Class committee elections: newly arrived students at the school would immediately begin learning how to canvass for votes, cooperate, and even engage in petty plotting at a tender age.
Ansheng clearly remembered that back in middle school, the class had actually split into two opposing factions over competing for a certain position.
The two sides despised each other in every class activity, and even broke out into physical altercations several times.
"What a hassle..."
Ansheng didn't have the slightest bit of interest in being a class committee member. Whether it was developing management skills from a young age or showing off in front of the teachers, none of it mattered to him; he cared not at all.
Rather than becoming a committee member who ran around helping out and ended up caught in the awkward middle between classmates and teachers, he felt it was far better to peacefully and securely be an ordinary student who only needed to listen.
Everyone entering this school was already a favored child of heaven who had rushed up from various middle schools, and many had previously served as important members of their class committees.
Hearing Teacher Huacai's words now, quite a few of them were eager to try their hand at it.
Naturally, Miaomiao was one of them.
"I should find an opportunity later to apologize to that boy..."
Thinking this, Miaomiao couldn't help glancing back at Ansheng, who was idly staring out the window, doing nothing at all.
If he wanted to run for any position, she would cast her vote for him as a gesture of apology.
Only, looking at his attitude... he seemed completely uninterested.
She took a deep breath, temporarily clearing her thoughts to prepare for the upcoming election.
Looking at the excited crowd below, Teacher Huacai spoke up to announce:
"Well then... first, we will hold the election for class monitor. Will those students who are interested please come up to the stage?"
Starting right off with choosing the monitor, huh?
Ansheng glanced over. Although everyone was eager and sizing each other up, in reality, only two people stepped forward.
One was a short-haired girl in glasses—wasn't she the one who had turned and walked away the moment she saw him earlier?
The other was someone Ansheng recognized—Miaomiao.
"Is Miaomiao running too..."
"I heard Miaomiao ranked first in the entire grade on the entrance exam! She's been top of the grade and class monitor ever since middle school!"
"It feels like Miaomiao has a huge chance of winning."
"Not necessarily. That short-haired girl is called Heshui, she was also in the top ten of the entrance exam grade-wide, and she's always been a class monitor too!"
"I'm rooting for you, Heshui!"
"Miaomiao is number one in the world!"
Ansheng looked at both sides. He had a slight recollection of the bespectacled girl; sure enough, she was the one who had bolted the moment she caught sight of him from afar.
However, even though she had some past grievance with him, Ansheng still didn't plan on voting for Miaomiao, deciding instead to abstain.
Better to avoid extra trouble than to invite it~
"They surely didn't make voting mandatory, right?" Ansheng muttered to himself.
Miaomiao rose from her seat and took light steps toward the side of the podium.
As if sensing something, Miaomiao couldn't help casting another couple of glances at Ansheng, but Ansheng didn't notice, already lost in his own daydreams.
Teacher Huacai looked at the two girls in the center of the podium, nodded, and stepped aside from the main position.
"Then could both students please give a personal statement to canvass for votes? Who wants to go first?"
Miaomiao and the bespectacled girl exchanged a glance. Miaomiao stepped forward first, walked up, and said softly, "I'll go first, then."
"Alright, let's give them a round of applause~" Teacher Huacai smiled, taking the lead in clapping.
As the applause gradually subsided, the tall Miaomiao gave a slight bow to the students below. Scanning the crowd, she spoke with a serious expression:
"Classmates, I am Miaomiao. Perhaps some of you already know my name and have heard things about me from my middle school days."
"Regardless of what information you've heard,"
"I sincerely ask everyone here: forget all of it!"
Her words were solemn, causing even Ansheng to be momentarily taken aback. Regaining his focus, he looked at the dead-serious Miaomiao, inwardly puzzled.
Weren't elections supposed to be about listing all your past achievements? What was the point of telling people to forget them?
The students below also began to whisper among themselves.
Miaomiao cleared her throat and continued, her bell-like, crisp voice filling the classroom:
"In running for the position of class monitor, I simply want to say that my past experiences are utterly useless to everyone here. But—throughout the next three years of high school, I will prove to all of you with concrete actions that I will undoubtedly lead this class to forge ahead with vigor. I have that ability, and I have that determination!..."
"..."
Following that were a few more minutes of other speeches, which Ansheng didn't really listen to. He was just pondering which manga to read when he went back tonight, and even forgot to applaud.
When Miaomiao stepped down from the platform and stood off to the side, she stole a curious glance at Ansheng.
"This person is so strange, it's like he doesn't care about anything at all..."
It was Heshui the bespectacled girl's turn. Her speech was run-of-the-mill, but the reception seemed pretty good as well.
Once both of them finished, Teacher Huacai took out her phone and called out to the class: "Students, take out your phones and scan the mini-program to vote~"
Ansheng didn't hear this remark, wondering only why class hadn't been dismissed yet; today seemed particularly long.
A few minutes later, Teacher Huacai swept her gaze over the crowd and announced the voting results:
"Let's see—Student Miaomiao: 20 votes! Student Heshui: 20 votes!"
Ansheng snapped back to attention in surprise. It was a tie?
Teacher Huacai frowned slightly. "There are 43 students in the class in total... excluding the two participating in the election, has anyone not voted?"
At these words, Miaomiao instinctively looked toward Ansheng, her intuition telling her it was this rather strange classmate.
And indeed, the facts bore that out.
Ansheng had originally intended to abstain, and now he was stunned too. You couldn't even abstain here?
Looking at her phone, Teacher Huacai identified the culprit: "—Which student is Ansheng?"
Ansheng let out a long sigh and had no choice but to raise his hand in acknowledgment. "It's me..."
Teacher Huacai looked over the boy whose slightly long hair covered his eyes a bit, and asked, "Student Ansheng, did you not vote?"
Ansheng scratched his head, looking somewhat awkward.
"Uh... both of them are too outstanding, I didn't know who to vote for."
Well, what a flimsy excuse.
"That simply won't do, Student Ansheng must make a choice!" Teacher Huacai urged.
Ansheng helplessly glanced at the two girls on stage. At that moment, Miaomiao was nervously wringing her hands; after all, the deciding vote was in Ansheng's hands, yet she had been harsh to him before...
Heshui also smiled, as if victory had already been declared in advance, since she had witnessed with her own eyes the argument between this boy and Miaomiao earlier.
Ansheng looked back and forth, then casually pointed. "Student Miaomiao, I suppose..."
Miaomiao's heart skipped a beat as she stared in astonishment at Ansheng, who was pointing at her with an indifferent expression.
Why... would he vote for me?
Teacher Huacai nodded. "Then the final choice for class monitor is..."
"I object!"
A sudden, jarring voice rang out, interrupting Teacher Huacai's announcement.
Following the voice, everyone looked over to see an unresigned expression on Heshui's face. Pointing at Miaomiao, she glared angrily at Ansheng.
"You just think she's prettier than me, don't you!"
Ansheng was stunned. What kind of twisted logic was this?
"No, no... you've misunderstood, I have no interest in her..." Ansheng explained, a stomachache expression on his face.
"You're lying! You just spotted her good looks and want to suck up to her!"
Things having reached this point, Ansheng frowned, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant as he clicked his tongue.
"...Suck up to her?"
"You're just coveting Miaomiao's beauty! You want to use this chance to hit on her, right?"
Miaomiao's expression shifted, and she furrowed her brow. "Student He, I ran my campaign through normal procedures. Student An and I are completely innocent of anything like that!"
Ansheng was beyond speechless at this point, sighing inwardly. Why were all these girls the same, imagining all sorts of nonsense?
First came a Miaomiao, and now here came a Heshui.
How exhausting.
Seeing Ansheng fall silent, Heshui seemed to have already concluded, "I knew it..."
"I think you're an idiot."
Frowning, Ansheng suddenly blurted out.
Heshui froze, and Miaomiao froze as well.
"Let's not fight, let's not fight..." Teacher Huacai pleaded weakly from the side, but almost nobody paid attention, all eyes locked on Ansheng as he stood up.
By now, Teacher Huacai was so anxious she looked on the verge of tears.
With his hands shoved deep into his pockets, Ansheng slowly walked forward amidst the startled gazes of the crowd, walking past Miaomiao until he stood face-to-face with Heshui's somewhat nervous look.
"I suggest you change your name to Kernel."
"Wh... why?"
"With a brain the size of a pine nut, stop trying to engage in female competition. If you're going to make up reasons, at least come up with a decent one."
Ansheng's slender eyes stared at Heshui with utter detachment, causing her speech to falter and leaving her momentarily speechless.
He sighed, turning to address the startled crowd below:
"To reiterate, I have zero interest in Student Miaomiao here. As for the reason for my vote..."
Ansheng paused. "When I first came to school, I was new and got lost, and coincidentally ran into Kernel here."
"But Kernel turned and bolted the moment she saw me—oh, she was so decisive, anyone would've thought I was carrying a virus."
"You look kind of terrifying to begin with..." Heshui flushed, attempting a last-ditch defense.
Ignoring her excuse, Ansheng said flatly, "Right after Student Heshui turned around and ran, I saw Student Miaomiao ahead of me."
"Without the slightest hesitation, Student Miaomiao chose to lend me a hand. At the time, I even mistakenly thought she was a senior student, and she didn't even know we were in the same class, right?"
Ansheng shifted his gaze to Miaomiao. Miaomiao was startled, then nodded. "Right..."
"Clap—"
Ansheng brought his hands together in a crisp clap, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"Okay, so is there any problem with me casting a vote for Student Miao—who might have a resting face, but is actually extremely kind-hearted and willing to help everyone?"
The classroom fell dead silent, everyone frozen in place by the scene.
Ignoring the low undercurrent of whispers, Ansheng leisurely walked down the stage, returned to his seat, propped his head in his hand, and looked out the window.
"Of course there's no problem at all."
He curled his lip, answering his own rhetorical question.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.
Miaomiao gazed at the calm Ansheng, pressing her lips together, feeling as though she owed him yet another favor.