Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 464 Everyone talks about it
One person tells you to call her "Mom," the other tells you to call her "Uncle," so are you two going to stick to your own opinions...?

Han Zhou's lips twitched. He turned around and glanced at Ouyang Lianyu in the living room, only to see that the latter looked embarrassed and ashamed to be seen. It took her a long time to wriggle to the door.

"Dad, Mom, you're here... Come in and sit down, it's time to eat."

Ouyang Lianyu hadn't seen her parents for a long time, and she couldn't help but feel nervous. Her tone was quite complicated, and it was hard to tell whether it was because she remembered the unpleasant parting of their last meeting or because of Han Zhou's recent call of "Mom."

Before she "ran away from home," she and her parents hadn't had any major arguments, but they had been in a cold war for quite some time, with neither willing to give in. Although a long time had passed, the estrangement they had at that time was clearly not something that could be erased overnight.

Ouyang Wenhao had already spotted his daughter in the living room. His eyes flickered slightly, but when she approached, he suddenly snorted coldly and remained silent with a cold face. However, he was quickly nudged by Liang Hongfei beside him with her elbow. While looking around at the furnishings in the room, he walked in and said with a smile, "It smells so good, Yu'er. Did you cook this?"

“Han Zhou did it all,” Ouyang Lianyu replied with a smile. “He’s a very good cook.”

"is it?"

Liang Hongfei looked at Han Zhou with delight, not because her daughter praised his cooking skills, but because if Yu'er said that, it obviously meant that she had eaten his cooking before, which meant that they had a very special relationship.

"I definitely can't beat Auntie in cooking."

Han Zhou invited the two to sit on the sofa, showing them great courtesy.

"Hmm?" Liang Hongfei raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Mom," Han Zhou immediately changed his address.

Liang Hongfei then beamed with joy: "Xiao Han, you're too modest. My cooking doesn't smell this good. It seems Yu'er is in for a treat."

"mom."

Ouyang Lianyu was already embarrassed, and her face turned even redder after hearing this. She lowered her voice to remind the other person not to say anything inappropriate.

Liang Hongfei seemed not to hear, and continued to look at Han Zhou, saying with concern, "By the way, child, I heard that you have a good-for-nothing father, and you have been struggling all these years on your own. You must have suffered a lot."

Han Zhou was taken aback: "Who told you this?"

“There’s a girl named Guzheng, she’s really pretty, she said she was your high school classmate, and there’s also a sophomore named Zhong Ling, who seems to be on good terms with you too,” Ouyang Wenhao said out of the blue.

Have you been to the school?

A perfectly timed look of confusion appeared on Han Zhou's face, as if he were hearing about this for the first time.

"Correct."

Liang Hongfei didn't hide anything and said with a smile, "I bought the train ticket a little early. Since I had nothing else to do, I thought I'd visit your school first."

"Why didn't you call me earlier? I could have picked you up sooner," Ouyang Lianyu said helplessly as she poured tea.

This wasn't an act; after all, she knew why the two had arrived in Lincheng ahead of time.

"I'm just worried you'll be too busy with work, so I wanted you to sleep in a little longer on the weekend."

Liang Hongfei sighed, "Your father and I know your personality well. You put most of your mind into your work and don't rest when you should, for fear that you won't sleep well every day."

Ouyang Lianyu realized that the other party was trying to find out about her current situation in a roundabout way, and said helplessly, "Don't worry, I'm not like that anymore. I'll sleep when it's time to sleep."

Actually, she wasn't as exaggerated as the other party described, but since so much time has passed, there's no point in arguing about it anymore.

"That's good. Work is secondary. In short, you must learn to take good care of your health. That way, Mom can rest assured." Liang Hongfei said with a look of relief.

The group chatted in the living room for a while, with Liang Hongfei asking questions and Ouyang Lianyu and Han Zhou answering. Ouyang Wenhao, on the other hand, kept his head down and drank tea in silence, his face tense.

"The food should be ready soon. I'll go check in the kitchen; it's almost time to eat."

"I'll go too."

Seeing Han Zhou get up and leave, Ouyang Lianyu wanted to follow him into the kitchen, but Liang Hongfei stopped her: "One person can handle this. You stay here. Mom wants to talk to you more."

"But I still need to get the bowls and chopsticks."

"Listen to your mother."

Ouyang Wenhao glared at her, stood up and said, "Stop talking back to your mother. I'll get the dishes. I also have something I want to say to that kid..."

"Sit down! Don't put on airs in front of Yu'er all the time!"

Liang Hongfei quickly glared back, and Ouyang Wenhao immediately sat down obediently.

Seeing her father, who was usually the boss at home and obsessed with saving face, suddenly become so obedient, Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback at first, then, as if realizing something, she said worriedly, "Mom, your illness..."

She wanted to ask if the illness was real, but felt that such suspicion was somewhat inappropriate. Fortunately, Liang Hongfei understood what she meant and said in a nonchalant tone, "It's real, but it's not as serious as they said on the phone."

She smiled, then gave her daughter a reproachful look, "If I hadn't said that, would you have never planned to come home or see us again in your life?"

"of course not."

Ouyang Lianyu shook her head and said seriously, "Mom, you know why I left back then, and you also know that when I come back, you'll force me to go on blind dates. But I've said it many times, I don't want to get married so early." "In a few years you'll be thirty, which isn't young anymore. Many of your junior and senior high school classmates back home already have children who are already traveling around. Yu'er, tell me honestly, even using statistical analysis, is getting married at your age really early?"

Liang Hongfei said earnestly, "Mom doesn't want to force you to go on blind dates, I'm just worried that you won't be able to take care of yourself on your own. Actually, you don't need to work so hard. Wouldn't it be better to stay home and take care of the children after you get married?"

"I don't feel tired, and I can take care of myself."

Ouyang Lianyu spoke resolutely. Her mother always felt that she was different from her rigid and strict father, but in fact, their views were actually the same to some extent. They both believed that women should get married and have children early, give up their jobs, and stay at home to take care of their husbands and children.

That was actually the real reason she ran away from the two of them.

They had argued about this issue many times before, and with Han Zhou still here, she didn't want to bring it up again, so she continued, "Anyway, I've found a boyfriend now, so let's not talk about blind dates anymore."

"Do you really hate blind dates that much?" Ouyang Wenhao suddenly asked.

Facing her father, whom she remembered as always being very strict, Ouyang Lianyu felt somewhat intimidated, but she still took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I hate it. Blind dates exist to quickly hasten a marriage, and the two people getting married can even be without any emotional foundation. This is absurd. At least for me, I don't think such a marriage has any meaning."

"absurd?"

Ouyang Wenhao sneered, "Blind dates are supposed to be arranged by parents and matchmakers. The person we found for you is a good match in terms of social standing. What's so absurd about that? Can it be more absurd than you dating a student?"

"I……"

Ouyang Lianyu was speechless for a moment, but fortunately Liang Hongfei spoke up in time, "What's wrong with being a student? How many times have I told you? This is an era of free love. It's a good thing that Yu'er has someone she likes. Can you stop sticking to your old rules and regulations?"

Perhaps because he had lost face in front of his daughter, Ouyang Wenhao suddenly felt a surge of anger and could no longer tolerate his sick wife: "Fine, let's just say this is an old rule, but have you ever thought about it? Yu'er and that boy are almost ten years apart in age, ten years!"

“You might not think much of it now, but what about ten years from now, or twenty years from now? The age gap will only become more and more obvious in the future. What if... what if that kid doesn’t want Yu’er anymore in the future!”

Ouyang Lianyu was silent for a moment, her mood inexplicably becoming somewhat irritable: "Dad, I have feelings for Han Zhou, which is at least better than the blind date I was set up with. If you think Han Zhou will not want me in the future, then you should give up the idea of ​​sending me on a blind date."

"Blind date, blind date? Why would I send you on a blind date? It's because you never bring a boyfriend home!" Ouyang Wenhao said angrily.

“I’ve found it now,” Ouyang Lianyu said.

"But he's your student! And do you really think I can't tell that you two aren't actually boyfriend and girlfriend? You're even trying to fool us!"

Didn't I tell you not to talk nonsense?

Liang Hongfei frowned and quickly spoke up to stop her husband, who had suddenly started to lose his temper, afraid that Han Zhou in the kitchen would hear.

The latter snorted coldly and said nothing more.

The living room fell silent.

After a long silence, Liang Hongfei forced a smile and said, "Yu'er, don't take your dad's words to heart. He's been in a bad mood lately and keeps getting angry for no reason. It's okay, Mom supports you. Xiao Han is a good kid, and I feel at ease leaving you with him."

Seeing that her husband and daughter were both in low spirits, she changed the subject, saying, "By the way, Yu'er, have you noticed that you've really changed a lot compared to before?"

"Have it?"

Ouyang Lianyu replied somewhat absentmindedly.

"What do you mean, 'no'? You're even more argumentative than before," Ouyang Wenhao sneered.

"Are you never going to stop?"

Liang Hongfei was furious. Neither of these two, father and daughter, was easy to deal with. Why did they suddenly start arguing?

She glared at her husband, then looked at her daughter with tenderness and asked in a meaningful tone, "Yu'er, how long has it been since you were injured?"

Ouyang Lianyu was somewhat absent-minded and casually replied, "One or two months, I guess."

"How long have you known Xiao Han?"

"Five months."

"It only took a little over three months..."

"what?"

"nothing."

Liang Hongfei looked at her daughter's expression and suddenly chuckled, "It seems you still don't quite understand."

Understand what?
Just as Ouyang Lianyu was about to ask a question, the kitchen door suddenly opened, and accompanied by a rich aroma, Han Zhou walked out of the kitchen carrying a pot of fish soup.

"Teacher Ouyang, Mom, Uncle, dinner is ready."

What kind of nonsense is this...

Ouyang Lianyu couldn't help but chuckle. Her previously somewhat annoyed mood inexplicably improved, and she stood up, saying, "I'll help."

(End of this chapter)