Forced into a romantic relationship

Strange.

It’s weird.

Han Zhou wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that something was off about the guzheng today.

No... it's not just the guzheng, but also Wang Lengqiu, and even Zhong Ling, they all seem to be hiding something.

At first, he thought he was overthinking it, but when he saw the temporary task pop up in the status bar, he realized that these three people were really up to something.

[A temporary mission has been triggered. Please check the suitcases of the targets Gu Zheng, Zhong Ling, and Wang Lengqiu without being discovered by the individuals involved, and find any suspicious items inside. The time limit is 48 hours, and you can earn 150 points.]

Suspicious items?
Han Zhou naturally refused to rummage through a girl's suitcase, but 150 points was no small amount, making him quite tempted after having just spent a lot of points.

Moreover, this was actually a fairly simple temporary task. Compared to the difficulty of the task itself, the amount of points was obviously excessive, which made him wonder what kind of suspicious item could possibly deserve such a generous reward.

Based on Han Zhou's understanding of the status bar, the rewards for tasks are usually linked to the difficulty of the task. If simply looking through the suitcase can earn 150 points, this task obviously cannot be that easy.

Aside from the fact that all three of them were carrying combination lock suitcases, which would be inconvenient to open, he strongly suspected that the "suspicious item" mentioned in the status bar was a serious problem.

Moreover, the fact that Gu Zheng and the others were carrying suspicious items could also confirm his suspicions—these three people definitely had something going on, and they were probably hiding something from him.

Han Zhou turned around and observed the expressions of the three girls behind him. His gaze lingered on their suitcases for a few seconds as he pondered whether or not to complete the task.

Noticing his strange gaze, Gu Zheng, who was replying to He Ling's message, suddenly felt a little guilty. She pretended to put her phone away casually and preemptively asked, "Han Zhou, what are you looking at so suspiciously?"

She was talking to He Ling about her tent plan, and it has to be said that He Ling was really bold. She dared to think and say anything. Many of the contents of the message made her blush, and she thought that Han Zhou had found out. At this moment, her heart was racing.

Little did she know that Han Zhou had seen through her supposedly flawless acting at a glance. Thinking that something was definitely wrong with this guy, she said, "I just glanced back, why are you reacting so strongly? I think you're the one who's being sneaky."

"You're the one sneaking around!" Guzheng retorted instinctively, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

This guy's guilty conscience was written all over his face... Han Zhou became even more suspicious and said, "Then do you dare to let me see your phone?"

"Why...why should I show it to you?"

Gu Zheng's momentum weakened a bit, but she quickly regained her strength with a glint in her eye, "Unless you also show me your phone, we can exchange them!"

Han Zhou's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't let his phone fall into Gu Zheng's hands, otherwise he would be in big trouble if his chat history with Mo Yixia were seen. Gu Zheng seemed to have this in mind, looking like she had him cornered.

Han Zhou realized he had been careless; this suggestion was like shooting himself in the foot, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Fortunately, he had a strong mentality and did not show his guilt on his face. Before long, he took out his phone from his pocket with an indifferent expression, handed it to Guzheng, and said helplessly, "Fine, I'll change it. I want to see who you've been chatting with all day while staring at your phone."

Does he really dare to make that change?

Seeing Han Zhou so open and honest, as if he had nothing to hide, Gu Zheng suddenly felt a little unsure. She was shy and couldn't let Han Zhou know about the tent plan, otherwise it would be too embarrassing. Not to mention that her chat history with He Ling was rather explicit, and if everyone knew about it, she would be in big trouble.

But being naturally stubborn, how could she contradict herself? She immediately pulled out the phone she had just put away from her pocket and handed it to Han Zhou with a defiant look on her face.

"Come on, let's change!"

Both of them were now in a dilemma. Their eyes met, and although they seemed to be full of courage, they only handed over their phones. Neither of them reached out to take them, as if they were afraid that once they really exchanged phones, there would be no turning back.

Fortunately, just then, Wang Lengqiu spoke up: "Let's go back to my house first, it might rain again later."

"That's right...that's true."

"What the senior said makes sense."

Gu Zheng and Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging a "I'll let you off this time" look before putting away their phones at the same time, their eyes and actions showing remarkable tacit understanding.

Seeing Wang Lengqiu staring at him, Han Zhou was used to it and asked, "Senior, how much longer until we get to your house?"

“Ten minutes,” Wang Lengqiu replied. Upon hearing the title “senior sister,” Zhong Ling initially thought she was being addressed, but after hearing Wang Lengqiu’s answer, she realized that wasn’t the case, and felt inexplicably disappointed.

Previously, the term "senior sister" used by the younger students was specifically for her, but now the term "younger brother" still refers to the younger students, while the term "senior sister" used by the younger students no longer refers exclusively to her.

Zhong Ling felt that she was acting strangely lately. Ever since she sent her junior the message "I don't like you, junior," she had made up her mind not to cause him any more trouble and even decided to stay away from him in the future. But the more she thought about it, the more she would think of his face. Many things that she used to not care about slowly began to bother her.

Not only that, she simply couldn't bring herself to stay away from her junior. Every time she saw his back, she couldn't help but shake the bell on her wrist to let him know she was there.

Zhong Ling didn't know what was wrong with her.

She felt as if she had suddenly become a very bad person, hypocritical and indecisive, lacking her own opinions and petty, and now she even fussed over such a small thing as how to address someone.

She even wondered if it would have rained all day if she hadn't come along.

"So, even my senior has something on her mind..."

Noticing the fleeting sadness in Zhong Ling's eyes, Han Zhou sighed inwardly, feeling it necessary to find an opportunity to talk to her alone tonight.

His intuition wasn't particularly sharp, and he couldn't perceive other people's thoughts as easily as Mo Yixia. However, both Gu Zheng and Zhong Ling's thoughts were too easy to guess. The only difference was that Gu Zheng was relatively more honest, while Zhong Ling preferred to keep her thoughts to herself and would only speak when asked.

After all, it was a long trip, and the journey should have been enjoyable. He didn't want everyone to feel burdened.

Gu Zheng and Zhong Ling were definitely hiding something, as for Wang Lengqiu... Han Zhou didn't notice anything strange about her at the moment, or rather, this girl had always been a bit strange. Even Mo Yixia couldn't accurately figure out what she was thinking, let alone him.

"It seems necessary to check their suitcases..."

Han Zhou made a decision. Even if it wasn't for the 150 points, figuring out what these three people were thinking was very important. The status bar couldn't have been left out of nowhere; there must have been some purpose in issuing this temporary task.

With their own thoughts, the group soon arrived at a small courtyard surrounded by thorns. It was muddy from the recent rain, and several hens could be seen pecking at their food. A path paved with bricks led to a red brick house that looked quite old.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

A yellow dog was lying lazily outside the door. Upon seeing the group, it immediately stood up and growled warningly. As the group headed straight for the yard, the growl quickly turned into barking, which soon attracted the old man inside the house.

"Grandpa, I'm back."

Wang Lengqiu greeted the old man from afar, her voice and expression softening considerably, but she did not smile.

It seems that this "Princess Who Doesn't Smile" wasn't targeting anyone; she's just naturally not fond of smiling. But even so, it's not hard to see her affection for the elderly people in the nursing home.

Guzheng seemed a little lost in thought.

The old man was quite old, and he came to the gate of the courtyard with a hunched back. Like most old people, his face was full of wrinkles and his movements were not very agile, but he was quite kind. As he opened the door, he smiled and said, "It's good that you're back. These must be your friends. I've already tidied up the room."

Clearly, Wang Lengqiu had called home beforehand to tell his grandfather that he would be bringing people back.

The old man gave a shout, and the yellow dog in the yard immediately stopped barking. Then he led everyone into the house and settled them around a hot stove.

He didn't seem to be very good at communicating with people. Even though he was quite enthusiastic, he didn't say more than a few words to the crowd. It was unclear whether Wang Lengqiu's taciturn personality came from this old man.

Wang Lengqiu's parents are not at home. It's not winter vacation yet, and they are taking their youngest daughter to school in a nearby city. They usually don't come back, otherwise there would be no place for Han Zhou and the others to stay at home.

Even so, excluding the room where the old man lived, Wang Lengqiu's house only had two rooms available. Han Zhou had to stay in one room by himself, while the other three girls squeezed into a larger room. The old man felt very embarrassed about this, but Gu Zheng and Zhong Ling naturally didn't mind. They weren't spoiled girls, and besides, the bed in the room was big enough for all three of them to sleep comfortably.

It's worth mentioning that the three girls slept in the master bedroom, which was the room where Wang Lengqiu's parents originally lived, while Han Zhou naturally stayed in Wang Lengqiu's original room.

The room was filled with a faint fragrance and decorated quite warmly. There were also some cute cartoon stickers on the wardrobe, which was a bit different from what he had imagined. He didn't expect Wang Lengqiu to have such a girlish heart.

Perhaps because he had been living in Ouyang Lianyu's house for a long time, he didn't have any obvious emotional fluctuations about moving into a girl's room. However, he was also well aware that he couldn't touch or grope indiscriminately, so he put down his backpack and left the room.

(End of this chapter)