Chapter 320: A match that is sure to lose!

In the Collection Force.

The sunset glow shone through the window, dyeing the club room into a warm orange color.

Jinweitong sat in the chair, the fountain pen in her hand dropping the last crisp and neat stroke on the review form.

She looked up, her gaze sweeping calmly over the four club members in front of her.

"The club activity process and results of your Collection Force have been reviewed and comply with the regulations."

"Regarding the applied activity funds, the review has been passed."

"In the next few days, someone from the student council will notify you to collect them."

"Great!" Xiyuanji Qilai happily placed the souvenir just brought back from the swimming force—an old-style student swimming goggles—gently on the newly set up display shelf in the club room, intending to celebrate with the club people.

Classmate Tengyuan Kui also jumped up excitedly, raising her hands high:

"Great! The funds have finally been approved!"

The two girls hugged each other happily, jumping a few times, their faces overflowing with pure joy.

However, Yukimura Lingyin's attention was not on the club funds at all.

She walked a few steps to Natsume Chikage, supported her hands on the table in front of him, leaned over slightly, her cold face carrying obvious confusion and a trace of suppressed annoyance.

The sunset outlined the contours of her exquisite profile, also illuminating the tips of her slightly frowned eyebrows.

"Didn't you just say with certainty that those guys from the Jiandao Force went to that hallway specifically because of 'peeping'?"

Her voice was a bit faster than usual, her gaze locking onto Natsume Chikage's eyes.

"How come in the blink of an eye, the statement changed to 'they were punished by the captain to add practice publicly in the hallway because of slack training'?"

"What on earth happened when you were at the Jiandao Force later?"

"Why did you suddenly change your statement?"

Natsume Chikage looked up, meeting Yukimura Lingyin's direct gaze.

Those eyes, which were always as calm as an ice lake, were now exceptionally bright because of the persistence in questioning and seeking the truth, even carrying a kind of scorching temperature.

The usually cold Yukimura Lingyin, being looked back at so candidly by him, had her breathing pause imperceptibly.

But she didn't move her gaze away, just subconsciously pursed her lips, waiting for his explanation.

Natsume Chikage looked at her serious appearance, smiled helplessly, and bluffed:

"Reasoning, you know, always needs to be constantly revised."

"Contacting new information and revising old judgments, isn't that normal?"

"I only figured out the complete sequence of events after asking Captain Shanshan and those few members later."

"I had indeed ignored the key motive of 'captain's punitive extra practice' before, so I made a wrong speculation."

Yukimura Lingyin's eyebrows frowned even tighter.

"Are you sure this is the whole 'truth'?"

"You know, we are going to write the whole investigation process and puzzle-solving logic into the literary publication word for word later!"

"I absolutely do not allow the truth of the matter to be arbitrarily tampered with or buried because of any external pressure or personal feelings!"

"If you were threatened, or have any unspeakable difficulties, say it now, and I will report it to the teacher immediately!"

Natsume Chikage shook his head, his smile carrying a reassuring candor.

"No threats, and no unspeakable difficulties."

"This is the fact we finally confirmed."

"Think about it carefully, if they really had bad intentions and wanted to peek, why would they choose to do it during club activity time, in such a conspicuous public hallway?"

"If it wasn't ordered by the captain as a kind of public, slightly humiliating punishment, who would be willing to stand in that kind of unobstructed place, foolishly swinging a sword, and being surrounded by members of the same force downstairs?"

Yukimura Lingyin arched her eyebrows slightly, the sharpness in her eyes easing, falling into brief thought.

"……From the perspective of behavioral logic, what you said... indeed... has some truth."

She seemed to be partially persuaded by this more "reasonable" explanation.

Xiyuanji Qilai saw the atmosphere ease and smiled to smooth things over:

"Since the truth has been confirmed, then when we write the literary publication later, let's explain it according to this complete version?"

Yukimura Lingyin thought again, finally exhaling a breath gently, and nodded.

"Mm, let's write it according to the conclusion we investigated clearly."

Classmate Tengyuan Kui saw Yukimura Lingyin finally sit back in her seat, and immediately crept to Natsume Chikage's side like a kitten.

She cupped her hands around her mouth, leaned into Natsume Chikage's ear, and whispered in a breathy voice that only the two of them could hear:

"Natsume-kun... you lied to Classmate Yukimura like this, if it's exposed later, she will definitely be su—per angry! The consequences will be very serious!"

The heat of the breath and the itchiness brought by the whispering made Natsume Chikage's ears slightly hot; he coughed lightly uncomfortably and lowered his voice to reply:

"What lying or not... I don't know what you're talking about..."

Classmate Tengyuan Kui didn't expect that Natsume Chikage, who usually looked steady and reliable, would also have this kind of cunning side of "talking nonsense with eyes open."

They say boys who are a bit "bad-hearted" are more attractive...

Not to mention the type like Natsume-kun, who is usually serious but occasionally reveals a completely different contrast.

A blush quietly climbed onto Classmate Tengyuan Kui's cheeks; she covered her mouth and muttered in an even smaller voice:

"Natsume-kun... you really are bad-hearted..."

Suzune Yukimura keenly sensed the rustling movement over here, and her cold, aloof eyebrows immediately arched upward.

"You two, what are you whispering about hiding over there?"

Her gaze swept between Natsume Chikage's slightly red earlobes and Classmate Tengyuan Kui's flushed face, her suspicion deepening.

"Sure enough... is there something you're hiding from me?"

"N-nothing of the sort!"

Classmate Tengyuan Kui stood straight like a frightened rabbit, her hands waving repeatedly, but her face was even redder.