Forced into a romantic relationship.

She didn't know Mo Yixia's mother, but she knew Gu Zheng's parents. Gu Zheng had taken three days off to go home before New Year's Day, so the two of them must have noticed something was amiss.

Han Zhou shook his head: "We have to face it eventually. Besides, you can all see that Gu Zheng and Yi Xia are bearing the pressure from their families on their own. Otherwise, their parents wouldn't have not contacted me until now."

There's no need to say more about Yixia. Her mother is very controlling. Allowing her to go on a ten-day trip is definitely not something that can be achieved simply by getting first place in the exam. Yixia must have paid another price. As for what it is, Yixia won't say, and he won't ask.

But this doesn't mean he will continue to put all the pressure on Yixia.

As for Guzheng, she shouldn't be under too much pressure, since Uncle Gu and Sister Miao both love her very much. But even so, he must step forward as soon as possible—even if it's just to let the two of them see his responsibility and determination.

For Han Zhou, Uncle Gu and Sister Miao were his family, and he had to give them the proper explanation. He didn't plan to drag it out for too long, and besides, if he could get their approval, it might also influence Gu Zheng's attitude.

"Have you figured out how to tell them?" Wang Lengqiu asked softly.

"Probably." Han Zhou let out a long sigh. "I'm not really sure, I can only take it one step at a time."

Even Mo Yixia's mother, who has an extremely strong desire to control, is essentially acting out of love for her daughter. It is obviously not easy for her and Gu Zheng's parents to accept that their daughter's boyfriend is a scumbag.

"Whether it succeeds or not is not important; what matters is the attitude," Xiao Xiaoxiao said in a pretentious tone.

Han Zhou laughed: "Yes, attitude is very important."

"Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse; if you want to make your attitude clear, you must first have a good image."

Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him, "Do you still think buying clothes is unnecessary?"

Han Zhou nodded with an awkward smile.

Accompanied by the three girls, Han Zhou quickly selected several outfits and also bought two pairs of shoes. There were a lot of shopping bags, but he didn't take any of them. Ouyang Lianyu and the other two carried them all, which gave the impression of reversing the natural order.

After leaving the mall, the group drove straight to the supermarket, where they bought a couplet and a "Fu" character. Considering that everyone would be staying up late tonight and might get bored, and since there was no entertainment at home, Han Zhou specially bought a mahjong set. However, this move was quickly opposed by Ouyang Lianyu.

"Don't you hate gambling the most? Why are you buying mahjong tiles?"

Han Zhou didn't take it seriously: "It's just for fun. Don't I sometimes play cards with you guys?"

"I don't know how to play mahjong," Wang Lengqiu said softly.

"It's okay, I'll teach you."

Seeing that Ouyang Lianyu still looked disapproving, Han Zhou smiled and said, "We're going to stay up all night tonight, so we need to find something to do. Besides, we don't gamble."

"What are we betting on?" Ouyang Lianyu asked.

"Anything is fine, we'll talk about it later."

"Sister Lianyu!"

Ouyang Lianyu was about to say something more when she heard two familiar female voices behind her. Turning around, she saw her two former roommates, Zhang Xinyue and Yan Mei, running towards her with joyful expressions.

Upon seeing an old friend she hadn't seen in a long time, Ouyang Lianyu's face lit up with joy. However, before she could speak, Zhang Xinyue exclaimed in surprise:

"Little Han Zhou, what are you all doing here?"

Clearly, the "you" she was referring to were Han Zhou and Wang Lengqiu; as for Xiao Xiaoxiao, she had never met her before.

Compared to Zhang Xinyue's boisterousness, Yan Mei appeared much more composed. She tugged at Zhang Xinyue's sleeve and said with a smile, "Long time no see, Happy New Year."

This idiot! Instead of worrying about why these two are here, isn't the important question why Sister Lianyu is here? Her hometown isn't in Lincheng, and she never spends the New Year here in the past. There must be some reason.

Could it be...?

Her gaze swept over Han Zhou, and a bold guess arose in her mind.

But seeing Wang Lengqiu standing hand in hand with Han Zhou, this guess seemed to be overturned.

"Happy New Year."

Han Zhou greeted her with a smile, but ignored Zhang Xinyue, who called herself "Little Han Zhou".

"You rude kid, as always."

Zhang Xinyue noticed Han Zhou's disregard and pouted in dissatisfaction. Then her gaze fell on Xiao Xiaoxiao beside her, and her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "What an adorable little girl!"

As expected, she was ignored by Xiao Xiaoxiao upon hearing this.

"Ahem, this is Xiao Xiaoxiao, my student, and Han Zhou's classmate," Ouyang Lianyu introduced.

Zhang Xinyue clearly didn't understand her implication and exclaimed in surprise, "Such a young child can get into Linyi University? She must be a genius!"

Ouyang Lianyu: "..."

"Let's talk somewhere else."

She smiled sheepishly, "Han Zhou, you and Xiao Xiao and the others go ahead and look around. I'll come find you later."

Han Zhou nodded: "Then let's go order the cake first."

It takes some time from ordering to making a cake, so it's best to order in advance just in case.

As he watched Ouyang Lianyu and the others enter a coffee shop, he was about to look on his phone for any reputable cake shops nearby when Xiao Xiaoxiao suddenly said, "I know a really good shop!"

"Really?" He put his phone away. "Is it far?"

"It's not far, just follow me." Xiao Xiaoxiao put her hands behind her back and strode ahead, looking smug.

But the smug look on her face didn't last long. Soon she stood still, staring blankly at the shops across the street, her voice sounding somewhat flustered:

"I distinctly remember there being a cake shop here..."

Han Zhou followed her gaze and saw that there was no cake shop there, only a milk tea shop, which looked to be doing quite well.

A cake shop... He decided to go back and check when this milk tea shop opened.

Seeing Xiao Xiaoxiao looking so dejected, he patted her head and said, "It's okay, there are plenty of cake shops. Let's look somewhere else."

"……Um."

Xiao Xiaoxiao's feelings were complicated, and even her tone became much lower.

"Does the fact that this cake shop is gone mean they can't make the cakes you want anymore?" Wang Lengqiu suddenly asked.

Xiao Xiaoxiao remained silent for a moment, then nodded blankly.

Wang Lengqiu thought for a moment and said, "You can draw the cake you want and have Sister Zhong Yin make it for you."

Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up for a moment, then quickly dimmed again: "I'm not good at drawing, I can't draw what I want... Besides, isn't Sister Zhong Yin very busy today..."

"It's okay, we'll all help you."

Han Zhou took out his phone, dialed Zhong Yin's number, whispered a few words into the phone, hung up, and looked at her with a smile.

"Sister Yin told us to wait at her house, because she has an oven there."

Chapter 713 Smiling Face

"I asked around, and the milk tea shop opened last year. As for whether it was a cake shop before that, the staff weren't sure either."

On the phone, Ouyang Lianyu seemed to still be with Zhang Xinyue, and their conversation could be faintly heard. "Should I inquire further?"

"No need," Han Zhou said. "We're planning to have lunch at Sister Yin's house today. Do you want to come over?"

"Of course I have to come, it's my little birthday today."

Do you know the address?

"Just send me your location."

"Teacher Ouyang, you've grown up a lot."

Han Zhou sounded pleased and, after thinking for a moment, said, "Call me when you get there, and I'll come pick you up. If you haven't had enough to chat with, you can bring your two friends along."

"Let me ask them."

Ouyang Lianyu hung up the phone and turned to look at Zhang Xinyue. Before she could speak, Zhang Xinyue, with a mischievous expression, said in an exaggerated tone:

"Teacher Ouyang, you've grown so much!"

After saying that, she covered her mouth and laughed so hard she fell back into her chair. "You didn't get angry even though that kid teased you like that. You've really grown up."

Yan Mei, standing beside him, also laughed, then slightly straightened her face and said in the same tone as Ouyang Lianyu, "Han Zhou, you must respect your teacher."

Ouyang Lianyu's cheeks flushed slightly: "If you two keep laughing, don't even think about coming back with me for lunch."

"No, Sister Lianyu, I was wrong, okay?!"

Zhang Xinyue quickly begged for mercy. Even if Han Zhou had a lot of bad points, at least his cooking skills were impeccable, and she couldn't bear to miss out on him.

Unlike her spineless best friend, Yan Mei lowered her voice and asked, "Sister Lianyu, what's your relationship with Han Zhou now?"

“What else could our relationship be?” Ouyang Lianyu adjusted her glasses. “We’re just ordinary teacher-student and friend.”

"Yeah……"

Yan Mei clearly didn't believe it, but she didn't ask any more questions. Instead, she changed the subject, "Haven't you and your parents made up yet?"

"We've made up." Ouyang Lianyu smiled faintly and took a sip of coffee.

"Then why don't you go home for the Chinese New Year?"

Ouyang Lianyu's smile froze, and she stammered for a long time, unsure how to answer.

Yan Mei smiled knowingly, but didn't expose her, and turned to look out the window.

"The snow is really heavy this year."

However, Zhang Xinyue didn't share her keen observation. A look of surprise and uncertainty appeared on her face: "Wait, I shouldn't have misunderstood, right? Could it be that Sister Lianyu has feelings for that boy..."

Before she could finish speaking, Yan Mei covered her mouth tightly: "Don't you want to eat a good lunch?"

Zhang Xinyue quickly shook her head. After Yan Mei let go, she took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Sister Lianyu, it's not that I don't support you, it's just..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but anyone with eyes could see that Han Zhou had a close relationship with the girls around him. Even if Ouyang Lianyu went all out, she probably wouldn't get any advantage.

“I know,” Ouyang Lianyu said with a smile.

Of course she knew.

She knew all the difficulties, sacrifices, costs, and even the consequences of failure along the way.

She even knew she was a despicable woman.

But she really didn't want to miss out again.

Zhang Xinyue wanted to say something more, but Yan Mei interrupted her: "Stop talking nonsense, just support Sister Lianyu. If they get together, you can eat whatever you want every day."

Zhang Xinyue's eyes lit up: "That makes sense! Sister Lianyu, I support you!"