Zhen Wu stopped his bicycle outside the college front gate. Lucy was waiting for him under a tree. Her smile was beautiful like in a memory buried deep in his mind.
Lucy hopped onto the back seat.
‘You promised to give me a lift,’ Lucy said. ‘You can’t break your promise. Take me to the student council’s building.’
Zhen Wu remembered he promised to give Lucy a lift to thank her for the notes she loaned him. He pedalled while they chatted.
‘I heard you defeated Lam Ting to be the president of the student council,’ Zhen Wu said.
‘It’s true,’ Lucy said. ‘Why?’
Lucy loved the way Zhen Wu’s hair shone under the sunlight.
‘Congratulations,’ Zhen Wu said.
‘Thank you,’ Lucy said.
Zhen Wu’s congratulations was more meaningful to Lucy than all the congratulations combined from their classmates.
‘We’re here,’ Zhen Wu said.
Lucy hopped off the bicycle.
‘Aren’t you coming inside?’ Lucy asked.
‘Why do I need to go inside?’ Zhen Wu asked.
‘You signed up to be on the student council too,’ Lucy said. ‘Today is an official student council meeting to elect new members.’
Zhen Wu looked at Lucy’s beautiful smiling face. He remembered he was sleeping during a tutorial class when Lucy gave him a form to sign. She tricked him to sign by saying it was a student attendance form.
‘Come inside,’ Lucy said. ‘There are many students who signed up to be on the student council. You have a low chance of being elected.’
Lucy only joined the student council because she wanted to spend time with Zhen Wu before she returned to Italy.
Zhen Wu changed his mind about Lucy being adorable. It was true about looks and charm being deceiving. When she pulled him into the student council meeting room, there was only a handful of students. What many students signed up?
The historian of the student council was Sun Ling Hui.
‘Zhen Wu is a twenty-two-year-old male,’ Sun Ling Hui reported. ‘He’s unpopular, and rumored to be the love child of a businessman’s mistress. He is the only student on campus who rides a bicycle. He gave a love letter to the vice-president of the student council, and he is rumored to be bitter from the rejection. To recover from his wounded ego, he found himself a sugar mummy. Lately there is a rumor the president of the student council is secretly in love with him. Judging by the way the president of the student council walking closely together with him into the student council meeting room, the rumor appears to be true.’
Zhen Wu thought the rumors about him were laughable, and not worth confirming or denying.
‘Can you give me your name?’ Zhen Wu asked.
‘I’m Sun Ling Hui,’ Sun Ling Hui said. ‘If you’re elected as a student council member, I’ll help you publish a favorable biography in the college magazine.’
‘Everyone’s here now,’ Lam Ting said. ‘Let’s start the meeting.’
Lam Ting didn’t understand why Lucy insisted Zhen Wu should be elected as a student council member.
‘I oppose the president of the student council’s decision to elect Zhen Wu as the secretary of the student council,’ Lam Ting said. ‘I believe Mei Jia is a better candidate to be the secretary than Zhen Wu. If Zhen Wu is the secretary, it’ll harm the reputation of the student council.’
‘I’ve weighed up all of Mei Jia and Zhen Wu’s college achievements,’ Lucy said. ‘Zhen Wu won first prize for every competition Mei Jia entered like the essay competition. Zhen Wu is the best candidate to be the secretary.’
Zhen Wu didn’t remember entering or winning an essay competition.
Lucy showed everyone the official records of Mei Jia and Zhen Wu’s college achievements.
Everyone was waiting for Zhen Wu to confirm the records were real while Zhen Wu stared at his name next to the competitions he won but didn’t remember entering.
Sun Ling Hui was itching to report the latest gossip from the student council meeting. She wanted to report about Lam Ting being bitter about Zhen Wu falling for Lucy’s charms, which was why Lam Ting opposed Lucy’s decision to elect Zhen Wu to be the secretary of the student council.
Zhen Wu put his hand up to support Lam Ting. He was busy managing Yue’s company. He had no time to be the secretary of the student council.
‘I’m sorry,’ Zhen Wu said. ‘No one needs to debate whether I’m suitable to be secretary or not, because I have no interest in being a member of the student council.’
Zhen Wu stood, and he left the student council meeting room.
‘President, we didn’t reject Zhen Wu,’ Tu Tai Chun said. ‘It was Zhen Wu who walked out on us.’
Lucy had prepared for Zhen Wu to walk out of the student council meeting room. She inserted a CD into a laptop connected to the screen projector.
‘Dawson’s company security software wasn’t an in-house design,’ Lucy said. ‘It was bought from a third party. The third party’s initials are C.Y., who is Zhen Wu’s alias.’
‘Impossible,’ Lam Ting said.
If Zhen Wu was C.Y., Lam Ting would raise both of her hands to elect Zhen Wu to have any position he wanted on the student council.
‘What proof do you have that C.Y. is Zhen Wu’s alias?’ Tu Tai Chun asked.
‘Are you doubting the integrity of Dawson’s company?’ Lucy asked.
Tu Tai Chun wouldn’t dare. One bad word against Dawson’s company and his family’s company would be bankrupt.
‘It’s settled,’ Lucy said. ‘Zhen Wu will be elected as the secretary and Mei Jia will be elected as the treasurer.’
Outside the student council meeting room, Zhen Wu called Yue Ni on the phone.
‘Hello,’ Yue Ni greeted.
‘Yue Ni, did you enter competitions under my name without my permission?’ Zhen Wu asked.
‘It’s possible,’ Yue Ni said.
Yue Ni remembered one time she wanted a rare watch she saw listed as a first prize reward for a competition. Zhen Wu kept his private essays and prototype designs in the study room. She used them to enter competitions under his name, he won all the first prizes including the rare watch she wanted.
‘Yue Ni, don’t you think you should have asked for my permission?’ Zhen Wu asked.
‘Big brother, if I asked for your permission, would you have agreed to let me use them?’ Yue Ni asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Zhen Wu said.
‘Big brother, it’s your honor to win first prizes for your little sister,’ Yue Ni said. ‘I love the watch prize the best. Big brother, you have to promise not to tell dad.’
Zhen Wu hung up the phone and he shook his head. He didn’t know what to do with the unreasonable Yue Ni. He looked at his watch, there was still time for him to go see Bai Yu Tian. Zhen Zhen asked him to get a prescription for Yue Di Yi’s cold.