My sister never calls me brother.

Zhou Han rolled her eyes at Song Mingyuan on the ground and thought to herself, "You kneel down whenever you're unhappy. Are your knees that heavy?"

"Please, ladies, help me out, okay? I'm an old man, I can't take any more trouble. The club belongs to everyone, it's not good for all the burden to fall on my shoulders, is it?" Song Mingyuan said emotionally.

“If possible…” Zhou Han smoothed her hair and said narcissistically, “You could interview me, right? I’m quite well-known…”

"Go play in the mud!" Song Mingyuan raised his eyebrows, thinking to himself, "This is the most important time, why is this guy causing trouble?"

"I...I was just saying that, you...you think I really want to be interviewed? Who cares, humph!" Zhou Han pouted.

Miyazaki Airi looked at Zhou Han helplessly, thinking to herself, "This arrogant statement, she probably really wants to be on a celebrity column, right?"

Lin Nianwei closed the book and sighed, "It's possible, but I have a condition."

"Go on, go on," Song Mingyuan said with a broad smile.

"The questions asked in the interview should not be too private; there should be a limit."

"Sure!" Song Mingyuan nodded, then turned to ask Miyazaki Airi, "Does Miyazaki-san have any requests?"

"Hmm...no." Miyazaki Airi thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "If Vi-chan agrees, I'll join too. It sounds like fun!"

"Okay, do you have any further opinions on the reform of the news agency's publications?" Song Mingyuan asked.

Zhou Han and the other two exchanged glances, but none of them had anything to say.

"If there are no objections, then the news agency's reform plan is finalized!" Song Mingyuan clapped his hands, stood up, and said, "I'll go find Wang Linlin and give her these plans."

Looking at Song Mingyuan, whose body seemed somewhat stiff, Zhou Han thought to herself, "It seems he's struggling a bit..."

“Senior, if you don’t want to go, I can go and talk to them instead,” Zhou Han suggested.

"No...no need." Song Mingyuan wiped his sweat and said, "I'll handle this..."

"You look so strained..." Miyazaki Airi was speechless.

"I...I'm just nervous, aren't I?" Song Mingyuan said with a pained expression.

“If you don’t go now, the club will have to close down. I also suggest you give up this commission because…” Lin Nianwei paused and said, “People’s beliefs are very difficult to change.”

“We’ve come this far, how can we give up…” Song Mingyuan looked down at the thick stack of project proposals in his hand. “Everyone has worked so hard, we have to get a result no matter what…”

Song Mingyuan patted his head, turned his back to the three of them, and waved, "I'll be right back, wait for my good news!"

After Song Mingyuan left, Zhou Han muttered to herself, "My senior is so energetic, it's a little hard for me to get used to it..."

“Me too…” Miyazaki Airi chimed in.

Lin Nianwei looked at the book, remaining silent.

In the corridor, Wang Linlin looked at the project plan in her hand.

Song Mingyuan looked at her with some trepidation.

Wang Linlin silently finished writing the plan.

"How is it?" Song Mingyuan asked impatiently. "Our juniors in the club are very serious. They stayed up all night to rush out this plan."

“Song Mingyuan,” Wang Linlin said calmly.

"Hmm?" Song Mingyuan scratched his head sheepishly. "If you want to praise me, go ahead! Haha..."

"Are you kidding me?" Wang Linlin's tone was not very friendly.

"Huh!?" Song Mingyuan was stunned and didn't react.

“Your plans completely change the concepts left by the predecessors of the news agency. These things... are not what a news agency publication should have!” Wang Linlin’s eyes were sharp.

“But…” Song Mingyuan was about to say something when Wang Linlin interrupted him.

"Do you know how much effort I've put into maintaining the club? Do you know how much I've given up to protect the ideals left by our predecessors? Do you know how much thought I've put into this publication?" Wang Linlin became stern, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Holding up Song Mingyuan's proposal, she continued, "What is the meaning of this proposal?"

“This…” Song Mingyuan hesitated.

"Are you questioning all my efforts all this time? Are you trying to tell me that I've been wasting my time like an idiot, that the ideas of my predecessors were wrong from the beginning, and that I've been foolishly continuing down the wrong path? Is that right?" Wang Linlin asked emotionally.

“No, that’s not what I meant…” Song Mingyuan found himself unable to speak at all.

"Go back!" Wang Linlin threw the plan documents in her hand into the air.

Countless sheets of white paper fluttered in the air and fell freely.

Song Mingyuan was stunned and speechless. He never expected Wang Linlin to be so excited. Looking at the documents in the air, which were the hard work of his club members who stayed up all night, it now seemed to be worthless.

"I hate people like you the most!" Wang Linlin said sharply, her head lowered and her face dark. "You so easily give up on the achievements of your predecessors, and instead start a new club on your own, and you're even enjoying it..."

After Wang Linlin finished speaking, she turned around and left quickly without looking back.

Song Mingyuan looked down at the documents on the ground without saying a word.

He silently squatted down and picked up the plans one by one...

Song Mingyuan carried the documents back to the door of the activity room, but he didn't go in because he didn't know how to answer Zhou Han and the others.

The plan that everyone spent a whole night completing turned out to be completely useless, which is hard to accept no matter how you look at it.

Just as Song Mingyuan was hesitating, voices came from inside the activity room.

"Can Senior Song succeed?" Miyazaki Airi asked.

“I think it’s unlikely…” Zhou Han replied.

"If it doesn't work, all our plans will be for nothing..." Miyazaki Airi said worriedly.

"Whether it turns into waste paper or not is secondary. Don't be fooled by Song's usual demeanor. He's actually under a lot of pressure this time. If he fails, it means all our efforts will have been in vain. But..." Lin Nianwei paused, "Whether he succeeds or not, we should believe in him, because the process is often more important than the result."

"Wei-chan, you're so cool!" Miyazaki Airi hugged Lin Nianwei.

"Don't...don't come any closer, it's hot..." Lin Nianwei blushed.

Zhou Han sighed and said, "I do hope he succeeds..."

Song Mingyuan stood at the door, but in the end he did not go into the activity room. He looked down at the plan in his hand. At this moment, he felt that the papers were somewhat heavy, because each one was full of hard work.

Song Mingyuan abruptly turned and left the Seigaku office, as if he had made some kind of decision—

He decided to try again, no matter the outcome...

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Spirit of the Club

"Unacceptable," Wang Linlin said coldly, returning the member's manuscript.

“Senior, if we don’t want the publication to be abandoned, we definitely need to add some new content,” said a male member with a buzz cut.

“Yes, senior, we only need to change the content slightly; it won’t change the overall concept of the publication,” another member chimed in.

“I’m telling you…” Wang Linlin rubbed her temples and said, “If you don’t have any good ideas, you should go back first…”

The two members wanted to say something more, but seeing that Wang Linlin wouldn't listen to their advice, they kept their words to themselves.

Song Mingyuan was hesitating in front of the news agency, constantly thinking about how to start the conversation, when two members of the news agency walked out somewhat angrily.

Two department members brushed past Song Mingyuan, and their conversation was easily overheard.

"I really don't know what the commander is thinking? How can he be so stubborn!" the crew member with the flat head said with dissatisfaction.

"Who knows? Maybe they don't trust us?" Another member shook his head helplessly.

Song Mingyuan listened to their conversation for a moment, then silently looked at Wang Linlin through the window.

Even now, she still had her brows furrowed, constantly reviewing the news materials, showing no sign of giving up.

Time passed by, the club activities had stopped, but Wang Linlin still showed no sign of leaving.

She picked up her water glass, but there was no water. Frustrated, she went to the water dispenser, but it was also empty.

Wang Linlin sighed, went downstairs, and planned to buy a drink from the vending machine downstairs.

As soon as I stepped out of the teaching building, I saw the sun setting in the west, the red afterglow of the sunset warm and comforting. The only regret was that there were hardly any people on the playground. It was already late, and many people had gone home. Only Wang Linlin was still worrying about the news agency.

A sense of loneliness washed over Wang Linlin, making her feel uncomfortable, and she subconsciously shrugged.

Wang Linlin put the money into the vending machine, but unfortunately the money was swallowed.

"Really?" Wang Linlin rubbed her forehead, sighing inwardly at how unlucky she was today.

"Here you go." A familiar voice rang out.

Someone waved a can of coffee in front of Wang Linlin.

Wang Linlin turned around in surprise, only to see Song Mingyuan standing behind her.

"Coffee, did I buy the wrong thing?" Song Mingyuan grinned.

Wang Linlin glanced at the coffee, then at Song Mingyuan, a strange thought creeping into her mind: He still remembers that I like coffee...

"Why are you still at school so late?" Wang Linlin took the coffee and continued to pretend to be angry.

"You didn't leave either, did you? I've been following you for ages," Song Mingyuan said with a smile.

"Don't do anything that could be misunderstood..." Wang Linlin frowned and said, "Why are you following me?"

"It's still about the news agency's publications," Song Mingyuan said sincerely.

"Didn't I scold you enough before?" Wang Linlin said helplessly.

"That's enough. To be honest, I'm quite disappointed..." Song Mingyuan said with a wry smile.

"Then how dare you bring this up with me?" Wang Linlin wondered. "You're not a masochist, are you?"

“I don’t have that kind of preference.” Song Mingyuan shrugged and said, “The younger members of our club have really worked hard. Even though I’m deeply discouraged, I still have to keep talking to you. I have to live up to the title of ‘senior’ they call me, right?”

Looking at Song Mingyuan's serious expression, Wang Linlin felt somewhat at a loss. She had a feeling that the boy in front of her had changed a little compared to a year ago, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly had changed.

"Forget it, I won't be like you, casually changing the club's traditions." Wang Linlin put on a cold expression.

"Let's not talk about club matters for now. Let's sit down and chat like we used to," Song Mingyuan said, pointing to a bench in the distance.

Wang Linlin glanced at Song Mingyuan and nodded helplessly.

The two sat on a bench, watching the fiery red sunset on the horizon, looking like a couple.

"I miss it so much! It feels like it's been ages since we sat together after we split into arts and sciences in the first year of high school," Song Mingyuan sighed.

"A little over a year, I guess," Wang Linlin replied.

"Really?" Song Mingyuan looked up at the sky. "Without realizing it, I'm already a third-year student. Before, I didn't care that the older students were leaving one by one, but now I'm about to leave myself. Watching the younger students playing happily every day, I feel an indescribable envy. In less than a year, I'll be saying goodbye to this kind of life. It's really bittersweet..."

"What kind of talk is that? It sounds like something an eighty-year-old man would say," Wang Linlin said, dissatisfied.