Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 147 The First Female Detective of Beicheng

Xiao Xiaoxiao felt a little sleepy.

However, compared to feeling a little sleepy, she was more excited at the moment. The clubs here all looked quite interesting, and she was wondering which one she should choose to join.

Even before entering university, she had set several goals for herself, one of which was to join a club that suited her.

"Volleyball club? Sounds like fun, but it's probably not for me. I hate to admit it, but I can't even reach the ball..."

"The same goes for the basketball club. I can barely play ball with those elementary school kids... Badminton, table tennis... No, no, sports clubs are not suitable for me, so I'll rule them all out."

"The chess club would be a good fit for me. I'm the best chess player in the village, but my skills are a bit too average, which doesn't quite meet my expectations..."

"The Divine Descent Club is a cosplay club. Cosplay means dressing up as characters from anime, which sounds boring. Plus, you have to pay for your own clothes, which makes it even less interesting..."

"It seems the mechanical engineering club also needs to pay for its own expenses, no way, we'll rule out anything that requires money first..."

Xiao Xiaoxiao was looking serious, trying to figure out which club she should join, when she suddenly heard a noise behind her. Before she could turn around, Han Zhou appeared out of nowhere and laughed, "What are you doing here?"

She was startled, but to save face she didn't show it, and said with a straight face, "Of course I'm here to join the club."

Han Zhou stared at her for a while and suggested, "I think you should go back and get some sleep first. I heard that the club's recruitment period is quite long, so there's no need to rush."

This guy looked exhausted; it was obvious he hadn't taken a nap.

Xiao Xiaoxiao didn't say anything. She had just finished her part-time job and came out of the cafeteria. She wanted to go back for a nap, but her roommates should already be taking a nap. There was something wrong with their dormitory door, and it was quite loud when it opened and closed. Going back now might disturb her roommates' nap, so she gave up the idea.

This is something I should keep to myself; there's no need to tell this pretty boy.

Instead of answering, she asked, "Didn't you say you don't participate in clubs? Then what are you doing here?"

"Han Zhou came with me."

The sound of a guzheng rang out behind her.

Xiao Xiao was startled, only then realizing that there was someone behind her.

She and Guzheng were already quite familiar with each other. For a while, Guzheng would bring her barbecue almost every day. As they were both foodies, they had a lot in common, and their relationship became much closer in the process.

"Guzheng? You're joining the club too?"

"No, I've already chosen a club. I just came here on a whim to take a look."

Gu Zheng explained for a moment, then asked curiously, "I've seen you standing here for a while now. So, have you decided which club to join?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head, looking troubled, and said, "I've been standing here because I haven't thought it through..."

"How about I help you think of something?"

"Okay, I've now ruled out sports clubs and clubs that cost money..."

Listening to their conversation, Han Zhou was surprised. Why did it seem like these two had a pretty good relationship? They didn't seem to have met more than a few times.

Is this what friendship between girls is like?

As he pondered, Gu Zheng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Han Zhou, don't just stand there, come and help think of something."

Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated. Choosing a club was nothing, yet the three of them had to analyze it together. Why was it being taken more seriously than filling out college applications?
Despite his inner grumbling, he thought about it seriously for a while and suggested, "How about a board game club? It shouldn't cost any money, and it's quite fun. You can play all kinds of board games for free, and the biggest advantage is that you can make new friends anytime."

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head and said, "I don't really like playing board games. Not just board games, I don't like any games where I sit still."

Don't like staying still? Turns out you're a restless soul...

"What about this?"

Han Zhou pointed to a sign not far away and said, "Hiking club. They organize hiking trips from time to time, and there are also opportunities to enter some scenic spots for free. It sounds pretty good. The only expense is your own food and drink during the hike, which you have to spend regardless of whether you join the club or not, so it's not an extra expense. What do you think?"

"Hiking..."

Xiao Xiaoxiao's face fell. "Just hearing about it is exhausting."

"What about this?"

"This one isn't good either."

"this?"

"too tired."

"..."

After a long pause, Han Zhou sighed and said helplessly, "Every time I make a suggestion, you add another request. You're not doing this on purpose, are you?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was a little embarrassed, but she still forced herself to say, "These were my original requests, I just didn't think of them at first."

Gu Zheng pondered for a while, then her eyes lit up and she said, "Xiao Xiao, why don't you join the dance club with me? If you only participate in regular training, it won't cost any money, and you can keep moving around. It's not tiring at all, and it seems like it would suit you perfectly."

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked suspicious and asked, "Really? Isn't dancing tiring?"

How come she heard that dancing is a very tiring thing?

"Not tired at all," Gu Zheng said with a smile. "I went to watch once, and the dance training seemed quite easy. By the way, how are your ligaments?"

ligament?

Seemingly recalling some painful experience, Xiao Xiaoxiao instantly looked distressed and shook her head like a rattle: "No, no, forget it, I'm really not cut out for dancing."

Stretching ligaments is just too scary...

Han Zhou shook his head inwardly, looking at Xiao Xiaoxiao's bitter expression and then at her two short legs, thinking that this girl probably had a rather unforgettable story with her ligaments.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "It seems that only one option remains. Considering all your current requirements—free of charge, allowing for movement without fatigue, no need to stretch your ligaments, and also requiring a considerable amount of fun—then the last option is..."

"The Paranormal Society".

A voice filled with anticipation picked up where he left off. At the same time, a towering figure appeared behind the three of them—it was Zhang Tao, a man with a muscular physique.

Seeing that all three of them were looking at him, Zhang Tao smiled a little embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just happened to hear your discussion about the club, so I couldn't help but chime in."

His voice matched his handsome appearance; it was a relatively soft tone. While his voice and face were a good match, the combination with his tall and muscular physique was rather incongruous.

Upon suddenly seeing this guy, Xiao Xiaoxiao shrank back behind Guzheng in fear, and after hesitating for a while, she chose to shrink behind Han Zhou.

Han Zhou glanced back at her, then smiled wryly at Zhang Tao and said, "Senior, you've seen it too. This guy is really too timid. He's even afraid to walk at night. There's no way he can join any paranormal club."

Xiao Xiao glared at him fiercely. She was quite bold, but she didn't dare to retort at this moment.

Zhang Tao flipped the sign in his arms over and said enthusiastically, "It's alright, being timid is no problem. We also have a supernatural society here, which aims to study various supernatural phenomena and explore the secrets of the world. As long as you have passion, that's enough. There's no danger."

Han Zhou shook his head again: "I'm sorry, senior, we're really not interested in this kind of thing. Also, what I was going to talk about was actually the detective club. I think this club might be more suitable for us."

"That's it..."

Zhang Tao was clearly disappointed. After hesitating for a moment, he smiled wryly and said, "Alright then, my name is Zhang Tao. I'm a third-year economics student. If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."

He was very interested in the three freshmen in front of him, mainly because all three of them were very good-looking.

As a moderately well-known video blogger, Zhang Tao's recent extreme sports videos have stopped attracting many fans, so he plans to seek a breakthrough.

There are two directions for breakthrough: one is to find some companions who also seek thrills to appear on camera, and the other is to broaden the audience of the videos by creating some nighttime exploration programs. Such programs might be more effective if good-looking people are in charge.

His videos emphasize authenticity. His previous extreme sports videos were all filmed live, so he doesn't plan to make scripts and find actors for his new show like those boring guys. Instead, he wants to find suitable candidates from his juniors. They just need to play their true selves in the show, and that will definitely create the best program effect. He has been looking for such people.

Unfortunately, no one has been willing to join his team so far.

As Zhang Tao left, Xiao Xiaoxiao emerged from behind Han Zhou and asked curiously, "Who is this big guy?"

"Zhang Tao".

Considering that this guy was drowsy at the time and might not have heard Ouyang Lianyu's introduction, Han Zhou added, "He's one of the famous people at Lin University, the senior who's known as 'the one who doesn't know his own mortality'."

"Zhang Tao? The one about extreme sports?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao wasn't as bad as Han Zhou thought. At least Ouyang Lianyu was still sober when she was telling the first part of the story. She quickly remembered the name and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "He doesn't seem that fierce. I thought he would force us to join his club."

"I didn't say he was fierce. The six famous people aren't the six villains... But what do you think of my suggestion? The detective club is probably the most suitable club for you among all the clubs right now."

Guzheng agreed, saying, "That's what I think too, Xiaoxiao, what do you think?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao pondered for a moment, then nodded hesitantly: "It does sound pretty good, but this club probably doesn't need to investigate murder cases or anything like that, right?"

She swallowed hard, her worry genuine.

"what are you thinking?"

Han Zhou almost burst out laughing. "A murder case? You'd have a hard time finding a lost cat. I bet this club just plays around with deduction games or something. Why don't you just ask around?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao was furious: "You're the one who can't even find a cat!"

The three of them went to the sign that read "Detective Club Recruiting" to inquire.

The person in charge of recruiting new members for the club was an enthusiastic senior student who said with a smile, "The Detective Club is also called the Reasoning Club. Its main activity is to carry out reasoning activities within the club. Each activity is divided into two sides: the 'murderer' and the 'detective'. The murderer side is responsible for designing the murder case and leaving clues, while the detective side has to deduce and reconstruct the course of events based on the clues."

"This is the main activity. Besides that, we occasionally do some reasoning on simple real-life cases, or help people find their cats or something. In short, it's very interesting and can also improve your logical thinking skills. By the way, junior, are you very interested in reasoning?"

Gu Zheng was a little annoyed by Xiao Xiaoxiao's constant staring at Han Zhou. She coughed twice, patted Xiao Xiaoxiao's shoulder, and said, "Senior, this is the girl who's going to join the club. Han Zhou isn't very bright and isn't interested in reasoning. Don't ask him anymore; he's a bit insecure."

She pretended not to notice Han Zhou's darkening expression and continued, "Also, I'd like to ask, joining this club shouldn't require any extra money, right?"

"Of course not." The senior student was taken aback at first, then smiled and said, "Not only do you not need to spend money, you might even make money."

"Make money?" Xiao Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up.

"As I just mentioned, our main activities are designing and solving murder cases. In fact, some members of our club also write mystery novels and are quite well-known. If a murder case is designed in a sophisticated way, it will be incorporated into their novel, and the main designer of the murder case can receive a share of the royalties."

"Not only that, the designers can also participate in the plot design of this unit, and they also have the right to be credited for the case."

"Of course, the designer can also choose not to let anyone write the meticulously designed murder into the novel. The club will ensure that the idea is not plagiarized by others. In short, none of these are mandatory."

Xiao Xiaoxiao listened with a look of longing, seemingly already dreaming of making money, while Han Zhou was secretly amazed. What the senior had just said was quite interesting. These club activities were completely different from those in his previous life, at least much more interesting than he had imagined, making him want to join in.

He couldn't help but fantasize that since he had read Sherlock Holmes at least three times and watched so many episodes of Detective Conan, designing a few ingenious crime scenes would be a piece of cake, and he wouldn't even have to write a single word. The royalties would be practically free.

Of course, it's just a thought.

If he really wanted to make this money, he could write his own novel. Perhaps his classic works from his previous life might not become popular in this world due to various reasons, but it would still be better than taking money from others.

While pondering, Xiao Xiaoxiao had already filled out the application form. Clearly, the detective club was her favorite club. Meanwhile, Gu Zheng kept staring intently at the senior student in charge of recruitment, which made the latter quite scared.

On the way back, Xiao Xiaoxiao was very excited and kept boasting that she had been quick-witted since she was a child and would definitely be able to achieve great things in future club activities. She almost praised herself as the number one female detective in Beicheng.

Han Zhou smiled without saying a word, pondered for a moment, and then used the mission detector on her. After a while, he asked, "Alright, alright, we all know you're a detective now, but Miss Detective, do you remember the request you made to me when we had dinner together that time?"

"remember."

Xiao Xiaoxiao yawned and said, "If you help me find the delivery thief, I'll tell you about my past—so, have you found the guy who stole my takeout?"

She looked expectant.

[A temporary mission has been triggered. The target, Xiao Xiaoxiao, is still upset about the stolen discounted fried rice for new customers. Please help her find the hateful delivery thief. You will receive 30 points upon completion of the mission.]

[Temporary task completed, 30 points earned]

There's one more chapter coming out a little later. Some people keep asking how long it will be before Mo Yixia's storyline starts, even though I just started writing it... But I'll say it anyway: according to the planned update speed, we should reach the major storyline about Mo Yixia before the 20th.

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(End of this chapter)