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

"Your smile is so beautiful, like a flower in spring~"

When Lin Yucai pushed open the door, Deputy Director Liu was sitting behind his desk with his legs crossed, holding an enamel mug in his hand and humming a tune that was out of tune.

On the table, a row of mobile phones is neatly arranged.

Dozens of them, varying in size and brand.

Each machine had a white label on the back with the class, name, and confiscation time neatly written on it in blue ballpoint pen.

"Principal Lin! You're back just in time!"

Deputy Director Liu raised his head, showing no sign of guilt whatsoever. Instead, he stood up abruptly, his face beaming with a look of self-satisfaction.

"Principal, I haven't been idle these past two days while you were away on your business trip!"

He rubbed his hands together, took two steps around the table, pointed at the row of cell phones, and puffed out his chest.

"More than seventy mobile phones were all confiscated!"

"These kids have finally gotten motivated to study; we can't let this thing hold them back!"

Lin Yucai stood at the door, not moving.

Su Qingyan was behind him. She pushed up her glasses, glanced at the row of phones, and pursed her lips into a thin line.

Deputy Director Liu, completely oblivious to the expressions of the two men, began to recount his glorious achievements in a passionate and impassioned tone.

"Principal, you have no idea! I've been working tirelessly these past two days, from dawn till dusk, sitting in front of students during self-study sessions!"

He walked to the wall, took out a stack of A4 papers from the drawer, and the cover read "No. 13 Middle School Campus Discipline Rectification Plan".

Eight pages.

Densely packed handwritten words.

"We've finally stopped these kids' bad habits!"

He spoke as if he were a frontline general reporting the capture of an enemy fortress.

What they actually did was search through students' backpacks all over the floor.

Lin Yucai took a step forward, neither smiling nor angry, and just looked at Deputy Director Liu.

But Deputy Director Liu still didn't understand.

He handed the eight-page proposal to Lin Yucai and tapped the cover with his index finger.

"Let me tell you, Hengshui's management method is a cautionary tale! We should just learn from it."

"Students need to be disciplined! If we don't, they'll get arrogant!"

He became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Look at the high school next door, which of their students dares to bring a cell phone to school?"

"Our students were too undisciplined before! Now that the school is finally starting to improve, we need to establish rules at this crucial juncture!"

Lin Yucai took the proposal and turned a page.

Then it closed.

He didn't look at the plan; his gaze fell on the row of phones on the table.

He reached out and picked up one at random.

Turn it over to the back.

The label reads: Grade 11 Class 3, Li Li, September 15, Evening Self-Study.

"Li Li".

Lin Yucai read the name aloud.

"Left-behind children, whose parents work in Shenzhen and they only see them once a year."

"Only my grandparents, who have difficulty moving around, live at home."

He turned his phone around so the screen was facing Deputy Director Liu.

"I personally visited her home and spent half a day persuading her and her village chief before they agreed to let her live at school."

"I usually rely on this phone to contact my family."

Lin Yucai raised his gaze and met Deputy Director Liu's eyes.

"You confiscated it?"

The air in the academic affairs office suddenly froze.

Deputy Director Liu's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly regained it and waved his hand.

"We'll handle each case individually! The general direction is right! I'll just return her thing later..."

"The general direction?" Lin Yucai gently placed his phone back on the table. "Your general direction is to tear down the trust I spent half a year building in just two days."

Deputy Director Liu opened his mouth as if to say something, but Lin Yucai raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Call Zhao Mengyao over."

Two minutes later, Zhao Mengyao stood at the entrance of the Academic Affairs Office.

The sleeves of the school uniform had obvious creases from being pulled, and the collar was crooked.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, her nose was pink, and her lips were tightly pressed together.

The student council president, who had been in office for less than two weeks, looked like he was about to fall apart.

"Principal... I'm sorry." She began by apologizing, her voice hoarse. "It's all my fault, I didn't handle it well."

"What happened? Explain in detail."

Zhao Mengyao gripped the hem of her school uniform tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Director Liu said it was an order from the Academic Affairs Office to have the Student Union cooperate in searching cell phones."

"I said that's inappropriate. The student union is there to serve the students, and it shouldn't be searching their things."

She paused and took a breath.

"Director Liu said that your student council is just there to do the teachers' work. What, are you trying to rebel?"

"If you don't listen, don't even think about getting your diploma."

Deputy Director Liu's face changed. "I didn't... I didn't say that!"

Zhao Mengyao didn't look at him and continued, "The student council members don't dare to offend the academic affairs office, so they can only carry it out."

"As a result, the second-year high school students were not satisfied and immediately confronted the student council members."

"I tried to persuade both sides, but neither side would listen to me."

Outside in the hallway, several footsteps stopped.

Zhang Yang had intended to calm his classmates down so he could talk to the principal, but upon hearing the conversation inside, he suddenly became furious.

"That bald Liu used to be a complete idiot, he didn't dare to interfere in anything."

"They used to be like dogs seeing a butcher when they saw us, shrinking back and not daring to bark."

He stopped at the doorway, leaned against the doorframe, turned to the skinny monkey beside him, and shouted something.

"Now that he's got some serious ideas, he's starting to stand up for himself?"

"A pure opportunist in chaotic times, a troublemaker in prosperous times!"

Inside the Academic Affairs Office.

Deputy Director Liu heard it.

His face turned from white to green, then from green to blue, and his lips trembled as he tried to curse back.

But as soon as he looked up, he met Lin Yucai's gaze.

There was no anger in his eyes, and there was even a hint of a smile.

But that smile sent a chill down Deputy Director Liu's spine, and he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Su Qingyan ignored the commotion in the corridor.

She walked to the table, picked up the eight-page "reorganization plan," flipped through two pages expressionlessly, and then closed it.

"Director Liu, your proposal is quite well-formatted."

"As for the content... I suggest submitting it to 'The Complete Collection of Jokes in the Education Sector,' it's sure to be accepted."

Deputy Director Liu's lips twitched slightly.

But Su Qingyan didn't give him a chance to speak at all. She gently put the proposal back on the table, stepped aside, and returned the stage to Lin Yucai.

Lin Yucai walked to the table and put Li Li's phone back in its place.

Then he turned around and faced Deputy Director Liu directly.

"Old Liu, do you know what changes have happened at the school while I was away on a business trip these past two days?"

Deputy Director Liu looked completely bewildered.

"Students are starting to hate the student council."

"The student council members are starting to hate you."

"And here you are, humming a little tune, so self-important!"

After those three sentences, the academic affairs office was so quiet you could hear the hum of the light bulbs.

Lin Yucai took half a step forward, his voice not loud, but it made Deputy Director Liu take a step back.

"Didn't I discipline you old teachers? You really think you're something special?"

Sweat beaded on Deputy Director Liu's forehead.

"Principal Lin, I'm doing this for the good of the school..."