The Anime Club Must Support Su Yuan

It actually takes three days. Su Yuan was slightly taken aback; this was clearly beyond her expectations. Earlier, Xia Linfei had said that observing chromosomes was just a minor, incidental task. Su Yuan had assumed it was as simple as looking at cells under a microscope.

She hadn't expected it would require culturing, and for three whole days. She realized she might have caused Xia Linfei quite a bit of trouble.

"Maybe we should just forget it," she said sheepishly.

"How can we just forget it? We've already drawn your blood. It wouldn't be right not to let you see your own chromosomes," Xia Linfei said, her tone leaving no room for argument, seeing how Su Yuan was always thinking of others. "Don't overthink it. You provided a sample for our project, and even if you hadn't, I'd be happy to satisfy your curiosity."

Seeing that Xia Linfei had already decided, Su Yuan couldn't refuse her kindness. As they walked down the hallway, Su Yuan suddenly seemed to remember something, her expression freezing. "What's wrong?" Xia Linfei asked with concern.

Shaking her head, Su Yuan smiled. "Nothing."

Looking down, Su Yuan's expression grew complicated. She had just thought of a problem she had overlooked: if her chromosomes were prepared into slides, wouldn't Xia Linfei find out her gender?

She gritted her teeth, annoyed at herself for not considering such a crucial issue. Glancing at Xia Linfei, she regained her composure and shook her head. "Forget it. If she knows, she knows."

"Su Yuan, how about I treat you to dinner tonight?"

"Ah!"

Xia Linfei smiled. "Why are you so surprised? We've known each other, after all. It's settled then, I'll treat you to dinner tonight." Thinking of something, she added, "Invite the two people from your dorm too. I think you mentioned their names were Ji Yehao and... Gao Jun. Let's all meet and become friends."

"Okay," she replied without thinking.

Eating together was fine, but why did she have to invite Ye Hao and Gao Jun too?

A thought suddenly popped into her head: could it be that Sister Xia wasn't really inviting her to dinner, but rather using her to invite the people from her dorm to dinner?

It wasn't unreasonable for her to think this way. Xia Linfei was so beautiful, yet she didn't have a boyfriend. As she got older, she must be getting anxious. She remembered last time, when they were chatting about the two people in her dorm, she had gotten carried away and focused on praising Ji Yehao's good looks and Gao Jun's creativity.

Su Yuan had to admit a fact: Ji Yehao was very handsome. When he was normal, he had a special charm that attracted girls. Gao Jun, on the other hand, had many clever ideas, and coupled with his practical skills, he could also be quite popular with girls to some extent.

"Sister Xia, are you perhaps looking for a boyfriend?" The more Su Yuan thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She felt a pang of unease as she said this, worried that Ji Yehao or Gao Jun might also find a girlfriend, just like Yang Xiaowei.

Xia Linfei was taken aback and smiled. "Why would you think that?"

"Isn't it?"

"Of course not. I just thought it would be livelier with more people. If you don't like it, we won't call them."

"Wait, who said I didn't like it?" she quickly replied. "But won't it be too expensive for you, Sister Xia, if there are more people?"

Xia Linfei smiled faintly. "What's this? It's only four people including me. As long as we don't go to a five-star hotel, treating three friends to a meal is not a problem."

"Alright, I'll call them right now!" With that, Su Yuan took out her phone and dialed Ji Yehao's number. After hanging up, she said, "I've notified them. We'll meet at the east gate later."

"Okay. Before we get to the east gate, introduce the two of them to me," Xia Linfei said with a smile.

Su Yuan gave her a teasing look. She said she wasn't looking for a boyfriend, but she had already briefly mentioned them last time. Now she was actively asking, she must want to develop things further.

Sighing inwardly, Su Yuan herself really liked Xia Linfei. This liking wasn't purely romantic, but mixed with a certain admiration for "older sister" types... Watching her potentially being taken by someone else made Su Yuan feel conflicted.

"Oh, one is named Ji Yehao, and the other is Gao Jun. Let me introduce Gao Jun first. Gao from 'high mountain,' Jun from 'precipitous.' He's decent-looking, not extraordinarily handsome, but his mind is very sharp. If Sister Xia is looking for a boyfriend, I think he's quite suitable. As for Ye Hao..."

Su Yuan thought for a moment and said, "He's more handsome than Gao Jun, but I don't really know the specifics. His background is like a mystery, and he's not very honest! You can't rely on him to entrust your life to, so I don't recommend putting him on your shortlist, Sister Xia."

"Alright, alright, do you really think your sister is so desperate for a man!" Xia Linfei smiled at her. "You're clearly showing favoritism in your introduction. Student Su, I need to educate you. When interacting with classmates, you shouldn't wear colored glasses, especially since you live under the same roof as him."

"Oh, I know. You're just jealous because he's more handsome than you!" She patted Su Yuan's shoulder and said earnestly, "Student Su, you're also very well-qualified, there's no need to be jealous of him."

"Sister Xia, what are you talking about! I'm jealous of him?" Su Yuan exclaimed, looking around guiltily.

If she had to say, she did feel a bit jealous of Ji Yehao's handsomeness before, especially when they first met in their freshman year. Su Yuan was quite unconvinced and secretly competed with him.

However, after they got to know each other better and their relationship became friendly, that initial sense of rivalry naturally disappeared.

In the student activity area north of Binhe Institute of Technology, the door to a large activity room was suddenly kicked open from the outside.

"My children, your queen has returned!!"

Lan Qiuzhu appeared spirited and proud, her bright eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Huh? It's already getting dark, why aren't you turning on the lights? Are you trying to save electricity?"

"Sister Qiuzhu, don't be ridiculous. We don't pay for the activity room's electricity, so why would we consider saving it?" A girl sorting through membership applications adjusted her glasses and gave Lan Qiuzhu a look of utter disdain.

Lan Qiuzhu felt a bit embarrassed and leaned closer. "Then why aren't the lights on?"

"The circuit breaker tripped."

"Then fix it quickly!!"

"I can't." The girl from before answered crisply.

"..."

"Student Bao Bao, what can I say to you? You can't even fix a simple circuit breaker. How can I entrust the legacy of the Anime Club to you in the future?" Lan Qiuzhu lamented with heartache.

At this moment, she heard unrestrained laughter from around her. Lan Qiuzhu glared with her beautiful eyes and reprimanded, "What are you laughing at? You are all pillars of our Great Anime Club! If you don't hold yourselves to a high standard and support the club, you have no reason to laugh! Tell me, have you discovered any promising talents for the club?"

"Reporting to the Club President..."

A slightly chubby boy stepped forward, but Lan Qiuzhu interrupted him. "Get to the point. What have you found?"

"Yes!" The chubby boy, receiving his orders, reported, "On the Ren Chen year, Ji You month, Wu Zi day, after half a day of effort from the entire club, we have selected seventy-nine qualified members from one hundred and twenty-two applications, including eighteen potential members. Please, Club President, make your decision."

"Gender distribution!"

She hesitated slightly and said, "This year is about the same as usual, more guys than girls, a three-to-one ratio. Among them, potential members are two-to-one!"

"So, out of the eighteen potential members, twelve are guys and six are girls?"

"Club President, you are wise!"

"Slap!"

Lan Qiuzhu slapped the hard tabletop, then blew on it and rubbed her sore hand. "Wise my foot! Zhang Xin, as the club's vice president, do you have any good ideas to boost our club's combat power?"

Zhang Xin thought for a moment and said vaguely, "We will follow the Club President's lead!!"

"You're going to make me so angry!!"

"Bao Bao, what do you think!"

Lan Bao Bao, who was in charge of planning and external relations in the office, was a beautiful and graceful girl. She thought for a moment and said decisively, "Recruit people!"

Lan Qiuzhu nodded, "That's right, talent is key! The question is, have you recruited anyone?"

Hearing Lan Qiuzhu's tone, everyone knew there was hope. Lan Qiuzhu would never say something that would undermine herself. Since she said that, it must mean she had made some progress in this area. Her expression of "Come praise me quickly" was too flirtatious.

Zhang Xin, not only the vice president but also in charge of publicity and finance, understood Lan Qiuzhu's state of mind the best. He immediately led everyone in a bow, "We are terrified, we have failed your favor, and we deserve death a thousand times over!"

"Alright, alright."

Lan Qiuzhu knew they were flattering her, but honestly, she was quite proud of discovering Su Yuan today.

"Today, I found a promising talent in the library and am working hard to recruit her into our Great Anime Club!!"

"So that's how it is!" everyone suddenly realized.

"What's the name of that new member?" a girl asked curiously.

Lan Qiuzhu said, "Her name is Su Yuan, a sophomore. Has anyone heard of her?"

Everyone racked their brains, wondering why they hadn't heard of such a person. Logically, anyone favored by the Club President should at least have some reputation. Although Binhe Institute of Technology didn't have the so-called beauty or handsome rankings like in novels, there were still some well-known campus beauties and heartthrobs.

Wait, a girl who paid more attention to gossip suddenly spoke up, "Su Yuan, I think I've heard that name somewhere before. Could it be that scandalous person?"

"Scandalous person?" Lan Qiuzhu frowned.

"Yes, the campus forum seemed to mention someone named Su Yuan. It was rumored that she had a connection with Xiao Yiyan." She then recounted the general details of the scandal.

Lan Qiuzhu snorted, "So what if she has a connection with Xiao Yiyan? Are we afraid of her? Those Xiao fans are just disorganized rabble. Can they compete with our clearly structured Anime Club? Those hateful Xiao fans actually slandered the talent I, Lan Qiuzhu, have chosen so shamelessly!!"

Everyone listened and couldn't help but feel ashamed. To say their Xiao fans were disorganized and undisciplined, it seemed their Anime Club wasn't much better, purely ruled by the queen Lan Qiuzhu's talent!

Zhang Xin stepped forward and said, "Since she's someone the Club President has chosen, our Anime Club must support her no matter what!!"

"But then again, is that Su Yuan a guy or a girl?"

Lan Qiuzhu said, "A girl!"

"..." Everyone.