116: Chapter 116 Clubs (1)

For Tuesday's classes, the morning was normal, but there wasn't much else to do in the afternoon.

To be precise, it was time for club selection.

"Wow, it's so lively..." Li Ming said, wearing a baseball cap and looking at the sides of the usually orderly road, which were now filled with stalls and signboards.

While walking alone was comfortable, it was impossible to go long periods without communicating with others. Not to mention, he had to earn club credits; he couldn't actually fail to graduate.

Because their classes ended at different times, Li Ming didn't know where Alert and Anshan had gone... Well, that pink cat was probably back home sleeping.

"Li!"

Someone patted him from behind, giving him a start.

This was the downside of walking while listening to music with headphones.

He turned around helplessly. "Finn... what's up? Don't you have a club?"

"I'm here for recruitment, of course!" Finn Hawke still had that grinning face. "To recruit more labor for the club... I mean, to recruit more newcomers to make it more lively."

Li Ming remained expressionless.

"Li, help me out! Just think of it as saving my dismal performance metrics!" Finn acted pitiful, but Li Ming didn't buy it.

If it were a cute girl, he might consider it.

But unfortunately, Finn was a man and nearly five years older than him.

"What club are you in?"

"The Game and Activity Club, of course!" Finn pulled out a poster for Li Ming to see.

Well, the poster was well-made.

"...So the content of this club is just playing games or being a street loiterer, right?"

"Of course not! We're also responsible for game reviews and some mini-game production!" Finn looked indignant. "Don't think you can't make something of yourself by playing games!"

That was true; Li Ming remembered many big game influencers, but clearly, Finn was definitely not among them.

"Fine," Li Ming said helplessly. "I'll take the poster... By the way, is there a strict limit saying you can only join one club?"

"True, there's usually no limit on joining just one club, as long as you can pass the evaluations." Finn recalled for a moment. "Why, are you planning to join multiple clubs?"

"I'll see." Li Ming shrugged. The Game Club was indeed not bad, but this kind of club still felt a bit strange.

"Alright then, I'm going to find where Cliff is..."

Watching him leave on his own again, Li Ming sighed; this guy was someone who never got tired.

It was hard to describe in words how large the Maritime Academy was. A more intuitive way to put it was that the main road, which had now become a club street, was endless to the eye, and several side roads were also filled with stalls.

Looking left and right, there were all sorts of clubs. Some were Ship Girl clubs, while others were started by Commanders.

Generally speaking, they recruited both Ship Girls and Commanders, but the problem was that some clubs couldn't have Ship Girls and Commanders together at all, like the Cross-dressing Club in front of him.

Seeing a group of boys dressed in women's clothing, Li Ming found it truly unbearable and chose to leave quickly.

"Yo! You look quite sturdy, young man. Are you interested in..." Someone in the Cross-dressing Club spotted him in the crowd and extended an olive branch, but...

"I have an appointment with Somalia in Cairo!" Li Ming bolted from the scene, leaving behind the surrounding people who turned their heads at the shout and the bewildered student Commanders of the Cross-dressing Club.

"What did he just say?"

"Dunno, sounded like Chizuru-speak?"

On the other side, Li Ming ran for a bit and caught his breath.

This area didn't seem to have many stalls left. Either they had recruited enough people early and closed up shop, or simply no one came, leaving only a few people in charge yawning or sleeping there.

Looking at these few stalls, as expected, they were all some niche or high-intensity clubs.

Why were there even a few with sealing tape? How abstract did they have to be to be banned on the spot by the academy teachers?

Sigh...

Taking off his cap to air out his slightly overheated head and wiping the sweat from his forehead, Li Ming put the hat back on.

It was impressive that it was still so lively over there on such a hot day.

Continuing forward for a while, there was the Fruit Tasting Club, the Mechanical Repair Club, Rigging Disassembly and Reconstruction...

Well, this club was banned on the spot.

Truly impressive, Li Ming thought, looking at the large promotional board fallen to the side. Manual disassembly and assembly of rigging? Even with a ton of equipment at his own base, they wouldn't dare play around like that.

Shaking his head, Li Ming looked away and made eye contact with a black-haired fellow.

A Xia Person?

The other person was also stunned for a moment, then stood up from his promotional seat and cupped his hands in greeting toward Li Ming.

"A pleasure to meet you, compatriot. I wonder if you are interested in our club?"

This lad wore round-framed glasses and a grey long robe, looking a bit like the intellectuals of the past.

He looked up at the club name, which was written in large brush calligraphy: "Xia History."

"What do you do here?" Li Ming stepped forward. He had to admit he was indeed a bit interested; would the academy actually allow such a club to exist?

"Naturally, we study the history of the old country and preserve our cultural heritage." The lad gave him a fan. Although the craftsmanship wasn't exquisite, it was clearly handmade.

"Not bad." Li Ming looked at the fan.

"Our club members made this by hand." The lad smiled.

"I am indeed interested." Li Ming nodded. "How many people do you have here?"

"Not many. After all, the compatriots who come here all have the right to choose their own lives." The lad sighed. "Although we have tried our best, we have no more than thirty-some members."

"You actually have over thirty people?" Li Ming tilted his head. "There are only about 600 students in total across the three grades of this academy, right?"

"Ah, you are mistaken there." The lad sat back down and adjusted his glasses. "This academy has autumn and spring recruitments, so there are actually over 1,200 people. Plus transfer students, repeaters, and those staying on at the academy, the human students alone total over 2,000 when all is said and done."

"Holy..." Li Ming was shocked.

"But it's fine if you don't want to join, compatriot." The lad laughed. "Since you're a compatriot, we can just put your name down on the roster and give you full marks later."

"You can even do that? Won't the teachers say anything?"

"Heh, what can the teachers say?" The lad said helplessly. "Things are getting harder and harder for us now. If we don't do something, our culture might just die out, sigh."

"True..." Li Ming shrugged. "Put my name down then, lad. If I have time, I'd be interested in coming to take a look."

"Then it's a deal!" The lad cupped his hands. He watched as Li Ming responded somewhat clumsily, though the gesture was fairly standard. "My surname is Zhou, given name Hong. Might I ask your name?"

"Li Ming."

"Alright, Li Ming. Welcome to the Summer History Society."

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