Chapter 45: The Responsibilities of the Class President

It was 11:30 a. m.

Kong Junxiang finished eating and returned to his office; bored, he turned on his computer to read a novel.

It was the first day of school, and the afternoon was scheduled for student physical exams; the homeroom teacher had to attend a meeting too, so now was the only chance to steal a little leisure time for some entertainment.

But he had only read for a little over half an hour when someone knocked on the office door.

"Teacher Kong." Li Luo's voice came from the doorway.

Kong Junxiang quickly switched off the screen, preventing Li Luo from seeing the familiar novel title displayed.

"What is it?"

"Earlier you said we'd have physical exams this afternoon—what's the schedule?" Li Luo had just finished eating, escorted Ying Chanxi back to her classroom, and then came upstairs to drop by.

"Oh, this?" Kong Junxiang picked up his teacup, about to take a sip, but noticed it was empty; he set it down. "It wasn't urgent—I was going to come down and find you later. Since you're here, I'll tell you now."

Hearing this, Li Luo walked to the desk, reached out, and took Kong Junxiang's teacup, heading toward the water dispenser: "Let me get you some water—hot?"

"Oh, thanks." Kong Junxiang paused, then said, "Hot, but add a little cold water."

After Li Luo returned the cup, Kong Junxiang glanced at him a moment longer before lowering his head to sip the tea and continue:

"The physical exams are at the gym, starting with Class One. By the time it's our turn, it'll probably be around two or three in the afternoon—exact timing will be announced."

"When it's our class's turn, have the PE monitor lead the group—I'll go with you. After the exams, collect all the physical exam forms for me."

"Then tally up everyone's height and go to the storage shed on the playground to pick up the military training uniforms."

Li Luo nodded understandingly: "Anything else after that?"

"There's a meeting during evening self-study." Kong Junxiang thought for a moment. "All four of you need to attend."

"It's about tomorrow's military training, right?"

"Yes." Kong Junxiang smiled. "Just some reminders and guidelines."

"Got it." Li Luo nodded. "Then if there's nothing else, I'll head back?"

"Go ahead." Kong Junxiang reached for the mouse, planning to resume reading as soon as Li Luo left.

But just as Li Luo reached the door, he suddenly turned back and said to Kong Junxiang: "Teacher Kong, Win+D switches quickly to the desktop—it's pretty handy."

After speaking, Li Luo walked out of the office and kindly closed the door.

Sitting in his chair, Kong Junxiang froze for a moment, then tried it—sure enough, it instantly returned to the desktop.

The next second, he realized what had happened and shook his head, half-amused, half-exasperated: "This kid…"

…

Returning from the fifth floor to the third, Li Luo glanced into the classroom, then walked to the desks of Hua Xiuxiu, Zhu Yufei, and Yan Zhusheng, calling them out into the hallway.

After relaying Kong Junxiang's instructions, Li Luo turned to Hua Xiuxiu: "Once everyone's back, go up front and explain the next steps, then go to the teacher's office to pick up the physical exam forms."

"Aren't you going to say it yourself?" Hua Xiuxiu looked at Li Luo, still resentful about losing the class president position, and blurted out instinctively.

"If the class president does everything himself, what's the point of having a vice president?" Li Luo glanced at her in surprise. "When you were class president, didn't you ever give the vice president anything to do?"

Hua Xiuxiu: "..."

To be fair, during elementary and middle school, Hua Xiuxiu had always done exactly that.

She only involved the vice president—whom she treated as optional—when something absolutely required two people.

But in Li Luo's memory, when Ying Chanxi was class president, she always acted like a hands-off boss; most tasks fell to the vice president, while she simply listened to the teacher's instructions and passed them along.

In middle school, Shao Heqi had eagerly taken on those duties, doing them willingly.

"Anyway, thanks for handling it." Li Luo smiled warmly.

Hua Xiuxiu returned to the classroom, looking disgruntled.

She hadn't won the class president position, yet the amount of work hadn't decreased.

Still, once all classmates had arrived, she took a deep breath, stepped up, and explained the afternoon's schedule to the class.

Li Luo sat in a window seat near the back; Yan Zhusheng turned to him and suddenly asked: "Why are there two PE monitors? In middle school, there was always just one."

"Having a female PE monitor makes some things easier," Li Luo said. "Some girls are shy or insecure—they won't admit they're on their period. If they push through military training, they might hurt themselves."

"With you around, those girls will at least feel comfortable telling you, so they can request leave and rest early."

"Also, in high school, boys and girls might have separate PE classes—both need a female PE monitor."

"Oh, okay." Yan Zhusheng nodded, accepting Li Luo's reasoning.

Seeing her fall quiet again, Li Luo felt a pang of reflection.

He always felt Yan Zhusheng's personality in high school hadn't changed much from what it would be ten years later.

Still simple, innocent, straightforward, and calm.

But Li Luo knew well—this was only one side of Yan Zhusheng in her normal state.

…

In the afternoon, Hua Xiuxiu went to the teacher's office to retrieve the physical exam forms and distributed them to everyone.

Around two o'clock, Kong Junxiang came down from his office; once the PE teacher arrived to announce the start, he called the students to line up in the hallway and set off.

At this point, Class One and Class Two had already finished their exams and were slowly returning upstairs.

Passing the third floor, Ying Chanxi glanced toward Class Eight and saw Li Luo walking out of the classroom side by side with a very beautiful girl.

Her steps halted instantly.

"What's wrong, Xixi?" Her deskmate Qiao Xinyan looked at her strangely. "We haven't even reached the fourth floor yet."

"Oh… nothing." Ying Chanxi looked away, pressed her lips together, and finally followed her deskmate back to the classroom.

On the other side, Li Luo didn't notice Ying Chanxi's presence; he held the physical exam form and followed the line toward the gym.

After more than an hour of waiting in line, they finally finished all the exams.

He then spotted Hua Xiuxiu in one of the queues and asked: "How many items left?"

"This is the last one," Hua Xiuxiu said. "Why?"

"When you come back to the classroom after that, remember to collect the physical examination forms and give them to me." Li Luo said.

Hua Xiuxiu bit her lip: "... Alright."