Chapter 66 Electing Class Officials

The specific details of Xiao Siqi and Ye Jiaying’s date over the weekend remain unknown, but judging by Xiao Siqi’s demeanor, things were likely progressing quite well. Liu Zhongwen accepted Xiao Yao’s kowtow and the cup of tea presented to him, officially beginning to teach him the Bajiquan martial art, which left Xiao Yao exceptionally happy. As for Cheng Yaojia, she was simply waiting for the class meeting the following week.

Monday afternoon, class meeting.

"As discussed last week, today we will be electing our class committee members. Students who wish to run for a position, please come up to the podium and deliver your campaign speeches with enthusiasm," Teacher Jiang announced from the podium. With that, she stepped aside into the corner near the classroom door, leaving the center stage wide open.

After Teacher Jiang stepped back, the previously noisy classroom grew quiet. Perhaps because no one had prepared to go first, a momentary silence fell over the room.

"Who has the courage to go up first?" Seeing the awkward silence, Teacher Jiang had to speak up to encourage them.

Xiao Yao nudged Cheng Yaojia’s arm and whispered, "Go on!"

Cheng Yaojia’s face turned bright red with nervousness as she pulled her arm inward and said, "No way, I definitely don't want to go first."

Xiao Yao was slightly speechless. The young girl had been so full of confidence earlier, so why was she suddenly acting so timid at the crucial moment? Noticing that a long-haired girl in the front-left row was already looking eager to move, he hastily raised his hand and called out, "Teacher, Cheng Yaojia wants to run for Arts Committee Member."

"Gasp," as Xiao Yao shouted out, all the eyes in the classroom turned toward them, making Cheng Yaojia’s face blush even deeper.

"Xiao Yao, what kind of trouble are you stirring up?" Teacher Jiang scolded. "Running for the class committee is based on voluntary participation, not someone else's nomination. If Cheng Yaojia wants to run, she should raise her hand and come up herself. What are you shouting for?"

"Oh," Xiao Yao lowered his head, stood up from his seat, and stepped into the aisle.

"Why did you stand up? Are you running too? If you're running, go up to the podium. What are you doing standing in the aisle?" Teacher Jiang looked at Xiao Yao and asked.

"I'm making way for Cheng Yaojia," Xiao Yao replied. Their desks happened to be against the wall this week; Cheng Yaojia’s seat was next to the wall, and Xiao Yao’s was by the aisle. For Cheng Yaojia to get out, she had to pass through Xiao Yao's spot.

"If you don't go up now, the teacher is going to kick me out," Xiao Yao said, looking at Cheng Yaojia.

Standing straight in the aisle, not only was Xiao Yao the focus of every student's gaze, but even their homeroom teacher, Jiang, was looking at him with increasingly unfavorable eyes. Of course, Cheng Yaojia couldn't let Xiao Yao get kicked out by the teacher because of her. Since she had to go up anyway, she gritted her teeth, stood up, and walked toward the podium.

Xiao Yao smiled, sat back down in his seat, and took the lead in applauding.

Following Xiao Yao's lead, Teacher Jiang also began to clap. Having the courage to go up first truly required some nerve and deserved a round of encouragement. Once the teacher started clapping, the students below followed suit.

"Hello everyone, I am Cheng Yaojia, and I am running for Arts Committee Member," Cheng Yaojia said to the students below. She had been extremely nervous before coming up, but once on stage, she felt much less nervous, delivering her words fluently and clearly. "I have loved singing and dancing since I was a child, and I've even studied the piano. With my artistic strengths, I believe I can be a good Arts Committee Member for everyone. Please vote for me, thank you." With that, she bowed to the audience before walking back.

Holding a piece of chalk, Teacher Jiang walked over to the blackboard, wrote Cheng Yaojia's name beneath the heading "Arts Committee Member" written earlier, and turned to the class. "Alright, classmate Cheng Yaojia has bravely opened the floor for us. Let's continue—students wishing to run, please come up to the stage yourselves."

The long-haired girl who had been itching to go earlier, only to be interrupted by Xiao Yao, took the stage and said, "Hello everyone, I am Li Xueyan, and I am also running for Arts Committee Member. I like singing and dancing too, and I've studied the violin. I also have artistic talents, so please vote for me. I certainly won't let you down. Thank you everyone."

This Li Xueyan was quite an active figure in the class, blessed with long hair and a delicate, pointed face. Appearance-wise, she was even prettier than Cheng Yaojia. The reason Cheng Yaojia had been so nervous about running for Arts Committee Member was precisely because she knew she had such a formidable rival.

Seeing that Li Xueyan was about to step down, Xiao Yao quickly raised his hand again and called out, "Teacher, I want to hear Li Xueyan and Cheng Yaojia sing. They both claim they can sing, but I haven't heard either of them. Let them each sing a song right now, and whoever sings better should be elected Arts Committee Member."

Neither Li Xueyan nor Cheng Yaojia had missed any opportunities to hum tunes during recess and in the dormitory; in truth, their singing abilities were quite similar. Under such circumstances, Li Xueyan, with her superior physical appearance, naturally held an advantage—which was precisely why Xiao Yao had felt the need to give Cheng Yaojia intensive training. After all, school had only been in session for half a month, and neither of them had ever sung publicly in an official setting. Xiao Yao's claim that he had never heard them sing was a fairly reasonable pretext to make this demand.

"Sing! Sing!" Prompted by Xiao Yao, the students below immediately chimed in, joining the commotion and chanting along.

"Quiet!" Teacher Jiang pressed both hands downward, cast another sideways glance at Xiao Yao, and then said, "Well, that is a rather good suggestion. Then let's ask classmate Li Xueyan and classmate Cheng Yaojia to come up and sing a song for everyone."

Although she hadn't expected this twist, Li Xueyan wasn't flustered. Since the teacher called upon her, she gracefully walked up to the podium and sang "Sunflower," a children's song she performed quite well. It had to be said that Li Xueyan possessed a very pleasant vocal tone and a decent sense of rhythm. As she finished the song, the students below spontaneously burst into applause, and Xiao Yao nodded in approval as he listened.

After Li Xueyan stepped down, Cheng Yaojia didn't hesitate this time; she walked up to the podium with full confidence and a smile, saying, "I will sing 'Bugs Fly' for everyone."

This time, Xiao Yao did not take the lead in applauding to set the rhythm—doing so would have been far too obvious. Besides, he had full confidence in himself and Cheng Yaojia. Although Li Xueyan had sung well just moments ago, it was still relative to a seven-year-old child's level. Xiao Yao was now a professional, and the specially trained Cheng Yaojia's rendition of "Bugs Fly" would undoubtedly surpass hers.

"The dark, dark sky hangs low, bright, bright stars follow along. Bugs fly, bugs fly, who are you longing for..."

As soon as Cheng Yaojia opened her mouth, everyone felt the difference compared to Li Xueyan. It wasn't just the lovely voice; the slight swaying of her head, the expression on her face, and even the subtle gestures of her hands naturally made everyone want to hum along softly.

Halfway through the song, Li Xueyan realized her chances were slim. Looking at Cheng Yaojia on the stage and failing to understand why she had suddenly improved so drastically, Li Xueyan shifted her gaze toward Xiao Yao in the back-row corner. While Xiao Yao's earlier sequence of actions had clearly been to help Cheng Yaojia, it didn't strictly mean Cheng Yaojia's exceptional singing had to be tied to him. Yet, Li Xueyan instinctively felt that Cheng Yaojia's marvelous performance was connected to Xiao Yao. A woman's intuition is sometimes wondrously sharp, even when she is only seven years old.

When Cheng Yaojia finished, the applause from the students was even more enthusiastic, and a few mischievous boys excitedly let out wolf whistles.

"What do you think you're doing? Whistling in the classroom!" Teacher Jiang had to step in once again to maintain order. However, once the room quieted down, she offered a genuine compliment: "That was truly sung wonderfully." Although they were both children's songs, "Bugs Fly" was a movie soundtrack and a track from popular singer Xiao Siqi's album, carrying a different appeal. Even the homeroom teacher was now leaning toward letting Cheng Yaojia be the Arts Committee Member. With this standard of skill, their class would at least have one presentable act for the school's New Year's Eve gala at the end of the year.

Although the election continued, Xiao Yao, having observed everyone's performances, knew Cheng Yaojia's position as Arts Committee Member was securely in the bag. His mission was accomplished, and there shouldn't be anything else requiring his attention. Consequently, Xiao Yao's mind began to wander again, pondering the "Three-Body Standing Posture" that Liu Zhongwen had taught him on Sunday. What was meant by treating your conviction as your master? What about seeking stillness within relaxation, and what was "internal adjustment"? How could one regulate internal mechanisms through stance-training, and how could one cultivate muscle-engaging habits through it? Despite possessing the soul of a thirty-something, grasping and experiencing these concepts was no simple task.

"Xiao Yao!"

"Ah?" Lost in his reverie, Xiao Yao suddenly heard someone call his name and snapped back to reality by reflex. Looking up, he saw it was their homeroom teacher, Jiang, calling him.

"Aren't you going to come up and run for a class committee position?" Teacher Jiang asked with a smile. She held high hopes for Xiao Yao; whether it was showing up alone to report on the very first day of school or his usual performance, he appeared far more mature and independent than the other students. Although he occasionally zoned out during class, his test scores remained stubbornly at the top—and they were perfect scores at that. Even though she had scolded him earlier for slightly disrupting classroom order, his behavior wasn't excessive or out of line; instead, it made him look resourceful, vibrant, and capable of handling situations. In her heart, Teacher Jiang actually hoped he would serve as the class monitor, or at the very least, the study commissioner. With three consecutive perfect test scores on the table, no one could possibly harbor any objections to him serving as study commissioner. Well, looking at his physique, she had also heard his sports scores were quite decent...

"Not running," Xiao Yao shook his head.

"Why?" Teacher Jiang asked with a puzzled look. "I think you'd make a great class monitor. Or why not try for study commissioner? Didn't you get all perfect scores on your last test?"

"Teacher, didn't you just say a moment ago that running for the class committee is voluntary and not based on someone else's nomination?" Xiao Yao looked at his homeroom teacher and said, "I don't want to run."

"Can you tell me why you don't want to run for the class committee?" Teacher Jiang asked with curiosity. "I see that you perform quite well in class usually, and your academic results are top-notch. The teacher thinks you're very exceptional."

Things had reached a point where Teacher Jiang was practically on the verge of directly appointing him. Yet Xiao Yao refused to appreciate the gesture, stating bluntly, "Teacher, being a class officer is too much trouble."

"What the heck?" Teacher Jiang felt a surge of irritation rise within her. To think there was actually such a student!

"Now I announce that running for the class committee can also be done through recommendations and nominations by other students. Are there any nominations for Xiao Yao to run for class officer?" Teacher Jiang declared directly.

"What the heck?" This time, it was Xiao Yao's turn to be dumbfounded. Teacher, you can't just play like that—that's just acting shamelessly!

Catching Cheng Yaojia out of the corner of his eye looking eager to try, Xiao Yao quickly glared at her and pinned down the arm she was about to raise.

"Teacher, I nominate Xiao Yao for class monitor!" Li Xueyan raised her hand and said.

"Very well," Teacher Jiang smiled as she wrote Xiao Yao's name beneath the class monitor column.

"Teacher, I think besides being class monitor, Xiao Yao can also concurrently serve as study commissioner!" Li Xueyan added.

"Damn it!" Xiao Yao glared fiercely at Li Xueyan.

"I think that works," Teacher Jiang actually nodded, turned back around, and wrote Xiao Yao's name under the study commissioner heading as well.

"Alright, everyone start voting now," Teacher Jiang clapped her hands. "Remember, you can only raise your hand once for each position. First is class monitor. Those in favor of classmate Chen Lixin, raise your hand. One, two, three, four, five—five votes." Teacher Jiang turned and wrote five next to Chen Lixin's name, then continued, "Next is Huang Kexing, three votes."

"Finally, Xiao Yao, twenty-eight votes. I announce that starting today, classmate Xiao Yao is our class monitor. Next is the vice-class monitor—"

"Is there any justice left?" Xiao Yao wore a bitter expression, his eyes filled with grief and indignation.

In the final tally, Xiao Yao was elected class monitor with twenty-eight votes and concurrently elected study commissioner with thirty votes, holding dual positions. This vote count was even higher than Cheng Yaojia's twenty-four votes, which had won her the position of Arts Committee Member.

Normally, Xiao Yao had only been moderately active in class, having spoken to barely a handful of classmates so far. If he had run through normal procedures, study commissioner might have been understandable given his test scores, but there was no way he could have secured such a high vote count for the class monitor position. However, his performance today had been far too prominent, repeatedly locking horns with the teacher. What students loved most was someone who dared to talk back and stand up to the teacher—if they didn't vote for him as class monitor, who else would they choose?