What's wrong with me, a school principal, listening to students' suggestions?

Day 10 of construction.

At 5:30 p.m., Xu Jianfeng's construction team removed the last batch of equipment from the third floor of the teaching building.

Over at the dormitory building, the outdoor unit crew was already in place yesterday.

Circuit modification, waterproofing renovation, and pipeline debugging were carried out step by step.

Xu Jianfeng walked up to Lin Yucai with the acceptance form in his hand, his dark circles under his eyes looking like he had been punched twice.

"Principal Lin, the air conditioners in the teaching building and dormitory building have all been installed and tested successfully."

He handed over the acceptance form and glanced at his watch.

"It was half a day earlier than the agreed time."

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll pay the balance today."

Lin Yucai took the form, flipped through it, signed his name, and handed it back to him.

"It's not hard work," Xu Jianfeng said with a smile, waving his hand. "It's just that my workers are a little reluctant to leave. They said the food in your canteen is so delicious that they asked if they could stay for a couple more days."

Lin Yucai was delighted.

Zhou Dahai's craftsmanship even impressed the construction team.

During those ten days, the workers would eat lunch at the canteen, always using CDs.

Zhou Dahai blushed with pride at the praise, and before leaving, he secretly packed a serving of sweet and sour pork ribs for the workers as a late-night snack.

After seeing the construction team off, Lin Yucai stood at the entrance of the teaching building and looked up.

Brand new air conditioner outdoor units are neatly hung on the roof, and white plastic pipes extend along the walls to every classroom.

It looks particularly out of place next to the mottled wall...

It's like a person wearing patched clothes wearing a Rolex on their wrist.

But who cares if it looks good or not.

As long as it can blow cold air, that's fine.

The news spread faster than Lin Yucai had anticipated.

As soon as the bell rang for the end of the last class in the afternoon, the entire teaching building erupted in excitement.

The students rushed out of the classroom and ran along the corridor toward the dormitory building, their footsteps so dense they sounded like hail.

"Hurry! Hurry! I heard the air conditioners in the dorms have been installed too!"

"First come, first served! The remote is on the bedside table!"

Zhang Yang walked unhurriedly at the back of the crowd, his hands in his pockets.

The skinny monkey turned around and waved at him, but was glared at and turned away.

But if you look closely, you can see that he walks a little faster than usual.

Room 306, male dormitory building.

An eight-person dormitory, with bunk beds and metal frame beds.

The window could barely be opened halfway, and several tiles on the floor were missing.

But the brand-new Gree wall-mounted air conditioner was hanging there quietly, its white body still bearing the factory label.

The remote control lay on the bedside table near the door.

Zhang Yang's roommate, "Big Pancake," was the first to rush in, grab the remote control, and press the button on the air conditioner three times.

drop!

A crisp notification sound.

Cold air rushed out from the vents, silently filling the entire dormitory room.

The eight boys stood still for three seconds.

Then, the pancake let out a scream comparable to that of a pig being slaughtered.

"Aaaaaah! Cold wind! It's cold wind!"

"Genuine, cool air from an air conditioner!"

He held the remote control above his head and circled the dormitory twice, like he was holding an Olympic torch.

The other roommates also started to go crazy.

Some people pressed their faces against the air vents, some lay on their beds with their limbs outstretched, grinning foolishly at the cold wind, and some took out their phones to take pictures like crazy.

The noise and activity were similar throughout the entire dormitory building.

Exaggerated cheers, screams, and shouts of "Holy crap!" echoed from every room.

The girls' dormitory area was much more lively.

A girl named Lin Xiaoya stood under the air conditioner for a full five minutes, hugging a pillow, and then called her mother with tears in her eyes.

"Mom, I'm not transferring schools."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Didn't you say that the conditions at No. 13 Middle School were bad and that you insisted on transferring there?"

"It used to be bad, but it's not bad now."

"Our school has air conditioning, the cafeteria has a five-star chef, and the principal is very kind to us."

"You haven't been scammed, have you?"

"Really! I'll send you the photos!"

Lin Xiaoya hung up the phone, opened her WeChat Moments, and posted a nine-grid photo of the dormitory air conditioner.

"The dormitories at No. 13 Middle School have air conditioning, providing coolness around the clock. The principal personally arranged this."

"Does your school have people who say our school is bad?"

The comment section exploded within ten minutes of her post on WeChat Moments.

The comments were all filled with question marks and exclamation marks.

"Are you sure this is No. 13 Middle School? And not the hotel next to No. 13 Middle School?"

"Our high school is still using old window-type air conditioners, which are barely effective at cooling."

"Lin Xiaoya, don't lie to me. Doesn't No. 13 Middle School not even have fans?"

"Holy crap, how come everything's already installed right after we graduate?"

Similar posts on social media spread like wildfire that night.

Of the 500 students at No. 13 Middle School, at least 300 posted related content.

Some people were showing off their air conditioners, some were showing off their cafeterias, and some were showing off their brand-new shower rooms...

Although the shower room is not yet fully completed, the main construction is finished, the tiles are laid neatly, and the shower head is shiny.

Zhang Yang also posted it.

His WeChat Moments only contained one picture, which was of the air vent of the air conditioner on the dormitory ceiling.

The caption, just three words, is passable.

But a new line of text quietly appeared in the notes section below his WeChat profile picture.

Class 3, Grade 11, No. 13 Middle School.

……

Nine o'clock in the evening.

Lin Yucai made a round of inspections in the dormitory building.

It's like a completely different world from before.

There are no longer students shirtless in the corridors, and there are no longer long queues outside the shower rooms.

The doors to each dormitory room were tightly closed, and you could vaguely hear laughter and the low hum of the air conditioners coming from inside.

"Turn the temperature up a bit, 26 degrees is fine, too low will waste electricity."

"Why would I waste your electricity? It's not like you're the one paying the electricity bill."

"We can't waste it. Do you know how much the principal spent?"

As he passed by 306, he overheard a conversation inside.

"Big Pancake, when did you become so sensible?"

"Get lost, I've always been very sensible."

Lin Yucai stood at the door for a few seconds, a slight smile playing on his lips, before turning and going downstairs.

Back in his office, the system panel lit up in his field of vision.

[Task Progress Update: Air Conditioner Installation...100%, Shower Room Expansion...72%]

The air conditioning system is complete, but the shower room expansion is still under construction.

[Note: Rewards will be calculated after the shower room expansion is completed.]

The shower room is still missing.

The construction team gave us a 12-day deadline, and now 10 days have passed, leaving 2 days remaining.

Judging from the schedule, it should be able to catch up.

Lin Yucai turned off the control panel and leaned back in his chair.

"Have you seen the screenshots circulating on students' WeChat Moments? They've been going around quite a bit."

The phone on the table lit up; it was a WeChat message from Su Qingyan.

"I've seen it."

"People from outside might come to inquire about the situation tomorrow, so be prepared."

"Who is it?"

"Parents, reporters, or people from other schools, who would know?"

Lin Yucai replied with an OK emoji and placed his phone face down on the table.

He rubbed his hands together and looked out the window at the dark campus.

The outline of the teaching building appeared as a blurry shadow under the moonlight, and brand-new air conditioner outdoor units lined up on the roof, like an incongruous new hat on this old building.

"Take it slow," he muttered to himself. "Let these kids get a good night's sleep first."

A breeze blew through the corridor outside the office, carrying the warmth of a May night.

But inside the dormitory building of No. 13 Middle School, five hundred students are wrapped in blankets, enjoying their first air-conditioned night on campus.