Chapter 525

Deng Hanyuan was stimulated by the idea of self-recommendation. In his view, if he couldn't become the class monitor this time, he would never have any face in front of this group again.

Face is a knife; it can kill others, and it can also lead to one's own downfall.

During class the next day, Mei Hua said that in order for everyone to have a mass representative in the future, it was necessary for the class to elect a class monitor. The class monitor's task was to assist him in management and to serve everyone.

The whole class listened quietly as he lectured on grand principles. People who are cadres all have a way with words; the higher the official, the higher the level of their speech. Everyone in this class was a cadre, so everyone present could easily talk for hours without repeating a topic.

I opened my notebook and looked at Mei Hua with a very serious expression.

Mei Hua's gaze wandered over everyone's faces; his face was always plastered with a smile, making it impossible for anyone to tell what he was thinking.

After lecturing for about an hour, Mei Hua announced a break. The main point he was making was that the class monitor had to be elected today. If it couldn't be elected in the morning, they would continue in the afternoon; whenever it was elected, that was when the formal classes would begin.

Party School training courses are not like real university studies; they focus mainly on political theory. Of course, one also has to study subjects like economics and law.

Mei Hua announced the break, and some people got up to go to the restroom.

I didn't have any urge to pee, but seeing others go, I suddenly felt the need. Besides, it was necessary to take this time to smoke a cigarette to refresh myself.

Just as I stepped out of the classroom, I saw Gan Lu leaning on the corridor railing, intently watching two birds in a tree not far away.

I coughed lightly; she turned her head, smiled faintly, and then turned back to watch the birds.

Seeing she had no intention of talking to me, I thought about what she had said last night and wondered if she still remembered. I wanted to remind her, but after opening my mouth, I ultimately didn't make a sound.

During the second class, Duanmu also entered the classroom, laughing and saying he was here to join the fun. Electing a class monitor was a big deal, and he couldn't be left out.

Everyone laughed and asked Mei Hua how to conduct the election.

Mei Hua presented his opinion, saying that for the sake of fairness, it would be best to adopt a vote. The vote would be by secret ballot, and the one with the most votes would be elected. After explaining the method, Mei Hua went to consult Duanmu's opinion. Duanmu smiled and said it was good; a class monitor elected this way would not only have a mass foundation but would also be capable.

But with thirty people in the class, it was impossible for everyone to be a candidate; they had to select a few candidates first so that everyone would have a target.

The people in the classroom remained silent, and no one looked at anyone else.

Mei Hua proposed nominating candidates, but after saying it several times, no one spoke.

Deng Hanyuan, sitting next to me, couldn't help it anymore; his leg started shaking again.

Mei Hua had said it several times, and no one had come forward to nominate him. I knew he must be cursing inwardly. This group of people were all two-faced; they had promised to nominate him last night, so why was no one speaking up today?

I held back a laugh. Deng Hanyuan was very naive. Just because these people agreed with you verbally didn't mean they were willing in their hearts. Why would everyone hand over the position of class monitor to you?

I knew he was about to recommend himself, so I tugged on his sleeve.

Deng Hanyuan turned to look at me, and I whispered, "Don't rush, wait a bit."

Sure enough, as soon as I finished speaking, the people from the provincial-level organs spoke up. They said that with thirty people, everyone wasn't very familiar with each other, and there wasn't much understanding of one another. Nominating candidates was difficult. Besides, all thirty people in the class were cadres with a foundation in leadership. Whoever sat in the class monitor's seat would surely be able to handle it. It would be better to skip the candidates and have everyone vote directly; whoever got the most votes would be the class monitor.

Mei Hua was about to object, but Duanmu encouraged it, saying it was a good idea.

Since Duanmu affirmed the idea, no one stood up to object. In fact, everyone understood that electing someone else was not as good as electing oneself.

With the plan set, Mei Hua took thirty palm-sized pieces of paper and handed them out one by one.

Duanmu took this opportunity to say, "If the votes are tied, Section Chief Mei and I will also participate in the election. My vote will count as five, and Section Chief Mei's vote will count as three. Does anyone have any objections?"

Still, no one objected. The people from the provincial-level organs were even less likely to object.

They were familiar with Duanmu and exchanged greetings when they met. At lunch, everyone ate in the same cafeteria, and they might end up sitting at the same table at any time.

With this foundation, Duanmu shouldn't vote for the local cadres. As for which person from the provincial-level organs would get his vote, everyone felt they had a chance. Thus, the people from the provincial-level organs were the first to agree.

Deng Hanyuan saw through this trick immediately. He whispered to me, "It looks like we don't have a chance at all."

I smiled and said, "Not necessarily. Division Chief Duanmu is an upright person; any of us could get his five votes."

Deng Hanyuan snorted, looking unconvinced, and said, "I'm not that optimistic."

After saying that, he asked me nervously, "Old Chen, who are you voting for?"

I asked him with a smile, "Who do you want me to vote for?"

Deng Hanyuan pondered for a moment and said, "Originally, I hoped you would vote for me. Now it seems that even if you vote for me, the chances of winning are slim. We might as well just vote for ourselves."

My heart skipped a beat, and I asked suspiciously, "Is that okay?"

Deng Hanyuan smiled strangely and said, "What's wrong with it? If you don't believe me, just wait and see. With thirty people in the class, there will surely be thirty votes, and everyone will definitely have one."

I still asked very suspiciously, "You mean voting for yourself?"

Deng Hanyuan nodded firmly, sighed, and said, "Once the vote count comes out, we'll see who Division Chief Duanmu's vote goes to."

Deng Hanyuan spoke unintentionally, but I listened with intent. If it really came to that, I believed I had a hope for Duanmu's vote. After all, Xu Mengda had mentioned me to him many times; he could ignore me, but he couldn't ignore Xu Mengda's feelings.

Thinking of this, I couldn't hide my smile and looked up at Duanmu, but he wasn't looking at me. This made me nervous again; what if Duanmu had a closer relationship with someone else? This vote wouldn't fall to me.

Deng Hanyuan had already written his ballot. I leaned over to see whose name he had written, but he covered it up and pushed me away, saying, "Secret, secret."

He folded the slip of paper, closed his eyes, and waited to put the ballot into the box.

I held the pen, hesitated for a long time, but couldn't bring myself to write.

If I wrote my own name, I felt my face would burn. If I didn't write my own, I didn't know who to write. But to be honest, I didn't want to write Deng Hanyuan's name. If he became our class monitor, I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Deng Hanyuan didn't notice me, so I wrote my own name calmly, folded it like him, and placed it in front of me.

When everyone had finished writing, Mei Hua carried the paper box over to collect the ballots.

The ballots were collected, and three people were called up: one to call out the votes, one to supervise, and one to write the names and vote counts on the blackboard.

The first ballot came out—it was the name of a cadre from the provincial-level organs. The name was written down, and a stroke was drawn under it, preparing to mark the "zheng" character based on the number of votes. Everyone applauded in encouragement, waiting for the second ballot.

Everything went as Deng Hanyuan had predicted. The second ballot was a new name, and as before, a stroke was drawn under the name.

As they continued calling out the votes, more than a dozen names had been written on the blackboard, but each name had only one vote.

People below began to discuss, their voices almost drowning out the person calling the votes.

Suddenly, I heard my name called, and my heart jumped violently.

I looked up at my name on the blackboard and saw the single stroke under it. It felt as if lice were crawling all over my face; I couldn't bear to look anymore and lowered my head, blushing.

Just as I was feeling ashamed, I heard my name called again. This time, my heart beat even harder, almost jumping out of my throat. At first, I didn't believe my ears until I saw two strokes drawn under my name. I blinked, moved to the point of almost crying.

So far, I was the only one on the blackboard with two votes.

The vote counting finished. Of the twenty-nine names on the blackboard, only I had two votes.

My heart skipped a beat. Having two votes meant someone else had voted for me. The person who voted for me had no vote for themselves.

I kept a sharp eye out and looked at the list from beginning to end, discovering that Gan Lu's name was missing from the list.

I hurriedly looked for Gan Lu, but everywhere my gaze landed, everyone had their heads bowed. Human selfishness was vividly displayed at this moment. Even cadres like us were equally selfish.

My gaze finally found Gan Lu; she was expressionless.

Duanmu and Mei Hua looked at the names all over the blackboard, their expressions becoming increasingly grave.

Finally, Mei Hua, in his capacity as class teacher, announced that I, Chen Feng, would serve as the class monitor for the training class.

As soon as Mei Hua finished the announcement, the classroom erupted in applause. They were using the applause to dispel the awkwardness and cover up the selfishness revealed by the voting.

In fact, I was also selfish. Without my own vote, even with Gan Lu's vote, I would have been on the same starting line as them. But now, no one questioned the origin of my two votes. Regardless of who voted for me, the fact remained that among the thirty, I was the only one with two votes.

Therefore, the class monitor's hat fell on my head, which could be considered the will of the people.

Since the class monitor had been elected, there was nothing else to do in the morning. After obtaining Duanmu's consent, Mei Hua announced that the morning class was over, and that the afternoon would formally begin with a lecture on socialist theory, delivered personally by Professor Peng, the Vice Principal of the Party School.