Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I mustered my courage and stepped through the door. “I never quit the club. I’m still a member of the Debate Club.”

Someone stood up, agitated. “Oh, so now you remember you’re a member? Back then-”

“Enough!”

Chen Zhinan, the President, barked the command.

“She indeed never resigned. She has both the right and the obligation to attend our regular meetings.”

He looked at me, his deep eyes calm and devoid of any emotion, as if he were looking at a complete stranger.

Emotions churned in my chest, and I was on the verge of tears.

Chen Zhinan was my ex-boyfriend.

The Intruder had broken up with him on the very first day she arrived.

She had been cruel and decisive.

Despite his repeated pleas, she never once looked back.

When I was leaving the venue during that debate competition, Chen Zhinan had grabbed me, his voice hoarse.

“Song Huai, I’m asking you one last time. Are you really leaving today for him?”

“Even if… even if you don’t love me anymore, debating has always been your dream.”

Using my voice, the Intruder said word for word: “Right now, Pei Yi is my dream.”

Those words hit him so hard that his tears fell instantly.

The proud young man let go of my hand, his eyes red. His spine, which had always been straight, slumped as if it had been snapped.

Now, there was someone else by his side.

Xu Yan glanced at him cautiously before trying to smooth things over. “That’s right. After all, Song Huai is still a part of our Debate Club.”

Xu Yan, from the Foreign Languages Department, had joined the Debate Club for the sole purpose of getting close to Chen Zhinan.

Her debating skills were mediocre, but she was a social butterfly.

In just one year, she had already become the Vice President.

She sat beside Chen Zhinan, right where she belonged.

She gave a gentle smile. “Song Huai, you’ve come at the perfect time.”

“I just ordered afternoon tea for everyone. Why don’t you go and pick it up for us?”

Someone chimed in, “Exactly. Even if you joined the club early, you’re just an ordinary member now. You should be the one running errands for everyone.”

Chen Zhinan looked up at me briefly but said nothing.

Afternoon tea for twenty-one people in the Debate Club, and I had to go pick it up alone.

She was clearly making things difficult for me.

But this was what I deserved.

I nodded and said okay.

Twenty-one servings of milk tea were heavier than I had imagined.

I had no choice but to make several trips.

Just as my arms felt like they were about to break from the strain, Pei Yi walked toward me.

He glanced at the delivery receipt and chuckled with his hands in his pockets. “For the Debate Club?”

“Weren’t you acting all tough the other day? In the end, you still crawled back to the Debate Club just to help me chase Xu Yan.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a hand that had reached out to take the milk tea from me suddenly froze.

I turned around. It was Chen Zhinan.

He… he heard everything.

Xu Yan grabbed his arm. “I told you, she had ulterior motives for coming back to the club. You didn’t believe me and insisted on coming out to help her.”