

Although they heard there was a guzheng competition tomorrow, the couple did not plan to stay any longer. They were relieved to see that their daughter was not affected by the defeat.

"Sure enough, it was right to let Han Zhou comfort Gu Zheng. Gu Zheng seems more energetic than before."

Gu Lang gazed at the scenery rushing past the window, a smile on his face, then suddenly changed the subject, "But are we really just leaving like this?"

"What else? Should we corner the student who tried to attack the guzheng at the school gate and beat him up?"

Miao Yan'er looked down at her fingernails. "Although I really want to do that, it would have a bad influence and make it difficult for Xiao Zheng to make friends at school."

Gu Lang was speechless: "That's not what I meant. I meant, don't you think Han Zhou has too many girls around him? It's almost like..."

"Just like you in the past?" Miao Yan'er looked over with a smile.

"It does have a bit of me back then."

Gu Lang chuckled, not denying it, but then looked wary and got down to business, "Based on my years of experience, putting aside the others, that Wang Lengqiu is definitely interested in Han Zhou. And that girl is so beautiful. What if Han Zhou falls for someone else someday?"

"Don't project your own thoughts onto Han Zhou. Han Zhou is not like you." Miao Yan'er glanced at her husband.

"What do you know?"

As a former expert in the field of scumbags, Gu Lang still expressed his doubts about Han Zhou, "Don't you think that even Teacher Ouyang's relationship with Han Zhou is too close? As soon as that kid Han Zhou opens his mouth, Teacher Ouyang is immediately willing to help us clean up the mess. She even lent Han Zhou her wheelchair. This is not as simple as an ordinary teacher-student relationship."

Miao Yan'er looked at him strangely: "You don't mean to say that Teacher Ouyang also likes Han Zhou, do you? I'm warning you, you can't just say things like that."

"Of course that's not what I meant!"

Gu Lang quickly explained, "I just wanted to say that Han Zhou's relationship with the girls around him seems to be quite good, definitely not just that of ordinary friends. I believe you've noticed it too; they're even willing to team up to help Han Zhou lie..."

"Just say what you mean, don't beat around the bush."

Miao Yan'er said helplessly, "You just want to say that it's necessary for Han Zhou to keep his distance from those girls, otherwise they might become Xiao Zheng's rivals in love in the future, right? Do you think I haven't worried about this kind of thing?"

"Then why did you keep stopping me from giving that kid a proper warning?"

“Xiao Zheng was sitting right next to us. When you reminded Han Zhou to keep his distance from other girls at that time, weren’t you indirectly helping Xiao Zheng confess her feelings? If it were up to us to make the decision for Xiao Zheng, the two of them would probably have been together long ago.”

Miao Yan'er shook her head and continued, "But you also know that Xiao Zheng has never been a timid person since she was a child. She clearly likes Han Zhou so much but doesn't confess. There must be some concerns. We can try to help her with this, but we can't interfere casually."

"Furthermore, although we have always regarded Han Zhou as our son-in-law, we cannot really interfere in his life. This child's background is already pitiful, and we should give him enough respect, unless he really hurts Xiao Zheng one day."

In Miao Yan'er's heart, Han Zhou had always been a well-behaved child. Like Gu Zheng, he didn't have many friends in high school. Now that he has made so many friends in college, although it is a bit too much for women, it is still a good thing.

“I’ve never considered that kid as my son-in-law. He’s eaten at our house so many times, what’s wrong with me disciplining him?”

After a pause, Gu Lang's voice softened, and he said sourly, "Besides, why didn't you respect me when I had female friends before..."

"Ok?"

Seeing his wife's scrutinizing gaze, he wisely shut his mouth.

After a while, he couldn't help but say, "We can't just do nothing, can we? What if Guzheng is really heartbroken by that kid? It will be too late to do anything then."

This is not unfounded worry, but rather a precautionary measure.

Guzheng has already been hurt once. It was precisely because they did nothing back then that Guzheng's current personality was formed. No matter how they tried to make amends afterward, it was useless. He didn't want to see the same thing happen again.

Seeing her husband's worried expression, Miao Yan'er said with a smile, "Have you forgotten how we got together in the first place?"

Gu Lang was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened suddenly: "You mean..."

"Let the young people handle the affairs for now; it's not our turn to step in."

Miao Yan'er interrupted her husband, signaling him not to worry, then tightened her coat and leaned back in her chair, pretending to doze off.

"...Anyway, Xiaozheng has a sure way to win."

……

"Victory is certain! Victory is certain! Guzheng sister will win! We will definitely take the championship tomorrow!"

Inside the pastry shop, Lin Youya waved her little fist, excitedly cheering on the newly arrived guzheng player.

She knew, of course, that Guzheng had lost the competition today, so in order to comfort her, she decided to start cheering for tomorrow's competition from now on, hoping to make Guzheng a little happier.

Seeing the bouncy Ya Ya, Gu Zheng smiled and patted the girl's head: "Thank you, Ya Ya. I'll do my best tomorrow. By the way, you seem to have grown taller. Looks like you've been eating well lately."

"Really?" Lin Youya's eyes lit up, and she nodded excitedly. "I also feel like I've grown taller, but that big idiot keeps saying it's my hallucination, or that the insoles of my height-increasing shoes are higher than before. Anyway, it can't be that I've grown taller, but I haven't changed my height-increasing shoes at all!"

The girl looked aggrieved, seemingly very dissatisfied with someone's slander.

Gu Zheng, of course, knew who the "big idiot" Ya Ya was talking about was. Upon hearing this, she snorted coldly and immediately put on an indignant expression: "How dare you talk nonsense! Come on, I'll take you to settle accounts with Lin Anyu!"

"No, no, no."

But then Lin Youya grabbed her arm, winked mischievously, and whispered, "Little sister is already helping me get revenge."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the three of them heard Xiao Xiaoxiao's furious voice from inside the room: "Tell me! Will you still dare to make fun of others about their height in the future? What's wrong with height-increasing insoles?"

Immediately following was Lin Anyu's pleading: "I was wrong, I'll never joke about Ya Ya's height again..."

"Hmph! Remember to tell that to your best buddy! Got it?"

"My dear brother... Alright, alright, I understand, I will definitely pass it on, I will definitely pass it on!"

"..."

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng exchanged a glance.

"...It seems Xiaoxiao wasn't just doing this to vent Ya Ya's anger." Han Zhou smirked.

"It also serves as a warning to others," Gu Zheng added, barely suppressing a laugh.

The three entered the house and saw Lin Anyu sitting in a chair with his head down in repentance, while Xiao Xiaoxiao stood in front of him angrily. Although she was not as tall as him, she still exuded a kind of intimidating boss aura.

Bai Tongtong sat to the side watching the show, her demeanor dignified, showing no intention of speaking up for Lin Anyu. Seeing Han Zhou and Gu Zheng enter the room, she nodded and smiled, "You've arrived."

Han Zhou and Gu Zheng nodded, then looked around: "Where is the others?"

Apart from the three people, no one else was seen in the store.

"Han Zhou, you've finally arrived!"

Upon seeing Han Zhou, Lin Anyu felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He quickly ran over under Xiao Xiaoxiao's angry glare and explained, "Sister Yin is in the kitchen. Senior Sister Zhong Ling and Senior Sister Wang Lengqiu went out to buy groceries and asked us to stay here for dinner tonight."

According to the original plan, tonight should have been a celebration banquet for Guzheng, but since they lost the competition in the afternoon, he naturally wouldn't be so foolish as to bring it up.

"Where is Wang Runxue?" Guzheng asked.

"She went out with us."

Lin Anyu carefully observed Gu Zheng's expression. Seeing that she looked normal, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and began frantically giving Han Zhou meaningful glances, signaling him to help deal with the little brat glaring at him from behind.

Han Zhou understood and said with a smile, "Xiao Xiao, come out for a moment, I have something I want to ask you."

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked suspicious, seeing through their trick at a glance, but still left the room with him.

In fact, Han Zhou did have something he wanted to ask Xiao Xiaoxiao, about the mission from not long ago—

[You now know the correct way to use the Mysterious Pouch. Please use it again at the correct time next month to obtain important information. You will receive an important opportunity upon completion of the task.]

Although he knew the correct way to use the mysterious brocade pouch, he couldn't figure out what the so-called "correct time" was after thinking about it for a long time. He could only pin his hopes on Xiao Xiaoxiao, hoping that she might know something.

Of course, he wouldn't directly ask Xiao Xiaoxiao if she knew the correct time, as prompted by the mission. Instead, he asked her if there was a particular day next month that was important to her or had some special significance.

Han Zhou's idea was simple: since this mission was closely related to Xiao Xiaoxiao, the clues about the correct time were likely on her.

If even Xiao Xiaoxiao doesn't know the correct date and can't provide any clues, then he can only guess.

He can only buy one mysterious pouch each month, and each pouch can be used three times. He has one pouch left with unused uses, which means he has a total of five chances to try and fail next month. He plans to use all five chances to find the right day and complete the task.

Of course, it's not all about the mission rewards.

More than the reward, he was interested in the important information mentioned in the mission prompt—since there was a chance to recover his lost memories, he certainly wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by.

In addition, there is another important point.

Since they had already made up their minds to fulfill their wishes, Xiao Xiaoxiao's wish naturally couldn't be an exception.

...But he still doesn't know what Xiao Xiaoxiao's wish is.

(End of this chapter)