I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 181 Important Product Meeting
The next day, Huang Tutu shaved his head completely. Zhang Da'an was quite unaccustomed to not having "yellow hair." Then, in order to get a second-hand Subaru, he decided to register for the "adult college entrance examination" in the eastern part of the city.

Self-study is actually more suitable because it offers greater flexibility in terms of time, but it is more difficult and not as easy as adult college entrance examination, which is more time-bound.

Another option in this situation is the vocational high school's special admission program, which allows students to enroll in specific majors at certain local colleges. However, Huang Tutu doesn't need to go through with this, since he comes from a family with a government-affiliated background.

His father, Huang Jianguo, never expected that his son could chat with the "King of Dogs". When he came to Jiangning from Jiuz, it was the time when the French team was playing against Senegal. The French team lost 0-1 by one goal, and the whole world was cursing the "shameless bookmaker". It was only the group stage, and you pulled this stunt.
The "Du Xiaoshuai team" earned over 16 million euros and made a small profit of over 20 million US dollars in Atlantic City, USA.

It's like finding money on the street.

The accountants at Jiangning University of Finance and Economics were stunned!

Of course, the professional teams from Yuzhang University of Finance and Economics and Luzhou University of Finance and Economics were also at a loss. They each had their own division of labor and did not know each other's tasks, but they all knew that this time it was supported by the mathematics department of Wudu University.

The mysterious power of mathematics...

Du Xiaoshuai talked with Jorge Gonçallves, who came to visit, about some mathematical models in the field of artificial intelligence, but those were the directions that everyone had been working on in the past. In China, the focus was basically on the previous "Core High-end Basic Software" and the current "Industrialization".

Seriously speaking, if something has a predictive element, then it's definitely the weather forecast.

Furthermore, weather forecasting also requires the support of technologies such as satellite remote sensing and deep space exploration. These are achievements in the aerospace field and require cooperation from multiple departments before data can be fed into the weather forecasting models.

Feeding the data requires a dedicated supercomputer, which is different from the supercomputer used for chemical synthesis models and requires a different system design.

The requirements for cultivating high-end talent are extremely high, and the number required is equally large; it cannot be supported by projects that are not at the national level.

For example, the supercomputing project in Jiangkou Province wasn't undertaken by a single entity. Multiple ministries at the provincial level contributed nearly 2 billion yuan, along with funding from two universities in Luzhou, two universities in Zhejiang, five universities in Jiangkou Province, two government departments, and two prefecture-level cities. This was enough to cover all the necessary funding for hardware, software, personnel salaries, and other expenses.

This does not include the land price, and many production material prices and production tool prices are not included.

Furthermore, the salaries of mathematicians at Wudu University are not included in the research funding; Wudu City covers the costs itself, essentially assuming the responsibility for the local area's research.

In the "National High Technology Research and Development Program", a considerable number of veteran scientists are quite conscientious, but conscientiousness alone is not enough.

In a market economy, it's impossible for a hundred geniuses to rely solely on their intellect to make a living, so the loss of high-end talent is inevitable.

The "National High Technology Research and Development Program" now allows the participation of private enterprises, which does require more financial investment. Relying solely on self-raised funds would put too much pressure on the projects, and some projects have even stalled.

Zhang Da'an's collaboration with the University of Science and Technology of China was one of the first, and he was just one of the participants. However, the science and education field still uses him as a brand for promotion.

First, the total amount of funds established is the highest, at 20 million, with the rest reaching a maximum of 10 million; second, the "three-time champion" has the greatest influence and high social impact; third, Coach Zhang is still very young, and many young scientists at the turn of the century have mixed feelings, with both confidence and helplessness, while the young Zhang Da'an, although not a scientist, can boost the confidence of scientists; finally, before contacting the "National High Technology Research and Development Program," Zhang Da'an had already produced results with the university cluster in Jiangning City. This is not borrowing chickens from USTC to lay eggs, but rather having his own chicken farm.

Huang Jianguo frequently traveled to Jiangning and naturally wanted to become a chicken in "Zhang's Chicken Farm".

To prove that his chickens were high-quality free-range chickens, Huang Jianguo brought his project: a modular aluminum forging equipment process.

"No, Director Huang, aren't you in engineering materials research? How come you have a side business, getting involved in aluminum forging? And specifically aluminum forging equipment technology. That's still within the scope of equipment manufacturing."

"I used to work with aluminum alloy building materials. When I was testing the stretching machine, a local car factory happened to be planning to try using aluminum alloys in cars, so we started a forging aluminum process project. But it was too expensive, so we stopped, but the material was good."

He and his son Huang Tutu are practically identical, they look exactly like each other, you can tell they are father and son at a glance.

If Huang Jianguo dyed his hair blonde, he'd definitely have to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, get a tattoo, wear a studded leather jacket, a colorful headscarf, big sunglasses, jeans, and chunky shoes, chugging along. Old Deng would be so trendy!

“I don’t need aluminum forging here for the time being, and aluminum forging is much more expensive than aluminum casting, so there aren’t many domestic companies willing to do it in large quantities.”

"It's alright, Mr. Zhang, I have another project, which is a silicate grinding process."

"..."

Zhang Da'an was clearly taken aback. This old "yellow-haired" guy didn't seem to be acting; he genuinely wanted to do scientific research.

Ah this...

Actually, I was just saying it casually. That aluminum forging project could be put into investment, and you could even add some "intelligent" or "digital" elements to turn it into a new project.

Just like the first "digital library" in Lingdong Province, it won't be a novelty for anyone for another ten or eight years, but it has certainly increased everyone's imagination.

The expansion of cyberspace has saved a great deal of social resources.

The same applies to industry. "Intelligentization" and "digitalization" are not just for show. Whether it is printing, dyeing, metallurgy, or chemistry, they can save a lot of manpower and time.

It can filter out more than half of the invalid test intervals, which greatly improves the efficiency of industrial production and scientific experiments.

Therefore, Huang Jianguo doesn't actually need to come up with a new project. He can just have a cup of tea and a chat with Zhang Da'an, and then add a qualifier to the project.

As for the progress that Jianghuai Engineering and Technology College seeks, at this point, it can be discussed between teams to get started.

However, as Huang Jianguo produced new scientific research results, Zhang Da'an had to reassess the old "Yellow Hair's" position.

Clearly, even though both involve money, this person obviously intends to take the money while standing.

That's interesting.

"Mr. Zhang, if this silicate grinding process isn't needed, we have another one here. It's an application of polymer materials, a room-temperature coating technology developed a few years ago at Jiangning University of Chemical Technology. It was originally intended for use on non-metallic surfaces, but it works surprisingly well on stainless steel, although the advantages aren't obvious..."

"And this is good too. It's a honeycomb structure processing technology for outer packaging. It should be useful for producing corrugated paper."

"This is a mixer... concrete? Oh, I remember now, it was a dye mixer commissioned by the Second Cotton Mill to achieve zero wear on the inner wall. It was somewhat useful, but it was shelved after the Second Cotton Mill went bankrupt. I can work on it more thoroughly now."

"Oh, and this too, a simplified production process for ceramic glass, which is a process that is imitated. It's an achievement of Ling Tung University of Technology. However, I have a student who is doing research in this area. If needed, I can call him back."

"Along with this is this, soundproof and heat-insulating glass used in super high-rise commercial and residential buildings. Mr. Zhang's hometown, Shazhou City, glass factory bought another technology from them. I don't know how far it has developed now, but it's alright. I think it's alright."

As Huang Jianguo pulled out document after document, Zhang Da'an smiled but didn't look at the research projects anymore.

Some of these are good things, but the times have made them unusable. By the time society generally has the economic means to consume them, the heads of research projects have all retired.

They missed the opportune time and missed out on the benefits.

There are jobs that rely on youth everywhere, not just in the entertainment industry.

"Director Huang, how old are you this year?"

Forty-four.

"Oh my, you're a few years younger than Mr. Fang."

"Is that Mr. Fang from Fangdaqiao?"

"Correct."

"He was a few years younger then. When I started working, he was already writing articles for the provincial reference. He was already quite famous a few years earlier when he commented on 'The Number One Manor in the World' and 'The Number One Village in the World'."

I've met the old man a few times.

At that time, his father, Huang Wencheng, was busy dealing with some old, messy debts. Back then, in Jianghuai Province, people generally treated banks as unlimited wish-granting machines when it came to urban construction. Being able to get money from banks was a skill.

We'll see if it's still owed.

Therefore, many people also fell from grace later on. In fact, there are very few people like Huang Wencheng who went around trying to reduce the debt and greatly reduce the bank's losses.

Huang Wencheng came from the Dabie Mountains. Given his merits, he could easily have secured a prestigious position in Luzhou City, but in the end, he stayed in Jianghuai.

However, there is something strange about their family education. Whether it is Huang Jianguo or Huang Tutu, their son and grandson seem to do things in a "single-threaded" way.

However, Zhang Da'an has dealt with people for many years, and he knows their character like the back of his hand.

This is nothing magical; it's just "big data" about the human body. If it matches the "person model" from one's past experiences, then it's not a stereotype, but "big data."

Although both were "yellow-haired," he could tell at a glance that Huang Tutu wasn't the kind of street thug who didn't know where his next meal would come from. Intuition was the first reaction, and subsequent observations confirmed that his intuition was correct.

Like his son, Huang Jianguo is not a "multitasking" person. He is trying to advance his career by pulling strings, which is almost burning out his "CPU".

"Director Huang."

Zhang Da'an picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke in a steady, flat tone, devoid of any emotion, "Name your goal, a specific one will do."

"..."

Huang Jianguo paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No."

"..."

This really stumped Zhang Da'an. Although he could see that Huang Jianguo's appointment as department head had little to do with the school's appreciation and was probably due to his "single-threaded" pure research ability, he still found it absurd that it was "single-threaded" to this extent.

"How about we arrange for your spouse to be registered?"

“I’ve been divorced for over ten years. I divorced TuTu when she was four or five years old because she was going abroad.”

"..."

Well, these days there are plenty of people who want to go abroad. Don't think Huang Jianguo is the only one who has done it; there are even more classic characters who have done it too.

acceptable.

"Do you want to become an academician?"

"It doesn't matter."

"..."

Divine gold.

Zhang Da'an wondered, "Are you like this at school too?"
With a department head like this, how can he manage teaching and research?

"To become an academician now, you need to burn at least 40 million yuan in real research funding. That's about enough to qualify. If you burn 200 million yuan, you're pretty secure now, but in a few years, it will double."

"Mr. Zhang, my main purpose is indeed to seek further advancement in my career. But I personally don't care about the specific direction. However, as long as it benefits the school and Jiuzi City, I'm willing to do it."

"Are you a human or a machine, you fucking bastard?"

"I may indeed be a little abnormal, but it doesn't affect my communication or daily life. Mainly, I feel that this abnormality of mine is insignificant."

"..."

Impressed.

Now Zhang Da'an was certain that Huang Jianguo had some kind of mental illness, but treatment wasn't popular these days, and it didn't really matter to him, because the "single-thread" system prevented his mental illness from functioning properly. When he was doing research, the system background must have stopped the process of his mental illness.

You've got my hat on, my old baby!

"Okay, let's ask it another way."

Zhang Da'an was starting to admire Jianghuai Engineering and Technology College. "Your lousy school actually has something special," he thought.

They're good at using people.

Next time, the sister film to "Blind Shaft," titled "Elite School," will be filmed here.

Zhang Da'an was speechless, but he didn't say anything more witty. Instead, he asked, "Approximately how much does the school need?"

"Thirty million, thirty million every year."

That's good, and quite honest.

Zhang Da'an nodded, not thinking the price was too high.

"Is this the platform you want to collaborate with?"

"Yes, for now it will be called 'Zhang An Software College'."

"That's quite thoughtful."

"It's all what we should do."

"..."

For a moment, Zhang Da'an really wanted to see if Huang Jianguo had a start switch on his back, and if it used a special AAA battery.

It's a complete robot.

Pick up a letter of intent from the document; it outlines Jianghuai Engineering and Technology College's plan to acquire some "Dog King" stock by establishing "Zhang An Software College".

He has some ambition, but not much; he wants a million shares.

Moreover, it wasn't just about exchanging intellectual property rights; there was also land involved. There was a piece of land along the river that served as an outdoor testing station for concrete testing in the early years. Some experiments were built up over time. In the first decade after the founding of the People's Republic of China, experiments on the corrosion and erosion of the Yangtze River began.

Now that there are more specialized places available, it naturally seems a bit redundant, but the land still has some use. If it is converted into a dock berth, its value will immediately increase.

However, the property rights were not clear in the past. When Jiuzi City wanted to develop the area, they discussed it with the school and decided it was too troublesome and they should find another place.

Things are different now; it's not so troublesome.

Jiuzi City is now mainly promoting locally produced cars. Two years ago, the "Fengyun Series" was launched, mainly relying on Huzhou Automobile to provide qualifications. But now it's different. Jiuzi City has basically completed the transformation of its production lines. In the industry, emerging online media have begun to use "car repair queues" to extort small car companies in Jiuzi.

Of course, it wasn't just a local car company in Jiuzi that was being extorted. Those who had just discovered that the internet could break the constraints of actual geographical space were basically born with the body of a rogue.

It's a contest of who's more shameless. And those who aren't traditional media practitioners can actually turn around and control the media, making them a winner in both the physical and virtual worlds.

From the moment it was born, internet media has been a fundamentalist of the "trading industry"—referring to vehicles, boats, shops, and peddlers.

The strategy implemented was to cooperate with any client as long as it could generate profit.

The spread of various underworld slang terms online has caused significant trouble for anti-drug police, let alone something as simple as selling a car.

Besides hoping to ride the coattails of "Dog King," Jiuzi City also wants to leverage Coach Zhang's influence in online media.

"Jinbang Blog" remains, at least to this day, the most widely used and efficient tool for disseminating effective information. Anyone in Jiuzi City who isn't completely useless is bound to know how to use it.

So one idea was to emulate the internet media in Beijing and Bao'an districts and create content related to automobiles. Huang Jianguo himself is in the materials business and has long-standing collaborations with local car manufacturers, including a state-owned car company in Jianghuai Province. They occasionally receive commissions for tasks such as cost reduction and efficiency improvement in materials like windshields, privacy glass, gradient glass, and heat-insulating glass, which are very useful for major components like automobiles.

However, Huang Jianguo is more skilled in aluminum alloys. More than half of the local business owners in Jiuzi City who are engaged in aluminum casting have cooperated with him. He has been working as a part-time site engineer and process engineer for more than just one or two years. He has fifteen or sixteen years of experience. He basically started making money after his divorce.

Strictly speaking, Huang Jianguo has no interest in money. He is not short of money, but he is not particularly wealthy either. He just does not have any particularly urgent need for large-scale consumption.

However, this was just wishful thinking on his part, given his "single-threaded" mind. He had no idea that his son, Huang Tutu, actually wanted a used Subaru.

There are many things even more outrageous than this, after all, Huang Tutu himself is also "single-threaded".

Regarding the genetic code...

Head Coach Zhang was already quite curious about what kind of style Huang Wencheng, the old man from the Huang family, was.

If the "single" in "several generations of single heirs" refers to a single-threaded succession, then he would be completely convinced, thinking, "Your Huang family is amazing, managing to survive this long."

"Where did you get the idea for this 'Zhang An Software Academy' from?"

"The Central Processing Business School at Beijing University of Technology was shut down, but several academicians at the University of Science and Technology of China thought their concept of 'blue-collar programmers' was quite good. It's better to delegate many unnecessary tasks to assistants. Just like on construction sites, some low-skilled tasks can be handled by 'migrant workers,' which can improve production efficiency."

So, the term "programmer" originated from here.

"'Programmer'? Hmm...not bad."

"..."

Seeing that Huang Jianguo truly appreciated the "reliability, elegance, and expressiveness" of a "programmer," Zhang Da'an stopped wasting words and instead crossed his legs to begin reviewing the plans for Jiuzi City and Jianghuai Engineering and Technology College.

The idea is good; the main business is to train "coders" in bulk. It doesn't matter who you train them for.
It would be better to give it to "Zhang An Education".

Incidentally, the school can also open a major, borrow the faculty resources of "Zhang An Software College", and at the same time endorse and support "Zhang An Software College" in the public eye, issuing a formal "birth certificate".

If necessary, "Zhang An Software College" can be an independent college, just like "Zhang An College".

Two-year college programs are still very attractive to some social candidates with high school equivalent qualifications, mainly because they can earn money, and the money comes quickly.

"Programmer" may sound unpleasant, implying a white-collar environment with blue-collar work, but the income is genuinely high.

Another example is that "Zhang An Education" itself has this business, combining vocational training and academic upgrading, so it naturally earns more.

After all, given the methods of this "diploma mill" business school, with tuition fees of over 50,000 yuan a year, it's not just about training some "programmers"; there's also the hidden route of "studying abroad" later on.

The hidden routes are generally inaccessible to the average person, and they aren't widely publicized, which is a basic tactic.

On the surface, they operate in the legitimate field of public education; but behind the scenes, they certainly don't skimp on any of the shady dealings.

When promoting their work, they will definitely focus on how many talents they have contributed to the development of the country's internet software industry. As for the overseas study opportunities, they will not mention them at all, or they will not promote them in the mass media.

Zhang Da'an has offended a huge number of people this time. However, many of the investors who want to do "international education business" are not based in China. They are mostly people who obtained green cards or even citizenship in the United States a decade or two ago. Of course, there are also those who obtained citizenship in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Japan.

It mainly depends on which field you're in. For example, in France, it's mostly literature and art; in the US, it's the usual social sciences; Japan is much more complicated, mainly the entertainment industry, but it's not entirely entertainment, people in the underworld also like to go to Japan.

In short, the hierarchy of contempt is America-Europe-Japan, and other regions are not included in the hierarchy; it's all about social circles.

The current situation is that, although it wasn't Zhang Da'an who subjectively promoted the businesses of some people in Beijing, the direct trigger for shutting down the "diploma mill" was precisely what Zhang Da'an mentioned earlier.

Who told him to be so foul-mouthed?

So now he's actually started this business himself, and a lot of people are itching to get their hands on him.

To be honest, Zhang Da'an was also puzzled. You're already in this business, so what's wrong with setting up a legitimate school?

You want to save money on this?
That's incredibly stingy.

Leaving aside the tuition of over 50,000 yuan a year, whether it's legal or illegal "profiting," it's still worth 200,000 to 300,000 yuan just for passing through the hands of others.

They don't seem to be short of money.

However, after meeting Huang Jianguo today, Coach Zhang suddenly had a flash of inspiration and understood.

Just as he paid his workers a basic wage of 1,800 yuan in Shazhou, the local bosses in Shazhou who besieged him at the time were not unable to pay 1,800 yuan a month, but simply did not want to.

Seeing "inferior people" getting the better deal and benefits makes them feel unhappy and resentful from the inside out, and may even make them angry.

They achieve the same effect through different means.

This pure evil used to be called exploitation, then it was given an academic term called "exploitation," and now it's called obtaining reasonable profits through means.

Head Coach Zhang grinned, casually tossed the documents in his hand aside, and said, "Director Huang, have you ever supervised graduate students?"

"Our school does not have a master's program."

"You may have."

"Thank you."

"..."

You're quite polite.

They had to say it directly after seeing Huang Jianguo off, otherwise he would wonder if Zhang Da'an had any other instructions.

He explained everything in great detail, and then Huang Jianguo bowed to Zhang Da'an. Right at the gate, he happily got into a beat-up jeep and left.

A meeting was held at Guan Changsheng's place. Zhong Zhengyang and Cao Yanke, who were originally scheduled to give a small lecture today, also attended the meeting. They were there to give a "roadshow" for the preparation of the Pengcheng branch school.

Zhang Da'an doesn't need it, but they still do, because they need to poach people.

Han Tieguai, the principal of Jianggao Branch School, and Xiao Xiangzi, the principal of Mazhou Branch School, were also present. Xiao Xiangzi was quite conflicted. He originally planned to go to the city with Liu Jingbo, but Liu Jingbo might skip Mazhou City and go directly to Yangtai City for another important position, which made him a little upset.

Liu Jingbo himself was also very upset. Fortunately, he did not make any mistakes, so he did not need to worry that he was transferred to Yangtai City for his own benefit. However, without the support of the local forces in Mazhou, his performance on the new work platform could not be as good as it is now.

The question is whether Xiao Xiangzi should continue to follow Liu Jingbo. Liu Jingbo's suggestion is for Xiao Xiangzi to stay in Mazhou City and strictly follow Zhang Zhengdong's development path.

At that time, he will be able to communicate with Xiao Xiangzi in the city of Yangtai.

Xiao Xiangzi himself didn't have any objections, but the position of principal of the Mazhou branch school was a hot potato under the current circumstances.

However, since Zhang Da'an supported it, the group leaders of the various subject groups at "Zhang An Education" could only wait and see, and no one jumped out to say that Xiao Xiangzi should get out.

The core technology of "Zhang An Education" has existed, exists, and will exist in the future, and there is only one: Zhang Da'an himself.

If he says Xiao Xiangzi can do it, then it can.

Furthermore, there are other positions available, such as the Academic Affairs Department which is currently being prepared, and the vice principal in charge of business. For those seeking an official position, there is not much reason to criticize Xiao Xiangzi for the time being.

Moreover, with at least two or even three new branch schools being added this year, there will be at least two more positions for acting branch school principals. Competition for these positions is the key point, and the cost-effectiveness of squeezing Xiao Xiangzi out is simply too low.

It would be better to win him over.

Perhaps due to the large number of intellectuals, the office politics of "Zhang An Education" developed quite rapidly from its inception to its current state.

The nepotism was temporarily limited by Zhang Da'an's close ties with local government departments, and its development was hindered by the supervision of local government departments.

It still comes down to the fundamentals. Coaches have a high turnover rate and can't stay in one campus for a long time. If they can't stay in one campus, they won't be able to convince the "old hands" in the functional departments that they can maintain relationships, and naturally, they won't be able to cultivate personal connections excessively.

In addition, "Zhang An Education" is in a period of expansion, with its flagship product, Xindongweigang Middle School, coming in and going out in large numbers, so few people can have a moment to relax. Apart from the boss, Zhang Da'an, who has relatively little time to relax, the rest of the company are all busy with business.

There are some things that Zhang Da'an doesn't do, such as "roadshows," small lectures, small recruitment fairs, briefings, communication meetings, and exchange meetings. These are things that front-line lecturers have to do.

For someone like Han Tieguai, who earns millions a year, it's not as simple as just sitting on a stage. As a lecturer and trainer at "Zhang An Education," he is also a "commodity." He has dedicated assistants and managers. The company takes orders, negotiates, and then splits the profits based on what activities he attends and what content he speaks at.

To some extent, Zhang An Education's gold medal coaching system is more similar to that of entertainment brokerage companies.

This also led to rapid development of office politics, but that was about it; forming cliques was useful, but not much.

If you can't handle the boss, it's all for nothing.

Some deputy lecturers may seem unremarkable, but they are actually the boss's confidants. They may not communicate with each other regularly, but their relationship becomes apparent during holidays and festivals.

People like Zhao Yiwan and Qian Xiaoshuang, in other educational institutions, would just be serving tea and water. They could be like that at "Zhang An Education," but they can't just serve tea and water.

Occasionally, during high-level meetings, Zhao Yiwan or Qian Xiaoshuang would supplement any feedback from the front lines.

For example, at today's "Principals' Meeting," Han Tieguai and Xiao Xiangzi were of course present, but Zhao Yiwan was also in attendance. He didn't need to express any opinions; he just needed to answer any questions.

“There’s been a lot of activity in Jiangning these past few days, but it’s all related to schools to some extent. Last year, I separated ‘vocational education’ and wanted to scale it up this year and next, but I don’t have a good brand development direction for the time being. The hotel and tourism-related vocational schools I talked about in Jicheng before couldn’t win over the local ‘experts’ in the tourist areas, and it’s hard to make it a golden brand like Xindongweigang Middle School.”

"Originally, this year we were going to develop regular undergraduate education, focusing on 'Zhang'an College'. Now there's an opportunity. There are many cities and local universities in Jianghuai Province that want to cooperate with me to establish colleges specializing in computer software. Among them, Jiuzi City has put forward a plan, temporarily called 'Zhang'an Software College', which will be a two-year junior college program. We can get started first and then complete the formalities later."

"You've all worked on the front lines and know the situation in rural areas. Based on your experience, is this two-year college diploma a viable career path?"

As for "international education business," Zhang Da'an doesn't plan to do it like Beijing University of Technology does. He won't tie it to a two-year junior college program and then go abroad to do something like "Yangcheng Lake crab bathing."

no need.

In the long run, it's only a matter of time before these "diploma mills" are named and shut down. Even without Zhang Da'an, they would have gotten into trouble in about ten years; with Zhang Da'an, they were just starting out when they were slapped down.

As for whether any "diploma mills" will obtain operating licenses to continue operating, that's not something Coach Zhang needs to worry about.

Instead of wasting time like this, you might as well go to Japan and experience the World Cup atmosphere.

"Boss, the first thing to consider is the price. If the price is high, then the approach is naturally more expensive; if the price is low, then the approach is naturally more affordable."

"How to say?"

“Our Xindongweigang Middle School is considered a high-end brand in the repeat-exam market, so it’s worth the higher price. But if a two-year junior college program is too expensive, it’s not worth it. A private undergraduate program would be better. If it includes studying abroad, then it’s worth considering.”

After personally managing the operation of the campus, Han Tieguai further realized why Xindongweigang Middle School is not actually a middle school.

Of course, it could also be a middle school, but that doesn't matter.

The six characters "Xin Dongwei Port Middle School" are a brand, no different from "Coca-Cola" or "Adidas".

People are willing to spend tens of thousands of yuan because they're after the prestigious brand.

Even with the premium, the stability that comes with that premium almost completely outclasses the vast majority of its competitors in the market.

The "Zhang An Software Academy" that Zhang Da'an is referring to now is completely different from what he said.

The product positioning is problematic.

“Boss, if we recruit students at the same fees as regular vocational colleges, it will definitely be a losing business; but if we charge higher fees, even ten or twenty thousand, it will keep a lot of potential customers away. The reason is very simple: it’s not like before when job placement was guaranteed. The status of junior colleges is declining, and their reputation is not as good as that of undergraduates. And a ‘two-year junior college’ is definitely even worse.”

"Under these circumstances, even if some people believe in the boss's reputation, it's still somewhat damaging to his name and doesn't bring much benefit. For an average family, spending ten or twenty thousand yuan to choose a less prestigious local private undergraduate university isn't out of the question. Since it's all the same amount of money, isn't choosing an undergraduate degree better?"

"Hmm...that makes sense."

Zhang Da'an nodded. "That's true."

If a product has a very narrow positioning, unless it is a unique business, it is destined to be a small market.

Companies like "Zhang An Education," which pursue high profits and high returns, are not suited to wasting too much human, material, and financial resources in this market.

"Another point is that the vocational schools that the boss planned last year have already occupied the low-price market. Judging from the feedback this year, foreign and joint venture companies in Luzhou, Wudu, and Taihu are clearly more inclined to produce front-line technical workers with stable skills and good personal discipline. The potential and stability of in-depth training are also much stronger than those of chaotic schools."

"There are also schools like 'Xianlin Baohua Vocational Skills Training School,' which is open to the general public. For private enterprises in the surrounding areas, recruiting directly from 'Xianlin Baohua Vocational Skills Training School' is the most cost-effective option. First, they don't have to worry about large groups of people, second, they don't have to worry about a criminal record, and third, if the cooperation is good this year, it can continue next year."

"Basically speaking, if this 'Zhang An Software College' is to be established, it can't be positioned in an awkward way. Offering a two-year associate degree and adding value without any other incentives is probably not going to work. Moreover, the difference in faculty strength between a two-year associate degree and a private bachelor's degree is something that outsiders can't possibly be unaware of. If we charge the fees of a private bachelor's degree program while offering business for a two-year associate degree, it could easily damage your personal reputation, boss."

From the perspective of loyalty, Han Tieguai was capable of withstanding the test, and he had long been prepared to serve Zhang Da'an like a slave until he was sixty or even seventy years old.

His analysis was quite thorough, and it was entirely based on Zhang Da'an's interests.

If he were just an ordinary professional manager, he would only need to consider how to continuously expand the company's business and increase its performance. After all, the financial statements would show that the business is indeed growing.

However, if this growth comes from overdrawing the super brand of "three consecutive top scorers", then when it collapses in a few years, Zhang Da'an may not be able to react in time.

Even though he was still a billionaire at the time, his ability to take revenge on society was obviously halved.

"So, what suggestions do you have regarding this collaboration?"

"Boss, I'd like to ask, what is the local government using to endorse this?"

"Approximately one million shares of 'Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd.'"

"Well……"

Xiao Xiangzi, who had extensive grassroots experience, thought for a moment and said, "How about this: we should promote it extensively first and create a larger platform. Since multiple places in Jianghuai Province want to cooperate, we can directly form a group to run schools and expand the scale to the point that even the local provinces have to pay close attention to it."

“For example, this year’s ‘Zhang’an College’ is a collaboration with Zhongwu University, and Zhongwu City has been in talks with us for a long time. We can use ‘Zhang’an College’ as a template to create a reverse investment attraction model for ‘Zhang’an College’, attracting local governments and local universities to jointly run the school.”

“If they want to set up a software college, it will be ‘Zhang’an College’ operating in another location. The local authorities will handle the legal procedures, so the trouble of getting on the train first and then paying the price will not concern us.”

"In this way, for example, if someone wants to establish a tourism and hotel management college, then it will be called 'Zhang An Tourism College' or 'Zhang An Hotel Management College'; if someone wants to develop software, then it will be called 'Zhang An Software College' or 'Zhang An Information College'. And so on, the college will be positioned based on the academic disciplines involved in the collaboration."

"Another benefit is that it can accelerate the complete independent operation of 'Zhang An College' and separate from Zhongwu University sooner. At that time, the conditions will be ripe for a direct merger into 'Zhang An University', and the development potential will be even greater."

Xiao Xiangzi's statement was based on sound judgment. He wasn't a mediocre official who was just loafing around in Xilai Town. When he was Liu Jingbo's secretary, he wasn't just a sycophant and a driver. Without some real skills, he couldn't have become a local talent in Mazhou City.

He had a lot of ideas and came up with them quickly. He continued, "With the boss's current industrial plan, the demand for highly educated people will increase year by year. However, with the expansion of university enrollment, the employment environment for undergraduates in the past is different from that now. Rather than facing a mixed bag of talent, it would be better to directly control the talent pool in our own hands. This would not only coordinate talent training to employment, but also strengthen our influence."

These words left everyone at the meeting, except for Zhang Da'an, speechless.

(End of this chapter)