Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 47 If you're the sun, you should shine brightly.

Gu Zheng angrily left the dining table.

She argued that her cooking was clearly better, yet the final result was a tie, which she believed was extremely unfair and that there was a huge conspiracy involved. She was going on a hunger strike in protest.

Even if there really was something fishy going on, it should have been her parents' fault. But who knew that before leaving, this guy punched Han Zhou hard, muttering, "What do you mean I'm the most important person to you? Do you mean I'm that heavy?" Then he grabbed his rice bowl and ran into his room, slamming the door shut.

Han Zhou rubbed his arm, turned around and looked in the direction Gu Zheng had left with some suspicion. After recalling for a moment, he felt that he should not have seen wrong.

"It's definitely not an illusion, this guy just blushed..."

And so, this culinary battle came to an end.

Although Guzheng stormed off, she was clearly in a better mood than before. Unfortunately, the temporary task wasn't completed, and casting a vote certainly didn't equate to favoritism...

Han Zhou sighed inwardly, and the next second he heard Miao Yan'er's smiling voice in front of him: "Oh my, someone is so good at sweet talk, how can he not make a young girl blush?"

Han Zhou froze, thinking to himself, "What kind of hearing does this guy have? He can hear me talking to myself so quietly?"

"You flirted with my daughter right in front of me, your mother. I think I can figure out what happened to your eye injury... Han Zhou."

Miao Yan'er had a beautiful smile, but to Han Zhou at that moment, she looked like a devil. He quickly and honestly admitted his mistake: "I was wrong, Sister Miao. I will never dare to do it again!"

"The way you apologize is quite similar to Xiaozheng's dad," Miao Yan'er sighed. "I wonder if you've heard Xiaozheng mention that her dad was a complete scumbag back in the day, and his greatest skills were sweet talk and apologizing. I'm only now realizing that you two seem to have quite a few things in common, and you usually get along quite well..."

Han Zhou's face turned bitter: "Sister Miao, you've misunderstood..."

Uncle Gu may be a scumbag, but I, Han Zhou, am definitely not!

"Really? That's not necessarily true."

Miao Yan'er smiled, then suddenly changed the subject, saying, "But I also know that you said those strange things to make Xiao Zheng happy. Since she took out that photo album, it means she must have remembered those unhappy things from the past."

Han Zhou was taken aback, and then he realized why Sister Miao was so easy to talk to; it turned out that she had misjudged his intentions.

A stroke of luck amidst misfortune...

He shamelessly admitted, "That's exactly what happened."

Miao Yan'er hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Have you looked at the photo album?"

Han Zhou hadn't dared to ask her about the photo album at first, but now that she'd brought it up, there was no reason not to: "I saw it, but why is there something in her graduation photo..."

Miao Yan'er looked at the food on the table, shook her head and interrupted, "Since you asked me, it means Xiao Zheng didn't tell you on her own initiative, so I can't tell you too much."

"What I can tell you is that Xiaozheng is standing on the far left of the photo, while her best friend from junior high is standing on the far right."

This is undoubtedly a piece of information that is enough to make people think a lot.

Han Zhou frowned slightly. If they were best friends, they shouldn't be so distant. So it was obvious that something must have happened in middle school to cause this situation...

He wanted to press for details, but Miao Yan'er didn't seem to intend to continue the topic. Instead, she asked, "I remember you should be starting school soon, right?"

"Yes, there are still more than ten days left, it's coming soon indeed."

Miao Yan'er said with a smile, "You and Xiao Zheng can go to school to register together. Her dad and I won't go."

"no problem."

Han Zhou nodded. He and Gu Zheng had discussed it before, and this was their original plan.

Miao Yan'er looked at him for a while, then suddenly sighed, "Time flies so fast. Xiao Zheng has grown up so much in the blink of an eye, and now she's going on a long trip. I'm really worried that she'll be bullied out there..."

Han Zhou laughed heartily: "Sister Miao, you're so funny. Gu Zheng could easily beat ten of me and Uncle Gu by herself. You should be worried about whether she'll bully others..."

Seeing Miao Yan'er's smile turn cold, he wisely stopped laughing, coughed twice, and comforted her, "Lincheng University isn't far away, you can see her anytime you want."

It's perfectly normal for parents to worry about their children who are traveling far away.

"Always interrupting."

Miao Yan'er gave him a disapproving look and said, "What I mean by bullying is not worrying about Xiao Zheng being beaten by someone, but worrying about her being isolated."

"You should know this girl's personality very well. She's too competitive, so competitive that she doesn't care about the people around her at all. She only cares about being number one. She's like a sword with a barb on the hilt, and no one dares to touch it."

Han Zhou certainly understands this deeply. The guzheng is not currently in a competitive state, otherwise it might not be as easy to get along with as it is now.

Seeing Han Zhou remain silent, Miao Yan'er continued, "High school is actually not too bad, after all, studying is the most important thing at this stage. But it's different in college. If Xiao Zheng is still so eager to be number one... then I'm worried that she will end up all alone."

Han Zhou had some guesses in his mind, and tentatively asked, "Was Gu Zheng's experience in junior high school also related to her competitive spirit?"

"Yes." Miao Yan'er did not deny it, but said with great concern, "And it has a very big impact."

"So your purpose in suddenly saying all this is to get me to persuade Guzheng to make a change?"

“Yes.” Miao Yan’er looked at her with a smile and said meaningfully, “You are very clever in this kind of thing.”

"But Sister Miao, why do you think I can persuade Guzheng?"

Han Zhou's expression turned serious as he said earnestly, "If even you, as her parents, can't make her change, then I don't think I could."

Moreover, deep down, he didn't actually want to force Guzheng to do anything.

Miao Yan'er's smile faded, her gaze dimmed, and she said with some self-reproach, "We bear some responsibility for Xiao Zheng's personality development, so she won't listen to us about this. But you're different; you might be able to persuade her. She cares about you a lot."

"But what if the guzheng doesn't want to change it this way?"

Han Zhou took a deep breath. "Sister Miao, you should know your daughter very well. Gu Zheng is a smart girl with determination and perseverance. If she really wanted to change, she should have done so long ago, shouldn't she?"

Miao Yan'er remained silent for a while, without answering, but said, "Xiao Zheng is pretty, has a good temper, good grades, and is also very athletic. If she could just change her competitive nature, that kind of thing wouldn't have happened in junior high."

Recalling the image of Guzheng standing alone outside the crowd in the graduation photo, Han Zhou felt very uncomfortable and said, "I don't know what happened to Guzheng in junior high school, so I can't judge. Now I just hope that you can tell me one thing, Sister Miao—do you think Guzheng did something wrong back then?"

Miao Yan'er shook her head firmly: "Xiao Zheng is not wrong, but it may not be the case for others. If we can change it a little bit, even just a little bit, it might be better for Xiao Zheng and for others as well."

Han Zhou was silent for a moment: "Since you think Gu Zheng is right, then you shouldn't use other people's opinions to criticize her."

Miao Yan'er gave him a deep look, but instead of being angry, she patiently explained, "This is not an accusation. I just want Xiao Zheng to have a better life in the future. As long as she is willing to make changes, she will definitely live a better life than she does now."

"But Sister Miao, have you ever thought that competitiveness is part of Guzheng's personality? If she didn't have that, she wouldn't have such good academic results today."

Miao Yan'er was about to speak when her ears twitched as she heard a soft footstep. She immediately put on a worried expression and sighed, "You don't understand. Xiao Zheng lost an important friend in junior high school because she was too competitive. That kind of personality is terrible; no one will like her."

"It's not that nobody likes it."

Han Zhou knew she was seeking reassurance, because he was now an important friend of the guzheng, but he still answered seriously, "At least I like this kind of guzheng, so we are good friends."

"A close friend..."

Miao Yan'er looked at him for a while and slowly said, "Xiao Zheng had friends in junior high school, but she lost them later. Her personality easily hurts the people around her. You should know this very well and know what is good for her."

Han Zhou remained calm: "I still have the same question. Did Gu Zheng lose her friend because she did something wrong?"

Miao Yan'er paused for a moment: "No, but..."

Han Zhou interrupted, "Since Gu Zheng hasn't done anything wrong, why must we force her to change? Have you asked Gu Zheng what she thinks? Whether changing herself is good or bad for her shouldn't be decided by us, but by her own choice."

"I like the guzheng as it is now, even if it has always been like this."

As an unlockable character, Guzheng naturally has corresponding side quests. Han Zhou completed that quest a long time ago, so he understands Guzheng's thoughts better than most people.

Miao Yan'er smiled and said in a low voice, "What if I tell you Xiao Zheng's story from junior high school? You might be very disappointed."

“Telling me is the same. Since there’s nothing wrong with it, as long as Guzheng herself doesn’t feel that it’s bad for her, I won’t force her to make any choices. She doesn’t have to change to please anyone. Although she may not be very happy, she will never feel lonely in college because I’m here.”

After a pause, Han Zhou continued, "And Sister Miao, I think your analogy just now was wrong. The guzheng shouldn't be a sword with barbs even on the hilt, but rather the sun."

He looked out onto the balcony. It was summer, and although it was almost 8 p.m., the sun had not yet set. Instead, it had painted half of the clouds red and hung in the sky.

"sun?"

"Yes, if I had to say, the sun is always lonely, but not because it is not beautiful enough, but because it is too dazzling. I think the guzheng is like the sun."

Miao Yan'er was stunned for a long time, her ears twitching as if she heard something hit a wall. She laughed and said, "I like this metaphor, but even if Xiao Zheng really is the sun, it would be hard to find someone who can tolerate the sun forever..."

"Of course you can find it. You should have heard the story of Kuafu chasing the sun..."

Han Zhou stopped halfway through his sentence, saying that the story of Kuafu chasing the sun was from his previous life, and didn't exist in this one.

Miao Yan'er's expression turned somewhat strange as she repeated, "Chasing the sun in the hips?"

Han Zhou shook his head and said, "In short, I don't think there's anything wrong with Gu Zheng as she is now. Unless she wants to change it herself one day, I won't offer any opinions."

Miao Yan'er smiled mischievously: "Are you planning to support Xiao Zheng without any reason now? I have a deep impression of that sentence, 'As long as it's you, I'll do it willingly.'"

"No, I have my reasons, but it would be the same even if I didn't."

Gu Zheng is not someone who cares about other people's opinions. If she doesn't want to compromise, then there's no need to compromise.

Han Zhou looked at the sun outside the balcony.

"The sun should shine brightly; it is born to be dazzling, which is why it sits high in the sky. If it were to lower its temperature of 5,500 degrees Celsius to please someone..."

"Then it wouldn't be the sun."

This chapter took a lot of effort; I revised it for a long time but I'm still not satisfied. I'll probably make more adjustments. It was originally supposed to be written later, but I decided to put it earlier. The next two chapters will be finished quickly and will be posted before 5 PM. No delays!
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(End of this chapter)