The Heartless University

[Recently, a university made it to the trending search results due to a scandal involving the use of substandard paint containing excessive levels of Formaldehyde.

On the morning of February 28th, dozens of videos related to the university's painting and renovation work were widely circulated on social media platforms. A student in the South dormitory complained: "Am I too sensitive to this smell, or why do I feel nauseous like I'm carsick? I really want to move out immediately." Another student in the North dormitory expressed frustration: "Renovating right before the start of the semester, is this reasonable?"

From February 12th, students had already begun to complain: "The school took advantage of the winter break to repaint the dormitory doors. You can smell the pungent odor even standing outside the building. Students who are still home, please don't return to school yet, or ask the dormitory manager carefully if your room has been painted. The smell is terrible!"

By February 19th: "Why didn't they paint when there were no students? They waited until we returned to start, the paint hasn't even dried, and with such high Formaldehyde levels, are they trying to turn us into air purifiers? I sit in my room for an hour and feel like throwing up..."

February 29th: "I'm almost becoming one with this paint; I've smelled it so much I'm getting used to it."]

The ancestors, upon seeing this, all showed expressions of discomfort. Looking at the images of vibrant but toxic paints, they immediately understood the problem. A school—a place for nurturing talent—disregarded the health of its students to use cheap, toxic materials.

The ancestors thought indignantly: "Truly, unscrupulous merchants are not evil, not rich!" Those who poisoned their own children for personal gain were no different from ruthless and heartless people. They wished they could transmigrate there to teach those people a lesson.

[On February 27th, after students bought testing devices themselves and discovered dangerously high Formaldehyde levels, many had to move out and rent hotel rooms. On the 28th, the school finally responded, promising to resolve the issue. Videos showed the testing devices continuously beeping warnings. Students had to use onions, activated charcoal, and green plants to try and neutralize the smell, but to no avail.

Although the school did not admit to toxic levels exceeding the limit, it called on students for "understanding and support" as this was a renovation project during the winter break. However, students were extremely dissatisfied with this perfunctory response.]

[This incident reflects three profound issues:
First: The plight of students. Having to rent outside increased costs, while poor students were forced to endure the toxic paint smell.
Second: Weak management by the school. When the incident occurred, instead of directly addressing the quality of materials, the school chose to evade and stubbornly deny.
Third: Educational responsibility and ethics. The project was for the students, yet it disregarded student safety. Modern education must be people-centered, and student health must be the top priority.]

The ancestors sighed; this scenario was all too familiar to them. This was clearly a case of corrupt officials embezzling public funds, using money meant for good materials to buy cheap, shoddy ones for personal gain.

"I remember a similar incident in the neighboring district; there's still no resolution to this day," an old woman in the village spoke up. As time passed, hot topics would eventually be swept under the rug if there wasn't strict oversight. They could only pray for the children of later generations to escape this predicament soon.