How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 309 Pulling and Trampling
When Zhou Maoquan saw the looks he was getting from the parents around him, his heart skipped a beat, and he knew he was in trouble.

Although competition between institutions is very common, and verbal abuse and fights happen from time to time, it is not worth it to bring it to the parents' attention.

Parents send their children here because of the high-quality educational resources. We had just managed to calm them down because of the students' grades, but now we see the institution in such a chaotic state, even resorting to unscrupulous means to recruit students. Isn't this like throwing a cigarette butt into a fire that was just put out?

No, the school must be removed from this matter. Otherwise, not only will parents lose confidence in the school, but it will also damage the reputation it has built up over the years.

"Teacher Wu, how could you do such a thing?" Zhou Maoquan pretended to be angry, but when he looked at Wu Shicheng, his eyes were full of disappointment.

Ok?
The parents were stunned by the principal's reaction, wondering: Did the principal not know? Was it done by a teacher alone?
Seeing that his words seemed to have some effect, Zhou Maoquan immediately continued with a pained expression, "Teacher Wu, I have repeatedly emphasized in my meetings that we should be clean in our conduct and upright in our actions. We should never resort to any means for money or profit. I never expected that you would do such a thing behind my back. I am so disappointed in you."

He finished speaking and let out a deep sigh.

"???"

Wu Shicheng stared blankly at the principal, inwardly exclaiming, "Holy crap!"
On my back?
Principal, are you suffering from dementia? I clearly consulted you before and did as you instructed, how could you have forgotten everything in just one hour?

Just as Wu Shicheng was about to speak in his defense, he saw the principal blinking incessantly, as if something had flown into his eyes.

At that moment, he finally understood that the principal wasn't suffering from dementia, but had deliberately sold him out to make him take the blame and clear himself of any involvement.

Thinking about his job, Wu Shicheng gritted his teeth and endured it.

Taking the blame is acceptable. It's an honor for an employee to take the blame for their boss, because not everyone is qualified to do so.

Wu Shicheng comforted himself in this way...

Zhou Maoquan then approached his colleague and said earnestly, "My colleague, I apologize for the trouble that Teacher Wu has caused you. As the person in charge of Jia Hua, I have a responsibility. Don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter seriously. Please put your hand down first, okay? Let's talk this out."

Zhang Wen coldly stared at Principal Zhou. The other party's move of sacrificing a pawn to save the king was brilliant. He directly extricated Jia Hua from the incident and characterized it as a personal act. No wonder he is the principal of an art exam institution; his acting skills are those of a veteran actor.

However, to think that a few words would be enough to settle things peacefully is like Pigsy dreaming of marrying a wife—how wishful thinking!

“Principal Zhou, although we are engaged in art exam training, we are also doing the work of educating people. If all of us are like Teacher Wu, spending our days eating, drinking, fighting and killing with hooligans, who can feel at ease entrusting their children to such teachers? Don’t you think so?” Zhang Wen asked expressionlessly.

"Yes, yes!" Zhou Maoquan nodded repeatedly, sweat beading on his forehead.

Upon hearing these words, the surrounding parents all changed their expressions.

Yes, what kind of good teacher is a teacher who hangs out with hooligans all day? Won't they corrupt the children?

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call such a teacher a scoundrel. Principal Zhou, what are your plans for dealing with such a scoundrel?” Zhang Wen continued to ask.

“This…” Zhou Maoquan glanced at Wu Shicheng, hesitated for a moment and said, “This matter is extremely serious, and we need to hold a meeting to discuss it.”

The meeting was just an excuse; he intended to downplay the issue and let time heal all wounds. After a week or two, who would even remember it?
Upon hearing the principal's words, before Zhang Wen could even speak, the surrounding parents immediately objected.

"What's there to discuss? Of course, we should fire them."

"Yes, expel him, he must be expelled."

"How can we parents feel at ease sending our children here if such scoundrels are living here?"

“Principal Zhou, how does Jia Hua recruit teachers? I now seriously suspect that there are problems with the other teachers here as well.”

"..."

Zhou Maoquan's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He had just tried his best to extricate the training institution from the incident of assault, and had achieved some success, but now, he has been attacked again.

Teacher ethics and conduct are very serious matters. It is already difficult for educational institutions to gain the approval of parents, and parents' understanding of the institution is mainly through the teachers.

Now that the teachers have problems, will parents still trust the organization? Definitely not!
Zhou Maoquan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said confidently, "Please rest assured, parents, Jia Hua will absolutely not keep such a morally bankrupt scoundrel."

He then turned to Wu Shicheng and said in a serious tone, "Wu Shicheng, you're fired."

what?
Wu Shicheng was completely dumbfounded.

He was only willing to take the blame because of his job, but now that he's being fired, what right does he have to take the blame?
"Principal, you can't expel me. Didn't you ask me to do this?" Wu Shicheng said, feeling wronged.

Zhou Maoquan was shocked, not expecting the other party to say such a thing. He quickly reached out and pushed the person away, saying, "Did I tell you to hand out flyers? Did I tell you to beat people up? Go, go, go! Get out of here and stop talking nonsense."

"Principal, isn't this like discarding a donkey after it has served its purpose? You can't treat me like this!" Wu Shicheng said loudly.

"What do you mean by discarding someone after they've served their purpose? I think you're trying to turn the tables on me." Zhou Maoquan pushed the man to the door, then lowered his voice and said, "I'll give you half a month of paid leave. Go home and lay low for a while, and come back to work when things have calmed down."

Wu Shicheng was shocked when he heard this. It turned out that the principal wanted him to go home to avoid trouble.

So he stopped insisting and quickly walked out the door.

Zhou Maoquan watched Wu Shicheng's departing figure and then secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to look at the parents in the hall and forced a smile.

"Dear parents, the person has been dismissed. I assure you that this is just an isolated case. Our Jia Hua Art Examination teachers are actually very excellent."

After saying this, he looked at his colleagues.

"My colleague, are you satisfied with this outcome?"

"Principal Zhou, you're not just trying to find a scapegoat to fool me, are you?" Zhang Wen asked suspiciously.

"No, absolutely not!" Zhou Maoquan quickly shook his head.

"I just don't know if Principal Zhou really expelled him, or if he just let him leave to avoid the limelight," Zhang Wen continued.

A flicker of panic crossed Zhou Maoquan's eyes, but he said firmly, "It's not about avoiding trouble, it's a real dismissal. How could Jia Hua continue to employ a scoundrel like him?"

"I hope Principal Zhou can keep his word, and I will come again."

"..."

Zhou Maoquan's lips twitched involuntarily. He had originally planned to send Wu Shicheng home to avoid the situation for half a month, but now it seemed that it would take at least a month.

Otherwise, if this person finds out and causes another scene, it won't be something that can be resolved with just words.

"We welcome our colleagues to visit and provide guidance at Jiahua." Zhou Maoquan said, then suddenly remembered something.

Aren't these troublemaking parents dissatisfied with their students' art exam results this year?
Doesn't this bring us a peer to compare against?
I've never heard of Xingxiang Art Exam Training before; it must be a very small art exam training institution.

In the art exam training industry, small scale means weak strength, weak strength means poor teacher quality, and the art exam results will definitely not be good.

Compared to art exam preparation institutions like Huanya and Yiying, which are similar in size to Jiahua, he felt somewhat insecure. However, compared to small art exam preparation institutions like Xingxiang, which he had never even heard of, he was quite confident.

"I wonder how your students performed in this year's art exams?" Zhou Mao asked with a sly smile, his eyes full of cunning, like an old fox.

The parents nearby immediately became interested upon hearing this.

Someone suddenly remembered a rumor they had just heard and asked, "I heard that the top student in the Beijing Film Academy's acting department came from your Xingxiang? Is that true?"

“Oh, I’ve heard about this too,” a parent chimed in. Neither of them realized that they had just heard the news from the person in charge of Xingxiang Art Examination Training.

“Of course it’s true. You can ask the people involved. I’m not afraid of you verifying it.” Zhang Wen smiled and said with an honest expression, “This year, the 1st, 3rd, 10th, and 11th ranked students in the Beijing Film Academy’s performance entrance exam all came from Xingxiang.”

"The 4th and 7th ranked students in the entrance exam for the directing department of Beijing Film Academy also come from Xingxiang."

"And the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th ranked students in the entrance exams for the Performing Arts Department at the Taipei Fine Arts Institute..."

“I received their college entrance examination results a few days ago, and they all passed.”

"!!!"

The hall was silent; the parents were all shocked by the ranking.

It's worth noting that among Jia Hua's students who participated in the performance entrance exams this year, the highest-ranked were only 6th at Beijing Film Academy and 7th at Huaxi Academy of Drama; the rest were all ranked outside the top 15.

This is just too incredible!

Zhou Maoquan stood there dumbfounded, like a silly roe deer.

He intended to put down Xingxiang in order to highlight how outstanding Jiahua was in this year's art exam, but instead of succeeding, he became the other party's stepping stone.

Isn't this just handing yourself over to be humiliated?

and many more!

Is this kid lying?

How could an unknown nobody who appeared out of nowhere possibly teach so many outstanding students?

Fake, must be fake.

Such outstanding art exam results would be considered phenomenal even among the top five art exam training institutions in Beijing.

"Words are no proof. You're not lying to us, are you?" Zhou Maoquan asked suspiciously.

After hearing this, the other parents also calmed down.

Yes, the students' art exam results were so good that it felt unreal to everyone.

Zhang Wen smiled slightly and quickly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, showing it to the parents.

"Dear parents, these are the students' names and grades. As I said before, you are welcome to verify them."

Upon seeing it, the parents all crowded around, staring intently at the report card.

"That's right, the top candidate in the performance department of Beijing Film Academy this year is indeed named Han Zhixue, and even child star Fang Yuzhen can only come in second..."

"It has names, achievements, and rankings; it doesn't seem fake."

"Ok!"

Zhang Wen was satisfied with the parents' reaction and continued, "At the end of July and the beginning of August, these students will return to the training class after receiving their admission notices. At that time, I will arrange for them to share their experiences and insights about the art exams with this year's new students. Parents can bring their children to listen. Xingxiang is all about authenticity and never does anything fake."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the parents present.

Hearing the experiences and insights shared by students who were admitted to Beijing Film Academy and Huazhong University of Science and Technology is an incredibly joyful experience for the parents and students who will be taking the art entrance exams next year.

Moreover, one of them was ranked first in his major.

This is an opportunity that money can't buy.

"Really? Where is your Xingxiang Art Exam Training Center located?"

"Teacher, could you please give me your contact information?"

"Teacher, what kinds of classes do you have?"

"..."

Parents inquired one after another, eager to sign up immediately.

"Don't worry, everyone. I have a WeChat group here. You can join. I will post the time and location in the group later," Zhang Wen said loudly.

"Add me one."

"And I."

In no time, the WeChat group called 'Starry Sky Class of 25' had dozens of members, and the number was still increasing.

Zhou Mao, standing outside the crowd, turned completely green, as if he had eaten a poisonous mushroom.

When competitors come to his territory to promote their products and even add parents on WeChat in front of him, isn't that like defecating on his head?
So annoying!

"Everyone, please be quiet and don't disturb the children's class," Zhou Maoquan said loudly, using the children as the perfect excuse.

However, the parents were only focused on joining the WeChat group and no one paid any attention to the principal.

For them, the only thing separating their children from leaving Jiahua Art Examination Training Center is the top-ranked professional art exam candidate from Beijing Film Academy.

As long as the authenticity of the students' art exam results is verified, they will not hesitate to enroll in Xingxiang.

Jia Hua disappointed them greatly today.

"..."

Zhou Maoquan stood there awkwardly, feeling as if he had become one with the air around him.

Seeing his colleagues surrounded by parents, he felt a surge of resentment.

They're both surrounded by parents, so why is there such a big difference?
And this colleague, using his ultimate skill right up to my face, that's just too much.

At this moment, he hated Wu Shicheng to the extreme.

It's all Wu Shicheng's fault for not handling things properly and failing to intimidate this person; otherwise, none of this would have happened.

Wu Shicheng, you're truly more trouble than you're worth!

Zhou Maoquan secretly memorized the name 'Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center', determined to investigate it thoroughly later.

If the results are genuine, he wouldn't mind poaching the entire teaching team with high salaries.

These days, is there anyone who would turn down money?
Zhou Maoquan coldly looked at his colleagues in the crowd.

Laugh all you want, but you'll have your day to cry!
……

(End of this chapter)