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

Chapter 518 Homecoming Tide

At 11 p.m., the lights were still on in the principal's office at Xingxiang Art Examination Headquarters.

"If you're not comfortable with that, you can come to Xingxiang tomorrow to sign the contract. Okay, then it's settled. See you tomorrow."

Zhang Wen hung up the phone, picked up a pen, put a checkmark on the last name on the list, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

Tonight he made a total of 53 phone calls and recruited 42 teachers, 22 of whom came from Jia Hua and the remaining 20 from various entertainment companies, including Tianxi Media, covering the three majors of performance, music and dance.

Most importantly, these teachers all came from the six cities he had selected.

Although there are fewer people, it's enough to support an art exam training branch.

If a branch in a certain city has too many students and there are not enough teachers, then we can simply recruit more teachers on the spot.

Dig in the dry place!
They worked and dug at the same time.

As long as you have the financial power, why worry about not being able to recruit teachers?

The issue of the branch teachers has been resolved; the next issue is the branch teaching building.

Having been taken advantage of by the landlord before, Zhang Wen didn't want to continue renting this time. Anyway, the branch office didn't need to be as big as the headquarters, and the little money he had left was enough.

When it comes to buying a house, one person comes to mind: Zhou Siyi.

The other party, Baosheng Group, is mainly engaged in real estate development, especially commercial real estate, and its presence is almost ubiquitous in first- and second-tier cities across China.

At the opening ceremony of Xingxiang's headquarters at the beginning of the month, the other party asked him if he planned to open Xingxiang Art Examination Center in other cities, and said that they could provide convenience.

At the time, he did not expect so many people to sign up, let alone so many parents and art students from other places to pay attention to Xingxiang.

Now that he has decided to open Xingxiang in another city, he can contact Zhou Siyi to see what kind of convenience she can provide for him.

Zhang Wen opened his phone and saw the time displayed on the screen, realizing it was already past 11 p.m. After thinking about it, he decided to call again tomorrow.

He should go home.

……

As night quietly receded, sunlight streamed through the glass windows of the Jiahua teaching building into the office, illuminating Zhou Maoquan's dark face.

Next week is the start of summer classes. After observing for a few days and seeing that the previous turmoil had passed and the focus was now entirely on Xingxiang, he disguised himself and secretly came to Jiahua.

It would have been better if they hadn't come; now that they're here, I'm incredibly depressed.

The three most profitable art exam preparation classes—acting, dance, and music—have a combined enrollment of less than 500 students.

Previously, any one of these three art exam preparation classes had more than 500 students.

Fortunately, the number of students in other art exam preparation classes such as fine arts and broadcasting has not decreased; otherwise, one of the former top five art exam preparation classes would have truly become a laughing stock.

Zhou Maoquan rubbed his throbbing temples and looked at Zhu Zhengyan across the desk, saying, "Pass the word that all teachers will have a meeting in the large classroom in an hour. Everyone should brainstorm and think about how to recruit more students. Even if we don't make money, we must protect the institution's reputation."

"Yes, Principal." Zhu Zhengyan nodded vigorously.

He knew that Jia Hua was now at a critical juncture of life and death. If no action was taken, fewer and fewer students would enroll at Jia Hua in the future, and the results would become worse and worse, because the best talents would all go to Xing Xiang.

Just as Zhu Zhengting was about to leave, there was a sudden knocking sound at the door.

"Come in!" Zhou Maoquan said in a deep voice.

The door opened, and a woman in her early thirties walked in; she was Ms. Xu Zizhen, the acting teacher.

Zhou Maoquan looked at the newcomer, his gaze falling on the A4 paper in the other person's hand. A bad feeling suddenly arose in his heart. He frowned and asked, "Teacher Xu, what is it?"

Xu Zizhen walked to the desk, handed over a piece of paper that had been folded a few times, and said apologetically, "Principal, I plan to resign. This is my resignation letter."

Zhou Maoquan's heart skipped a beat; his bad premonition had come true.

Zhu Zhengyan, standing to the side, frowned and asked unhappily, "Teacher Xu, you were doing well at Jiahua, and the summer classes are starting next week. Why are you suddenly resigning?"

At this point, she suddenly seemed to remember something and asked with wide eyes, "Did someone from Xingxiang contact you? How much salary did they offer you? Teacher Xu, you've been with Jiahua for so many years, I believe you still have feelings for this place, right?"

Xu Zizhen was taken aback. She hadn't expected that Director Zhu would guess it so quickly. But after thinking about it carefully, she realized that Principal Zhang from Xingxiang had poached people from Jiahua a while ago, which led to the resignation of many teachers in the performance class. Now that she had suddenly resigned, it was normal for her to suspect that Xingxiang was poaching people.

However, she did not intend to tell the truth.

"Principal, Director, I plan to go back to work in my hometown of Chuancheng," Xu Zizhen said.

"Why? Isn't working in the capital good?" Zhu Zhengyan asked, puzzled.

“Beijing is nice, but it’s not my home.” Xu Zizhen sighed and continued, “With my salary, I’ll never be able to settle down in Beijing. Besides, I’m already over thirty, and my family is pressuring me to get married. Rather than drifting around outside, I might as well go back to my hometown.”

Zhu Zhengting opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. What the other person said were very practical issues. When you're young, you can go out and explore, but if you haven't made it by a certain age, returning to your hometown is a good option.

Especially women.

He can understand.

However, Zhou Maoquan didn't think so; he didn't want Xu Zizhen to leave.

Half of the acting class teachers had already left, and now more are leaving. How can the acting class be revitalized in the future?
“Teacher Xu, we have many male teachers here, you can definitely date one, it’s not like we’re not allowed to have office romances,” Zhou Maoquan said.

“Principal, I would like to talk to one of them, but none of them can settle down in Beijing. If I go to them, do I have to drift with them for the rest of my life?” Xu Zizhen asked rhetorically.

Zhou Maoquan was speechless after being confronted.

It has to be said that housing prices in Beijing are indeed unfriendly to those who work hard in the city.

Let alone these teachers, even he, a local principal, would find it difficult to buy a house that is large and in a good location.

"Teacher Xu, you've worked at Jiahua for eight years now, and you have such rich teaching experience. It would be a shame to leave now. How about this, I'll give you a 10% raise, and you can reconsider?" Zhou Maoquan made a final attempt to persuade her to stay.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Principal, but I've already made up my mind." Xu Zizhen shook her head, her tone firm. "My parents are getting old, and I want to go back and be with them."

Seeing that the other party was determined, Zhou Maoquan could not persuade him to stay any longer. He could only nod and say, "Alright, since you have decided to go back to your hometown, I will not stop you. Just make sure the handover of your work is done properly."

"Thank you, Principal," Xu Zizhen said, turning and leaving the office.

In the past, she would have been happy to receive a 10% raise, but now, Principal Zhang of Xingxiang promised her a 50% raise, and the job location was in her hometown. She must be out of her mind to refuse.

Zhou Maoquan looked at the closed door, feeling vaguely uneasy. The last time the teachers resigned en masse had terrified him, and he was genuinely afraid that another teacher would resign soon.

Seeing that the principal's expression was not good, Zhu Zhengyan clicked his tongue and then tiptoed out, afraid that making too much noise would affect the principal's mood.

But as soon as he opened the door, he saw two dance teachers standing outside, each holding a piece of paper.

I rub!

Are these two here to resign as well?

"What are you doing here?" Zhu Zhengyan asked.

“Director Zhu, we’re here to resign from our position as principal,” one of the female teachers said.

"Why? Are you planning to switch jobs?" Zhu Zhengyan asked, frowning.

“No, life in Beijing is too stressful. We’re planning to go back to our hometown to develop our careers,” another teacher said naturally.

"Huh? You're going back to your hometown too?" Zhu Zhengyan asked, looking stunned.

what's the situation?
The pressure isn't something that's been going on for just a day or two. Why did he have to go back to his hometown today of all days? There are 365 days in a year. If he resigned a few days apart, he could totally accept it. But resigning several times in one day is bound to make him think about other things.

"Teacher Ho!"

Zhou Maoquan, who was sitting behind his desk, heard everything and shouted at a dance teacher at the door, "You've worked at Xingxiang for five or six years, and I don't think I've ever treated you unfairly. Can you tell me why you went back to your hometown? I want to hear the truth."

He Yaochen walked into the office, her face full of sincerity, and said, "Principal, we really plan to go back to our hometown to develop our careers. There were very few art exam training institutions there before, and we didn't know what to do when we went back. But when we went home recently, we suddenly saw several art exam training institutions, and that's when we realized that there have been quite a few students taking the art exams in our hometown in the past two years, so..."

"Have you found one yet?" Zhou Maoquan asked.

“No, but with my work experience and Jia Hua’s prestigious reputation in Beijing, I’m confident they’ll hire me if I apply,” He Yaochen said confidently.

Another dance teacher nodded in agreement.

Neither of them felt they were lying. They were indeed going back to work at an art exam training institution in their hometown, and they were hired because they had worked at Jia Hua before.

After listening, Zhou Maoquan's tense expression finally relaxed a little.

He liked hearing that.

Jia Hua is one of the top five art exam training institutions in Beijing. Teachers who come from here are highly sought after wherever they go.
"You can go now, I've approved it. Make sure to hand over your work properly," Zhou Maoquan said, inwardly relieved.

Fortunately, he wasn't a teacher specializing in acting, otherwise acting programs would be almost out of teachers.

"Thank you, Principal. Goodbye, Principal."

The two dance teachers left together.

Zhu Zhengting, who was standing outside the door, quickly gave up eavesdropping and hurried towards the stairs.

Zhou Maoquan leaned back in his executive chair, squinting as he began to ponder.

Three teachers resigned in one day, all citing the reason of returning to their hometowns to work. Isn't that too much of a coincidence?
His fingers tapped the table unconsciously. He had originally planned to attend a meeting with the teachers, but now he had completely lost interest.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

The familiar knocking sounded again, particularly clear in the quiet office.

Zhou Maoquan stopped tapping his fingers on the table, his brows furrowed in a ferocious expression.

He was all too familiar with this scene; he had experienced it once before. It was definitely someone coming to resign, absolutely someone coming to resign!
If there is a problem, there must be a problem.

He got up, walked around the desk, went behind the door and opened it. This time, it was the two music teachers, Xie Jiaqian and Li Xiaoya.

Xie Jiaqian and Li Xiaoya were startled when the principal opened the door for them personally. After a moment, they said in trembling voices, "Principal, we're here to resign."

"Don't tell me you're planning to go back to your hometown too," Zhou Maoquan said angrily, his face turning bright red.

"Principal, that's amazing! How did you know?" Xie Jiaqian asked, her face full of surprise.

Li Xiaoya, who was standing to the side, even had the idea of ​​asking the principal to tell her fortune. How come she never realized that Principal Zhou was so good at fortune telling before?
“Because before you, three teachers had already resigned, all citing the reason of returning to their hometowns,” Zhou Maoquan said.

He was now certain that this mass resignation was not a coincidence. Either these people were trying to scam him by switching jobs, or someone had instigated them to resign. It certainly wasn't because they wanted to go back to their hometowns that they resigned.

Who?
Who's behind this this time?

Zhou Maoquan's first thought was of the man surnamed Zhang.

Xingxiang has a lot more students this year, maybe because they don't have enough teachers, so they're targeting him again.

Damn it, you can't just fleece one sheep!

"Actually, I already know," Zhou Maoquan said, feigning an understanding expression.

"Principal, what...what do you know?" Xie Jiaqian felt a little guilty, not expecting that other people would come to resign today.

Did Principal Zhang of Xingxiang call other teachers besides her and Li Xiaoya?

If I had known this would happen, I would have come sooner.

"I know who's been encouraging you to resign," Zhou Maoquan said confidently. "It's Zhang Wen from Xingxiang Art Exam School, isn't it? Hmph, if you want to switch jobs, then switch jobs. Don't use going back to your hometown as an excuse. If you stay in Beijing, we'll run into each other sooner or later. Won't you feel awkward then?"

Xie Jiaqian and Li Xiaoya were initially quite nervous, feeling awkward as if their secrets had been exposed, but as they listened, they suddenly realized something was amiss.

They did go to Xingxiang, but to work at a branch of Xingxiang that it had opened in another city. It would be impossible for them to meet each other in Beijing after that.

It's not hard to tell from this that Principal Zhou doesn't actually know anything; he's just using Principal Zhang to trick them because of his criminal record.

"call!"

The two women breathed a sigh of relief at the same time; they had almost fallen into Principal Zhou's complete trap.

“Principal, you’ve misunderstood. We really are going back to our hometown, and we might not see you again in the future,” Li Xiaoya said boldly.

"Principal, if you have time, we'd like to invite you to dinner when we've decided to go back to our hometown, to thank you for taking care of us," Xie Jiaqian said.

Zhou Maoquan was taken aback, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two female teachers' faces. They seemed quite sincere, as if they weren't lying.

Could it be another misunderstanding? Is there really such a coincidence in the world?
Just as he began to doubt himself, another teacher came over.

"Principal, excuse me, my brother found me a job back in our hometown, and my parents want me to go back to work there. This is my resignation letter."

"..."

Zhou Maoquan's gaze fell on the resignation letter, then he looked up at Xie Yaqian and Li Xiaoya, his eyes seeming to ask: How else do you want to explain this?

Xie Jiaqian's hand trembled slightly as she held the resignation letter. Then she forced a smile and said to the teacher, "Teacher Zhao, what a coincidence! We're also planning to go back to our hometown to work."

"Oh? Really? There's a trend of people going back to their hometowns now."

"..."

Looking at these teachers, Zhou Maoquan felt an urge to curse them.

At this point, they're still putting on an act?

He thought he was already thick-skinned, but he didn't expect these teachers to be even more thick-skinned.

However, this was just an appetizer.

For the next few hours, the knocking on the office door never stopped.

One after another, teachers of performing arts, dance, and music submitted their resignations, all giving the same reason: to return to their hometowns to work.

No matter how you ask, the answer is always the same: go back to work in your hometown.

Looking at the twenty-two resignation letters on his desk, Zhou Maoquan felt a chill run through his body and his vision blurred.

It was another mass resignation, and this time the number of people resigned was even greater than the last time.

What angered him most was not the teachers' resignation, but the current state of the institution.

Jia Hua now has few students and is almost out of teachers. This is not running a school; it is clearly heading towards bankruptcy.

"Can someone tell me why all these teachers want to go back to their hometowns!"

……

(End of this chapter)