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

Old Zhao simply stopped looking at the lesson plan. The chalk flew across the blackboard, and he broke down a problem into seven or eight small steps.

For each step taken up a step, a student would be called upon to answer.

If you answer correctly, he will nod in approval.

If you answer incorrectly, he won't scold you; he'll just explain it again in a different way.

In a 45-minute class, there was a question that the whole class got wrong 32 times. By the end of the lesson, more than 20 students in the front row had raised their hands.

When the bell rang, no one moved in the classroom.

Old Zhao put down the chalk, turned around, and realized that the back of his shirt was soaked with sweat.

He smiled a little sheepishly: "I've been talking for a while now, I've gone over time."

Among the parents in the back row, I don't know who started clapping first.

Immediately afterwards, the entire back row started making noise.

The mother of the child who scored 598 points cheered the hardest.

She turned to the parent next to her and said, "This teacher... explains things even more clearly than the famous teacher at the tutoring center I enrolled my child in."

"If my child had listened to a lesson like this, he would never forget this problem for the rest of his life."

……

Lin Yucai stood at the door and saw the whole scene.

He didn't clap; he just leaned against the doorframe with a wide grin on his face.

The system panel lit up at that moment.

[Hidden condition triggered: High-quality faculty has received public recognition; additional assessment for enrollment targets has been achieved.]

[Teacher Zhao Jianjun's status update: Teaching enthusiasm restored (from "burnt out" to "rekindled").]

Lin Yucai glanced at the line of text and then closed the panel.

What he wanted wasn't what the system gave him, but the long-lost smile on Old Zhao's face.

The effect of the open class was even more impressive than he had expected.

That afternoon, long queues formed again at the admissions registration office.

Parents who were initially deterred by the phrase "wait for the results" had their minds swayed again after witnessing the class.

"The grades are for next year, but the teacher is someone we can see today," a father muttered to someone while filling out a form.

"Yes, I feel at ease leaving my child with a teacher like this."

Su Qingyan stood guard at the registration desk, checking information on every single form without stopping.

By the time the count was taken in the evening, the number of new intentions had exceeded seventy in just one afternoon.

"Principal, we've broken 500! Including this afternoon's batch, the total number of intended registrations is 513!"

Holding the data sheet, Ma Desheng was so excited that he could hardly speak.

Five hundred and thirteen.

"Lin Yucai".

Su Qingyan took the watch and checked it again to make sure it was correct before looking up.

"We've... filled our quota."

"Not only did they fill all the positions, they exceeded them."

In previous years, the highest number of students enrolled at No. 13 Middle School was only 146.

This year, five hundred and thirteen.

It has more than tripled.

Lin Yucai did not jump up and cheer as they expected.

He simply walked to the window, looked at the row of newly planted ginkgo trees on the playground, and stood there for a long time.

"We need to expedite the conversion of the warehouse in the east building into classrooms." He turned around. "If that's not enough, we should also vacate the old, unused office building."

"Money is not a problem," Su Qingyan said for him.

Lin Yucai turned to look at her, and they both smiled.

……

The news reached the Education Bureau faster than it reached No. 13 Middle School.

Because while filling out college applications, parents were also sharing videos of open classes at No. 13 Middle School in the group chat.

The segment where Lao Zhao explained that function problem was edited into a short video by the children in the photography class.

"The math teacher at No. 13 Middle School made the problems from the worst class come alive."

The caption was simple, and the number of views exceeded two million that very night.

The comment section was flooded with messages again.

"That's what a teacher should be like! If I had a teacher like this when I was in school, I wouldn't have hated math for twelve years."

"Those who say No. 13 Middle School lacks qualified teachers, don't you feel ashamed?"

"Don't ask, they've already filled all their positions. Just ask yourself, aren't you jealous?"

This video was also forwarded to Qian Wenhua's phone.

……

The principal's office at No. 1 Middle School.

Qian Wenhua put his phone on the table; the screen was still lit up with the video of the open class.

"Principal Qian, No. 13 Middle School... is full."

Old Zhou stood to the side, his head bowed even lower.

"More than five hundred, many of them are enough to meet our score requirements."

"The number of people interested in our company this year is almost 30% less than last year."

Qian Wenhua stared at the phone on the table. The video was still playing on a loop, and Lao Zhao's words, "Don't be afraid of these two letters," kept ringing out.

His statement, "Wait for the results," was originally intended to keep the parents in check.

As a result, Lin Yucai immediately gave a public lesson, which completely dispelled the parents' last bit of hesitation.

Not only did it extinguish the fire, it also added fuel to the fire at No. 13 Middle School.

My own little scheme turned out to be handing the other party a knife.

"Thirty percent..." Qian Wenhua squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth.

The ranking of key high schools is determined by the quality of students and the size of the school.

With 30% fewer promising students, the first-tier university admission rate will inevitably drop next year.

If the first-year pass rate drops, the rating will be lost.

Funding, quotas, and even his position as principal were all in jeopardy.

Not to mention the piece of land that was tied to Liu Jianguo.

Thirteen Middle Schools were fully enrolled and had secured their positions; the grounds for a merger were completely gone.

If the land cannot be acquired, the developer's promises become empty words.

In this game of chess, Qian Wenhua watched as he went from being the one making the moves to being the one being checked.

Clang.

Qian Wenhua swept his arm horizontally.

The glass teacup on the corner of the table was swept to the ground and shattered, spilling tea and glass shards all over the floor.

Old Zhou was so frightened that he took a step back and didn't dare to utter a single word.

Qian Wenhua stood in front of the pile of broken glass, his chest heaving.

"Lin Yucai..."

He squeezed the name out of his throat, his knuckles cracking.

The shards of glass reflected the light on the ground, revealing half of his distorted face.