Welcoming the Newcomers

The next day, Jiang Feng didn't go to the club's welcome event. Besides attending classes, he stayed in the back kitchen helping Jiang Jianguo make pastries. Starting from around four or five in the afternoon, the system's notification sounds kept ringing, so densely that Jiang Feng's head almost exploded.

It seemed the club recruitment had entered a white-hot stage.

"Ding, completed side quest [Keeping Up with the Times], received reward item: [Promotional Standee]."

Jiang Feng happily continued kneading the dough. Seeing Jiang Jianguo taking the freshly steamed lava buns out of the steamer, he said, "Uncle, after we finish this last batch, can we stop?"

"Sure thing!" Jiang Jianguo felt like he had made all the pastries he would need to for the next ten years today.

After two days of busy work, Jiang Jianguo put the last batch of lava buns into the steamer. He then sat down on a stool in the kitchen, picked up something to fan himself with, and asked, "Xiao Feng, I forgot to ask yesterday, why did Grandpa suddenly think of coming to A City?"

"A guest invited Grandpa to cook," Jiang Feng replied while tidying up the kitchenware. "A professor from our school invited Grandpa to make Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices."

"A grand dish!" Jiang Jianguo's eyes lit up. "Your dad never even had the chance to make this dish."

Jiang Feng nodded, his hands not stopping, chatting intermittently with Jiang Jianguo.

As a semi-empty-nest elder whose son was always busy with work, whose tailor shop business was slow, and whose wife was obsessed with health and family ethics dramas, Jiang Jianguo had a lot to say but nowhere to say it. Finally catching a junior, he naturally wanted to pour his heart out.

Just as Jiang Jianguo was talking about Jiang Feng's eldest cousin, Jiang Zaide, working overtime at the company every day, Jiang Feng's phone rang. He saw it was Wang Hao calling.

"Hello, Brother Feng, we've got some trouble here. Uh, uh..."

"What 'uh uh' is that? Give me the phone. What do you mean, Jiang Feng? You guys in the Chess Club put out so many free snacks and drinks right next to our Home Economics Club, and we let that slide. But what's going on with Chen Mengxing from your club? He's outright deceiving people! He tricked a new recruit that our club had already confirmed, giving her a bag of snacks and luring her to your side. What do you mean by this!"

Jiang Feng: ...

He could even imagine Wang Hui roaring in front of him.

"Uh, Wang Hui, could you hand the phone back to Wang Hao first? I'll ask him. I'm not here, and I don't really know what's going on."

"Heh."

"Hello, Haozi, what's this about Senior Chen poaching people that she just mentioned?" If Wang Hui was telling the truth, then Chen Mengxing's actions were indeed not proper.

"That junior is really a good prospect. She and Liu Qian went to the same high school, so she recognized her. She's won provincial chess competitions. Besides, we didn't poach anyone. That junior didn't say she was going to the Home Economics Club, she just took an application form." Wang Hao said quietly.

Jiang Feng: ...

Jiang Feng felt that if Wang Hui knew where he was, she would probably be on her way with a cleaver.

"Ahem, uh, do you still have any Sour Plum Drink? Give Wang Hui a cup to calm her nerves."

"Sour Plum Drink? All gone. We gave them out to those who filled out the forms early. Oh, right, I think I saw Liu Qian sneakily hiding a bottle. Wait a moment."

"Junior Qian, hand over the Sour Plum Drink from your thermos."

"What Sour Plum Drink? I didn't bring a thermos!"

"Hey, hey, that's not my thermos, it's my roommate's. Really, she left it with me."

"President Wang, look, this matter has already..."

Jiang Feng waited on the phone, and Wang Hui took the call. "Jiang Feng, you think a cup of Sour Plum Drink will appease me?"

She sounded a little better.

"How does this Sour Plum Drink taste?" Jiang Feng asked.

"It's quite... alright."

"You should know my family runs a restaurant on Food Street, right?"

"We know. Your club's recruitment flyers look like small ads for restaurants. What's this about Chess Club members getting a 10% discount on meals? And you even make people scan a QR code to follow your WeChat official account when they fill out the form. I'll report you to the student union!" Wang Hui threatened.

"Ahem... How about this? We admit we didn't handle this properly. You've tasted the Sour Plum Drink, and I believe you have some idea of our restaurant's cooking skills. From now on, any members of your Home Economics Club who come to my restaurant for a meal will receive a 5% discount. You must show your club ID!"

Wang Hui was silent for a moment: "10%."

"No, a 10% discount is our Chess Club's perk. At most 6% off!"

"8% off."

"Your Home Economics Club has over two hundred people. An 8% discount would bankrupt my restaurant. How about 6% off!"

After a round of haggling, Wang Hui finally compromised. 6% off was agreed upon.

"Amin, go change the promotional flyer and print a new batch. Add that members of this club get a 6% discount when dining at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant."

Jiang Feng: ...

"And add the QR code too!"

In the evening, those who had worked hard all day recruiting for the clubs gathered at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. He Jiahui, Zhao Lin, and Chen Mengxing, who always claimed to be too busy with their senior year to check the group chat, all found time to come for lunch and dinner. With their monthly meal fees paid, the queue for eating employee meals at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant grew even longer.

After eating and drinking their fill, it was time to show off today's achievements.

"Ta-da!" Zhao Yu took out a thick stack of filled-out club application forms from his bag and slapped them onto the table. The heavy "thud" made everyone's spirits lift.

"300 copies, all given out?" Ji Yue's eyes widened as she looked at the thick stack of application forms on the table.

"All given out, and we even finished early," Zhao Yu nodded affirmatively.

Everyone stared at the application forms.

"What are you staring at? Distribute them and start selecting people!" Ji Yue urged.

Everyone finally snapped out of their daze.

"Selecting members," what a foreign concept, to actually appear in the Chess Club.

They roughly divided the applications and began to screen people.

"Wu Minqi, a two-time provincial competition champion. Junior Qian, is this your alumna?" Liu Zixuan took the application sheet to show Liu Qian and exclaimed, "We're really going to make it big this year!"

In the history of the Chess Club, members who had won neighborhood competitions were already considered talented.

After several rounds of screening, 19 people remained who had won awards in city-level or higher competitions. In addition, there were some black belts in Taekwondo, national-level award winners in piano, and "specialty students" skilled in flower arrangement and martial arts—talents that seemed impressive but had little to do with chess. The Chess Club expected to recruit 26 new members this year, including Liu Qian.

After reviewing the new members' resumes, the veteran members felt too ashamed to remain in the Chess Club.

"I've decided!" Ji Yue slammed the table. "I'll go ask the student union for money again this year."

"Senior, if you go, it might be a bit..." Jiang Feng tried to remind her that she had actually already graduated.

"What do you mean? The student union president hasn't changed, so he'll still recognize me, won't he?" Thinking back to the hardships of requesting club funding when she was president a few years ago, and then looking at all these club applications in front of her, Ji Yue felt she absolutely had to shout the words she'd wanted to say for three years at those stingy student union members who refused to give money.

Chess Club demands money!

This novel. I suddenly feel like I still want to write it.