After a while, the number of freshmen at the recruitment site dwindled significantly. Even Xiao Yi’an, who had been busy until now, managed to find a moment to sit down.
He looked at his phone, checking the list of members who had joined the club. Recruiting over thirty people was an unexpected windfall.
“You’re being really weird today — even weirder than before,” Ye Qingchang said, finally unable to hold it in any longer. “Why did you suddenly decide to come out and recruit for the Literary Society? Isn’t it usually just the two of us?”
“It would be too selfish if it were always just the two of us,” Xiao Yi’an replied. “This club was left to us by our seniors. Even if we don’t bring it back to its former glory, we at least can’t let it rot in our hands.”
“I originally thought about it being just the two of us, and I even controlled things to keep others from joining. But that was too selfish. I can’t bring myself to do that now.”
Ye Qingchang opened her mouth, but it took a long moment before she could get a word out. “I find it hard to imagine those words coming out of your mouth.”
“Also, since you’ve already quit the Literary Society, that means I’m the next Club President. I can’t be a leader with no subordinates.” Xiao Yi’an chuckled suddenly. “It’s quite interesting for someone who isn’t interested in literature — and even slightly dislikes it — to become the Literary Society’s President.”
“You…” Ye Qingchang didn’t know what to say for a moment. “Is your livestream still on?”
“I turned it off a long time ago.”
At his words, Ye Qingchang’s expression relaxed. Even though Xiao Yi’an’s camera hadn’t even been pointed at her, she had felt a strange, inexplicable tension.
Then, Ye Qingchang turned to look at Xiao Yi’an’s gentle smile. “Can you stop smiling? You look like a mimic. I’m starting to feel the Uncanny Valley effect.”
“What ‘Big Butt’ effect? I don’t understand,” Xiao Yi’an said, shaking his head. However, he did drop the overly sunny smile, letting his naturally listless expression show through.
He pointed to the corner of his lips. “This one is real, not fake. I just exaggerated it a bit earlier; otherwise, it wouldn’t have matched this outfit and makeup.”
This listless expression was the real Xiao Yi’an.
However, he would become serious when he actually had things to do, just like during the basketball games or the club recruitment just now.
Only then did Ye Qingchang notice that Xiao Yi’an was even wearing light makeup. It had likely been his aunt’s doing — she might have even volunteered. It was easy to imagine how happy his aunt must have been seeing Xiao Yi’an act like he had completely changed his personality.
‘It seems like this is all thanks to me.’
‘Wait, does this mean I’ve fulfilled the request his aunt gave me in a roundabout way?’
“So, now that you’ve recruited these new members, do you plan to run the Literary Society seriously?”
“I wouldn’t really call it ‘running’ it. After all, everyone will just be doing whatever they’re interested in.” Xiao Yi’an looked down at Ye Qingchang, appearing thoughtful. “Of course, if you don’t think it’s a good idea, you can send everyone I just recruited back. After all, you’re still technically the Club President.”
“I’m not that much of a jerk,” Ye Qingchang said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Right.” Xiao Yi’an stood up. “Thank you for helping me today, Ye. Even though you’re no longer a member of the Literary Society, you still came to help me just for the sake of being classmates. I’m touched.”
“Actually, I came for the sake of the Literary Society. I was the President for a long time, after all,” Ye Qingchang said.
Xiao Yi’an paused. “Is that so? I was originally planning to treat you to a meal to pay you back.”
“But then again…”
“Regardless of why you came, I’m going to treat you to a meal and a drink. You truly helped me, and actions matter more than intentions,” Xiao Yi’an said calmly.
“You’re making me sound a bit utilitarian,” Ye Qingchang grumbled.
“Then you can refuse, and we can go back and forth for half a day like elders giving out red envelopes during New Year, only for you to tuck it into your pocket in the end,” Xiao Yi’an suggested.
Ye Qingchang stood up and straightened her skirt. “Even if I tuck it away, my parents would just take it for ‘safekeeping.'”
Then she suddenly looked up at Xiao Yi’an, as if realizing something.
“That’s right. I don’t have to give mine to my parents for safekeeping. Do you suddenly realize you have a slight disadvantage compared to me now?”
Xiao Yi’an smiled faintly. Ye Qingchang almost laughed, but she held it back.
‘This is different. It’s still too strange.’
If it were the old Xiao Yi’an, he would have revealed his misfortune in hopes that everyone would coddle him, rather than treating such things as a joke or even using them to tease others.
Ye Qingchang especially did not want to be the person Xiao Yi’an entertained with his own suffering.
“Don’t make jokes like that next time.”
Seeing the seriousness on Ye Qingchang’s face, Xiao Yi’an looked thoughtful. He took out that familiar little booklet and began writing with a pen.
Xiao Yi’an called it his “Correction Notebook.” Although Ye Qingchang had never seen what was recorded inside, she could guess a fair amount of it.
“How many pages have you written?”
“Seven or eight pages.”
Ye Qingchang fell silent for a moment. “Let’s go. Let’s go eat. Don’t forget, you’re treating.”
“I know.” Xiao Yi’an adjusted his Hanfu. He seemed to intend to walk out just like that. In a university full of young people, tolerance was quite high; at most, he would just draw some attention.
However, Ye Qingchang had become somewhat desensitized to drawing attention after everything that had happened.
“Is there anything you don’t eat?”
“Don’t you already know?” Ye Qingchang asked back. “When we talked online, you knew exactly what I liked to eat and drink.”
“I’m a bit afraid that you were lying to me back then,” Xiao Yi’an said honestly.
Ye Qingchang was about to say something, but then she had a second thought. True, she really had lied about quite a lot.
“I’m sorry. But most of that was true, including the things I like to eat and drink.”
“That’s fine then,” Xiao Yi’an said, circling and writing more things in the booklet. “You don’t need to apologize yet. That’s not how the process works.”
“What? What process?”
Xiao Yi’an seemed to have thought it through clearly as he began to explain to Ye Qingchang. “Because I am currently atoning for my previous actions. If I succeed, then the debt I owe between us will be wiped clean. However, your deceptions won’t be wiped clean yet, so that’s when you should apologize.”
“What if you fail?” Ye Qingchang proposed a hypothetical.
“Then my actions cannot be wiped clean. We should stay away from each other, reaching a delicate state where, like now, neither of us owes the other anything.”
“Then if I never forgive you, I’ll never have to apologize?”
Xiao Yi’an shook his head. “If that’s the case, it just means I haven’t done enough and haven’t shown you enough to be worthy of your forgiveness. Just like how things are right now.”
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