Yu Xiaxing knew perfectly well that, with the Assessment Committee watching, she couldn’t possibly make an outrageous demand like, “Transfer Qizhi into my name.”
What she could do was propose terms that sounded reasonable on the surface—yet were extremely hard to accept.
In the end, she came up with a ruthless one. “I can renew for the three years stipulated in the contract, but my condition is that the first year must be completely free!”
“...” Zhong Wenxin fell silent.
Yu Xiaxing’s heart leapt with delight.
Hehe, finally hit your sore spot, didn’t I?
Qizhi’s renewal fee was 6.8 million yuan a year. Add in the various deposits and miscellaneous charges, and it came to around another 3 million.
Now she was demanding that they waive the entire first year’s fees—a concession of nearly ten million yuan—while also asking for preferential resource allocation, specialized training, and the highest level of access...
Anyone could see that she was blatantly taking advantage of them!
Come on, reject it!
As long as you refuse, I can smoothly say, “I truly wanted us to continue our partnership, but since Qizhi lacks sincerity, then forget it.”
Listening from the side, Yu Zheng felt his sister was really asking for far too much.
If he were Zhong Wenxin, he wouldn’t renew the contract either.
Seeing Zhong Wenxin remain silent only made him more certain that the deal was about to fall through.
He leaned over and whispered, “Why don’t you take a step back too—”
Before he could finish, a sharp pain shot through his waist.
Yu Xiaxing had pinched him hard.
“Fine,” he said, swallowing the rest of his words. He cast Zhong Wenxin a worried look.
He was already thinking about what he should say if she stormed off in anger, so he could make one last attempt to help his sister salvage the situation.
Zhong Wenxin kept her head lowered and said nothing.
In truth, she was calculating the numbers in her mind.
She had already weighed the benefits of renewing with Shengde—from the standpoint of sentiment, reason, growth, and public opinion. There was no need to go through all that again.
Now, setting Shengde aside, she was considering the advantages of working with Yu Xiaxing.
As a student enrichment experimental base, Qizhi had hit a clear bottleneck in expanding its client base.
There were only so many schools willing to pay for high-end experimental courses over the long term.
Top-tier schools in Pu City, such as Pu City High School, had their own laboratories and competition programs.
Ordinary schools, meanwhile, simply could not afford Qizhi’s fees.
Over the years, Qizhi appeared to have partnered with more and more schools. In reality, however, its stable core clientele had never grown. It was merely competing over and over within a few familiar circles.
If this continued, their only options would be to lower prices, raise rebates, or offer schools even more unequal terms.
Qizhi had previously preferred giving Mingde favorable treatment rather than seriously supporting Shengde because it had grown accustomed to working with ready-made pools of high-quality students.
But Yu Xiaxing was very different.
In a short span of time, Shengde’s reputation, public attention, and student unity had risen almost step by step.
Even several public-opinion crises that had seemed potentially fatal had ultimately become springboards for the school’s rise.
Yu Xiaxing was not merely a rare young educational visionary. She was also a genius at shaping public opinion and building a brand.
And that was precisely the capability Qizhi lacked.
If the two sides could establish a long-term partnership, Shengde would become more than just one of Qizhi’s clients. It could serve as a model for Qizhi’s efforts to explore the market among ordinary schools.
This would prove that they did not merely cultivate top students who were already exceptional, but could also uncover overlooked talent and genuinely help ordinary students reach a higher platform.
Once Jiang Tinglan achieved results in the chemistry competition two months from now, both St. De and Qizhi would, in one fell swoop, prove the effectiveness of their educational programs.
Qizhi’s client base could then expand to the hundreds, even thousands, of ordinary schools across the country seeking to develop their own distinctive strengths.
This was Qizhi’s opportunity to break through its growth bottleneck and open up an entirely new market.
Ten million—given up as a concession to a partner school—was a loss.
Ten million—to secure a marketing genius like Yu Xiaxing—was worth it!
Having finished her calculations, Zhong Wenxin looked up and said solemnly to Yu Xiaxing, “All right.”
Yu Xiaxing took several seconds to react. “What?! You’d even agree to that?”
Zhong Wenxin replied gravely, “Board Director Yu, Qizhi needs to sign a three-year contract with St. De. The first year will be free of charge, and payment will begin in the following two years. My assistant and legal team have been waiting remotely. I can sign it right now.”
Yu Xiaxing cursed furiously in her heart.
Are you insane?!
Does Qizhi’s money just fall from the sky?!
Yu Zheng was equally stunned. She agreed to that too... His little sister really was a terrifyingly good negotiator.
When it came to partnerships, it really depended on who had the nerve. The bold feasted; the timid went hungry.
By fighting for this ten-million-yuan benefit, his sister’s long-term gains had instantly surpassed Third Brother’s, hadn’t they?
When Zhong Wenxin saw that Yu Xiaxing had fallen silent, she grew a little worried. “Board Director Yu, you said just now that this would be your final condition. You’re not going back on your word and adding more demands, are you?”
Yu Zheng tugged at Yu Xiaxing’s sleeve. Hurry, hurry.
Yu Xiaxing shook him off in one swift motion.
Since making things difficult for Qizhi hadn’t been enough to make them back out, she might as well start playing the pity card!
A pained expression suddenly crossed her face. “No. I still can’t get past it emotionally. I’m someone who overthinks things terribly. Whenever I remember the humiliation I suffered at Qizhi, I can’t sleep when I come back here. I toss and turn all night...”
Material demands were easy to satisfy, but emotional wounds were another kind of magic.
When they were healed, when she was willing to forgive—that was for the person involved to decide.
Yu Zheng: “...”
You sleep like you’ve been poisoned by wild mushrooms. Diandian could bounce around on your head and you still wouldn’t wake up!
Even after Zhong Wenxin had compromised this much, it still was not enough. She had no more cards to play.
After a long silence, she rose to her feet and gave a solemn bow. “I’m sorry. I never realized that what Qizhi did to you that day had left such a deep psychological scar. As Qizhi’s current person in charge, I apologize to you.”
“...” Yu Xiaxing was the sort of person who rose to the challenge when faced with strength, but softened when met with gentleness.
Zhong Wenxin was not even angry after things had come to this, and Yu Xiaxing felt a little uncomfortable.
But she still wanted to leave as soon as possible. She still did not know what her parents had meant by the things she had overheard them saying when she was little. If she stayed any longer, who knew whether it might lead to endless trouble?
Then she thought of that failure slot looming so close at hand, and her heart hardened again.
Yu Xiaxing turned her face away. “You don’t need to do this. I probably won’t be at St. De for much longer anyway. Once I step down, you can find a new board director to work with.”
Probably very soon.
Yu Zheng looked at her in confusion. Wasn’t she being too pessimistic?
Zhong Wenxin was helpless too. The reason she was willing to concede those ten million was precisely because of Yu Xiaxing.
A new board director—who knew what they would be like?
“If nothing changes and it’s still the same old team, what’s the point? The previous team was terrible.”
The atmosphere remained heavy for a long while.
Zhong Wenxin sighed. “All right, then. In that case, I’ll take my leave first.”
Then she looked at Yu Zheng. “Fifth Young Master, does Old Master Yu still live in the main residence on the east side?”
Yu Zheng nodded. “Yes.”
Yu Xiaxing instantly became wary. “What do you want with my grandfather?”
Zhong Wenxin said, “When my father was young, he didn’t earn much. My mother worked in finance under Old Master Yu at the time. Toward the end, she developed a glioma, and it was Old Master Yu who paid for her medical treatment.”
“My mother only worked at the Yu Corporation for two years, so I imagine Old Master Yu no longer remembers her... But I’d still like to pay him a visit, and ask him to persuade you.”
With that, she rose and left.
Of all the possibilities Yu Xiaxing had calculated, this was the one she’d never seen coming!
No! If Zhong Wenxin spoke with her grandfather, who knew whether he’d accuse her of slacking off and refusing to work? Then she might be eliminated outright, without even severance pay...
Yu Xiaxing wrestled with herself for a moment. There would be chances to court disaster later, but she couldn’t expose her true intentions now.
She immediately jumped to her feet and chased after her. “President Zhong! I was only joking just now! I’ll sign!”
