After deciding to give up, I became popular

"Oh? It's been so long, I'm surprised, Xia Chuan-kun, that you still recognize me," she said, sounding amazed.

"I wouldn't be so forgetful as to not recognize you," Xia Chuanzou subconsciously retorted, then chuckled softly.

Similar conversations had happened before, which brought back some happy memories for Xia Chuanzou.

"Maybe, ever since Xia Chuan-kun became the student council president, you haven't seen us anymore."

"N-no way… It's because the student council president is busy with official duties…" Xia Chuanzou's eyes darted around, not daring to look into Jia Teng Hui's eyes.

He couldn't bring himself to say that he had neglected his old friends because he was busy pursuing girls; wouldn't that make him seem like he valued women over his friends?

Fortunately, Jia Teng was an understanding girl and didn't expose his bubble-like, illusory lie.

"Speaking of which, why is Jia Teng here? Don't you have club activities to attend?"

"Because I encountered a very lonely and pitiful-looking little puppy, so I was delayed for a while."

"Hmm…" Xia Chuanzou's face turned red, and he became a little flustered.

This was the first time he had been addressed like this. Did he really look that miserable right now?

"It'll be fine after I feed him something."

"Ah… I, I see."

Xia Chuanzou seemed even more embarrassed.

He never expected that Jia Teng was talking about a real puppy, and not using that term to describe him. Fortunately, he didn't react in any way, or it would have been too awkward.

"In that case, Jia Teng, you should hurry up and go to your club activities. Don't keep everyone waiting too long."

"That matter isn't important."

"Not important…"

What, what does this mean? Does she think that chatting with him is more important? Or is it that she really thinks he's like a pitiful puppy and can't help but worry about him…

"Because the club has already been disbanded."

Xia Chuanzou: "…"

So he was overthinking it after all!

"Cough cough… Jia Teng, what happened to the club disbanding? Is it convenient to talk about it?"

After coughing a few times to cover up the guilt in his voice, Xia Chuanzou asked with a hint of curiosity.

Speaking of which, he used to be a member of that club too, but unlike Jia Teng Hui, Xia Zhiqiu, and Ying Lili, he wasn't actively invited into the club by An Yilun, but joined them through the club's recruitment.

At the beginning, Xia Chuanzou was worried that his half-baked programming skills would make it difficult for him to catch An Yilun's eye and gain more opportunities to get close to the heroines, but he found that the other party's recruitment conditions were extremely harsh—no salary, no remuneration, all based on the love of generating electricity.

In this way, which fool would be willing to accompany him? Only someone with ulterior motives like Xia Chuanzou was left. It could even be said that after confirming that Xia Chuanzou had the ability to complete the programming work independently, An Yilun almost begged him to join the club, with a combination of coaxing and deception.

The final remuneration was a cup of afternoon tea and snacks, as well as the right to play any game owned by An Yilun.

Honestly, Xia Chuanzou was not interested in these, but in order to hide his true thoughts, he superficially agreed to this remuneration.

After that, things developed naturally. Xia Chuanzou actively launched his strategy while completing his work, but the process was beautiful, but the result was cruel—his love was crushed one by one.

This led to Xia Chuanzou's unwillingness to recall the past too much, but now that he suddenly heard Jia Teng Hui mention it again, he couldn't restrain the curiosity in his heart.

"Could it be that the club activities couldn't continue after I left?" Xia Chuanzou's face changed slightly.

A trace of complex emotions brewed in his heart.

Guilt? Or rejoicing? Honestly, he himself didn't know what kind of feeling it was.

Although he had already quit the club, the part of the work that belonged to him had already been completed, so he didn't need to be responsible for the disbandment of the club, but he was, after all, one of the former members, and the bond was not completely severed.

Even taking a step back, if the "beautiful girl text adventure game" that he worked on could be released and become a big hit, he would be able to share in the glory.

"No, Xia Chuan-kun's work has already been completed." Jia Teng Hui shook her head and said slowly, "And the suggestions left behind were also very useful. After Ying Lili and the others read it, the progress of their work has been much faster."

"Then why did it disband…"

"Because the game is already finished." Jia Teng had a matter-of-fact expression.

"Not only Xia Zhiqiu-senpai and the others, but even An Yi-kun praised the finished product of the game. They all said that Xia Chuan-kun was indispensable…"

"…"

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Xia Chuanzou always felt that Jia Teng-san seemed to be whetting his appetite, not only did she often answer irrelevantly, but she would also occasionally say things that easily attracted people's attention.

"So the disbandment…"

"Hmm… it seems that Xia Zhiqiu-senpai brought it up? She said, 'Now that the game is finished, this childish club activity should also be disbanded.' After saying these words, she left, and so the club disbanded."

Xia Chuanzou: "…"

He really wanted to complain that Jia Teng's words made it sound as if Xia Zhiqiu Shi Yu was the culprit for the disbandment of the club.

However, Xia Chuanzou, who was familiar with the original work, knew very well that Xia Zhiqiu Shi Yu was indeed the first person who wanted to leave the club, and it was not particularly strange for her to do such a thing.

But in any case, after learning that he was not the culprit for the disbandment of the club, Xia Chuanzou felt much better in his heart.

Sometimes people are like this, whether he is aware that he has a responsibility for something, as long as there are other insiders willing to deny his "guilt," then he will feel better in his heart.

005. You can be more willful

Xia Chuanzou had to admit that Jia Teng Hui had a special magic about her.

However, it wasn't the superficial presence that was enough to make her a top assassin, but that she could always control the rhythm of the conversation inadvertently, but she wouldn't make you feel offended.

And when Xia Chuanzou really realized this, the two were already in a "shared umbrella" state—that is, sharing an umbrella.

Honestly, Xia Chuanzou didn't like the rainy season, especially this kind of rainy day that was so suitable for the atmosphere. Every drop of water seemed to fall directly into his heart, constantly reminding him of the fact that his love had failed once again.

Fortunately, there was a cute girl accompanying him for a walk in the rain, which gave this once-silent heart a little warmth.

"How has Jia Teng been doing lately?"

Just like old acquaintances who hadn't seen each other for a long time and were lucky enough to reunite, Xia Chuanzou tried to find a topic for the two of them to meet in the rain.

"Eh… should I say good? Or bad…" Jia Teng Hui tilted her head, and her gaze towards Xia Chuanzou was still so calm and indifferent.

"It's better to say that I don't know what to say."

"Hmm… for example, studying, interpersonal relationships, or something?"

Xia Chuanzou was also a little unsure for a while, but he thought that the things that ordinary high school students usually worry about were nothing more than this?

"I feel like Xia Chuan-kun is like a mother…"

"Uh… does your aunt often ask you such questions?"

"Yes, and sometimes she asks about love topics." Jia Teng Hui replied softly, circling her hair with one finger, quietly waiting for Xia Chuanzou's response.

"Love topics?" Xia Chuanzou was stunned, but after reacting randomly, he chuckled softly, "So Jia Teng also worries about such things?"

This was a bit of a commonality with him.

In his impression, Jia Teng Hui always looked indifferent, and he had never seen her have any major emotional fluctuations because of anything.

Maybe it was because his emotional intelligence was not high enough, he couldn't even see that Jia Teng Hui had any signs of falling in love with An Yilun.

"It's not me who's worried…" Jia Teng said so, and then turned her attention to Xia Chuanzou.

"So aunt is so concerned about your love life, but isn't it a bit too hasty?" Xia Chuanzou pretended not to understand Jia Teng's meaning, turned his face to the front, and dared not look at her.

I was seen through… Was I too obvious? Or did I expose this in my daily life? Xia Chuanzou thought.

He had never publicly promoted his love for a certain girl, but every love was an exclusive one that he devoted all his efforts to, so he never thought of covering it up.

Special treatment, undisguised preference, Xia Chuanzou would almost do his best to make his heroine feel his heart in his daily life.

Then choose a great time to confess.

But… did he not do well enough? Why do some people even think that he is a fickle cheating man who is keen on changing girlfriends?

Obviously, he was the one who was constantly being rejected and hurt, right?

Is it too much to change a pursuit object because he was rejected? Is it necessary to pester him to the end and wear out the last trace of goodwill in the other party's heart to be considered affectionate?

Xia Chuanzou's self-esteem did not allow him to do so, even if he was facing the girls he once loved so much.

Therefore, if he missed it, he missed it. He would not disturb them again, and would not use the burden of "love" to bind their personal lives…

"Why is Jia Teng looking at me like this, did I accidentally say something wrong?"

Xia Chuanzou became more and more uneasy, his heart became frightened, afraid of being seen through his pretense of strength, afraid of being exposed as a shield of self-esteem, which was actually a bubble.

Please, Jia Teng, don't do this, don't explore any further…

"There's nothing wrong."

"What…"

"There's nothing wrong."

"…" Xia Chuanzou couldn't believe what he heard, but he didn't want to give up the only glimmer of light in the darkness, "What, what does it mean…"

"Xia Chuan-kun didn't do anything wrong."

I don't know when, Jia Teng Hui's slender hand had already climbed onto Xia Chuanzou's forehead.

She gently stroked Xia Chuanzou's fine short hair, and said some lies like comforting a child.

"Xia Chuan-kun can be more willful, don't care about other people's feelings, just do it if you want to."

"Even if it's misunderstood?"

"If it's misunderstood, then clarify it with action."

"What if it's not a misunderstanding?"

"Then isn't it in line with Xia Chuan-kun's wishes? You should feel happier."

"…"

"Pfft…" Xia Chuanzou was finally able to laugh, "I feel that Jia Teng… is not suitable for teaching children."

"And I don't remember that Jia Teng, you have such a side, how should I say… like a doting mother?"

"Eh, but I'm obviously just a high school girl…" The corner of Jia Teng Hui's mouth seemed to rise a little.

But it wasn't very clear, just take it as an illusion.

"The point is not there." Xia Chuanzou complained, "Let's forget about this time, Jia Teng can't treat me as a child again in the future."

Even though there was already a slight cold wind, the coolness it brought could not blow away the warmth on Xia Chuanzou's forehead, until this warmth extended to the heart, and could no longer be driven away.

"…"

In the face of Xia Chuanzou's coquettish words, Jia Teng Hui didn't say anything, but her eyes and movements all revealed such information—isn't Xia Chuan-kun just a child at this time?

Normal children don't worry about love! Xia Chuanzou thought.

The hand holding the umbrella was no longer shaking, but the raindrops had already fallen on his defenseless body, so he simply handed the umbrella to Jia Teng Hui, and took a step to stand in the wind and rain.

"You might catch a cold if you get rained on like this?" Jia Teng Hui took the umbrella, and after seeing Xia Chuanzou's movements, her eyebrows frowned imperceptibly.

"Didn't Jia Teng just say that I can be as willful as I want?" Xia Chuanzou immediately replied.

He opened his arms, as if to embrace the new world, letting the raindrops pour on him.

The body that had been wet by the rain began to become heavy and sticky, but Xia Chuanzou's heart was a piece of comfort.

So it can be so happy to rain? This was an experience he had never had before.

But he wasn't a fool either, he just appropriately expressed the depression in his heart and then stopped doing so.

Since the food that fell on the ground can be taken back to eat within three seconds (don't learn, it's just a gag), then the rain that has only been rained on for three seconds doesn't count as rain, right?