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

Chapter 513 Running away?

After dealing with the landlord, Zhang Wen prepared to return to the classroom to continue eating. As he turned around, he was met with the bright, sparkling eyes of Xu Zining and Liu Qing, like twinkling stars.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a handsome guy before?" Zhang Wen joked.

Xu Zining snapped out of her daze and asked excitedly, "Principal, you just said we're not renting here anymore and we're moving to the new campus?"

Liu Qing, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but ask, "Principal, you said you bought a commercial building of more than 6,000 square meters as the headquarters, is that true? Did I hear you wrong?"

After saying that, he touched his ear.

Seeing the incredulous looks on their faces, Zhang Wen smiled and said, "You heard right. The transfer of ownership was completed the week before last. It's just across the street, only a five-minute walk from here."

After saying that, he took out his phone from his pocket and found the design drawings sent to him by Wang Deli, the head of the construction team.

Xu Zining took the phone and huddled with Liu Qing to look at it, exclaiming repeatedly, "My goodness! This hall is so grand, and this chandelier is so beautiful!"

“Yes, when I first graduated, I applied for a job at a big company, and their lobby wasn’t as nice as this,” Liu Qing chimed in.

“We’ll be a big organization in the future,” Zhang Wen said.

"There's even an underground parking lot?" Xu Zining stared intently at the design plan on her phone screen. "Before, parents had to drive around two streets to park when dropping their children off at class. Now we won't have to worry about parking anymore."

"I have a place to park my electric scooter now, Principal, when can we move there?" Liu Qing asked impatiently.

As members of Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center, they feel proud when the center is thriving.

Seeing their excited expressions, Zhang Wen thought for a moment and said, "The area over there is still under renovation. It will probably be finished by the end of June. By then, your front desk will be expanded into a reception area, and you won't have to squeeze into such a small place anymore."

"That's great!" Xu Zining said excitedly, "In the future, Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center will not only have excellent teaching quality, but also top-notch facilities, so even more people will definitely apply."

She came from the old campus and watched Xingxiang grow stronger step by step, which made her happier than anyone else.

Liu Qing, who was standing to the side, was also very happy. When she first came to Xingxiang from Jiahua, she felt that the scale of this place was not as good as Jiahua's. Now the scale of this place has grown up.

"Don't just be happy," Zhang Wen reminded him. "These next few days, you should organize the student information. A detailed relocation plan will be released later. Keep the front desk staff in place. If any parents ask, just say that we are expanding the campus and upgrading the facilities to put everyone at ease."

"Yes, Principal!" the two replied in unison, feeling a great sense of responsibility and determined to do their jobs well so as not to disappoint their boss.

Zhang Wen took his phone upstairs, but he didn't immediately go back to the classroom to continue eating. The arrival of his landlady forced him to bring forward some of his plans.

He found Yang Yuhong's number in his contacts and dialed it.

Soon, the call was connected.

"Sister Hong, it's me, Zhang Wen. I hope I didn't disturb your lunch break?" Zhang Wen remembered that she had mentioned that in order to be well-rested and better able to cope with the work in the afternoon, she would take a short nap every day at noon, which would only last for ten to twenty minutes.

"No, ever since I drank the Life Essence, I've felt incredibly energetic, and I haven't taken a nap at noon in a long time," Yang Yuhong said with a smile, putting down the documents in her hand.

Whether or not you disturb them depends entirely on who is calling.

Zhang Wen's younger brother, even if he called her in the middle of the night, she wouldn't feel bothered, let alone now.

The other party has this privilege with her.

"Sister Hong, there's something I'd like to ask you for a favor," Zhang Wen said.

“Saying ‘please’ is too formal. You’re my brother, so it’s only right for a sister to help her brother. Tell me, what’s the matter?” Yang Yuhong asked, while secretly pleased.

The fact that the other party asked her for help means they don't consider her an outsider. Why don't they ask Su Yang and Wang Bei for help?

Deep down, she didn't want her relationship with Zhang Wen to be just a business transaction.

In this world, relationships based on money are both the strongest and the most fragile.

"Sister Hong, it's like this, the lease for my training institution is about to expire, and the new headquarters will take another month to complete. We urgently need a temporary warehouse to store teaching equipment. Do you have any available space?" Zhang Wen stated the purpose of the call.

He originally planned to argue with the landlady for a while after the lease expired, and then move the equipment after the headquarters and branches were renovated.

As a result, the landlord couldn't wait and arrived early.

The other party neither succeeded in raising the rent nor received any compensation. Now they probably just want to drag him out of the house and dump him on the street. They have no intention of letting him stay here for even one more day.

Since the teaching equipment couldn't be moved into the headquarters and branches, we had no choice but to ask others for help.

Of all the people he knew, Sister Hong was undoubtedly the one most likely to help him.

“Yes, I don’t have much else here, but I have a lot of clothes. I don’t have much else, but I have a big warehouse. If you need it urgently, I can arrange for people and vehicles to move your teaching equipment into the warehouse right now,” Yang Yuhong said.

She thought it was something important, but it turned out they just needed to borrow the warehouse. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, as she hadn't been of much help.

"Sister Hong, thank you so much. I'll calculate the rent for you at the market price..."

Before Zhang Wen could finish speaking, Yang Yuhong interrupted him, "Hey little brother, why are you being so formal with your sister Hong? It's just lending you the warehouse for a few days. If I charge you, what kind of person would I be? Besides, my warehouse is just sitting idle anyway. You can put your equipment in there and it'll be a good way to make use of it."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. But I still need to tidy up here. Let's do it the day after tomorrow. Have your driver come to the training center. It will probably take about a dozen truckloads to move everything," Zhang Wen said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay, the day after tomorrow, right? I'll send someone and a car over then."

"Thank you, Sister Hong!"

After a brief chat, Zhang Wen hung up the phone.

Another problem has been solved.

Everything is ready now, except for the renovation.

……

Time flies, and June is here in the blink of an eye.

On the 3rd, Zhang Wen asked Director Han for two days off and arrived at the training center early to wait for the teaching equipment to be moved.

Xu Zining, Liu Qing, and all thirty teachers were present. The teaching equipment, student files, and various props had all been sorted and packed, and the labeled cardboard boxes were neatly piled up in the corridor.

Zhang Wen stood by the roadside, looking around constantly, while the teachers behind him whispered among themselves.

“I went to the headquarters yesterday. Although I didn’t go inside, the exterior looks very high-end.”

“I went there the day before yesterday. Judging from its scale, there will no longer be five major art exam training institutions in Beijing, but six.”

"What 'Big Six'? Don't compare Xingxiang to the likes of Jiahua. They're not worthy."

"That's right, Xingxiang's art exam scores are much better than theirs."

"..."

Amidst the laughter and conversation, a sudden burst of urgent car horns was heard in the distance, followed by a long procession of container trucks approaching.

Soon, the lead truck came to a smooth stop at the entrance.

The passenger door opened, and a woman wearing sunglasses got out of the car.

Zhang Wen was taken aback when he saw this, and walked over to ask in surprise, "Sister Hong, why did you come in person? And with so many cars?"

In his mind, Sister Hong would send a truck, make a dozen or so trips, and finish transporting everything in two days, but now…

Ten container trucks lined up in a row, each with a cargo compartment three meters high. A dozen or so people were nimbly jumping down from the trucks, wearing uniform work clothes and white gloves. "This is a big deal for you, how could I not come?" Yang Yuhong smiled, then pointed to the convoy and people behind her, "Knowing you have a lot of stuff, I specially arranged for the company's logistics fleet to help you unload it in a day."

"Sister Hong, you've gone to too much trouble..." Zhang Wen said with a wry smile.

It was originally a small matter, but he didn't expect the other party to take it so seriously and make such a big fuss. He was a little embarrassed.

"Don't mention the expense, brother and sister." Yang Yuhong waved her hand and then called over a middle-aged man. "Captain Wang, this is my brother. You all need to follow his instructions. Be careful when moving things, and don't bump or knock them."

"Yes, Mr. Yang." The middle-aged man straightened his back, then turned to look at Zhang Wen, awaiting the next order.

Zhang Wen didn't stand on ceremony and immediately led his people into the training center.

As a training institution, the most common items are tables and chairs. These things are not afraid of being bumped, but moving them is time-consuming and laborious, requiring constant up and down stairs.

Although the building isn't tall and the items aren't heavy, making dozens of trips like that would tire anyone.

Fortunately, Sister Hong brought some movers; otherwise, the teachers at the school would probably have spent more time resting than moving things.

Soon, the first container truck loaded with equipment set off, followed by the second, the third... and so on, the amount of equipment inside the classroom visibly decreased.

Such a large-scale event naturally attracted the attention of many passersby, including teachers from Huanya Art Examination Training Center.

Jiang Lili was just passing by when she saw many people carrying things into cars from inside the Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center. A thought immediately popped into her head: Is Xingxiang closed down?
However, he quickly dismissed the idea.

That shouldn't be the case. Xingxiang is very popular in the art exam training industry. I heard that you have to queue up to register. How could it be closing down?

She got off the shared bicycle, took a few photos with her phone pointing towards the direction of Xingxiang's gate, and then posted them in Huanya Art Examination's work group, asking, "Xingxiang is moving things out, does anyone know what's going on?"

As soon as the question was posted, the previously quiet work group immediately became lively.

"Holy crap, has Xingxiang closed down?"

"No, I heard that Xingxiang has already received more than two thousand applications."

"Does he intend to take the money and run away?"

"You think this is a gym?"

"Exactly, if they were really running away, they wouldn't be making such a big fuss about moving things."

"Lili, go over there and ask someone what they're up to."

Jiang Lili: "I dare not."

Putting aside the fact that Huanya and Xingxiang are competitors, just the fact that Principal Zhao Shulian poached Xingxiang's performance major director from there with a high salary a while ago makes her hesitant to approach and inquire.

It would be too dangerous for her to be recognized, especially since she was all alone.

“Don’t be afraid, they wouldn’t dare hit you, would they? Just lie down on the ground and your Yadea will be replaced with an Audi immediately,” a teacher said.

Jiang Lili: "Why don't you do it? I'll leave the opportunity to you. Anyway, it seems like we won't be able to finish moving everything in a short time."

The teacher from earlier: "..."

Just as the work group was in an uproar, Liu Fucheng, the teaching supervisor, rushed to the principal's office.

"Principal, look at this!" Liu Fucheng pushed open the door and handed his phone to Zhao Shulian. "This was taken by teacher Jiang Lili. Xingxiang is loading things into the truck. The teachers below are guessing that they are going to close the door and run away."

Zhao Shulian put down the enrollment plan in her hand, took the phone and looked at it carefully. The trucks in the photo were lined up neatly, and people in work clothes were loading pianos onto the trucks. There was someone directing them, and it didn't look like they were running away in a panic.

"It doesn't seem like it!" She shook her head.

People who are really planning to flee won't move things; these devices aren't worth much. If they're going to move anything, they'll do it at night.

If the parents find out, there won't be enough time to run away.

She couldn't figure it out no matter how much she thought about it, but she didn't dare to ignore it either. After all, Xingxiang was now Huanya's number one competitor. Knowing her enemy and herself was the key to winning every battle in the upcoming summer recruitment season.

Zhao Shulian took out her phone and sent the photo directly to the group chat for art exam takers in Beijing.

However, the replies were all questions.

"Summer classes are about to start, what is Xingxiang up to?"

"Could it be an equipment upgrade?"

"I guess they're moving the teaching building; their current space isn't very big."

"No way, Xingxiang only moved here last year. It's only been a year. Changing addresses so frequently is not good for the school."

The speculations in the group are getting more and more outrageous, ranging from "broken capital chain" to "being investigated by relevant departments," and there are all sorts of rumors.

Seeing the discussion in the group chat, Zhao Shulian felt even more uncertain. Xingxiang's art exam results were too good, and she was really worried that he would suddenly fall behind.

After thinking for a moment, she finally decided to call Jiang Lili.

"Teacher Jiang, are you still at the entrance of Xingxiang?"

“Yes, Principal,” Jiang Lili replied.

"Pretend to be a parent and subtly inquire about moving things. Make sure you get all the details," Zhao Shulian instructed.

"Okay, Principal." Jiang Lili hung up the phone. Although she agreed readily, she was very frustrated inside.

If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have posted the photos in the group.

She could ignore her colleagues' advice, but she dared not disobey the principal's orders.

Jiang Lili took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, and found a woman who was moving things. She asked, "Hello, I'm here to inquire about acting classes for my sister. Isn't this Xingxiang? What are you doing here...?"

When Xu Zining saw that it was a parent seeking advice, she put down what she was holding and explained with a smile, "It's like this, the lease here has expired, and we need to move to a new school building, which is right across the street."

After saying that, he pointed to the opposite side.

Jiang Lili was secretly surprised. She pretended to ask a few more questions about enrolling in the performing arts major before turning and leaving.

She took out her phone and quickly called the principal back.

"Principal, I've found out. Xingxiang's lease is up, and they need to move to a different place."

Zhao Shulian was completely dumbfounded after hearing this.

Are they really going to change the teaching building?

But why?

Given Xingxiang's abilities, he shouldn't be unable to pay the rent.

Moreover, the other party changed the teaching building as soon as they made a name for themselves. Aren't they afraid of being affected?

This operation is incomprehensible, I don't understand it at all!

……

(End of this chapter)