Forced into a romantic relationship

"Brother, eat this."

"Brother, try this too."

"Brother, this is delicious, eat more."

"Brother, let me help you add more rice!"

"..."

Han Zhou couldn't help laughing when he saw Chen Doudou trotting with his short legs to get more food.

Of course he could see why this girl was trying so hard to "fawn on" him. It was obvious that her attitude began to change after she took a bite of the braised pork - she was willing to bend over backwards for a piece of braised pork, so it seemed that there was a reason why this girl had grown so fat.

As expected, the girl who had just finished adding more food immediately showed her true colors. She held the bowl above her head with a pious look on her face, her eyes full of expectation: "Brother, I have a lot of delicious food and fun things at home. Can you and Sister Wang Lengqiu come to my house to play tomorrow?"

Gu Zheng, who was eating hard, couldn't help but looked up and asked, "What about me and my other sister?"

Chen Doudou was stunned. He first looked at the guzheng, then looked at Zhong Ling on the other side. He felt a little distressed. The quiet sister was okay, but this sister's appetite was really too big. What if she came home and ate all the delicious food?
She secretly felt heartbroken, but she soon remembered her grandparents' teachings that people must know how to share, so she gritted her teeth and said, "You guys come and play too!"

Why does this child look so reluctant... Guzheng felt depressed, but she didn't bother with a child and just continued eating.

Han Zhou took the bowl with a smile and said, "Thank you Doudou. My brothers and sisters are busy these two days. We will definitely come to your house to play if we are free."

"Oh……"

Chen Doudou felt a little disappointed and said dejectedly, "Sister Wang Lengqiu never stays for too long every time she comes back. Are you guys leaving soon?"

Like Wang Lengqiu, Chen Doudou is also a left-behind child. She has lived with her grandparents since she was a child and may not see her parents once a year. Therefore, although she has never lacked playmates of the same age, snacks and toys, she still hates separation from the bottom of her heart.

"Not long indeed."

Han Zhou could see that the girl was in a bad mood and understood why she was unhappy, but he still answered truthfully, "We will go back after the weekend."

"Sister Wang Lengqiu too?"

"Correct."

"Oh……"

Seeing the girl lowered her head and said nothing, Han Zhou continued, "I will make braised pork every day these days. If you are free, can you come over and help me taste it?"

"Yes, I am free every day!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Doudou, who had been dejected just now, immediately lit up his eyes and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. The dejected look on his face disappeared in an instant.

Children of this age are prone to sentimentality, but they are also easily distracted by other things.

"You really know how to coax children." Gu Zheng beside him whispered.

Han Zhou smiled and said, "Greedy children are easy to appease."

Guzheng nodded, but soon felt something was wrong. Was this guy talking about her in a roundabout way?

"I'm not easy to coax..." she muttered softly.

Han Zhou did not comment. In fact, Guzheng was easy to please, but there were exceptions when it came to certain things, such as concealing and deceiving, which were things that everyone hated, and Guzheng even more so. That was why he had such a headache.

To be honest, although he has always believed that there will always be a solution that makes everyone happy, he still doesn't know when to find a good time to tell Guzheng everything.

He couldn't imagine Gu Zheng's expression after she learned the truth.

If there wasn't a suitable opportunity, he was sure that Gu Zheng would not listen to any of his explanations after learning the truth, and that would most likely be his only chance to speak.

Therefore, before confessing, he must make Gu Zheng understand and accept Mo Yixia as much as possible, and subtly change their relationship. It is best if this relationship is between rivals and friends. Otherwise, if their relationship is too close, Gu Zheng will feel doubly betrayed by both of them.

Vice versa is also true.

Yixia said that the prerequisite for her to accept that he was two-timing was that he needed to see some possibility. Han Zhou was not sure what that possibility was, but it was better to know more about the other boat than to know nothing at all.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Noticing Han Zhou's gaze, Gu Zheng wondered, "Is there something on my face?"

She touched the corners of her mouth, trying to wipe away any grains of rice that might be there.

"Don't wipe it, there's nothing on your face."

"Then why are you still staring at me?" The girl rolled her eyes at him.

Han Zhou looked at her for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "I just think you look particularly beautiful today."

Guzheng was stunned.

The next second, a blush immediately jumped onto the girl's cheeks, spreading like a burning cloud to her entire face, and then to her neck. "Oh...oh."

She was used to Han Zhou teasing her, but this was the first time she heard him praise her beauty so directly. She was speechless for a moment. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she could only hastily look away, lower her head and pretend to continue eating.

And you said you were hard to please... Han Zhou laughed in his heart, turned his head and noticed that everyone was staring at him, with different expressions on their faces. He was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's wrong?"

"No...nothing."

Everyone looked away, and the atmosphere was about to become weird when Chen Doudou suddenly said loudly, "Brother Han Zhou, I think you look really handsome today, too!"

Han Zhou couldn't help laughing: "This is the first time you see me today, how do you know I look so handsome today?"

Chen Doudou was stunned for a long time before he blushed and said, "Brother Han Zhou is so handsome every day!"

She wasn't just after the braised pork. In fact, this older brother was really handsome. If you looked closely, he was even more handsome than the princes on TV. After thinking about it, she said with anticipation, "Brother Han Zhou, can I marry you when I grow up?"

"no!"

Before Han Zhou could answer, Gu Zheng, who was pretending to eat, could no longer sit still and immediately spoke out in objection.

To this day, she no longer hides her possessiveness towards Han Zhou. If she had not lost the game that day, she would have confessed her feelings to Han Zhou long ago.

"Why not?" Chen Doudou was a little unconvinced.

"Because there is such a big age gap between you. By the time you grow up, your brother Han Zhou will have become an old man." Gu Zheng threatened with a stern face.

"It's not that exaggerated..."

Han Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Before he could finish his words, Gu Zheng glared at him fiercely, so he had to shut up and stop talking.

"Even if he becomes an old man, Brother Han Zhou is still a handsome old man!"

Although she said it very toughly, Chen Doudou was obviously a little hesitant. She certainly didn't want to marry an old man when she grew up. After hesitating for a moment, her eyes suddenly lit up and she said excitedly, "Then... let Sister Wang Lengqiu marry Brother Han Zhou. They are the same age!"

As a child, Chen Doudou had a simple mind. Brother Han Zhou was handsome and cooked delicious food. She would be very happy if she married him. Since she couldn't marry him, she would let Sister Wang Lengqiu marry him. Not only would Sister Wang Lengqiu be very happy, but she could also come and eat with him every day in the future. It was really killing two birds with one stone!
Gu Zheng's expression changed slightly, but this time she did not object. Zhong Ling's expression became a little embarrassed, and she carefully observed the expressions of the two girls.

Wang Lengqiu had a blank expression on his face, as if he had heard nothing.

Grandpa Wang showed an apologetic smile on his face, gently touched Chen Doudou's head, and said: "Doudou, getting married is not as simple as you think. It requires mutual love."

"What is mutual affection?"

Chen Doudou's chubby face was full of confusion; she didn't quite understand the meaning of this idiom.

"You can go back and ask your grandparents about this." The old man replied with a smile.

"Oh...Aren't Brother Han Zhou and Sister Wang Lengqiu in love with each other?"

"This one……"

The smile on the old man's face froze, and he was about to shake his head when Wang Lengqiu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Not yet."

The tone was flat, without much emotion.

The winter night wind howled outside the house, making the wooden door rattle.

Guzheng turned her head and looked at her without saying anything.

Chen Doudou didn't notice the change in the atmosphere at the dinner table. He looked at Wang Lengqiu curiously and couldn't help asking, "Will it be like this in the future?"

She really hoped that Sister Wang Lengqiu and Brother Han Zhou would love each other, so that she could eat braised pork every day in the future.

Wang Lengqiu did not answer, but turned to look at Han Zhou, as if waiting for his answer.

"Once they've seen the photo, the pigeons will fly away, right?"

"Do you think it will come back?"

For some reason, when he met Wang Lengqiu's empty eyes, Han Zhou couldn't help but think of the two questions the other party asked in the kitchen not long ago.

Before he could answer, he was interrupted by Chen Doudou who suddenly broke in.

Now he can answer these two questions again -

"Pigeons don't fly far," he said.

The charcoal fire in the stove had become a little dim, and sparks flickered from time to time, like flickering stars in the night sky.

But it won’t fly close either… he added silently in his mind.

(End of this chapter)