Forced into a romantic relationship.

Han Zhou was taken aback, and then became somewhat doubtful. Did psychology teach how to distinguish between men and women by looking at panda eyes?

"how do you know?"

"It's a very simple judgment." Mo Yixia seemed to be in a rather pleasant mood, and chuckled, "Because scumbags never have a good ending."

Han Zhou's lips twitched: "Please, please put aside this prejudice as soon as possible..."

He was punched by that woman named Zhong Yin yesterday without asking any questions, and his left eye was bruised. Although he did look a bit disheveled, it shouldn't be that funny, right?

Mo Yixia was one thing, but Gu Zheng was even worse. When I saw him yesterday, I almost laughed until I cried. I laughed for a full five minutes and even took several photos with my phone.

However, to be fair, the class monitor is still very loyal. When she learned that he had been beaten, she immediately stopped smiling, frowned, and ran to the kitchen to persuade her mother, who is more skilled in combat, to take revenge.

What's outrageous is that Guzheng's mother actually agreed. At the time, she was in the kitchen chopping ribs with a cleaver in hand, a cold smile on her face. She looked quite creepy.

However, upon learning that Han Zhou had been beaten by a girl, the indignant mother and daughter immediately backed down and abandoned all thoughts of revenge.

While they weren't as gloating as Mo Yixia, they made no attempt to hide their disdain, offering sarcastic remarks one after another, practically writing "serves him right" on his face.

Han Zhou couldn't figure it out all night.

Isn't the key issue that I was beaten up? What does it have to do with whether the person who beat me up was male or female?

He felt frustrated at the thought. Seeing that Mo Yixia's shoulders were still twitching from time to time, he originally intended to tell her to stop laughing, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't say anything. In the end, he laughed along with her.

"It's not bad that this guy can genuinely smile like this once in a while; it's better than that fake smile that looks like he's doing 'facial exercises' every day. But the mission was definitely not completed..."

Han Zhou's smile turned into helplessness, but he hadn't expected Mo Yixia to actually stop disliking him over such a small matter, so he wasn't too disappointed.

He snapped out of his daze and met Mo Yixia's eyes.

The guy stopped laughing at some point and asked, "Your eyes tell me you're disappointed. Why?"

Han Zhou could not possibly tell her "it's because you still hate me," and sighed, "It's because I won't be able to see you after tomorrow, and I feel a little lost."

"Another vulgar, lame joke. Is that why you got beaten up?"

Mo Yixia was silent for a moment, then changed the subject and asked, "Do you mean what you just said? You said you'd take me out."

"Of course it counts, since you're the one who gets scolded in the end anyway."

Han Zhou casually put on his sunglasses, smiled maliciously, and asked, "Leaving now?"

We've studied long enough today.

Mo Yixia remained seated, shaking her head and saying, "Let's skip it today, we'll go another time."

after?

Han Zhou was taken aback and blurted out, "What future?"

"You never seem to care about what I say."

Mo Yixia pulled down her baseball cap, her tone turning colder, "I said before, 'From today onwards, I will do whatever it takes to protect you and will never let you be replaced'—so you clearly didn't have to worry about being fired from the beginning."

Han Zhou was taken aback. He did remember that sentence, and if he remembered correctly, there seemed to be another sentence after it—

With you taking the blame this time, things should be easier next time you go out...

He was somewhat lost in thought: "But you..."

Mo Yixia knew what he was thinking and calmly said, "Don't worry, I never thought of asking my mother for help. I have other ways, and..."

She took off her mask and drank water, her red lips slightly parted. Her delicate face was expressionless as usual, but for some reason, she looked a little brighter.

“I’m a person who values ​​commitments. While I can’t be completely non-annoying, at least for now… you’re not so annoying anymore.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a notification popped up in front of Han Zhou's eyes without warning.

Side quest (Mo Yixia) completed, 50 points earned, 1 additional skill enhancement draw.

[Skill enhancement in progress... Drawing complete, you have obtained the skill - Photographic Memory]

Chapter 41 Status Bar Upgrade

【Name: Han Zhou】

【Intelligence: 7】

【Charm: 7】

Stamina: 3 (Weak)

[Skills: Efficient learning, culinary expertise, speed reading, practical medical knowledge gained through experience, powerful throwing ability, photographic memory]

[Current Status: On the verge of death (modified) → On the verge of death: Ten breaths remaining, can survive for one day, will enter a near-death state after twenty-four hours]

[Status bar level: 2, current points remaining: 81]

Han Zhou was dumbfounded when he saw the extra "photographic memory" skill and the sudden surge in points.

The mission is finished just like that? That's far too hasty...

Just one panda eye is enough to make Mo Yixia not dislike me. If I were to have panda eyes on both of my eyes one day, wouldn't this guy fall in love with me?

Han Zhou felt enveloped by an intense sense of joy, and he had to suppress his excitement and not laugh out loud. In addition, he was confused and his mind was in a mess. He started to think wildly until Mo Yixia's voice pulled him back to reality.

Are you listening to me?

Han Zhou came to his senses and found the girl in the mask and baseball cap increasingly pleasing to the eye. With tears welling up in his eyes, he said, "Of course I'm listening. She's speaking so well that I'm almost crying with emotion."

As he spoke, he even pretended to wipe the corner of his eye under his sunglasses.

He was wearing a mask and sunglasses, even more so than Mo Yixia, his face almost completely covered, making it difficult to discern his expression without close inspection. Mo Yixia thought he was being sarcastic and sighed, "I'm starting to regret going against my conscience."

Han Zhou smiled to himself, thinking that conscience was worthless compared to points, but before he could speak, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and noticed something strange—

【Name: Mo Yixia (Unlocked)】

He looked at the top of Mo Yixia's head, where only a name stood alone, without any additional information below.

According to Han Zhou's understanding, this means that his relationship with Mo Yixia has not improved at all, and they are no different from strangers.

The problem is that now that all the side quests are completed, it means that Mo Yixia no longer dislikes him. Since she no longer dislikes him, why shouldn't their intimacy level increase?

This is just too contradictory...

After a brief moment of thought, Han Zhou came up with two guesses about the situation.

First, his judgment may be wrong. The amount of information presented in the status bar may not be a direct indicator of his closeness with other people. Or there may be some special cases, such as unlockable characters being special and they may not follow such rules.

After all, there are only three unlockable characters right now, so the sample size is still too small.

Secondly, Mo Yixia is too outrageous. What she just said might not have been a joke, but she might actually be able to deceive her own "conscience" at any time, and thus arbitrarily adjust and manipulate her own emotions...

It shouldn't be this outrageous, right?

Han Zhou shivered, thinking to himself, "Could this guy really be a secret agent who escaped from some remote corner of the world?" He tentatively asked, "So, can I take that as you've gone against your conscience and stopped disliking me?"

“That’s right,” Mo Yixia said calmly. “So now you can go out and spread the word, proudly telling everyone that after living for so long, you’ve finally met someone who doesn’t dislike you.”

Han Zhou laughed angrily: "Am I really that repulsive to you?"

Not to brag, but he is actually quite popular. He is handsome, academically excellent, and has a good temper. It's just that his physical strength and family background are a bit lacking. If he hadn't been perceived as a sycophant and lost some points, he would have been even more popular.

Mo Yixia didn't answer, but suddenly thought of something and said with interest, "Your lost tone just now seemed to tell me that you've confirmed my feelings for you have really changed, but this change doesn't seem to match your expectations, so you came to me for confirmation, right?"

She was clearly not referring to the phrase "disliked by both men and ghosts," but rather to Han Zhou's first question.

Ok.

Han Zhou felt a chill run down his spine and had to admit one thing: perhaps this guy really was that outrageous...

I was just asking casually, and you could actually tell what I was thinking?

He said with a forced smile, "Didn't you study psychology and micro-expressions?"

The implication is that young people shouldn't talk nonsense, and judging their thoughts based on their tone of voice is a bit too exaggerated.

Mo Yixia retorted, "Can't you see my expression just by looking at my forehead?"

"..."

The two remained locked in a standoff for a while before Han Zhou broke the deadlock by asking, "Are you really confident about tomorrow's test?"

Although she knew he was changing the subject, Mo Yixia nodded and said, "I'm confident. Unlike you, I rarely lie."

"It's definitely different. I never lie..." Han Zhou's eyes darted around, and he suddenly remembered something interesting. He said with a half-smile, "I remember you said before, 'Not disliking someone means liking them,' right? Was that true or false? Look, you don't dislike me anymore..."

"That's true, but it's a lie to say I don't hate you," Mo Yixia said succinctly. "You don't deserve it."

Han Zhou secretly regretted it, thinking he would see the guy get angry and embarrassed. He and Mo Yixia chatted idly, the topic drifting further and further away, and the two tacitly avoided mentioning studying again.

Consider it a vacation for myself.

During this time, Han Zhou took a moment to glance at the "photographic memory" skill.

Similar to his understanding of photographic memory, this skill is exactly what it sounds like; it's incredibly practical. Anything you see at a glance can leave a clear impression in your mind, making it an amazing tool for learning.

However, photographic memory is an enhanced version of one of Mo Yixia's skills, which means that her memory must be quite good, at least possessing a skill similar to "extensive knowledge and strong memory," otherwise she certainly couldn't have been enhanced to have photographic memory...

He seemed to be deep in thought, but he didn't voice his idea, still pretending to know nothing.

It was four o'clock quickly, and he left Mo Yixia's house on time, saying before leaving, "I hope to see you again after tomorrow."

This statement is from the bottom of my heart.

He boarded the subway to Guzheng's house and didn't hesitate to spend sixty points to upgrade his status bar.

After confirming the upgrade again, my points dwindled to just 21.

But he didn't care at all. Upgrading the status bar was a priority, no matter what. The level 2 status bar could only do so much. Only by upgrading to level 3 could he possibly find a cure for his terminal illness.

He watched the constantly flashing text prompts with a hint of anticipation.

Status bar upgrade complete, current level: 3

The monthly in-game store is now open.

[New Task Acceptance Channel]

[Added selection of job status and random status]

The upgrade notifications weren't many; more information still needed to be discovered by oneself. Han Zhou ignored the newly added status options and immediately looked at the shop, because it was the only place where he was most likely to find what he wanted.

The next second, his breathing became rapid, and his eyes were fixed on the item called "State Temporary Solidifier," which cost 20 points.