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

Lin Yucai turned off the control panel, feeling as reassured as if he had taken a calming pill.

The system can be permanently bound.

This means that every graduating class of high school students can use this system from now on, not just this year.

And that cybersecurity firewall came even more timely.

With the high level of attention surrounding No. 13 Middle School right now, this wall serves as a safeguard in case someone tries to sabotage it online.

He turned the page on the awards and stared back at the summary sheet on the table.

The undergraduate enrollment rate is 56%.

Twelve students passed the first-tier university entrance exam.

This is an estimate.

The official results will be released the day after tomorrow, then the real test will begin.

The system said the error was within three-thirds, and he chose to believe it.

But this number cannot be released before the results are announced.

"Vice Principal Su." He looked up at Su Qingyan, who was still standing opposite him, "This data is temporarily locked within the scope known only to a few of us."

"Me, you, Feng Zhiyuan, Lao Ma, and the students themselves."

"I won't tell anyone, I won't post it on social media, and I won't share it in any groups."

Su Qingyan understood his meaning: "Afraid of alerting the enemy?"

"That's right." Lin Yucai flipped the summary sheet over, back side up. "Liu Jianguo is now hoping that our results will be poor so he can submit that report to the provincial department."

"If he knew in advance that our results might be very good, then he would change his tactics."

"I don't know what tricks they'll use, but they'll definitely be more insidious than what they're using now."

"Let him keep dreaming." Lin Yucai locked the summary sheet in the drawer. "We'll reveal all our cards at the principals' meeting on July 10th, in front of everyone."

"The scheme he orchestrated ended up burying him."

"You can be really sarcastic when you want to be," Su Qingyan said, a slight smile curving her lips as she looked at him.

"Thank you for the compliment."

Su Qingyan shook her head, turned to leave, but stopped at the door.

"Lin Yucai".

"Um?"

"The results will be released the day after tomorrow. If the results are really the same as predicted..."

She didn't turn around, her voice carrying something that had been suppressed for a long time and was finally about to be released.

"I'll treat you to hot pot."

The door closed.

Lin Yucai sat alone in his office, laughing at the locked drawer for a long time.

hot pot?

The last time she said she'd treat us to hot pot was back when we made that bet during the midterm exams.

The woman appeared calm, but she was actually more agitated than anyone else.

……

The news didn't spread, but the atmosphere on campus of No. 13 Middle School was already different.

In the afternoon, the cafeteria became lively again.

Those high school seniors who couldn't eat a single bite of food a few days ago were now wolfing down plates of braised pork.

The conversation shifted from "What score did I estimate?" to "How is that teacher training school recommended by the system?" and "I want to apply to that school for computer science, what's the 87% chance of being accepted?"

The anxiety receded like the tide.

Although some students' estimated scores did not meet the undergraduate admission line, the system still provided them with the best vocational college recommendation plan.

The school's strengths, employment rates, and pathways to further education are clearly outlined.

They are no longer completely clueless when faced with a hundreds-of-pages application guide.

Instead, it gave us a direction that we could reach.

Sometimes, direction is more reassuring than grades themselves.

Chen Yu sat in the corner of the cafeteria, with a small half-full bowl of rice in front of him, topped with a dry-pot bullfrog.

She ate with great relish.

On her phone was a college application recommendation form generated by the system.

Estimated score: 502.

First choice recommendation: Tomato Province Normal University, Chinese Language and Literature major, with an admission probability of 91%.

She looked at the 91% mark, stuffed the last piece of bullfrog into her mouth, and chewed it vigorously.

"Chen Yu, what are you laughing at?" The girl next to her nudged her.

"I wasn't laughing." Chen Yu tried to suppress her smile, but couldn't.

"I just remembered."

"What did you remember?"

Six months ago, I thought this was all I was going to do for the rest of my life.

"Now I feel that Tomato Teachers' College isn't so far away after all."

She lowered her head and continued eating, her eyes a little wet.

But this time it wasn't because I was sad.

At the other end of the corridor, Lin Yucai walked past the cafeteria entrance with his hands behind his back, heading towards the playground.

He didn't go in and disturb them.

Let these kids have a quiet and peaceful meal.

The results will be released the day after tomorrow, and the day after that is the principals' meeting.

A storm is coming.

But before the storm hits, he also needs to consider whether there are any other needs he hasn't taken into account.

Lin Yucai walked to the edge of the playground, where there was a newly decorated bench under the row of ginkgo trees.

He sat down and took out his phone to check the time.

July 8th, 3:17 PM.

Thirty-six hours until the official results are announced.

The principals' meeting is scheduled for 48 hours from now.

The phone screen reflected the July sunlight, so bright it was blinding.

"Let the storm rage on!"

Lin Yucai squinted at the sky for a while, then suddenly hummed a tuneless melody.

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone vibrated.

"Principal, I just found out," Ma Desheng sent a message. "Liu Jianguo has made an appointment to have dinner with a developer tomorrow afternoon."

"Besides the developers, there was also an official from the education supervision department at the dinner party."

Lin Yucai stared at the message, his eyes slowly narrowing.

Liu Jianguo seems to be setting up his chess pieces before the results are even released.

He put his phone back in his pocket and stood up from the bench.

The shadow of the ginkgo tree swayed at my feet.

Forty-eight hours.

enough.