Page 180

Page 180

While thinking, Han Zhou suddenly felt someone tugging at the backpack in his hand. It was Mo Yixia.

The other party seemed to have something to say to him.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 179 It Must Be You!

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the white clouds floating in the sky red, outlining lace of varying shades for them. The magnificent sunset fell on the streets, adding a bit of warmth to the approaching night.

It was a rare holiday, and people were strolling in the streets in twos and threes. The evening breeze brought bursts of faint fragrance from grass and trees. Gu Lang walked into the semi-abandoned park, casually brushing away the fallen leaves floating above his head. Not long after, he saw Gu Zheng next to a swing that looked quite old.

"I knew you were here."

Gu Lang put on a perfect smile on his face. He wanted to walk quietly to his daughter and say this sentence behind her in a calm and gentle tone. However, before he took two steps, his nose started to itch and he sneezed loudly.

"Ah!"

The loud noise immediately caught Gu Zheng's attention. She turned her head and saw her father appear behind her at some point, looking sneaky with a huge snot bubble coming out of his nose. She couldn't help but look puzzled: "Dad, what are you doing?"

Gu Lang was extremely embarrassed. He did not expect that he failed to show off as he had intended and his daughter saw such an embarrassing scene. He quickly searched his body but could not find any tissues.

He came out to call Guzheng home for dinner. He didn't plan to stay outside for too long, so he went out without even changing his slippers, so he didn't bring any extra things with him.

Gu Zheng handed over a tissue and said unhappily, "I told you it's okay in this temperature, so don't walk around in that flowered shirt of yours. Your constitution is different from mine and my mom's. Are you catching a cold now?"

"Wouldn't it be cool to wear this..."

Gu Lang took the tissue with a wry smile, quickly wiped his nose, and regained his calm demeanor.

"How can it be cool? This dress is so ugly." Guzheng rolled her eyes at her father and brushed the fallen leaves off his shoulders. "Other people prefer elegance over warmth, but you don't want either."

There are many trees in the park that have not been taken care of for a long time. When the wind blows, a large number of dead leaves will fall and cover the ground.

"I did that on purpose. If I had both of them, I would be extremely handsome. Then there would be women coveting your dad's good looks sending me harassing messages every day. What would your mom think? What would you think?"

Gu Zheng was too lazy to pay attention to the other party's nonsense. Her father seemed to have not grown up yet and always liked to say some very outrageous things. She asked in confusion: "Dad, how did you know I was here?"

She had never mentioned this place to her parents before, and when she went out she only said she wanted to take a walk, not that she would come to this old park.

Gu Lang said proudly: "No one knows a daughter better than her father. Isn't it normal that I can guess where you are?"

"Did Han Zhou tell you?"

Gu Zheng exposed his lie with an expressionless face.

Gu Lang's face froze for a moment, and he coughed twice, "Although that guy mentioned it to me once, I was able to guess that you were here mainly because of my understanding of you..."

"When did he tell you about this place?"

"The last time I called you."

"Oh……"

Gu Zheng was a little disappointed. She used to see Han Zhou almost every day, but now she couldn't see him for two consecutive days. She felt very uncomfortable. She wanted to call and ask Han Zhou what he was doing, but she was worried that the situation her father described last night would really happen.

Han Zhou was flirting with another woman in a place where she couldn't see.

Gu Lang also had a sad look on his face. In his expectation, this conversation should have gone like this -

He descended from the sky with a warm smile, calmly pointed out his daughter's worries, then quoted classics to comfort her, gave her advice from ancient times to the present, and fully demonstrated the image of a reliable father.

Unfortunately, his idea seemed to have ended the moment the snot bubble appeared...

He had no choice but to start the conversation awkwardly: "Gu Zheng, I came here this time because I actually have something to tell you."

He put a cigarette in his mouth, blew out a smoke ring, and said in a deep tone, "Dad, I'm here to show you the way forward."

Gu Zheng looked puzzled: "Point out the way forward for me? Do you want to talk to me about future work? Is it too early?"

"Of course not. It's too early to talk about work now. I'm talking about your current concerns."

Gu Lang's face became more serious, and he stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point, "You must have been thinking about that brat Han Zhou all day, right? There's no need to deny it. Your dad may not be good at other things, but he is quite sharp when it comes to relationships. You've been absent-minded since dinner yesterday, and you've been a little abnormal today, too. Your mom and I have noticed it."

Gu Zheng's expression changed, and she subconsciously turned her head to the side, denying, "No..."

Gu Lang was not in a hurry and planned to find a bench for the father and daughter to sit and chat, but the park was almost half abandoned and not many people came on weekdays. The chairs were covered with dust and no one could sit on them. It would be boring to just stand and chat, so he motioned Gu Zheng to follow him to the swing.

In order to show how carefree he was, he took the lead and stepped onto the swing. The swing immediately groaned as if it could not bear the weight and it seemed that it would fall apart at any time.

Gu Lang was nervous, but he still tried to remain calm and said, "Gu Zheng, you are a simple-minded child and you can't lie. You can't hide anything from me and your mother. In the past, we hardly interfered with your affairs because you have your own opinions and know your limits. Your mother and I only supported you silently, but now you seem a little confused, so as the beacon of your life, I will stand up and guide you today."

Gu Zheng was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion: "Confused? Me?"

"If it's not you, then who else could it be?" Gu Lang sighed, "If it were your normal self, you would have stayed in your room to study today... although that's not a good thing either."

Gu Zheng turned her face away and pouted: "I'm just tired of studying..."

"Rest when you are tired. I really hope you can do that, but I told you that you won't lie. Your sudden change of attitude must be because you are worried."

Gu Zheng still shook her head and refused to admit it: "No."

"You don't want to say it, right? Then I'll just guess first."

Gu Lang guessed that this girl would be stubborn, and said while stroking his chin, "You behaved abnormally after listening to what I said last night. What did I say at that time? It seemed that Han Zhou might be flirting with another woman. You should have taken the initiative to fight for him, instead of still being 'unsure' whether you like him or not..."

"First of all, you definitely like Han Zhou. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that. It's useless for you to deny it. So are you worried that he can't resist the temptation and gets abducted by another woman?"

"Han Zhou is not that kind of person!" Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him and subconsciously defended Han Zhou.

"You didn't deny that you liked that boy this time..." Gu Lang smiled, then turned to grief and anger, gritting his teeth and said, "That stinky boy!"

Gu Zheng was a little nervous: "I..."

Gu Lang did not give her a chance to deny it, and said earnestly: "I've said it before, your mother and I have no objection to you dating. If it was another boy, we might have to think about it, but Han Zhou has passed our several inspections. We have no objection to you two being together, although every time I think of that guy kidnapping my precious daughter, I get angry..."

He looked unhappy.

Gu Zheng keenly sensed the key information in this sentence and said in a daze: "Investigation? When did you investigate Han Zhou?"

"Many times, didn't I say that we raised that boy as a son-in-law? How could a son-in-law not be inspected?"

Gu Lang shook his head and said, "But this is not the point. The point is that you like him so much, and that guy is also interested in you. It's very simple for you two to be together. It's obviously a matter of mutual affection. What are you worried about?"

He thought about it for a long time. Gu Zheng was probably not worried about whether Han Zhou was having an affair with another woman or not. This girl trusted that boy too much. Even if she had doubts, she would not take them seriously. So what this girl really cared about should be something else.

Guzheng didn't answer for a long time, but just stared at the setting sun in a daze. The afterglow of the sunset sprinkled on her face, leaving a shadow on the ground disturbed by the fallen leaves.

Gu Lang rarely saw his daughter showing such a helpless expression, and felt very distressed for a moment, but he did not urge her, but just waited silently for the other party's answer.

"dad."

"Yeah, I'm listening."

"I am a little scared……"

After a while, Gu Zheng finally mustered up the courage to speak, and then there was another long silence.

"Don't be afraid, speak slowly."

Gu Lang still had no intention of urging her and continued to wait quietly. It was not an easy thing to let his daughter, who had always been self-reliant, speak out what was hidden in her heart. This required her to adjust herself.

He put out the half-smoked cigarette in his mouth so as not to affect his daughter's mood, and tried to maintain a calm expression.

I should have put on a coat earlier. It’s so damn cold…

When the sun completely disappeared into the horizon, Guzheng seemed to have made up her mind and finally spoke again, hesitatingly saying, "I told you not to laugh at me."

Gu Lang was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "How dare I laugh at you, just tell me, I promise that no third person will know what happened today."

"Where's my mother?"

"If you don't want her to know, then neither can she."

The air was quiet for a while.

"Then...then what did I say?"

"Say it, I'm listening."

Gu Zheng hesitated for a while, and after several seconds she said a little embarrassedly: "I... I have actually imagined many times what it would be like to be with Han Zhou..."

She glanced at her father and saw that he had a gentle expression, without any hint of ridicule or dissatisfaction, or even surprise. She felt relieved and continued:

"Han Zhou treats me very well now. If we are together, he should... no, he will definitely treat me better."

"When I say I'm hungry, he will cook for me right away. My appetite keeps increasing, and sometimes I complain that I'm not full, but he doesn't mind the trouble and goes back to the kitchen to make me a different meal. He then smiles as he watches me finish eating, saying that being able to eat is a blessing and that the more you eat the faster you grow. He will also buy me a bigger bowl than the one I have now."

"When I want to go out and play, he will satisfy my willfulness even if it's raining, and take me to a food street I've never been to. If it rains hard, he will put his coat on me even if he gets soaked, and then half-squat next to me, saying that my head is big so that it can keep him out of the rain... You don't know, Han Zhou always likes to make fun of me."

"He likes to touch my head and says my hair is very soft, just like a cat's. If I'm unhappy, he will find ways to coax me, but he's too stupid. He knows that if he hugs me, I won't be angry, but he just can't think of it, so I'm getting angrier and angrier..."

As Gu Zheng spoke, her beautiful eyes gradually curved. It was clearly a very ordinary and simple life, but when she said these words there seemed to be a light flashing in her eyes, and her words were full of happiness, as if what she said was not just her imagination, but real experience.

The more Gu Lang listened, the more uncomfortable he felt. He was so jealous that he was almost torn apart. Finally, he couldn't help it and said sourly: "It's all very simple. I can do these things, my father..."

How could this brat Han Zhou make my daughter like him so much!

"I know." Gu Zheng smiled and turned to look at her childish father. "But you and Han Zhou are different."

Gu Lang sighed in his heart: "Since that boy is so nice to you, what do you have to be afraid of?"

Gu Zheng hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath and said, "What I'm afraid of is that he's too good to me..."

"why?"

Gu Lang raised his eyebrows slightly, realizing that this must be the crux of Gu Zheng's problem.

Gu Zheng exhaled, as if organizing her words: "I... I know I have a bad personality. I am competitive and want to be the best in everything I do. This can easily hurt people I know. I am afraid that Han Zhou will give in to me in every way. Even as a competitor to me, he will give in to me unconditionally out of preference... But this is not the first place I want, and it will also make him slowly lose himself."

"I'm afraid that if we get even a little bit closer, this relationship will become fragile."

Gu Zheng's expression was not very clear, perhaps she had not figured out how to describe her thoughts, but Gu Lang still understood what she meant.

"Are you worried that after you are together, that guy will spoil you to the sky, tolerate you in everything, and thus wrong yourself and restrain yourself, causing him to gradually become unbearable, alienate you, and hate you from the bottom of his heart?"

Guzheng nodded, then shook her head: "It's not just that."

"I know, I know, I understand what you mean..."

Gu Lang's face darkened slightly, and he roughly understood what his daughter was worried about.

Guzheng's idea may seem ridiculous to ordinary people. Who would worry that their partner will spoil them too much? Most people hope that their partner will spoil them as much as possible, and it would be best if they can hold them in the palm of their hand, treat them like a prince or princess, and live a happy life from then on.

But Guzheng is different. Her competitive spirit is deeply rooted in her bones. Excessive desire to win will interfere with her life to a certain extent. This kind of competitiveness is not just about wanting to be first, but to win in an upright and clear conscience.

She will not give in to others, nor will she allow others to give in to her. Once the competition begins, the outcome of the competition should not be influenced by emotions.