Ms. Zhong's Online School Is Open for Business!

Ms. Zhong's Online School Is Open for Business!

Wang Yue's new home was still under renovation, while Zhong Yi's online school was doing quite well in its trial run. So Wang Yue told Zhong Yi to get started on setting up the company.

Zhong Yi would handle hiring teachers and enrolling students for the online school. As for advertising, Wang Yue had already discussed it with Big Penguin. As soon as classes began here, they would send out the promotion there.

Once everything was arranged, Wang Yue realized he could go back to taking it easy. Wherever he went, he was either already slacking off or on his way to doing so—and somehow, he always ended up doing it without even realizing. It was amazing.

Actually, Wang Yue couldn't really be called lazy anymore. At least he was keeping busy now. He wanted to put what he learned into practice and integrate his memories to improve his skills in architecture.

Because of this, Wang Yue's work kept him very busy. His enthusiasm rubbed off on his small team, and everyone was full of drive. As a result, even the department head had stopped looking at him with quite so much disapproval.

Wang Yue was in his element at the institute. Meanwhile, Zhong Yi's online school was about to open for classes. Wang Yue wasn't sure where Zhong Yi had found all the teachers, but it looked like a pretty comprehensive team to him. The only thing was, the operation seemed a little small-scale.

Ms. Zhong's Online School had regular classes and competition classes. Anyone could join the regular classes as long as they applied and there was room in the classroom. The competition classes, however, required an interview and had a limited number of places.

Wang Yue looked over Zhong Yi's overall plan and was quite pleased. It was the number of teachers that left him speechless.

"Zhong Yi, the plan looks fine, but you don't have enough teachers." Wang Yue pointed at the section listing the number of teachers.

"Not enough? We've got more than thirty." Zhong Yi looked surprised. He still wasn't very familiar with Wang Yue; otherwise, he would have had something to say, though he might not have known whether he should say it.

"Looks like you don't understand how much reach a promotion from Big Penguin has." Wang Yue sighed. He'd forgotten that he hadn't told Zhong Yi where they would advertise. Zhong Yi thought they would just hand out flyers at elementary schools.

"Big Penguin?!" Zhong Yi swallowed. That was a huge investment!

"Yeah. Here's an idea: go to your alma mater and ask the students about to graduate to register on our platform. Of course, they'll need to upload their teaching certificates." Wang Yue gave him an idea and sent him off to get to work.

"Got it!" Zhong Yi worked quickly. Before long, the number of teachers on the platform had grown substantially.

After reminding Zhong Yi to keep recruiting teachers for the competition classes, Wang Yue launched the classes. Big Penguin sent out a promotion featuring clips of Zhong Yi teaching.

It was easy to imagine what happened once Big Penguin flexed its muscle: every classroom on the platform filled up at once. Many more students were left waiting in line for teachers to come online.

Wang Yue was delighted to see how well it worked. If he ever crossed over again, this would give him another way to make money.

After enjoying the success for a while, Wang Yue stopped paying attention to it. Big Penguin was handling maintenance and other matters—yes, Big Penguin had also invested in the online school.

Zhong Yi was taking care of the teaching, and his career was flourishing. Wang Yue didn't need to urge him on at all. Zhong Yi's girlfriend, Zhang Xue'er, even went to see Ruan Wan to invite Wang Yue and his family over.

When Zhong Yi had first lost his job, Zhang Xue'er had been quite anxious. She worried that he would become depressed without work, and that her parents would object to their marriage because he had no home of his own. Thankfully, things had taken a turn for the better. Thanks to Wang Yue's timely help, they might be able to buy a house sooner than expected!

Zhong Yi's teaching ability was plain to see. The students in his competition classes made great progress in a short time. But the classes had limited places, leaving many parents sighing with disappointment.

Wang Yuanyuan and the two young friends, Huan Huan and Xia Huanhuan, didn't need to take an exam and went straight into the competition class. Xia Huanhuan's classmate Mi Tao joined them too. They had all studied with Zhong Yi since the trial run, so their admission was only natural. The website had posted all of this in an announcement, so the parents had no objections. The transparent system also earned their trust.

Wang Yue was busy with his own work. At lunchtime, whenever Xia Junshan and Wang Yue were both at the office, the two of them would get together for a chat. The old department head hadn't called everyone together lately, so they hadn't heard any more gossip.

Still, Wang Yue figured something would happen soon. He'd heard from his wife that Zhang Xue'er's class had received another round of exam results.

Xia Huanhuan had made great progress, with all her subjects now ranking in the top ten. Yan Ziyou, however, had failed to make the top ten in math. Tian Yulan certainly wouldn't let that slide; it was just a question of when she would blow up.

Sure enough, as soon as Tian Yulan heard about the results, she started looking for a better tutoring class for Yan Ziyou. By chance, she learned that Zexu had just established an Elite Class with only eight students. She spent the moment she got off work drilling Yan Ziyou for the entrance exam.

But things didn't go as she hoped. Yan Ziyou tied with another student for eighth place. At that point, it came down to the parents' connections and influence.

Tian Yulan first went to see Zexu's manager by herself. The manager told her the places were already full. The teacher who taught the Elite Class had chosen another student, and there was nothing he could do.

Nearly every connection Yan Ziyou had was called in to secure a place. His grandmother went first and tried to make a scene, but that didn't work. Then his paternal grandparents tried throwing money at the problem, but that didn't work either. Not every businessman was like Tan Zongming in Ode to Joy, able to make someone's life in the Magic City impossible.

In the end, Nan Jianlong stepped in and asked a former colleague who had left the institute for a career in government to help. That finally got Yan Ziyou the place.

So don't go thinking businessmen have all that much clout. It's only because they don't feel like dealing with you—for now! Since ancient times, the order in China had been scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. No matter how the farmers, artisans, and merchants might shift in status, officials always remained at the top. There was a reason for that.

Wang Yue happily listened to the gossip, but his grin slipped out before he could stop it, making Xia Junshan a little annoyed.

"She's my sister-in-law, after all. Is it really okay for you to laugh so openly?" Xia Junshan tapped his plate with his chopsticks.

"No, I just don't understand why she's going to all this trouble. Doesn't she know your Huanhuan's grades have already overtaken Yan Ziyou's?" Wang Yue was at a loss too. Maybe Tian Yulan felt that unless she had no other choice, she would never ask Nan Li for help herself.

"How would I know? Surely Yan Peng told her about your and Zhong Yi's online school?" Xia Junshan was puzzled too. Favors were like that: every time you used one, you had one fewer. Was it worth wasting one on a place in that class? Then again, maybe Tian Yulan didn't need to think about it. She probably figured that even if she didn't use the favor, Nan Li would.

"Yan Peng may be down in the dumps, but he's not stupid. He knows his wife and Zhong Yi don't get along. Why would he go looking for trouble?" Wang Yue could guess exactly how Yan Peng thought. In Yan Peng's eyes, his son was already doing great—at least better than he had.

"Right, I forgot about that!" Xia Junshan said, suddenly understanding.