Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 164 Special Lecture
Wenxin Bridge is not very long, only about six or seven meters long. If you ignore the bumpy surface and narrow bridge body, it only takes a few seconds to walk across it.

However, it is precisely because of these two obstacles that the difficulty of crossing the Bridge of Hearing Hearts increases dramatically.

If it were just one person crossing the bridge, it would be easier, but the challenge of the Wenxin Bridge is that couples need to cross at the same time. Walking side by side is obviously not feasible because the bridge is too narrow, but at least they must cross quickly one after the other, which further increases the difficulty of crossing the bridge.

Fortunately, the bridge surface is less than three meters away from the riverbed, and the river has almost dried up, so the riverbed is soft. Even if you accidentally fall in, it won't be dangerous. Otherwise, no one would come up with such a boring test game for couples.

They're not here to commit suicide for love.

"This bridge is slippery, are you sure you really want to cross it?"

Han Zhou stepped onto the bridge and tried it out, then analyzed, "I think the success rate of crossing the bridge will be very low."

The fact that Wenxin Bridge has witnessed the birth of so many couples suggests that crossing the bridge wasn't particularly difficult in the past. Otherwise, so many couples wouldn't have come here only to make a fool of themselves. It's likely that over time, the bridge became increasingly dilapidated due to wind and rain, and was neglected for many years, which is why it looks the way it does today.

After all, the group of middle-aged men were describing Wenxin Bridge from more than ten years ago. It's not surprising that the bridge has changed so much over such a long period of time.

“It’s more meaningful to do things with a low success rate. What, you don’t want to cross the bridge with me?” The girl’s calm voice slowly sounded behind him.

"No, but contrary to you, I think it's not worth doing something with such a low success rate and no value."

“You’re not romantic at all,” Mo Yixia sighed.

Han Zhou was somewhat absent-minded; he was thinking about the question the other person had asked him earlier—

"If that's the case, what are your thoughts on coming here with me?"

Yes, what exactly are I thinking right now?

From any perspective, his presence in Yecheng with Mo Yixia, and even here, was not simply driven by a desire to complete the task posted in the status bar.

The most direct evidence is that the task required him to get a perfect score from Mo Yixia on the day he returned, but from last night until now, he has not asked her about the scoring criteria even once.

He had some interest in the mission, but wasn't enthusiastic about it, which was clearly not a reason for him to accompany Mo Yixia to Yecheng.

As for daily tasks, the points they give are negligible. If he really wanted to earn points this way, he might as well stay in Lincheng and find Guzheng and Zhongling.

The same applies to temporary tasks. The probability of triggering a temporary task when you are with two people is obviously greater than when you are alone with Mo Yixia. If you want to earn points, staying in Lincheng is undoubtedly a better choice.

None of these were the driving forces that brought Han Zhou here.

So he didn't come here because of the status bar instructions.

In fact, the status bar never forced Han Zhou to do anything. The reason he had to complete the tasks issued by the status bar and contact the target provided by the status bar was that he wanted to rely on the status bar to survive.

If he weren't sick, he would certainly still try his best to study the functions of the status bar, but he might not have been so motivated to contact Mo Yixia and Zhong Ling.

Of course, the existence of the status bar is inexplicable. Perhaps one of the necessary conditions for its appearance is that the host needs to be terminally ill, after all, only in this way can its necessity be highlighted.

However, one thing is certain: without the status bar, Han Zhou might never have come into contact with Mo Yixia and the others, and would never have had any connection with them in his life. As for his encounter with Gu Zheng, it has little to do with the status bar, but he would die young and fade out of her life.

Now, there's something Han Zhou has to admit: because of his desperate desire to regain his health, he's been intentionally ignoring one thing—

The various tasks in the status bar, while not necessarily having a clear purpose, all seem to be trying to facilitate one thing: getting to know the target person and eventually achieving the most intimate romantic relationship.

Starting with the unlock condition "I want to fall in love," then providing important information about the target character in side quests, and getting to know and become familiar with the target character through this rather difficult task, including various temporary and event tasks to meet the other party's needs, all of these can be seen as a way to "please" the other party, with the aim of gaining their favor.

This is precisely the proactive strategy in dating.

Even though Han Zhou never considered gaining favor as his goal, the target was not an emotionless NPC, but a living, breathing person. In their interactions, regardless of whether there were changes in favorability, these were things that he, as the "strategist," could not control.

Not to mention, the initial side quests can be described as a strategy guide for the target character. They clearly state the general direction of the strategy from the beginning, giving a sense of targeted treatment. Once the quest is completed, it can be said that you have entered the target character's heart to a certain extent, and it becomes inevitable to establish a deeper relationship.

If this relationship continues to develop, it will only become more and more complicated. Even if they don't end up as lovers, they will at least become very good friends.

That's right—

The purpose of the status bar is self-evident: to make Han Zhou fall in love. Perhaps there is a deeper meaning, but at least that's what it seems on the surface. Although he doesn't want to admit it, Han Zhou has always been doing this.

Guided by the status bar, he was forced into a relationship.

If it were just one relationship, it wouldn't be a big deal, but the problem is that it's two or even more relationships happening at the same time. In such a situation, any relationship will become incredibly bad.

It was precisely because Han Zhou had figured this out that he had never taken the initiative to touch Zhong Ling's side quests, nor did he want to get in touch with the senior student named Wang Lengqiu, because doing so would only make the relationship more and more complicated.

So let's go back to the original question... Since it has nothing to do with the status bar guide, why did he accompany Mo Yixia here?
He actually knew the answer in his heart, though he wasn't very willing to admit it, but he did indeed have a good impression of this guy.

Perhaps it's more than just a feeling of liking, but he can't say for sure whether it's reached the level of love, or perhaps, as Mo Yixia said, he just doesn't want to know.

Han Zhou's feelings were complicated.

For a long time, he was quite certain that he only had feelings for one person.

That was the girl who had once saved him.

This positive feeling has not faded to this day, and may even be increasing, but the qualifier "only for one person" seems to have disappeared.

Han Zhou really didn't want to admit that he was a scumbag, but it seemed that he was starting to show signs of it.

This wasn't the first time he'd realized this problem, but regardless of his true feelings, at least for now, he couldn't make a choice.

To consistently gain enough points to fully recover, it's clearly not enough to spend time with only one target; you need at least two to reliably "gain points." Moving between multiple target characters is a necessary evil.

It is with this thought in mind that he has kept it hidden until today.

Just as a target person can develop feelings through a "strategy," he will also develop feelings during his interactions with the target person, which is not something that can be easily controlled by personal will.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou sighed inwardly.

Don't take the initiative, don't refuse, and don't be responsible.

He currently adheres to two of the three principles of a "scumbag" boyfriend. He certainly can't follow the last one, "not taking responsibility," but as long as he maintains boundaries and doesn't escalate the relationship to the point where responsibility is required, then it's equivalent to not taking responsibility at all.

What a despicable idea.

He sometimes thinks that if he really were a complete scumbag, only completing tasks without investing any emotions, he might have already maxed out his points.

However, such a person would most likely not even be able to complete a side quest, and might even get beaten half to death by the guzheng.

Wanting to be here, Han Zhou sighed again. Although he was clear about his feelings, he still planned to continue to play dumb for a while. He admitted that it was despicable and did not intend to make excuses for himself. He was just often confused about where the status bar came from.

"Sigh, what kind of cheat code did I get... Starting as a 'simp,' then becoming a scumbag, and in the end, am I going to get hacked to pieces?"

However, although Mo Yixia had been showing an attitude of "I want to win you over" for some time now, and even held hands and hugged last night, Han Zhou still couldn't conclude that she liked him.

You know, this guy hates most things in the world. Even if he doesn't hate you anymore, not hating you obviously can't be linked to liking you. Maybe he just hasn't experienced the feeling of liking someone for too long, so he hasn't truly understood his own heart, which is why he thinks he can like you.

Perhaps even the latter part can be omitted; the other person may be well aware that they don't like him. Some feelings may not be called liking; perhaps it's just a fleeting infatuation, or perhaps it's just occasionally finding someone special and naturally labeling that feeling as liking. But the two kinds of feelings are often very different.

As one of the few people Mo Yixia didn't dislike, Han Zhou believed that he might also be special to her. However, being special is not the same as liking. She might not realize this, or she might have misunderstood his feelings, or she might just be interested in studying the topic of "love" on a whim.

These are Han Zhou's true thoughts. He doesn't deny that he might be making excuses for not responding to her feelings, but no matter what, he has to continue to play dumb about many things for now.

If only the world could be without restraint, then he wouldn't have to care about anything and could just use every means to win this guy over.

As for the guzheng?

Of course, we should pursue them both!
Unfortunately, such a scenario where one can act without restraint does not exist, so he can only play the coward for now.

As Han Zhou pondered, Mo Yixia's cool voice pulled him back to reality.

"After thinking for so long, have you come up with any interesting answers?"

She came to Han Zhou's side, stood on tiptoe to probe the bridge surface, and her words were devoid of emotion.

"What do you mean?" Han Zhou asked somewhat guiltily.

"whatever."

"In that case... you probably didn't expect that."

Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, then said, "But Yi Xia, I have a question for you."

"Just ask."

"When did you start to hate this world?"

"It started earlier than you think. You've seen my family situation. My parents' relationship is even more complicated than you can imagine. So I've never really liked the things around me since I was little. In high school, I had to bear those inexplicable expectations, so this aversion reached its peak."

Mo Yixia spoke calmly, as if she were recounting someone else's experience.

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Are you trying to ask me if I've ever experienced the feeling of liking something before?"

Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "You really can't hide anything from me."

"That's because your thoughts are written all over your face now. If you try to hide them, it'll be hard for me to tell."

Mo Yixia lifted the hem of her skirt and lightly touched the bridge surface with her toes in a rhythmic manner, calmly saying, "As for the answer to this question, my answer is yes."

"Is there anything you like...?" Han Zhou thought for a moment, "You probably mean singing, or music."

Mo Yixia glanced at him with some surprise and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Did I guess wrong?" Han Zhou asked.

"No, I just didn't expect you to have noticed that."

Han Zhou chuckled and mimicked her tone, saying, "That's because you've shown this interest in me more than once. If you kept it to yourself, I probably wouldn't have noticed it."

"That's right."

A gust of wind blew by, and Mo Yixia tied her hair up for the second time.

Large swaths of leaves fell to the ground, thick clouds drifted slowly, and the sunlight gradually shone through, falling on the two people standing by the bridge.

"What you really want to ask is whether I've ever specifically liked anyone, right?" After a moment of silence, the girl, who was skilled in "mind reading," suddenly asked.

"You can say that."

What Han Zhou really wanted to ask was whether the other person truly understood the feeling of "liking," but since the two meanings were similar, there was no need to deliberately correct them.

The answer is no, so there's no need to be jealous.

Sunlight shone on the girl, making her long, black hair shine. Her tone was unusually light, "You guessed right, I really don't understand what it's like to like someone, so I'm still figuring it out."

Infected by her emotions, Han Zhou couldn't help but laugh and ask, "So, have you figured anything out?"

"Not yet, psychology is not something that can be easily deciphered."

"Aren't you very good at reading my mind?"

"Paramecium doesn't even have a brain, so isn't it easy to figure out its thoughts?"

The girl gathered her hair for the third time and chuckled, "But this is also a creature without a heart. Do you think it's the brain or the heart that determines a person's emotions?"

"You don't need to go to such lengths to insult me."

Mo Yixia pretended not to hear and stared at a squirrel that suddenly appeared on the other side of the bridge, peeking out: "Although I can't figure it out for now, you can teach me. As a teacher, it's your duty and responsibility."

Han Zhou was taken aback: "We're no longer teacher and student, are we?"

"It's okay, just think of this affair that could have reignited at any moment as a coincidence, isn't it?"

"I don't want to correct your word choice anymore..." Han Zhou shook his head and sighed.

He could tell the guy was very happy, but he didn't know why.

He can understand emotions but not thoughts. According to this guy's logic, is he a brainless person?
"ah……"

Mo Yixia didn't look at him, so she seemed unaware of his thoughts, and said to herself, "From a certain perspective, I really am a very dull student, so you will give me special lessons, right, teacher?"

She deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the words "special instruction" as she stepped onto the Wenxin Bridge. Her body swayed unsteadily, and she had to raise her arms to maintain her balance. Even so, she was still somewhat unsteady. Her blue skirt swayed along with her long hair, making her look inexplicably cute.

"I've already told you not to speak in such an easily misunderstood tone..."

Han Zhou was afraid that Mo Yixia would fall, so he quickly moved closer to catch her and sighed, "Besides, I've never been in a relationship before, so I might not be able to teach you what it means to like someone."

He told the truth.

"Do not."

Sunlight streamed down, casting dappled shadows on the trees. The girl on the bridge shook her head slightly, but since only her back was visible, her expression was obscured.

"It's more accurate to say that this is how you teach me."

The sound was very soft, carried by the wind along the bridge to the other side, swirled around and floated back, lightly touching the riverbed and skimming across the water. Perhaps it was because it was filled with the fragrance of flowers and grass along the way, the ending note had an indescribable lightness.

"If you surpass your teacher, I might consider giving you special lessons."

(End of this chapter)