Director Gao had just been shut down by Yu Xiaxing, and the anger in her chest flared right back up.
She said with a cold face, "That's right. Since the school board director is asking, I'll speak plainly."
"All the teachers agree that if we're going to run an art exam prep class, we can't just rely on gimmicks."
"Everyone acknowledges that Shen Zhi was an outstanding actress back in the day. But she has never taught a single class before, has no systematic teaching experience, and doesn't understand the current art exam training process at all."
"There are so many art exam prep classes out there right now. Why would parents pick a teacher with no teaching experience?"
Yu Xiaxing had thought it would be something more impressive than that.
Director Gao suddenly pulled a sheet out of her folder.
"I know Board Director Yu has a lot of affairs to handle on a daily basis, and you might not have the time to screen every member of the teaching staff one by one. So we've picked out some well-known veteran teachers in the market for you in advance."
She passed the sheet over.
"These are the teachers we've vetted. They have years of art exam teaching experience, have guided plenty of students to good results, deliver consistent teaching quality, and are far more easily accepted by parents."
"You have more than enough capital on hand right now. Just follow this list to poach these teachers, and I'm fully confident we can run the class well."
Yu Xiaxing took it and glanced at it.
The spreadsheet was beautifully made.
Age, alma mater, years of teaching experience, number of students taught, pay rate, and recommendation notes were all listed clearly and neatly.
She scanned down the list, and her eyes stopped on one name.
The recommendation note for Gao Mingyuan was especially long.
Former gold-medal teacher at a top art exam training institution, ten years of performance teaching experience, familiar with school exam processes, good at helping students improve scores in a short period of time, well-reputed among parents.
Yu Xiaxing looked up and asked, "Is this person your relative?"
Director Gao kept a straight face, "He is indeed my younger brother, but we shouldn't avoid using relatives just for the sake of appearances when they're the right fit. I'm not recommending him because of personal connections, but because he's genuinely perfect for Shengde. He's been in the art exam training industry for years, has taught tons of students, and is far more reliable than an inexperienced actress like Shen Zhi."
Yu Xiaxing shook her head. "No. I don't want anyone on this list you put together. That ten million yuan operating bonus was won by me, and I'm going to spend it on whoever I feel like supporting!"
Director Gao could not help but burst out, "Board Director Yu, this whole setup of yours is just a slapdash makeshift crew!"
Yu Xiaxing said openly and unapologetically, "So what? Are you going to kill me over it? I'm dead set on having Shen Zhi and no one else!"
Director Gao: "..."
Outside the office door.
Shen Zhi was standing behind the half-open door, clutching the newly printed onboarding documents in her hand.
She had originally just come to ask Yu Xiaxing when exactly she would start working.
She had barely slept a wink last night.
She showed up at Shengde to report for duty that morning, and when she saw students coming up to ask for her autograph, she felt a mix of joy and fear.
She was happy that there were still people who remembered her.
But she was afraid that this art exam class might just be a whim of Yu Xiaxing's, and that she would end up with no job and no income after all.
But right now, she had heard everything... She had been firmly chosen by Yu Xiaxing!
Shen Zhi's eyes turned slightly red.
Inside the office.
Director Gao was finally completely furious. "Board Director Yu, if you're this unwilling to listen to good advice, when parents don't sign up later and the project starts losing money... you'll regret it before you know it!"
Yu Xiaxing heard the word "losing money" again, which happened to be her favorite phrase to hear right now.
Director Gao said, "Since you're not willing to take good advice, I have nothing more to say."
With that, she turned and stormed off.
Lu Yanzhao spoke gently, "I'll go arrange the adjusted leave schedules and overtime pay for the teachers."
Yu Xiaxing waved her hand. "Go ahead."
Soon, Yu Xiaxing was the only one left in the office.
Shen Zhi walked in. "Director Yu."
Yu Xiaxing looked up. "What's up?"
Shen Zhi said, "I came to ask when I can start working."
Yu Xiaxing said, "It's not set in stone yet. The art exam class isn't just for performance. There are fine arts, vocal music, broadcasting and hosting, and a whole mess of other tracks. I still need to hire more staff. The next step will be student recruitment."
She paused for a moment, then said casually, "Don't worry, your salary will be calculated starting from the day we sign your contract."
Shen Zhi smiled. "It's not about the pay for me. You've already given me more than enough sense of security... I actually wanted to ask you about one thing..."
"Fourth Miss Yu called me last night. She apologized to me."
"She said the production team treated me unfairly before, and that was due to her mismanagement. She wants me to go back and finish filming this drama."
"She also said she won't indulge Qiao Tang and Director Su anymore."
Shen Zhi looked up and asked cautiously, "So, Director Yu, is it okay if I go?"
She had already braced herself for a refusal.
After all, Yu Xiaxing and Yu Lingyi are competitors.
Now that she was someone Yu Xiaxing had recruited, going back to help Yu Lingyi finish the drama would basically mean she was helping Yu Xiaxing's competitor save their project.
But Shen Zhi still thought that if Yu Lingyi was really willing to deal with Qiao Tang and Su Hao properly.
She wanted to give her own acting career a proper, dignified closing.
Yu Xiaxing nodded without even needing to think twice. "Sure. Go ahead."
Shen Zhi was surprised. "But it's helping your competitor... Is that really okay?"
Yu Xiaxing said, "You're an employee I hired, not my slave. There's no clause in your contract that says you can only work one job. If you want to go back and wrap up that drama, go for it. Just don't let it interfere with your classes later on."
Shen Zhi was moved by this younger girl all over again.
How could she be so nice?
She loved her family so much, respected every single one of her subordinates, and treated everyone around her like a real person!
Shen Zhi took a deep breath and said softly, "Thank you, Director Yu."
She left the office.
Yu Xiaxing leaned back in her chair and twirled the pen in her hand slowly.
If Fourth Sister's project flopped and she got eliminated from the running directly, wouldn't that mean I'd have one less competitor?
That won't do.
Yu Lingyi has to keep holding on.
All the other brothers and sisters have to keep holding on too.
But there's one thing she was curious about...
Does Fourth Sister really not care at all that her fiance cheated on her with that homewrecker and is transferring their assets behind her back?
Is she really still planning to go through with the wedding?
Is she really so spineless that she's going to be the star of *The Incompetent Wife*?
None of the family members have brought this matter up so far, it seems her wedding date isn't going to change any time soon.
She immediately sent a message to Shen Zhi: "While you're filming, help me keep an eye out, will you? Is there any sign that Fourth Miss Yu and Su Hao are going to split up?"
On the other end, Shen Zhi read the message and a fond little smile spread across her face.
She really was just a pretty, lively young girl who loved gossip and had a strong, curious eye for what was going on in other people's lives.
But so did she! She was dying to know how this drama would turn out too!
-
After Shen Zhi returned to the set, the whole atmosphere of the production team changed noticeably.
Qiao Tang no longer dared to steal scenes blatantly, and Su Hao no longer openly favored her in front of the whole crew like he used to.
Yu Lingyi had pulled herself together after the blow of the bad streaming performance data, and came to the film set every day.
She wouldn't say much or interfere with anything, she just watched Shen Zhi film every single scene, and watched Su Hao direct the whole production.
Su Hao realized that Yu Lingyi must have found out something.
But after seeing that Yu Lingyi never blew up at him, he slowly started to relax again.
He thought that Yu Lingyi was still the same old Yu Lingyi after all.
Proper, restrained, and obsessed with keeping up appearances.
Even if she knew something, she would never make a public scene and embarrass everyone.
The short drama was filmed at a very fast pace.
Two days later, the final scene was soon finished, and the clapperboard snapped shut.
The director's assistant called out, "That's a wrap!"
Sporadic applause broke out across the studio.
Shen Zhi stood under the studio lights, the traces of tears from her scene still glistening on her face.
Qiao Tang forced a bright smile as she held a bouquet of flowers to pose for group photos with the crew.
Su Hao walked over to Yu Lingyi's side and murmured softly, "Lingyi, it's finally over."
Yu Lingyi was staring at the playback on the monitor, and only gave a faint "mm-hmm" in response.
She then lifted her eyes to look at her fiance. "Su Hao," she said, "there's something I need to talk to you about in private."
