Chapter 641
Equal Distribution of Rain and Dew
"Wow, it really snows this much in Lincheng..."
Chen Long stood on the lake shore, rubbing his hands together vigorously inside his sleeves, his breath instantly dispersed by the cold wind.
He gazed at the lake, tentatively stretched out his foot, and stepped on the solid ice. He clicked his tongue and said, "Even Angel Lake is frozen over. Even if there really are angels in the lake, they won't be able to fly out at night, right?"
"Why do you care whether angels can fly out or not?"
Chen Zheng was shivering from the cold. He pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and said impatiently, "Are you leaving or not? If not, I'll go to the cafeteria by myself."
Chen Long smiled subtly, touched his nose which was red from the cold, then put his hands in his pockets, looking nonchalant: "Go ahead, I'll wait for someone here."
"Waiting for whom?"
"My angel."
Chen Zheng was taken aback at first, then turned pale with shock: "You're going to jump into the lake?"
"Angel Lake is frozen over, what kind of lake am I supposed to jump into?" Chen Long said speechlessly.
"I'd rather believe you broke through the ice and jumped into the lake than believe an angel would come looking for you," Chen Zheng said expressionlessly.
Chen Long smiled but remained silent.
Seeing him shaking his head and looking smug, Chen Zheng couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed Chen Zheng's collar and said through gritted teeth, "I'm telling you... you don't actually have a girlfriend, do you?"
"Hey bro, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush."
Chen Long lightly brushed his hand away, his gaze sweeping across the lake into the distance, and he exhaled a breath of white air with feigned profundity.
"Today is Christmas Eve. In anime, this is comparable to Valentine's Day. On such a holiday, I don't believe that the girls who like me can still hold back."
Hearing this familiar rambling, Chen Zheng finally felt relieved: "So you're fantasizing that someone will give you a peace apple?"
"It's not just apples for peace, there's also chocolate," Chen Long corrected.
"If they wanted to deliver it, they would have done so long ago. Why would they wait until now?"
After all, they were roommates, and Chen Zheng couldn't bear to watch him stand there in the cold wind all afternoon, so he helplessly advised, "Stop daydreaming and come eat with me. It looks like we'll be spending Christmas together this year. How about we go to my place to play video games tonight?"
Chen Long shook his head slightly: "Hey bro, you don't understand, do you? Girls are shy creatures. When they like someone, they don't dare to make a move rashly. Even if there are holidays as cover, they will choose the safest time to make their move—such as when the two of them are alone."
Chen Zheng closed his eyes in anguish: "So many people in the classroom were exchanging 'peace apples' just now, how come I couldn't see them being shy?"
"So you don't understand? That's just a smokescreen."
Chen Long sighed, "Confessing your feelings requires strategy, especially on days like Christmas when anyone can easily slip through the cracks—"
"First, pretend to be a friend and give gifts to everyone around you in a generous manner, creating the illusion that 'I don't favor anyone.' Then, when it's just the two of you left, reveal your true feelings. This way, regardless of success or failure, whether you genuinely want to confess or are just testing the waters, it won't be too awkward. You can advance or retreat, attack or defend. I call this the 'equal distribution of affection confession method.'"
Chen Zheng felt increasingly exhausted as he listened: "Where did you learn all this from?"
Chen Long seemed not to hear him and continued, "However, this trick has a very obvious flaw. If a girl is usually quite familiar with you, but deliberately skips you when giving you a gift, then she probably likes you."
Chen Zheng was silent for a moment: "Is it possible that... you're not actually that familiar with them, and that it's just your one-sided misconception?"
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind, breaking the silence of the snow.
"Chen, Chen Long!"
The sound was clearly panting, as if they had run for a long time to catch up here. A girl wearing thin-rimmed glasses stopped in front of the two of them, her hands on her knees, panting heavily.
"I'm sorry to bother you... You're Chen Long, right?"
Chen Long first gave Chen Zheng a look that said, "See? I told you so," then smiled reservedly and said, "It's me. May I ask what's the matter?"
This was obviously a rhetorical question; he clearly saw the Christmas gift box the girl was hiding behind her back.
"Very good……"
The girl looked up at him, then quickly looked away, her expression slightly shy. After a while, she handed over the gift box. "Could...could you please give this to Han Zhou?"
The snow seemed to be falling even harder, and the smile on Chen Long's face froze.
Chen Zheng bit his lip hard to suppress his laughter.
"Hahaha, I was wondering why I'd never seen you before, turns out you're not in our class..."
Chen Long chuckled awkwardly to cover his embarrassment, "But since you know that Han Zhou and I are roommates, why don't you give him the gift yourself?"
"I... I heard from my friends... they all gave Han Zhou gifts today, but he didn't accept any of them. So I thought, if they were given to him through someone else, even if he wanted to refuse, he wouldn't be able to return them..."
Seeing the increasingly strange expressions on their faces, the girl quickly shook her head, her face flushed, and said, "Please don't misunderstand, I just want to make friends with Han Zhou..."
"Don't worry, we'll definitely hand it over to Han Zhou," Chen Zheng assured, suppressing a laugh.
"Thank you so much!"
The girl was overjoyed and bowed deeply to the two of them before fleeing as if she could escape, as if her feelings would not be taken back if she ran far enough.
"Such an anime-style girl, what a pity..." Chen Long shook his head and sighed, "By the way, do you know where Han Zhou went?"
Chen Zheng vigorously wiped his face, took out his phone and sent a message, replying, "It seems I was called to Teacher Ouyang's office."
Chen Long said "Oh," but he was still unwilling to give up and stubbornly stood in place, waiting for the next "angel" to arrive.
……
"Teacher Ouyang, you wanted to see me?"
Han Zhou pushed open the office door and immediately saw Ouyang Lianyu filling out a form on the computer.
"Do the teacher a favor."
Ouyang Lianyu pressed her temples and smiled wearily. "These forms are making me dizzy. Can you read them to me and I'll fill them into the computer?"
Han Zhou pulled over a chair and sat down, reaching out to take the stack of forms from her hands. He smiled and said, "No need, you rest for a while, I'll take care of it."
Ouyang Lianyu was slightly taken aback. Before she could refuse, she heard a few crisp "click-clack" sounds as Han Zhou skillfully began typing on the keyboard.
She opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing, simply gazing at him silently, gradually becoming lost in thought.
Noticing her gaze, Han Zhou asked, puzzled, "Teacher Ouyang, what's wrong?"
"nothing."
Ouyang Lianyu looked away, lowered her head to stir the now-cold coffee in her cup, and after a while casually asked, "Speaking of which... today is Christmas Eve, right? Do you have any plans?"
Han Zhou paused, stopped what he was doing, and looked over with a strange expression.
"Don't overthink it!"
Ouyang Lianyu quickly explained, "What the teacher means is that if you have other plans, you don't need to force yourself. These forms can't be filled out in a short time..."
Han Zhou sighed helplessly: "You knew you couldn't finish filling it out, yet you still called me over?"
Although he said that, he didn't seem to be leaving. While filling out the form, he said, "I don't have any plans for tonight. I might have to go to Sister Yin's place later."
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback: "Today is Christmas Eve, don't you need to spend time with Guzheng?"
"The New Year's Eve party is next week, and it seems there's been a problem with her performance. She has to work on rehearsals recently and won't be free until tomorrow."
"What about Wang Lengqiu?"
"The lab project is nearing completion, and I won't be free until tomorrow."
Ouyang Lianyu was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but tease, "So, you're a busy person who's juggling three relationships, and you're going to be single tonight?"
"Don't you still have your 'ex-girlfriend'?" Han Zhou said without changing his expression.
He and Ouyang Lianyu had pretended to be a couple for a period of time, and with the end of that relationship, they naturally became each other's "exes".
Ouyang Lianyu blushed slightly and said angrily, "You're making fun of the teacher again!"
"You made fun of me first."
Han Zhou was somewhat absent-minded and replied casually, "Besides, Teacher Ouyang, Christmas in the traditional sense has nothing to do with Valentine's Day. Young people may not understand, but don't you understand?"
Ouyang Lianyu paused in her coffee-stirring motion, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "You mean, the teacher is very old, an old relic?"
For a girl, topics related to age are obviously not suitable for jokes. Although she did not get angry, her usually smiling eyes clearly dimmed.
"Of course not!"
Han Zhou realized he was in trouble and quickly tried to salvage the situation, "What I mean is... what I mean is... Professor Ouyang, are you free tonight?"
Ouyang Lianyu was taken aback, her heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, and then she frowned slightly: "You wouldn't be thinking of asking the teacher to spend Christmas Eve with you, would you?" Honestly, Gu Zheng and Wang Lengqiu are both busy, so you've come up with this idea to her? Do you really think she'll be soft-hearted?
Han Zhou chuckled awkwardly, "I wanted you to drive me somewhere."
The air suddenly became quiet.
Ouyang Lianyu's expression remained unchanged, but it was obvious that she was angry. She took out her keys from her bag and placed them on the table, then took off her glasses and stopped looking at him: "Don't you know how to drive?"
"I don't have a driver's license..."
"If you had a driver's license, you wouldn't have come to see the teacher, right?"
"That's not true, after all, I don't own a car."
"you!"
Ouyang Lianyu took a deep breath and pushed the car keys on the table in front of him. "Then take the car keys. Consider it a gift from your teacher. You don't need to come looking for me anymore."
Han Zhou was stunned for a moment, then finally realized that Teacher Ouyang seemed to feel like she was being used as a tool again, and quickly explained, "Teacher Ouyang, you must have misunderstood..."
What's the misunderstanding?
"Well, I mainly didn't want to trouble you..."
"Don't use the formal 'you'! Besides, how do you know I'd find it troublesome if you didn't even ask?"
"Then I'll ask now."
Han Zhou asked cautiously, "Teacher Ouyang...would you find it troublesome to drive me?"
"meeting."
Ouyang Lianyu, sulking, turned her head completely to one side and said in a huff, "Teacher is an old woman. She's so old and has never spent Christmas Eve with anyone. She's even being laughed at by her students. I have to go on a date with someone today. I don't have time to take you."
Han Zhou's lips twitched, and he quietly moved his face closer to sniff carefully, but he could only smell a faint fragrance of hair: "Teacher Ouyang, you haven't been drinking again, have you?"
"Does eating a few pieces of liqueur-filled chocolates count as drinking alcohol?"
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "With your drinking capacity, perhaps it really counts."
"you!"
Just kidding.
Han Zhou dared not tease her any longer and quickly said, "Teacher Ouyang, if you want to go on a date, why not just ask me? You can also give me a ride, and everyone will be happy."
He thought Ouyang Lianyu would blush and retort angrily, saying, "Who would go on a date with you?" But to his surprise, she only remained silent for a moment: "Are you sure you're not just giving me a ride and then going on a date with me?"
"This is definitely because he's been drinking..." Han Zhou had a headache and had to lower his tone, saying sincerely, "Teacher Ouyang, how about you name your terms? You don't have to see me off tonight. You can do whatever you want. A date, right? I'll go with you, okay?"
Ouyang Lianyu remained silent.
"Teacher Ouyang?"
"Teacher Ouyang?"
"I'm angry, but please don't ignore me."
Ouyang Lianyu remained silent, only showing him the back of her head.
"Teacher Ouyang, you forced me to do this..."
Seeing that the other party refused to pay attention to him, Han Zhou sighed and had no choice but to gather his energy in his dantian and take a deep breath:
"Teacher Ouyang, please go on a date with me!"
Why are you shouting so loudly!
Ouyang Lianyu finally reacted, hurriedly turning her head to look over and reaching out to cover his mouth.
Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Han Zhou grabbed her wrist and shrugged, saying, "If you ignore me, I'll keep shouting."
He sharpened his hearing, having carefully listened to the sounds outside the office, and knew there was no one nearby; otherwise, he wouldn't have been shouting.
Ouyang Lianyu couldn't see the expression on his face, but she suddenly calmed down, silently picked up her glasses and put them on: "Then keep shouting. Aren't you afraid that Guzheng and the others will come after you? Aren't you afraid that people will find out that a student is harassing me?"
He seemed completely unmoved by reason or persuasion.
Han Zhou was completely at a loss.
Is a woman's age really such a taboo subject that can't be touched? Even someone as strong-willed as Teacher Ouyang would get this angry if someone dared to joke about it?
He sighed helplessly, "Professor Ouyang, you've been so troublesome today."
"The teacher is just that kind of troublesome old woman."
Although she was still saying angry things, Ouyang Lianyu finally looked at him properly, then lowered her head, opened the drawer, and took out a Christmas gift box.
"Take it."
Han Zhou was stunned. He really couldn't understand Teacher Ouyang today. He didn't understand why she was so angry, and he didn't understand why she suddenly calmed down.
He took the gift box. He had seen many similar gift boxes before and knew that they contained peace apples, but such a large box was rare. It was similar to the one Yixia gave him last week.
"Are they all gifts for me? Thank you, Teacher Ouyang."
Ouyang Lianyu almost laughed at his shamelessness: "You deliver these to Guzheng and the others for me, and the rest are yours."
"Can't you deliver it yourself?"
"I am a teacher."
Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him, "If you've given them to these students, does that mean the other students should receive them too?"
"That's true..."
Han Zhou nodded, then opened the gift box, took out a peace apple, placed it in her palm, and said sincerely, "Teacher Ouyang, this peace apple is for you."
Ouyang Lianyu's brain froze for two seconds: "You're giving me the apple I gave you?"
"Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it."
Han Zhou said with a headache, "I've received so many apples lately. Apart from Gu Zheng and Senior Wang Lengqiu, who only gave me one each, everyone else gave me apples by the box, just like you. I can't possibly eat them all by myself."
Although she could understand, Ouyang Lianyu still felt a strange emptiness in her heart upon learning that the other party hadn't prepared anything. She accepted the peace apple without saying much, but then took out half a box of liqueur-filled chocolates from the drawer and casually said:
"This box of chocolates is too much for the teacher to finish by herself, so you can have it."
"Thank you, Teacher Ouyang."
Han Zhou immediately accepted it, fearing that if she ate the remaining half box of chocolates, she would be charged with drunk driving when she drove home that night.
Time slipped away with each tap, and the sky outside the window had long since turned as dark as ink.
About an hour later, the keyboard noise finally stopped. Han Zhou stretched and twisted his sore neck.
He turned his head and found that Ouyang Lianyu had fallen asleep on the table beside him at some point. Her breathing was even, and a few strands of hair clung to her cheeks, rising and falling slightly with her breath.
He gently touched the other person's arm and said in a very soft voice, "Teacher Ouyang, I've finished filling out the form."
"Um……"
Ouyang Lianyu opened her eyes groggily, propped herself up, her glasses slipped half an inch off her nose, her eyes still a little unfocused, "...Sorry, I accidentally fell asleep."
"It's nothing. I told you to rest, there shouldn't be anything else, right?"
"that's all, thanks."
"Let's go then."
Han Zhou packed his things, turned off the computer, and then got up and left the office.
Ouyang Lianyu rubbed her face, sat down and slowly tidied the table. After thinking for a moment, she stuffed the lonely apple on the table into her bag, but did not get up for a long time.
Today is a holiday, and the school is bustling with activity both inside and outside. She wants to stay at school a little longer rather than go back to her quiet home early.
Just then, the office door was pushed open again, and a sudden gust of cold wind rushed in, causing her to shiver. Turning her head, she saw Han Zhou peeking out with half his head:
"Teacher Ouyang, aren't you leaving yet?"
"Where to?" she asked, puzzled.
"Didn't we agree to go on a date?" (End of Chapter)