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

Zhang Yang was stunned.

The five hundred students were completely dumbfounded.

Su Qingyan stood on the stage, her hand, which was pushing up her gold-rimmed glasses, frozen in mid-air.

Her red lips were slightly parted, her face full of question marks.

"Classmates! Zhang Yang is right!"

Lin Yucai released Zhang Yang's hand and turned to face all the students.

"You are the flowers of our motherland, the future of No. 13 Middle School! How can you eat pig swill?"

He cleared his throat, waved his hand grandly, exuding an air of magnanimity.

"I hereby declare!"

"Starting today, the school cafeteria will be completely closed for rectification!"

"So what if he's a five-star chef? Let's arrange it!"

"Tomorrow morning, I'm going to give you a real five-star meal at the school cafeteria!"

"This meal is on me, the principal, it's all on the house!"

The entire venue fell silent once again.

The wind rustled through the fallen leaves on the playground.

Everyone looked at Lin Yucai as if he were an alien.

"Principal, do you have a fever?"

"Our school cafeteria is almost out of money to buy meat..."

Zhang Yang swallowed hard and stammered.

"You don't need to worry about the money!"

Lin Yucai rubbed his hands together, his gaze sweeping over all the students as if he were looking at various paths to a comeback.

"Does anyone have any suggestions? Please feel free to share!"

"As long as it's your genuine request, the principal will do everything in his power to fulfill it!"

Su Qingyan finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Lin Yucai, you've gone mad!"

She rushed off the stage, grabbed Lin Yucai's arm, and pulled him aside.

"The school still owes millions! How are you going to hire a five-star chef?"

"What are you offering for free?"

Su Qingyan lowered her voice and gritted her teeth.

"If you don't deliver by tomorrow, the students will definitely smash up the school! You're pushing No. 13 Middle School into a fire pit!"

"Vice Principal Su, you have a broader perspective."

Lin Yucai patted Su Qingyan's hand and smiled mysteriously.

"The traditional education approach is no longer working. If our No. 13 Middle School wants to turn things around, we have to take an unconventional path."

He pointed to Zhang Yang and his group of dumbfounded students.

"Nobody listened to them before, but from today onwards, I will!"

"I'm determined to spoil these kids!"

Looking at Lin Yucai's overly confident face, Su Qingyan had only one thought in her mind.

It’s over.

The principal went insane from the shock.

No. 13 Middle School is completely beyond saving.

Lin Yucai, however, happily opened his phone's contacts and searched for the phone numbers of local high-end catering companies.

Three million in hand.

A five-star chef?

You'd better come in here tonight and start chopping potatoes!

Lin Yucai did not waste any time.

He turned around and dragged Su Qingyan out of the school gate, taking a taxi straight to the city's most upscale five-star hotel.

Jinlan Hotel.

"Principal Lin, what exactly are you trying to do?"

In the car, Su Qingyan stared at him with the same look she gave a mental patient.

"Find a head chef."

"Are you crazy? Jinlan Hotel is a five-star hotel!"

"Their restaurant's head chef, Zhou Dahai, is a national culinary gold medalist."

"He earns hundreds of thousands a year just for endorsements, what makes you think you can hire him?"

"With money."

Lin Yucai crossed his legs, his smile more smug than an AK could suppress.

Su Qingyan took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

It's over, completely over.

The principal is not only insane, but insanely confident.

The taxi stopped in front of the Jinlan Hotel.

The hotel occupies half the street, its revolving doors are gilded, and the two stone lions at the entrance are polished to a shine.

A young man in a suit came up to greet us with a professional smile on his face.

"Are you two here for a meal?"

"No." Lin Yucai raised his chin. "I'm looking for Chef Zhou Dahai from your Imperial Cuisine Pavilion to discuss a collaboration."

The greeter looked Lin Yucai up and down.

Gray jacket, black cloth shoes, and a smudge of chalk dust on the pant leg.

Looking at Su Qingyan next to her, she is pretty, but her outfit makes her look like a school teacher.

The young man's smile visibly cooled down.

"Excuse me, sir, Chef Zhou does not receive visitors from outside the area."

"If you would like to reserve a private room at the Imperial Cuisine Pavilion, the next available date is three months from now."

"I'm not here for a meal, I'm here to discuss business."

"Then I'm even more sorry."

"Chef Zhou just turned down an invitation to a food program on the provincial TV station last month. What about you...?"

The young man's gaze swept over Lin Yucai's cloth shoes again.

"Which company are you from?"

"The principal of No. 13 Middle School."

The young man's smile froze completely, then his lips twitched slightly, as if he was desperately trying to hold back a laugh.

"The...principal?"

"Yes, let's invite your head chef Zhou to cook in our school cafeteria."

The young man couldn't hold back any longer, so he pretended to cough twice, turned around, and shrugged his shoulders.

Su Qingyan wished she could disappear into the ground.

"Lin Yucai, let's go."

She tugged at Lin Yucai's sleeve.

Lin Yucai remained completely still.

He'd been the principal for a week; his skin was already thicker than a city wall.

"Please inform them that there's a big business opportunity for Chef Zhou."

"The amount..." He paused, then held up two fingers, "Two million."

The greeter stopped smiling.

Two million?

He looked at Lin Yucai with suspicion, hesitated for a few seconds, and then picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Chef Zhou, there's a guest in the lobby who wants to discuss a collaboration worth two million."

A strong male voice came through the walkie-talkie, tinged with impatience.

"Which nouveau riche boss wants to book the whole place again? Let him come up here himself."

Lin Yucai straightened his collar and stepped into the revolving door.

Su Qingyan gritted her teeth and quickly followed.

The Imperial Cuisine Pavilion is located on the third floor of the hotel, occupying the entire floor.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, the aroma of mahogany and sandalwood wafted out.

The corridor is decorated with calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, and the floor is covered with hand-woven carpets that feel like walking on clouds.

A fat man in a white chef's uniform stood at the end of the corridor.

Zhou Dahai.

He was around fifty years old, with a round figure, a shiny head, and wore a tall chef's hat.

He stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at Lin Yucai and Su Qingyan as they approached.

"So you just want to talk about cooperation?"

Zhou Dahai's gaze swept over Lin Yucai, his expression almost like that of someone looking at cabbages at a market.

"Yes, I am Lin Yucai, the principal of No. 13 Middle School."

"No. 13 Middle School?" Zhou Dahai frowned. "Which No. 13 Middle School?"

"It's that No. 13 Middle School from the news, the one with the lowest college entrance rate in the city."

Lin Yucai readily admitted it.

Zhou Dahai's expression immediately changed, his face full of disgust.

"The school cafeteria?" His voice rose a half-octave. "You want Zhou Dahai to cook communal meals in the school cafeteria?"

He turned to look at his three apprentices behind him. They looked at each other, their mouths twitching.

"Excuse me, I'll see you out."

Zhou Dahai waved his hand and turned to leave.

"Chef Zhou, I haven't finished speaking yet."

"No need to say anything." Zhou Dahai turned his back to him without turning his head. "I, Zhou Dahai, have been cooking for thirty years, serving banquets at the provincial and ministerial levels and above."

"You want me to go to school and stir-fry potato shreds for a bunch of little brats?"

"If word gets out, how am I supposed to survive in this industry?"

"Annual salary of two million." Lin Yucai's voice drifted over unhurriedly.

Zhou Dahai paused for a moment.

But only for a moment.

"I make 1.5 million a year in Jinlan, it's not worth losing face for an extra 500,000."

"Then add your entire team." Lin Yucai held up a finger behind him. "With your team all here, an annual salary of two million is the starting point."

"If you do a good job, your year-end bonus will start at 500,000."

Zhou Dahai finally turned around, but his expression was still full of disdain.

"What makes you think your lousy school can give me two million?" He chuckled. "Stop bragging. I'm giving you face today by not having security escort you out. You'd better hurry up..."

"Vice Principal Su," Lin Yucai interrupted him.

While Su Qingyan was still pondering whether the principal had resorted to loan sharks out of desperation, she saw Lin Yucai pull out his phone from his pocket.

The bank app was opened, and the bright, clear numbers appeared right in front of everyone.

The numbers on the screen were clearly visible.

3001103.25 yuan.

Zhou Dahai's smile froze.

He took two steps closer, squinted, and examined it repeatedly, afraid of misreading a single digit.

Three million.

A genuine three million.

The corridor was silent for a full five seconds.

The three apprentices behind Zhou Dahai also craned their necks, and when they saw the string of numbers, their expressions were as if someone had stuffed an egg into their mouths.

"This..." Zhou Dahai coughed lightly, "Is this money real?"

"ICBC displays balances in real time; do you think it's possible to fake that?"

Lin Yucai put his phone back in his pocket, crossed his arms, and slowly began to speak.

"Chef Zhou, I'll say it again."

"You and your team will come to our No. 13 Middle School cafeteria, with an annual salary of two million yuan and an annual bonus of at least five hundred thousand yuan."

"As for what to cook? Mass-produced meals."

"Mass-cooked meals are much easier to prepare than your elaborately plated dishes, aren't they?"

"No need for fancy carvings, no need for elaborate plating, no need to cater to those picky bosses, just simple, hearty home-style dishes that will fill you up and satisfy your hunger."

"Two million to run a communal kitchen? Where else can you find a business like that?"