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

The bell rang precisely at 9:30 PM to signal the end of evening self-study.

In mid-May, the daytime temperature in Tomato City had already climbed to 31 degrees Celsius.

Although it gets a little cooler in the evening, the teaching buildings and dormitories of No. 13 Middle School are old buildings from the 1990s.

It has no insulation, no air conditioning, and even the fan is an old relic that's half broken.

Lin Yucai strolled around the campus.

This is a rule he set for himself.

I take a walk around the campus every evening after self-study to check on the students' condition.

There were very few streetlights on campus; most were broken, and the only light that could be illuminating the road was from the windows of the teaching buildings.

As I passed by the basketball court, I saw several boys playing basketball shirtless.

The sneakers made a dull thud as they stepped on the concrete.

"It's so hot! The classroom is like an oven. Only one fan is working, and it's making a creaking noise!"

A boy was dribbling a ball while complaining.

"The classrooms are considered good; the dormitories are even worse."

"Eight people were crammed into one room, and the window could only be opened halfway, making it so stuffy that it was hard to breathe."

"I was so hot yesterday that I got up in the middle of the night to sleep in the hallway; the concrete floor was warm."

"Stop talking, it's getting more and more annoying."

Lin Yucai slowed his pace and listened silently.

He continued walking towards the dormitory building.

The boys' dormitory building is located at the far east end of the campus; it's a drab, six-story building.

The corridor lights flickered on and off, and some were completely out of the light.

There were many students queuing up in the hallway, each carrying a washbasin.

The line wasn't for the cafeteria, it was for the showers.

"How many people are ahead of us?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve! When will my turn be?"

"I can't even get a turn by 10:30! Lights out at 10:50!"

"There's nothing we can do; there are only four shower heads in the boys' dormitory, and one of them is leaking."

"Three hundred boys are fighting over four shower heads, what do you think?"

"Cold water is fine too, just let me rinse it off..."

"You have to queue even for cold water. Do you think you're the only one who wants to take a shower?"

Lin Yucai stood at the corner of the stairs, silently keeping these words in mind.

After leaving the dormitory building, Lin Yucai noticed that several classrooms in the teaching building were still lit up.

He went up to the second floor and passed a classroom with the lights on.

The door was half open, and seven or eight students were sitting inside.

It's for a senior in high school.

The students didn't go to the playground or back to their dormitories; instead, they stayed in the classroom to review their lessons.

Books and test papers were spread out on the desks, and several students were engrossed in doing the problems.

The learning methods seem a bit unorthodox.

A boy was coloring his entire math textbook in rainbow colors with a highlighter, but at least he was learning.

"It's unbearably hot; even the fan in this shabby classroom doesn't work properly."

"Should we write a suggestion and put it in the principal's box?"

A girl looked up, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and muttered something to the person next to her.

"Go ahead and write it. I heard the principal really knows how to read them."

"Then I'll write it down: I suggest installing air conditioning in classrooms and dormitories."

"Go ahead and write it. I'm just worried the principal will be overwhelmed just looking at it. How much will it cost?"

Lin Yucai stood outside the door and did not go in.

He turned slightly and walked down the stairs.

Moonlight streamed in through the broken window, casting streaks of light on the corridor floor.

The classrooms are too hot, the dormitories are too stuffy, and the shower rooms are too crowded.

Ultimately, these problems all boil down to issues with the infrastructure.

The hardware issue, in the final analysis, boils down to one word... money.

Three million in start-up capital.

After hiring a chef team, purchasing ingredients, and incurring various miscellaneous expenses in the early stages, nearly 1.5 million yuan has already been spent.

The remaining 1.5 million yuan is barely enough to keep the cafeteria running until the end of summer vacation.

Thinking of installing air conditioning and expanding the shower room?

That would be another huge investment.

Lin Yucai walked out of the dormitory building and looked up at the night sky.

There were hardly any stars in the sky over Tomato City.

He mentally brought up the system panel.

The previous message "Filtering and generating new tasks" is still on the panel.

"System, how long have you been filtering?"

He urged himself on.

The panel flashed, still displaying the same message.

"Alright, take your time."

Lin Yucai sighed and turned to walk towards the principal's office.

The office is on the first floor of the administration building, a small room of less than 20 square meters.

The table was piled high with documents and slips of paper pulled from the suggestion box.

Lin Yucai sat down and rummaged through the pile of notes, and sure enough, he found several relevant suggestions.

"The classroom fan needs to be replaced; it's so hot during class that I'm falling asleep."

"Could you add a fan to the dorm room? There are eight people in one room, and there isn't even a small fan."

"When will the shower rooms be expanded? We have to wait in line until lights out to take a shower."

"I suggest the school install air conditioning! (Although I know this is just wishful thinking)"

The last one even had a crying face drawn on it.

Lin Yucai spread the slips of paper on the table and stared at them for a long time.

There was a knock on the door twice.

"Haven't you gone to rest yet?"

Su Qingyan pushed open the door and came in, carrying two cups of tea.

"I can't sleep." Lin Yucai took the teacup. "I just went for a walk around the dormitory building."

"You saw it?" Su Qingyan sat down opposite him.

"The line for the showers stretched all the way to the stairwell."

"This problem has existed for several years."

Su Qingyan sighed, holding the teacup in both hands, watching the tea leaves float and sink within.

"I've submitted reports to the Education Bureau before, applying for funding for repairs and expansions, but each time they've been rejected."

"The reason is that No. 13 Middle School has insufficient student enrollment, resulting in a low input-output ratio."

"In other words, the school is terrible, there are too many bad students, and it's not worth spending money on."

Lin Yucai held the note that read, "Although I know this is a dream," and remained silent for a while.

"Vice Principal Su, how much do you think it would cost to install air conditioning and expand the shower room?"

"Lin Yucai, how much money can you invest?"

"Even with government subsidies, these renovation costs are a bottomless pit!"

Su Qingyan glanced at him.

"I was just asking."

Su Qingyan hesitated for a moment, then did some mental calculations.

"The teaching building has three floors, the dormitory building has six floors, plus the teachers' offices. If we install central air conditioning in all of them, it will cost at least seven or eight hundred thousand yuan."

"If you only install a separate AFK unit, it will cost around 400,000 to 500,000 yuan."

"The expansion of the shower room depends on the scale."

"If we were to build a separate bathroom behind the dormitory building, it would cost at least 200,000 to 300,000 yuan."

"In total, it's at least six or seven hundred thousand."

Looking at Lin Yucai's expression, she added another sentence.

"This is still the most conservative estimate."

Lin Yucai did not answer immediately.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked past the rim of the cup to the dark campus outside the window.

At this moment, the system panel finally showed some activity.

【Ding! 】

[Student suggestions have been selected! A new task has been generated!]

[Student suggestions received (combined): Suggestions for the renovation of classrooms and dormitories; air conditioning or fans need to be installed in classrooms and dormitories; shower rooms need to be expanded.]

Recommended rating: Two stars (high difficulty)

[Should we adopt this?]