I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 49 New Year's Goods in Mazhou

Normally, it would be quite difficult for Mazhou City to compete, because it is the furthest from Shazhou City. Although they are also separated by a river, Jianggao City is closer, as it faces the Yangtze River directly, while Mazhou faces it diagonally.

However, the situation changed completely after the Jiyang Yangtze River Bridge opened to traffic last September, connecting Jiyang City and Mazhou City.

Before the ferry routes between Shazhou City and Jianggao City were opened, Mazhou City was actually closer to Jianggao City in terms of transportation distance.

The remaining student requirements are roughly the same. Mazhou City belongs to the Yangzhou-Taizhou metropolitan area, while Jianggao City belongs to the Chongzhou metropolitan area. Both can be used for the business of middle school entrance exam retakes, and there is no difference for Xindongweigang Middle School.

As for retaking the college entrance exam, it's open to students from all over the province, so it doesn't matter where you are.

That's how reputation works. Now, "Zhang An Education" has an office in every prefecture-level city and populous county in the province. Registration, enrollment, and interviews can all be scheduled in advance, and then a unified exam will be held.

As the Lunar New Year approaches, schools across the country are starting to organize final exams and then begin winter break. However, Xindongweigang Middle School is different. The holiday is not fixed and may be brought forward or postponed. The main thing is that the training cycle is three weeks and twenty-one days, and it ends when it reaches a multiple of twenty-one days.

If there are any additional city-wide unified exams or joint exams, they will be scheduled as holidays so that students can have some fun.

Furthermore, parents are strictly prohibited from providing extra tutoring or practice for their children during holidays.

This is something many parents don't understand, but "Zhang An Education" has given a reasonable explanation: students have plenty of effective learning time at school, so adding extra tutoring is excessive and not very meaningful.

The so-called effective study time is relative. Most ordinary high schools have too much repetitive and ineffective study time, and efficiency adjustments cannot be made due to cost issues. That's why "Zhang An Education" embodies efficiency.

The simplest example is that if someone falls behind on a knowledge point, the student quickly provides feedback, and then the main lecturer continues the lesson while the assistant lecturer and teaching assistant move the student to a smaller class to reinforce the learning progress.

The teaching pace remains consistent, as does the students' pace, resulting in relatively synchronized overall efficiency and more effective teaching time.

Similarly, there are eight classes in school: Chinese, Math, and English on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and Physics, Chemistry, and Biology or Politics, History, and Geography on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Then, a cycle of 21 days is formed, with a maximum of 160 minutes of class time. The amount of test preparation is basically the same, and the lecturer quickly explains the points of confusion. There are no extra subject-specific points to memorize throughout the day.

Completely different from purely high-intensity, high-density, and relentless training sessions, trainees don't experience dizziness or sleep deprivation after a day's work. This is why Xindongweigang Middle School is still able to organize intramural e-sports competitions.

With ample energy, students naturally have vitality.

Even parents who accompany their children to study here admit that while their children's grades have improved, they don't seem like "sick chickens" anymore.

Efficiency is something that anyone with expertise can understand at a glance. The Mazhou City Education Bureau organized eight inspections of varying sizes, but these did not disrupt the business of "Zhang An Education".

The eight site visits primarily involved leaders and teachers from eight rural middle schools outside the city, aiming to identify potential areas for cooperation.

There were also capable people in the Mazhou City Education Bureau who thought that if the Xindongweigang Middle School branch could not be established in Mazhou City, then opening a cooperative class was also an option. They suggested setting up a separate class in a township middle school as a model, which would provide a basis for future cooperation negotiations.

However, the competition is fierce, so a change in strategy is definitely necessary.

So the Mazhou City Education Bureau prepared a truckload of New Year's goods, mainly pork jerky and taro. Mazhou's "fragrant sand taro" is not numbing and has a soft, powdery texture, a unique quality in the riverside region. It is also one of the few grains that can be stored for a long time along the Yangtze River, making it a popular gift. Zhang Da'an had just finished his year-end summary when the New Year's goods from the Mazhou City Education Bureau arrived. None of the officials came; instead, the principal and teachers from a rural middle school called Xilai Middle School arrived.

The middleman turned out to be someone from the Jianggao City Education Bureau, a strange combination. But while eating and chatting over a plate of candied taro, Zhang Da'an realized that Jianggao and Mazhou were exchanging information and preparing to work together.

"Mr. Zhang, to be honest, the reason we've come here is to discuss cooperation. I'm very excited to hear that Xindongwei Port Middle School is going to build a branch school, and I really hope that this branch school can be located in our Mazhou. However, the comrades in Jianggao City have the same idea, and it just so happens that we have a complementary area. Perhaps Mr. Zhang could take a look."

Xiao Xiangzi, the polite and refined vice principal of Xilai Middle School, was not promoted from a teaching position to a school management position. Instead, he was sent down by the Mazhou City Education Bureau to supervise the operation of Xilai Middle School. Previously, Xilai Middle School had financial problems, so he was sent as a supervisor.

Xiao Xiangzi's name sounds very literary, but it is actually very simple. The reason is that Xiao Xiangzi's father once provided assistance to the Xiangxi region, and then he had his son there, which means "a son was born in Xiangxi".

He graduated from a prestigious normal university, which gave him a high starting point. He worked as a secretary under the director of the office of the Mazhou City Education Bureau. Now he is the vice principal of Xilai Middle School because the former director was promoted and started to take control of the finances.

One link after another.

At this moment, he got up and took out a map from his briefcase, on which many important locations were marked.

"Mr. Zhang, please take a look. This is Xilai Town in Mazhou. It's separated from Jianggao by only a river. To the east is the Jiaogang River, and to the south is the high-standard riverside highway, which leads directly to the Jiyang Yangtze River Bridge..."

He pointed to wherever he was told, showing that he was quite familiar with the place. Zhang Da'an remained calm and only took a sip of his drink from time to time.

Seeing Zhang Da'an's expressionless face, Xiao Xiangzi was still secretly amazed, even though he had been mentally prepared when he came.

After speaking for about seven or eight minutes, Xiao Xiangzi was about to continue when Zhang Da'an asked in a calm tone, "What are your advantages and your plan?"

"Mazhou City is located in the Yangzhou-Taizhou metropolitan area, with abundant student population and great market potential..."

"This isn't an advantage; every county-level city in the province is like this, including our Shazhou City. An advantage is something that can sway me. How much tax reduction, how much fee waiver, how much land discount, how much policy support... Do you have a plan?"

"..."

Xiao Xiangzi was caught off guard by Zhang Da'an's difficult and direct approach. Fortunately, he had made thorough preparations, otherwise he would have been in serious trouble.

Without thinking too much about the details, he laid out the contingency plan for cooperation between the Mazhou City Education Bureau and the Jianggao City Education Bureau. He had only gone halfway through when Uncle Zhang, who was accompanying Zhang Da'an, was stunned.

no……

Are you two really willing to go all out?

(End of this chapter)