Everyone experiences time differently. Liu Ruoxian felt that this week passed especially quickly. Going to and from school with Lu Chuan made the days much more enjoyable compared to when she was on her own.
Friday arrived in the blink of an eye, and Liu Ruoxian had slowly begun to adapt to life at Yizhong.
The weather today was particularly sweltering. Some old-fashioned fans spun rapidly above the classroom, but they didn't do much to alleviate the heat. With the upcoming weekend in sight, students' minds had already started to wander during the afternoon self-study period, heading off to who knows where outside of school.
During the break, Liu Ruoxian, who had just returned to the classroom from the restroom with An Ran, saw Zhao Pengfei, the class's biggest enthusiast for excitement, writing on the blackboard. Liu Ruoxian read the heading: "Class 3, Grade 12 Annual Selection for 2021."
The selection categories were numerous and varied: most handsome boy (class hunk), most beautiful girl (class flower), nicest person, cutest person, quietest person, funniest person, most hardworking person, and best networker, among others.
Liu Ruoxian thought to herself that it seemed every class enjoyed holding these quirky and endearing votes.
After finishing, Zhao Pengfei tossed the chalk back into the box and addressed the students below: "Everyone, please participate enthusiastically. Write the names of the people you want to vote for on the paper and hand it to the podium. We'll count the votes during the next break."
"Didn't we already vote once before? Why are we doing it again?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's because Liu Ruoxian transferred here, and we need a new class flower. Anyway, just vote for fun."
"Hey, Lu Chuan, what do you think?" Ye Zhiming asked Lu Chuan, leaning in.
"I don't know, not interested," Lu Chuan replied without looking up.
"Seriously, if Liu Ruoxian becomes our class flower, you two—one class hunk, one class flower—what a perfect match."
"Boring. Vote for whoever you want. I'm not participating." Lu Chuan said as he casually got up and left through the back door to buy a drink from the convenience store.
"Ruoxian, who do you want to vote for?" An Ran tore a sheet of draft paper in half and handed one piece to Liu Ruoxian.
"I don't know. I'm not familiar with everyone," Liu Ruoxian said, shaking her head in frustration.
"It's fine, just pick randomly. You can vote the same as me. For the class hunk, it's definitely Lu Chuan. For the class flower, it has to be you." An Ran wrote "Liu Ruoxian" next to the class flower option without hesitation.
"Vote for myself? I can't bring myself to do that. I'll vote for you as class flower, haha. You're also the cutest, An Ran," Liu Ruoxian said as she filled out her ballot, folded it, and then placed it with An Ran's on the podium.
The excitement caused by this small voting activity continued for a while before gradually settling down with the ringing of the class bell.
The 45-minute math test was just enough time to complete a paper, and Liu Ruoxian put her pen down as the class bell rang.
"Cough, cough, everyone. The exciting moment is about to arrive. I'm going to start counting the votes," Zhao Pengfei announced as he walked up to the podium, opening each slip of paper, reading out a name, and marking it with a check on the blackboard.
"Class hunk: Lu Chuan, Class flower: Liu Ruoxian, Cutest: Qi Feifei, Quietest: An Ran…"
"Class hunk: Lu Chuan, Class flower: Liu Meina, Cutest…"
…
"Lu Chuan, Liu Ruoxian…" Zhao Pengfei shook the last slip of paper, "That's the last one, no more."
After tallying up, Lu Chuan had overwhelmingly retained his title as class hunk, An Ran had won the cutest person title by three votes, and the other categories each had their winners. However, the results for the class flower were a bit complicated.
"Liu Meina: 20 votes, Song Yuwei: 4 votes, An Ran: 1 vote, Liu Ruoxian: also 20 votes. Total of 45 votes, with one person not voting."
"Who was it?"
"Yeah, who didn't vote?" The students looked at each other, puzzled.
"Ruoxian, I think you've actually won. Liu Meina must have voted for herself," An Ran whispered to Liu Ruoxian.
Liu Ruoxian shrugged, "I don't really care. I didn't expect to win anyway."
Liu Ruoxian was not concerned about the outcome, but Liu Meina was not happy. Having originally been the class flower, losing so many supporters was upsetting. Although she didn't show it on her face, she inwardly cursed those 20 people for their lack of vision.
"Lu Chuan, wake up." Ye Zhiming nudged Lu Chuan, who was sleeping at his desk. "Did you forget to vote?"
Lu Chuan was always indifferent to such matters. Being suddenly woken from a deep sleep, he was quite displeased. "What's the matter? I told you I'm not interested."
"Now that all the results are in, the only thing left is the class flower. With Liu Meina and Liu Ruoxian tied, it's just your vote that's needed."
"Lu Chuan, please vote. Otherwise, all our efforts will be in vain and we won't have a result."
"Yeah, just vote!" The students began to persuade him.
Lu Chuan, still groggy, squinted at the blackboard. "Everything else is settled?"
"Only the class flower is left!" Ye Zhiming said with a flattering expression.
"Such a hassle."
Lu Chuan stood up from his seat and, under everyone's gaze, walked to the podium. He took the chalk from Zhao Pengfei and firmly marked a "1" under Liu Ruoxian's name.
"Is that enough?" he said, then put down the chalk and left the classroom.
"Wow, so cool."
"Lu Chuan, the class hunk, is consistent. He never voted for Liu Meina. Haha."
"Lu Chuan is so handsome. We have a new class flower now."
With Lu Chuan's decisive vote, Liu Ruoxian was successfully elected as the new class flower of Class 3, Grade 12.
Liu Meina stood up abruptly and stormed out of the classroom, blocking Lu Chuan at the door. With red eyes, she demanded, "Lu Chuan, why do you always favor Liu Ruoxian? What makes her better than me?"
"You can't compare to her," Lu Chuan said with a blank expression and then left Liu Meina awkwardly standing there.
After the entertaining break, everyone's enthusiasm for studying increased a little bit more, and they managed to stick it out until the end of the school day.
"Lu Chuan, Ruoxian, An Ran, do you have any plans for the weekend? How about we study together?" Ye Zhiming asked the three as they walked towards the school gate.
"Sure, I'm free," Liu Ruoxian was the first to respond. "And Lu Chuan is free too. An Ran, what about you?"
"I'll talk to my mom. She should agree since she knows I'm studying with you."
An Ran had mentioned Liu Ruoxian to her mother since the first day of school and often talked about her. Her mother was happy that An Ran had made good friends at school and noticed that her daughter was becoming more outgoing, so she liked Liu Ruoxian a lot.
"Then it's settled. Let's study at my place this weekend. My family won't be home," Ye Zhiming said excitedly.