Chapter 945: Chapter 945: Honorary President

"Everyone came in with a card. Each card counts as one vote. There’s a pen over here; folks can take a pen and write the name on the back of the card," Yu Jiajie said, pointing to a table nearby.

Yun Jiao looked over and saw several ink stones on the table, all of them with ink ground and more than a dozen pens placed there.

No one was moving yet; most people were still discussing.

Yun Jiao swiftly stepped forward, picked up a pen, wrote Yu Jiajie’s name, placed the card down, and then stepped down.

Soon, people began to go up one after another to write.

The hall was bustling with people coming and going. After nearly half an hour, Yu Jiajie said, "Is everyone done writing? I’ll start announcing the votes now."

"If you want to record them yourself, go ahead; there’s also someone here designated to tally the votes."

The hall quieted down, and Elder Qin personally picked up the cards to start announcing the votes.

"Ye Jintian, one vote."

"Yun Jiao, one vote."

"Yu Jiajie, one vote."

The most mentioned names were these three.

Yang Ying quietly nudged Yun Jiao from the side, "I think a lot of people are voting for you."

This made Yun Jiao a bit nervous because she truly didn’t want to be the president. There were too many things, and she didn’t have the time.

Elder Qin’s voice was not loud, but it was steady. He read for more than a quarter of an hour, reading all the cards on the table.

The hall was very quiet, as everyone watched Elder Qin’s servant tally the votes.

It didn’t take long before the servant handed a piece of paper to Elder Qin, who took it in hand and smiled at everyone, "The results are out."

"I won’t keep you in suspense. The one with the highest votes is Doctor Yun Jiao, with a total of eighty-nine votes. Second is Yu Jiajie, with sixty-three votes; Doctor Ye is third, with fifty-six votes."

"The votes for the other two were few. If anyone has objections to the results, they can come up and check the cards themselves."

Elder Qin glanced around the room, which was silent, "Since no one has objections to the results, I will now announce that from today, the president of the Xiang City Medical Association—"

"Elder Qin, wait a moment!" Yun Jiao stood up just then, "I have a few words I want to say."

Elder Qin nodded and slowly sat down.

Yun Jiao first bowed to those around her, then said, "First, I want to thank everyone for their affection. However, I cannot take on the role of president."

Someone in the hall shouted, "Doctor Gu, your medical skills are the best in all Great Chu. If you don’t take this role, who will?"

Then several more people echoed this sentiment.

Yun Jiao smiled, "In literature, there’s no first; in martial arts, there’s no second. Medical skills are hard to say who is truly number one. Everyone here has their strengths."

"Moreover, I am young and truly unworthy of the position of president."

Someone else said from below, "Doctor Gu, please don’t decline. You cured the epidemic in Yangzhou, saving thousands of people. You deserve to be president!"

Another person added, "Doctor Gu, we chose you for president because of your high moral standards!"

"You’ve also shared some medicinal formulations with us, which benefits both us and the people. If you become president, we’ll be satisfied!"

Yun Jiao was made somewhat embarrassed by these words. She thought for a moment, "How about this, since everyone’s kindness is hard to refuse, I’ll take a nominal title as honorary president, and as for the actual presidency, please let Manager Yu take on the role."

Elder Qin then spoke up, "I think this proposal is good."

"Doctor Gu indeed has many things to attend to, and there are many matters in the association, too; she can’t manage it all."