Chapter 637
Cheers
For a fleeting moment, Han Zhou almost wanted to tell Gu Zheng everything he had been hiding, including Mo Yixia, Wang Lengqiu, and even the status bar.
The thought even flashed through his mind: given Guzheng's current state, if he confessed everything at this moment, even if she was still angry, she might forgive him out of pity.
But that's too despicable.
This is the simplest method, but also the most shameless. Even if it could get Guzheng to compromise for a moment, he would never use such a trick.
In the end, he simply concealed the expression in his eyes and softly replied, "Okay."
After a moment's hesitation, he couldn't help but ask, "When you went to my house today, didn't you notice anything else?"
"You mean that nightgown?"
Gu Zheng sniffed, rubbed her cheek against his chest a couple of times, and when she looked up again, her eyes had become sharp. "Those are Mo Yixia's pajamas, aren't they?"
Sure enough, she couldn't have missed seeing the cat-ear pajamas. The reason she hadn't mentioned it was simply because it wasn't a higher priority than her terminal illness.
Han Zhou nodded.
"I knew it."
Gu Zheng sneered, "I knew it! How could you possibly send me the key and ask me to come to your house to get your clothes? It was definitely that guy's scheme."
Han Zhou was taken aback. Although in a sense this was indeed Mo Yixia's conspiracy, Gu Zheng seemed to have misunderstood something.
"I've checked it."
Gu Zheng gritted her teeth and said, "That nightgown is brand new, I bet she's never even worn it. If she wanted to wash it, she didn't need to bring it to your house to wash it. It's obvious that she deliberately left it at your house for me to see, just to annoy me. Humph, does she think I'd fall for that?"
"Actually..." Han Zhou forced himself to speak, "I took that nightgown home to wash it..."
Do you think I can't see it?
Gu Zheng glared at him. "Your balcony not only has pajamas hanging out to dry, but also your clothes. Besides, the smell of shower gel on you is so strong, it's obvious you just got home this morning and took a shower and washed your clothes at the same time."
"Hmph, if I didn't know you were with Lin Anyu yesterday, I would have suspected that you went to a hotel with that guy last night and took another shower so that I could smell her scent on you."
Han Zhou broke out in a cold sweat. The guzheng was indeed terrifying when it got serious; she had guessed almost everything correctly.
But... what does "if not" mean? Shouldn't it be like this?
Guzheng continued, "You ran into that guy on your way home this morning, right? Let me guess, did she force this pajama set on you and make you wash it for her no matter what?"
Han Zhou nodded with a strange expression.
In fact, Gu Zheng's guess was completely correct. If we ignore the fact that he and Mo Yixia really spent the night together last night, we can say that what she said was the truth.
But she simply overlooked this point.
Han Zhou wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but whether Gu Zheng didn't want to argue with him, the "patient," or didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, or was genuinely unaware, Han Zhou subconsciously felt it was best not to expose her for the time being.
These peaceful days probably won't last much longer; at least for today, he doesn't want to see the guzheng cry anymore.
Seeing that Guzheng didn't press the matter further, he thought for a moment and then asked in a low voice, "Guzheng, what should we do if the test results are all normal later?"
"What do you mean, 'what to do'? Do you want to be abnormal?"
"What I mean is, do you still stand by what you just said, like telling me to press it back or something..."
"You still have the mind to think about this!"
Gu Zheng's face instantly flushed red, the flush spreading down to her neck. She struggled for a while, finally gritting her teeth, looking like she was going all out, but her voice was extremely weak:
"I...I can only promise not to hit you when the time comes..."
Han Zhou chuckled and gently pulled the girl into his arms. She struggled symbolically for a moment, then stopped moving, pressing her cheek against his chest and continuing to listen to his strong heartbeat.
"Guzheng (Chinese zither)".
"What's wrong now?"
"Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"There are too many, so many that I don't even know where to begin."
The girl gave a soft "humph": "Then pick the most important one to talk about."
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "Thank you for letting me put it back?"
"Stinking rogue!"
After a long wait, the report finally came out at 4 p.m.
The result was somewhat unusual.
It wasn't that any of Han Zhou's indicators were abnormal, but rather that compared to the prevalent sub-healthy population, his health was excessively good.
Gu Zheng clutched the report and examined it for a long time. She then consulted several doctors to verify its authenticity until she completely ruled out the possibility that "Han Zhou bribed the doctors to deceive her." Only then did she turn around and run into the bathroom.
Suppressed sobs could be heard coming from inside the door.
Han Zhou leaned against the wall, pretending not to hear anything, and just quietly watched the setting sun outside the window.
The snow outside had long since stopped, and the sky was clear and bright, but this brief clearing was just an illusion. He knew that before long, a real, overwhelming snowfall would begin.
The sound of running water in the bathroom stopped.
After a long time, Guzheng finally opened the door and came out.
His eyes were red, and the tip of his nose was red, as if he had just come through a biting cold wind, but his eyes were bright.
"Let's go home."
"So early?" Han Zhou was taken aback. "Aren't you going for a walk?"
"Have you forgotten? Teacher Ouyang and the others are still waiting for us at home."
Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him, then dragged him toward the elevator. "Besides, if we don't go back soon, my parents will have already cooked dinner."
"What, are you going to cook for yourself today?" Han Zhou joked.
Didn't I say I'd make you fried rice?
"I don't remember us ever making such an agreement..."
"Are you going to eat?"
"eat."
"Then stop with the nonsense."
The elevator doors opened, and the two stepped inside. Just as they pressed the button for the first floor, a nurse rushed towards them pushing a trolley.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
Gu Zheng pressed the door open button and only released it after the nurse came in.
"Thank you, little sister."
The nurse smiled and thanked her, then saw Han Zhou standing next to the guzheng. Her eyes widened, and she blurted out, "How are you still alive?"
She immediately realized her mistake and apologized repeatedly: "I'm sorry, you look so much like a patient from two years ago... I remember Dr. Xiao said that he wouldn't survive that winter, and at most he would live for another year. I accidentally mistook you for him."
Han Zhou's lips twitched: "You're not mistaken, I am that patient, but it was a misdiagnosis."
He didn't remember the nurse at all, but who knew she would remember him for so long. "Really?" the nurse exclaimed in surprise. "That's wonderful! You refused to get treatment back then, and I thought you were giving up on life. Turns out you knew your body well."
"What does 'giving up on oneself' mean?" Guzheng suddenly interjected.
"Uh...sorry, I've arrived!"
The elevator stopped on the second floor. Under Han Zhou's resentful gaze, the nurse fled in a panic, pushing her cart and disappearing at the end of the corridor.
Gu Zheng's gaze returned to Han Zhou.
Han Zhou looked up at the sky, then suddenly a thoughtful expression appeared on his face: "Strange...don't you think that nurse looks a little familiar?"
"Stop changing the subject!" Gu Zheng glared at him irritably.
"I'm not trying to change the subject, I really think she looks familiar..."
Gu Zheng took a deep breath, her anger turning into a forced laugh: "There are some things I didn't want to ask, but since you insist on pretending..."
She grabbed Han Zhou's ear and asked through gritted teeth, "Tell me! Why does that guy have a key to your house!"
……
Gu Zheng ultimately failed to make Han Zhou a plate of fried rice with eggs as she had hoped.
When the two returned home, Gu Lang had just come back from work. He had brought his leftover lunch to work and fed it to several stray dogs that frequented the area.
Gu Zheng, unwilling to give up, went to the kitchen and rummaged through everything, while Han Zhou stayed in the living room, examining the bottle of wine on the coffee table.
The deep amber bottle has thick, solid lines, and the label is an old version with gold foil stamping, the edges of which are slightly curled up, as if it has been rubbed by time.
Through the glass, the wine was clear and bright, with a warm, honey-colored halo in the evening light, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary product.
"Uncle Gu, is this the good wine you were talking about?"
"How is it? Doesn't it look good? This is..."
Gu Lang smiled smugly, then suddenly remembered something and said with a straight face, "Don't get any funny ideas, kid. Gu Zheng said you're not allowed to drink, so you're not getting a drop tonight, understand?"
"I've never been interested in alcohol," Han Zhou shrugged, looking worried. "I'm just concerned that this liquor is too strong. What if everyone gets drunk tonight?"
"So what if you're drunk? These days, if you don't get drunk a few times, who's willing to tell the truth?" Gu Lang waved his hand dismissively.
Han Zhou sighed helplessly: "Uncle Gu, Gu Zheng is going to drink tonight too."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lang, who was a doting father to his daughter, changed his expression. He hurriedly held the bottle up to his eyes to check the alcohol content. After a while, he breathed a sigh of relief and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, the alcohol content is low. You won't get drunk."
He squinted suspiciously and asked, "Why are your ears red, kid?"
"It's frozen," Han Zhou said without changing his expression.
Despite his perfectly reasonable explanation for why Mo Yixia had a key to his house, Gu Zheng was still not satisfied, and made both of his ears turn red from the cold.
"Are you sure it wasn't twisted by the guzheng?"
"Your insight is truly remarkable."
"Hmph, do you think I survived my youth like that?"
Gu Lang looked smug; anyone who didn't know better would think he was reminiscing about some glorious past.
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "Aren't you enduring it too?"
Gu Lang's smile froze. He raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when Gu Zheng walked out of the kitchen looking unhappy: "Dad, did you really pack up all the leftovers and take them away?"
"Yes what's the matter?"
"Could you hurry back to the office and snatch the leftovers back from those stray dogs?"
Gu Lang and Han Zhou's lips twitched simultaneously.
Han Zhou had no desire to eat the fried rice he'd snatched from a dog's mouth, so he quickly changed the subject: "Where are Sister Miao and the others?"
"Where else could we go? We went shopping, of course."
Gu Lang pulled a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth but didn't light it, and asked, "Where did you two go this afternoon?"
“We went shopping too,” Guzheng replied.
Since Han Zhou's illness was misdiagnosed, there's no need to make it public knowledge, lest it cause everyone worry.
Gu Lang remained noncommittal, simply asking casually, "You didn't have a fight, did you?"
"What's there to argue about?" Guzheng rolled her eyes.
"It's good that we didn't argue."
After a pause, Gu Lang said earnestly, "Han Zhou, Gu Zheng has always been bad with words. If you two ever argue, you have to be understanding with her. But if you ever get into a physical fight..."
"Does she have to give in to me?" Han Zhou continued.
"What a pipe dream you're having."
Gu Lang lit a cigarette and said irritably, "If Gu Zheng really had the heart to hit you, it would only mean you did something that would incur the wrath of heaven and earth. Forget about letting you have your way, your sister Miao and I would be lucky if we didn't join her in beating you up."
He took a deep drag of his cigarette, the sparks flickering, and exhaled a large smoke ring.
"What I mean is, you'd better not let the guzheng down."
This was the first time he had said something so entrusting in front of the two of them.
Despite his sharp tongue, he was quite satisfied with the kid. More importantly, the kid liked the guzheng, which was no easy feat. If he missed this opportunity, he would never get another chance.
Even if you have a bad habit of being unfaithful, as long as you can change it, it's not a big problem. Young people are normal to have a few distracting thoughts sometimes. Didn't I go through the same thing back then?
"Dad, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Gu Zheng blushed slightly and quickly pushed him into the kitchen. "I told you to smoke less. Hurry up and cook. I haven't seen you cook at noon."
Gu Lang gripped the door frame tightly with both hands, turned back to give Han Zhou a deep look, and left with the words, "I've been watching you the whole time," before reluctantly entering the kitchen.
Before long, Miao Yan'er returned home with a group of girls, each carrying large and small shopping bags, and they also bought a lot of braised dishes.
The living room suddenly became lively. Wang Runxue clamored to play Truth or Dare again, but Han Zhou dared not agree. Fortunately, Miao Yan'er also wanted to join in the fun. Wang Runxue was afraid that the elders would see those messy questions, so she had no choice but to give up and instead play the Werewolf game that she had just bought that afternoon.
The noise and laughter didn't last long before dusk quietly enveloped the entire city, and the light outside the window gradually dimmed from a clear honey color until it turned into a calm inky black.
The aroma of food wafting from the kitchen gradually intensified, dispelling the chill of the winter evening. Miao Yan'er and the girls filled the table with braised dishes, and the last hot dish cooked by Gu Lang was also served.
The living room was brightly lit, casting a soft glow on everyone's silhouette.
At dinner time, as soon as everyone sat down, Gu Lang opened the bottle of baijiu that he regarded as a treasure.
The rich aroma of wine instantly filled the steaming table, overpowering the fragrance of the braised dishes and rice.
He poured half a glass of wine for everyone except Han Zhou and Wang Runxue.
"Cheers." He raised his glass.
"Cheers!" (End of Chapter)