Forced into a romantic relationship.

Upon hearing the voice, Guzheng's face lit up with joy, and she ran over with her eyes crinkling. She said with satisfaction, "Not bad, you weren't late today."

“The class monitor gave me those instructions, and last night he even posted a thread about ‘a tragedy caused by being late’ to remind me. How could I dare to be late? But why are you waiting for me here?”

Today is Saturday, the day the two of them agreed to have dinner together. Logically, the other person should be waiting at home.

Gu Zheng laughed and said, "It's cooler here, and my mom keeps urging me to come out quickly."

Han Zhou smiled, then looked at the vocabulary book and asked, "Why did you suddenly bring the vocabulary book with you? The college entrance exam is over."

Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him: "There are exams in university, and you'll always need to use English. You'll also have to take proficiency tests. How can you not prepare in advance?"

Han Zhou knew that Gu Zheng was working very hard, and it was common for her to spend the whole day with her books in the days leading up to the exam. But she wasn't usually that stressed. Even if she was preparing for university, she wouldn't choose to study when she was out having fun.

So he quickly understood what had happened and said helplessly, "Are you arguing with someone again?"

"No way!"

Gu Zheng instinctively retorted, reluctantly explaining, "It's just that my mom said this morning that a friend's daughter is very good at English and might go abroad to study in the future. I thought since I'm free anyway, I might as well improve myself in my spare time."

"You're not going to study abroad, why are you fussing over this? That girl's English is definitely not as good as yours."

Han Zhou reached out to snatch the vocabulary book, but Gu Zheng was too strong, and he couldn't budge it for a moment. He could only pretend to be sad and said, "Sigh, some people even have to look up words when they go out to eat. It seems I can only stand here like an idiot."

Gu Zheng paused for a moment, then hesitated slightly before saying, "I can... I can look at the words while chatting with you..."

"Stop kidding me." Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, Han Zhou snatched the vocabulary book and stuffed it into his pocket, saying, "I'll give it back to you after I take you home."

Gu Zheng was initially a little angry, but upon hearing the words "I'll take you home," she beamed with joy. However, she quickly suppressed her anger and pretended to be unhappy.

The two got off the bus at Yinghuo, one of the most bustling streets in Lincheng. It was only a little before five o'clock, so it was impossible to eat so early. Guzheng planned to take Han Zhou shopping.

The weather was pretty good today. The sun was hidden by the clouds, and the temperature was a bit lower than usual. However, if you wanted to go shopping, you would probably still be too hot. There weren't many pedestrians on the street.

Gu Zheng walked down the bustling street and said with no small amount of pride, "How about that? I picked a good day, didn't I? Before I left, my mom insisted that I put on a lot of sunscreen, betting that it would be very hot later, but now we can't even see the sun. I obviously won."

Han Zhou, who was next to him, laughed and thought to himself, "If you really don't think it's hot, then don't use an umbrella: Is it because you have such a bad temper that you've scared the sun away from coming out?"

Gu Zheng rolled her eyes and lightly hit him with her bag.

What do you want to eat later?

Han Zhou was also holding an umbrella, which Gu Zheng had specially brought for him. Although he always believed that a real man didn't need a parasol, he decided to be a flexible real man for the time being, considering that it was indeed very hot.

"Hmm... I'll check it on my phone later."

There were many restaurants on this street, but Guzheng looked around and lost interest. After thinking for a while, she felt a little angry and glared at him, saying, "But you're the one who invited me to dinner, why didn't you book a place in advance?"

Han Zhou glanced at her: "I invited you twice before, and each time you were not satisfied after the place was booked, so this time I learned my lesson and let you decide for yourself."

Gu Zheng snorted, tucked her hair behind her ear, and said with dissatisfaction, "It's all because the places you chose don't taste good."

Han Zhou shrugged: "That's why I'm letting you choose this time, so I can see how delicious it is."

"No need to rush about eating. Let's go shopping at the mall ahead first. You can carry my things if I buy them."

"Yes, yes, yes," Han Zhou replied indifferently.

The two entered the mall.

It was seven o'clock in a flash. Han Zhou walked to the mall entrance like a dead dog, his previous composure gone. He suddenly recalled the fear he had felt five days ago, dominated by the cardboard box full of notes.

He misjudged two things.

Firstly, I didn't expect Guzheng to be such a good shopper. She could spend more than an hour in such a small shopping mall. If she hadn't been too hot to go shopping on the street outside, she probably still wouldn't have had enough.

Secondly, I didn't expect that Guzheng could buy so many things. At least the girls on TV only buy clothes and such, but this guy put all sorts of random things into his shopping cart. I don't know if he's shopping or buying supplies.

Han Zhou's face was ashen, his back was hunched, and his hands were full of all sorts of bags. He didn't even have the strength to care about the stares of passersby. He said with a pained expression, "Class monitor, you shouldn't have forgotten that I used to be a patient, right?"

Gu Zheng was standing at the mall entrance, happily looking at her phone. Hearing this, she turned around and gave him a strange look: "Didn't you say you were fully recovered? Even your strength has increased so much."

Han Zhou thought she was referring to the day he saved Lin Youya, and quickly said, "That day I was so eager to save her, my adrenaline surged, and my potential was unleashed, so that's why..."

If it were Mo Yixia, he definitely wouldn't be able to spout such nonsense, because the other party could easily see through his guilty conscience. But Gu Zheng never cared about such trivial matters, so Han Zhou planned to keep belittling himself, so that this guy would quickly remember that he was a "delicate" man who needed to be protected, and that he was strong enough to share some of the burden.

Guzheng couldn't understand and asked in confusion, "What nonsense are you talking about? The other day I lent you a notebook and stuffed several bricks inside. I just wanted to tease you, but you didn't seem to find it heavy at all. You just picked up the box and ran off without saying a word. You were quite efficient, so I didn't bother chasing after you."

As she spoke, a smile appeared on her lips.

Han Zhou's expression froze instantly: "You really put bricks in? Are you even human?"

He did have similar suspicions at the time because the box was really heavy, but he didn't expect the other party to actually do such a thing.

"I never expected you to be so silly, hahaha."

Gu Zheng burst into laughter at his expression, her eyes curving into crescents. She barely managed to suppress her laughter before asking curiously, "But haven't you noticed this yet?"

"No."

Han Zhou was somewhat melancholy, as Mo Yixia hadn't told him about the bricks in the box.

However, he suddenly remembered something.

One day, when he pointed to the notebook and asked Mo Yixia if the things in her box were of much help to her, she gave a rather puzzling answer—

"It's very helpful, much funnier than your lame jokes."

At the time, he didn't understand what it meant. After receiving a smile from the other party, he was even more confused and didn't know what the problem was.

And now, he finally understands the meaning of those words...

Chapter 33 I'll take you down with me!

"Can you please stop laughing?"

Han Zhou looked helplessly at the guzheng across the table. "A smile makes you ten years younger. Don't you know that smiling for too long will shorten your lifespan?"

"Pah, what kind of twisted logic is that?"

Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him, then laughed even harder, giggling, "Who told you to be so silly? I just couldn't help but laugh when I thought about how you carried such a heavy box all afternoon and didn't even realize you'd been tricked."

Han Zhou sighed. This guy had been laughing on and off for almost twenty minutes from the time he left the mall until he entered the restaurant. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was an intermittent episode.

Of course, the guzheng player is beautiful, and most people would just find her smile pleasing to the eye. The only one who would think she looks like she's having a mental breakdown is probably Han Zhou.

However, considering that the other party later helped him with a lot of things, he decided to swallow his mockery.

However, he quickly remembered that these things originally belonged to the guzheng, and his mood immediately became depressed again.

He said sternly, "Be lenient when you can. If you continue like this, don't blame me for making fun of you too."

Gu Zheng didn't care about Han Zhou's threat and pouted, "Laugh if you want. It would be stupid not to laugh if you had the chance, and it's already very funny."

Han Zhou gave her a deep look and sighed, "You're right. Have you laughed enough? If you have, go get some food."

He picked up the tongs and flipped each piece of roasted meat on the grill, while Guzheng excitedly got up to get some cooked food from the deli section.

The two eventually chose a barbecue buffet restaurant as their dining location. To be precise, it was Guzheng who chose it. The place was far from the bustling area and there weren't many people, but the price was very cheap, only about fifty yuan per person.

Gu Zheng gave a very good reason: she has a big appetite, and at the buffet, she could not only get her money's worth, but also eat a wide variety of foods. She could eat whatever she wanted, and since there weren't many people, it was quiet enough. She also found grilling the meat herself to be fun...

Many girls don't want others to think they have a large appetite because they feel embarrassed. Some even reduce their food intake to be more reserved. But Guzheng never has this concern and is not picky about food at all.

This guy once challenged Han Zhou to a contest to see who could eat more, and ultimately left proudly as the victor.

It is said that she developed this habit from a young age. Gu Zheng never cares about other people's opinions. When people call her a useless, strong woman, she is not angry at all, but instead takes it as a compliment. When people say that all she cares about is being number one, she asks back, "What's wrong with that? You people can't be number one even if you want to."

They can't compete with each other, and mockery can't break their defenses, which makes many people who are already unhappy even more unhappy.

However, these are not necessarily the shortcomings of the guzheng. The biggest problem with the guzheng is that when it is too competitive, it can be full of scorching sharpness. But if you are not afraid of these sharpnesses, the guzheng is actually not difficult to get along with.

Han Zhou knew, of course, that the reason this guy came up with so many excuses was simply because he didn't want him to spend more money.

The same thing happened twice before. Guzheng refused the places he had booked, citing that the food was not good. But in fact, she had mentioned not long ago that she wanted to try one of the restaurants. Her sudden change of attitude was because she felt that it would cost Han Zhou money.

Gu Zheng knew about Han Zhou's family situation. Although she never said it, she always thought of him.

She regretted it after forcing Han Zhou to treat her to dinner that day. The thought of going to university soon and spending a lot of money made her even consider canceling the agreement.

But Han Zhou did not agree.

He was never one to put on a show of wealth. Although he didn't deliberately seek out expensive places, he was okay with spending a little more money occasionally when traveling. But Guzheng didn't think so. She insisted on dragging him to a buffet, determined to eat her money's worth.

"Han Zhou, look, look! I didn't expect there to be fried chicken here!"

The aroma of the barbecue grew stronger, and Han Zhou brushed some more oil on it. Just then, Gu Zheng came running back excitedly with a plate in her hand, saying proudly, "I got it as soon as it was fried! No one else could grab it as fast as me!"

He picked up a piece and tried to put it in his mouth, but the next second he spat it out because it was too hot.

Seeing Han Zhou with his head down, Gu Zheng blushed slightly and glared at him fiercely: "What are you laughing at? Go roast your meat!"

Han Zhou didn't hide his feelings anymore, and said with his smile unchanged, "Didn't you say it was fun to grill meat yourself? Why don't you do it yourself?"

"Watching others grill meat is more interesting, but eating meat grilled by others is the most interesting!"

Gu Zheng, with an air of self-righteousness, picked up a piece of fried chicken, gently blew on it, and stared at the baking tray, a look of anticipation appearing on her pretty face. "Hurry up, is it ready yet?"

Han Zhou observed the color of the roasted meat and shook his head, saying, "What you're doing is reaping the benefits of others' labor."

Gu Zheng put the piece of fried chicken that had just cooled down into his plate and said impatiently, "Then I'll give you the fruits of my labor. That way, we'll exchange our fruits."

Han Zhou laughed: "You just brought over the finished product, what labor results did you get?"

"You use your hands, I use my feet and my mouth, isn't it all the same?"

The guzheng has started acting irrationally.

Han Zhou clicked his tongue in amazement. To be honest, the guzheng that didn't fight or compete was very cute. But it was a pity that once school started, the other party might not be the same as it is now.

This is a holiday-limited edition guzheng.

There weren't many people in the buffet restaurant, only a few scattered tables. Gu Zheng ate and took food, constantly carrying it around like a little worker ant, and then urged Han Zhou to hurry up and grill it.

Although she said that eating other people's barbecue was the most fun, she didn't really sit idle. She even competed with Han Zhou to see who could barbecue better.

The two grilled and ate at the same time. Although they probably didn't actually eat many pieces of meat, they still enjoyed it very much.

Suddenly, Han Zhou's phone rang. He took out his phone with the cracked screen and saw that it was a message from Lin Anyu.

He knew this guy's nature; he would usually call for small and big matters, and send a text message for things that were neither big nor small. He had no idea what this guy was up to this time.

He opened Fetion and found that it was still a voice message. He was suspicious for a moment, so he turned down the volume on his phone before opening it.

The next moment, Lin Youya's sweet voice rang out from the phone.

"Brother Han Zhou, I miss you so much. Can you come see me?"