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

Chapter 509 Stage Name Zhang Xingxiang

After a week of trial classes, Xingxiang Art Examination Center has seen a new wave of enrollments.

After each trial class, a long, winding line would form in the classroom. Parents would exchange brochures, while art students would clutch their timetables, their eyes filled with anticipation, eager to begin their learning journey at Xingxiang immediately.

Sunday.

With Wang Xiyue announcing the end of the get out of class, the entire trial period of the course came to a close.

Just like the previous days, parents who had already made up their minds stayed to register. Since today was the last day of the trial class and it happened to be the weekend, there were a lot of parents and art students who came to listen to the class, so the registration line was particularly long, stretching all the way into the corridor.

Zhang Wen wasn't idle either; he stepped in as a staff member, moving chairs from the next classroom to set up waiting areas on both sides of the corridor.

"Principal Zhang, did the principal of Jia Hua Art Exam Training Center accept your challenge?" a parent asked curiously, while registering their child for the exam and also indulging in gossip about the most talked-about topic in the art exam training circle recently.

Instead of reading the news, it's better to ask the people involved directly.

"Not yet, they're probably still considering it," Zhang Wen said after hearing this.

"What do you mean he's still considering it? I think he's just chickened out. Otherwise, how come there hasn't been a single word after a week?" said the parent who asked the question.

"I heard that after the principal of Jiahua learned about your challenge, Principal Zhang, he took a plane and went to another city the very next day. I guess he ran away," a parent standing in line at the back said.

"This is escapism. A principal who runs away from problems like this can't run a very good art exam training center. Luckily, I didn't enroll my child in Jia Hua, or my child would have been ruined," a parent lamented.

"Yeah, you're right."

Those around him echoed his sentiments.

As the old saying goes: Facts speak louder than words.

No matter how enticing Jia Hua Art Exam Training may sound during its promotion, it can only run away in front of the real deal.

It's obvious which is better and which is worse.

This is one of the reasons why they chose to come to Xingxiang.

The procession continued moving forward until after 10 p.m.

"Principal!" Xu Zining said excitedly, holding the completed registration form. "Today's registrations have been tallied. The performance class has added 228 students, bringing the total number of students to over 1000, reaching 1056. The dance class has added 103 students, bringing the total to 517. The music class has added 93 students, bringing the total to 532. The total number of students in the three classes combined is 2105."

Zhang Wen took the form and a relieved smile appeared on his face. He hadn't expected that the number of people would exceed two thousand so quickly, far exceeding his expectations.

This is just the beginning; when summer vacation arrives, there will definitely be another wave of registrations.

He wanted to thank Zhou Maoquan, the principal of Jia Hua Art Examination Center. If it weren't for the other party poaching his students and sending people to disrupt the trial classes and create so much buzz, the enrollment results for the trial classes wouldn't have been so good.

He is already considering whether to poach Zhou Maoquan to serve as the director of the admissions office at Xingxiang Art Examination Center.

However, when it comes to poaching talent... the current number of students is already far beyond the limit, and there are clearly not enough teachers for performance, dance, and music.

'It seems we need to find more teachers.'

Where should I look?

Zhang Wen pondered this question as he walked toward his office.

Tianxi Media?

I'm afraid not.

Even if he wanted to, the teachers in the training department wouldn't dare risk being fired by Li Lehua to work for him.

We can continue digging into Jia Hua Art Exam, but since we just finished digging last week, Zhou Maoquan will definitely be on guard and might dig up a landmine.

Or should we post a job advertisement?
No, no!
If parents and art students saw this, they would definitely think that Xingxiang was using new teachers to make up the numbers, which might affect Xingxiang's future enrollment.

Zhang Wen returned to his office, and as soon as he sat down, an idea suddenly popped into his mind.

They can try poaching talent from other entertainment companies!

The teachers in entertainment companies have rich practical experience, which can ensure teaching quality and avoid causing gossip.

Thinking of this, Zhang Wen's mind suddenly cleared, and he immediately took out his phone from his pocket and looked up the contacts in his address book.

He has treated many celebrities and written songs for many singers. While he may not have an extensive network in the entertainment industry, he does know many artists from other entertainment companies.

Scrolling down the list, I quickly spotted someone.

Li Yuqi.

The other party was one of the first female singers to ask him to buy songs, and they had met many times at different events, so they were quite familiar with each other.

If he remembers correctly, the company the other party works for is called Sunshine Entertainment.

Sunshine Entertainment isn't as well-known as Tianxi Media; it's considered a second-tier entertainment company in the industry. Such companies don't have such strict requirements for their employees, and the benefits aren't as good, so it should be relatively easy to poach them.

After making up his mind, he immediately dialed the number, but after seeing the time displayed on his phone, he quickly hung up and sent the other party a text message.

"have you slept?"

"Buzz!"

Not long after the text message was sent, the phone suddenly vibrated. Zhang Wen looked at the screen and saw that it was Li Yuqi calling.

Looks like you're still awake.

He swiped his finger across the screen and held the phone to his ear. "Yuqi, it's so late, I hope I didn't disturb your rest?"

"Without Teacher Zhang, it's not even 11 o'clock yet, there's still a long time before we rest. Did you need something?" Li Yuqi asked curiously.

"Well, I'd like to ask you for a favor. Does your company have acting teachers, music teachers, and dance teachers?" Zhang Wen asked directly.

"Yes," Li Yuqi replied.

Acting teachers, music teachers, and dance teachers are essential employees in every entertainment company. They can teach artists on one hand and trainees on the other. Only small companies don't have these.

"Do you know any? Could you recommend a few? My training institution is short-staffed and urgently needs teachers in these specialties," Zhang Wen said.

"Huh? Teacher Zhang, are you trying to poach our company's employees?" Li Yuqi asked.

"No, I just want to give them more choices in life," Zhang Wen said seriously.

"..."

Li Yuqi was speechless, but she still wanted to help Teacher Zhang. Maybe she would ask him to write songs in the future. Helping him would also bring them closer together.

It's just a few teachers, isn't it?
Even if they leave, the company can always hire someone else.

Thinking of this, she immediately said, "Teacher Zhang, wait a moment, let me ask the assistant. The teacher's number is in her phone."

"Okay, no rush," Zhang Wen said with a smile.

Li Yuqi quickly waved to her assistant, asked for the other person's phone number, and searched through the contacts, soon finding it in the category.

She took pictures of the teachers' numbers and sent them to Teacher Zhang one by one.

"Teacher Zhang, I have six names here, I've already sent them to your WeChat. Is that enough? If not, I'll ask around for you," Li Yuqi said. "That's enough, thank you Yuqi," Zhang Wen said gratefully.

To be honest, six teachers aren't enough, but just like fleecing a sheep, you can't just fleece one sheep, right? You have to leave some for yourself.

Otherwise, if the boss of Sunshine Entertainment finds out that all of their teachers have been poached by Xingxiang Art Examination, wouldn't they have another enemy?
"You're welcome, Teacher Zhang. If you need any help in the future, just let me know. By the way, my new album is almost finished recording and will be officially released in August. Please give me your feedback then," Li Yuqi said.

“No problem, I’ll definitely buy your new album then, to support you with my actions.” Zhang Wen suddenly remembered something and asked, “Is the song I wrote for you, ‘Holding Hands,’ also on this new album?”

“Yes, the name of my album is after your song,” Li Yuqi said.

"Do me one more favor: don't write my name after the lyrics and music of the song 'Holding Hands'."

"what?"

Li Yuqi was completely stunned.

Teacher Zhang is the lyricist and composer of the song "Holding Hands". If we don't write the other person's name, whose name should we write? We can't just leave it blank, can we?
“Yuqi, you should know that many singers are asking me to write songs for them, and many of them are from our company. Think about it, if those singers find out that I’m not writing songs for them, but for singers outside our company, what will they think? Won’t they all condemn me?” Zhang Wen explained.

After hearing this, Li Yuqi nodded.

If we're talking about who's the most sought-after songwriter in the music industry right now, it has to be Zhang Wen.

In particular, his act of smashing the trophy at the Golden Melody Awards ceremony has made him an idol for many young singers.

"Teacher Zhang, who should I write after the lyrics and music?" Li Yuqi asked.

"Let's write Zhang Xingxiang's name," Zhang Wen said after thinking for a moment.

"Who is Zhang Xingxiang?" Li Yuqi was completely confused.

“Zhang Xingxiang is my stage name. Nobody at Tianxi Media knows it, so the company’s singers won’t bother me,” Zhang Wen said.

Li Yuqi suddenly realized.

This method is indeed good.

In the entertainment industry, many artists use stage names, such as Wang Shengjie, the singing and dancing prince who served as a mentor with her on the show "Super Trainee".

In fact, Wang Shengjie's real name is Wang Shengye, which is the name on her ID card. However, she has never been very popular since her debut. Later, she consulted a master who found that there was a problem with her name, so she used Wang Shengjie as her stage name. She became popular in less than two years.

However, it's rare to see someone like Teacher Zhang who uses a stage name because they don't want to be bothered by others.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up the phone.

Zhang Wen opened WeChat and looked at the photos that Li Yuqi had just sent.

"Dance teacher Cai Wenjie, phone number..."

"Acting teacher Chang Sheng, mobile phone number..."

"Vocal teacher Jiang Jiang, mobile phone number..."

"..."

There are six people in total. I don't know how many will agree to join Xingxiang in the end, even if it's part-time.

However, even if all six teachers agreed, it would still be far from enough in terms of numbers.

Zhang Wen did not immediately call the six people, but continued searching through his contacts and soon identified another artist.

Pop diva Tsai Ya-Hsuan.

The other party's backer, Huameng Media, is an entertainment company on par with Tianxi Media, so they will likely know many more teachers.

The same routine: first send a text message to inquire, then wait for Cai Yaxuan to call back before connecting.

As soon as I mentioned asking for lessons, the other party immediately sent me the contact information of more than a dozen teachers.

Although the vast majority of these numbers belong to music and dance teachers, there are also three performance teachers. If all of them could join Xingxiang, that should be enough.

After expressing his gratitude, Zhang Wen brought up the matter of stage name. Cai Yaxuan was also preparing a new album, which would be officially released in October, so he agreed to change the lyricist and composer to Zhang Xingxiang.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Wen saved all the teachers' mobile phone numbers, planning to start a new round of recruitment efforts as soon as it was light the next day.

……

nine in the morning.

The film crew had already started shooting. Zhang Wen checked the time and thought it was about time, so he got into Bai Lu's van.

As soon as the car door closed, he immediately took out his phone, found the number he had saved last night, and called the person who was first in line.

Soon, the call was connected.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone was steady, with a hint of doubt.

"Is this Teacher Chang Sheng? Hello, I'm Zhang Wen, the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center. I apologize for bothering you." Zhang Wen said sincerely, "I would like to invite you to teach at Xingxiang. I wonder if you are interested? The hourly rate is 700 yuan. Part-time or full-time positions are both acceptable."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, clearly surprised by the attractive compensation. Most importantly, it could be done part-time, which was exactly what he needed right now, as it earned much more than working as a designated driver.

"I teach trainees and artists at the company, I have no experience teaching art exam candidates, are you sure I can do it?" the person on the other end of the phone asked.

“Sure, I have professional performance course materials for art exams here. I believe that if you take a look and combine them with your own conditions, you will definitely be able to teach your students well.” Zhang Wen’s voice was full of trust.

Upon hearing the other person's thoughtful consideration over the phone, how could one possibly refuse?
"Okay, I agree to work part-time for you... You're not a scammer, are you? Are you really the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination School?" Chang Sheng asked cautiously. The other party's offer was too good, so good that he felt like a pie fell from the sky while he was sitting at home.

It feels a bit unreal.

"Come over after get off work tonight, and you'll see if I'm telling the truth," Zhang Wen said.

"Mm," Chang Sheng replied.

In fact, he had heard of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center, mainly because they had released a good news announcement a while ago, in which the performance major students' results were so incredible that they shocked him for a long time.

"Then it's settled." Zhang Wen gave Xingxiang's address to the other party before hanging up the phone.

Having made a good start, he immediately dialed the next number.
Money is hard to earn these days, so the subsequent phone calls went exceptionally smoothly. Of the six teachers recommended by Li Yuqi, five agreed to teach at Xingxiang, four part-time and one full-time.

As for the dozen or so teachers recommended by Tsai Ya-hsuan, nine of them agreed, including three acting teachers.

This resulted in Xingxiang suddenly having 14 new teachers.

Their arrival not only filled the vacancy for professional course teachers, but also solved Zhang Wen's urgent problem.

Next, all these teachers need to do is exchange teaching experiences with Chen Xiwen and others, and then they will be able to start teaching formally.

These people are legitimate entertainment company instructors who usually teach artists and trainees. Who would dare say they're not good enough?
No one can find fault with it.

Xingxiang Art Exam Training Center is about to set sail once again.

Fellow countrymen, tremble!

……

(End of this chapter)