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

Chapter 314 Starlight Corridor?

The advertising fan's effect far exceeded Zhang Wen's expectations. In just a few days, hundreds of parents called or added him on WeChat to inquire about art exam training.

Of course, the reason why everyone is interested is mainly due to the outstanding results of the previous students in this year's art exams.

Beijing Film Academy's performance program ranks first, Huaxi Opera's performance program ranks second, and Beijing Film Academy's Huaxi Opera's performance program ranks third. Anyone who sees such results would be impressed, after all, the students' achievements are the best calling card for a training school.

Influenced by Zhang Wen, parents of art exam candidates no longer focus on the size of the school when choosing an art exam training school, but instead prioritize the student's art exam results this year.

Student privacy? Trade secrets?
Hehe, if you don't want to talk about it, then bye-bye.

The fact that training schools dare not disclose their students' art exam results is just like how some organizations dare not disclose their finances—there's definitely something wrong with that.

In comparison, Xingxiang Art Exam Training School stands out like a breath of fresh air, giving parents of art exam candidates a sense of reassurance.

July.

The sun is like fire.

The entire city was enveloped in a heatwave.

At noon, Zhang Wen left the film set during his lunch break and drove to the registration office.

On the one hand, they wanted to check on Xu Zining's work performance, and on the other hand, they wanted to hang her photo at the registration point to showcase Xingxiang's strength.

Just like advertising.

Products endorsed by celebrities are bound to attract more attention.

The days when good wine needs no bush are long gone; nowadays, even good wine needs a good location.

The car slowly passed in front of the training center without stopping.

Zhang Wen looked out the car window in confusion. The roadside was full of parked cars, one after another, with no parking space available.

what's the situation?
His eyes were full of question marks.

There are rarely this many cars at this time of day, but in the evenings, many men going to the bathhouse next door park their cars everywhere.

Is the bathhouse having a limited-time promotion? Is there a 12% discount during the day?
I didn't see any red banners.

Zhang Wen drove the car more than 100 meters before finding a parking space on the side of the road. Then, carrying the cardboard box full of photo frames, he walked towards the training center.

As he passed the bathhouse, the door suddenly opened from the inside, and then he saw the lobby manager come out.

"Teacher Zhang, business has been good lately, with a constant flow of people coming and going. When will you come over and patronize my business?"

"It's just a small matter," Zhang Wen said after hearing this, but from the other party's words, it seemed that many parents had come to consult in the past few days.

"Teacher Zhang, you're too modest. Look at all these cars on the roadside; they're all going to your place."

"what?"

Zhang Wen was taken aback. Weren't the owners of these cars going to the bathhouse?

He strode into the training center, and as soon as he reached the corner between the first and second floors, he heard Xu Zining's voice, as well as many other unfamiliar voices.

"I heard that this art exam training school had excellent results in the performance exams this year. Not only did it have 3 students in the top 10 of the Beijing Film Academy's performance exam, but it also had 3 students in the top 10 of the Huazhong Opera's performance exam..."

"I only came because I heard about this. I also went to see the teaching building that's being renovated. It has three floors and is quite large..."

"I was originally planning to enroll my child in Huanya Art Exam Training School, but then I heard from other parents that the principal of this training school is a very famous songwriter who is familiar with many singers, so I came to check it out. I don't know if it's true or not..."

"..."

After listening to the parents' discussion for a while, Zhang Wen went up to the second floor.

The moment he pushed open the door, he was immediately stunned by the scene before him.

The office was packed with people, and even the corridor was full of them; there were at least a dozen.

He looked at the cardboard box in his arms. He had originally intended to hang the photo frames inside in his office, but now it seemed that the box was overcrowded and he couldn't get in at all. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people standing in the corridor.

Forget it.

Since you can't get into the office, just hang the picture frame in the hallway; the effect will be the same.

Thinking of this, Zhang Wen put down the cardboard box, took out a strong, traceless hook from it, stuck it on the wall of the corridor, and then hung the photo frame with the photo on it.

One, two, three... a row was quickly hung up.

Zhang Wen's unusual behavior attracted the attention of some parents, and soon some of them recognized him as the person who was handing out advertisements outside the school.

He seems to be the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center.

"Are you Principal Zhang?" a parent asked.

"Yes, it's me." Zhang Wen nodded.

"Principal Zhang, what are you doing?" a parent asked in confusion.

"There's nowhere to put some photos in the teaching building, so we'll hang them here for now. Once the school building is renovated, we'll send these photos over," Zhang Wen explained as he hung the photos, his hands never stopping.

"photo?"

The parents' eyes were drawn to the photos in the frame.

In the photo, there is a man and a woman. The man is Principal Zhang, who is hanging up photos, and the woman... looks familiar, like a female celebrity.

"This is Bai Lu!" A parent recognized her first, his face full of surprise.

After this reminder, some parents remembered it.

"Principal Zhang, do you know Bai Lu?" the parent asked curiously.

“I know her.” Zhang Wen thought to himself: I not only know Bai Lu, I’m also Bai Lu’s boyfriend.

One parent suddenly remembered something and immediately went to the other photos that were hanging in front.

"Qin Lan!"

Tao Huimin!

"Yang Liling!"

"..."

One celebrity name after another came out of this parent's mouth, and other parents, upon hearing this, also came over to take a look.

As the saying goes: many hands make light work.

With so many people, everyone was recognized, whether they were newcomers to the entertainment industry who had only been in the business for a few years or veterans who hadn't been in the spotlight for a long time.

Familiar faces and names abound, and Principal Zhang is always present among these celebrities.

A few photos with celebrities aren't anything special, but having so many photos with celebrities is quite remarkable. Parents couldn't help but turn their attention to the principal who was still hanging up the photos; it seemed he was not only a renowned teacher in the art exam training industry but also a celebrity in the entertainment circle.

Zhang Wen continued hanging photos as if no one else was around, starting from the entrance on the second floor and extending all the way to the outside of the office, with photos on both the left and right walls, aiming to dazzle the eyes.

Soon, all sixty-plus photos were hung up.

The corridor, which is more than ten meters long, is like a red carpet, with photos of him and celebrities on both sides.

No, this isn't the Walk of Fame, it's the Star Corridor.

Which art student wouldn't be confused by such a scene?
Some parents who had just finished their consultations and were walking out of the office stopped and looked over when they saw other parents staring at the picture frames on the wall.

After seeing the celebrity in the photo, the parents, who were initially undecided, immediately made a decision.

Report to Xingxiang!

You have to come here!
Zhang Wen didn't go into the office; he hung up the photos and then left the training center.

As for the assessment of Xu Zining, he had just overheard Xu Zining's conversation with the parents.

As expected of someone with three years of experience working as a receptionist at an art exam preparation school, she spoke fluently about Xingxiang Training and answered parents' questions with ease.

Whether he can convince the parents is unknown, but the other party's performance has already earned his approval. Having such a receptionist can save him a lot of time.

……

A parent walked out of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center, hurriedly walked to a car parked on the side of the road, quickly opened the door and got in.

"So, did you find out the name of the acting teacher?" the man in the driver's seat asked impatiently.

He took off his sunglasses, revealing himself to be Zhou Maoquan, the principal of Jia Hua Art Examination Training School. His purpose in coming here today was to find out who the performance teacher at Xingxiang Art Examination Training School was, and then poach them.

He couldn't compete with the students' art exam scores this year, but he was confident he could win in terms of money.

More than a decade of operation has not been a charity affair.

“Principal, I couldn’t find out.” The teacher, disguised as a student’s parent, shook his head. “The staff only said that the acting teacher came from a top entertainment company, but they didn’t say the name.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Maoquan immediately frowned, a sense of doubt creeping into his mind.

Other art exam training schools post information about their famous teachers as a key part of their advertising, but Xingxiang is different; they keep their teachers' information confidential.

Could it be that they anticipated other art exam preparation institutions would try to poach their teachers, which is why they kept the teachers' information confidential?

How cunning!

"Principal, although I didn't find out who the acting teacher is, I did find out who the principal of this training institution is," the male teacher said mysteriously.

“I know who it is. Isn’t it that young man who caused trouble a few days ago? What’s the use of telling me this? Do you want me to poach this principal?” Zhou Maoquan said irritably, still angry at the thought of what happened that night.

It's embarrassing to admit that one of the top five art exam training schools in Beijing has students whose exam results are worse than those of an unknown art exam training school.

Since that night, more than thirty parents have wanted to cancel their enrollment in the art exam preparation class. If he hadn't promised to poach teachers from Xingxiang Training School, even more parents would probably have opted to withdraw.

"Principal, listen to me. Xingxiang's principal is Zhang Wen, a famous songwriter who works at Tianxi Media," the male teacher said with a smile.

"What?" Zhou Maoquan was stunned for a moment, then he laughed, and his smile was so bright that all his previous anger and resentment had disappeared.

The five major art exam training schools in Beijing are all backed by entertainment companies.

For example, Huanya Art Exam Training School is actually owned by the general manager of Huanya Entertainment Company; Yiying Art Exam Training School was opened by the younger brother of the president of Tianyi Media.

The principals of these art training institutions are not the owners of the schools, but rather the administrators; the real owners are someone else entirely.

The Jiahua Art Examination Training Center, which he manages, is backed by Tianxi Media.

Li Lehua, the general manager of Tianxi Media, is one of the investors in Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center. The "Hua" in Jia Hua is the same as the "Hua" in Li Lehua. Another investor is veteran actress Xu Jia, who is a close friend of Li Lehua.

He worked at Tianxi Media in his early years, and was later noticed by Li Lehua, who arranged for him to serve as the principal of Jiahua Art Examination Training School.

After more than a decade of hard work, he now receives some dividends in addition to his salary, making him a small boss at Jia Hua.

“Principal…” the male teacher sitting in the passenger seat said, “Since this Mr. Zhang works at Tianxi Media, I think the top entertainment company the staff mentioned should also be referring to Tianxi Media. As long as you talk to the big boss, Xingxiang Training will naturally disappear.”

Zhou Maoquan smiled. "Of course."

However, he did not intend to alarm the big boss immediately, as that would make him appear very incompetent.

Now that he has figured out his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, he will deal with it himself.

Thinking of this, Zhou Maoquan took out his phone and dialed a number.

The other person was his former colleague at Tianxi Media, and is still working at the company today.

"Beep...beep...click!"

The call connected quickly.

"Old Liu, this is Zhou Maoquan. How have you been lately? Everything's alright... Bring your sister-in-law out sometime, let's have a meal together... By the way, do you know someone named Zhang Wen... the trainee instructor in charge of the training department? Got it... It's nothing, just asking casually, I won't disturb your lunch break."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Maoquan's smile widened.

It turns out he's the head of teaching at the training department. No wonder Xingxiang's teachers come from a top entertainment company. It seems Zhang Wen is using company resources for his own benefit.

Moreover, according to him, the training department has explicit regulations prohibiting training teachers from running classes outside the department.

Although the purpose of the regulations is to prevent teachers from contacting trainees privately and making money from them, thus affecting normal teaching and fairness, and has nothing to do with art exam training, violating the regulations is still violating the regulations.

Hey Zhang, why didn't you work honestly at Tianxi Media? Why did you have to come out and provoke me?
Zhou Maoquan took out an advertising fan for Xingxiang Art Examination Training School from the storage compartment, then dialed the phone number on it, his face showing a smug sense of confidence.

After a few rings from the microphone, the other end finally answered.

"Hello, this is Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center..."

"Are you Principal Zhang?" Zhou Maoquan interrupted the other person on the phone before they could finish speaking.

"It's me, Principal Zhou. I wonder what advice you have for me?"

"I didn't expect Principal Zhang to still remember my voice. I heard that your Xingxiang Art Exam Training School is very popular recently, with many parents coming to inquire. That's truly commendable. I just wonder how long it can last," Zhou Maoquan said sarcastically.

"Thank you for your concern, Principal Zhou. You can promote Xingxiang more so that we can last longer."

"Of course I can help you with publicity, but I don't know how Tianxi Media will deal with you when they find out you're using company resources to run training classes outside," Zhou Maoquan said with a sneer.

"What, you can't beat someone up, so you want to go and complain? Principal Zhou, you're such a grown man, how come you're still acting like a primary school student? You're really getting more and more eccentric as you get older. I used to respect you quite a bit and thought you were a senior in this field, but now I look down on you a bit."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Maoquan immediately became enraged.

Do you think I deserve your respect?

……

(End of this chapter)