Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 443 Unexpected Emotions

"The weather is really nice today."

At the school gate, feeling the wind blowing in her face, Ouyang Lianyu tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and couldn't help but sigh.

The delicate fragrance of her hair wafted into his nostrils on the cool breeze, but Han Zhou paid no attention to it. He sighed and said, "I really hope it rains heavily in three minutes."

It was rare to see this guy looking so dejected, so Ouyang Lianyu couldn't help but chuckle. She said earnestly, "The rain will eventually stop, but the competition will continue sooner or later. Running away is useless. You have to learn to face it bravely."

She smiled and waved to the security guard at the school gate, then pushed her wheelchair into the campus, greeting the students around her along the way with gentle grace and poise.

Han Zhou still looked melancholy: "But what I have to face is not 'it,' but 'them.'"

Ouyang Lianyu smiled and said, "Aren't there teachers here too?"

Han Zhou's eyes lit up, and he quickly turned to look at her, saying with emotion, "Teacher Ouyang, do you mean you will help me?"

"Do not."

Ouyang Lianyu shook her head, suppressing a laugh, and said, "What I mean is, you still need to face me. I'm your opponent today too."

"..."

The emotion on Han Zhou's face vanished instantly, replaced by a headache: "I don't understand why all of you were willing to come and participate, even though you weren't the ones who signed up."

That's right. Just last night, after learning that someone had signed everyone up for today's fun activities, instead of expressing any dissatisfaction, everyone decided to participate in today's competition after considering it, including Zhong Yin, who had been frowning the whole time.

"I don't know about the other teachers, but didn't you ask me to go to the competition yesterday to relive my youth? You were laughing so happily then, why are you unhappy now?"

"I was just worried you'd get hurt."

Han Zhou coughed lightly and argued in a serious tone, "It's inevitable to have bumps and bruises in a competition. It would be bad if something happened to you, teacher. Rather than reliving our youth, I hope that you can always be safe and sound."

"Don't try to fool me. It's too late to say nice things now, and even the teacher can't help you."

Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him, and seeing his gloomy expression, she couldn't help but smile.

The two arrived at the girls' dormitory building, where Zhong Yin and Zhong Ling were already waiting.

According to the "duty roster", Zhong Yin will be taking care of Han Zhou alone today. She is a very conscientious person. Early in the morning, she hung up a "Closed for one day" sign outside the shop and rushed to the school, wanting to complete the handover with Ouyang Lianyu as soon as possible.

Perhaps because she was going to participate in a competition, Zhong Yin wore a beige trench coat today, with a white knit sweater underneath and dark blue jeans on her lower body. Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, showing the charm of a mature woman.

Han Zhou wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the other person's chest seemed to have shrunk a lot.

Zhong Ling's attire was equally simple; she wore a very common tracksuit with a thick down jacket over it, and a scarf covered half of her face. Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked quiet and cute.

"Good morning, both of you," Han Zhou greeted first.

"morning."

Perhaps because she wasn't used to it yet, Zhong Yin's tone was a bit stiff, while Zhong Ling was much more natural and even waved with a slight smile.

Zhong Yin handed the two boxes of pastries to the two women respectively, then nodded to Ouyang Lianyu, took the wheelchair armrest from her, and said, "I'll take care of you today. If you have any problems, you can tell me anytime, and I'll help you figure something out, understand?"

Han Zhou knew, of course, that these words were directed at him. He was flattered and overwhelmed. It was rare to see Sister Yin so kind. Although her tone was a bit stiff, it was much better than before.

"Understood," he said quickly.

If it were anyone else, he might have dared to shamelessly ask if they could help him find a way to avoid participating in today's competition, but he wouldn't dare say the same thing to Zhong Yin.

"Mm." Zhong Yin nodded and said no more.

Ouyang Lianyu asked curiously, "Isn't Yixia with you?"

Mo Yixia has been staying at Zhong Yin's house recently. Since Zhong Yin has come to the school, Yixia should be here too.

"She went to the cafeteria to buy breakfast." Zhong Yin's expression was a little strange.

"Buy breakfast?" Han Zhou was taken aback. "You should have eaten breakfast at home, right?" Zhong Yin's home has a kitchen, and besides, there were so many leftovers from yesterday afternoon. They could just heat them up and eat them this morning. He didn't believe that Zhong Yin and Yi Xia would come to school to eat breakfast.

"have eaten……"

Zhong Yin's expression became even stranger, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Ouyang Lianyu looked puzzled: "Who is Yixia going to buy breakfast for? Zhong Ling?"

"Ah."

Zhong Yin nodded, hesitated for two seconds, and added, "...and the guzheng."

"..."

Oh no! Yixia is trying to poison Guzheng's breakfast!
—This was Han Zhou's first thought upon hearing those words.

Even though I knew it was impossible, the problem was that Yixia would actually buy breakfast for Guzheng. It was like the sun rising in the west, and it was even more impossible!

Just then, Zhong Ling said softly, "Yi Xia said she was afraid that Gu Zheng would lose the competition today and cry, so she made up for it in advance by letting her eat her fill before she set off."

Han Zhou's lips twitched, and he was about to speak when he saw Zhong Ling nod firmly and clench her little fist, saying, "Don't worry, neither my sister nor I will tell Gu Zheng these things."

Han Zhou almost burst into tears, thinking to himself that if everyone were as sensible as his senior, he wouldn't have to worry about anything.

"What's wrong with you? Why do you suddenly look like you're about to cry?"

Mo Yixia's cool voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Although it wasn't the first time someone had seen his expression from behind, Han Zhou still found it unbelievable. He stared blankly behind him, only to realize that the words he had just spoken weren't actually directed at him.

Behind her, besides Mo Yixia who was wearing a mask and a baseball cap, stood a short girl, Xiao Xiaoxiao.

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked sad, her eyes slightly red, and she really looked like she was about to cry. Mo Yixia's words were obviously directed at her.

The two came back from the cafeteria together, chatting for a bit along the way. But for some reason, Xiao Xiaoxiao had this expression as soon as they got back to the dormitory building.

Seeing Xiao Xiaoxiao's appearance, Ouyang Lianyu and the others were all shocked and quickly surrounded her, asking with concern, "Xiaoxiao, what's wrong with you?"

"nothing."

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head and rubbed her eyes, "It was windy just now, and some sand got into my eyes."

The crowd naturally didn't believe it, and after asking several times without getting a reason, they all looked at Han Zhou in unison.

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, thinking to himself, do I really look like a woman's best friend? Why do I have to step in whenever someone has something on their mind?

However, he was also worried about why Xiao Xiaoxiao had suddenly become like this. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Mo Yixia say, "It did seem like there was sand flying around just now."

This couldn't possibly be true, and there was no sand in the school, but everyone understood what Mo Yixia meant—if Xiaoxiao didn't want to talk about it, then so be it, there was no need to press her further.

Zhong Yin and Ouyang Lianyu looked at each other in bewilderment, while Zhong Ling had already bent down and carefully blew on Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes.

Han Zhou suspected that Mo Yixia had figured something out and planned to ask her about it sometime. Just then, Gu Zheng and Wang Runxue walked out of the dormitory together and saw the group from afar. They immediately ran over with their eyes crinkled.

"Good morning, everyone."

Before long, Wang Lengqiu arrived at the dormitory building, took the pastries from Zhong Yin and the breakfast from Mo Yixia, and whispered "thank you".

It's worth mentioning that she has a small appetite. She originally intended to give the leftovers to Han Zhou, but Gu Zheng, who was quick-witted and agile, quickly took them and ate them.

On a bright and sunny morning, the sky was filled with drifting clouds.

The group walked together toward the playground.

The match is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)