Chapter 17: The Club Isn’t as Simple as I Thought

If this had happened before—sneaking out money to eat—she might have been scolded or even beaten. Eating out was only allowed when his mood was good.

With that thought, still shaken, Su Xiaoxiao immediately set off for home, afraid he would catch up to her.

“Hurry up… or else my precious eggplant will get cold.”

The increasingly anxious girl quickened her pace, taking two steps at once down the street, drawing the attention of several passersby who glanced back at her.

***

Luckily, Su Xiaoxiao’s eyesight was still good, so even walking this fast, she didn’t bump into anyone and arrived at her destination normally: her current home.

“Finally, I can eat. Awooo~”

Back inside, Su Xiaoxiao quickly locked the door, turned on the lights, and opened a window to enjoy the night view (not really, it was pitch black outside—just the building across the street).

“Smells so good~ way better than Mom’s cooking, probably by hundreds of times!”

Holding disposable chopsticks, she ate while recalling the previous events and her mom’s meals.

It wasn’t that her mom’s cooking was really bad.

If Mom had cooked properly, she wouldn’t have complained.

The main issue was that Mom cooked just enough to keep her alive and save money, often giving her undercooked food, sometimes only one meal a day.

“Although now it still feels like one meal a day…”

She looked at the stir-fried dish on the collapsible table—this was probably her first meal in a couple of days.

Oh well, it smelled pretty good at least.

Felt like one meal could replace two.

Next time, maybe order two boxed meals and add a yuan—eat until full and forget about everything.

“Awooo~”

Not thinking about those unpleasant things anymore, Su Xiaoxiao began to enjoy this beautiful moment.

Thinking about food while eating is a waste!

***

“Tsk tsk…”

Before long, the girl finished the slightly cold Eggplant with Minced Meat, and her stomach was quite full.

Not a single grain of rice was left in the plastic container—it had all been devoured.

“I really want another serving…”

She clicked her tongue, saliva still lingering at the corner of her mouth because she really wanted to keep eating.

But her financial situation didn’t allow it; it wasn’t that she was lazy to go out.

The Eggplant with Minced Meat was 13 yuan, takeout 14—already over her usual daily budget of 13. All his fault…

“There’s 38 yuan left, enough to survive three days.”

After cleaning up the trash, Su Xiaoxiao folded the table and lay on her bed, thinking.

(Mental math: 50 + 5 – 3 – 14 = 38)

Though she didn’t take out the money to count, with her calculation skills, she was fairly confident.

More precisely, it should be 38.1 yuan—there was still that precious dime hidden in the wardrobe.

“…Uh, I probably won’t starve for now.”

Thinking about the future, a sudden fear crept into her heart.

If the Store Owner suddenly didn’t want her anymore, wouldn’t she end up starving on the streets?

She was already starting to suspect that the original owner might have died of starvation…

“Take it one step at a time.”

She reached the bedside, picked up her phone, and wearily started tapping the keyboard.

“3352255….”

She was typing in the QQ account Ning Xiaoyun had given her that afternoon.

The search result showed a user with a cute little bear avatar. Opening the profile, there were some recent selfies and travel photos—clearly an active, fun-loving girl.

Makes sense—she seemed nice, and Su Xiaoxiao had quite a good impression of her. Not that she liked her—don’t get the wrong idea.

“Add…”

She clicked, and a prompt appeared asking why she wanted to add her.

[I’m Xiaoxiao.]

After sending this message, Su Xiaoxiao prepared to take a shower.

After all, she had worked for four hours, and there were four pieces of clothing—including yesterday’s pajamas—that needed washing.

Su Xiaoxiao made up her mind and got to work immediately; it was already 11 PM, and if she didn’t wash now, she wouldn’t get up on time tomorrow.

***

“Ouch! This lousy water heater is going to kill me.”

In the bathroom, the girl turned on the shower, releasing warm water that was slightly out of control.

The left knob wasn’t necessarily hot water, and the right wasn’t necessarily cold—she had to adjust it slowly.

After a while, it finally worked properly, and she began her shower.

While washing…

No one could say she didn’t care about her own body.

At this moment, as she bathed, she secretly admired her delicate, fair skin.

Her slender waist and long white legs were nothing that her former male self would dislike—plus that adorable face…

Hmm, no words to describe it.

Surely many people would like such a beautiful girl besides herself…

“Ah, enough staring, making me a little narcissistic, geez.”

She turned her head away from the mirror.

Inside, her heart was still racing like a frightened deer, refusing to calm down.

Weirdo!

Stop thinking that way.

Still bothered, Su Xiaoxiao sprayed water on her face with the showerhead, trying to sober up.

***

After the fierce struggle of showering, washing, and hanging the clothes to dry, Su Xiaoxiao returned to her room.

The entire process took about forty minutes, most of which was spent showering.

“They accepted! And so late too, not asleep yet.”

She was carefully drying her hair with one hand, holding her phone with the other.

A new QQ message had already arrived.

[Xiaoyun: Hi, I’m so glad you remembered to add me on QQ.]

[Xiaoyun: Do you want more tomorrow? If you like, I have some at home and can bring you some.]

The person on the screen was very kind.

The first thing she said was offering snacks, a feeling Su Xiaoxiao hadn’t experienced before.

[ No, no, thank you!]

[Um, I just got to this school, so could you tell me a bit about the Club activities?]

Right away, Su Xiaoxiao was prepared to ask her about the Club. She wanted to find out where Xiao Li was because she hadn’t attended any Club Activity before and honestly didn’t know anything about it, even though she’d been here for almost a year.

[Xiaoyun: Oh, I see. Our school really promotes Club Activities, so a lot of people participate, and they’re quite big. Sometimes people from outside school come too.]

[Mm-hmm.]

After wrapping her hair to keep it from dripping, Su Xiaoxiao eagerly chatted with Ning Xiaoyun about the Clubs.

Her pale feet swung in the air.

She’d soon find out which Club Xiao Li was in~

***

On this quiet night, two girls communicated over their phones in two different places.

[Oh, I see, thanks! Got it. Also… sorry for making you talk so long.]

[Xiaoyun: It’s nothing, but it is late. I’m about to sleep, good night Xiaoxiao~] 00:30

[Good night!]

After a long conversation, Su Xiaoxiao learned many things she hadn’t known before.

First, the Clubs weren’t as simple as she’d imagined.

She thought it was just a routine, but it was actually much more complicated.

They were still just high schoolers, yet their Club Activities were already focused on profit…

The school wasn’t great, but these activities were even better than some universities.

Maybe that was one of the features of Xiamo No. 3 High School: training your social skills over three years, something other high schools couldn’t match.

They often had to find people to promote the Clubs, go out for practice, recruit helpers, hand out flyers—almost like running a real business.