“This is the place. Why is the door closed?”
It wasn’t too far. They reached the destination in two minutes.
Along the way, Ying talked nonstop, chattering about interesting stories and gossip from the Eclectic Studies Society.
Ning Chuxue felt like her ears were about to grow calluses.
Finally, Ying stopped in front of a door marked “Eclectic Studies Society,” and her incessant mouth finally quieted down.
This building seemed to be specially prepared for clubs. The corridor floor was paved with marble slabs, and lights hung every few meters overhead.
Above each door was a sign indicating which club’s classroom it was.
Also, these classrooms would have a display board in front for introducing and promoting the club.
But not every classroom had one. For example, the Eclectic Studies Society’s door was bare.
Looking at the brown wooden door before her, Ning Chuxue was very nervous.
Although she didn’t show any social anxiety when with Ying, she herself hadn’t changed.
She still got nervous when interacting with strangers, even wanting to escape.
It’s just that she had become familiar with Ying.
“Maybe no one’s here?”
Ning Chuxue voiced her speculation.
When she agreed to Ying, Ning Chuxue felt a bit indifferent.
But now that she was actually at the club door, her desire to escape expanded infinitely.
She even hoped that there really was no one behind the door, so that she would have a reasonable excuse to choose to escape.
“How could that be? The club has people at all times.”
“But I didn’t hear any movement inside…”
Ning Chuxue stood nervously behind Ying. Her empty hands, as if feeling insecure, tried to find something to hold.
She had left the bag in the classroom and didn’t bring it.
When Ning Chuxue knew they were coming to the club, she didn’t think to bring that bag.
Unconsciously, her hands felt around. Apart from the notebook, there seemed to be nothing she could hold.
She didn’t want to take out the notebook in case she lost it.
In the end, Ning Chuxue could only pinch her own clothes to relieve her nervousness.
“I feel like they’re holding some shady activity.”
Ying was unconvinced.
Among the three club members, there was always one “left-behind child” guarding the classroom.
This had long become an unspoken agreement. How could there be no one exactly when she came?
“But, but…”
Ning Chuxue instinctively wanted to say something to fill in her desire to escape.
But Ying interrupted her confidently.
“Don’t worry, there’s definitely someone!”
Then, without giving Ning Chuxue a chance to react, she gently knocked on the door a few times.
Ning Chuxue’s heart also leaped at the sound of her knocking.
She really couldn’t imagine how to handle what would happen next.
Most likely, they would awkwardly exchange a few pleasantries and then fall into silence…
After a while, there was no response from behind the door.
“Could it really be that no one’s here?”
Now it was Ying’s turn to be uncertain.
“See, I told you we should go back first and come later when someone’s here…”
Ning Chuxue stammered, continuing to dissuade.
She now regretted even more why she had agreed to Ying’s idea of joining the club.
And at that time, she had been confident that it would be fine.
Now that it came to the real deal, Ning Chuxue only wanted to stall and escape, completely lacking the confidence she had at the beginning.
“Impossible, there’s definitely someone. Maybe they just didn’t hear.”
Although Ying hesitated a few times, she still spoke confidently.
Then, she knocked a few more times, harder than before.
Ning Chuxue swallowed, her heart beat speeding up again.
Just a few minutes felt excruciatingly long to her.
Like being caught by her parents while playing on her phone in the middle of the night.
Very nervous, and also feeling a trace of despair.
After another moment, the door still didn’t open.
Seeing this, Ning Chuxue completely relaxed, and her tense nerves loosened.
“The club only has three people. It’s normal that no one’s inside right now, right?”
Ning Chuxue thought back to when they were still in the classroom.
Class president Zhou Yu hadn’t come; she was in the classroom.
Thinking of this, her desire to escape was somewhat satisfied.
“Su Tang is definitely here, don’t worry!”
Ying still refused to give up.
Ning Chuxue couldn’t quite understand her now, but she didn’t continue to dissuade.
However, the next scene made Ning Chuxue’s heart jump again.
She was surprised to see Ying take out a key from her pocket.
“Good thing I came prepared and got a key to the club in advance.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier if you had the key?”
Ning Chuxue looked at her in confusion, unconsciously letting go of her pinched clothes and then twirling a few strands of her silver-white hair.
“This is for the sense of ritual,” Ying said as a matter of fact. “Introducing a new member to the club by directly barging in would be rude, unless there’s really no other way.”
As she spoke, she inserted the key into the lock of the wooden door and turned it clockwise.
With a “click,” the door opened.
Ning Chuxue didn’t have time to ponder Ying’s bizarre thought process. Now she only hoped that there was really no one inside.
At the same time, she regretted even more why she had agreed to join the club in the first place.
Ning Chuxue now wished she could go back in time and completely seal her own mouth.
Ying gently pushed the door open, revealing the scene inside to Ning Chuxue.
The classroom was pitch black.
The windows were all covered by screens, sunlight couldn’t get in, and the lights above weren’t turned on.
“Ying, look, it’s pitch black with no lights on. How could there be anyone, right? How about we go back?”
Although it was only a few minutes, Ning Chuxue felt like she was riding a thrilling roller coaster, her emotions fluctuating.
“Could it really be that no one’s here?”
Now it was Ying’s turn to be uncertain.
But soon, she accepted reality.
“Since we’re here, let me show Xiao Nuo around first.”
Can’t make a wasted trip, right?
“Alright, I’ll head back after the tour.”
Since there was no need for social interaction, Ning Chuxue agreed without thinking.
Then, she followed Ying into the classroom.
“Xiao Nuo, be careful. Let me find where the switch is.”
Autumn days are short. It was close to afternoon, and the sun had already dimmed to twilight. Soon it would completely set below the horizon.
Moreover, the classroom windows were all covered, so although it wasn’t completely impossible to see, visibility was still somewhat hindered.
Ying groped carefully in the dark and finally found the switch next to the front door of the classroom.
She flipped the switch, and the entire classroom was instantly illuminated.
In almost a second, a figure appeared from behind the curtains and yelled at Ying in a startling way.
“Waha—”