Chapter 652
The Liar
The snow was still falling, in large flakes, immersing the entire city in a somber gray-white. The glow of the streetlights was shattered by the flying snow, swaying in the cold wind like candle flames about to burn out.
Gu Zheng walked forward without looking back, the snow under her feet making a fine but clear "crunch" sound, which sounded particularly jarring in the empty street.
Even more jarring was the sound of footsteps that kept following behind.
Even without turning around, she knew Han Zhou was following her.
She walked outside for half an hour, and he followed behind for half an hour, neither getting close nor saying a word, just silently following.
"Dude, I've seen you following this girl the whole way. Are you some kind of pervert?"
Occasionally, such sounds could be heard behind me, and the footsteps would stop. After the commotion subsided, the footsteps would resume, neither too close nor too far, like an inescapable shadow.
Gu Zheng pulled up the collar of her down jacket, covering most of her face, leaving only her eyes reddened by the wind.
She deliberately took a detour into a more secluded alley, where the snow was thicker and the sound of her footsteps was heavier. Sure enough, the footsteps behind her followed.
She took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and turned around abruptly.
"How long are you going to follow me?"
The alley was deserted, and snowflakes swirled under the dim streetlights. Han Zhou stood about seven or eight steps away from her, his shoulders covered in snow.
"Next Christmas," he said.
"You're going to stay with me for a whole year?"
“If I let you leave this time,” Han Zhou countered with a question, “I’ll never see you again, right?”
The guzheng remained silent for a moment, offering no reply, then turned and continued forward, its voice muffled:
"If you like it, then keep following along."
Han Zhou knew very well that if Gu Zheng really didn't want him to follow her, she should have turned back to school long ago, instead of wandering aimlessly in the snowstorm like this.
But he didn't point it out. He simply maintained the same distance as before and continued to follow the other person silently.
The winter night of Christmas was cold, but there were many kind-hearted people. Along the way, Han Zhou was stopped and questioned by several groups of people. Strangely, as long as he explained a few words in a low voice, they would immediately let him go.
Gu Zheng strained his ears, but couldn't hear anything. The wind and snow were too loud, and his voice was too soft. The short distance seemed to be separated into two worlds by the heavy snow.
As long as he can resist turning back, his existence will be completely swallowed up by this heavy snow.
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind—if they never saw each other again, would she really be able to forget him?
But even faster than the thought came was a surge of sorrow.
How could I possibly forget?
In her heart, number one will always be number one.
She will only remember the first one.
But why is it that this guy just can't do it?
The incessant footsteps were irritating, and she finally couldn't take it anymore. She turned around again and asked, "Are you going to follow me back to the girls' dormitory?"
"You're not going back to your dorm today."
When they "met" again, Han Zhou's hair had turned "white." He remained calm and said, "If you don't believe me, you can call your roommate and ask."
Gu Zheng frowned slightly, took out her phone and glanced at the time. It was not even nine o'clock yet, and the dormitory could not possibly be closed.
"What did you do?" she asked.
Han Zhou didn't answer, but just stared at her intently: "I told you, I won't let you leave."
"I won't go back to the dorm."
Gu Zheng snorted coldly, her voice becoming more hard and cold, "At worst, I'll stay in a hotel tonight."
"I forgot to mention, I have your ID card."
Gu Zheng was stunned for a moment, then quickly patted her pockets and couldn't find her ID card. She didn't even know when it had disappeared. She was immediately furious: "Why didn't you take my phone with you!"
"I'm afraid that if I fail to catch up with you, I won't be able to contact you," Han Zhou said sincerely.
"You scoundrel!"
"It's not like you just met me yesterday."
"you!"
Gu Zheng was trembling with anger. "Fine, I'll sleep on the street tonight! I'll see how long you can follow me!"
Han Zhou seemed oblivious to her anger, nodding and asking, "So where do we go next?"
The frank tone made Gu Zheng pause in her turn, and she said incredulously, "How come I never realized you were so shameless before?"
I never realized you had such a good temper.
Han Zhou exhaled a puff of white breath, "I thought you were going to beat me up to vent your anger, but you just ran away like that."
"So you came here specifically to be beaten up?" Gu Zheng bit her lower lip and backed away.
"If this will make you feel better," Han Zhou said, taking a few steps forward.
Gu Zheng immediately backed down, suppressing the bitterness in her heart, and said calmly, "I'm not angry at all, I'm extremely happy right now."
Are you really happy?
"Of course!"
The wind and snow were silent. The two looked at each other from a few steps apart. Han Zhou was silent for a moment, then spoke softly: "If you're happy... why are you crying?"
Gu Zheng paused for a moment, then subconsciously reached for her eyes, only to find no moisture. She quickly retorted, "I didn't—"
Before she could even utter the word "cry," a figure burst through the snow and rushed towards her, pulling her tightly into his arms.
Gu Zheng's breathing stopped; the intense body heat made her momentarily lose her senses, but she quickly regained her composure and struggled violently in his arms.
"Let go!"
"I told you to let go!"
Seeing that he didn't budge and wouldn't let go no matter what, she felt a lump in her throat, but stubbornly lowered her head so he wouldn't see. As sobs welled up, she suddenly hardened her heart, ripped open his shirt, and bit his shoulder hard.
Han Zhou remained silent, not only not pushing her away, but gently pressing her head into his chest until hot tears soaked his collar, before softly asking:
Are you feeling a little calmer now?
"I told you to get lost..."
Large tears streamed down her cheeks. Gu Zheng cried as she let go, burying her face in his chest as if afraid of being seen in this moment of vulnerability. Her voice trembled as she said, "That would make me a liar..."
When she went to the hospital last week, she said that no matter whether she could see Han Zhou again in the future, she would not cry, she would only laugh.
But now, she has broken her promise.
"Go ahead and cry."
Han Zhou said softly, "Let's eat after you've finished crying."
"Who wants to go out to eat with you..."
"I will tell you everything."
The neon lights of the distant business district were blurred by the snow fog, leaving only blurry patches of red and green. Even the noise was frozen and muffled. Only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the snow on the branches could be heard, striking the eardrums.
Upon hearing this, the girl in his arms cried even harder.
All the grievances, resentment, and deep-seated fear that had been suppressed for so long burst forth in those words. Her fingers, gripping the hem of his clothes, trembled, and tears soaked through layer after layer of fabric, burning his heart with pain.
Han Zhou didn't say anything more, he just held her and let her cry out all the emotions she had accumulated over the past six months in the wind and snow.
After an unknown amount of time, Guzheng's sobs gradually subsided, leaving only the occasional trembling of her breath. Only then did he loosen his embrace slightly and look down at her.
Her eyelashes were still wet, her eyes were red, and the tip of her nose was red, like a cat that had just been pulled out of the rain.
"Let go."
Her voice was still slightly choked, but she had calmed down. "I won't run anymore."
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "Are you sure?"
"You think I'm like you, only good at lying?"
Gu Zheng sniffed, looked up and glared at him, then broke free from his embrace. Her gaze fell on the bloodstains seeping from his shoulder, her expression complex.
"...Does it hurt?"
"It hurts." "When did you become so obedient?" She gritted her teeth, the taste of rust still lingering on her tongue. "Can't you just say it doesn't hurt like they do on TV?"
"I don't want to lie to you anymore." Han Zhou pulled up his collar to cover the bloody wound around his shoulder.
A chunk of flesh was almost bitten off; no wonder it hurt.
However, it was worth it to make Guzheng calm down temporarily.
There's a difference between lying to me and coaxing me...
Gu Zheng muttered something, wiped her eyes, and turned to run away.
Han Zhou quickly reached out to grab her, but heard her shout:
"I'll go get the medicine! Seriously, I hope you suffer enough pain!"
……
As we left the pharmacy, the snow intensified.
Gu Zheng looked at the dark red stain spreading on Han Zhou's shoulder, and then at his pale face. The fierce determination she had just felt to freeze him to death in the wind and snow suddenly dissipated.
"gone."
She hailed a taxi, gave the name of a hotel, and no one spoke the rest of the way. The street scenes outside the car window rushed past, and the only sound inside the car was the hum of the air conditioner.
The taxi stopped under that ugly Christmas tree; in the end, they were back in the same place.
He Ling seemed to have anticipated that they would still be staying at the hotel tonight, so she neither inquired about the situation nor checked out, which saved her a lot of trouble.
Once inside the room, Guzheng turned on the light, and the bright light spilled out, casting huge shadows on the walls. There was a faint scent of lavender in the room, and the air conditioner blew out warm air, completely shutting out the wind and snow outside. The world suddenly became quiet.
Aren't you going to eat?
Han Zhou turned around and closed the door, the sound of the lock clicking loudly in the silence.
"Eat, eat, and eat."
Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "I'm ordering takeout. What are you going to eat?"
I'll eat whatever you eat.
"Want some spicy hot pot?"
"eat."
Although eating spicy hot pot on Christmas Eve felt a bit strange, Han Zhou nodded in agreement since it was Gu Zheng's suggestion.
Gu Zheng quickly ordered takeout, then pointed to the single sofa next to the bed, her tone as stiff as if she were ordering a prisoner.
"sit down."
Han Zhou sat down obediently, looking up at her. The wound on his shoulder began to throb with dull pain under the warmth of the heater, but he didn't move. He just kept his gaze fixed on her face, as if afraid that she would disappear again if he looked away.
Gu Zheng made a lot of noise rummaging through the medicine packet; the sound of tearing open the cotton swab packaging was particularly clear in the silence. She took a cotton ball, dipped it in iodine, walked up to him, but hesitated to make any further move.
"Take off your clothes, and stop staring at me."
"If I don't watch it now, I'm afraid I won't have another chance."
Han Zhou took off his coat and sweater, and tried to pull open the innermost thermal underwear, but the neckline of the thermal underwear was too small, and the wound could not be exposed at all.
"Take off the whole thing."
Gu Zheng seemed not to hear him, saying, "If we delay any longer, the wound will have scabbed over."
Han Zhou took off his thermal underwear, revealing a wound on his shoulder that was even more gruesome than he had expected. The two exchanged a glance, then looked away and fell silent.
The only sound in the room was the gentle caress of the guzheng as it treated the wound.
The cotton ball gently wiped the edge of the wound. The irritation from the iodine made Han Zhou's muscles twitch slightly, but his gaze never left Gu Zheng's face, from her slightly furrowed brows to her tightly pursed lips, and then to her eyelashes that trembled slightly with focus.
This was a face he had seen countless times, but today he couldn't get enough of looking at it.
"Guzheng (Chinese zither)".
"What's wrong? Did you use too much force?"
"Be my girlfriend."
The air suddenly froze.
Gu Zheng's fingers, which were holding the cotton ball, trembled slightly, and the iodine almost got onto his intact skin.
She had heard these words countless times in her dreams and responded to them countless times, but even after so many rehearsals, her heart was still inevitably racing uncontrollably.
But what followed was an even stronger sense of loss.
Therefore, she did not respond as she had in the exercise:
"You should deal with your other girlfriend first."
The tone wasn't exactly bad, but it certainly wasn't good either.
"How do we solve this?"
"What do you say?"
Gu Zheng looked down at him expressionlessly. "Choose either her or me. I don't believe that guy is as easily fooled as I am, but I won't spoil you like she did."
She suddenly realized that the reason Han Zhou dared to lie to her so brazenly was because she had been too indulgent towards him.
Han Zhou was not surprised by this answer.
However, he originally thought that Guzheng already knew everything, but now it seems that she doesn't know that there is another boat under his feet.
It must be said that even if one is mentally prepared, admitting this in front of such a guzheng player takes a lot of courage.
He remained silent for a moment, swallowed hard, and was already prepared to risk his life.
Can I have them all?
"Click".
The cotton swab in Guzheng's hand snapped in two.
She also remained silent for a moment, her expression turning truly cold for the first time:
"Han Zhou, do you want to die?"
She can win without giving an inch, or lose honorably, but she can never tolerate a draw, especially such an absurd "draw".
Before this, she had no idea that Han Zhou had such a plan.
The sun will not change its trajectory for anyone, and she will never change her exclusive definition of love for anyone—does Han Zhou still consider her his sun?
It was clear that she was really angry, but even so, she patiently finished treating Han Zhou's shoulder wound, turned around and threw the remaining cotton swabs into the trash can, then sat on the edge of the bed without saying a word.
Han Zhou had anticipated her reaction, and in fact, she was calmer than he had expected.
"The guzheng, actually..."
"I'm hungry. Let's talk after we eat," Guzheng interrupted him.
Han Zhou paused for a moment, then nodded.
"it is good."
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere, which had eased slightly, turned cold again.
But this is an unavoidable step.
The food delivery took longer than expected, so long that Han Zhou fell asleep on the sofa before it arrived.
When I woke up again, the room was completely silent.
He sat up abruptly, the wound on his shoulder aggravated, causing him to gasp in pain, and the blanket covering him slipped to the floor.
On the coffee table next to the sofa, there was a steaming hot pot and a box of rice.
Next to it was a glass of warm water, with a tissue pressed down at the bottom.
Han Zhou reached out and picked up the paper.
There was nothing written on it, yet it seemed to be filled with words.
He held the paper and looked at it for a long time, then looked at the takeout menu. It turned out that Guzheng had only ordered one meal; she had never intended to stay.
He remained silent for a long time before finally looking out the window and murmuring to himself in the empty room.
"...Liar." (End of Chapter)