Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 8 - Today Only
The air conditioner continued to blow out cold air. Mo Yixia sat at her desk, silently working on the answer questions on her exam paper. There were two glasses of freshly poured ice water on the table.

The pen tip lightly touched the paper, and the ink in the pen refill was consumed little by little. Several times she wanted to draw back the curtains and look out the window, but reason told her time and time again that the guy's method could not succeed. Reality is not a novel, and there is no need to have any expectations of it.

She understood a principle early on: the best way to avoid disappointment is to never have any expectations; that's the easiest way to live.

Moreover, if she were to open the curtains without a reason, it might displease her suspicious mother, and she might be deprived of the freedom to open the curtains at will in the future.

But for some reason, even though she knew it was impossible, Mo Yixia's mind was still in turmoil. She had been able to talk to that guy without it affecting her work before, but now she just couldn't concentrate.

It had been almost ten minutes since that guy went into the bathroom. She was considering whether to call him out, otherwise, in addition to being known as a "long-lasting glutton," he might also be labeled as constipated.

Lost in thought, Mo Yixia suddenly noticed that the brightness in front of her seemed to have decreased. Looking up, she realized that it was no longer so bright outside the curtains; on the contrary, it was rather gloomy.

She paused for a moment, then got up and pulled back the curtains.

Just as she expected, although she could still feel the scorching heat, the sun had disappeared, and the sky had become extremely gloomy, as if it were about to rain.

Unlike the gloomy sky, Mo Yixia's mood brightened considerably, because such a sky meant she had a reason to draw back the curtains.

She sat back down in her chair, propped her chin on her hand, and secretly glanced out the window out of the corner of her eye.

Just then, she saw a rope shoot out from somewhere, rushing towards the safe on the wall in the distance, about to bite the handle of the safe's lid.

Unfortunately, the aim was a little off; the hook on the rope failed to hook onto the handle and was pulled back.

Despite the failure, the scene was still impactful enough that it left Mo Yixia staring blankly.

In her mind, that guy should have had a hard time even throwing the rope, let alone from a place like a bathroom window where it's hard to exert force. Even if he threw it with all his might from other places, it would be difficult for an ordinary person to throw the rope that far.

"I'm more professional than a cowboy in the West."

Suddenly, the words that guy said before he left rang in her ears.

So, for the rest of the time, Mo Yixia completely lost interest in doing her homework.

She was only pretending to write; in reality, all her attention was focused on the rope outside the window that kept being thrown out and retracted.

Once, twice, three times...

She silently counted the number of times the rope was thrown, watching the other person fail time and time again, and she even found it fascinating. Although there is no disappointment without expectation, sometimes a little anticipation doesn't seem like a bad thing.

Ultimately, if a person can live, it's impossible for them to be completely without expectations.

Maybe it really will succeed...

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Mo Yixia suddenly felt a tremor in her heart. On the eighth throw, the hook on the rope finally caught firmly on the safe handle, and with a strong pull, the safe lid was successfully opened.

She was stunned.

But what stunned her even more was what followed. With the first success, Han Zhou seemed to have unlocked his full potential. The next time he used the hook, he accurately hooked the power switch, the rope taut, and pulled it down.

At the same time, the lights in the room suddenly went out, and the air conditioner that had been running all day suddenly stopped.

Succeeded?
Mo Yixia suddenly turned around, looked up at the camera that was no longer working, and suddenly felt a little relieved.

Not long after, Han Zhou suddenly rushed in, looking sweaty, his clothes soaked with sweat, and holding the "flying grappling hook" in his hand.

Mo Yixia watched him walk towards the window and asked curiously, "You've already succeeded, why are you still holding this thing?"

"Of course, I'll tie you up."

Han Zhou gave her a disgruntled look, and said while stretching his sore arms, "Why did you suddenly do something stupid? You have to close the safe lid again to make it a success, otherwise your mother will definitely suspect you. It's too difficult to exert force in the bathroom, this place is better."

Despite his "on the verge of death" physical condition, he was still exhausted. He had underestimated the difficulty of this operation and almost broke his hand just now, but fortunately, he finally succeeded.

Mo Yixia didn't speak, but quietly watched as Han Zhou pushed open the window and threw out the rope again and again. On the fifth attempt, he successfully hooked the hook onto the safe handle and pulled it shut.

"I'm exhausted."

After finishing all this, Han Zhou plopped down on the ground. Because of the power outage, the air conditioner was naturally unusable, so he was both tired and hot, and felt extremely uncomfortable.

Mo Yixia appeared beside him at some point, handing him a glass of ice water. It was hard to tell if it was a compliment or not: "You are indeed more professional than the cowboy."

Han Zhou was panting heavily, too tired to even speak: "Good to know, but do you remember what you said? I won this time, so hurry up and smile ten times."

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed in the sky, followed by the pattering of rain. It was raining.

Unfortunately, even with the rain, the temperature didn't drop much; in fact, it became even more muggy.

Mo Yixia looked at him for a while, then slowly took off her mask. She quickly squeezed out ten smiles, as if doing facial exercises, which looked rather perfunctory.

However, Han Zhou was quite satisfied. Whether his smile was genuine or not, he had at least completed the mission, and he had to admit that this guy's smile was really handsome.

"Is this okay?" Mo Yixia put her mask back on.

【Daily Task 1 (Mo Yixia): Collect 10 smiley faces (10/10) to earn 1 point】

"Okay."

Han Zhou rested for a while, then suddenly asked, "Alright, the cameras aren't working anymore. What are you planning to do next?"

Mo Yixia was silent for a moment before answering, "Do the problems."

"Do homework?" Han Zhou's eyes widened. "What was the point of me working myself to death to turn off the power, and you still want me to do homework?"

Mo Yixia shook her head: "The absence of cameras only means that my mom can't see what I'm doing, but it doesn't mean that she won't check the test paper when she comes back, so I still have to finish the test paper."

Han Zhou thought for a moment: "So you mean she only looks at the result and not the process?" "At least that's true in terms of learning."

"I knew it... Luckily I had anticipated this."

Han Zhou sighed and thought for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll help you with the rest of the test papers, but I have to leave at four o'clock. You can do whatever you want before then, or maybe go out and have some fun?"

Mo Yixia was clearly taken aback: "What?"

Han Zhou thought she had some concerns, so he explained seriously, "Our handwriting is quite similar. I can just imitate it slightly, and your mother shouldn't be able to tell."

"What I mean is, why are you helping me?"

"Just like you said, we have common interests, so I'll help you this time, but only for today."

Han Zhou stretched his limbs. "Starting tomorrow, I'll be your tutor. Although I can help you slack off a bit, I can't just coast through your studies. Make that clear first, or your mom will probably fire me."

The air conditioner stopped working, and the temperature in the room was rising steadily. He was sweating profusely, so he took out a book to fan himself.

Mo Yixia also took off her school uniform jacket, looked at him for a long time, and suddenly said, "I thought you were a good student who only studied hard."

"A student who only studies by rote is not necessarily a good student, and a good student is not necessarily someone who only studies by rote. I am actually not a very good student."

Han Zhou shrugged, got up and sat down at his desk. Looking at the math test paper on the table, he was too lazy to hide it anymore. He clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "Your math is really hard to describe. I have to answer in the wrong direction... Do you want to go out and play?"

"Going out is definitely not an option. Just because my house has no power doesn't mean there isn't power outside. There are surveillance cameras all over the neighborhood."

Although he said that, it sounded like he really wanted to go out and have fun. Han Zhou recalled the look in Mo Yixia's eyes when she drew the curtains earlier.

Mo Yixia had no idea what he was thinking. She put the homemade "flying grappling hook" away in another box and was about to say something when she suddenly heard a knock on the doorbell.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Han Zhou jumped up instantly, his heart pounding in his chest. He swallowed hard and asked, "Could it be your mother coming back?"

After all, he had just turned off the power to someone's house, so it would be a lie to say he wasn't guilty.

Mo Yixia glanced at him, then slowly walked out of the room to open the door: "My mom has a key, she won't ring the doorbell when she comes back."

Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed, but then suddenly became alert and asked, "Where's your dad?"

Mo Yixia ignored him.

The door opened, and a fat man stood outside, bowing and scraping, claiming to be the property management staff of the residential complex.

He wiped his sweat as he said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Mo, the power system in the neighborhood just had a sudden problem. There will probably be a power outage for a while. I suggest you don't stay indoors and go find a cool place..."

Han Zhou's heart tightened, but fortunately he was wearing a mask, so he wasn't afraid of the other party seeing his strange expression. He winked at Mo Yixia, who shook her head slightly, indicating that it had nothing to do with what he had just done.

She explained, seemingly oblivious to others, "I rarely have time to use my phone, and I usually miss any announcements from the community, so the property management staff will come to remind me."

The fat man nodded repeatedly, introducing himself with a big smile: "Yes, yes, just call me Xiao Wu."

Seeing that Mo Yixia didn't react, Han Zhou quickly expressed his gratitude and said with a smile, "Thank you for reminding us, we understand."

The fat man's smile remained unchanged. He nodded at Mo Yixia, then wiped his sweat and jogged downstairs, his face jiggling, making him look quite comical.

The two watched him leave, unsure of what to say.

After a long pause, Han Zhou said blankly, "Did you hear that? The power's out."

"Ah."

"There really is a power outage."

"Ah."

Even if I didn't turn off the power.

"Ah."

"So... all my efforts were for nothing?" Han Zhou was on the verge of tears.

"Yes."

Mo Yixia nodded, her eyebrows curving slightly.

It was all for nothing.

Han Zhou sighed and asked, "So, are you going out?"

"of course."

The latter calmly replied, "In this heat, we can't go without air conditioning. My mom can't say anything if I go out in this situation, as long as I can finish the test on time."

Han Zhou heard the excitement in her voice, turned his head, and her gaze fell on him. She didn't hide the smile in her eyes, and seemed to have a hint of expectation.

"You said you'd help me with my exam, you must really mean it, right?"

Han Zhou was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself that this must be a genuine smile. If so, then his efforts hadn't been in vain.

Thinking of this, he smiled as well.

"Only for today."

(End of this chapter)