Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 45 Elite Simp Status

[Temporary task triggered: Please show a little favoritism to the target character, Guzheng. Limited to 30 minutes. You can earn 10 points.]

A little favoritism?
Upon seeing the sudden, impromptu task, Han Zhou was initially delighted, but then became puzzled—

This task seems easy, but it's a bit vague. He understands the meaning of favoritism, but the question is, in what form and what kind of action would constitute showing favoritism?
Everyone's preferences may differ, and this doesn't provide any general direction. Am I supposed to just improvise?

As Han Zhou pondered, he suddenly felt two intense gazes fall upon him, one from Miao Yan'er with a smile on her face, and the other from Gu Zheng with a cold expression.

The two, who had been locked in a fierce argument, seemed to finally remember that there was a "referee" in the room. They stopped arguing at some point, stared at him, and asked in unison:
"Han Zhou, who do you think cooks better?"

Han Zhou's expression froze.

Miao Yan'er glanced at her daughter with a smile and said slowly, "Han Zhou, I used to cook all the meals you ate at our house. If you suddenly say they're not good now... I'll be very sad."

Her tone was gentle, but it wasn't hard to hear the underlying threat in her words.

Gu Zheng thought her mother was despicable, but she wasn't going to back down. Without saying a word, she put a piece of meat into Han Zhou's bowl, her expression like a child throwing a tantrum, and said fiercely, "Think carefully about how good I was to you before!"

Wow, this guy's actually playing the emotional card, that's rare. Looks like he's not very confident in his cooking skills...

Han Zhou easily saw through the class monitor's thoughts.

Under their gazes, he sat up straight and said cautiously, "We're all family, there's no need for you to argue about who's better in this kind of thing..."

"Is necessary!"

The mother and daughter's eyes met in the air, and they said in unison again, "Don't worry about anything else, just be a fair and impartial referee!"

fair?

Han Zhou's lips twitched slightly. These two guys, one with a smile hiding a knife, the other dredging up old grievances, neither seemed to want him to be fair and impartial...

He found it a bit strange, thinking that Guzheng was one thing, but he didn't know why Sister Miao would join in the nonsense. You know, although she used to often make bets with Guzheng, she usually only went so far as to stop short of a serious bet.

Seeing that Gu Zheng was sulking, Han Zhou was about to say something when a sudden idea struck him—a method that might be considered showing her favoritism.

"If I wholeheartedly support Guzheng in the judging process, even if her cooking is not delicious, I would insist that it is delicious. Would that be considered a small favoritism?"

This method might not be feasible, but Han Zhou felt it could be a direction. He pondered to himself, "I can give it a try, but I've always been an objective and fair person. To make a judgment without regard to the facts seems to violate my principles of fairness and impartiality..."

After a grueling battle with his conscience that lasted a full second, he took a deep breath and said resignedly, "I can be fair and just, but you must guarantee that you will not retaliate against me afterwards."

This specifically refers to a woman surnamed Miao.

Miao Yan'er and Gu Zheng exchanged a glance, forced a smile, and shook their heads, saying, "You're overthinking it. Nothing like that."

They didn't even bother to hide the perfunctory tone in their words, and they never mentioned any promise not to retaliate.

Han Zhou knew this would happen. He sighed, picked up his chopsticks, and looked around at the dishes on the table, intending to find the one that looked the best to try. That way, even if the taste wasn't good, he could still praise its appearance.

Just then, Guzheng suddenly got up, ladled a bowl of steaming soup, placed it in front of him, and said smugly, "Try this. It took so long to make, it must be delicious."

Han Zhou took a look. This was the black chicken soup that Gu Zheng had been simmering all afternoon. It seemed that no one had tasted it since it was served. The aroma was rich and the color was quite appealing. It looked pretty good.

Seeing that Guzheng seemed quite confident about the soup, Han Zhou was overjoyed. Although he was prepared to do everything he could to support Guzheng, it would be even better if Guzheng could win on her own merits.

Seeing this, Miao Yan'er smiled and reminded her, "Xiao Zheng, you don't seem to have made much soup before, do you really intend to challenge me with this?"

Gu Zheng ignored him, watching with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation as Han Zhou blew on the soup in his bowl to cool it down, and then watched him drink it.

Just as Miao Yan'er said, she really had no experience in making soup, and she hadn't even had a chance to taste it yet, so she didn't know what it tasted like, nor did she know what Han Zhou would say.

Under the watchful eyes of the mother and daughter, Han Zhou put down the soup bowl, the soup brushed past his lips and tongue and went into his stomach. After savoring it for a while, he pondered for a moment and looked at Gu Zheng with a strange expression: "This soup doesn't quite match your knife skills."

Gu Zheng was taken aback, but quickly understood the other person's meaning from their expression; it was a veiled criticism that the soup wasn't good. She gritted her teeth, her expression darkening.

Miao Yan'er glanced at her daughter, smiled without saying a word, then narrowed her eyes, thinking that Han Zhou was a clueless brat.

Han Zhou was actually quite depressed.

It wasn't that he didn't want to praise the guzheng, but the soup was just too bland. It wasn't exactly unpalatable, but it was definitely not delicious either, so trying to praise it was really a stretch.

If someone says the soup is delicious after that, not only would Sister Miao be unhappy, but Guzheng would probably feel insulted rather than appreciated.

But we can't help but praise it...

Han Zhou racked his brains, but couldn't think of any angle to praise it from. You can occasionally say that something that scores 70 is close to something that scores 80, but you can't possibly exaggerate a few points into something that scores 90, right?
Unless one can completely deceive oneself, infinitely magnify a certain point in this soup, argue for it vehemently, to the point of being unable to stop, like some sycophants...

Yes, a simp.

Han Zhou's eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered that he now had the job of an elite sycophant. Although he didn't approve of the job, perhaps now was the time to put it to good use.

The level 3 status bar allows any profession to be set as a status, which is a good opportunity to see the effect of this new feature. Han Zhou did as he was told and included the Elite Simp in the current status, making it appear alongside the modified "On the Verge of Death".

A detailed description of "elite simp" quickly appeared in the status bar.

[Elite Simp: Professional state, can be activated after selecting any target. Activating it will automatically unlock the skills "corny pickup lines" and "mysterious self-confidence". You will abandon most of your sense of shame and blindly support the designated target. This state can be activated and deactivated at any time. After deactivation, there will be a ten-minute emotional buffer period during which your emotions will be more volatile than in the normal state.]

Han Zhou's eyes lit up, feeling quite intrigued.

The professional status seems quite different from the normal status of "on the verge of death." It even comes with a special effect that can be turned on or off at any time, making it seem like an active skill.

...Although this skill doesn't seem to be very useful.

He had originally planned to try changing his status, but now it seems unnecessary.

Although the effect of the elite simp gave him a very bad feeling, "blindly supporting" was exactly what he needed at the moment, and it was also a good opportunity to personally experience how a simp licks a girl's boots.

So he didn't hesitate to switch into elite sycophant mode.

Gu Zheng, sitting across the table, was in low spirits, holding a large bowl of rice and feeling dejected, when she suddenly heard a smacking sound coming from in front of her.

Looking up, I saw that Han Zhou had picked up the soup bowl again at some point and was drinking the soup continuously, smacking his lips after each sip, looking very satisfied.

He didn't put the bowl down until it was empty, still savoring the taste, and shook his head with his eyes closed, saying, "Tsk, it was so delicious."

This flamboyant display stunned not only Guzheng, but even Miao Yan'er, leaving her bewildered and filled with a series of question marks.

Wait, what's wrong with this kid all of a sudden? Could he get any more disgusting?

She was a little suspicious, thinking the soup was really that delicious. She ladled out a small half bowl and tasted it, then frowned and said, "This soup has no flavor at all. What kind of deliciousness is this?"

Guzheng was very unconvinced and kept her mouth shut without saying a word.

"Perhaps that's true for you."

Unexpectedly, Han Zhou only smiled faintly upon hearing this, gazed at the guzheng with deep affection for a moment, and a trace of emotion that seemed to come from nowhere slowly appeared on his face.

"But Sister Miao, this is absolutely a delicacy that belongs only to me."

Gu Zheng felt a chill run down her spine when she looked into his eyes.

I've been too tired these past few days, and my writing has been a mess. I won't force myself to write anymore today. I'll get a good rest tonight and post four chapters tomorrow, including the ones I wrote before.
The book title will likely be changed to "Forced into a Romantic Relationship." Please keep that in mind so it's not deleted as if it were a previously unseen book.

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(End of this chapter)