Chapter 625
Snow
Even after dinner, the group chat remained quiet, with no one saying a word.
Han Zhou was in a state of turmoil, completely unable to figure out Gu Zheng's intentions. It was obviously impossible for this matter to be over so easily. After thinking it over, he could only attribute it to the fact that he had just "underwent surgery," which was why Gu Zheng had temporarily held back and not held a grudge against him.
Do I need to remind you one more time? When you're with me, you can only have me in your eyes and heart.
In the elevator, Mo Yixia stood with her hands in her pockets, her tone indifferent, "You've even forgotten this? That's the main reason I'm unhappy today."
After dinner, they strolled around the streets for a while. Having completed her task, Zhang Meng went home alone, while the two of them found a hotel that was quite far from their apartment complex. They were currently in the elevator going up.
Han Zhou gave an awkward smile: "You can even tell that?"
"You even dare to admit this?" Mo Yixia glanced at him.
"Whether I admit it or not, it's all the same, you can guess what I'm thinking anyway..."
"Do you think this is a good thing?"
"Feel sorry."
The elevator doors opened on the seventeenth floor, and the two stepped out of the elevator and arrived at room 1708, where they used their room cards to open the door.
The suite was spacious and bright, with a huge round bed in the center. Han Zhou's gaze swept over it, and his heart beat faster for no reason. He secretly glanced at the girl's face beside him.
Mo Yixia's gaze also fell on the huge round bed, as if she was checking if the sheets were brand new. She clearly didn't even glance at him, yet she seemed to see right through him: "If you want to know if I'm so nervous that my heart is racing, you can touch it and see."
He then sat down on the bed.
Han Zhou turned on the air conditioner, checked around the room, then drew the curtains before sitting down next to the girl. He reached out and held her hand, while placing his other hand on her slender, fair wrist.
He did intend to feel it, but he was going to feel Mo Yixia's pulse.
"His audacity in lust has grown."
Mo Yixia raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her tone carrying a hint of disdain, "Unfortunately, she hasn't improved much."
Han Zhou ignored her, his fingertips sliding up and down her soft skin, carefully feeling the girl's pulse. He was somewhat surprised to find that it seemed to be no different from usual.
Doesn't this guy feel shy at all?
No… He was quite certain that Mo Yixia could blush at times, and her current calmness could only mean that the mere act of touching her hand was not enough to disturb her thoughts.
But what if we go a step further...?
No, no, what am I thinking? I didn't actually come to a hotel with Yixia...
Suppressing his chaotic thoughts, Han Zhou still held Mo Yixia's soft, boneless hand tightly, but his expression had become serious: "Yixia, about me and Wang Leng..."
"Shut up."
Mo Yixia interrupted him, pulled her hand away from his, and stood up, saying, "We'll talk about it later."
"What happened after that?" Han Zhou asked blankly.
Mo Yixia ignored his feigned ignorance, took off her mask and baseball cap and placed them on the table, took off her coat, and took out her newly bought pajamas from the shopping bag: "I'm going to take a shower first."
He then walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
Han Zhou hesitated for a few seconds, then got up and walked to the bathroom door, wanting to say something.
Before he could even speak, Mo Yixia's lazy voice came from inside the bathroom: "The door isn't locked, come in and talk."
The frosted glass casts an ambiguous light and shadow, and a slender figure slowly sheds her clothes under the warm yellow light.
He caught his breath and practically fled in panic.
Before long, the bathroom was filled with steam.
Amidst the pattering sound of water, the girl clicked her tongue softly.
……
The lights of the tall buildings in the distance were sparse, and the dim streetlights cast a pale glow in the dry, cold air. On this winter night, there were not many pedestrians on campus. Occasionally, you could see young couples walking by, cuddling each other, looking particularly intimate in the cold wind.
Xiao Xiaoxiao yawned, tightened the scarf around her neck, buried half of her face in it, and sat on the bench for a while before seeing Guzheng come out of the training room.
"Guzheng, over here!" she immediately called out.
Gu Zheng paused, turned around, and asked in surprise, "Xiao Xiao, what are you doing here?"
"I just happened to be passing by and remembered that you might still be training, so I came to check on you," Xiao Xiaoxiao said with a smile.
"This is the playground, far from the dormitories and classrooms. How did you end up passing by here?"
"I've been exercising lately, didn't you know?"
Gu Zheng paused, then said, "I really don't know..."
She and Xiao Xiaoxiao had a good relationship, but they mostly met in person and rarely chatted online. Therefore, she mostly heard about each other's recent situations from Han Zhou.
Xiao Xiaoxiao touched the peach blossom earring on her earlobe, while covering her ears which were red from the cold, and stood up and said, "I've been sick a lot lately. The doctor said my constitution is too weak and told me to exercise more and take better care of my body."
Gu Zheng knew that Xiao Xiaoxiao had been catching colds recently, and she suggested, "The weather is so cold now, there's no need to come to the playground to exercise. There are plenty of indoor exercises available."
"I'm tired of staying indoors."
Xiao Xiaoxiao lowered her head, still burying half of her face in her scarf, "While I can still run around now, I want to run more on the playground."
"Does that mean you can't be lively and energetic anymore?" Gu Zheng asked curiously.
"of course not."
Xiao Xiaoxiao looked up at me with a bright smile, "What I mean is, it's better to exercise more before I become lazy."
Gu Zheng laughed along, her eyes curving into crescents: "Then why don't you run with me tonight? With me keeping an eye on you, you won't become lazy."
As night deepened and the temperature dropped further, it seemed to freeze even the hazy moonlight. The two walked side by side toward their dormitory.
"Forget it, you should keep a close eye on Han Zhou. That guy is the one who needs to exercise the most."
"Why do you say that?"
"You can tell just by looking at his face. Nobody's always looking sickly." Xiao Xiaoxiao yawned, her tone seemingly a little dissatisfied.
Gu Zheng knew that Xiao Xiaoxiao and Han Zhou had always been at odds and would bicker every time they met, so she didn't take these words to heart and just thought it was Xiao Xiaoxiao's usual sharp tongue.
She had suspected before that Han Zhou might have some serious illness, but a physical examination was required before the college entrance examination. After the exam, she dragged Han Zhou to the hospital, but both examinations showed normal results, so she dispelled her doubts.
She suddenly asked, "Han Zhou said in the group chat today that you always secretly kick him during class, is that true?"
Xiao Xiaoxiao's expression froze, and she subconsciously shrank her neck: "Are you going to avenge him?"
Gu Zheng shook her head, then suddenly pouted, "Next time, you can kick it a few more times for me."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was taken aback, pretended to think for a while, and then suddenly realized: "You really saw that guy pull Mo Yixia into the group."
The guzheng remained silent.
She wasn't blind, nor was she a busy person who never checked her phone all day. Of course, she saw that Han Zhou had added Mo Yixia to the group, and she also saw that Han Zhou later changed the group's name. The reason she hadn't paid any attention to it was because she felt it was unnecessary.
Everyone, including Han Zhou, seemed to think she would be angry, which is why they remained silent, but in fact, she wasn't angry at all.
As for why she wasn't angry, she wasn't quite sure herself.
Maybe it's because I'm about to confess my feelings?
Just as one becomes more relaxed as an exam approaches, she becomes calmer as the time to confess her feelings draws nearer, as still as the surface of Angel Lake on this winter night.
Moreover, this group was created accidentally this morning, and judging from the group name that Han Zhou changed later, he obviously added that guy to the group because of that matter.
Han Zhou might not say anything because he wanted her to ask him, but she wasn't going to ask. She wanted to see if he would come up with an explanation for her.
Seeing that Gu Zheng didn't answer for a long time, Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't press the matter, but changed the subject: "I heard from Han Zhou that you will be dancing at this year's New Year's Eve party. Has the selection process ended?"
"ended."
Gu Zheng slightly puffed out her chest and smiled, saying, "I am the lead dancer."
The moment the words left his mouth, even the dim yellow light of the streetlights seemed to brighten a bit.
His tone was relaxed, with a hint of barely suppressed pride and joy, as if he had completely forgotten the hardships and sacrifices behind it all.
She wasn't particularly talented in dancing, but her hard work over this period of time was so impressive that even the senior students had to admit it, which is why she was chosen as the lead dancer.
"congratulations."
Xiao Xiao buried her face in her scarf and chuckled softly.
"Thank you."
Gu Zheng exhaled a puff of white mist, which swirled in the cold wind like an ice flower that bloomed for a moment and then withered away in an instant.
The conversation from that ball flashed through my mind again—
"Just wait, I'll be performing at the year-end party. I'm sure I'll beat all the senior students and become the absolute star of the show!"
"Then I must sit in the first row to watch it."
With only half a month left until New Year's Day, she had already achieved more than half of her goal. If Han Zhou didn't keep his promise to sit in the front row at that time, she would definitely beat him up.
It has little to do with whether or not a promise is kept.
Rather, it's because—
If nothing unexpected happens... they would have already become a couple by then.
Couple.
Just by silently repeating it in my mind, a wave of emotion suddenly surged in my chest.
Without needing to imagine any scenario, just a single, ordinary word made her fingertips tremble slightly, and even her ears felt a strange heat rising to them.
To hide her excitement, she quickly turned her head away: "Xiaoxiao, I made a promise with Han Zhou. He has to sit in the first row of the audience to watch me dance on New Year's Day. If he doesn't show up then, you can beat him up for me."
Xiao Xiaoxiao was stunned: "Why do I have to do it?"
"I'm wearing a skirt that day, so it won't be very convenient."
“Okay…” Xiao Xiaoxiao nodded with a troubled expression.
She paused, then added, "And you, will you break your promise?"
Gu Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, her eyes curving into beautiful crescent moons.
"of course not."
As soon as she finished speaking, a series of exclamations suddenly came from afar. At the same time, Guzheng felt a slight chill on the back of her hand, as if someone had gently poked her with their fingertip.
She instinctively opened her palm.
Looking down, a small hexagonal ice flower lay quietly in the lines of my palm. Before I could even see its edges clearly, it was melted into a transparent water stain by my body heat.
She looked up in surprise and realized that the originally dark and dull night sky had turned a hazy gray-white at some point, and fine snowflakes were falling from above. There was no wind, and they fell straight and quietly into the halo of streetlights.
This is the first snowfall of the winter.
This is also the first snowfall in Lincheng in nearly ten years.
Snowflakes drifted through the bare branches of the sycamore trees, landing on Xiao Xiaoxiao's earring beneath her hair, and on the two of them's heavy coats, shattering into tiny stardust under the dim light.
Even though there were noisy voices in the distance, the world seemed to have been muted, with only the soft rustling of snowflakes hitting the ground.
"It's snowing so early!"
Xiao Xiaoxiao tilted her head back, her murmurs drifting out from above her scarf. A few snowflakes fell into the corners of her slightly curved eyes. Just as she was about to raise her hand to wipe them away, the icy touch melted into a drop of water, quietly hanging on the edge of her eyelashes.
……
On the dormitory balcony, Wang Lengqiu stood by the railing, reached out and caught a falling snowflake, then lowered her head and quietly watched the snowflake melt in her palm, lost in thought.
At the same time, Ouyang Lianyu's car slowly stopped in front of Zhong Ling's pastry shop. As she opened the car door, a few snowflakes landed on her hair and shoulders.
"It's snowing..."
She murmured to herself, looked up at the night sky, and felt a little worried. After the snow, the roads would only become more slippery, and tomorrow's journey would probably not be as smooth as she had imagined.
Oh well, I guess I'll just treat it as a test...
As she thought about it, she picked up her bag from the seat, closed the car door, shook the snowflakes off her coat, and pushed the door open to walk into the pastry shop.
Warm light and a sweet fragrance wafted over. Zhong Ling was busy tidying up the counter. When she saw her come in, her eyes lit up and she quickly wiped her hands to greet her.
"Teacher Ouyang, what brings you here?"
Ouyang Lianyu couldn't hear her voice, but she could guess what she wanted to say. A gentle smile appeared on her face: "I just got off work. I still have some work to finish. I was planning to go home and work overtime, but I just happened to be passing by, so I came in and sat down."
In order to have free time tomorrow, she had to finish all her work ahead of schedule, even if it meant staying up a little later tonight.
Zhong Ling nodded repeatedly, brought over a chair, a cup of hot water, and some freshly made pastries, gesturing for her to sit wherever she pleased.
"Thank you."
Ouyang Lianyu didn't stand on ceremony and said with a smile, "If you're not in a hurry to rest, may I finish my work here before leaving?"
Since Han Zhou left home, she seems to have gradually become less accustomed to living alone. When she is alone in an empty room, she is always enveloped by an inexplicable sense of loneliness, especially on snowy nights like this.
“Of course.” Zhong Ling nodded vigorously.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Ouyang Lianyu gently placed the water glass and pastries on the table, took out her laptop from her bag, and as the screen lit up, she seemed to suddenly remember something and asked, "By the way, where's your sister?"
Zhong Ling glanced at the snow falling outside the window, hesitated for a moment, then took out her phone and typed a line of text into the chat input box.
"I don't know why, but my sister suddenly seems a little unhappy..." (End of Chapter)