Chapter 24: I Won’t Dislike It

“A club dissolution notice!”

Jiang Ling exclaimed in equal shock, immediately leaning in close to Fang Chenxi.

Forgetting her earlier resolve to keep her distance, her eyes remained glued to the words on the white paper as she read them aloud, word for word.

Ji Qingyan shut her book, stepped forward quickly, and snatched the notice from Fang Chenxi’s hand, folding it and tucking it inside her book.

It was too late, however; Jiang Ling and Fang Chenxi had already seen the contents clearly.

“Only one week left…”

Jiang Ling muttered to herself, as if unable to believe what she had just read.

“And if the requirements aren’t met…”

Fang Chenxi picked up the thread, though unlike Jiang Ling, she couldn’t suppress a grin.

“The club gets disbanded?”

Jiang Ling looked at Ji Qingyan and asked again in disbelief, “Is this for real?”

Jiang Ling desperately wanted to hear Ji Qingyan say it was fake—just a prank—but she knew Ji Qingyan’s personality well enough to know she wasn’t the type for such jokes.

Ji Qingyan remained silent for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.

“It’s real. It was just delivered.”

“How did this happen…”

Jiang Ling started to ask instinctively, but then remembered the notice had explained it clearly: it was simply because the club didn’t have enough members.

She turned her gaze toward Fang Chenxi.

“The rest of this is a private club discussion. Please excuse yourself.”

This time, Fang Chenxi was all smiles.

Even being kicked out didn’t bother her.

She rose from her seat and remarked, “Oh dear, I was actually thinking of joining the Literature Research Club myself. But looking at it now, it’s about to be disbanded, so I suppose there’s no point.”

“Stop talking so much and just get out.”

Jiang Ling grabbed her by the arm and gave her a glare, punctuating it with a pinch to her soft waist.

Fang Chenxi always knew how to make sarcastic remarks.

The door closed.

Fang Chenxi looked quite triumphant as she left, her steps light as if she had witnessed something wonderful.

Back inside, Ji Qingyan was the complete opposite.

She sat there alone, her slender frame looking desolate.

“Why the long face?”

It was rare to see Ji Qingyan like this.

Jiang Ling found it somewhat amusing.

She walked over, pulled the notice out from between the pages of the book, and read it over carefully once more.

“I’m sorry. I really should have told you sooner,” Ji Qingyan said with regret.

As she had mentioned, she saw this coming, yet she had chosen to hide it when Jiang Ling joined.

If she had spoken up earlier, Jiang Ling wouldn’t have wasted her time messing around here.

Jiang Ling rolled her eyes.

She felt Ji Qingyan was overcomplicating things.

From what she could see, this was a problem that could be solved just by recruiting one more person.

Why act like it was an impossible feat?

Jiang Ling sighed and said, “You should have told me earlier. If you had, I could have helped you make recruitment posters.”

Ji Qingyan looked up at Jiang Ling blankly, then lowered her eyes again.

“Those don’t work. I tried before, and I still didn’t find anyone.”

Hearing this, Jiang Ling could already imagine the scene of potential new members being scared off by “Ice Queen” Ji Qingyan.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Whether it works or not, we won’t know until we try. This time I’m with you; we’ll definitely find someone.”

Ji Qingyan still seemed dejected, seemingly troubled by the fact that she had kept this secret from Jiang Ling.

Though, much of that secrecy had been born of Ji Qingyan’s own selfish desires.

“Alright now, how can a club president be defeated by a little recruitment?”

Jiang Ling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She found it hard to reconcile the pouting Ji Qingyan before her with the usually cold and aloof beauty.

She reached out and pinched Ji Qingyan’s cheeks, her gaze meeting those cool eyes.

“Trust me, okay? After all, I’m part of this club now too.”

Jiang Ling was only focused on comforting Ji Qingyan and didn’t realize how overstepping her gesture was.

She even found Ji Qingyan’s skin so smooth and tender—like a freshly steamed egg custard—that she was reluctant to let go.

Ji Qingyan froze.

This was the first time anyone had ever been so physically affectionate with her.

As if possessed, she nodded.

Jiang Ling hadn’t said those things just to comfort her; recruiting wasn’t actually that hard.

Besides, they were only one person short.

If everyone really did get scared off by Ji Qingyan, she could just force Fang Chenxi to join… though that girl seemed to be praying for the club’s downfall.

If that failed, there was always Lu Yuyao.

Helping Ji Qingyan was one thing, but Jiang Ling was also helping herself.

She finally had a place where she could rest openly and legitimately; she didn’t want it to end in just a week.

“Oh, right, I have some good news too.”

Jiang Ling grinned.

She hadn’t been able to say anything while Fang Chenxi was there. She winked at Ji Qingyan.

“My manuscript was accepted.”

“I have you to thank for that.”

“Congratulations,” Ji Qingyan nodded slightly, as if she had expected it.

To be honest, Ji Qingyan didn’t feel she had helped that much; she had only offered a few suggestions.

Compared to web novels, traditional literature was her forte.

She had only recently begun learning about the web novel industry, so the success was mostly due to Jiang Ling’s own efforts.

In truth, Jiang Ling had quite a talent for web novels.

Her writing was delicate, and her control over pacing wasn’t that of a novice… most importantly, the plot of the accepted book was actually quite interesting.

Ji Qingyan had read the beginning and the synopsis.

It was a “chasing” story: essentially, a maid is despised and bullied by the female leads, leaves in despair, becomes powerful, and then the female leads start to regret their actions and chase after her.

The genre was “Harem.”

This was the first time Ji Qingyan had seriously read a girls’ love (GL) novel.

While she didn’t quite understand why Jiang Ling would write a harem story, people always said that the content of a novel reflects the author’s true inner thoughts.

Ji Qingyan instinctively looked at the beaming Jiang Ling, and a strange thought suddenly surfaced in her mind:

Does Jiang Ling like girls?

Until now, she had assumed Jiang Ling wrote this genre because it was popular and profitable; she had never considered it from that angle.

Ji Qingyan didn’t find that sexual orientation strange; on the contrary, she had seen many girls dating back in middle school.

However, she had never encountered it so close to home.

With that thought, Ji Qingyan’s gaze lingered on Jiang Ling, her eyes growing deep.

As for herself, she had never considered her own orientation, but by comparison… if the person was a girl, a girl like Jiang Ling…

She probably wouldn’t dislike it.

I’m overthinking again.

Ji Qingyan shook her head, a faint peach-blossom flush creeping onto her fair face.

She had been like this lately—her mind wandering off-track, always ending up centered on Jiang Ling.

Unable to find a reason, she could only attribute it to the fact that they had been spending so much time together lately.

Sensing a strange gaze, Jiang Ling looked up, only to see Ji Qingyan focused on her book.

Feeling puzzled, Jiang Ling shook her head, dismissing it as her own imagination.