Thanks to my smooth talking, Xu Qianqian easily spilled the info I wanted.

“The club president’s name is Cheng Xiaonan. Just call her Sister Xiaonan.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Same naming pattern as mine?”

Come to think of it, the “X-Xiao-X” name style isn’t rare for girls, but at her age? Pretty uncommon. It just sounds… way too cute.

And that kind of cuteness reads as childish.

“Right, right! Such a coincidence,” Xu Qianqian recalled. “The moment President Cheng saw you, she happily grabbed your hand, saying you two were totally meant to be—same naming pattern, clearly heaven-sent—and just whisked you straight into the club.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Qianqian… do you seriously think I have my name written on my face?”

Xu Qianqian blinked innocently, utterly lost.

“Just answer: is my name on my face or not?”

“Of course not,” she said, completely missing the point. “You’re not stupid.”

*Exactly.* I’m not stupid—but *you* are!

I took a slow breath and kept my tone gentle. “If my name isn’t on my face… how could she possibly ‘know our names match the moment she saw me’?”

Xu Qianqian’s eyes widened. “Oh! Right! How *would* she know that just by looking?”

I was about to press further when her imagination went full throttle: “Wait—when you first met, all she saw was Xiao Xi’s adorable face! She got flustered, used the naming thing as an excuse to get close, and *bam*—whisked Xiao Xi away!”

“…”

…And weirdly, I couldn’t argue with that.

“Never mind. Drop it. I just needed to know what to call her,” I cut in firmly. “Next question: why is our club *all* girls?”

Sure, girls are in higher demand these days. And yeah, an anime club focused on semi-commercial cosplay events does need more female members. But *zero* guys? That’s just off.

For starters, member relationships are tense—open feuds are basically public—and a huge reason is the total lack of guys.

Even if girls look down on boys or feel zero interest, they’d still mind their image. Because deep down? No girl minds an extra admirer. Free attention? Why not.

Plus, guys are walking rumor mills. They gossip with each other about girls they’ve seen—every little gesture, every detail. One guy in the club, and reputations spread campus-wide overnight.

What if it reaches *that* guy she secretly likes? …Okay, fine. *That’s* the real reason.

“You didn’t know? There *were* guys before,” Xu Qianqian said, handing me the bowl of dipping sauce she’d prepared. “All super handsome. But they dated constantly inside the club—scandals everywhere: two-timing, messy drama, the works.”

I froze. “That… horrifying?”

“Yep. President Cheng put up with it for ages… until one day—” Her big eyes locked onto mine. “—A handsome guy tried to hit on *you*.”

“…” I stayed silent for seconds. “Coincidence. President Cheng… Sister Xiaonan just hit her limit.”

“Exactly! She couldn’t stand guys making moves on *you*, so she kicked out every single male member!”

I gave a wry smile. “She couldn’t tolerate the *scandals*. Between scandals and open feuds? She chose the latter.”

“Nope. Purely couldn’t stand anyone hitting on *you*.”

“…”

No point arguing.

“Whatever. Let’s finish the dipping sauce and go back,” I muttered, retreating into my shell. “I’m hungry.”