“Daddy, aren’t you asleep?”
Mengmeng quietly sent a WeChat voice message to Zhang Han.
Oh, no, it should be said that the voice message was made in a low voice, lest it should wake Zi Yan up.
“Not yet.”
Zhang Han also answered under his breath.
“Is Mummy asleep?” Mengmeng checked in a low voice.
“Not yet,” Zhang Han replied in a low voice as well.
“Then I’ll go to sleep.”
Mengmeng was dazed for a moment, and then her face darkened.
“Why knock at an open door?”
After telling Zhang Han in a loud voice that she was going to bed, Mengmeng lay on the bed, rolling left and right, feeling aggravated!
She tossed on her bed for quite a while before she fell asleep.
The next day, on the way that Zhang Han drove her to school…
“Daddy, our club already has 17 or so members. Yesterday, Muen asked me for the name of the club, but I couldn’t come up with one. What do you think the club should be named?” Mengmeng, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked while blinking her big bright eyes.
“The name of the club? Let’s call it Lovely…”
“No, it’s not awe-inspiring at all. Daddy, why are you always so causal with naming things?” Mengmeng snorted.
“Well, if you don’t want to name it after you, then, how about… Fierce? Isn’t that awe-inspiring enough?”
Zhang Han noticed that Mengmeng’s mouth pouted so hard that it could even hang a bottle. He found it funny and so laughed.
“How about we name it the Cloud Shadow Club?”
Zhang Han got serious and said with a chortle, “As the poem says, the clouds cast faint shadows on the field, and only a strip of the sky can be seen. The spring breeze brings ripples across the land, and the sun comes out in the sky, causing the cloud shadows in the lake to mirror the sky. I think it’s a good name.”
The Cloud Shadow Sky was one of the forces in the Cultivation World. It was also a quite special place in the Sea Dragon Star Area.
That was a sect that Zhang Han had once stayed in. It was very powerful, and the Sea Dragon Star Area was the first place that Zhang Han had been to. Later, he learned that the Sea Dragon Star Area was merely a very remote place. If Earth was compared to a speck of dust in the universe, then the Sea Dragon Star Area could be regarded as a fifth or six grade city on Earth.
According to Zhang Han’s surmise, the Sea-Dragon Star Area should be very close to Earth. But when he returned to the Sea-Dragon Star Area that time, he had turned it upside up but still found no clues.
Now that he had returned, he knew that that place was the sealed Saint Warrior Planet.
He felt as if he was in the back garden of a mighty figure who had made such a planet invisible. That figure’s strength must be extremely terrifying.
Of course, Zhang Han’s focus was not on this yet. His strength hadn’t reached that level, and the Kunlun Immortal World hadn’t even opened yet.
He thought that after the Kunlun Immortal World opened, he would obtain much more classified information.
Shaking his head, Zhang Han decided to stop dwelling on this matter. Then, he looked at Mengmeng.
The little girl was pondering.
“The Cloud Shadow Club. Does it sound good? The Cloud Shadow… okay, then let’s call it the Cloud Shadow Club. Anyway, it’s just for fun. When Mummy finds out about it, it’ll be over.”
Hearing this, the corner of Zhang Han’s mouth quivered.
“Little girl, you do know your limits.”
If Zi Yan knew about this, she would not let Mengmeng continue to fool around.
“Huh?”
“Wait a minute!”
“If she knew that I was keeping the news from her, and I approved this matter and even helped Mengmeng name the club…”
“Gasp!”
Zhang Han felt a chill spiraling down his spine.
He didn’t want to sleep on the sofa.
“But will Mengmeng rat me out?”
“It seems that it could happen sometimes.”
“What should I do?”
“Mengmeng.”
Zhang Han pondered for two seconds and said in a serious tone, “You can never ever let your mother know about this. If she finds out, you shall not say that you’re the mastermind.”
It meant that she should lie and tell Zi Yan that Li Muen was the mastermind.
What were friends for if they could not take the rap for us?
However, to Zhang Han’s surprise, Mengmeng was very filial.
“Well, I see. Daddy is the mastermind. That’s the way it is,” Mengmeng answered seriously.
Zhang Han uttered, “Ah???”
All of a sudden, he found words had eluded him.
After pausing for two seconds, Zhang Han sighed and said, “I feel like I’m already in a trap. No, no, no. I have to discuss this with your mother…”
“Zhang Han, you’ve changed,” Mengmeng reproached, her face full of bitterness.
As soon as this remark came out, Zhang Han felt liking having a server headache, and he admitted the defeat at once.
“Fine, fine, I’m the mastermind. I’m the mastermind.”
At worst, he could have to coax Zi Yan again. Anyway, he would not let himself be kicked out of the bedroom and sleep on the sofa anymore.
“Haha, my Cloud Shadow Club is officially established today.”
At once, Mengmeng’s face was lit with joy.
Mengmeng, who always wanted to find some fun in her boring study life, prepared to further expand the Cloud Shadow Club.
As a result…
Class 9 of the first year was adjacent to Class 8. But it was just an ordinary class. Still, there were many students who had good grades, but most of them had average grades. Many of them were those recruited because of their sports or artistic talents, who hated studying but loved playing.
Xiao Lian was an introverted female student with an average appearance.
During the second morning class, two male students sitting behind her began to play tricks on her again. Bored with the books, they began to repeatedly touch her ponytail and loosen it for no reason. Xiao Lian had just concentrated her focus on study, but she was interrupted again, which upset her very much.
Once, twice, thrice.
“What are you doing?”
Xiao Lian couldn’t help but look back. Her face reddened in angry, feeling embarrassed and scandalized.
“We didn’t do anything.”
The two students put on an innocent face.
“Don’t touch me,” Xiao Lian warned.
Then, she turned her head back crossly, no longer in the mood to listen to the teacher.
As soon as the class ended, the flat-hair student behind her surreptitiously patted her on the shoulder. She turned his head only to see a spider in his hand that was trying to climb to her face.
“Ah!”
She feared spiders a lot. Without realizing what was going on, she got a big fright.
“Haha, it’s fake!”
The two boys laughed out loud. The one with the flattop haircut dangled the spider toy in front of Xiao Lian.
“Boo-hoo.”
Xiao Lian started to cry. She felt seriously wronged.
“Don’t be such a cry baby! We can’t even make jokes? You’re really boring.”
“Come on, let’s go out and play. Don’t mind her.”
With that, the two boys ran out.
Xiao Lian went off to report this to the teacher. Before the next class started, the teacher called the two boys to the office and gave them a perfunctory dressing-down.
However, the two boys only behaved for one class. In the last morning class, the two of them got bored and could not help but start their game again.
The lunch break began. Xiao Lian was moping when she had lunch with her classmates.
“If you can’t stand it, just ask the teacher to switch seat. And if you tell your parents about this, they will talk to the teacher. Chen Liangliang and Fang Jingwen are truly annoying guys.”
“They just like to bully people.”
“By the way,” a chubby girl next to her said, “Have you heard that there is a Cloud Shadow Club in Class Eight. More than a dozen female students have joined the club and they hang out there. Recently, they are recruiting. I heard from my friend that they will accept 100 members for the first round. She also said that the girls in the Cloud Shadow Club will not be bullied. They are doing chivalrous deeds together. Xiao Lian, how about you give it a try?”
“The Cloud Shadow Club? What does that mean?” Another female student inquired, “Can we have fun if we join the club? Do we have to pay a fee or something?”
“There is no charge or any catch. Now they’re just enrolling more members. How about we go and check it out? That friend of mine is right over there.”
“Come on, let’s go and learn a bit more about it.”
The four female students quickly finished their meal and dashed over there.
“Nannan, didn’t you say that your club was recruiting people? We want to join.”
“Ah, great! Welcome! I’ll take you to see the president.”
It was Fang Shengnan, who was a little overweight. She then took those female students to Mengmeng’s table.
There were still the same four people at the table—Mengmeng, Li Muen, Zhou Lei, and Bei Jin’nan.
After the tragic food-sharing incident last time, the two boys finally gave up sharing their food with Mengmeng. It was not that they hadn’t tried again, but that every time they picked up the food with their chopsticks, the food dropped onto the ground.
“Could it be that I’m so nervous that my hands are shaking?”
“I’d better stop humiliating myself.” So, the two of them no longer tried to share food anymore. They just ate their own food and chatted with each other occasionally.
“Mengmeng, I brought some new gals here. They want to join our club,” Fang Shengnan informed.
“Oh, let’s put their names on the list.”
Mengmeng glanced at them and smiled. “Welcome.”
“What are your names? Which class are you from?” Li Muen took out a small notebook and said, “Come on, sign your name and leave your telephone numbers.”
They all filled the forms with solemnity. While they were signing up, a girl couldn’t help but ask, “You wouldn’t collect money from us after we join in, would you?”
“Huh?” Mengmeng was a little stunned. It was the first time she had heard such a question.
“I don’t have much pocket money,” the girl confessed bashfully.
“Don’t worry,” Zhou Lei assured her, laughing out loud despite yourself. “Your president is extremely rich.”
“You say who? My money is rather limited.” Mengmeng rolled her eyes at him.
“Okay.” Zhou Lei felt helpless.
“We won’t charge you anything,” Li Muen replied.
After they all signed up, she added, “Okay, you can go back now. You are all in Class 9. Let’s gather on the playground after school today and have a small meeting.”
“Can I say something? I heard from Nannan that the members of our Cloud Shadow Club will not be bullied. However, Xiao Lian is being bullied by the two boys sitting behind her.”
“How did they bully you?” Li Muen asked, bewildered.
“They always touch my hair in class,” Xiao Lian said timidly, “Once, they got my clothes dirty. They are so annoying that I can’t focus on study even though I really want to.”
“Yes, yes, I’ve seen they do that twice.”
“Me too.”
“There is finally something to do!”
Mengmeng’s eyes lit up. She put down her chopsticks, discarding the remaining half of her meal. Next, she got up and waved, saying, “Tell our members to gather together. We’ve got some work to do. Let’s go and get even with the two boys.”
Subconsciously, Bei Jin’nan and Zhou Lei looked at each other.
“Splash!”
As if a stone was dropped in a lake, a big splash had been made. In less than 10 minutes, more than 20 members of the club had gathered together.
The group of girls looked around the canteen in an imposing manner but failed to find a trace of the two boys. At last, it was a student of Class 9 who found that they were played basketball on the basketball court.
“Eh? So many girls are here to cheer for us?”
Many people on the basketball court turned to look at the girls.
“Bring them here.”
Since there were many people on the basketball court, Mengmeng didn’t know which two were their targets.
“Chen Liangliang, Fang Jingwen, get over here!” Xiao Lian’s friend called out loudly.
“Ah?”
Seeing this, the two boys were dazed for a moment, but then, they laughed. “Hey, are you looking for us? Wow, a group of girls. How cute!”
“And there is a little gorgeous!”
The two were accompanied by about seven other boys, all of whom were Chen Liangliang’s friends. Facing more than 20 girls, they were not afraid at all. Some of them even advanced on the girls holding a basketball. When they saw Mengmeng, they were slightly taken aback. Wasn’t she the pretty girl in the neighboring class?
“Fine, Xiao Lian, I’ll apologize to you.”
Chen Liangliang was a little miffed. He slouched over, holding the basketball in his hands before his belly.
“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad with me. Look, I’ll even let you play my favorite basketball!”
“Swoosh!”
While speaking, he rapidly threw the basketball at Xiao Lian.
He didn’t exert too much strength, but that was certainly not a gentle toss.
Just when he thought the ball was going to hit Xiao Lian’s belly…
“Swish!”
A figure as fast as the light appeared, spun around, and gave the ball a glorious kick.
“Bam!”
The basketball swiftly flew back.
It downright hit Chen Liangliang’s abdomen, causing him to bend over like a shrimp. With a thud, he fell backward onto the court two meters behind him, groaning in pain.
All of a sudden, silence fell the court.
All the other people on the court also paused and gazed at Mengmeng with stunned eyes.
“This little gorgeous is good at martial arts!”
