Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Feng Yanwen's training school was the first of its kind in the area. Due to its scarcity at the time and word-of-mouth recommendations from neighbors, the business took off overnight. Naturally, this drew a lot of envy, as there was no rule preventing others from doing the same. There were plenty of English majors around, and many were salivating at the opportunity.

"Wait, where did you see it?"

"Not far from here, on the way to my dad's workplace. They're also claiming to be teachers from No. 17 High School. They've really fixed the place up nice now, with great decor."

"Wait for me, let me change my clothes."

"Don’t bother changing, hurry up!" The second kid was impatient by nature, practically hopping with impatience outside, unable to wait for Xu Meng to finish changing.

Xu Meng had just changed and rushed to the door to put on her shoes.

The second child was stomping madly at the door. "Hurry up already!"

Xu Meng was still shuffling in her slippers when the second child and the others dragged her away.

On their way out, they ran into Feng Yanwen, who saw the kids pulling her daughter along and called after her, "Watch where you're going! What’s the rush?" She even considered following them.

Xu Meng waved her off. "Don’t come, just stay inside."

Still being dragged by the second child, Xu Meng nearly lost her slippers as they ran.

Their route happened to pass by the entrance of Yanwen Training School. As they approached, they heard a woman shouting loudly, "Refund my money! Give me my money back!"

A crowd had gathered to watch the commotion.

Xu Meng grabbed the second child, stopping him from running ahead, and instead pulled the kids toward the school.

In the middle of the crowd, Zhao Jing was surrounded. A woman in her thirties had a tight grip on Zhao Jing’s ponytail, yanking her hair violently. Zhao Jing was screaming and trying to pull away, but the woman’s grip was unrelenting.

"Let her go! Let her go now!" Xu Meng shouted as she pushed through the crowd. "Someone help! What’s going on here?"

Most were just bystanders, while the woman seemed completely out of control, ignoring everyone as she kept pulling Zhao Jing’s hair.

Xu Meng rushed over, grabbed one of her slippers, and smacked the woman’s hand with it. The hard plastic sole made the woman yelp in pain, finally releasing Zhao Jing. Meanwhile, the older kids pushed through and pulled Zhao Jing to safety.

Xu Meng demanded loudly, "What’s going on?"

Zhao Jing was sobbing, a small bald patch on her head and her face was scratched up. "She just came in and started hitting me without even asking! I don’t even know why!"

The woman, still furious, yelled, "You shameless people! Hiring young girls like this to sit at the front, when they see elderly people with kids, you drag old folks into signing up for classes! My father-in-law was out with his grandchild today, and you conned him into enrolling! It took forever for him to admit the truth! I won’t let this go—if you don’t refund the money today, I’ll smash this place!"

The scene was chaotic, with onlookers gathering around.

Feng Yanwen’s school had been booming, and while many envied its success, no one had ever caused a scene like this—especially not by accusing the staff of behaving like streetwalkers. Zhao Jing, humiliated, cried out, "I didn’t do anything!"

The woman sneered, "Liar! You dare deny it? You little slut, shameless bitch! Selling your dignity for money—even grabbing an old man’s hand!"

Then she turned to Xu Meng, reaching out to claw at her face. "Look at you, all pretty and seductive! How could girls who look like that actually do honest work? A proper school wouldn’t hire people like you at the front desk—you’re just here to swindle old folks out of their money! Even hookers get paid upfront—how much did your boss pay you? Spill the beans so we can all have a good laugh!"

Her words grew uglier by the second.

Xu Meng snapped. "What’s it to you if I’m pretty? If you don't like it, gouge your own eyes out! Psycho!"

Take Zhao Jing - she's genuinely honest.

It was precisely because of her honesty—which was both a blessing and a curse—that Feng Yanwen had deliberated for a long time before she brought her on board.

You can say she made a mistake with the money or was careless, but to describe someone in such disgusting terms makes you wonder if it was on purpose.

Her claws were about to reach out again when Xu Meng slapped them away, sending the woman into a full-blown tantrum, nearly screaming and rolling on the ground.

Fortunately, while some here were strangers, most were residents from nearby Changchun Alley. Xu Meng had been making waves lately, and the woman’s words were too vile. Some couldn’t stand it and tried to reason with her: "Why can’t you speak properly? If you want a refund, just ask for it. Won’t you even let her explain? I can’t vouch for everything, but this girl right here isn’t like that."

"Exactly, and Teacher Feng is a decent person too!"

Zhao Jing said, "I didn’t do it. We run everything by the book here."

Xu Meng asked, "Where’s your child? What’s their name?"

She wondered if a rival had sent her. If the woman was making baseless accusations today, she’d rip her lies to shreds.

"Wanchun!" the woman declared confidently.

Zhao Jing thought for a moment. "There’s no student by that name."

The woman grew even angrier, raising her voice. "See? You’re shameless! Grabbing an old man’s hand and now deny it? He just enrolled today, and you’re already pretending not to know him? How despicable can you be?"

When it came to being fierce, Xu Meng could give as good as she got.

The woman had accused them of touching old men and rubbing up against people—filthy, insulting talk. Others might let it slide, but Xu Meng found it absurd. Not only was Zhao Jing an honest girl, but the entire school had no such people.

Xu Meng stepped in front of Zhao Jing and raised her voice. "You claim you enrolled here? Where’s the receipt? Surely you didn’t enroll without one. And was it even you who came? If you’re spreading lies, just see if I don’t shut your mouth for you. Folks, you all know our front-desk girl Xiao Zhao—she’s a very honest person. This woman came in spouting nonsense and even scratched Xiao Zhao’s face. No proof? Then we’re not done here."

Zhao Jing snapped back to her senses. If she hadn’t done anything, why should she be afraid?

"Right! No receipt, no proof—just talking nonsense. I might as well say I saw you kill someone on this very street, with my own eyes!"

Xu Meng shot Zhao Jing an approving look. She was getting the hang of it.

Xu Meng still couldn’t tell if this woman was sent by a competitor, so she demanded the woman produce the receipt in front of everyone.

The woman didn’t back down either. She reached into her pocket, rummaged around, and finally pulled out a slip of paper, tossing it at Xu Meng’s feet. "Take a look yourself. Open your damn eyes wide and see for yourself."

The slip landed right at Xu Meng’s feet, making her stoop to pick it up. Onlookers frowned—this was downright disrespectful.

Xu Meng didn’t mind. She bent down, picked up the slip, glanced at it, then clenched it in her hand. She looked at the woman and said, "And if it wasn’t us, what then?"

The woman’s expression didn’t change. "How could it not be your school? I checked—yours is the only English training center around."

Xu Meng had dealt with plenty of unreasonable troublemakers before.

"Alright, keep digging your own grave. Xiao Zhao, don’t bother cleaning up yet. If this woman keeps causing trouble, we’ll drag her to the police station. Causing a public disturbance is no joke—randomly assaulting others, causing minor injuries, can land you up to five years in prison, detention, or control. Lady, you can’t just go around hitting people, especially during this crackdown. They’re targeting public disturbances that harm social order."

Back in the '80s and '90s, public safety wasn’t what it is now. Even in big cities, theft, fights, and petty thugs were common.

The woman knew she was in deep but still wouldn’t quit, sneering at them. "I couldn’t have gotten the wrong person."

Seeing her still so stubborn, without even a hint of remorse, Xu Meng raised the receipt. "Everyone, take a look. The stamp on this receipt isn’t from our training center. If you still want to argue, fine—let’s not waste time here. We’ll settle this at the police station. If it really was us, have them arrest me on the spot. I’m the daughter of this training center’s owner and a student who just finished the college entrance exams. I’m not scared of a black mark—you are?"

The moment she saw the receipt, she knew the woman had made a mistake.

But why did everyone say this was the only school around? The answer was obvious—the old man hadn’t enrolled here at all.

The crowd groaned, realizing they’d wasted their time.

The woman finally snapped out of it. With her extreme and impulsive personality, she’d taken Zhao Jing—a pretty young girl—for one of those people and immediately resorted to hitting and cursing. Because of her hot temper, she had made plenty of enemies at work. Today, upon hearing that her father-in-law had spent over a hundred yuan to enroll a child in a training class, her anger instantly flared up.

"So what? If it wasn't you, then it wasn't you. I got the wrong person." The woman tried to snatch the receipt back.

Xu Meng raised her hand. "You think I'll just hand it over if you grab for it?"

After this woman's outburst, she probably figured out the rival school's recruitment tactics.

The onlookers only caught half the drama but finally understood today's incident was just a misunderstanding.

Xu Meng said word by word, "Our school is a legitimate training center. We would never scam the elderly. If anyone signed up for a class elsewhere, go find the right people. And if anyone dares to stir up trouble here, I’m no pushover—this isn’t something that can just be brushed off."