Chapter 614
The Difference Between Friends
When Ouyang Lianyu finished her meal and left the office, taking the elevator to the first floor, she found that Han Zhou had not left but was sitting on a bench downstairs waiting. The cold winter sunlight made his already thin figure appear even more frail.
Why haven't you left yet?
She was taken aback at first, then quickly walked over, a look of concern on her face. The weather was so cold, and there was no air conditioning in the hallway. Wasn't this guy afraid of getting sick?
Han Zhou had obviously been waiting for her. When he saw her come out, he put away his phone, stood up, smiled, and said, "I was just worried that it would be inconvenient for you to go downstairs in your wheelchair."
"Nonsense, it's been so long since the teacher sat in a wheelchair." Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him helplessly.
In fact, she has been getting injured less and less since the two met.
This is certainly a good thing, but it doesn't fit her "persona" at all, to the point that many colleagues and classmates have asked her why, and her answer has always been that she doesn't know.
But she actually knew it was because her mind was becoming increasingly cluttered with distracting thoughts.
The two walked out of the office building side by side. A cold wind blew in their faces. Ouyang Lianyu subconsciously pulled her collar tighter, her thoughts returning to her mind. Her gaze fell on the boy's ears, which were slightly red from the cold.
"Are you that worried that Guzheng will find out you're unfaithful?"
In her opinion, there was only one reason why Han Zhou would wait for her downstairs: he needed her to cover for him on the weekend, so he wanted her to make sure he could find the time.
"I am indeed very worried."
Han Zhou readily admitted it, but then shook his head, "But that's not why I'm waiting for you."
"Why is that?"
Although the afternoon sun wasn't very warm, it clearly outlined Han Zhou's profile. He smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "You have class this afternoon. I'll wait for you to go to the classroom together."
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback at first, then looked reproachful: "Everyone goes to class with their classmates, who goes to class with the teacher?"
"And why don't you wait in the office? There's air conditioning in the office, why do you have to stand outside in the cold?"
Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then looked over incredulously: "Teacher Ouyang, you should speak with conscience. Wasn't it you who kicked me out of the office?"
After saying that, he lowered his head and sighed, looking as if he had been "truly betrayed".
"Who kicked you out..."
Ouyang Lianyu was speechless for a moment, and after a long while, she said with a slightly guilty tone, "Besides, don't you know that the teacher is very easy to talk to? If you had turned back then, I wouldn't have locked you out..."
"I see, teacher, were you waiting for me to turn around?"
Han Zhou sighed deeply, then remarked out of the blue, "One thought the other wouldn't leave, and the other thought they would be persuaded to stay. This is probably what the regrets of youth are like."
"What nonsense!"
Seeing his head-shaking and swaying manner, Ouyang Lianyu almost burst out laughing. Just as the corners of her mouth were about to turn up, she forcefully suppressed them.
Han Zhou looked at her for a while, then suddenly stopped joking and said seriously, "Teacher Ouyang, I reflected on this for a long time downstairs and finally figured out why you were angry back then."
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback. She subconsciously wanted to ask her when she had been angry, but upon closer reflection, she realized that she did feel somewhat uncomfortable at the time, but she herself was not quite sure why. Did Han Zhou really know why?
She intended to change the subject, but the words, almost inexplicably, spilled out:
"why?"
Han Zhou looked around to make sure no one was there before lowering his voice and saying, "First of all, it's definitely because I was two-timing, which made you think I was unfaithful. I can't deny that, and it was indeed very excessive. It's understandable that you're angry."
"Since you already know I'll be angry, why did you still knowingly do it?" Ouyang Lianyu said irritably.
“I told you, there are very complicated reasons behind this, and I will tell you about them in the future.”
Ouyang Lianyu was skeptical and wanted to wait for Han Zhou to continue, but seeing that he remained silent, she had no choice but to ask, "'Firstly,' you said, 'secondly,' what about 'firstly'?"
Han Zhou shook his head: "This isn't 'secondary,' I think this is the main reason you're angry."
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback, her heart tightening inexplicably, and she subconsciously asked, "What's the reason?"
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, his gaze lingering on Ouyang Lianyu's face for a few seconds, before tentatively asking, "Teacher Ouyang, do you think that I wanted you to accompany me to Guzheng's house simply to get you to cover for me?"
"Is not it?"
"That is indeed one of the reasons."
Han Zhou gave an awkward smile, "But that's not the main reason."
"So what is the main reason?"
"You really have forgotten."
Han Zhou sighed, then put aside his embarrassment, straightened his back, and acted as if he had taken the initiative. "I clearly said before that I would spend New Year's Day with you."
Ouyang Lianyu was stunned.
The image of the other person making solemn vows in front of their parents when we were pretending to be a couple a few days ago suddenly popped into my mind.
At that time, Han Zhou did indeed tell her parents that he wanted to bring her along to celebrate New Year's Day.
He was serious after all...
But she quickly came to her senses and felt inexplicably embarrassed and annoyed: "But this weekend isn't New Year's Day."
Han Zhou smiled and said, "But the Guzheng family celebrates this day as New Year's Day. You can ask Guzheng if you don't believe me."
He paused, then said somewhat awkwardly, "What I mean is, although I'm always bothering you, I absolutely never meant to treat you like a tool..."
It was clearly not a proper apology at all, but for some reason, Ouyang Lianyu's mood suddenly brightened.
She pushed up her glasses and said irritably, "If you hadn't said that, the teacher might not have thought that way."
Han Zhou chuckled awkwardly, but before he could speak, Ouyang Lianyu continued, "Besides, you guessed wrong. This isn't the main reason why the teacher is angry."
"is it?"
Han Zhou was stunned. He had been reflecting downstairs for so long, thinking he had grasped the crux of the problem, but wasn't this the main reason why Teacher Ouyang was angry? Had he done something else wrong?
Ouyang Lianyu straightened her posture slightly, deliberately put on a stern face, and looked over with the authoritative demeanor of a teacher: "The main reason why the teacher is angry is that you didn't put enough sugar in your coffee."
"Huh?" Han Zhou looked stunned.
But Ouyang Lianyu showed no intention of explaining. She kept a straight face and said in an unquestionable tone, "Next time you make coffee for the teacher, remember to add more sugar, understand?"
"I've got it..."
Han Zhou thought that Teacher Ouyang was giving him a way out, so he didn't try to brush it off with a joke, but asked seriously, "Then how much should we add?"
Seeing that his attitude was fairly proper, Ouyang Lianyu was finally satisfied. After thinking for a moment, she said, "It can't be too bitter, nor too sweet; just the right amount of sweetness is fine." Han Zhou's lips twitched: "Teacher Ouyang, I'm not a professional coffee brewer. To meet your standards, I'd have to taste it myself to know..."
"Then why don't you try it..."
Ouyang Lianyu spoke subconsciously, but suddenly remembered that the other person was making coffee for her. If he tasted it, it would be equivalent to the two of them indirectly kissing. So she quickly added, "Teacher doesn't care. You figure it out yourself."
"Okay..." Han Zhou smiled helplessly, "Then I'll go back to my dorm and practice."
He hates drinking coffee, but in order to gain Mr. Ouyang's "forgiveness," he plans to master the skills of making coffee as soon as possible.
Even if Teacher Ouyang wasn't really angry, and he certainly didn't intend to use Teacher Ouyang as a tool, he should still give something in return for troubling her time and time again.
It was lunchtime, and students were walking towards the teaching building in twos and threes, carrying their textbooks. Ouyang Lian smiled and nodded to the students who greeted her. After the crowd dispersed, she turned back, adjusted her glasses, and asked as if casually:
"You just said you didn't treat teachers as tools, so what do you... what do you treat me as?"
Han Zhou was taken aback, not expecting Teacher Ouyang to keep pressing this question. After a moment's hesitation, he tentatively answered, "Good friend?"
This time, Ouyang Lianyu didn't emphasize the teacher-student relationship, but asked with a puzzled look, "I'm a little curious, you have 'ordinary friends' with so many girls, why is it that I'm your 'good friend'?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly realized that her words seemed somewhat ambiguous. After all, in Han Zhou's eyes, "ordinary friend" meant a girl with an ambiguous relationship. So she quickly tried to salvage the situation, "Does the teacher mean that you have other good friends?"
Han Zhou thought for a moment and said, "If I had to name one, Lin Anyu would definitely be one, but he's not quite the same as you."
"What's different?" Ouyang Lianyu asked instinctively.
"The genders are different."
Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated, and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Lin Anyu and I are good brothers, but you can't be good brothers too, can you?"
"Of course not!"
Ouyang Lianyu glared at him, annoyed, and blurted out, "Even good siblings aren't allowed!"
"I never said I wanted to be your brother and sister..." Han Zhou said with a wry smile.
Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him: "What the teacher means is that even if the genders are different, there should be no difference between good friends."
"No, there are definitely differences."
Han Zhou shook his head. "And there's a big difference."
Ouyang Lianyu was very popular at school. After greeting wave after wave of students, she still wouldn't give up and continued to ask, "What's the difference?"
Han Zhou stared at her for two seconds, as if considering something, before finally saying, "If I tell you, teacher, you have to promise not to get angry."
Ouyang Lianyu was slightly taken aback. Although she didn't understand why, she still nodded: "Teacher promises."
"You absolutely won't get angry?"
"I will absolutely not get angry."
"All right……"
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, then finally lowered his voice and said, "The difference is actually very simple..."
He took a few steps back so that he could escape at any moment.
"I can get Lin Anyu to call me dad, but can you, teacher, call me dad?"
Ouyang Lianyu's breath hitched slightly, a blush instantly rose to her cheeks, and her chest heaved violently.
Call me...call me Dad?!
What kind of good friend is this?
She really wanted to grab Han Zhou's ear and give him a good scolding, but since she had promised not to get angry, she naturally couldn't lash out. It took her a lot of effort to calm herself down, and she forced a smile.
"Han Zhou, since we're good friends, you should cooperate well with the teacher in class today, right?"
"?"
Han Zhou's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition crept up on him.
……
It wasn't until the school bell rang that Han Zhou finally realized what "cooperating with the class" meant.
It turns out that during the few days he was away from school last week, the school updated the multimedia facilities in the classrooms one by one, but the equipment in the classroom they were using today had not yet been tested and was temporarily unusable.
Today's lesson, however, involves the derivation and proof of many formulas, which means that the dark green blackboard is destined to be filled with dense symbols.
then--
"Class, I injured my hand and can't write on the blackboard today, so I need someone to do it for me. Is there anyone willing?"
Ouyang Lianyu was very popular among the students. As soon as she finished speaking, nearly half of the students in the class raised their hands. However, Han Zhou knew very well that she was clearly targeting him, so he had no choice but to raise his hand despite his reluctance.
As expected, after pretending to survey the classroom, Ouyang Lianyu's gaze fell on him.
"Great, then Han Zhou, you can do it. The other students are also very enthusiastic. Thank you all."
Under the watchful eyes of his classmates, he could only force a composed smile and reluctantly walked onto the podium.
Perhaps sensing his reluctance, Ouyang Lianyu smiled slightly: "Han Zhou, you took so many days off last week, it's inevitable that you'll fall behind in some parts of the course. I'll take advantage of today's classes to help you catch up on what you've missed."
"Thank you, teacher."
Han Zhou picked up the chalk and thanked her honestly. He could tell that Teacher Ouyang was threatening him, saying that if he didn't cooperate, he wouldn't be able to ask for leave again.
"Alright, let's begin the lesson."
For the entire afternoon, Han Zhou stood on the podium writing on the blackboard, writing and erasing, erasing and writing again. Even though his physical fitness far exceeded that of ordinary people, his wrists were sore and stiff when the bell rang, which drew sympathetic glances from many classmates.
But he knew very well that he had brought this upon himself, so he remained silent all afternoon and did not protest. Only after most of his classmates had left did he shake his sore wrists and leave the classroom with Ouyang Lianyu.
The noise in the corridor gradually subsided, and the setting sun cast long shadows of the two people through the long corridor.
Seeing his grimacing expression, even though she couldn't tell if he was faking it or not, Ouyang Lianyu still felt a pang of sympathy. However, she didn't show it on her face and simply said, "So, will you still dare to joke around with your teacher in the future?"
"I won't do it again, I won't do it again," Han Zhou quickly admitted his mistake.
Whether or not we dare to do it in the future, we have to surrender obediently for now.
To avoid being forced to write on the blackboard again tomorrow, he took the opportunity to change the subject, saying, "By the way, why isn't Xiaoxiao here today? Did she take the day off too?"
Ouyang Lianyu paused, turned around, and asked a question that sent chills down Ouyang Lianyu's spine:
"Who is Xiaoxiao?" (End of Chapter)