Lin Wan stopped her probing, but Ning Chuxue’s vigilance hadn’t faded.
Lin Wan’s expression changed instantly. She forced out a few tears, the corners of her eyes glistening as she looked at Ning Chuxue with a pitiful expression.
“I’m really just curious. Please don’t hate me, Xiao Nuo!”
Her acting was so intense that Ning Chuxue was stunned.
Just a moment ago she had the image of a strong woman. How did she suddenly become someone weak and easy to bully? And what was with that “Xiao Nuo” nickname?
Ning Chuxue didn’t bother analyzing the acting. Right now she desperately wanted to understand the origin of that nickname.
So she turned around, furrowed her brows slightly, and looked at Ying behind her with a questioning gaze.
Ying seemed to understand what she meant and shook her head, indicating she didn’t know.
Ning Chuxue didn’t believe her. She pinched Ying’s forearm.
The latter flinched in pain and moved away, her innocent expression didn’t seem like an act.
Now Ning Chuxue was the one who lost confidence.
Lin Wan watched this scene with interest and chuckled to herself.
Lin Wan now seemed to understand why Shen Ruqing had always protected her. With such an adorable little sister, anyone would protect her.
She thought to herself but didn’t say it out loud.
But teasing her a little shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Thinking this, she put on an even more pitiful expression. Her acting reached its peak as two teardrops rolled down her cheeks.
“Can Xiao Nuo forgive me?”
“But don’t keep testing me anymore.”
Lin Wan’s pitiful appearance only made Ning Chuxue feel a chill.
“Xiao Nuo is so nice, like an angel.”
Her tone was cloying, and Ning Chuxue felt as if an electric current shot from her feet to her head. She couldn’t help but shiver and looked at Lin Wan with a hint of disgust.
Seeing Ning Chuxue’s expression growing more repulsed, Lin Wan stopped joking.
“President, how come I only now found out you’re a pervert?”
From behind Lin Wan, another voice came.
The voice was cold but mixed with surprise.
‘Oh no!’
Lin Wan recognized that voice. And precisely because of that, she was so embarrassed she wanted to move to another place to live.
Resigned to her fate, she slowly turned around.
At some point, Xiao Luo had appeared behind her.
Lin Wan could no longer care about Ning Chuxue. She forced a smile.
“Xiao Luo, when did you get here?”
She prayed that Xiao Luo hadn’t witnessed her teasing Ning Chuxue just now. But judging by the situation, that was clearly impossible.
“When you came in.”
Lin Wan’s forced smile almost cracked. She hypnotized herself.
“I don’t believe you.”
Xiao Luo didn’t say much. She pointed outside the window.
“I didn’t come in. I was watching from outside.”
An emotionless sentence, but Lin Wan was already sweating profusely.
Knowing Xiao Luo, this incident would definitely be spread around.
Lin Wan wanted to explain, but Xiao Luo had already pulled Ning Chuxue aside.
“Xiao Nuo, you can’t be friends with Lin Wan. She’s a bad person.”
“Don’t try to ruin my relationship with Xiao Nuo!”
Lin Wan was panicking. She had finally found such an adorable little girl, and she wanted to tease her some more.
Xiao Luo didn’t answer directly. She looked at Ning Chuxue.
“Do you have a good relationship with Lin Wan?”
Ning Chuxue didn’t hear clearly what she said and instinctively shook her head.
Her mind was still pondering another problem: ‘How does everyone know about that “Xiao Nuo” nickname?’ Ying was the prime suspect. She planned to interrogate her later.
“The person involved admits you don’t have a good relationship.”
“How can you do this?”
Lin Wan wished she could format Xiao Luo’s memory. “We’ve been good buddies for so long. Can Xiao Luo bear to see me suffer?”
“I can’t bear it. But when I think you’re a pervert who tricks kids, I can bear it again.”
As the words fell, before Lin Wan could react, Ning Chuxue got anxious first.
“When did I become a kid?”
“Because you’re very short.”
A merciless comment. Ning Chuxue couldn’t find a reason to refute it.
But she didn’t complain much. In fact, she couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved.
She knew everything Xiao Luo did was a joke, but neither Ning Chuxue nor Lin Wan complained.
For Lin Wan, Xiao Luo was the lubricant that eased the tension between her and Ning Chuxue. It was thanks to Xiao Luo’s jokes that Lin Wan avoided being thoroughly hated by Ning Chuxue.
Similarly, because of this little interlude, Ning Chuxue wasn’t as nervous as before and began to slowly try to integrate into this big family.
Just then, Zhou Yu and Su Tang, who had been busy for a while, stopped what they were doing.
Seeing the others still joking around, Zhou Yu waited for a moment without interrupting. Only after the “little rascals” had finished playing did she take the chance to chime in.
“The table is ready. Let’s start the welcome party!”
“Welcome party?”
Ning Chuxue questioned.
Lin Wan looked at her hesitantly.
“Didn’t Ying tell you? Whenever a new member joins the club, we hold a small banquet.”
“But no one has joined since the club was founded.”
Before Lin Wan could finish, Xiao Luo poured cold water on her.
“Can you stop interrupting me?”
“No.”
Lin Wan was at her wit’s end and had to back down, no longer bickering with Xiao Luo.
She then remembered that she always lost whenever they bickered, which made her even more frustrated.
Seeing this, Ning Chuxue subconsciously stepped forward.
“Um… how about we go to the banquet first?”
She felt it wouldn’t be good to let them keep talking like that, so she tried to change the subject.
“I’ll listen to Xiao Nuo.”
Lin Wan was the first to agree.
Xiao Luo didn’t say anything, silently agreeing.
Even though it was called a banquet, it was just a few tables pushed together, covered with all kinds of delicious food.
The club members found some chairs and sat around the combined tables.
Su Tang found a seat inside and sat down.
Zhou Yu, like a ghost, placed her chair next to Su Tang’s and chose to sit with her.
Su Tang gave her a disgusted look and shifted slightly to the side.
Xiao Luo and Lin Wan, who had been bickering earlier, both sat opposite Ning Chuxue. They tacitly didn’t bring up the previous topic.
Everyone found their partners.
Ning Chuxue looked at the empty space around her and felt a hint of loss.
She realized her mindset had changed. She wasn’t as shy anymore.
When she first arrived, she was so nervous she wanted to escape every second, even nearly vomiting. But the people here were very warm, and they didn’t treat her like an outsider.
After experiencing a few forced interactions and jokes, Ning Chuxue’s stress completely dissipated. She felt she had never been as relaxed as she was today.
It was strange.
Maybe, as Ying said, Ning Chuxue might really be suited for this place.
“What are you thinking about, Xiao Nuo?”
Ying’s voice brought Ning Chuxue back to reality.
“I’m thinking about what I’ll be like in the future.”
Ning Chuxue opened up to Ying.
“Why think about that?”
Ying naturally placed her chair next to Ning Chuxue and sat down beside her. “Just go with the flow.”
“Go with the flow.”
Ning Chuxue tried to calm herself.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. It’s too early to think about that now.”
She blinked a few times, dismissing her ridiculous concerns.