Zhao Guozhou, who was originally seated the furthest away, changed his seat with several subordinates and said to Zhang Ye, “Little Zhang, you have impressed everyone yet again!”
Zhang Ye replied, “Thank you for your acknowledgement, Leader.”
Zhao Guozhou queried, “Why did you not canvass for votes?”
“That would be unnecessary, right?” Zhang Ye had felt it wasn’t necessary, “Everyone is not stupid; they all have their own artistic appreciations and if they thought my poem was good, then they will vote for me. If they felt the other poems were good, they will vote for them. There’s not much meaning to canvassing for votes. It’s not a contest, but an exchange of literary learning. It’s better to keep it simple.” He had said so logically, but self-righteously.
Wang Xiaomei said, “You seem rather relaxed.”
Zhao Guozhou asked everyone from the Literature Channel, “What ranking does everyone think Little Zhang will get? Teacher Xiaomei, what’s your opinion?”
“In my opinion, from just the quality and literary qualities, Teacher Little Zhang would definitely get first. But that’s just my own opinion. We don’t know if the audience has been convinced by it. Vice-President Meng Dongguo’s poem was good, too. Perhaps some will find it to be better. It’s all possible.” Looking at her watch, she said, “Besides, there’s only about 20 minutes left.”
“20 minutes?”
“Ah, yes! The voting will be ending soon!”