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

Chen Yu gripped her spare pen, took two deep breaths, and followed the group into the examination room.

Lin Yucai watched her go inside before turning around and walking back to the waiting area.

"Someone tampered with the test center."

Su Qingyan was already waiting there, arms crossed, her expression not very pleasant.

"It's just a pen cap, not worth making a big deal out of," Lin Yucai said calmly, "but it does affect our students' mindset."

Su Qingyan frowned and remained silent.

"Don't worry, they'll only dare to play these petty tricks at most." Lin Yucai looked at the exam center gate. "If they really did something outrageous in the exam room, no one could bear the responsibility."

……

The math exam ended at 5 p.m.

The moment the exam room door opened, a crowd surged out, their expressions varied.

Some people were expressionless, some were sighing, and some even squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands as soon as they came out.

When the students from No. 13 Middle School came out, their overall demeanor was noticeably more composed than those around them.

"Principal! I solved the last, most difficult problem!"

Chen Yu emerged from the crowd, jogged up to Lin Yucai, her eyes shining.

"Okay." Lin Yucai nodded. "Don't be too happy yet, there are still subjects to come."

Chen Yu paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously and turned back to her classmates.

"Twelve people felt that they performed normally in Chinese, and eight people said that they did better in math than in the mock exam. No one reported that they had a mental breakdown."

Su Qingyan walked over, holding a statistics sheet in her hand, which recorded the students' immediate feedback after today's exam.

"The overall situation is stable today."

She put the form into a folder, a rare look of relief on her face.

"You can't let your guard down before the last exam." Lin Yucai took the water she handed him, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. "The closer you get to the end, the easier it is for things to go wrong."

Su Qingyan glanced at him and swallowed back the words she was about to say.

Just then, Lin Yucai's cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and saw it was a text message.

An unfamiliar number with no caller ID showing the location of the caller.

The content consists of only one line of text.

"Principal Lin, don't be too happy yet."

Lin Yucai turned his phone over and held it in his palm, then looked up at the distant horizon.

The slight smile on his lips slowly faded.

……

By the time the last exam of the college entrance examination was over, the sky had already begun to sink in the west.

The entrance to the examination hall was crowded with parents who came to pick up their children, and many teachers were also standing under the shade of the trees along the roadside waiting for news.

All fifteen buses from No. 13 Middle School were on standby with their doors open and the air conditioning running, in case the students got overheated after getting off.

When the last group of students walked out of the examination room, the atmosphere in the entire rest area relaxed.

Someone tucked their pencil case into their clothes and squatted down by the roadside, lost in thought for a while.

Someone was carrying bottled water, their eyes red, but they didn't let the tears fall.

As Chen Yu walked out of the gate, she first looked up at the sky, then gazed at the school bus for a long time.

"Principal, the exam is over."

She saw Lin Yucai from afar, stopped, and then walked over.

"Go home and rest after the exam."

"I want to go back to school first."

Lin Yucai glanced at her but didn't reply immediately.

Chen Yu looked down at the tips of her shoes, and after a few seconds added, "Isn't this our last day at school?"

As soon as he said that, the students around him fell silent.

Three years is not a short time for them.

There have been too many embarrassing moments and too many days of being ignored at school.

But now that the college entrance exam is finally over, some people are reluctant to part ways immediately.

Lin Yucai noted these words down and had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

He turned to look at Su Qingyan: "Take the students back first, and we'll hold a wrap-up meeting in the auditorium tonight."

Su Qingyan looked at him: "Now?"

"Now."

"You really know how to rush."

"If we don't act now, it will be difficult to get them back together once they've truly dispersed."

Su Qingyan didn't say anything more and turned to explain to the homeroom teachers.

"These kids look completely different today than when they came."

Ma Desheng stood to the side, holding a stack of lists in his hand, a slight smile on his face.

"Of course."

Lin Yucai looked up at the staff who were clearing the examination site one after another, his tone neither fast nor slow.

"Eat well, sleep soundly, stay calm on the road, and you'll have peace of mind."

"The rest is just waiting for them to be assigned to take the exams."

On the way back to school, the car was much quieter than in the morning.

Most students leaned back in their chairs and closed their eyes to rest; no one was shouting anymore.

One by one, the streetlights outside the car window lit up, reflecting a faint layer of fatigue on the students' faces.

But there was no feeling of weakness or panic in that kind of exhaustion.

All that remains is emptiness after getting through this phase.

Lin Yucai didn't bother them the whole way, only asking the driver to lower the air conditioning temperature a little more.

When we arrived at the school, the lights in the auditorium had already been turned on.

Su Qingyan had the logistics staff rearrange the tables and chairs, and placed a clean whiteboard and a stack of new paper in front of the podium.

Zhou Dahai was also called over, carrying a box of sweet soup that had been prepared in advance, saying it was to help the senior high school students calm down that evening.

"Principal, what kind of procedure are you going to pull this time?"

Zhou Dahai stood at the entrance of the auditorium, his tone carrying a hint of peeking and wondering.

"ending."

"So, would you consider this soup part of the closing?"

"Okay, I'll cook some extra good food today and treat them properly."

After hearing this, Zhou Dahai grinned and turned to go to the kitchen to urge people to hurry up.

The auditorium quickly filled with people.

The senior high school homeroom teachers were all there, and Su Qingyan stood to the side, holding a stack of notes written by her students.

She laid out the slips of paper one by one, as if afraid that someone might miss them.

"We won't talk about studies or grades today."

Lin Yucai stood in front of the podium, without any opening remarks, and immediately turned the light down one notch.

The audience was quiet; no one interrupted.

"These past three years haven't been easy for you, and No. 13 Middle School hasn't paved the way much smoother."

"But you've all left too."

"Some people say you were bad in the past, that you were incapable, that you were a group that was abandoned."

"I've heard these kinds of things quite often."

"I just want to ask you one question today: did you all finish that exam paper yourselves?"

Someone in the audience chuckled softly, then lowered their head again.

"Yes."

The atmosphere in the auditorium changed noticeably after that one word was uttered.

"That's enough."

Lin Yucai placed his hands on the edge of the podium, no longer lowering his voice, but simply sending his words forward one by one.

"The scores aren't out yet, so don't jump to conclusions."

"The college entrance examination is not a final decision; it is simply a summary of what you have learned over the past three years."

"Well written, worth it."

"It's worth it even if it's slow to write."

"Because you have submitted the first answer sheet of your own lives."

A boy in the back row suddenly raised his hand and rubbed the corner of his eye. He did so quickly, as if he didn't want others to see.

Chen Yu sat in the middle row, holding a piece of paper folded twice in her hand.

She waited until Lin Yucai paused for a moment before standing up.

"Principal, may I give this to you?"