Chapter 840: Chapter 303: 50th Anniversary of No. 2 High School, Zhao Mingxuan’s Troubles
The regional manager for the Central Plains, Liuu Wanyin, quickly took up her new post and led her team back to her home province.
The heads of other provinces were also finalized one after another and started work.
Except for a few provinces with special geographical or political situations, Su Zelin gave all the regional heads three months, during which they had to open at least one New Era directly operated store in every city in their province; as long as quality was guaranteed, the more the better, and at the same time they had to do a good job promoting the brand locally.
If they failed to complete the task in three months, they would be dismissed on the spot.
People who knew this operations director’s personality all understood that although he was easy to talk to in daily life, when it came to serious company business, his word was law, so everyone signed military orders and immediately felt a sense of urgency.
While the main stores were being prepared across the country like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, Su Zelin unexpectedly received a call from someone.
Guo Xingbang, his homeroom teacher from high school.
"Hello, is this Su Zelin? It’s me, Old Guo."
On the phone his speaking pace was still unhurried, his tone gentle and kind, just like his personality.
Even though in high school he’d taught a slacker like Su Zelin, who had been disciplined several times for fighting, smoking, and climbing over the school walls, Old Guo had never treated him as a parasite of the class, only patiently tried to guide him.
Homeroom teachers like this usually had the best popularity; many students who hadn’t done so well in school, the slackers, would be very grateful and respectful once they entered society.
Su Zelin held a lot of respect for Guo Xingbang.
Still, it felt a bit odd. Even though Old Guo had his cell number, this was the first time he’d called; unless he’d guessed wrong, there had to be something important.
After some casual small talk, the homeroom teacher got to the point: "Su Zelin, it’s like this—on the first of next month, it’ll be our Second High School’s fiftieth anniversary. The principal plans to hold a grand celebration and invite those alumni who once walked out of Second High to celebrate the mother school’s fiftieth birthday together. You’re working in Lin’an now, right? See if you can make some time to come back then!"
"The fiftieth anniversary... Sure, I’ll definitely be there!"
Without hesitating too long, Su Zelin readily agreed.
Even though he would be extremely busy over the next few months, a day as important as the mother school’s fiftieth anniversary, and with homeroom teacher Old Guo personally calling him, was something he had to show up for.
"Hehe, good, then we’ll talk more when we meet at the celebration. I still have to call and notify the others, so I’ll leave it at that for now!"
"Okay, Old Guo, I’ll let you get back to it then."
Hanging up the phone, Su Zelin couldn’t help feeling a bit sentimental.
Come to think of it, Jianglan Second High School had quite a history already.
In his previous life he’d also attended many school anniversaries; after he made it big, he even became a regular guest of the school leadership because he had donated a lot of money to Second High. The new library was even funded entirely by him, and there was a plaque commemorating his good deeds standing in front of the library gates.
However, in his previous life, the fiftieth anniversary of Second High was not a stage for a slacker; at that time he had just graduated not long before, had only started his business, and his achievements were far inferior to what they were now.
After work, he learned from Qin Shiqing that she had also received a call from Old Guo.
This couple was Old Guo’s proudest pair of students, so the homeroom teacher had personally notified them.
Back then, Qin Shiqing had always been one of the very top students in the whole school, and had also served as host and announcer for cultural evenings—multi-talented.
As for the slacker, although his grades weren’t much to look at, he somehow became the first student at Second High to score top marks in the college entrance exam’s English subject, and he even got a full score. Because of that, he received an award from the education bureau and appeared on the local TV station.
Moreover, in university, Su Zelin also did very well. It was said he had been both class monitor and a star of the Finance Institute. Right after graduation he’d become a company executive—young and high-spirited, with boundless prospects. Students like this were usually the ones schools valued the most, because they might become wealthy and powerful in the future and were the most generous donors.
Other students who didn’t have quite as much presence, like Xiaoyanzi and Lu Haoran, were invited through messages passed on by other classmates. Favoring some over others was unavoidable; Old Guo had been teaching at Second High for over twenty years and had students all over the country—calling each one personally would have been exhausting.
Time quickly rolled around to November 30, and Su Zelin and the others returned to Jianglan a day early.
The celebration would start the next morning, and rushing back from Lin’an on the same day would be cutting it too close.
Besides, many old classmates who worked out of town had also come home for the anniversary, so they could have a little get-together the night before.
The program for the class gathering was pretty cliché: either a meal or karaoke, and this time they went with karaoke.
After graduation, this group of high school classmates had all been tempered by society to varying degrees, each becoming more smooth and worldly.
Mixing in companies and workplaces was, after all, different from mixing in school.
Back on campus, everyone had been equal, but once they started working, the differences in social strata began to appear clearly.
Those who had a decent, respectable job naturally became the focus of others’ attention; even classmates who hadn’t been close in high school would take the initiative to cozy up and build connections with them.
Take Su Zelin, for example. Back when he was studying at Second High, aside from his childhood sweetheart Qin Shiqing, only Lu Haoran and Xiaoyanzi treated him as a friend. Even the other guys in his dorm had kept their distance from the slacker, disdaining to associate with him.
But after graduating from university, the treatment he received was like night and day.
Some guys who hadn’t said more than a few words to him in three years of high school now came over one after another to joke around with him and toast him, flattering and fawning on him in every possible way.
"Su Zelin, I heard you and Qin Shiqing got together. I knew it all along—you two are a perfect match, a couple made in heaven, childhood sweethearts. It was only a matter of time before you became a pair!"