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

Chapter 319 Give me face

"..."

After Zheng Gaoyuan revealed everything he knew, an eerie silence fell over the room. No one expected that an educator would be so despicable and shameless as to try to incite conflict between other art exam training schools and reap the benefits behind the scenes.

Isn't this treating our competitors like fools?

Zhang Wen was a little better off, since he had already learned about this from another teacher, Jia Hua. However, the people from Huanya were so angry that they gritted their teeth and wished they could beat the mastermind behind all this to a pulp.

"Zhou Maoquan, that bastard!" Zhao Shulian couldn't help but curse loudly.

As fellow professionals in the arts training industry, competition is inevitable. We poach teachers and students, and although conflicts occasionally arise, we always confront each other head-on. Regardless of who wins or loses, we accept the outcome.

But Zhou Maoquan's underhanded tactics and secret instigation of conflicts among his peers are simply the epitome of despicable behavior, utterly despicable.

She must get an explanation from Zhou Maoquan today.

Thinking of this, Zhao Shulian immediately took out her phone from her pocket and found Zhou Maoquan's number...

"Principal Zhao, what are you doing?" Zheng Gaoyuan asked nervously.

“Call your principal,” Zhao Shulian said bitterly.

"No, didn't you promise me you wouldn't let our principal know?" Zheng Gaoyuan felt like crying.

That's it, I've definitely lost my job.

“That was Principal Zhang’s promise to you, not mine,” Zhao Shulian said coldly.

"what?"

Zheng Gaoyuan felt betrayed and quickly turned to look at Principal Zhang, his face full of pleading.

"Don't look at me like that. This is Principal Zhao's personal behavior, and I can't interfere." Zhang Wen shrugged, looking helpless. "However, I can swallow my pride and plead with Principal Zhao on your behalf, but you have to give me face too. You can let bygones be bygones about the fight, okay?"

Zheng Gaoyuan thought of the 100,000 yuan compensation and nodded, saying, "Okay, I won't pursue this further."

“That’s right.” Zhang Wen smiled, then picked up the five stacks of money on the table and returned them to the principal of Huanya Art Examination Center, saying, “Principal Zhao, please give me some face and don’t mention this person when you call Zhou Maoquan.”

Zhao Shulian had a good impression of the young principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Training School, and considering that her own employee was indeed in the wrong, she nodded and said, "Okay, Principal Zhang, I'll give you this face."

Zheng Gaoyuan, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded. Looking at the money that had been taken back, he asked, "The money... where's my compensation?"

Zhang Wen looked over suspiciously. "Didn't you promise not to pursue this? Of course I have to return this money to Principal Zhao. What, you want the money but don't want Principal Zhao to mention you in front of your principal? What kind of dream are you?"

"But, but didn't I get beaten for nothing? There's a reason for the grievance, and the debtor should be held responsible. This was our principal's idea, so you can go find him. I'm just an employee, what does it have to do with me?" Zheng Gaoyuan said with a bitter face.

He got beaten up but didn't get a penny in compensation. What's the difference between him and a loser?
"You're still claiming innocence? Does that mean you'd kill someone just because Zhou Maoquan told you to? Don't try to portray yourself as completely innocent. If your principal is the brain, then you're his hand. No one is innocent," Zhang Wenyi said sternly.

"But..." Zheng Gaoyuan hesitated for a long time before stopping, his eyes filled with innocence and frustration.

The lives of working people are so tough.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Shulian worried that pushing the beaten person to the brink of a fight to the death would lead her to put two stacks of money in her pocket and leave the remaining three stacks on the table.

"Alright, here's 30,000 yuan for you, consider it compensation."

Zheng Gaoyuan stared blankly at the money on the table. The change from 100,000 to 30,000 was so disheartening that he felt like crying.

If I had known this would happen, I should have spoken up earlier and agreed when Principal Zhao of Huanya asked for 100,000 yuan in compensation. Perhaps then it wouldn't have gone from 100,000 to 30,000.

That hesitation cost them 70,000 yuan.

"Principal Zhao is very generous," Zhang Wen said, then looked at the person who had been hit, "What are you standing there for? Quickly thank Principal Zhao."

Zheng Gaoyuan felt upset and wanted to cry.

You get hit and then have to say thank you? What kind of behavior is that?

However, he also knew that if he hesitated like before, he might not even get the 30,000 yuan.

"Thank you, Principal Zhao."

Sigh, thirty thousand it is, it's better than getting nothing at all.

The police officer standing by was very happy. He didn't say anything, and the two parties resolved the issue themselves, which saved them a lot of trouble.

Soon, the three parties walked out of the police station.

Zheng Gaoyuan was a little worried and looked at the principal of Huanya Art Examination Center, saying, "Principal Zhao, didn't you want to call our principal? You can call now."

Zhao Shulian saw through the other party's ulterior motives. She was indeed determined to settle accounts with Zhou Maoquan, so she took out her phone...

However, just as he was about to dial, a voice came from beside him.

"Principal Zhao, don't fight yet."

It's Zhang Wen.

"Hmm? Why?" Zhao Shulian asked, puzzled.

“Principal Zhao, I don’t know if you know any other principals of training schools. As you just heard, Zhou Maoquan not only arranged for people to distribute advertisements around your Huanya, but also around other art exam schools. I think more of our peers should know about his despicable behavior,” Zhang Wen said seriously.

“That’s right!” Zhao Shulian agreed.

It is very important for our peers to know about this. If Zhou Maoquan can send people to impersonate Xingxiang teachers to distribute Xingxiang's promotional advertisements around Huanya today, he will dare to send people to impersonate Huanya teachers to distribute Huanya's promotional advertisements around other training schools tomorrow.

If other training schools misunderstand and secretly target Huanya, she won't even know who did it.

Only by letting more colleagues know about Zhou Maoquan's actions, and with witnesses and physical evidence, can we know who did it in the future if similar incidents occur, and prevent others from being wrongly implicated.

"It's so late, I wonder if the people handing out the ads have left yet," said supervisor Liu Fucheng.

“It’s alright, Zhou Maoquan won’t just stay for one day. If he leaves, consider it a reminder to other art exam schools. Keep looking for him tomorrow; we’ll catch him sooner or later. We absolutely can’t let this rotten fish spoil our good soup,” Zhang Wen said.

Zhao Shulian nodded.

“I have the mobile phone numbers of the principals of the three training schools, Huaying Art Exam, Mindful Art Exam, and Yiying Art Exam. I’ll call them now.”

After saying that, he found the phone number of the principal of Huaying Film Academy and dialed it.

“Principal Li, this is Zhao Shulian from Huanya. I have something to tell you… I just got out of the police station. Please send someone to check on things immediately. We absolutely cannot let Zhou Maoquan succeed… You’re right, competition is competition, but we can’t be so despicable… Okay, I’ll wait for your news.”

"Principal Dong, this is Zhao Shulian. I have something very important to tell you..."

"..."

Jiahua, Huaying, Huanya, Xinling, and Yiying are known as the five major art exam training schools in Beijing. Soon, Zhao Shulian notified the other three.

In addition, she called the heads of several other reputable art exam preparation schools, partly to expose Zhou Maoquan's shamelessness and partly to avoid being unfairly targeted by competitors. What Zhou Maoquan did today could happen to Xingxiang, and tomorrow it could happen to Huanya.

Nobody wants to be blamed.

"Principal Zhang, I've already notified six colleagues, and I believe we'll get a reply soon," Zhao Shulian said with a smile as she put down her phone.

"Principal Zhao, now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I'll be leaving now," Zhang Wen said.

"Principal Zhang, thank you so much for today. If it weren't for you, I would still be in the dark and almost fall for that bastard Zhou Maoquan's tricks," Zhao Shulian said earnestly.

If it were just about handing out flyers around Huanya, she wouldn't be so angry. Everyone is in the same industry, and competition is inevitable. At worst, she could just send people to hand out flyers around the other company's school.

But she couldn't accept being used as a pawn or made a fool of.

“Principal Zhao, you’re too kind. I just want to restore a healthy competitive environment to the art exam training industry and prevent it from becoming a mess due to certain individuals,” Zhang Wen said, waving his hand.

“Yes, you’re right.” Zhao Shulian nodded.

"And what about me?" Zheng Gaoyuan asked.

Zhao Shulian immediately rolled her eyes at the other person and said coldly, "What, are you afraid I'll lie to you? I said I wouldn't mention your name, and I won't."

"..."

Zheng Gaoyuan sighed inwardly, turned away dejectedly, and could only silently pray that the other party would keep their word.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Zhang Wen drove away.

Zhao Shulian did not linger at the police station entrance, but instead called her employees to get into the car.

Since the police station was not far from the school, the group quickly returned to the school.

"Principal, I'm sorry. I was wrong today. I shouldn't have hit someone impulsively."

In the principal's office, the supervisor, Liu Fucheng, took the initiative to admit his mistake. He said that if he hadn't started it, he wouldn't have been in such a passive position at the police station, and he wouldn't have had to pay 30,000 yuan in compensation.

Zhao Shulian waved her hand, "It's alright, it's all in the past, don't mention it again. Besides, if we hadn't gone to the police station, we wouldn't have known the truth."

"Principal, I..."

Liu Fucheng was about to speak when an electronic bell suddenly rang inside the room.

Zhao Shulian took out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and immediately answered the call.

"Principal Li, how is it?"

The caller was none other than Principal Li of Huaying Art Examination Training School.

“Principal Zhao, we found one. He tried to run away at first, but we caught him. Just like you said, Jia Hua’s teacher was handing out advertisements for Xingxiang Art Exam Training. At first, he tried to deny it, but as soon as he heard that the police were calling, he immediately confessed everything. This Zhou Maoquan, I never thought he would be this kind of person!”

"Principal Li, it's enough that we know his true colors. We must never fall for a similar trick again."

"Yeah. I know."

"..."

Just as Zhao Shulian hung up the phone, it rang again. This time it was Principal Cui from the Mindful Arts Examination Training School.

"Principal Zhao, I just sent people to search the surrounding area, but we didn't find the person you mentioned..."

"They probably left after handing out the flyers. Just now, Principal Li from Huaying called me; he caught one."

"Is that so? That bastard Zhou Maoquan, I won't let him get away with this!"

"..."

The phone rang one after another, and the calls I made earlier were all answered.

Ultimately, two training schools discovered that Huanya teachers were impersonating Xingxiang teachers, and teachers from two other schools found Xingxiang Art Exam Training School flyers in the trash cans near the school gates.

A cold smile appeared on Zhao Shulian's face. She then found Zhou Maoquan's phone number and dialed it.

After six or seven beeps, the call was finally answered.

"Principal Zhao, what brings you calling so late?" A man's voice came through the receiver, sounding slightly amused.

"Zhou Maoquan, stop pretending. Don't you know what you've done?" Zhao Shulian said coldly. If cell phone signals could transmit fists, she would definitely give him a hundred punches to vent her anger.

"Oh? I've done many good deeds. I wonder which one you're referring to?" Zhou Maoquan asked with a smile.

"Zhou Maoquan, you are truly shameless! I ask you, why are your Jia Hua teachers handing out Xingxiang Art Exam advertisements around our Huanya area?" Zhao Shulian questioned loudly.

"what?"

Zhou Maoquan, who had been leaning back in his chair, sat up abruptly. His smile froze, and his brows furrowed so deeply that they formed a deep frown.

what's the situation?
How did this guy surnamed Zhao know that the people handing out flyers were Jia Hua's teachers?

It shouldn’t be!

When he sent people out to distribute flyers, he repeatedly instructed them to always start by saying, "I am a teacher at Xingxiang Art Exam Training Center. Interested in our art exam training?"

With such an obvious self-introduction and an advertisement for Xingxiang Art Exam Training Center, who would suspect it's another art exam training center?

Zhou Maoquan unconsciously swallowed, forcing himself to remain calm as he said, "Principal Zhao, are you reciting a tongue twister? I don't understand what you're saying. What Jiahua, what Huanya, what Xingxiang?"

"Zhou Maoquan, you dare to do it but not admit it? You really are a coward. Alright, stop pretending. Our school's teachers know your school's teachers. How do you plan to explain this?" Zhao Shulian asked with a sneer.

"It's a misunderstanding, absolutely a misunderstanding. I don't know the name of the teacher you're talking about. A few days ago, Huanya laid off several teachers who didn't meet their performance targets. Maybe some of them joined Xingxiang. Don't you think I would let my own teachers promote other art exam training schools?"

As Zhou Maoquan explained, he took another cell phone out of the drawer.

He was going to send a text message to Teacher Wang, who was in charge of the matter, and tell her to tell the teacher who went out to hand out flyers to return to school as soon as possible.

Zhao Shulian never expected that even after all this, the other party would still deny it. It seems that Zhou Maoquan is even more shameless than she imagined.

So shameless!
"Zhou Maoquan, I really underestimated you. Since you have no shame, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Not enough words to speculate.

Zhao Shulian hung up the phone immediately, then looked at the supervisor sitting opposite her and said, "Supervisor Liu, arrange for a few teachers to hand out flyers at the entrance of Jia Hua Art Examination Center tomorrow. I also want to annoy Zhou Maoquan."

"Yes, Principal!"

……

(End of this chapter)