Forced into a romantic relationship

Wang Lengqiu's grandfather knew early on that guests would be coming, so he started cooking very early. There was a gas stove in the kitchen, but the old man seemed to prefer cooking with that big iron pot. The firewood was burning brightly, and a pot of pork rib soup was simmering in the pot, filling the air with a fragrant aroma.

When Han Zhou entered the kitchen, the old man was cutting cured meat and sausages. There was also a bowl of chicken and a bowl of fish on the cutting board. It was easy to see that the old man wanted to cook a sumptuous meal to entertain his granddaughter's friends.

Han Zhou naturally came into the kitchen to help. Seeing this, he smiled and said, "Grandpa Wang, senior, let me help."

At this moment, Wang Lengqiu had already taken off her coat and was sitting by the stove tending the fire. Her slightly pale face gradually turned rosy in the firelight. Upon hearing this, she said, "Thank you."

"Then trouble you."

The old man didn't stand on ceremony and said with a smile, "Youyou often mentions you to me, saying that you cook very well. Today I finally have the chance to try it."

"Not at all, you flatter me, senior."

Han Zhou said a few words of modesty and stepped forward to help process the vegetables. Seeing that the old man was rubbing his lower back from time to time, as if his back was not very good, he said with concern, "Why don't you go outside to rest? You can leave this to me and my senior."

The old man shook his head, immediately about to refuse: "How can that be? You are a guest, I..."

"grandfather."

Wang Lengqiu spoke softly, without saying anything yet, but the old man seemed to understand and sighed helplessly: "Alright then, I'll go and rest for a bit. I'll leave this to you. I'll go make some tea for those two girls."

He washed his hands, walked slowly to the door, and closed the kitchen door behind him. "It's cold outside, I'll close the door for you."

After saying that, he closed the door and left.

Do you need to close the door when cooking?

Han Zhou was suspicious, but didn't think much of it, since it was quite cold here. He asked, "Senior, is Youyou your nickname?"

That's what Wang Lengqiu's grandfather just called her.

Wang Lengqiu did not answer, but turned her head to look over. Perhaps it was because the firelight was too intense, but her originally somewhat listless eyes seemed to brighten a bit.

“Now it’s just the two of us,” she said.

Han Zhou was taken aback, but quickly understood what the other person meant. The two had agreed that when they were alone, he would call the other person Qiuqiu or Qiuqiu.

This guy really has been keeping this in mind all along...

He smiled bitterly to himself, glanced back at the door, let out a soft breath, and said, "Qiu... Qiuqiu."

"Can you call it again?" Wang Lengqiu asked.

"Qiuqiu."

"Thank you."

Wang Lengqiu thanked him softly, stuffed a piece of firewood into the stove hole, and then replied, "Youyou is indeed my nickname, given to me by my grandfather."

"Does it have any special meaning?" Han Zhou asked curiously.

"No."

"And what about Qiuqiu? Does Qiuqiu have any special meaning?"

"nor."

Han Zhou was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Then why do you insist that I call you that?"

Since it doesn't have any special meaning, why is the other person so insistent on using this form of address?
“Because it’s a nickname,” Wang Lengqiu replied without hesitation.

Ok……

Han Zhou sighed inwardly, but didn't dwell on it too much, nor did he press Wang Lengqiu about why a nickname was necessary. After all, he had already asked this question before, and Wang Lengqiu's thinking was quite clear—

If two people are not very familiar with each other, they need a nickname, because a nickname can quickly bring them closer.
If two people are already very familiar with each other, then a nickname is even more necessary, because only in this way can the intimacy of their relationship be shown.

It's practically flawless logic.

But then again... if Qiuqiu and Qiuqiu are my nicknames for Senior Wang Lengqiu, then what is Senior Wang Lengqiu's nickname for me?
Han Zhou was somewhat curious about this, but he didn't dare to ask too much, lest he hear Wang Lengqiu address him as "Zhou Zhou" or something similar—such a title wouldn't make him dig his toes into the ground, but it would be troublesome if Gu Zheng heard it.

With Guzheng's ever-present competitive spirit, since others can use nicknames, she naturally wants to use them too, and she wants to use them every day. Just thinking about Guzheng calling him "Zhouzhou" every day makes Han Zhou's scalp tingle.

He shook his head, quickly putting aside these random thoughts, and began to seriously process the ingredients. Wang Lengqiu also didn't sit by the stove and keep the fire burning. Seeing that the fire wouldn't go out anytime soon, he got up and came over to help.

Perhaps because she had been sitting by the stove for too long, she felt warm all over, even her hair was warm, and her pitiful face had become softer and warmer than usual.

Looking at the girl beside him who was moving skillfully, Han Zhou realized that this senior must have helped out in the kitchen a lot in the past. But when he thought about her family situation, he understood. It is said that children from poor families learn to be independent early. This saying is also true for many left-behind children.

Of course, due to the lack of discipline, many left-behind children have developed bad habits such as being lazy and gluttonous, and may even go astray, but Wang Lengqiu clearly belongs to the former category.

He chuckled and said, "Senior, you must cook often, right?"

Wang Lengqiu did not answer, as if she hadn't heard him.

But the two of them were standing so close, and Han Zhou's voice wasn't quiet, how could she not have heard it?
Han Zhou gave a wry smile, quickly realizing the problem, and had no choice but to ask again, "Qiuqiu, you should cook often, right?"

"Ah."

Wang Lengqiu seemed to have regained his hearing, nodded slightly, and replied, "I learned it when I was a child."

"Did you learn that from your grandfather?"

"Not at all."

"Not entirely means..."

"It's not entirely what I learned from my grandfather."

"Uh, okay..."

Han Zhou's lips twitched. He wanted to ask who else had taught Wang Lengqiu to cook, not to ask the other party to explain what "not all of them" meant. Fortunately, this wasn't the first time he had experienced this guy's thought process, so he didn't press the matter further.

He wasn't in a hurry to bring up the matter of seeing the photos. After all, the photos wouldn't disappear, so it wouldn't matter whether he saw them sooner or later. He could look at them after dinner.

Just then, Wang Lengqiu suddenly said, "It's raining today, let's go out and pick some mushrooms later, I'll make you chicken stew with mushrooms."

"Are there still mushrooms in winter?" Han Zhou asked in surprise.

"Yes, it's a yellow mushroom."

Yellow mushrooms… Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: “Xue… Qiuqiu, the mushrooms you’re talking about aren’t umbrellas, are they?”

He hadn't forgotten their first meeting. Back then, Wang Lengqiu called the umbrella a mushroom, and he even wondered if the girl was really mentally unstable.

Wang Lengqiu tilted her head and looked at him strangely: "An umbrella is an umbrella, and a mushroom is a mushroom. Why do you think a mushroom is an umbrella?"

Han Zhou was stunned.

He saw a hint of worry in Wang Lengqiu's eyes, as if she was worried that she had contracted some kind of mental illness.

"..."

While the two were chatting and cooking in the kitchen, Guzheng and Zhongling were playing with the yellow guard dog outside. They originally wanted to go into the kitchen to help, but Wang Lengqiu's grandfather said that the kitchen was too small and couldn't accommodate so many people, so they had to give up. They also felt stuffy inside, so they came out to the yard for some fresh air.

There was a flock of hens pecking at the ground in the yard, along with two quacking ducks, and a yellow dog lying under the eaves, yawning listlessly.

Beyond the thorny wall, one could see the distant mountain range and a winding mountain path, which should be the path Wang Lengqiu had mentioned. It looked easy to walk, but the summit would probably take quite a while.

Looking at the yellow dog lying lazily on the ground under the eaves, Gu Zheng couldn't help but think of the majestic general at Lin Youya's house, feeling that the two had a similar temperament.

She looked around, took a sausage out of her pocket and threw it on the ground, then called out in a low voice, "Han Zhou, come here!"

Zhong Ling, who was beside her, thought Han Zhou had come out of the kitchen. She looked back but didn't see Han Zhou. She looked at Gu Zheng for a while and saw that Gu Zheng was staring at the yellow dog. She realized that Gu Zheng was calling for the yellow dog. She was both puzzled and amused. She gently patted Gu Zheng's shoulder to signal her not to do that.

Gu Zheng said earnestly, "Senior, don't you think this dog looks a lot like Han Zhou?"

"Have it?"

Zhong Ling was a little curious, so she squatted down and took a closer look at the yellow dog, then shook her head with a wry smile.

She couldn't see any resemblance between the yellow dog and her junior.

"Wags its tail at everyone it sees; isn't that exactly the same as Han Zhou's behavior?"

Looking at the yellow dog wagging its tail and eating a sausage in front of it, Guzheng pouted with dissatisfaction, looking quite resentful.

What she was really referring to was that Han Zhou and Mo Yixia were getting too close, and that she had even shamelessly asked him for her underwear. Although Han Zhou later explained that he only wanted a short-sleeved shirt and that there was a reason for it, she was still unhappy, since Han Zhou had never asked her for a short-sleeved shirt before.

So she brought a short-sleeved shirt with her this time.

There's no other meaning behind it; it's just a matter of being prepared.

What's wrong with winter? Can't we wear short sleeves in winter? What if the temperature suddenly rises?
Gu Zheng meant nothing by it, but the speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart. Zhong Ling felt that the words had a hidden meaning, and she immediately became uneasy, lowering her head and not knowing what to say.

"Oh, I was just kidding."

Seeing Zhong Ling's hesitant expression, Gu Zheng assumed that her senior was too kind-hearted to compare Han Zhou to a dog, so she smiled and said, "Han Zhou does not resemble this dog, but senior, I feel like this guy likes you quite a bit. You seem to be very popular with animals."

She looked at the yellow dog lingering by Zhong Ling's legs and thought to herself that gentle girls are indeed liked wherever they go. But she was no less so; those two ducks really liked her and kept quacking in her direction.

"How...how could this be? How could he possibly like me..."

Zhong Ling suddenly tightened her grip on the small cloth bag at her waist, her expression becoming increasingly uneasy—it was still a case of the speaker not meaning anything, but the listener taking it to heart. Gu Zheng first said that the dog looked a lot like Han Zhou, and then said that the dog liked her. To Zhong Ling, this was clearly an implication, so much so that the last sentence, "You are very popular with animals," had an ambiguous meaning.

She lowered her head, somewhat afraid to look into the guzheng's eyes.

"Senior, what's wrong with you?"

Gu Zheng was greeting two ducks when she quickly noticed that something was wrong with Zhong Ling. She immediately went over and touched her forehead, asking with concern, "You look terrible. Are you feeling unwell? Could you have caught a cold?"

"I...I'm fine, thank you."

Seeing the guzheng's concerned gaze, Zhong Ling was slightly taken aback and quickly shook her head to indicate that she was alright. At the same time, a strong sense of guilt welled up from the bottom of her heart.

She realized she was overthinking things. Gu Zheng was a very frank person. Apart from not daring to directly express her feelings to her junior, she was straightforward in everything she did, never beating around the bush or being sarcastic.

She will bravely express everything about herself instead of keeping her feelings to herself.

In fact, Zhong Ling has always admired such frankness.

Whether it's Guzheng, Yixia, her older sister, or even Wang Lengqiu, they are all much more frank and brave than she is. Whether it's love or hate, they dare to express their thoughts without hesitation, even if they are not understood. Only she is always so cowardly, and doesn't even have the courage to speak loudly.

Even though she had already made up her mind to stand on her own, she still couldn't leave her sister. The thought of leaving her sister and living alone one day made her feel lost and she couldn't imagine such a future at all.

To make matters worse... she found herself unable to leave her junior classmate as well.

She felt like a shameless parasite, always wanting to depend on others for survival, and even when there was no longer a place for her by their side, she still couldn't bear to leave.

She had been trying to forget this thought for days, and had even considered using facts to deny her suspicions, but the facts did not deny it. Even though she had made up her mind to stay away from her junior, she still came to this place with everyone this time.

Although it was at Isha's request, she knew it was just an excuse.

Yixia's request was for her to keep an eye on her junior and prevent him from having too much close contact with Guzheng and senior Wang Lengqiu. However, she always felt that she was not worthy of being the supervisor and was more like a despicable thief, having betrayed Yixia's trust from the very beginning.

This feeling was really strange. She didn't know why she felt like a thief, or why she was always having these kinds of wild thoughts lately.

It seems that something inside her was shattered after she sent that message to her junior, "I don't like you."

She wanted to ask someone, but she didn't know who to ask, and she didn't even dare to tell her sister about it.

And she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that her sister seemed to have something on her mind lately. She would sometimes stand by the window in a daze, but when asked, she would always say that nothing was wrong.

Not only her junior, Zhong Ling felt that the distance between her and her sister was also growing. Even if it was just an illusion, she knew that such a future would come sooner or later.

She was terrified, but she absolutely had to keep quiet.

Both her older sister and younger brother are very considerate and kind to her. However, if they show any unhappiness, they will make things difficult for themselves in order to accommodate her, which will only make everyone unhappy in the end.

She didn't want to cause trouble for everyone.

"Senior, you're acting strange today. Are you really okay?"

Seeing that Zhong Ling had become absent-minded again, Gu looked worried. This was not like she was alright at all. He immediately walked towards the kitchen, saying, "Let Han Zhou talk to you. He can hear what you are saying clearly."

She wasn't good at comforting people, nor was she as glib as Han Zhou, and she couldn't even communicate properly with her senior. So, she had to rely on Han Zhou to comfort her.

"No, no need!"

Zhong Ling quickly grabbed her hand and shook her head to indicate that she was alright.

However, Gu Zheng's excited reaction did not reassure her; instead, it made her even more suspicious. She was almost certain that her senior was hiding something from her and decided to tell Han Zhou about it later.

Just then, Wang Lengqiu's grandfather came out of the house and saw the yellow dog circling around the two girls. He couldn't help but laugh and say, "It seems that Big Yellow likes you very much."

Gu Zheng looked curious: "Dahuang? Is that the dog's name?"

This is undoubtedly a rather simple and unpretentious name, just like the name "Zhang Wei" in human names, which has a very high rate of being the same as other dog names.

"Yes, I've been raising it for almost ten years."

The old man brought two stools out of the house, gestured for the two to sit down, and said with a smile, "Youyou has rarely come home since she started high school. All these years, Dahuang has been keeping me company."

"Grandpa Wang, let me do it."

Seeing that the old man wanted to move the stove out of the house, Guzheng immediately went over to help. Just as the old man was about to say that the stove was heavy, Guzheng had already lifted the stove with one hand and carried it to the yard in a few steps.

The old man stared blankly for a moment, then chuckled and said, "It seems I really am getting old; I can't even keep up with a young girl's strength anymore."

Gu Zheng smiled and helped him sit down by the stove: "My grandma always said that too, but she could always carry me on her back."

If it were anyone else, even if Han Zhou said that, Gu Zheng could proudly reply, "It's not shameful if I'm not as strong as you," but this was an elderly woman who had almost single-handedly raised her granddaughter; she had no desire to compete. (End of Chapter)