Chapter 658
"A Love Triangle"
What is Han Zhou's wish?
Guzheng spent the entire afternoon pondering this question.
Memories surged wildly, those things she used to care about and those she didn't, all now surfacing before her eyes. She thought of many answers, but none of them were certain.
This is a short story; it's a question only she can answer.
But this is not the case.
If she is truly the only one who can answer, then she will not lose to a newcomer.
Can I have them all?
That sentence echoed in my mind once again.
A sudden, sharp pain shot through my chest, and the once clear image of the face and features in my memory suddenly shattered, like a lake surface tossed with pebbles.
Han Zhou, who said those words, felt like a stranger to her.
But what exactly was the Han Zhou she knew?
Snowflakes pattered against the down jacket, making a soft rustling sound. Gu Zheng pushed open the side door of the gymnasium, and the smell of heating mixed with disinfectant wafted out. From the end of the corridor came the intermittent sound of instruments being tuned, singing and shouting mingled together, which pushed away the chaotic thoughts in my mind.
She shook the snow off her hood and looked up towards the backstage area—Han Zhou should be there right now.
The New Year's Eve party starts at 7 p.m., and makeup has to start at 6 p.m. This means she has at most half an hour to participate in the stage play rehearsal, and it also means she only has half an hour to face Han Zhou.
What should we say when we meet? Should we greet each other?
That definitely won't work. Since we've already agreed not to see each other again, it would be too strange to say hello. If it weren't for helping Senior Xia Qing with her stage play, she wouldn't be here at this time at all.
Then let's just nod to each other, that's a good way to part ways amicably, and then each go their own way. Once the New Year's Eve party ends tonight, the two of them will have no further connection, and if they meet again in the future, they will just be strangers.
She will never forget him, but she will never bother him again.
...Didn't we already make that decision a long time ago?
But why does my heart still beat so wildly when that face actually appears in my sight?
At the end of the passage, a figure stood at the intersection of light and shadow, seemingly smiling:
"Guzheng, it's been a long time."
The noise inside and outside the passageway seemed to be cut off by an invisible pair of scissors.
The cold white light poured down from above, illuminating the air between the two almost transparently. Yet, the interplay of light and shadow on the stage made it impossible for either of them to see each other's expressions.
They stood facing each other across half the passageway, neither of them taking another step forward.
"Ah."
She intended to respond coldly, but the words slipped out before she could finish—
"Has it been a long time?"
Actually, it hasn't been that long at all. From Christmas to today, it's only been four days at most.
...Although she also felt it had been a long time.
Han Zhou stepped forward, and seeing that she did not back down, he said, "Since we met, this must be the longest we've been apart, right?"
"It was the same during the National Day holiday."
As he walked through the passageway, the stage lights gradually dimmed, and he finally saw Guzheng's expression clearly—
A scene of indifference.
"Feel sorry."
He readily admitted, with an apologetic look on his face, "I was with Yixia during that time, and we went to the snow mountain."
Gu Zheng felt another pang in her heart, but said calmly, "Who you want to be with is your freedom, and it has nothing to do with me."
"What if I want to be with you?"
"I've said it before, you will always be my number one."
She pushed him away and walked towards the backstage area without looking back, saying, "I can wait for you forever, wait for you to be with me, provided that you can only be with me."
The footsteps behind him were neither hurried nor slow. Han Zhou seemed to sigh, his tone carrying a hint of helpless honesty: "You should know that I can't do it."
"Then don't talk to me."
"Aren't you going to say anything during the rehearsal later?"
"We don't have any lines."
Guzheng regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. She had just told him not to talk to her, but she still subconsciously responded to him.
Fortunately, Han Zhou didn't seem to notice this and asked in confusion, "Didn't you read the script? We do have lines, although only a few."
Perhaps it was some kind of trick to deliberately provoke her into asking questions, because his tone was somewhat strange.
But she wouldn't fall for it and kept her mouth shut, not uttering a word.
The backstage corridor was long and cramped, with fluorescent lights emitting a slight hum.
The two walked one after the other, always maintaining a distance between them.
Judging from the sound of his footsteps, Han Zhou was walking quite fast, even rather slowly, yet the two of them never met.
Gu Zheng had been holding back for a long time, but in the end she couldn't help but turn around. After seeing Han Zhou's actions, her face immediately darkened.
That bastard is actually standing still.
"What are you doing?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"Exercise."
Han Zhou said seriously, "I've been practicing running lately, so that even if you run far ahead one day, I can still catch up with you."
Gu Zheng was not happy at all; instead, she became even angrier: "When did I ever say I was going to run away?"
She chose to back down because she could afford to lose. Two years of relationship couldn't compare to a few months of getting to know each other. No matter how unwilling she was to admit defeat, she had to accept reality and acknowledge that she was the loser.
Being able to accept defeat doesn't mean admitting defeat, much less that she would run away; that's something only a coward would do.
“You definitely didn’t say that.”
Han Zhou looked her in the eye without flinching. "But that's exactly what you did that night, wasn't it?"
Gu Zheng took a deep breath, her chest heaving violently from those words: "You think I was running away?"
"Is not it?"
Han Zhou said calmly, "If you considered that our last meeting, then you should at least have said goodbye properly. But what did you do? You left me alone in the hotel, eating frozen hot pot."
"Nonsense! The mala tang was clearly hot. I left because I saw you were about to wake up!"
"Then you must have misread it. Anyway, the hot pot was already cold when I woke up. Besides, didn't we agree to have dinner together?"
"I just don't want things to get messy. Do I have to hit you and yell at you before you'll stop?"
"Guzheng." Han Zhou took a deep breath. "Whether you like it or not, we've been entangled for a long time."
He paused, then said earnestly, "Putting everything else aside, you kissed me without my permission that night. You should at least let me kiss you back, right?"
Gu Zheng's expression froze for a moment, then she gritted her teeth and said, "How can you be so shameless!"
She couldn't take it anymore and shouted, "Then let me ask you, how many kisses have you received so far! And have you kissed back?"
Han Zhou's face stiffened.
Gu Zheng knew the answer from his expression and felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. It turned out that she really had nothing left.
Whether it was the first time she camped on a mountaintop, the first time they watched the sunrise together, or even the first kiss, she didn't get to experience any of them.
Even though I had a premonition, the moment I finally confirmed it, my heart was still stabbed hard.
The only "first" she has left is probably that he was the first person she fell in love with.
No... not even that "first place" is left.
Senior Wang Lengqiu has waited for him for so long, so what am I to her?
"I said... are you all alright?"
Just then, Xia Qing appeared at the door of the dressing room ahead.
She seemed to realize that her appearance was inappropriate, and her expression was somewhat awkward. However, time was of the essence, and if she didn't hurry up with rehearsals, it would really be too late. She could only bite the bullet and speak:
"If... if you're free, come in and rehearse..."
Before Han Zhou could speak, Gu Zheng had already walked into the dressing room, clearly not wanting to get entangled with him any longer.
Xia Qing shook her head and sighed softly, giving him a "good luck" look before turning and walking into the dressing room.
Han Zhou glanced back at the security camera in the corridor before walking in.
Xia Qing must have cleared the area beforehand, as there were very few people in the dressing room. At this moment, only Wang Lengqiu and the part-time makeup artist senior from college who she had met at noon were present.
As Han Zhou expected, she was indeed one of the playwrights for tonight's stage play, and was currently patiently instructing Wang Lengqiu on the essentials of pretending to be asleep.
Seeing the two enter the house, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "You've finally come. I thought you were going to stand me up too."
"Sorry, I was delayed a bit on the way."
Gu Zheng looked apologetic, her gaze lingering for a moment on Wang Lengqiu lying on the ground, before asking, "Are we rehearsing here? Don't we need to go to the stage to confirm our positions or anything like that?"
Stage performances have stringent professional requirements for spatial arrangement and positioning accuracy; every movement of the actors must precisely match the pre-set stage movement.
Due to significant differences in lighting coverage, scenery occlusion, and visual focus in different areas, failure to conduct a complete rehearsal and position confirmation before the official performance can easily lead to technical accidents such as actors going out of frame, being obscured by shadows, or moving out of the spotlight area, seriously affecting the final stage presentation and audience experience.
Of course, tonight's stage play is not a professional performance, and they are not professional actors, but they are facing so many audience members, and there are even live cameras. If they make a mistake on this kind of stage, it's not just one person's face that's lost, but the face of the entire school.
"I already told you, all you need to do is contribute your good looks, there's no need to be so nervous."
As the chief planner of this New Year's Eve gala, Xia Qing had spent almost all her time in the gymnasium and had witnessed Gu Zheng's rehearsals many times. Knowing that Gu Zheng was a serious and hardworking girl, she understood her concerns and explained with a smile:
"There are still many programs that need to be rehearsed on stage, so we won't need them for the time being. But don't worry, we've already told Wang Lengqiu the specific locations. You just need to cooperate with her to complete the entrance and exit."
The makeup artist, a senior student, was much more direct, getting straight to the point: "Have you read the script?"
Gu Zheng was taken aback, then realized that she hadn't even read the script yet. Feeling ashamed, she quickly pulled the folded piece of paper from her pocket: "No..."
But another voice behind her interrupted her: "Sorry, I haven't seen it yet, please give me a little time."
The makeup artist frowned slightly, but didn't get angry: "How long do you want me to look?"
Five minutes.
"You need to read such a short script for five minutes?"
"It's always good to watch it a few more times; who knows, we might even be able to put on a great show tonight."
Perhaps to cooperate with Han Zhou, Wang Lengqiu, who had been lying on the ground as if asleep, suddenly opened her eyes and said softly, "I want to see the script too."
"Please, you didn't even have a script..."
The senior student had a headache, but could only wave her hand and say, "Xia Qing said that it would be very interesting to have you join the performance tonight. I trust her judgment and have no other requirements for you. I just hope that you can take it seriously."
Gu Zheng knew that Han Zhou had actually read the script long ago, and that he only said those things to help her out of a tight spot.
She wasted no time and immediately sat down in front of the mirror and opened the script.
Upon seeing the first sentence, she finally understood why Han Zhou had sounded so strange.
The plot is unbelievable...
She looked up and bumped right into Han Zhou's reflection in the mirror.
He leaned against the wall by the door, looking down at the script. His profile looked particularly focused under the ring light. Xia Qing handed him a cup of hot water. He took it casually, rubbed his fingertips on the cup a couple of times, and then looked up at her in the mirror.
Their gazes met briefly in the mirror, then simultaneously looked away.
"Senior Xia Qing."
Han Zhou held the paper cup, gently blew away the steam rising from it, and said in a low voice, "This script of yours wouldn't happen to be tailor-made for me, would it?"
"How could I be that bored?"
Xia Qing also lowered her voice, but couldn't hide her smile, "This is Zhang Yunqing's idea, it has nothing to do with me."
Zhang Yunqing is the name of the third-year student who works part-time as a makeup artist.
Han Zhou said helplessly, "Couldn't you have reminded her?"
"What can I say? Call you a scumbag? And are your two ambiguous lovers putting on an act with you this time?"
Xia Qing said irritably, "Besides, I haven't read the script. If Zhang Yunqing hadn't insisted on dragging me here, I wouldn't have known it would turn out like this."
Han Zhou was taken aback and said in surprise, "You're so interested in this performance, I thought you were one of the actors tonight."
“Zhang Yunqing and I are good friends. I care about her, so naturally I will care about the stage play she is in charge of.”
Xia Qing smiled and gave him a meaningful look. "Everyone has selfish desires. Being gentler or more tolerant towards someone is sometimes beyond the control of reason. It's not that simple to treat everyone equally, especially since your attitude seems to be tilted in more than two directions."
"The idea of treating everyone equally is a false proposition."
Han Zhou shook his head. "Since we can't treat everyone equally, let's just give each person their own bowl of water."
"That's a fresh idea..."
Xia Qing seemed to understand something, then suddenly realized something and asked curiously, "So that's why you didn't refuse this script?"
"Do not."
Han Zhou sighed, "I would like to refuse, but the problem is I can't."
After seeing the script, Mo Yixia insisted that he must perform on stage. Wang Lengqiu was also full of expectations for it, and he really couldn't refuse, so he reluctantly accepted the script.
The content of this script is actually very simple, so simple that it can be summarized in three words—
A love triangle. (End of Chapter)