Forced into a romantic relationship

Fierce yet cowardly—that perfectly describes someone like Gu Zheng.

One second she was shouting fiercely, "Then put it on your chest," but when it came time to actually do it, her hand hovered in mid-air for a full two minutes, her fingertips curling and stretching, stretching and curling, as if suspended by invisible threads, unable to move forward or backward.

In the end, she succumbed to her shame and simply said, trying to appear calm, "You should get some rest," before quickly zipping up her pants.

Han Zhou was not surprised by the result. Gu Zheng was quite conservative in this regard. If he were to touch Gu Zheng's chest, she might grit her teeth and accept it, but to ask Gu Zheng to touch his chest was a bit of a stretch.

Of course, there is a way to break the ice. Just say to her, "Do you dare to compare who has bigger breasts?" Guzheng will definitely be excited on the spot and jump up to accept the challenge.

However, now was clearly not the time to issue a challenge, as the timing and circumstances were both inappropriate. So he didn't say anything more, but simply asked, "Are you leaving?"

"Ah."

Gu Zheng nodded. "I keep hearing animal noises outside. I don't feel at ease if I don't keep an eye on things outside."

Although she was afraid of the dark and ghosts, she had no fear of jackals, wolves, tigers, or leopards. She also didn't care about snakes, insects, rats, or ants, which most girls would avoid. However, it was unlikely that any large beasts would appear in this place, so Han Zhou wasn't too worried.

"Actually, there's no need to keep watch all night. If you're sleepy, just go back to your tent and rest," he said.

"Do you think I enjoy keeping watch at night? It's only because I'm worried about you."

Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him. "You can't even zip up a sleeping bag now. What will you do if something happens in the middle of the night and we're all asleep?"

Even she herself didn't realize that her expression of feelings had become more straightforward without her noticing.

Recalling the awkward scene from not long ago, Han Zhou wasn't quite sure if there was any sarcasm in his words.

"Then you might as well bring your sleeping bag here with me." After a moment of silence, he suddenly blurted out.

Seeing Gu Zheng's suddenly reddened ears and slightly widened eyes, he suddenly understood why Mo Yixia liked to tell him dirty jokes so much. Teasing someone who "has the desire but not the courage" and watching her pretend to be shy when she was actually shy was indeed quite a fun thing.

However, the next second, something happened that made his expression freeze instantly.

"That's what you said!"

The sound of the guzheng suddenly rose, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. It reacted by saying those words and then rushed out of the tent without looking back.

"Guzheng?"

Beside the campfire, Zhong Ling, who was grilling meat, was stunned when she saw Gu Zheng rushing out of the tent. She thought something had happened and a worried look appeared on her face.

But the moment her gaze fell upon the tent, her cheeks flushed as if instantly burned by the flickering campfire. She hurriedly lowered her head, only daring to stare at the meat skewers in her hand, not daring to look anywhere else.

Beside him, Wang Lengqiu held Zhong Ling's coat in silence.

Gu Zheng deliberately slowed down, trying to wait for the two to ask questions so that she could explain with the words she had prepared in advance. However, one of them was "truly mute" and the other was "pretending to be mute," and neither of them made a sound.

Left with no other choice, she had to grit her teeth and go to her backpack, rip open the straps, haphazardly pull out her sleeping bag, hug it tightly to her chest, and then hurry back.

The moment she pulled back the tent flap, her cheeks were clearly flushed red, but she deliberately raised her chin and refused to look Han Zhou in the eye.

The howling wind lifted a corner of the curtain, and behind her, the flickering campfire cast a dim light on the silhouette of a girl clutching a huge sleeping bag. And it was in that orange-red glow that she uttered these words.

"Move over a bit and make room for me!"

"?"

Han Zhou looked dazed.

No, I was just saying, you actually brought a sleeping bag?

"Guzheng, I'm still sick, what if I infect you..."

"So what if it's contagious?"

Since Gu Zheng had already brought the sleeping bag over, she naturally didn't care whether he was happy or not. As she spoke, she bent down and pushed Han Zhou's sleeping bag and the moisture-proof mat on the ground aside. Then, with a straight face, she began to lay out her own sleeping bag.

Only she knew how fast her heart was beating at that moment.

The space inside the tent was already cramped. The two sleeping bags were laid side by side, almost completely touching each other without leaving any gaps. She hesitated for a moment when placing them, and instead of placing them head to foot, she placed her sleeping bag next to Han Zhou's on the same side, with their heads together.

Now that things had come to this, Han Zhou could only watch her busy herself, and asked in confusion, "Didn't you just say you were going to keep watch?"

“I never said I wouldn’t keep watch.”

Gu Zheng tilted her head slightly and said matter-of-factly, "But if I get sleepy, I need a place to sleep, right? It's all your fault. There are four of us, but you only bought two tents. Three of us can't squeeze into one tent, so I have to sleep next to you..."

Upon hearing this, Han Zhou's vision went black, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

No, didn't you buy the tent?
"You can't open your eyes..."

He was about to expose this act of turning black into white when, as if she had been prepared, Guzheng hurriedly turned around and glared at him, her face showing embarrassment and anger, and said, "I'm asking you, did you go through my suitcase?"

Han Zhou was taken aback, not expecting her to take the initiative, but he didn't deny it. He nodded hesitantly, "I just happened to know your password, so I opened it and took a look."

But Guzheng seemed unconcerned about this rather perfunctory explanation.

"Then you are..."

She turned her face away again, her voice lower, the tips of her ears slightly red, "Did you see what I put in my storage bag?"

"I saw it." Gu Zheng shrank back somewhat awkwardly, still not daring to look at him. After a while, she spoke again: "So what do you think... how do you feel?"

It has to be said that Gu Zheng looks quite adorable right now, like a little kitten bluffing. It's a pity that Han Zhou can't get up right now and can't see the expression on her face.

He paused for a moment to recall, then said frankly, "To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise."

"An accident?" Gu Zheng finally turned her head around.

“Yes,” Han Zhou looked her up and down, his tone gratified, “I thought you were completely flat.”

Gu Zheng was taken aback at first, then became angry and embarrassed, wanting to punch him on the shoulder, but she held back: "Who asked about your underwear! I asked about stockings..."

When the word "stockings" was mentioned, her momentum weakened again, and even her neck turned pink.

"What stockings?" Han Zhou asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Stop pretending. You've already opened the packaging. Don't think I can't tell!"

Gu Zheng's cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling. "What I asked was... what do you think of the stockings I bought..."

"Are you sure you want me to give my evaluation?" Han Zhou asked hesitantly.

"Otherwise what!"

"Ok."

Han Zhou pondered for a moment, a complex expression appearing on his face, and said carefully, "If I had to say... it has a certain artistic flair."

Artistic flair?

Although she is a girl, Guzheng doesn't like to dress up and has very limited knowledge about stockings. She just randomly ordered these online, so she doesn't quite understand what that sentence means.

But she quickly realized she didn't need to know these things, so she gritted her teeth, mustered her courage, and asked, as if she were going to take the plunge, "Do you like these stockings?"

Han Zhou was taken aback, not expecting Gu Zheng to care about such a question. After a moment's consideration, he gave a heartfelt answer: "It's hard for a man not to like this kind of thing..."

Gu Zheng took a deep breath, silently recalling He Ling's teachings, and, suppressing her shyness, asked in a trembling voice, "Then...then...if I wore it for you, would you be happy..."

Han Zhou's breath hitched, and he looked at the guzheng in disbelief.

"You're going to wear it for me?"

"is it not OK!"

Gu Zheng was initially so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground, but when she saw Han Zhou's ghost-like expression, she thought he was questioning her figure, and she was immediately filled with embarrassment and anger, glaring at him fiercely.

Do you think I don't look good in this?

She may not have much of an advantage in her upper body, but when it comes to her lower body, she is confident that she will not lose to anyone.

"Of course not, didn't I already say I like your legs?"

Han Zhou's gaze grew increasingly strange. After hesitating for a moment, he still felt it necessary to remind Gu Zheng, so he tentatively asked, "But Gu Zheng... have you taken a good look at the stockings you bought?"

"What's so interesting about them? I don't even like stockings."

Gu Zheng was sulking, and even though Han Zhou had just praised her legs, she wasn't much happier.

Han Zhou didn't explain, but seriously suggested, "I suggest you take it apart and see."

Is this necessary?

"Have."

Seeing Han Zhou's insistence, Gu Zheng pursed her lips, silently put her hands in her pockets, and awkwardly took out the black stockings.

"You still carry it with you?" Han Zhou's eyes widened suddenly.

"If you don't carry it with you, who knows if you'll use it for something bad..."

Gu Zheng muttered something without much confidence, then held the stockings above her head and examined them carefully for a while, but found nothing unusual. So she asked in confusion, "What exactly do you want me to see?"

Han Zhou sighed.

"Take it apart and take a look."

Gu Zheng hesitated for a moment, then took the stockings out of the packaging and unfolded them under the dim light.

The next second, she was struck dumb.

A huge hole was clearly visible in the crotch area of ​​the stockings.

Time seemed to stand still.

The tent was deathly silent.

Gu Zheng stared blankly for a long time, her cheeks instantly turning red as if they were about to bleed. Then she grabbed the stockings and threw them hard at Han Zhou's face.

"You pervert! How could you cut my stockings like this?!" (End of Chapter)