The weather was clear, and in the center of the small playground, sunshades were still clustered together like blooming flowers.
They looked like those godforsaken tiny dick flowers Liu Xie had mentioned.
However, compared to the morning, there were two more people at the Literature Club’s recruitment booth.
“How did you two actually end up helping the Literature Club recruit?”
Xiao Yi’an had found two stools from somewhere and placed them inside the booth for Zhu Niao and Gou Yu to sit on.
Perhaps this was the authority of a student official.
“Because the Literature Club can’t just have a lone commander,” Xiao Yi’an said, his face still maintaining a serious and solemn expression.
Only the red, swollen mark on his left cheek made him look somewhat comical.
But clearly, Zhu Niao wasn’t asking Xiao Yi’an; she was asking Ye Qingchang. To a girl like her, whether the Literature Club had many members or few shouldn’t have mattered.
“Student Xiao treated me to a meal,” Ye Qingchang said, her back straight and her eyes staring fixedly ahead. She specifically avoided looking at the left side of Xiao Yi’an’s face, which she had slapped red.
“You were bought off for just one meal? Are you really that easy to flip? Weren’t you supposed to be a virtuous, chaste woman?”
“Who the hell told you that’s how you use the term ‘virtuous woman’?” Ye Qingchang shot back. “But of course, it couldn’t be just for a meal…”
Zhu Niao looked at Xiao Yi’an and Ye Qingchang with suspicion. “Then what else?”
“Also a bottle of water.”
“You seem a bit cheap.”
Facing Zhu Niao’s questioning, Ye Qingchang obviously couldn’t admit that she had failed to hold back and slapped Xiao Yi’an. She couldn’t just walk away now, or she would feel like a terrible person.
“And I haven’t asked you two yet. Why did you suddenly show up here?” Ye Qingchang turned the question back on Zhu Niao and Gou Yu.
She pointed at Zhu Niao, who had her legs propped up on Gou Yu, and Gou Yu, who was covering his face.
At least Xiao Yi’an had a bottle of ice water pressed against his cheek, but Gou Yu’s face was just plain swollen.
“It’s like this. We were playing a game of cops and robbers just now, and while catching each other, we ended up here.” Zhu Niao leaned her hands on the table in front of her, looking as serious as if she were attending an important meeting.
“Do you really think I’ll believe that?” Ye Qingchang looked at Zhu Niao with a flat expression. “I think I’m still a normal person compared to you two.”
“Oh, you don’t believe it?” A flicker of surprise crossed Zhu Niao’s face, but she continued immediately, “Actually, Gou Yu and I just went for a campus run together. It was a truly sweat-drenched workout.”
As she spoke, she even wiped away some sweat.
There was real sweat.
But Ye Qingchang still didn’t believe her. “The fact that you would go for even one campus run before the final month — and without using a bicycle to cheat — makes this story completely devoid of any credibility.”
“I’ve realized you have zero trust in your brothers.” Zhu Niao stood up abruptly and pointed at Ye Qingchang.
Just then, two students walked past the booth.
“Isn’t that the one who was running with the dog earlier?”
“It sure is! Hey, keep it down, the one who was being chased is right there.”
Apparently, the voices weren’t low enough. All four people inside the Literature Club booth heard them perfectly.
Zhu Niao sat down in silence, seemingly drained of all strength and tactics.
Then she saw Ye Qingchang unlock her phone. “My intuition tells me that if I just set my short-video app to local posts right now, I’ll be able to see you two in all your heroic glory.”
Before Zhu Niao could stop her, she saw Ye Qingchang tap into the app and start scrolling.
She really did find it, but it felt a bit different.
“I know the way you two play is usually beyond common sense, but is this really…”
Zhu Niao buried her head in her hands. “Just laugh if you want to.”
“Actually, I have a question.” Ye Qingchang held her phone up in front of Zhu Niao. “Why is it in first-person perspective?”
“Huh?”
Zhu Niao snatched the phone away, looking at the swaying perspective on the screen and the camera that occasionally turned back toward her.
From this angle, it looked like a video of hope left behind by Gou Yu while he was crawling in front.
“You had time to record while you were freaking crawling?” Zhu Niao grabbed Gou Yu by the collar. “It’s one thing for others to sneak a video of something this embarrassing and post it, but I didn’t expect you to betray me!”
“Wait, wait!” Gou Yu grabbed Zhu Niao’s hand. “My initial goal wasn’t to embarrass you or intentionally draw attention.”
Gou Yu pulled out his own phone. “I figured since I couldn’t deliver food today, I shouldn’t let the day go to waste. I thought if I filmed a few videos and posted them online, I might be able to ride the algorithm and make a little money from the creator incentive program.”
“Is that really what you were thinking?” Zhu Niao retracted her fist. “In that case, I’m going to put this video of yours into the final project video we have to make for our Ideology and Politics class.”
“Brother, I’m begging you, please, brother.” Gou Yu’s expression changed instantly.
“Begging won’t help.”
Beside them, Ye Qingchang, who had taken back her phone, seemed to have finished watching the entire video. “Wait, I’m actually a bit curious about something. If your Gou Yu was crawling on all fours, how did he manage to get a first-person perspective?”
“Because like this…” Gou Yu pulled out his phone, started a recording, and then bit down on it with his mouth. “Like this.”
Ye Qingchang froze for a moment, then started clapping.
“Truly a stellar moment for the sub-human species.”
“Thank you for the praise.” Gou Yu bowed slightly, like a magician facing an applauding audience.
“No one is praising you, damn it!” Zhu Niao raised her hand and delivered a kidney punch.
There didn’t seem to be many people coming to the Literature Club in the afternoon.
Or perhaps it was because Xiao Yi’an had not only stopped his live stream, but the raffle prizes were mostly gone.
There were only five or six cans of drinks left. They simply stopped the raffle and gave a can to everyone present.
Other prizes seemed to be gone, but there was one thing that still remained.
Ye Qingchang looked at the box at her feet. A bottle of red wine lay there quietly.
As expected, that raffle box never contained the slip for the grand prize. These people who ran raffles really played dirty.
As for why Xiao Yi’an had brought the item to the scene, it was probably to show it to participating students while the raffle was active, and then claim it had already been won once the event ended.
It was way too dirty.
Furthermore, Xiao Yi’an had changed out of his traditional hanfu. Underneath, he was just wearing a casual short-sleeved shirt.
This resulted in the Literature Club currently having zero appeal.
“Fine. If you actually make money from the video today, you have to give me a cut.”
“If I really make money, I’ll buy you an outfit.” Gou Yu pointed toward the person standing next to the Anime Club booth. “Something like that.”
Zhu Niao saw the pair of white stockings at a glance. “Isn’t that just a win for you, then?”