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As for why Chen Long and others suddenly decided to spend the night outside...this was naturally planned by Lin Anyu.
This was also the reason why he claimed that his car was borrowed while he was having dinner.
Otherwise, if he drove Han Zhou and Gu Zheng back, once Han Zhou received a call and decided to stay the night, his presence would affect Han Zhou and Gu Zheng's judgment. In simple terms, he would become a light bulb, which was something he didn't want to see.
And this is the whole plan behind Lin Anyu’s words “I can only help you up to this point” during the meal.
He didn't need to make any arrangements for Guzheng. He just needed to force Han Zhou to stay overnight outside, because according to expectations, Guzheng was most likely worried about seeing Han Zhou staying outside alone. What's more, after just watching a horror movie, she might not dare to take the bus back to school alone.
The fact was indeed the same as Lin Anyu thought. Upon learning that Han Zhou was planning to stay out tonight, Gu Zheng looked a little hesitant and asked, "So you're going to stay in a hotel tonight?"
"Yes." Han Zhou nodded. "I'll get you a taxi. You go back first. You won't be able to go back any later."
Gu Zheng wanted to say something but stopped herself. In the end, she didn't have the nerve to say something like "Then I won't go back and will stay outside with you." However, she rolled her eyes and quickly thought of a solution.
"Don't take a taxi yet!"
She stopped Han Zhou from confirming the order on his phone in time, and pretended to be unhappy, "Did you forget something?"
"what?"
Han Zhou was stunned and didn't react for a moment.
Gu Zheng pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "I heard that you prepared a big surprise for me today. It's almost twelve o'clock. Where's the surprise?"
Han Zhou finally reacted and was a little flustered. He coughed twice and said, "If you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten..."
Gu Zheng sensed his guilty conscience almost immediately, narrowed her eyes and asked, "You didn't prepare anything at all, did you?"
Unhappiness was clearly written on his face.
Han Zhou hesitated for a moment, then said with gritted teeth: "I am prepared, but the time is a bit tight..."
He reached into his pocket and was about to take out the things he had prepared, but Guzheng stopped him.
"Forget it, forget it. I knew right away that the surprise was something Lin Anyu used to trick me. You only found out about this later, right?"
The girl waved her hand and said, "You don't need to force yourself. I can tell from your look that you don't have confidence in what you are going to bring out."
Han Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I really don't have much confidence."
He didn't take out the things in his pocket, not because he thought Guzheng would dislike it, but because he was worried that she would find it difficult to accept the disappointment after her huge expectations were dashed. After all, what he had prepared was not a "big surprise" at all.
He looked at Gu Zheng's expression, trying to read something from her face, but what he got was the girl's rolling eyes: "Do you think I will be very unhappy? And angry with you?"
"A little bit." Han Zhou nodded and shook his head, "mainly because I think you will be very disappointed."
If we look at it from the perspective of a "date", it can be said that he did nothing well today. He was completely unprepared. He even bought the movie tickets in a hurry at the last minute and watched a midnight horror movie that no one watched. He even messed up something that he had promised to do a long time ago. It can be said that he was quite a failure.
"I'm not that petty."
Gu Zheng said unhappily, "You didn't say those words, why should I be angry with you? The only thing that makes me unhappy is that you are hiding something from me. The reason why Lin Anyu lied to me with those words is actually because you were doing something in the morning that you didn't want me to see, right?"
Guzheng is not a stupid girl, on the contrary, she is very smart. She just doesn’t think too much about the things around her, especially about Han Zhou.
She trusted Han Zhou. He might lie to her, but at least he would not use deception to hurt her.
Seeing Han Zhou remained silent, she continued, "You just agreed to watch a movie with me, and that's enough. You didn't say the rest, so why should I be angry with you for no reason?"
"Then don't you feel disappointed?" Han Zhou couldn't help but ask again.
To be honest, he didn't even fulfill the simple request of accompanying the other party to watch a movie.
"of course not……"
Gu Zheng shook her head and wanted to deny it, but finally admitted it honestly, raised an index finger and said, "A little bit... but only a little bit!"
She suddenly raised her head and said proudly, "I am a person who is easily contented."
"Really?" Han Zhou couldn't help but tease, "You're so easily contented, yet you still want to be the first?"
"It's not the same thing, okay."
Guzheng muttered quietly, "Besides, I don't always have to compete for first place..."
The quarrel in the distance disappeared at some point, and the night suddenly became quiet. The street lights stretched the shadows of the two people, extending to the movie poster on the wall.
Han Zhou stared at Gu Zheng intently. Gu Zheng noticed his gaze and thought he was still overthinking. She puffed her cheeks and said, "Don't look at me anymore. I'm not angry."
"I know, I just feel a little emotional. You've suddenly become so considerate that I feel guilty."
"What do you mean by 'suddenly so considerate'?" Gu Zheng looked dissatisfied, "Haven't I always been like this?"
"Yeah, it's always been like this, so I feel guilty..."
Han Zhou smiled, then changed the subject and said, "Today's surprise is really not good enough, why don't we change the time? Your birthday is not far away, how about doing it on that day?"
"real or fake?"
Gu Zheng was stunned for two seconds, and looked away awkwardly, "You have to understand, I may not take other people's words to heart, but if you say it yourself, I will take it seriously. If you lie to me, I will definitely be angry."
"How dare I lie to you."
"Then I'll remember it. If you lie to me, you're done for..."
Gu Zheng was obviously very happy, but soon she frowned and turned her head away, muttering, "But you don't have to worry too much. I don't really care whether it's a surprise or not. As long as you have this intention, it's fine. It's not... Actually, as long as you can remember, I'm very happy..."
Han Zhou listened to her mumbling with a smile, and suddenly remembered something. He quickly turned on the screen of his mobile phone to check the time, and then his expression changed.
"It happened!"
"What's wrong?" Gu Zheng looked at him.
"You were so busy talking that you didn't notice the time. Even if you caught a taxi right now, you probably wouldn't be able to get back to school in time, so..."
"So I can't go back?"
Gu Zheng took over his words with a somewhat excited tone.
"It seems to be like this..."
Han Zhou sighed. The development of events tonight could be said to be completely different from what he expected.
But Gu Zheng didn't mind, or maybe that was exactly her purpose, and she said casually: "It doesn't matter, at worst I can just stay out for one night."
"You?" Han Zhou was stunned and looked at her in surprise.
"What's wrong with me?" Gu Zheng took out her ID card from her bag, "I brought my ID card with me, too."
Without giving Han Zhou a chance to speak, she urged him, "Let's go. If we're any later, we won't be able to stay in the hotel."
The two found a hotel nearby. Although there were many people staying in the hotel tonight, there was no classic situation where there was only one king-size room left in the entire hotel. The two of them booked two adjacent rooms and then walked towards the elevator with the room cards.
However, just as they were about to get on the elevator, Han Zhou suddenly noticed that Gu Zheng's face looked a little strange, and he couldn't help but ask worriedly, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No."
Gu Zheng's face turned pale, she secretly swallowed her saliva, and asked in a low voice, "Do you think the layout of this hotel is very similar to the one in the movie?"
Han Zhou was stunned, looked around, and said with a smile: "It doesn't look like it, or it can be said that they are two completely different architectural styles."
He understood that Guzheng was obviously thinking of the horror scenes in the movie and suddenly felt scared.
"Is that so? But the more I look at it, the more I feel like it..."
Gu Zheng looked around and recalled a place that made her feel creepy again. She said nervously, "Also, don't you think the smile of the receptionist just now was weird? Just like in the movies."
If nothing unexpected happened, that should be a normal smile for a young couple checking in to a hotel room...
Han Zhou complained in his heart and comforted him, "Don't think too much. Movies are movies, and reality is reality. At least the receptionist in reality won't suddenly disappear like in the movies, right?"
Guzheng didn't say anything for a long time, just looked behind her with a blank face.
Han Zhou looked back and saw that the receptionist who had just greeted them with a smile on his face had disappeared at some point, and there was no one in front of the cashier counter.
Gu Zheng looked at him with dull eyes, as if asking how to explain this.
Fortunately, Han Zhou didn't need to explain. The next second, the front desk guy's head suddenly popped out from under the cash register. Judging from the clapping action, he was probably bending over to tie his shoelaces.
As if he noticed the two people's gazes, he gave them a kind smile.
Han Zhou laughed in silence. He knew it was a coincidence and consoled him, "See, I told you there was no..."
"Han Zhou." Gu Zheng interrupted him and suddenly looked up at him seriously, "Are you scared?"
"Ah?" Han Zhou was stunned and answered subconsciously, "I'm not afraid."
After a moment of silence, Gu Zheng's expression became more serious, and she confirmed again: "Are you scared?"
Han Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I'm not afraid."
"I know you are scared. You don't have to hold it in."
"I'm really not afraid."
"No, you're afraid."
“I’m really not afraid.”
"You're afraid."
"I really don't..."
Gu Zheng punched him expressionlessly.
"No, you're scared."
Han Zhou: "..."
"Well, I'm afraid..."
Just like that, Han Zhou, who was forced to feel extremely scared, had to find the front desk guy, cancel the two rooms he had just booked, and request a double room again.
Gu Zheng, who was full of fear, couldn't help but shiver. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she felt that the smile on the front desk guy's face was even weirder...
It was not until the two entered the room and closed the door that Gu Zheng realized what she had just done and her current situation, and her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
This was a real situation of a single man and a single woman being in the same room. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervous, but it was obviously not okay to show timidity at this time. It was she who forced Han Zhou to change the two rooms into one. If she acted shy anymore, that guy would definitely laugh at her.
Thinking of this, she tried her best to appear calm and composed. After repeatedly confirming that the bathroom could not be seen by people outside, she left her cell phone and bag on the bed and walked into the bathroom with a calm face.
"I'll take a shower first."
In addition to pretending to be calm, her calmness might also be due to the fact that they once spent the night together, although compared to that time there was no room to separate them this time.
Gu Zheng felt nervous and uneasy, and Han Zhou's mood was naturally not calm either, and his breathing became uncontrollably heavy.
He took a deep breath and felt that everything that happened today was really unexpected. He didn't expect that in the end he would live in the same room with Guzheng... He felt a little sleepy as he thought about it.