Chapter 89 - Composing a poem.
Having kicked up a row as they walked to their destination, it was inevitable that they were late when they reached their cla.s.sroom. Kang Shengzhe was indolent and without a care as per usual whereas Lian Chulin was thin-skinned, and he blushed as they stood in front of the cla.s.s. However, on the account that they were freshmen that just entered the school, the person in-charge of their cla.s.s was good tempered, and he did not even reprimand them before he allowed them to take their seats.
The whole cla.s.s was present.
Self-introductions were inextricably linked with the first cla.s.s meeting that freshmen had when they first entered the school, and it took a full thirty minutes out of an hour before they got through all the introductions from the first person on the leftmost row to the last person in the rightmost row. The people who received the most attention in the cla.s.s was still the pair Kang Shengzhe and Liang Chulin; one, because they had come in late and they were chided by the cla.s.s teacher for a few seconds early on, and two, because their appearances were too eye-catching and they were considered the most outstanding amongst all the boys in their cla.s.s ranks.
Ever since they were streamlined in high school, the number of boys in liberal arts cla.s.ses were comparatively smaller, and that situation had not changed since high school. When the cla.s.s was surveyed, it was essentially a sea of girls, and including Kang Shengzhe and Liang Chulin, there were only five to six boys huddled at the corner of their cla.s.s, which made them rare and precious.
The cla.s.s meeting roughly took forty or so minutes, and their cla.s.s teacher allowed them to disperse. However, in spite of the allowance, the girls in the cla.s.s did not leave and they remained where they were, unmoving, as they deliberately glanced in Kang Shengzhe’s direction. Kang Shengzhe was desensitised to the gazes of others and he got up to leave. It was then that some courageous and bold girls gathered around him and took the initiative to speak.
“You’re Kang Shengzhe right? Your face value is really high even from close up. Did you know, the people from the other cla.s.ses have already given you a nickname when you entered the school? You’re called the Little Giant of the Liberal Arts College. “
Kang Shengzhe gave a few lazy responses, completely without the intention to carry the conversation. The girls were not too entangled about it, and they looked left and right albeit mysteriously, as if they were afraid of being overheard. They whispered, “Comrade Shengzhe, all of the girls have unanimously decided to give our votes to you, not only because we’re your cla.s.smates but also because we need to fight for the glory of our Liberal Arts College.”
Kang Shengzhe was puzzled, and Liang Chulin poked his head out from the side and said: “Ah, what vote?”
The girl said strangely, “You don’t know?”
Lost, Liang Chulin shook his head. His head had been thrown into a disorder from Kang Shengzhe suddenly coming out of the closet to him, and he finally managed to regain his spirit after he caught a whiff of gossip. Curious and excited, he said, “I don’t know, I don’t know, what is it, tell me more about it.”
“There’s nothing much to say, really, you’ll understand it once you see the discussion on A University’s web forum. Right, the voting post is right at the top, you can’t miss it.”
Liang Chulin was very interested and he immediately logged into the web forum to take a look. The web forum quickly refreshed itself upon entry, and he found the relevant words for the voting post and entered it. His eyes skimmed over the contents and he quickly grasped the situation.
It was unknown as to who had initiated it, but the scope involved the entire school since everyone could partic.i.p.ate by casting a vote. The theme of the vote was as such: The most popular boy in A University.
From top to bottom, a total of eighteen boys were chosen, and apart from their photos, names and faculty, the rest of their details were not shown. Liang Chulin scanned through them briskly, and he saw that twelve of them were school seniors while the remaining six were freshmen in their first year.
“I heard that this voting only started this year and it had never been hosted prior to this, and its mainly because the quality of this year’s freshmen is especially high, to the extent where six of them entered the rankings. Look, Kang Shengzhe is inside.”
Liang Chulin pulled up the photo, and sure enough, the photo of the year one freshman Kang Shengzhe appeared. The photo that was actually being used for display was an one-inch head shot that was typically used for formalities, and it was crude as h.e.l.l. However, it could not restraint the overly high face value; even with the blue background and exaggerated head, he still looked good.
Liang Chulin gave his mobile phone to Kang Shengzhe in spite of the disinterest that was apparent on his face. In his heart, he scolded him, and scrolled down again, only to unexpectedly see that he had been chosen as a freshman candidate as well.
Eh, he was also selected.
His mood brightened briefly before his eyes turned dark again. Huffing, he said, “Wasn’t I selected as well, why would you vote for him instead of me?”
The girls blinked at each other before they smiled sincerely: “This is not a fierce compet.i.tion; in order to refrain from internal depletion, we have to push the person with the highest chances so that our Liberal Arts College has greater hope.”
Liang Chulin stiffened for a moment, annoyed, but he had no way of refuting it. As he compared his own photograph to Kang Shengzhe’s typical, listless face, a deep sense of frustration arose within him.
How much did he donate to the author! Why is his painting style so much better than mine!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Then, a thought suddenly hit him as he remembered You Liangxing; if they had to talk about who was the most popular in A University, was a vote even necessary? It was definitely Brother Liang Liang!
Liang Chulin flipped through the year three candidates in a hurry and as he scrolled through each one, he indeed found You Liangxing’s name. His face glowed with jubilation as he happily said, “That’s what I thought, how could there be no Brother Liang Liang!”
Just as his words fell, the phone in his hands vanished into thin air. Eyes akin to torches, Kang Shengzhe stared at the screen as if he was looking at a great treasure. Unfortunately for Kang Shengzhe, there was no picture of You Liangxing, and his interest quickly ebbed.
Eighteen candidates in the compet.i.tion, each with their own accompanying image – ranging from either a selfie, an edited beauty photo or a head shot like Kang Shengzhe – except You Liangxing who had no picture at all. Instead, only these simple words were attached to him: Faculty of Economic Management You Liangxing.
Liang Chulin scratched his head when he noticed the problem, “Hey, why is a photo missing for Brother Liang Liang?”
The girls were all freshmen and they had no recognition of You Liangxing. Before this, they were only excited about the voting because their own cla.s.smate had been chosen, but now that Kang Shengzhe and Liang Chulin had brought their attention to it, they could not help but feel strange. “That’s true, why doesn’t he have a photo?”
The group of girls took out their phones to open the post and swiped down, only to see the responses that a lot of people had left.
【This has the Faculty of Economic Management’s writing all over it. I have to ask, aren’t they amazing?】
【That’s right, our You-xuezhang is slated to win, no photo necessary. Even his name is more handsome than other people’s faces.】
【Fangirl who has been obsessed with You-xuezhang’s face for two years is walking through, this vote of mine was made for You-xuezhang.】
【The Faculty of Economic Management is more pretentious than You-xuezhang himself hahahahaha, you have my sincere admiration.】
【Honestly speaking, is there even a need to show You-xuezhang’s photo? Everyone will definitely vote for him.】
Because the group of girls had just enrolled into the school, they did not understand the previous situation, and their scrolling only left them with a face full of bafflement. In fact, the entire freshmen cohort had the same thoughts save a few minor differences, and they did not spare a glance for that individual called ‘You-xuezhang’ who did not even have a photo. Thus, they had collectively decided to vote for the freshmen from their own respective faculties.
“Forget it, we came over to cheer Kang Shengzhe on. Kang Shengzhe, don’t worry, we’ll definitely vote for once.”
After they finished speaking, they walked away, giggling. Only Kang Shengzhe was still focused on his phone and he asked: “Why can’t I see the votes? Has the voting opened yet?”
Liang Chulin scrutinised it for a brief moment before he replied, “The voting ends tomorrow night, and the specific number of votes will not be revealed until the deadline of the voting has pa.s.sed.”
Kang Shengzhe said, “Oh.”
Although Liang Chulin was speaking, his heart still felt a touch displeased. Despite trying to shove down his words for a long time, he still spoke in the end. “I think I’m far cuter than you, why did they have to choose you?”
Kang Shengzhe hurriedly said: “Shh—”
His expression was grave, and his gaze was deep, giving the impression that he had something important to say. Liang Chulin subconsciously closed his mouth, waiting for Kang Shengzhe to speak with the greatest care.
Kang Shengzhe remained silent for two seconds. Then, out of the blue, he opened his mouth and yawned.
The sort that was very loud.
Liang Chulin: “……” Goodbye! Goodbye! QAQ!
* * *
Back in the dormitory, Kang Shengzhe broadcasted for three hours as per usual, and the day concluded in such a fashion. Liao Su, who had watched the broadcast at close range, danced around his great G.o.d for the entire night, pleased with himself.
When everything was finally settled, it was around twelve o’clock. Kang Shengzhe lied on the bed and burrowed his head in the pillow, taking a deep breath, a thick drowsiness rising.
Liang Liang’s bed, Liang Liang’s pillow, Liang Liang’s scent, the more he thought about it, the more content he felt.
Kang Shengzhe savoured it for a while, heart and head growing hot. Unable to restrain his emotions, he fished out his phone and flipped open his notepad. After staying still in a trance-like state, his fingers moved, tapping lightly, and he started to write his poetry:
Sleepy, but I really miss Liang Liang.
Want to sleep, but I really miss Liang Liang.
Want to roll, like a Crucian Carp that rolls about when it goes ash.o.r.e, but afraid of collapsing Liang Liang’s bed, one must staunchly endure.
Body feeling feverish, body feeling unwell.
Sigh, missing Liang Liang.
After he was done constructing the poem, he read through it again and he felt like he was truly a genius under the northern and southern skies. Immediately after, he searched for You Liangxing’s WeChat room and knocked on his chat deep in the night.
— Liang Liang? Liang Liang?
You Liangxing took a long time to reply: — What do you want.
With just a few words, Kang Shengzhe’s happiness surged. One glance at You Liangxing’s message was enough to make him heady.
— Liang Liang, what are you doing?
At twelve at night, what else could be doing? With eyes still fogged up with sleep, he replied: — Sleeping.
Kang Shengzhe said: — Oh, is that so, then goodnight.
You Liangxing held back his temper and asked: — What did you call me for?
Kang Shengzhe: — Nothing~ I just wanted to ask if you were asleep or not.
You Liangxing: ……
He woke him up from his sleep and he proceeded to ask him if he had slept…… He was actually poisonous!
You Liangxing was so angry he almost flipped out of his bed. After trying to endure and tolerate it, he finally typed: — Go to sleep!
Kang Shengzhe plastered a face of obedience: — En, good night.
Staring at those words, You Liangxing let out a deep breath and his anger dissipated, leaving nothing but helplessness. Trapped between laughter and anger, he closed his eyes again, and went back to sleep with a complicated mood.
* * *
On the morning of the second day, Kang Shengzhe ushered in one of the rare days where he had to rise early. It was a good thing he had Liao Su as his dorm mate because he would yell at him to get out of bed in a loud voice, and it was several times stronger than an alarm clock that would break after being smacked once.
After he put on his military uniform and donned his small military cap, Kang Shengzhe took a picture of himself and sent it to You Liangxing.
— Look.
You Liangxing was puzzled: — Look at what?
Kang Shengzhe edited the photo by drawing a circle around the cap and re-sent it. Furthermore, he annotated it: — A green hat.
You Liangxing: ……
You Liangxing really wanted to ignore him. It was a military training uniform; all the freshmen in the school had one set. But Kang Shengzhe, with his keen eyes, just had to think askew. Helplessly, he sighed and he replied: — Stop speaking rubbish, go and do what you have to do.
Kang Shengzhe pouted: — But someone doesn’t want to wear a green hat~
You Liangxing: — Who made you wear a green hat, if you continue to BB, I will punch you to death.
Kang Shengzhe was not afraid at all as he continued to speak: — Then will you ever make me wear a green hat?
You Liangxing was irritated: — No!
It took a few seconds after he had sent it to faintly realise that it sounded wrong, and he had been walked into a language trap. You Liangxing could barely resist the urge to curse, but fortunately, the twenty years of constant self-cultivation held on tight. It was only then that he said: — Shut up!
Kang Shengzhe knew when to withdraw when he saw it: — Okay okay okay, I’ll shut up.
The short chat ended there and Kang Shengzhe packed up before he headed downstairs. The freshmen were a.s.sembled together and they painted the entire landscape with a fresh green, making it look like a small dish of stir-fried vegetables. Liang Chulin beckoned him from the midst of the gra.s.s. “Here! Come here!”
Walking over at a leisurely pace, Kang Shengzhe asked: “What are you standing here for?”
Liang Chulin said unhappily: “What do you think? It’s the school opening ceremony.”