Chapter 151

Chapter 151

This time, it was Xu Meng and her daughter’s turn to be the spectators. They hadn’t expected Jiang Haohao to be so aggressive—she even called the police.

Tang Ping ended up being the troublemaker.

Jiang Haohao didn’t see any difference in the nature of these two incidents. Besides, in business, once money is paid, there’s no reason for refunds. She figured if Xu Meng could resolve things by calling the police, she could do the same.

There was too much drama to process in one go. Xu Meng and Feng Yanwen called over Second Kid, who was happily enjoying the spectacle, and headed back.

Second Kid, with his wide-eyed curiosity, asked, "Auntie, will that lady be okay?"

Feng Yanwen shook her head. "She should be fine. Her situation is different from the person who caused trouble at our place the other day. But what's this woman's deal, opening a school here?"

Judging by the school’s decor and the strong chemical smell inside, it must have been recently renovated.

After Jiang Guangdong was investigated for financial issues and imprisoned, his family members were also implicated. Some were disciplined, others dismissed. Jiang Haohao, due to her fake academic credentials, was kicked out of teaching.

Even though the Jiang family suffered a heavy blow, Jiang Guangdong had amassed considerable wealth over the years. Before he was imprisoned, the family reached an agreement and stashed away plenty of money. After some scheming, Jiang Haohao decided to open an English training center.

But her heart wasn’t in the right place.

Jiang Haohao was never a qualified teacher, but she was skilled at exploiting loopholes.

She believed the market was viable because there weren’t many training centers around. In a big city like Jing City, many families could afford tutoring fees. Feng Yanwen’s quick growth of her tutoring business within a year proved this point.

"Still, we need to think of a countermeasure. If they keep marketing like this, our customers might end up going to them instead."

Second Kid bobbed his head excitedly. He always loved keeping up with gossip and ate this stuff up. His big eyes darted between Feng Yanwen and Xu Meng, thinking how complicated the adult world was.

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Xu Meng’s mind. "It’s simple—we’ll advertise too!"

Feng Yanwen scoffed. "Advertise? With our scale, what kind of ads can we do? Hire celebrities to sing or hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony?"

Those options were expensive. Nowadays, celebrities did gigs for easy money—50,000 yuan could get a recognizable name to sing a few songs and leave. There were also unconventional methods, like hiring a truck to toss flyers.

Xu Meng thought seriously. "For example, we could hand out flyers near schools. We could hire people for that."

Second Kid’s eyes lit up. "Hire people to distribute flyers? How about us?"

His big, earnest eyes fixed on Xu Meng.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

Second Kid immediately volunteered, patting his chest. "You really can hire us! Last year, we helped sell maps, remember? Plus, we know this area better than anyone. After school, we can hand out flyers—I even know how to sell it to people!"

The kids had been learning English in their free time and could now hold basic conversations. Second Kid, in particular, could string together different types of sentences and hold his own in conversations with ease.

Xu Meng was impressed. "Not bad, Second Kid!"

He beamed with pride. "Of course! Emma taught me before."

Little Emma had been gone for a while, but what she taught them stuck. Whenever she got flustered, she’d break into English, making the kids pick it up by necessity. As a result, their spoken English was better than many middle schoolers’.

Feng Yanwen smiled. "Alright, I’ll hire you to distribute flyers. But do you know who to give them to?"

Second Kid said with a sly grin. "I know—parents! And I’ll tell them all the benefits of learning English."

This kid was a quick study.

Feng Yanwen nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, then I'll hire you temporarily for a month. Just focus on after-school hours, blend in with the crowd of parents waiting for their children, and introduce our school to them. If anyone asks about the school's address or basic details, you should be able to answer them."

Second Brother immediately assured her that this wouldn’t be a problem, adding that he could even make rounds at the middle school in the evening if needed.

However, Feng Yanwen said there was no need to distribute flyers at the middle school gate: "First, it's unsafe at night. Second, distributing to students isn’t as effective. Just stick to the nearby elementary schools—no need to go elsewhere. Distribute at one school for a while, then switch to another. No need to cover distant areas; people from distant areas wouldn’t be willing to cross districts to attend our classes anyway."

Second Brother went back to discuss it with Eldest Brother, while Third Brother was too young to be involved.

Eldest Brother also thought it was a good idea: "Sure, I can go to the nearby elementary schools after class, and you can focus on handing them out to parents at our own school. You know what to say, right?"

Second Brother patted his chest confidently: "Piece of cake!"

The two brothers eagerly hashed out the plan. With their experience selling maps, they put together a surprisingly solid marketing plan. Once they had it figured out, they went to Feng Yanwen.

Feng Yanwen was indeed pleased: "Here’s the deal—I’ll pay you five bucks a day. If you manage to get someone to sign up using your flyers, we’ll count it as your lead. We can offer them a complimentary trial class, and for each successful enrollment, you’ll get an extra five-yuan commission. How does that sound?"

The brothers perked up at that and couldn’t wait for school to start, pestering Feng Yanwen to get the flyers printed ASAP.

Impressed by their enthusiasm, Feng Yanwen mentioned it to Xu Meng.

Xu Meng waved her hands excitedly: "I’ve got an idea too. Our school can also promote itself—hang a big banner that says: 'Celebrating Our First Graduate, Xu Meng, Who Achieved Her Dream and Was Admitted to XX University with an English Score of 99!' That’s called marketing—see what I mean? Other places even hire top scorers for ads. We’ve got a real one right here—why waste it?"

Feng Yanwen gaped at her, thinking to herself when her daughter had grown so bold.

But it did make sense. These days, TV commercials showed top scorers hawking brain-tonic drinks.

After Xu Meng’s results came out, the neighborhood had planned to hang a banner. At the time, Feng Yanwen had insisted on keeping it low-key until the admission letter arrived. Now, the neighborhood was preparing to put it up.

Xu Meng ran with the idea: "You could even hire me to do an ad. Want to go for it?"

Feng Yanwen looked at her with a strange expression, her eyes narrowing in thought.

Suddenly, she clapped her hands: "Let’s do it."

They got to work right away. Feng Yanwen had Zhao Jing contact a local ad agency to print a banner. They also took a photo of Xu Meng and turned it into a promotional image, creating a large banner with smaller text below: "1991 Beijing Liberal Arts Third Place, District Top Scorer."

With her good looks, the poster came out looking like a celebrity endorsement.

The embarrassment, though, was all Xu Meng’s. Yanwen English School was located along the main road, and the banner was visible before turning into the alley. Every time Xu Meng accidentally passed by and saw her giant poster, she cringed hard enough to dig a hole with her toes. She also became acutely aware of her newfound fame in Changchun Alley.

Whenever she returned home, neighbors, familiar or not, would call out to her:

"Xu Meng, where are you off to?"

"Xu Meng, have you eaten?"

"Xu Meng, where are you headed?"

"Xu Meng…"

Red-faced, Xu Meng finally went to Feng Yanwen.

"Mom, can we take the poster down…?"

"Take it down?" Feng Yanwen glanced at her. "Wasn’t this your idea?"

"But my idea was just a banner…" Xu Meng clasped her hands pleadingly. "Mom, come on. I’m like a local celebrity now!"

Feng Yanwen was sorting through the enrollment list for the next semester, her abacus clicking as she replied without looking up: "Why throw away free publicity? We’re expanding into post-exam training now. With you as our living advertisement, why keep it hidden? Besides, what’s the big deal? Celebrities have posters everywhere—no one’s paying special attention to you. And you’re already famous in Changchun Alley. Even without your photo, you’d still be well-known."

"Same here," Xu Meng sat back down on the chair.

"Once this period passes, it'll be fine. Do you know how much registrations surged after I made the banners and posters?" Feng Yanwen quoted a very tempting number and even gave Xu Meng a considerable endorsement fee: "I'll pay you 20,000 for the advertisement, how about that?"

Wow, Xu Meng was guiltily tempted.

She had been strapped for cash lately. Once the construction site started, it became a bottomless pit, swallowing almost all her savings.

Recently, the building was capped, but the interior still needed renovation.

According to the original plan, the place needed a ventilation system from the start, along with standard production workshops, packaging areas, and worker break rooms. Cooking hot pot base was hard work—standing in front of the stove for long hours made even winter feel hot, and summer was even more brutal. Equipment like ceiling fans was absolutely essential.

After all the calculations, there was indeed a 20,000-yuan shortfall.

Broke and desperate, Xu Meng was guiltily tempted.

"Can you add a bit more?"

Feng Yanwen chuckled. "If you're short on money, just tell me. There's no need to stand on ceremony between mother and daughter. The money we earned together before is still with me anyway."

She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then opened a drawer and pulled out three stacks of bills.

"Take this for now. If it's not enough, just ask me for more."

Mom had already prepared the money!

Her eyes instantly filled with tears, her voice choked in her throat as tears streamed down her face.

Her very first advertising income had just landed in her account.