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

Chapter 501 Revenge does not last overnight

Sitting in the driver's seat of the Maybach, Zhang Wen did not start the car immediately, but instead looked out the window at the gate of Jia Hua Art Examination Center.

He had deliberately mentioned in the office that Han Wanling and Zhou Min's hourly rate was one thousand, just to make those teachers dissatisfied with Jia Hua.

He had clearly succeeded. The acting teachers looked extremely unhappy, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

This is equivalent to planting a seed of discontent in the hearts of those teachers. Over time, it will definitely take root and speak out. Zhou Maoquan's act of bringing Han Wanling and Zhou Min to Jiahua will undoubtedly accelerate the growth of this seed. When that happens, poaching people will be a piece of cake.
Zhang Wen waited quietly in the car. About half an hour passed, and he guessed that Zhou Maoquan should have introduced Han Wanling and Zhou Min to the acting teachers. Then he picked up his phone, opened the WeChat list of the acting teachers, a total of 14, and sent the same message to each of them.

"Teacher, do you have time? I'd like to talk to you."

After sending the message, he gripped his phone tightly in his hand, rubbing his fingers along the edge of the screen, waiting for a reply.

The 14 acting teachers received the message almost simultaneously, and each of them assumed that the parent wanted to enroll in their acting class, so they quickly and happily replied.

"If you have time, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Ask me anytime, and I'll answer to the best of my knowledge."

"There's time..."

Zhang Wen's phone kept vibrating and only stopped after a while.

He looked through them one by one, and the replies were all very similar, so he sent the same message to all 14 acting teachers.

"Actually, I am the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center. After getting to know you a bit, I think you are very suitable for Xingxiang. Would you like to consider joining us? The tuition fee is 700 yuan per hour. Part-time or full-time positions are both available."

Soon, all 14 acting teachers received the WeChat message, but compared to before, everyone's eyes were filled with surprise, and the office fell into an eerie silence.

No one expected that the parent who came for consultation would be the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center, let alone that they would be chosen by Principal Zhang.

At this moment, everyone's feelings were very complicated. There was the anxiety of being discovered by colleagues, the surprise of being noticed by Principal Xingxiang, and the delight of the 700 teaching hours fee, which was much more than what they earned at Jiahua, almost double.

Principal Zhou had just introduced the new acting teacher, and everyone was in a bad mood, fearing that their salaries would be affected or they might even be laid off by the school.

Now that's great, with Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center as a safety net, I no longer have to worry about being laid off.

The 14 acting teachers sat at their workstations, their eyes darting around. Seeing that everyone else was diligently preparing their lesson plans, they couldn't wait to reply to Principal Zhang.

"Principal Zhang, thank you for your recognition. Besides the 700 yuan per class hour fee, are there any other benefits?"

"Principal Zhang, thank you for your recognition. I'd like to think about it."

"Principal Zhang, I'm sorry, but I have no plans to leave Jiahua at the moment."

Some considered it, while others refused.

Most people who are considering this are worried that the arrival of a new teacher will affect their income and position. Rather than waiting to be laid off with a base salary, they would rather switch jobs as soon as other art exam preparation institutions extend an olive branch.

As for those who refused, their thinking was simple: Jia Hua is one of the top five art exam training institutions in Beijing, and as the old saying goes, even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Moreover, Jia Hua has already poached Xingxiang's top teachers, so going to Xingxiang at this point would definitely be pointless.

Upon seeing these messages, Zhang Wen directly replied to the teachers who had refused, saying, "If you are unhappy at Jia Hua, you can contact me. Xing Xiang's doors are always open to you."

I then focused more on the information that they said they would consider, and responded to each of their questions one by one.

If you ask about the salary, just tell me about it. If you want to know more, let's schedule a time to discuss it in detail.

After several rounds of screening, three people agreed to join Xingxiang, while four others wanted to continue considering their options and will respond tomorrow.

Zhang Wen was quite satisfied with the result. Jia Hua poached two of his people, but he poached three of theirs, his main principle being an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and revenge without delay.

Zhang Wen thought for a moment, then found the receptionist's WeChat in the list and sent her a message: "Actually, I am the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center. Your professionalism has deeply impressed me. I would like to invite you to work as a receptionist at Xingxiang. The monthly salary is 10,000 yuan, plus five insurances and bonuses. Give me a chance, and give yourself a chance too."

The young lady who was preparing promotional materials at the front desk was stunned when she saw this message. After regaining her senses, she quickly turned off her phone and placed it face down on the table. She then cautiously looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, picked up her phone again to look at the WeChat message.

A monthly salary of 10,000 yuan, plus five social insurances and bonuses—is this the treatment a receptionist should receive?
Simply incredible.

She blinked hard, and after confirming that she wasn't seeing things, her hands began to tremble with excitement.

"Is everything you said true?" Liu Qing replied.

“Really, we can sign the employment contract today,” Zhang Wen replied quickly.

"Okay, I'll resign right away and sign the contract at Xingxiang later." Liu Qing agreed without even thinking.

For her, such generous treatment was not even worth considering; to hesitate even slightly would be disrespectful to her financial power.

It's worth noting that her current salary at Jiahua is 4,000 yuan base salary plus commission and bonuses, never exceeding 10,000 yuan, and she doesn't even have the five social insurances.

“I’m right outside Jiahua Gate. After you resign, get in my car, a two-tone Maybach. We’ll go back to Xingxiang together later.” Zhang Wen typed and then clicked send.

After reading the message, Liu Qing craned her neck to look outside and sure enough, she saw a two-tone Maybach on the roadside not far away. It seemed to be the car.

She pushed Jia Hua's brochure aside, then pulled out an A4 sheet of paper and started writing on it.

"Resignation letter..."

After finishing writing, I folded it a couple of times and hurriedly walked into the elevator next to me.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

Liu Qing knocked very quickly and loudly, as if afraid that the people in the office wouldn't hear her.

"Come in," a man's voice came from inside the door.

Upon hearing this, Liu Qing pushed open the door and entered. In addition to the principal, there were two acting teachers who had just been poached from Xingxiang in the office.

She went straight to the principal, placed the folded A4 paper on the table, and said, "Principal, I'm here to resign."

"Resign?" Zhou Maoquan was slightly taken aback. He unfolded the A4 paper and looked at the contents. It was a long, scribbled piece of paper, the main point of which was that he was earning too little and wanted to find a job that paid more.

He's just a receptionist, not a training instructor. He thinks seven or eight thousand a month is too little? He thinks he's getting paid too much.

If it were a teacher, he might say a few words to try and persuade them to stay, even if it wasn't from the heart, just to put on a show.

But the other party is just a receptionist, a job with a very low technical threshold, so low that almost anyone can do it, and leaving will not have any impact on the school.

"Have you thought it through?" Zhou Maoquan asked calmly.

“I’ve made up my mind. I’ve been working at Jiahua since graduation. As the old saying goes, people strive for higher positions, and water flows downhill. I also want to try my luck in a different environment…”

"okay!"

Before Liu Qing could finish speaking, Zhou Maoquan impatiently interrupted her. He felt that listening for even a second longer was a waste of time, and saying even a single word was a waste of breath.

"I've approved it. Go and complete the handover, then you can leave."

"Thank you, Principal Zhou." Liu Qing said happily as she walked out of the office.

Seeing the other person's happy expression, Zhou Maoquan couldn't help but sneer inwardly: Go ahead, go ahead, you'll know how treacherous society is once you get out.

Half an hour later, Liu Qing walked out of the Xingxiang Art Examination Center with her bag, jogged over to the two-tone Maybach, and gently knocked on the car window.

Zhang Wen rolled down the car window and waved to the other person, "Get in." Liu Qing immediately opened the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and said with a smile after closing the door, "Hello, Principal Zhang."

"Yes, congratulations on joining Xingxiang." Zhang Wen extended his hand to the other person.

Liu Qing quickly grasped the other person's hand, feeling a little excited.

After sitting for only a short while, seeing that the car hadn't started moving yet, I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"Principal Zhang, are we... not leaving now?" Liu Qing asked doubtfully.

"We're not leaving. We're waiting for a few people," Zhang Wen said.

"Oh," Liu Qing responded, then fell silent. Sitting next to the boss, whom she had only met once before, made her feel somewhat awkward.

"Don't worry, it'll be here soon," Zhang Wen reassured him.

A dozen minutes later, people began to walk out of the gate of Jiahua Art Examination Training Center.

It's time to get off work.

When most people had left, a woman suddenly emerged furtively. As she walked, she looked around, and as she approached the Maybach, she quickly opened the door and got in.

"Teacher Chen, we meet again." Zhang Wen greeted her with a smile.

The person who got on the bus was none other than Chen Xiwen, the performance teacher at Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center.

"Hello, Principal Zhang," Chen Xiwen said politely, but after speaking, she saw that Liu Qing, the receptionist, was also sitting in the car, and she froze on the spot.

Liu Qing didn't expect that Principal Zhang would be waiting for Teacher Chen Xiwen. Then, as if she had thought of something, she finally showed a look of sudden realization.

If Principal Zhang can poach her, he can definitely poach other teachers from Jiahua as well.

Just then, a knocking sound came from outside the window.

Liu Qing looked and saw that there was another person standing outside the car at some point. It was Du Zhengyang, the teacher from the performance training class.

Is Teacher Du also going to Xingxiang?

Zhang Wen rolled down the car window, pointed to the back seat, and said, "Teacher Du, get in the car."

Du Zhengyang opened the car door and was about to get in when he froze.

Chen Xiwen? And Liu Qing? What are they doing here?
Worried about being seen by acquaintances, he quickly got into the car and closed the door.

"Teacher Chen, Liu Qing, you too..." Du Zhengyang didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning he wanted to express was already very clear.

Chen Xiwen and Liu Qing nodded in unison.

Just as the three of them were speechless, the familiar "bang bang bang" sound rang out again.

As the car door opened from the outside, another familiar figure appeared.

"Teacher He..."

He Wenshu was stunned for a moment, but fortunately she reacted quickly and squeezed into the car by stepping on the pedal.

"Everyone's here, let's go!" Zhang Wen shouted, and drove quickly away from Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center.

The three teachers sitting in the back row looked at each other, all thinking that Principal Zhang had only poached them, but they didn't expect him to poach all three of them at once.

Principal Zhou poached two people from Xingxiang, while Principal Zhang poached three people from Jiahua—no, four people, plus Liu Qing from the front desk.

They even poached people from the front desk; it seems Principal Zhang is even more ruthless.

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped outside the Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center.

Zhang Wen got out of the car and led the other four people through the gate.

There were still parents in the hall inquiring and registering, although there were not as many as yesterday, but there were still more than a dozen people.

Zhang Wen returned to the office, gestured for the four to sit down, and then took out a labor contract from the cabinet and handed it to Liu Qing. "This is your labor contract. If there are no problems, sign it on the back and you can start working immediately."

Liu Qing carefully reviewed the contract and found no problems with the most important clauses, such as monthly salary, bonus, and social insurance. It was consistent with what they had discussed on WeChat. Only then did she fill in her personal information and write her name at the end of the agreement.

Zhang Wen took a brochure out of the drawer and handed it over. "Quickly read through the contents, then go to the first floor to meet the parents. The person currently meeting them is Xu Zining, the school's head of general affairs. You'll listen to her from now on."

"Okay, Principal, I'll go help Director Xu right now." Liu Qing took the brochure and walked lightly out of the office.

"I now earn over 10,000 yuan a month, plus all five social insurances."

After Liu Qing left, Zhang Wen looked at the remaining three, "Teacher Chen, Teacher Du, Teacher He, I have two ways of cooperating with the training teachers: part-time and full-time. Part-time classes are mostly scheduled in the evenings, while full-time classes are mostly scheduled during the day..."

Chen Xiwen and the others listened attentively. They were teachers at Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center, and if they chose to switch jobs to work at Xingxiang, they would definitely choose to do it full-time.

When they heard that the full-time course was guaranteed at least 60 lessons per month, the three of them immediately lit up.

At 700 per class, that's 42,000 a month, more than double what I used to earn. Back at Jia Hua, I never even dared to dream of that; I couldn't earn that much even if I worked myself to death.

"Teachers, are you planning to choose part-time or full-time positions?" Zhang Wen asked after the introduction.

Previously, all the art exam teachers at Xingxiang were part-time. The reason for adding full-time teachers now is that he plans to open classes during the day as well and make good use of the first half of the year.

Generally, art exam preparation classes usually start in July during summer vacation and end in December, as was the case with Xingxiang last year.

However, this would leave a full six months, from January to June, empty, and Xingxiang would have no one to offer incense to him.

The training center has always been the main source of offerings. If there are no offerings for half a year, how long will it take before one can ascend to immortality?

Therefore, this time he plans to expand and strengthen the business, working year-round without rest, and accumulating more customers.

Previously, he didn't understand the rules for accumulating incense offerings and thought that he had to burn incense to get them. This led to a situation where many students burned incense before class, and some students didn't want to wait and went directly to the classroom, missing out on a lot of incense offerings.

Ever since I met my uncle and aunt during the Lunar New Year, who are the local earth gods and goddesses, and learned from them that prayer can also bring incense offerings, my mind immediately opened up.

In the future, students won't need to queue up to burn incense; they can just pray to his portrait. Parents can also pray with them, which will double the number of worshippers. Just thinking about it makes me feel incredibly happy.

Since the training courses have already started, why not recruit more students and open more art classes?
“Principal Zhang, I choose to work full-time.” Chen Xiwen immediately stated her position.

“Me too,” Du Zhengyang echoed.

“I’m one too,” He Wenshu said.

Upon hearing the reply, Zhang Wen smiled and said, "Okay, take a look at the contract first, then fill out the forms. Once you officially resign from Jia Hua, you can sign your names on the last page and officially become Xing Xiang's teachers."

The three women excitedly accepted the contract, seemingly eager to become members of Xingxiang, as it offered greater financial prospects.

……

(End of this chapter)