Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 462 Blind

The room was warm and a bit stuffy with the air conditioning on.

Ouyang Lianyu took off her thick down jacket, revealing a fitted turtleneck sweater underneath, showcasing her beautiful figure.

She tidied her hair, brought her face close to Han Zhou's phone screen, and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you? You've been staring at your phone since the beginning. Has Gu Zheng still not found my parents?"

A faint fragrance wafted to his nose, exactly the same as the scent in the bedroom. Having lived in Ouyang Lianyu's house for so long, Han Zhou was already used to this smell. However, he didn't understand why he didn't smell as good as her, even though they used the same shampoo and shower gel.

“Found it,” he replied with a sigh.

"You're still looking so worried after we found you? Did something happen?" Ouyang Lianyu asked, puzzled.

"No, but I think I've had an accident."

"Another nonsense."

Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him helplessly, thinking that he was looking at the news about the guzheng, but when she looked closer, she found that it was not.

The phone was indeed currently on a chat screen, but the contact wasn't Guzheng; it was "Senior Sister." Just over ten minutes earlier, she had sent a new message—

"I don't like junior students."

Ouyang Lianyu looked surprised and asked hesitantly, "Is this a bell?"

She knew, of course, that Han Zhou had added more than one senior female student, but Zhong Ling was the only one who would use "senior female student" as a separate nickname.

Why would Zhong Ling suddenly send Han Zhou such a message?
"Ah."

Han Zhou pressed his temples, looking somewhat tired. "Teacher Ouyang, do you think I've done something that would incur divine and public wrath recently?"

"Why do you say that?" Ouyang Lianyu asked in surprise.

Han Zhou didn't say anything, but silently exited the chat interface with Zhong Ling and opened another chat interface instead.

Ouyang Lianyu leaned closer to check again, and saw that Wang Lengqiu had also sent a message a dozen minutes earlier—

"I won't let you go."

"Why would Wang Lengqiu say such a thing to you..."

Ouyang Lianyu opened her mouth, her expression almost exactly the same as Han Zhou's a dozen minutes ago, a question mark quietly appearing above her head.

She looked at the chat history. Han Zhou typed a question mark as soon as he saw the message and immediately asked what it meant, but Wang Lengqiu has not replied yet.

Given how much Wang Lengqiu cares about Han Zhou, the fact that he hasn't replied for so long means that he doesn't intend to.

Seeing Han Zhou's dejected look, she hesitated for a moment before comforting him, "Don't overthink it. You know Wang Lengqiu well. She often says things that are hard to understand. These words must have another meaning."

"Of course I know that."

Han Zhou remained noncommittal and switched back to his chat with Zhong Ling, asking, "What about senior sister?"

"This, this..."

Ouyang Lianyu was also completely baffled. Zhong Ling was a well-behaved girl, and even if she disliked someone, she might not express it directly, let alone say that she disliked Han Zhou. She couldn't figure it out for a long time, so she suggested, "Why don't you just ask her?"

Han Zhou gave a wry smile: "I would like to ask, but Gu Zheng said that my senior is currently with your parents, so it's not appropriate to ask at this time."

Ouyang Lianyu seemed not to hear her and hesitated before asking, "What's wrong with you today? Why are you suddenly so down?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly feel a bit tired. It's probably because I have too many things to deal with lately," Han Zhou shook his head.

However, although he said it was nothing, he still had a dejected expression on his face.

Ouyang Lianyu wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know what had happened. Seeing that he didn't want to say more, she could only say gently, "If you're tired, take a good rest. You've had a hard weekend. How about I take you out for a walk next week to relax?"

Han Zhou seemed somewhat tempted, but hesitated, saying, "But I have so many classes next week..."

Ouyang Lianyu hesitated for a moment, just about to say that she could give you a holiday, when she suddenly thought of something and looked wary, saying, "You're not trying to trick me into giving you a holiday, are you?"

"How can it be!"

Han Zhou spoke with an air of righteous indignation, but the embarrassment in his eyes betrayed him.

Seeing that the gloom on the other person's face had vanished, how could Ouyang Lianyu not know that she had almost been fooled? She put on a stern face and said, "Tell me, are you trying to skip class again?"

Han Zhou was a little frustrated. Mo Yixia had always been able to use the same trick on him, but he hadn't expected to fail on his first try. He had no choice but to honestly admit, "Yes, I would like to ask for three days off."

"Three days off? More like skipping three days of classes, isn't it?"

Ouyang Lianyu glared at him, annoyed. "Which three days?"

“Wednesday to Friday…”

"Five days in a row, including the weekend, are you planning to go on vacation?"

"I don't have time to travel. My legs are almost atrophied from sitting in a wheelchair for so long, so I need to get around. You can think of it as a long hike," Han Zhou explained seriously.

Ouyang Lianyu raised an eyebrow slightly: "A hike? Where to?"

"I plan to visit Wang Lengqiu's home."

Han Zhou didn't keep her in suspense and said seriously, "I heard that her grandfather has a childhood photo of us together. I want to see if the person in the photo is me."

Ouyang Lianyu nodded. She knew about the photos, but she quickly looked suspicious again: "Why not just go over to see the photos this weekend? Is it really necessary to take up class time?"

Han Zhou said helplessly, "I don't mind, but the guzheng needs to rehearse on weekends, and my senior sister needs to go back to the shop to help out. They are both quite busy this month and can't find time to come on weekends."

Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback: "You mean those two are going with us too?"

"Ah."

At this point, Han Zhou's lips twitched. "I heard it was Yi Xia who instigated it. I wonder what that guy is up to..."

Mo Yixia originally planned to have Gu Zheng and Wang Lengqiu keep an eye on each other, but later she changed her mind for some reason and asked Zhong Ling to monitor both of them at the same time.

Upon hearing that this matter was related to Mo Yixia, Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "You're so fickle, who knows if you'll secretly do something when Yixia isn't around? She's definitely doing this to keep an eye on you." Han Zhou glanced at her: "You know I'm fickle, yet you still dare to ask me to pretend to be your boyfriend?"

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Lianyu felt inexplicably guilty and immediately looked away, admitting defeat.

After a while, she said, "I can approve your leave, but you must be careful. Also, if there's an opportunity..."

"Don't worry."

Han Zhou interrupted her and said with a smile, "I am also very concerned about why Senior Wang Lengqiu has become like this. The answer may be hidden in that photo."

Now that he had decided to face up to his relationship with Wang Lengqiu, he naturally wanted to figure out what had happened before as soon as possible; otherwise, he wouldn't have decided to set off immediately after his injury had just healed.

The two waited in the room for the rest of the time, hoping that the guzheng would bring good news soon.

Han Zhou could roughly guess why Zhong Ling sent the wrong message, so he didn't take it too seriously. What puzzled him was why she hadn't explained herself yet. Could it be that she hadn't realized she'd sent the wrong message? Or was the current situation inconvenient?
Just then, his phone and Ouyang Lianyu's phone rang at the same time. They were calling Gu Zheng and Ouyang Lianyu's parents, respectively. The two exchanged a glance and went to different rooms to answer the calls.

Before long, the two arrived in the living room one after the other. Ouyang Lianyu looked strange and said, "My parents told us to cancel the restaurant reservation and have lunch at home."

"Isn't this great? We don't have to go out and show our faces, which effectively reduces the risk of being discovered by paparazzi, and it also saves us some money."

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and shared some good news as well: "Gu Zheng said that she has already sorted things out. Your parents think that we are a real couple and can't wait for us to get our marriage certificate right now."

Previously, he and Ouyang Lianyu were most worried about two things: first, that their fake relationship would be exposed, and second, that their "real" relationship would be made public.

Judging from the current attitude of Ouyang Lianyu's parents, the first thing to think is that there is nothing to worry about. After all, who would let a fake couple get a marriage certificate?

As for the second point, there's no need to worry too much. Gu Zheng said that the two of them have already left Linda University and didn't seem to be making a fuss about it along the way. The previous leak of information was probably just a coincidence.

Ouyang Lianyu hesitated, then blushed and said, "Th-that... what Guzheng said is true..."

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Of course it's true. Gu Zheng is very reliable, she has no reason to lie to me."

"No, what I mean is... my parents really want us to get married... they want us to get engaged as soon as possible..."

Ouyang Lianyu lowered her head, somewhat afraid to look at her student's expression. "We were wrong from the start. My parents never cared whether we were a real couple or not; they just wanted to make us a real couple... They went to the school just to find out about you. My mom just said on the phone that she's very satisfied with you... Do you understand what I mean?"

Han Zhou's smile froze.

He was struck dumb, and said incredulously, "Didn't you say your parents were old-fashioned and rigid? Do you misunderstand your parents, or am I misunderstanding those two words?"

Shouldn't the normal plot development be that the "future in-laws" despise him, this poor boy, and he tries his best to win their blessings and support, promising to protect Teacher Ouyang for life? Teacher Ouyang also says that she will marry no one but him in this life, and the two are inseparable, wishing they could get married on the spot, thus "fighting fire with fire," making Teacher Ouyang's parents exclaim that "we need to think about it more carefully" and dare not easily mention the word "marriage" again?

How come the "future mother-in-law" is already so satisfied with him before they've even met?

"I don't know why it turned out like this..."

Ouyang Lianyu was equally at a loss, her eyes darting around, looking both embarrassed and angry.

Getting engaged to a student is something that makes one's face burn just thinking about it.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Why don't you leave now? I'll explain to my parents..."

"No, I can't leave."

Han Zhou shook his head firmly, sighed, and said, "I understand now. Your parents are going crazy wanting you to get married. If I leave now, they might arrange a blind date for you this afternoon."

"But... but we can't really get engaged, can we..." Ouyang Lianyu said embarrassedly.

"what are you thinking?"

Han Zhou chuckled, "I pretended to be your boyfriend to help you gain some freedom. Originally, I needed to figure out how to get your parents to agree to entrust you to me, but now I don't have to worry about anything. I'll just agree to whatever they say."

"Don't worry, I can keep using the excuse that I can't get married until I graduate. Anyway, your parents can't stay in Lincheng. This way, you'll have at least four more years to find true love, and I'll have accomplished my goal."

"Just leave everything to me."

He smiled and walked towards the refrigerator as he spoke, wanting to see what food was left inside. Since his "future parents-in-law" were arriving soon, he naturally had to prepare a sumptuous lunch for them today.

For some reason, listening to Han Zhou's calm and composed words, Ouyang Lianyu's anxiety gradually disappeared, and even her shyness and panic subsided considerably.

She stared at the retreating figure for a while, recalling the other person's words, "I can say I've achieved my goal," and then, thinking that the other person would be going back to live at school after today, she suddenly asked, almost as if possessed, "Then... what if I still can't find true love four years from now?"

Han Zhou, who was checking the refrigerator, paused for a moment, seemingly thinking seriously, and replied, "Then there are probably only two possibilities: either the men around you are too unattractive and not good enough for you, or you still prefer to study your math problems."

He took out the only orange left in the refrigerator, peeled it as he said, "There's nothing left in the refrigerator, let's go out and buy some groceries."

"okay."

Ouyang Lianyu was somewhat lost in thought. She picked up her coat from the sofa, put it on halfway, and suddenly asked again, "What you just said was all about the situation where I haven't fallen for anyone. So... what if I find someone I like, but he doesn't want to be with me?"

She regretted it as soon as she said it. It was already embarrassing enough to ask the previous question in front of her students, but she never expected that she could ask an even more embarrassing question.

Fortunately, her voice wasn't loud, so she could only secretly pray that Han Zhou hadn't heard it.

But how is this possible?
Han Zhou, who was standing in front of the refrigerator, turned around in surprise, looked her up and down for a while, his eyes filled with laughter, and the corners of his mouth gradually curled up.

Ouyang Lianyu blushed, thinking that the other party would laugh at her as before, and wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

However, she overthought things again.

The boy simply raised his hand and casually tossed the freshly peeled orange over.

The orange bounced on the sofa and landed right in her palm; it felt icy cold.

The orange was peeled very cleanly, its bright yellow color showing no white hairs.

She hurriedly lowered her head, trying to pretend to eat an orange to cover her embarrassment. She bit off a segment and felt a sour taste.

However, before the sourness reached her tongue, a voice entered her ears first.

His tone was amused, making it hard to tell whether he was serious or joking.

"That man must be blind."

(End of this chapter)