<h4>Chapter 1458: Chapter 1766: Election (2)</h4>


    Qi Yong grinned and said, "Three are enough, thank you for making it happen, Elder Tong." As he spoke, Qi Yong personally handed a list over to Tong Zhentian.


    Tong Zhentian nced over it casually, then turned to Su Mei and said, "Master Su, now that everyone is here, let’s begin, so as not to waste everyone’s precious time."


    Su Mei nodded. Soon, ten young men entered from the corridor next to the meeting room and distributed a slip of paper to everyone. At the same time, a young man hung a prepared list at the front of the meeting room for all to see clearly.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, these are the candidates. Please write the name of the person you consider suitable on the slip and hand it to our staff," Su Mei said. "We are now selecting the Vice President of the Martial Arts Association, please cast your votes."


    Dozens of participants silently wrote names on the white slips of paper. Soon, the staff collected all the slips from everyone and handed them over to Du Kang.


    "I will now count the votes," Du Kang said, taking out a slip and reading the name on it. A young man immediately added a mark below the person’s name to record the vote count.


    After a few minutes passed, seeing the name with the most votes, Tong Zhentian and Su Mei nodded in agreement. The eyes of everyone were sharp; everyone knew who was qualified to be the Vice President of the Martial Arts Association.


    "Alright!" Tong Zhentian stood up from his seat and said, "The first round of voting is over. Congrattions to Tian Boliang on bing the Vice President of the Martial Arts Association."


    Tian Boliang, one of the renowned figures in martial arts, is now over sixty, proficient in Inner Boxing, with many disciples under him, holding a certain prestige in the martial world. Before the voting started, Tong Zhentian was already optimistic about him, believing he had a strong chance of being elected.


    Upon being elected, Tian Boliang slowly stood up, smiled, and cupped his fists toward everyone present, saying, "Thank you all for your support and recognition. I will do my utmost to promote Huaxia’s martial arts."


    "Sir Tian serving as Vice President is indeed well-deserved."


    Everyone offered their congrattions.


    After the venue gradually returned to quiet, Tong Zhentian continued, "Both the President and Vice President have been elected. Next, we will select sixmittee members. But first, let me emphasize that the Martial Arts Association is not a one-man decision. Even as the President of the Martial Arts Association, I do not have the right to make any major decisions alone. In the reformed Martial Arts Association, all major matters in the martial world will be decided by a vote among us nine. Therefore, the sixmittee members must be people of integrity andpetence."


    At Tong Zhentian’s indication, the staff re-entered the meeting room. This time, everyone took longer, seemingly contemting their choices seriously.


    After more than ten minutes, all the slips were collected.


    Du Kang picked up the first slip, raised his eyebrows slightly at the name on it. After a brief pause, he slowly announced, "Qi Yong!"


    Hearing the name ’Qi Yong,’ both Tong Zhentian and Su Mei were taken aback; they hadn’t expected the first name to be Qi Yong.


    Tong Zhentian furrowed his brow, ncing at everyone in the meeting room. He was curious to know who would nominate Qi Yong.


    At this moment, Du Kang picked up another slip and read, "Qi Yong!"


    Qi Yong? Again, Qi Yong! Tong Zhentian and Su Mei exchanged a nce, both looking somewhat displeased. This election seemed to be slipping out of their control.


    After Du Kang had read out ’Qi Yong’ five more times, other names started appearing. However, by the time Du Kang finished reading all the slips, Qi Yong’s votes far exceeded everyone else’s, ranking first.


    This result left everyone feeling incredulous. This Qi Yong, seemingly emerging out of nowhere, unexpectedly had such a widework, to everyone’s surprise.


    Although Tong Zhentian and Su Mei had many doubts about this oue, as President and Vice President, they couldn’t openly express skepticism. Otherwise, people might think they had a bias against Qi Yong.


    Among the six individuals with the most votes, Tong Zhentian noticed an issue. Besides Qi Yong, there were five other spots. Of these, only two were people arranged by Su Mei, while the remaining three, though slightly renowned in the martial world, were not the most distinguished candidates. Tong Zhentian couldn’t understand why they were chosen.


    Thinking quickly, Tong Zhentian nced at Su Mei. Seeing her frowning with a stern expression, it was clear to Tong Zhentian what she was thinking. Before the vote, Su Mei had already arranged for at least four of these slots to be her people. However, the result didn’t align with her n.


    "Hahahaha!" Suddenly, there was a heartyugh. Qi Yong stood up from the crowd, cupped his fists toward everyone present, and said with a smile, "Thank you all for your recognition and esteem, I will endeavor to do my best." After a pause, Qi Yong looked over at Tong Zhentian and Su Mei and said courteously, "I look forward to your guidance in the future, Elder Tong and Master Su."


    Tong Zhentian nodded, saying nothing more.


    This voting result left Tong Zhentian and Su Mei in no mood to continue the meeting. After hastily announcing the results, Tong Zhentian left the meeting room.


    Su Mei and Du Kang followed closely behind, along with Tian Boliang, as the three followed in Tong Zhentian’s footsteps to the Martial Arts Association’s office.


    "Elder Tong, what’s really going on here?" asked Su Mei as soon as they entered.


    "Don’t ask me, I know nothing," Tong Zhentian said seriously, sitting in his chair. "There are definitely problems with the voting results."


    "Indeed, I feel the same. For someone like Qi Yong to receive such a high number of votes is clearly abnormal," agreed Su Mei, turning to Du Kang: "Elder Du, what do you make of this?"


    "It was anonymous voting, so we don’t know who voted for Qi Yong. Asking them directly would only lead to spection, which could have bad repercussions."


    "So what do we do? Are we really letting Qi Yong join the Martial Arts Association?"


    "The voting results are out. Do you want us to reverse them?" Tong Zhentian asked. "No matter what, we can’t rashly change the results. Otherwise, who would trust us in the future?" After pondering for a moment, Tong Zhentian said, "Mr. Du, we’ll have to trouble you to investigate this quietly, particrly regarding Qi Yong. Maybe we can find a reason in all this."


    "Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him personally."