Xu Tianhe quickly scanned his surroundings, his gaze meeting Mo Ruixue's fierce stare. Realizing he had walked into a trap, he quickly changed the subject.
"Um, besides many beauties, our anime club also has many activities. We organize stage plays, where we can perform at the evening gala..."
"That sounds pretty good," Jing Mingqiu turned to ask Mo Ruixue for her opinion. "Xue'er, as the saying goes, a university life without joining a club is incomplete. I think the anime club is quite good, what do you think?"
Although Mo Ruixue was very displeased with Xu Tianhe's earlier remarks, she was genuinely interested in the anime club and saw that Jing Mingqiu also seemed to like it. She nodded in agreement.
"I also think the anime club is great, A Qiu, let's join the anime club!"
After simply filling out the club application form, the two officially joined the anime club.
Xu Tianhe quietly leaned closer, displaying a sheepish expression.
"Classmate Jing Mingqiu, we are preparing to rehearse a stage play and originally planned to use a papercraft tiger to make do. Now that you are also a member of the anime club, I wonder if you would be willing to..."
"No wonder you're so enthusiastic, you've got your White Tiger's eye on me!" Jing Mingqiu teased with a smile.
Xu Tianhe plastered a smile on his face. "I'm just asking, just asking! It's fine if you're not willing."
"Don't rush, I didn't say I wouldn't lend it, but I can't just lend it for free, can I?"
This mechanical White Tiger was merely a defective product that Jing Mingqiu had casually made to fool foreign powers. Apart from its cool appearance, Jing Mingqiu was very unsatisfied with its speed and durability. He had wanted to get rid of it for a long time.
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Xu Tianhe became excited. "I can arrange a role for you and your girlfriend in the stage play. Also, our anime club has many cosplaying costumes left by our seniors, which you can borrow for free."
"Alright, it's a deal! From now on, it belongs to the anime club."
Jing Mingqiu took out his phone, added Xu Tianhe as a friend, and sent him the control and maintenance methods for the mechanical White Tiger.
Xu Tianhe stared at the operation tutorial on his phone, completely stunned. After a while, he spoke again.
"Jing Mingqiu, why did you agree so readily? Didn't you want to discuss other terms?"
"No need, no need," Jing Mingqiu waved his hand casually while helping Mo Ruixue pick out a cosplay outfit.
"I was actually a bit worried about where to put such a large mechanical White Tiger. Since the anime club is willing to take it, it saves a lot of trouble. President, which stage play are we performing this time?"
Xu Tianhe was now completely bewildered and instinctively replied, "We are preparing a lighthearted romantic comedy. It's about an ordinary boy who meets a beautiful girl raised by a White Tiger and takes her back to human society in a sweet story."
"That sounds great," Mo Ruixue poked her head out from the changing room. "President, I want to play the role of the girl raised by the White Tiger!"
Jing Mingqiu added, "In that case, let me play the ordinary boy. President, Xue'er is my girlfriend, you wouldn't want her to play a couple with another boy, would you?"
"No problem!" Xu Tianhe readily agreed. "You two will be the male and female leads."
Jing Mingqiu suddenly remembered the common trope of character-stealing in novels and asked for clarification, "Oh, right, will Xue'er and I suddenly joining snatch roles from others?"
"I just came in on a whim to play around. It wouldn't be good if we snatched roles that others have been practicing for a long time!"
"No, no!" Xu Tianhe shook his head repeatedly. "This stage play has just begun, the script isn't even finished, let alone casting."
"Honestly, with the seniors from the previous year graduating, the anime club is really short on people. If anyone you know has some free time and is interested in stage plays, you can bring them along."
Upon hearing this, Jing Mingqiu's mind involuntarily conjured images of his female classmates, their long, straight legs and charming faces. Imagining them in cosplay outfits, he couldn't help but swallow.
As the saying goes, "Food and sex are of the same nature." Although Jing Mingqiu had no intention of playing the field and being a scumbag for the time being, what boy doesn't like looking at beautiful girls?
Thus, Jing Mingqiu said confidently, "That's easy. I'm in the dance department. If you don't mind the stage play turning into a dance drama, I can bring them all over to help."
"That would be fantastic!" Xu Tianhe gave Jing Mingqiu a look that only men could understand. "I will definitely put my heart into writing the subsequent plot."
Jing Mingqiu and Mo Ruixue spent over two hours at the anime club, only leaving when the sun had set and Mo Ruixue's stomach started rumbling.
After leaving the anime club, Mo Ruixue feigned forgetting her phone inside and slipped back alone, confronting Xu Tianhe, who was writing the script, and gave him a low-voiced warning.
"President, if you dare to write intimate scenes between A Qiu and other girls, I'll make you pay!"
Xu Tianhe outwardly agreed, but secretly prepared several versions of the script. The one Mo Ruixue saw was broadly similar to the one Jing Mingqiu saw, but the details differed significantly.
Xu Tianhe was quite understanding when it came to repaying favors.
After returning to his dormitory, Jing Mingqiu posted in the group chat about the anime club preparing a stage play and being short on people.
It had been over two months since school started, and everyone had basically adapted to campus life and found their rhythm in their studies. University students have quite a lot of free time outside of classes, and many were indeed feeling a bit bored.
Moreover, Jing Mingqiu had been a prominent figure since the start of the semester, and many people admired him. Many girls, in particular, had developed strong interests in him.
Therefore, as soon as Jing Mingqiu posted the notice, over a dozen people, mostly girls, came to sign up.
Jing Mingqiu carefully selected ten of the most pleasing-looking individuals and sent them to Xu Tianhe, all of them tall beauties with slim waists and long legs.
The boys who had signed up were directly passed over by him.
If the stage play needed more male roles, how would that be resolved?
That was easy. They could simply have a few girls cross-dress as men.
Thus, under the envious and resentful glares of countless male classmates, the anime club's stage play officially began rehearsals.
Jing Mingqiu, as the sole male lead in the play, enjoyed the company of many women.
In the script, to fully showcase the female lead's nature as a girl raised in the wilderness by a White Tiger, she was specially given scenes involving animal affinity.
Xu Tianhe had originally planned to use plush toys to represent the small animals. To ensure the perfection of the plot and, more importantly, Mo Ruixue's happiness, Jing Mingqiu waved his hand and spent two days in the laboratory with the prop toys, transforming them all into small, articulated mechanical toys.
With the dual blessing of being an eighth-level fitter and the system, as long as one didn't lift the fur to see the metal structure underneath, these small animals looked exactly like real ones from the outside, both in appearance and movement.
After more than half a month of intensive rehearsals, before the cast could even step onto the stage for their official performance, Jing Mingqiu, who was taking a break in the middle, received an unexpected visitor...