Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 426 Unique
"Everyone is in your place!"

"preparation--"

"boom!"

With the sound of a gunshot, the crowded playground seemed to be ignited in an instant. The shouts of "Come on" one after another were endless. The continuous sound waves swept to every corner of the school like a tidal wave, and even broke through the courtyard wall, attracting the attention of people outside the school.

"Fuck! When did our school's sports meet become so exciting?"

Under the rostrum, Chen Fei looked at the athletes running wildly on the track with a look of shock on his face. He felt like his ears were about to be deafened, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Xia Qing! Did you drug the people in the school? How can they scream so loudly?!"

There was no way. The noise on the playground was too loud. If you didn't shout louder, even two people standing together might not be able to hear each other.

"Even if the drug was given, it was done by the school leaders! Didn't you see there are media in the school?"

The student union cadre next to Xia Qing said loudly, "I heard that if you shout loud enough, you can get more extra credits!"

"I heard? Isn't it your student union that's in charge of how many extra credits you can get? How many extra points can you get for your voice? You're on par with me, so ten points wouldn't be too much!"

"This... this needs to be asked by the president!"

"Tsk! You guys just like to do these useless superficial things!"

Chen Fei suddenly felt bored. He thought the school had really become lively. It turned out that the audience were all "bought" to deal with the leaders. He turned his head and suddenly felt that the uncle next to him looked familiar. He immediately became interested and shouted at the top of his voice, "Uncle! Have I seen you somewhere before?"

The eyelids of the student union cadre who had just spoken jumped. He knew that Chen Fei was a well-known playboy who often flirted with pretty girls, but who knew that this guy would even harass older men.

He turned his head and continued to shout "Come on!", pretending he saw nothing.

The uncle glanced at Chen Fei expressionlessly and did not answer. It was obvious that he did not want to yell like him, but Chen Fei was relentless and grabbed his sleeve and asked, "Uncle! What's your last name? I might know your daughter!"

Veins popped out on the uncle's head and he moved his lips with a tense face, but his voice was too soft and I couldn't hear what he said.

"Uncle, please speak louder! I can't hear you!"

"Louder! Like me!"

"Don't be shy! Learn from us young people!"

Chen Fei held the uncle tightly and kept shouting in his ear. The uncle could no longer bear it and yelled, "My last name is Sun! I am from the Education Bureau—"

Before he finished speaking, not only Chen Fei, but all the students nearby changed their expressions. The enthusiasm that was so high just now seemed to be extinguished in an instant, and they dared not shout "Come on" like they did just now -

It is said that leaders from the Education Bureau will come to inspect today's sports meeting. Could this person be one of them?

But isn’t he coming a little too early? Didn’t leaders in the past only come out to make speeches when the closing ceremony was almost approaching?

Throughout the ages, students, no matter how old they are, always have a natural "fear" of teachers and leaders, and it is difficult for them to let go of themselves in front of them.

Therefore, the crowd that was extremely noisy just now seemed to have wilted in an instant.

"Don't worry about it--"

Realizing that he had ruined the atmosphere, the uncle's face changed slightly, and he was about to shout to comfort everyone, but he soon realized that there was no sound around him, so he didn't need to be so loud, so he coughed a few times and said awkwardly, "Don't mind me, I haven't finished what I said. I'm actually selling fried skewers outside the Education Bureau..."

Naturally no one would believe this.

Only Chen Fei was brave enough to test the waters: "Can you grill two skewers for me? I'm a little hungry..."

The uncle's face darkened.

……

"What's going on over there? Why isn't anyone shouting 'Come on!'"

On the other side, Lin Anyu stood on tiptoe and tried to look around, trying to see what was happening, but unfortunately there were too many people gathered in front of the rostrum, so he couldn't see what was going on inside.

Gu Lang's attention was focused on the track, wondering, "Gu Zheng is actually running the last leg? I thought she would run the first leg. This kid has always liked to run in the front since she was young."

"I was originally the first runner, but was moved to the last runner at a last-minute notice this morning." Han Zhou explained in a wheelchair.

He had just "woken up" not long ago, and with the help of one-sixth of a sleeping pill, his acting skills when he woke up were superb, and his reaction after seeing the Gu Lang couple was very real, without revealing any flaws.

"It doesn't matter. It's good to be the finale. We're all winners anyway." Miao Yan'er said with a smile and looked down at Han Zhou.

"Sister Guzheng is so amazing, she will definitely win!" Lin Youya looked proud, as if she was the one participating in the competition.

Everyone is full of confidence in the Guzheng.

At this point, a quarter of the competition had already been carried out and almost all teams had just completed the first baton handover. The athletes were evenly matched and there was no obvious gap between them.

On the track, Guzheng's eyes kept following the movement of the baton. Although her face was calm, her mood gradually became nervous.

It wasn't because of the competition, but because she thought again of the scene of her confession to Han Zhou after the competition.

When she thought about saying "Han Zhou, I like you, be my boyfriend" facing the setting sun in the cold winter wind, her heart beat faster and even her breathing became a little rapid.

really weird.

Reciting, studying, exercising, and even dancing, which I had just started not too long ago... I had never been afraid of any competition, but a small confession could always make me so nervous.

It was obvious that Han Zhou would never refuse.

To this day, Gu Zheng certainly no longer doubts whether Han Zhou might not like her, but she already knows the result, so why does she still feel uneasy and even a little scared?

She actually always had the answer in her heart, but she just never dared to figure it out.

Especially at this moment when she was about to confess her love, she subconsciously wanted to forget this question——

What does Han Zhou like about himself?

Or in other words, is there anything about me that is worthy of being liked?
Gu Zheng knew that she was pretty and many boys liked pretty girls, just like she liked Han Zhou’s handsomeness. Presumably, Han Zhou was no exception. She believed that this would be one of the reasons why the other party liked her.

But she was terrified to hear only this one answer.

You have to know that guy is surrounded by beautiful girls. If you just look at their appearance, you don’t actually have much advantage.

But apart from this, is there anything else about me that is bright enough to attract Han Zhou?

she does not know.

In fact, she never knew what unique shining point she had.

From childhood to adulthood, Guzheng has heard a lot of praise.

The grandmother next door praised her for being smart and cute, the grandfather across the street said she was kind and lively, and the little friends in the village recognized her as the leader. Whenever there was a place they didn't dare to go, she would always lead the way with her "unparalleled loyalty". At that time, her parents often didn't come home, and she lived with her grandmother in the village. Her daily life was not boring. She caught birds in the trees, fished in the river, and fought with vicious dogs. She ran around the mountains and fields every day, and often didn't go home until dark.

Every time at this time, grandma would come out with a flashlight to find her. Later, because she was afraid of the dark at night, she took the only flashlight in the house. So grandma started to go out with a torch, lighting up the village wherever she went.

Later, as it happened more and more often, the villagers would laugh when they saw the torches, ask Xiao Guzheng if she had not returned home on time again, and then help look for her everywhere.

Every time her grandmother found her, she would not be angry. She would wipe her hands first, then hand her the hot steamed bun with a smile. She would not say a word of blame from beginning to end. She would just watch her finish eating quietly, and finally take her home holding a torch.

At that time there were fireflies in the village. She always thought that the light of fireflies was so bright and beautiful, but after seeing her grandmother's torch, she felt that her grandmother's torch was still brighter.

After hearing this, my grandmother always laughed and said that fireflies are much more precious than torches. They are unique things. If you don’t seize the time to remember them, you may not be able to see them again next year.

The nights were very long at that time and she would get tired easily, so her grandmother would carry her on her back every time she went home. Her grandmother usually walked very slowly and looked shaky, but every time she carried her on her back she walked very steadily.

Every time she looked at the bright torches above her head, she would curiously ask her grandmother why those torches could burn for so long. Her grandmother would smile and shake her head, saying that she couldn't tell her for the time being, otherwise she would run around and set fires everywhere.

She was a little unhappy and felt that her grandmother was wrongly accusing her. She was just a little afraid of the dark. If she learned how to make a torch, she would not be afraid even if she was alone in the dark in the future.

It is a child's nature to be playful, and she was no exception at that time. After entering elementary school, she didn't listen to the lessons or do her homework. After school every day, she still ran around the mountains and fields with her friends as before. In the evening, her grandmother would still come to her with a torch and hot steamed buns, still smiling and not angry, as if nothing had changed.

But she never noticed that her grandmother walked slower than before.

If I remember correctly, it was a night with the annoying chirping of cicadas when her grandmother suddenly wanted to teach her how to make torches.

In the flickering firelight, the wrinkles on grandma's face were more distinct than in the daytime. She smiled and said, "You've always wondered why grandma's torches can burn for so long. It's because grandma uses a unique material."

"What material?" she couldn't help asking.

Unique, this was her grandmother's favorite word, but at that time she didn't quite understand the meaning of the word, she just thought it sounded very impressive.

"If you can do your homework well tomorrow, grandma will tell you and teach you how to make torches."

“But I don’t want to do my homework…”

She hugged her grandmother's arm and acted coquettishly, "Grandma, can you change your request? Catch ten fish, catch ten birds, or skip stones on the water? I'm good at all these."

"No." Although grandma was still smiling, her tone was a little different from usual. "One-of-a-kind things must be exchanged for another unique thing."

"I don't understand, can doing homework make it unique?"

"It's not 'things', it's 'people'."

Grandma smiled and said, "Doing homework certainly can't make you unique, but studying can. It can help you recognize yourself one day in the future."

"Recognize yourself?"

"Yes, know yourself."

The flame flickered, and grandma's old face had a gentle smile, "Guzheng, you have to understand that everyone is unique. You have to find the most special thing about yourself. Otherwise, if you lack the most important material, even if you make a torch, it won't burn as long as grandma's torch."

"Oh."

Although she didn't quite understand, she felt that her grandmother seemed to want her to be unique, so she promised her grandmother that she would do her homework well the next day.

However, after a good night's sleep, she quickly forgot about it and ran out to play as soon as school was over. It was not until the sun was about to set that she remembered the agreement with her grandmother last night. She hurriedly found a spot on the edge of the field to finish her homework, and then checked it again as best she could before returning home in the dark.

At that time, she did not realize why her grandmother, who always appeared at this time, did not come out to see her.

The weather was very hot that day and there happened to be a power outage in the village at night. She heard that almost everyone in the village went to the river to enjoy the cool air. She didn't see her grandmother by the river and was worried that if she didn't go home, her grandmother would come out to look for her again, so she ran back home breathlessly, but couldn't find her anywhere.

As the sky grew darker, she gradually felt scared as she was without her grandmother for the first time. She began to shout her grandmother's name loudly, and also shouted to her grandparents who lived nearby, hoping that they could help her find her grandmother.

No one responded in response.

Everyone went to the river to enjoy the cool air.

She wanted to go to the river to find someone to ask where her grandmother was, but it was a long way to the river, and it was already completely dark. There were no stars in the sky, so she couldn't see the road outside at all. The flashlight at home was out of battery and it flashed for a moment before going out.

There were strange cries outside the house. She became more and more frightened and tried to shout her grandmother's name again, but her grandmother seemed to have disappeared completely and there was no response.

She hid in the room and suddenly remembered that her grandmother often went to the bamboo forest behind the house. So she plucked up her courage, found a lighter beside the stove, and groped her way into the bamboo forest with the faint flame.

In the bamboo forest, she saw her grandmother lying on the ground and an unfinished torch next to her.

By then she already knew what death was. She held back her tears and ran to her grandmother. Fortunately, her grandmother was still breathing and seemed to have just fainted temporarily. She was terrified and shouted for help again. After shouting several times, she remembered that there was no one nearby, so she tried to light the torch on the ground and wanted to hold the torch to go to the river to ask for help.

Everyone in the village knew my grandmother’s torch.

In the past, grandma always held a torch and asked the villagers to look for her everywhere. Now she also held a torch and asked everyone to save her grandma.

...but the torch wouldn't light at all.

No matter how many times I tried, it wouldn't light.

She didn't know what was wrong. She lit the lighter again and again, and tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes. She suddenly felt so regretful. She regretted why she didn't finish her homework and go home earlier. If she could go home earlier, her grandmother would teach her how to make a torch, so that she could go out and find someone to save her grandmother.

It’s because she didn’t keep her promise that grandma had to lie here for so long.

There are cicadas chirping in the bamboo forest, which is so noisy that it makes people feel annoyed, but the fireflies that were once seen frequently are no longer to be found.

I need light.

She stood up while wiping her tears, and finally thought of a solution - to set fire to the bamboo forest.

As long as the bamboo forest was on fire, someone would definitely follow the light and come over, and then grandma could be saved.

However, just as she was about to take action, her grandmother suddenly reached out and grabbed her.

She woke up.

Grandma said a lot of things at that time, but she couldn't remember most of them. She only remembered that in the faint light of the lighter, she and her grandma saw each other's expressions, one crying and the other laughing.

Grandma looked at her for a long time, and finally raised her hand very hard and wiped away the tears from her face.

As the last flame of the lighter went out, grandma's hands also lost strength.

It was obviously very hot that day, but grandma's body was getting colder and colder until there was no warmth left at all.

Guzheng has always been afraid of the dark and ghosts.

No one knew that on that night when the cicadas were chirping unusually loudly, she stayed with her grandmother in the bamboo forest all night without crying or making a fuss.

(End of this chapter)