Yan Yuanchao had just gotten off the train and hadn't even returned home when he was pulled to Lei Tiezhu's house.

Seeing this mysterious energy, he found it amusing in his heart.

After entering the house and sitting down, Lei Tiezhu first asked a few people if they knew Yan Yuanchao.

Among them were former members of the military district's art troupe, members of the provincial song and dance troupe, and two who had also served in the military district and later transitioned back to civilian life.

Yan Yuanchao: Of course I know them all, it's just that I haven't been in touch with the last two in the past couple of years; they should have transitioned back to Beijing by now.

Lei Tiezhu: I knew you would know them because they all said they knew you.

Yan Yuanchao: It's normal for you to know many people.

Next, Lei Tiezhu explained why he was in a hurry to find Yan Yuanchao.

Since the mid-1980s, the trend of everyone engaging in business has been increasingly popular, and some well-informed individuals and the children of officials were the first to sense that this would be an opportunity to change their quality of life.

Lei Tiezhu, with his wide social circle and quick mind, had long seen through the fact that the provincial song and dance troupe, a clean government office, would eventually be unable to pay salaries. However, considering the welfare housing he would receive a year later, he planned to go into business and make money once he got the house. So he hadn't been idle for the past six months and had seriously investigated what he could do in the future.

Having worked at the provincial song and dance troupe since he was young, he had no special skills after fifteen or sixteen years and no capital to start a business. So he was very anxious.

One day, a good buddy from the provincial song and dance troupe came to chat with him, saying that a few friends from outside wanted to partner with him to set up an art training school. This buddy was the deputy leader of the provincial song and dance troupe's band and often sought help from Tiezhu, so he trusted him very much.

Upon hearing this, Lei Tiezhu's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked what kind of art training school it was and who those friends were.

It turned out that they were two children of military officers from Beijing who had previously worked in the XX military district and had recently come here to do something after transitioning back to Beijing, as their parents' original hometowns were all in this province, and they had some intricate connections with the provincial leaders.

One of them was from the military district's drama troupe, and the other was from the military club. When they transitioned back to Beijing and were waiting for job assignments, one of them from a ministry said they could set up a private art training school, which would have future development prospects.

So the two came here, visiting relatives and friends while exploring the possibility of setting up a school.

Although the two could resolve funding and business registration procedures through provincial connections, they were completely clueless about how to operate, rent a place, enroll students, and hire art teachers. So they found the deputy leader of the provincial song and dance troupe through connections.

This deputy leader, like Lei Tiezhu, had noticed the rising trend of doing business outside the song and dance troupe. When they came to him, he was also tempted but hesitated to make a decision, so he sought Tiezhu's advice.

After hearing this, Lei Tiezhu thought this was exactly what he wanted. Besides funding, registration, and teaching, I have ways to handle it, so the two hit it off that day.

Not long after, Lei Tiezhu also met the two who had come from Beijing.

Lei Tiezhu's identity and skilled communication skills made the two from Beijing have a good impression of him, especially knowing that Yan Yuanchao and he were childhood friends.

During the conversation, Lei Tiezhu learned that the two were not there to do business; they were back in their hometown during their transition period, using their parents' resources to contribute a bit.

Through the conversation, the two felt that compared to the band’s deputy leader, Lei Tiezhu was more suitable to be the principal of the school, so they entrusted the position to him on the spot.

This is why Lei Tiezhu was eager to meet Yan Yuanchao.

He knew that Yan Yuanchao was the most suitable candidate for the principal, but initially, he wanted him to be his vice principal, and he would definitely agree.

Yan Yuanchao listened carefully to everything Tiezhu said, nodding from time to time. Seeing this, Tiezhu hurriedly asked: Brother Yuanchao, do you agree?

Yuanchao: This is a good thing, and it is also our strong suit; I will think it over and get back to you.

Tiezhu: No, you must not think it over; I can't do it without your involvement.

Yuanchao: Okay, I understand.

This matter stirred up a wave in Yan Yuanchao's heart; he felt it was particularly suitable for him, but some details still needed to be pondered. He also needed to discuss it with Wang Jia, after all, she was a professional in the arts from a normal university.

After half a year of preparation, the first private art training school in X Province officially opened.

Lei Tiezhu served as the principal, Yan Yuanchao as the vice principal and director of education, and sometimes he even personally taught dance classes.

The real investors of the school were those two Beijing natives they found; they returned to Beijing to report to their new jobs.

All school affairs were entrusted to Lei Tiezhu and Yan Yuanchao.

Tiezhu and Yuanchao did not resign from their units; they just went through the procedures for unpaid leave at their respective units two years later.

In the early days of the school, the art training school mainly targeted students preparing for national art college entrance exams, focusing on music, dance, and singing.

Later, they gradually added children's art classes and specialties in calligraphy and painting.

Their school was among the earliest to open in the country, having learned of news from Beijing; at that time, only a few similar schools existed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

In the school, Lei Tiezhu was responsible for personnel, financial rights, and external relations, while everything else was managed by Yan Yuanchao. Yan Yuanchao devoted himself entirely to the school, and Wang Jia and the disciples of his mother from the provincial dance school often came to help voluntarily.

After graduating from Capital Normal University, Wang Jia's wishes came true, and she was assigned to Beihai Kindergarten as a music teacher.

In the second year after Wang Jia graduated, Yan Yuanchao and Wang Jia held a simple wedding in Beijing, and the two got married.

The enrollment situation at Yan Yuanchao's school was particularly good, and his salary and year-end bonuses were also very high, making him an early millionaire. How to solve the issue of living apart after marriage became his primary concern outside of school work at that time.

A few days after New Year's Day in 1990, the school held its annual shareholders' meeting to discuss the previous year's summary and the bonus plan for faculty and staff, as well as to study the work plan for the current year. Yan Yuanchao invited the two retired officers from Beijing to attend the meeting; it had been three years since the school was officially opened, and this was their first time participating in a school activity in a formal manner.

After their transition, one was assigned to the Ministry of Culture, and the other to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

As expected, during the discussion of the school's work plan for the new year, one of them interrupted Yan Yuanchao's speech: Sorry, Principal Yan, I need to interrupt here.

Next, he briefly praised the achievements of the school since its establishment and hinted that they had learned that the State Council would introduce policies to support the development of private schools, so our school should make great strides this year, opening branches in and outside the province to expand enrollment.

Finally, he also mentioned that in the future, it was very likely that the state would include qualified private schools in the unified examination and issue recognized diplomas for graduates.

After this speech, the meeting room erupted in applause.

Finally, the newly revised five-year development plan for the school was passed amid applause, which included opening three branches in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.