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

Chapter 507 Cowardly Appearance
On Tuesday morning, shortly after Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center opened, reporters and online celebrities flocked to the center, instantly surrounding the front desk.

"Hello, I'm a reporter from the Beijing Literature and Art Daily. Is Principal Zhou Maoquan here?"

"I'm a reporter from News Headlines. Regarding the 100 million yuan bet proposed by Principal Zhang Wen of Xingxiang School, does Principal Zhou of Jiahua School intend to accept it?"

"Did you really threaten and force those two acting teachers you poached from Xingxiang to switch jobs?"

"..."

Faced with the microphones held up by reporters and countless mobile phone cameras, Li Xiaona, the receptionist who had just changed into her uniform, unconsciously shrank back.

This was the first time she had encountered such a situation, and she was filled with panic. She couldn't help but miss the days when Liu Qing was around, but unfortunately, Liu Qing had already resigned, leaving her alone to face it all.

Li Xiaona took a deep breath, trying to appear calm, her mind racing as she recalled the principal's instructions from that morning: "No matter who asks about the bet, say you don't know. If they ask if I'm there, say I'm attending an academic conference out of town and won't be back for at least a week."

Thinking of this, she raised her head and forced a smile: "I'm sorry everyone, I don't know anything about the bet or the drama teacher leaving. As for our Principal Zhou, he's not at the school; he's out of town attending an academic conference."

"Don't know? Really?" A male reporter immediately took out his phone, opened the video of Xingxiang's audition, and held the screen in front of Li Xiaona. "It's this video. Principal Zhang of Xingxiang is going to bet 100 million on next year's art exam results, and he specifically named Jiahua to take on the challenge. The whole internet is talking about it now. You didn't know?"

Li Xiaona clenched her fists tightly, forcing herself to stare at the screen while pretending to be curious.

Actually, she had watched the video last night, and many times. Some friends even sent it to her, so it was impossible for her not to notice it.

She was quite excited at the time, thinking that the principal would definitely accept the bet and teach Xingxiang a lesson, avenging the loss of students last year.

But she never dreamed that she would see the principal's cowardly appearance as soon as she got to work today.

Ugh, how embarrassing!
Li Xiaona patiently watched the entire video, feigning ignorance. "I've never heard of this before. Our front desk only handles registration and inquiries. I really don't know anything about things like accepting bets. Why don't you leave your contact information, and I'll pass on the message when the principal returns?"

As she spoke, she pretended to take out a registration book to deal with the reporters.

Seeing that they couldn't get anything out of the front desk, one of the reporters and online influencers asked, "Could we go in and interview the teachers of your acting training class? Preferably Ms. Han Wanling and Ms. Zhou Min."

"This... I'm afraid that won't work." Li Xiaona shook her head with difficulty. "Our teacher is preparing lesson plans and cannot give interviews..."

However, before she could finish speaking, an internet celebrity suddenly ran towards the stairs at an incredible speed.

However, the devil may be one foot tall, but the righteous are ten feet tall.

Just as the internet celebrity was about to step onto the steps, two security guards suddenly appeared and stopped her, looking like gatekeepers.

Seeing this, everyone had already believed the receptionist's explanation, but the appearance of the security guard directly exposed the lie.

Which training institution's security guards would block the stairwell?
If something's wrong, they're definitely on guard.

The internet celebrity realized this too, glanced upstairs, and then said with a smile, "I need to use the restroom, could I borrow it?"

"There's a KFC across the street, you can go there," the security guard said casually, pointing in the direction.

"Bro, I can't hold it in anymore, really," the internet celebrity said with a pained expression, looking like he desperately needed to pee.

"There are plastic bags at the front desk, quickly stuff them into your crotch," the security guard said.

The internet celebrity was speechless.

Does anyone talk like this?
Li Xiaona gave the two security guards a wink, and the two guards immediately stepped forward, forcing the internet celebrity to retreat repeatedly.

Seeing this, the other reporters and online influencers knew they wouldn't get any interesting interviews today, so they all turned and left.

As she walked out of the gates of Jia Hua Art Examination Center, a female reporter suddenly stopped.

"I don't think the receptionist was telling the truth. She definitely knows about the bet and is just pretending not to know."

"That's what I thought too, but there are security guards here, so we can't go in and can't conduct interviews," a reporter next to me said.

“We definitely can’t get in as reporters, but as parents of art students, I don’t believe the security guards will stop us,” the female reporter said.

Upon hearing this, the others' eyes immediately lit up.

Yes, this is an art exam training center. If we can't allow reporters to interview, we can't stop the parents of the candidates from coming to inquire, can we?

Once you can get in and meet the acting teacher, you can ask whatever you want.
"Jiang Xin, it has to be you again!" A male reporter gave a thumbs-up to the female reporter who had just spoken, but quickly put away his smile and frowned as he asked, "But we've already been inside. They remember what we look like. We'll definitely be discovered if we pretend to be parents of art students."

"Idiot! Can't you disguise yourself? Change your clothes, wear sunglasses, draw your eyebrows and put on some powder, then no one will be able to tell. Do I have to teach you this? How can you be a reporter?" Jiang Xin rolled her eyes at the male reporter, her eyes full of contempt.

Disguise is one of the essential skills for journalists, not for the sake of looking good, but to avoid being recognized.

The male reporter blushed and scratched his head sheepishly.

Others, having received the signal, left one after another; even the online celebrities were preparing to go.

Jiang Xin watched the hurried figures of those people, a triumphant smile flashing in her eyes. However, she did not wait to watch the show. Instead, she returned to the car not far away. When she came out again, she had transformed from a simple and unpretentious reporter into a fashionable woman.

She had to complete the tasks assigned by her boss, and not only that, she had to be at the forefront to demonstrate her value.

Otherwise, what's the difference between her and ordinary reporters?
Jiang Xin, wearing large sunglasses, stepped into the gate of Jia Hua Art Examination Center.

Li Xiaona, the receptionist, didn't recognize him and gave a professional smile. "Hello, are you here to inquire about art exam training?"

"Well, my younger sister is about to be a senior in high school. She has studied dance for five years and acting for half a year and wants to get into Beijing Film Academy." Jiang Xin briefly introduced her situation. "We were originally planning to go to Xingxiang, but I heard that you guys recruited Teacher Han Wanling. My friend said that she is very good at teaching students, so I came to ask. If she is not here, I will not apply."

Li Xiaona's eyes flickered. She liked parents who came specifically for a particular teacher because they were more likely to sign up and stay.

"Parent, you've come to the right place. Teacher Han Wanling is indeed here at Jia Hua," Li Xiaona said warmly.

"Oh? Really?" Jiang Xin feigned surprise. "Is Teacher Han at school? Can I talk to her about the details of acting instruction?"

“Okay, I’ll take you there now.” Li Xiaona came out from behind the front desk, greeted the security guard, and then went upstairs.

"That's great, thank you for your help," Jiang Xin said.

"It's nothing," Li Xiaona waved her hand and led the way.

Jiang Xin easily arrived at the third floor and entered the performance teaching and research office.

“Ms. Han, this parent would like to talk to you about teaching matters,” Li Xiaona said as she approached Han Wanling.

Because several teachers had left, many desks were freed up, so the arrival of Han Wanling and Zhou Min did not make the classroom crowded.

Han Wanling's current office is the same office that Wang Xiyue used to work at.

Originally, Han Wanling was only working part-time at Jiahua, but recently, due to the training registration period, she, as the star teacher of the performance class, has to temporarily stay here as instructed by General Manager Li.

She now misses the days when she worked part-time at Xingxiang. Principal Zhang would never let her recruit students, and she was never ostracized by her colleagues.

She could sense that Jia Hua realized that all the acting teachers were ostracizing her and Zhou Min.

Sigh, I don't know when this will end!
"Hello, please have a seat." Han Wanling gestured to the chair next to her.

Jiang Xin glanced at the other acting teachers, then sat down and started chatting about her younger sister's background. However, as soon as the receptionist left, she immediately changed the subject, seemingly casually saying, "Teacher Han, if I may ask, Xingxiang said they have a complete teaching system and even dared to bet 100 million. Does this mean Jiahua is indeed inferior to Xingxiang? You've worked for both, could you elaborate?"

Han Wanling's lips twitched. Who would ask such a question? Isn't this a death trap?

She could clearly sense that her new colleagues were eavesdropping. If she didn't answer well, she would inevitably suffer from passive-aggressive behavior, and it might even reach Li Lehua's ears.

"I'm sorry, I've only been at Jia Hua for two days and I don't know much about the teaching methods here yet. But I will do my best to teach every student in the class well and help them realize their dreams of becoming actresses," Han Wanling said earnestly.

"Oh, there's one more thing, Teacher Han. Don't blame me for being nosy, but I heard you were threatened into coming to Jiahua to teach. Is that true?" Jiang Xin asked, her sunglasses off, her eyes blinking like a curious child.

Han Wanling's expression changed; this was yet another question that could cost her her life.

If this were a private office, she might tell the truth. But now there are many people around, and if the truth reaches Mr. Li's ears, he might threaten her with being fired again.

"No, nothing like that." Han Wanling shook her head gently, but her smile seemed a little forced.

"Really? You mean that Principal Zhang of Xingxiang was lying in the video?" Jiang Xin asked.

"No, no..."

At this moment, Han Wanling completely panicked. She already felt guilty towards Zhang Wen, and if she spoke ill of him again, she would have nightmares at night.

She suddenly stood up from her seat. "Excuse me, parent, I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. If you have any questions about the course, you can ask the front desk."

After saying that, he picked up his bag and hurriedly left the office.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Min immediately got up and chased after her, fearing that this gossipy parent, having failed to get an answer from Han Wanling, would then turn her attention to her.

Jiang Xin didn't leave because Han Wanling ran away. Instead, she looked at another teacher and asked, "Teacher, I saw a video last night. Principal Zhang of Xingxiang wants to bet 100 million with your Principal Zhou on the performance class's college entrance exam results next year. You are both teachers of the performance class. What do you think? Do you think the odds are good? Also, do you think Principal Zhou will agree?"

"..."

The office fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

The teacher being questioned simply looked down at her lesson plan, pretending not to hear.

“This teacher…” Jiang Xin reached out and patted the other person on the shoulder.

"Huh? What video? What bet? I don't know anything about it." The teacher quickly shook his head.

“I have a video here,” Jiang Xin said, taking out her phone.

The teacher, however, turned pale, jumped up, and said, "I'm going to the restroom, I'll be right back." Then she slipped away.

Jiang Xin then focused her gaze on the oldest male teacher, but as soon as she walked over, he seemed to sense her presence, instantly put down his pen, and said as he stood up, "I'm going to the restroom too."

"Teacher Hu, wait for me, my stomach hurts a little." Another male teacher ran out, his face full of pain, as if he would transform into a jetpack warrior at any moment.

"..."

Jiang Xin was speechless. If she didn't know the issue was too sensitive, she would have even suspected that there was poison in the air in Jiahua, otherwise why would everyone be running to the toilet?
She glanced at the remaining teachers, all of whom were writing furiously. However, she gave up the idea of ​​asking further questions, knowing that even if she did, she wouldn't get any information and might even end up asking them into the bathroom.

Besides, other colleagues will be arriving later, so we need to leave some room for them, right?

Of course, this doesn't mean she will give up.

Jiang Xin walked out of the performance teaching and research room and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, went straight upstairs.

She wanted to see if Jia Hua's principal was actually there.

We soon arrived at the fifth floor.

Because of the nameplate on the door, Jiang Xin quickly found the principal's office.

She didn't knock on the door immediately, but instead pressed her head against it, listening quietly to what was happening inside.

Huh? It sounds like someone is talking.

Sure enough, going to another city to attend an academic conference was just an excuse to appease these reporters. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that as soon as public opinion about Zhou Maoquan appeared online, he went to another city?

"Knock knock knock!" Jiang Xin gently knocked on the door.

"..."

At the same time, the office fell silent instantly, and the noise stopped abruptly.

Jiang Xin frowned slightly and then made three more light, skillful movements.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

"..."

Her answer was still quiet.

Jiang Xin couldn't help but try to turn the doorknob, but the door seemed to be locked and wouldn't budge.

I rub!

Did Old Deng lock himself in his office?
Just as Jiang Xin was about to think of other solutions, a voice suddenly came from behind her.

"what are you doing?"

Jiangxin turned her head and saw a middle-aged man with a bald head walking quickly towards her with a very serious expression.

"I'm a parent of a student, and I'm here to consult the principal about the acting class," Jiang Xin said calmly.

"Consulting about acting classes?" Zhu Zhengyan's face darkened. "Why are you coming to the principal for advice instead of asking the acting teacher?"

“I was having a nice chat with Ms. Han Wanling when she suddenly had to leave, so I wanted to ask the principal. I think the principal must know Ms. Han very well,” Jiang Xin explained.

Zhu Zhengyan's expression softened a bit, but then he remembered the phone call the principal had just made to him, so he said, "The principal went out of town to attend an academic conference and won't be back for another week. If you have any questions, you can ask me. I am Zhu Zhengyan, the teaching director of Jia Hua Art Examination Center."

"Oh, Director Zhu, I'd like to inquire about Teacher Han's classes. What classes does she teach, and how much is the tuition?" Jiang Xin asked several questions in a row.

"Parent, come to my office, I have some brochures there," Zhu Zhengyan said.

"Okay, sure." Jiang Xin replied, glanced at the office, didn't reveal that there was someone inside, and left directly with the suddenly appearing Director Zhu.

Although I didn't get to interview Zhou Maoquan, it's okay, as long as he's at Jiahua.

As long as the person is here, there will always be a chance to catch them.

……

(End of this chapter)