Chapter 131
Noble Kindergarten is facing its biggest crisis ever
Learning from the experience of Giraffe Kindergarten, they decided this issue couldn't be allowed to escalate further. So the school administration spent a hefty sum to remove the topic from trending searches.
They immediately issued an apology on their official platform, offering all students a month's worth of tuition as compensation, and promptly fired the teacher involved.
It must be said, Noble Kindergarten has some skilled individuals in their PR department.
This combination of actions quickly quelled much of the public's anger.
After all, the parents' protests were aimed at resolving the issue, not removing their children from Noble Kindergarten.
However, trust is a fragile thing. Once cracks appear, it's difficult to rebuild.
As a result, the teachers at Noble Kindergarten now face more questions from parents than ever before.
Previously, Noble Kindergarten catered exclusively to children from wealthy families.
The teachers, accustomed to this, had developed quite an attitude and were openly snobbish. Now that they had to serve children from more diverse backgrounds, they were already quite disgruntled.
If it weren't for the recent incident serving as a warning, they would have exploded in frustration long ago.
The teachers were trying their utmost to restrain themselves.
Everyone knew that this restraint couldn't last forever.
Consequently, complaints about various issues started pouring in every day.
"Principal, we've found five or six voice recorders hidden during nap time in our class again," one teacher reported.
The teachers were terrified when they saw these devices.
The previous incident had been exposed by a voice recorder.
No teacher wanted to be secretly recorded.
When they discovered the recorders, they were both angry and scared, rushing to report to the principal.
The principal said, "Just pretend you didn't see them. The parents are suspicious of us right now. We can only try our best to dispel their doubts."
Another teacher complained, "Recently, parents have been bombarding us with questions even after school hours. The volume of inquiries has exceeded our daily workload. We need the principal to either hire customer service staff or increase our salaries."
The principal, clearly irritated, retorted, "Can you do the job or not? If not, you're free to leave."
As others tried to speak up, the principal snapped, "Can't you all give me a moment's peace?"
Things used to be different, but since the incident, everyone had been complaining to her.
This time, they had admitted 2,000 new students, greatly expanding their enrollment.
The plan was to emulate Starry Sky Kindergarten, but it had backfired spectacularly.
It wasn't just the staff who were unhappy; even the investors and shareholders were displeased.
Yesterday, when the major shareholder called her, he berated her, saying she would have been better off doing nothing.
Her recent string of poor decisions had made them a laughingstock.
She could have maintained her position as the top kindergarten by simply staying put.
Now, her position seemed precarious.
Between compensating accounts, removing trending topics, dismissing PR staff, and appeasing angry parents, they had spent millions.
With the year-end approaching, the principal had no idea how to present her annual report. The mere thought gave her a headache.
Teacher Zhang from the admissions department came to see the principal.
As someone the principal had personally promoted, she was considered loyal. She tried to console her boss: "What's done is done. Let's focus on finding solutions instead of getting angry."
The principal, bottling up her frustrations, finally opened up: "Now they're saying I've been too ambitious, but that's not what they were saying before."
Previously, everyone had pressured her repeatedly, pointing out that the young heirs from wealthy families were no longer choosing Noble Kindergarten.
Additionally, their reputation among the general public had been declining, forcing them to take drastic measures.
Everyone had agreed to the increased enrollment at the time, but now that problems had arisen, they were all shifting the blame onto her. What was that about?
Though the principal of Noble Kindergarten said this, she too harbored regrets.
The constant need for new hires meant that costs were now exceeding revenue.
If this continued, forget about year-end bonuses – she might not even keep her position as principal next year.
Teacher Zhang from the admissions office looked at her and said, "I have an idea, although it's a bit risky."
The principal's curiosity was piqued. After hearing the idea, she found herself genuinely intrigued.
...
Shen Wei couldn't fathom why the principal of Noble Kindergarten had called her.
Noble Kindergarten had repeatedly antagonized her before. Shen Wei wasn't without a temper.
The fact that she hadn't kicked them while they were down during this recent incident was already a testament to her good character.
Curious about the purpose of this call, she decided to meet the principal alone.
The principal of Noble Kindergarten was a middle-aged woman.
She usually dressed elegantly and properly, resembling a wealthy socialite.
As the face of Noble Kindergarten, she carried handbags worth over 300,000 yuan and drove luxury cars.
Shen Wei had seen her at a banquet before, but due to their unique positions, they hadn't interacted.
At that banquet, she had been radiant, laughing and chatting with VIPs. Now, just a few months later, her face bore signs of weariness.
It was clear that the recent incident at Noble Kindergarten had taken its toll on her.
Shen Wei got straight to the point: "May I ask why you wanted to meet?"
She had no time for false pleasantries with Noble Kindergarten.
The principal of Noble Kindergarten looked at Shen Wei with mixed emotions.
Shen Wei was incredibly young. To be outmaneuvered by someone so junior, with no way to fight back, left her feeling conflicted.
It gave her a sense of being outshone by a newcomer.
Hearing Shen Wei speak, she couldn't help but say, "I've heard about your pop-up store before. Originally, you were planning to open a second branch of Starry Sky Kindergarten."
This was something many Starry Sky employees weren't even aware of.
But the fact that the principal of Noble Kindergarten knew didn't surprise Shen Wei.
After all, with years of connections in the city, it wasn't difficult for her to learn such information.
Shen Wei responded, "And?"
The principal of Noble Kindergarten said, "You young people are so full of ideas, and you're capable too. Everything you touch turns to gold." She offered a few simple compliments.
Then the principal continued, "We've run into some issues, and I'm hoping for something that could divert public attention. I'm willing to offer you 10 million yuan if you open your second branch now."
Starry Sky Kindergarten was incredibly popular.
If they announced their enrollment, it would significantly divert attention away from Noble Kindergarten.
They had calculated earlier.
After this recent incident, the damage to Noble Kindergarten's brand far exceeded 20 to 30 million yuan.
Launching various advertisements now is clearly not very useful.
Giving money to Starry Sky Kindergarten, although a bold move, is quite effective.
It's much more cost-effective than advertising.
But Shen Wei didn't agree: "No need, I'm not short on money here!" Shen Wei said this with great confidence.
The 50 million given by the big shot earlier hasn't been spent yet.
Plus the donations from the live streaming room, tickets from the pop-up store, tuition fees from the kindergarten, and subsidies from the system.
It's not worth taking this 10 million and risking gossip.
Moreover, she had a feeling that there were pitfalls waiting for her ahead.