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

The midterm exams arrived as scheduled on Monday morning.

But before the exam began, something unexpected happened.

At 7:30 a.m., Ma Desheng hurriedly walked into Lin Yucai's office with an official document in hand.

"A notice just issued by the Education Bureau."

Lin Yucai took it and glanced at it.

Supplementary Notice on Regulating the Management of School Uniform Replacement in Primary and Secondary Schools within the Jurisdiction.

Effective immediately, all primary and secondary schools that need to change their school uniform styles must submit the new school uniform design plan to the Municipal Education Bureau for review and filing in advance. No changes may be made without approval.

The date was last Friday.

In other words, this notice was specifically issued just before the midterm exams.

Lin Yucai placed the documents on the table, his expression as calm as if he were looking at a takeout menu.

"Liu Jianguo's meaning is very clear." Ma Desheng frowned, "You didn't go through the Education Bureau before with your school uniform reforms, and now he's added a rule to block you."

"If you don't submit the plan, he'll say you're violating the rules."

"If you submit it, he'll hold you back during the review process."

"There are plenty of reasons: the style isn't right, the budget isn't transparent, the procedures aren't compliant."

"No matter what, he wins."

Lin Yucai leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

"Director Ma, do you think this notice has legal effect?"

Ma Desheng was stunned for a moment.

"It may not have legal effect, but the Education Bureau is the superior authority, and issuing a notice is an administrative guidance act."

"Although it's not a mandatory order, if you don't do it, he can use it as an excuse to make things difficult for you."

"Administrative guidance, not a notice to rectify, right?" Lin Yucai repeated these words.

"So, I can do it, or I can choose not to, right?"

Ma Desheng nodded, but his expression said, "You'd better not force me."

"Director Ma, can you help me look something up?"

Lin Yucai laughed.

Did the Provincial Department of Education issue a document at the beginning of this year encouraging schools to develop their own unique characteristics?

"It seems so."

Ma Desheng thought for a moment.

"I remember it was either January or February, but I don't remember the specifics very well."

"Find it for me."

Ma Desheng spent half an hour rummaging through the filing cabinets in the Academic Affairs Office and found the copy of the provincial department's document.

Lin Yucai took it and read it once, the smile on his lips growing wider and wider.

"Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Characteristic and Diversified Development of General Senior High Schools"

Issued by the Provincial Department of Education, it is one level higher than the Municipal Education Bureau.

There is this passage inside...

"Schools are encouraged to incorporate distinctive elements into their campus culture development, including but not limited to innovative explorations in areas such as campus environment, school uniform design, and curriculum design."

"Local education authorities should provide support and space, and should not excessively interfere with schools' autonomous school management through administrative means."

Lin Yucai made two copies of the document.

One was placed on the table, and the other was put into an envelope.

"Director Ma, could you please deliver this provincial document to the Education Bureau for me?"

"No need to send it to Liu Jianguo, just hand it to the Education Bureau office and go through the formal document receipt process."

"What are you doing...?"

"Based on the provincial department's documents, it is explained that the school uniform reform of No. 13 Middle School is a reasonable exploration of distinctive school management and is in line with the spirit of the superior's policies."

"I've also attached a description of the school uniform reform plan for No. 13 Middle School, clearly outlining the design concept, student voting process, and designer qualifications."

"If we do that..." Ma Desheng realized.

"Yes." Lin Yucai nodded.

"Does Liu Jianguo need to review this?"

"Yes, I'll report it voluntarily."

"But I also submitted documents from the provincial department at the same time."

"If he dares to hold me back during the review process, he's going against the provincial department's policies."

"Does a mere director of the municipal education bureau have the guts to challenge the provincial department?"

Ma Desheng looked at Lin Yucai and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Principal Lin, when did you find this document?"

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I flipped through a compilation of education policies and regulations."

Lin Yucai rubbed his hands together.

"I didn't expect it would actually come in handy."

Ma Desheng shook his head, took the envelope, and left.

This principal may seem carefree, but he's incredibly meticulous.

……

The issue of school uniforms will be put on hold for now.

The midterm exams officially began at 8:30 a.m.

The first subject was Chinese.

Five hundred students sat in their respective examination rooms, each with a brand-new exam paper in front of them.

The examination room was so quiet that you could hear birds chirping outside the window.

The proctors stood on the podium, looking at the students below, and each had different feelings.

What were the exams like at No. 13 Middle School in the past?

Five minutes into the exam, at least a third of the students collapsed.

For the multiple-choice questions, select C for all; for the other questions, draw a turtle; write three lines for the essay and hand in the paper.

But today, almost no one is lying down.

Everyone was looking at the questions carefully.

Some were frowning, some were biting their pen caps in deep thought, and some were scribbling and drawing rapidly on their draft paper.

The effects of the deep sleep halo reached their peak at this moment.

After nearly three weeks of high-quality sleep, the students' memory and mental clarity have improved significantly compared to a month ago.

The knowledge points learned in class are repeatedly reinforced during sleep.

It's like a file stored on a hard drive, readily available and accessible.

The halo of self-discipline ensures that their focus in the exam room will not easily waver. Students who would want to touch their phones after sitting for ten minutes can now concentrate for more than half an hour at a stretch.

These changes are subtle and gradual; no one realizes that they have "become smarter."

They simply felt that they were sleeping well, eating well, and in a good mood during this period, so their condition naturally improved.

Li Daqiang sat in the second-to-last row of the exam room for Class 4 of the second year of high school.

Chinese is not his strong suit, but it is not his weakest subject either.

He can pad his essays to reach the word count, and he can guess on reading comprehension questions.

But today, he discovered that he actually understood the classical Chinese reading comprehension question.

Although I only understood half of it.

He frowned and translated the parts he understood into plain language, writing them on the answer sheet.

I'm not sure if it's right or wrong, but at least I wrote it down.

He used to be too lazy to even write.

Zhang Yang sat by the window, his pen moving across the exam paper at a moderate pace.

Chinese was not difficult for him.

He loved reading novels since he was a child and had read quite a lot.

Although classical Chinese and poetry appreciation are weaknesses, modern Chinese reading and composition can make up for the lower scores.

He paused on the essay title for a few seconds.

The title is: "Changes as I See Them".

Zhang Yang thought for a moment, then picked up his pen and began to write.

He wrote about the cafeteria, chicken soup, and air conditioning.

The text describes a man in a gray jacket and cloth shoes standing on a flag-raising platform, saying, "I'll accept anything as long as it's reasonable."

He wrote about how he went from being a lazy bum who wanted to sneak out to surf the internet every day to someone who would send photos of himself memorizing vocabulary words to the principal at 10:30 pm.

He writes slowly, and his handwriting isn't very good.

But every stroke was executed with great force.

Finally, he checked the word count.

More than nine hundred words.

It exceeded the limit slightly, but not by much.

He checked it once, made no changes, and handed in the paper directly.

As he walked out of the examination room, the sunlight shone directly on his face.

He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The air was filled with the fragrance of late May flowers, drifting from the locust trees outside the school wall.

"Mathematics, here I come!"