Chapter 654
A Heartbreaker
At the dinner table, Han Zhou casually introduced the details of this year's New Year's Eve party.
"I heard that this year's New Year's Eve party will be very lively. Our student council president is very resourceful. He not only secured a large amount of sponsorship, but also invited several celebrity alumni to perform."
"I'm not interested in celebrities."
Zhong Yin said in a nonchalant tone, "There should be a lot of students at this kind of party, right? Are you sure someone like me, who's not from the school, can get in?"
As one of the top universities, Linyi University's New Year's Eve party has never lacked an audience, not to mention that this year they even invited celebrities to help out. Seats in the gymnasium are limited, and even students on campus may not be able to get tickets, let alone someone from outside the university like her.
"of course can."
Han Zhou pulled out a few tickets from his pocket. "I'm on pretty good terms with Senior Xia Qing."
Senior Xia Qing was the incredibly capable student council president he had mentioned.
"It seems like all your connections are with women."
Zhong Yin took the ticket, put it away without even looking at it, and said, "Shouldn't this be considered abuse of power for personal gain?"
"Senior Xia Qing said this is a thank-you gift from our last sports meet."
"A thank-you gift? Thank you for what?"
"Who knows?" Han Zhou shrugged. "Anyway, it's free, so there's nothing to worry about."
Haven't you heard the saying?
Zhong Yin looked up at him and said, "What's free is the most expensive."
"That statement makes some sense, but it doesn't apply here."
"Why?"
"Because this thing isn't expensive at all."
Han Zhou waved the ticket in his hand and said seriously, "Sister Yin, if you suspect that there is any improper relationship between me and Senior Xia Qing, then I can only say that you have a deep misunderstanding of me."
"Didn't you ever wonder why she gave you the tickets?" Zhong Yin said coldly.
“I told you, that was just a thank-you gift.”
"But you have no idea what she's thanking her for."
Does it matter?
"Is it not important?"
Seeing the two men locked in a tense standoff, Zhong Ling stared blankly, holding her breath, her expression gradually becoming anxious.
Are the younger and older students arguing?
"Okay, that's really important."
After a long silence, Han Zhou, as usual, was the first to bow his head and admit defeat, then added, "But if you insist on saying that, then I should pay for the pastries just now, right?"
Pay? What do you mean, pay?
Zhong Ling was completely confused about the situation and quickly looked at her sister, only to see the latter frown slightly and her face turn gloomy.
"Is it fun to play dumb?"
Han Zhou shook his head: "I'm not pretending to be stupid."
"So you're serious?" Zhong Yin's tone grew even colder.
"Yes, I'm serious."
"Snapped!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhong Yin slammed down his chopsticks, picked up his coat hanging on the back of the chair and put it on: "I'm full. You guys eat slowly. Call me when you're done, and I'll go wash the dishes."
After saying that, he got up and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"elder sister……"
Zhong Ling looked worriedly at the closed door. She was about to get up and follow him when she remembered something. She turned to look at Han Zhou, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
She had never seen her sister so angry before, especially not in front of her.
Seeing that Han Zhou was sitting still and had no intention of chasing after her, she hesitated for a long time, tugged at the corner of her clothes, and mustered up her courage to say, "Junior... you shouldn't have said that."
Han Zhou shook his head: "Senior, you should have seen it too, it's Sister Yin who's been picking on me."
"It's my fault in this respect, but... but there's a reason for it..."
"What's the reason?" Han Zhou asked.
In truth, he already had a vague answer in his heart—Sister Yin had probably remembered something; the joke she made earlier, which wasn't a lame joke, wasn't referring to the fact that the pastries needed to be paid for, but rather to the sentence mentioned earlier—
"You want it all, you want it all! Why don't you take me with you?"
If his guess was correct, it meant that Sister Yin might have remembered the past, and in this situation, he couldn't think of a better way than to pretend to be stupid.
He was determined to resolve everything he could before going back in time, but this particular issue was one he couldn't resolve for the time being.
He was already overwhelmed with other matters and even faced the risk of losing his life, so he simply didn't have the energy to deal with this emotional entanglement. Besides, Sister Yin seemed to have some concerns, so since she didn't bring it up, he didn't need to make it clear to avoid making things awkward for both of them.
"I don't know why you would say something like 'pay'..."
Zhong Ling looked into his eyes and said with some disappointment, "But if you say that, doesn't it mean you're treating my sister like an ordinary friend like Senior Xia Qing? My sister will be very sad if she hears that..."
Even though both are free, free tickets and free pastries are not the same thing—that's what she meant.
"Ordinary friends"...
Hearing this word, which had been used as an excuse many times before, Han Zhou felt complicated and chuckled, "Why would you think that Senior Xia Qing and I are just ordinary friends?"
Zhong Ling paused for a moment, seemingly stumped by the question. After thinking for a while, she said in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Because you don't like Senior Xia Qing?"
Han Zhou laughed: "You can tell who I like?"
“Of course.” Zhong Ling nodded gently, a tender smile appearing on her face. “The way you look at Guzheng and Yixia is different from how you look at others.”
"What's different?"
"It's...it's just..."
Faced with Han Zhou's ambiguous gaze, she lowered her head somewhat embarrassed and stammered, "I... I can't really explain it... but it's just different."
"What would you think if I told you that besides Guzheng and Yixia, I've also fallen for Senior Wang Lengqiu?"
"what?"
As expected, Zhong Ling was visibly stunned for a few seconds upon hearing this. "Really?"
"Really, didn't I warn you a long time ago? I'm a womanizer."
Han Zhou was thick-skinned, but he had to admit that it was extremely embarrassing to confess his womanizing ways in front of Zhong Ling.
It's probably because he could tell to some extent that in his senior's eyes, he was a very good person.
It seemed to take Zhong Ling a long time to process the news. She tried to puff out her cheeks and pretend to be angry, but she failed and finally gave a helpless smile.
"My junior is even more of a womanizer than I imagined."
Han Zhou had expected her not to be angry, but he hadn't expected her to actually laugh. He relaxed and said half-jokingly, "Yes, I'm sorry, senior, I ruined the perfect image I had in your mind."
Zhong Ling blushed slightly, tugged at her clothes, and jokingly retorted, "Junior, have you forgotten that you've been a womanizer ever since we first met?" Han Zhou was taken aback, then smiled wryly, "That's true, but your reaction is too calm."
"I've said that before, haven't I?"
Zhong Ling lowered her head somewhat shyly and said softly, "No matter what happens, I will never hate my junior."
"Even if I made Sister Yin run away?" Han Zhou asked curiously.
Zhong Ling's expression froze. When she looked up, she saw his mischievous grin. Her expression immediately turned aggrieved, and she said weakly, "Junior, please don't argue with your sister, okay?"
Han Zhou was willing to bet that even someone as hard-hearted as Fahai would be moved by this coquettish remark and release Bai Suzhen from under Leifeng Pagoda overnight.
His voice softened slightly: "Senior, you're overthinking it. How could I possibly dare to argue with Sister Yin?"
"Then what you just did..."
Zhong Ling looked worried and was about to speak when she suddenly realized, "Does Sister also know about Senior Wang Lengqiu's matter?"
If that's the case, then it's normal for her sister to be angry... she thought.
Han Zhou nodded, then added, "It's not just about this."
He also mentioned the guzheng incident.
After hearing this, Zhong Ling's worry deepened.
Han Zhou knew Zhong Ling would be very worried, which was why he chose to tell her this last. Seeing that she was almost in tears, he quickly changed the subject:
"Don't worry, senior, I'll handle the guzheng matter. But speaking of which, in your eyes, what kind of friends are Yin-jie and me?"
The other party just said that Xia Qing and he are just ordinary friends and cannot be compared with Sister Yin. So, in the eyes of this person who knows Sister Yin best, what kind of relationship do he and Sister Yin have?
He was also very curious about how Sister Yin would treat him without his memories of the past.
"Of course it is...it is..."
Zhong Ling felt she had an answer in her heart, but she couldn't express it. Feeling a little guilty, she lowered her head and stammered, "At least we should be very good friends... Don't you think so, junior?"
"Of course I think so."
Han Zhou smiled. "But is that really what Sister Yin thinks?"
"definitely is!"
Zhong Ling's tone was firm, but then she hesitated and her voice became melancholy, "But lately even I can't understand what my sister is thinking..."
Han Zhou sighed softly, a look of emotion on his face: "It shows that Sister Yin has grown up too."
"what?"
Zhong Ling was stunned. "Didn't my sister grow up a long time ago?"
"Not always."
Han Zhou shook his head, then stood up. "Alright, I've almost finished eating. It's time to go out and apologize to Sister Yin."
Zhong Ling's eyes lit up, and she stood up as well: "Then I'll go with you..."
"Need not."
Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated. "Who needs someone to accompany them when they apologize? Just keep eating. Call me secretly when you're done, but whatever you do, don't call Sister Yin. She's so cold-hearted; it would be too much of a burden for her to wash dishes in the winter."
Zhong Ling was initially hesitant, but after hearing the second half of his sentence, she couldn't help but laugh and obediently nodded.
"it is good."
Han Zhou picked up his coat from the back of the chair and put it on. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard the sound of bells ringing behind him again.
"Junior..."
"Ok?"
He stopped and looked back.
"Are we... still very good friends now?" Zhong Ling asked, blushing.
"of course."
"Would you like to be as close as your sister?"
"Why do you ask that?" Han Zhou asked curiously.
He didn't think Zhong Ling would ever want to compete with her sister.
"because……"
Zhong Ling clutched the hem of her clothes, her voice barely audible, but a faint blush crept onto her cheeks. "I hope... my relationship with my junior can always be like that of an older sister and her junior."
What does it mean?
Han Zhou paused as he was about to pull the door open, then burst out laughing and couldn't help but tease, "So, if I were to date either of you in the future, wouldn't that be the same as dating both of you at the same time?"
Zhong Ling froze, her fair cheeks instantly turning bright red, even the tips of her ears burning. Just as she was about to explain, she heard a "click"—
The door was pushed open from the outside.
Zhong Yin stood at the door with a blank expression, his eyes colder than the winter wind outside the window.
Who do you want to date?
Han Zhou's smile froze.
……
The next morning, Han Zhou and Zhong Ling were late again.
Because of the effects of the [51% Future Simulator], both he and Zhong Ling are experiencing increasingly poor sleep quality. While they don't have trouble falling asleep, they find it difficult to wake up early the next day.
Han Zhou knew that if things continued like this, both his and Zhong Ling's lives would be affected. Therefore, he decided not to continue suppressing the arrival of future dreams and instead entered the dream world next week.
The reason he made this decision was because he was still afraid that he would die in the past. If he really could not see the future, at least he could see it in his dreams.
Last night's apology was more difficult than expected. Even with Zhong Ling's help and persuasion, Zhong Yin remained unmoved. It wasn't until the store closed that she coldly made a condition: he had to drink a whole bottle of baijiu with her before the matter would be over.
Han Zhou couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accompany them, resulting in neither of them being able to get up this morning.
Even when he was drunk, he couldn't get anything out of Zhong Yin—because he was also completely drunk.
Zhong Yin has decided to go to the New Year's Eve party tonight. The shop is closed today, so it's okay to sleep in a little longer. Zhong Ling will also have someone cover for him if he's late. It's just that he'll have to suffer as soon as he gets to school and go to Ouyang Lianyu's office to be criticized.
At noon, the sunlight slanted down onto the glass curtain wall of the stadium.
Several hours before the start of the gala, the venue was already bustling with activity. Staff members were setting up cordon lines and adjusting equipment. The rising and falling stage emitted a deep mechanical hum, and the LED screen on the main stage was playing rehearsal footage. Amidst the shifting lights and shadows, students could be seen stretching their legs and practicing their singing in a corner.
Han Zhou looked up at the row of viewing areas on the second floor that had been separated. The view was indeed the best, directly facing the main stage, while avoiding the noisy crowds downstairs.
"This configuration is truly impressive..."
He thought to himself with admiration that he had heard that security had been doubled this time, given that a celebrity alumnus was in charge. Tickets had already been resold at exorbitant prices on the school forum. He wondered what connections Xia Qing had used to make this event comparable to a commercial performance.
Being able to perform on such a stage will surely be an unforgettable memory.
As he passed by the side gate, he bumped into several workers carrying props, all of them covered in sweat. Xia Qing, wearing a work badge, was making directives not far away with a walkie-talkie, her expression serious, showing no trace of her usual carefree demeanor.
After thinking for a moment, Han Zhou walked towards her. (End of Chapter)