Just yesterday, Shen Wei had reassured Gu Qingyan that not many people would apply.
But by the next day, she couldn't laugh anymore.
Because the number of applicants showed 130,000, and it was still increasing.
Suddenly, everyone became serious.
By the time online registration ended on the third day, the number of applicants had reached 200,000.
It was simply inconceivable.
Not only could Shen Wei's team see the number of applicants, but online users could also see it. They were stunned by this figure.
"Are you kidding? 200,000 people applying for a kindergarten that only accepts 500 children? That means only one out of every 400 applicants will be selected."
"Is this the power of an internet-famous kindergarten?"
"The internet is always spreading rumors about low birth rates. I really thought there weren't many people left. But now look. There's no shortage of people, is there?"
"Everyone, go check it out! The news about Starry Sky Kindergarten receiving 200,000 applications is trending on social media."
Initially, only long-time fans of Starry Sky Kindergarten were shocked.
But then public accounts picked up the story.
Once it was posted online, it instantly attracted attention.
In a short time, the number of views broke 20 million, rising to the 15th spot on the trending list, and it was still climbing.
Shen Wei immediately posted a message in the kindergarten's group chat: Meeting.
During this period, they had been expanding recruitment for all positions, including security guards, school bus drivers, cleaning staff, preschool teachers, and teaching assistants.
When Shen Wei arrived at the largest conference room, it was packed with people.
The accountant said they now had over 400 full-time employees, not counting temporary workers.
Shen Wei hadn't held such a large meeting in a long time.
The departments were divided according to their functions, with Lin Rui as the supervising leader.
She had brought over her scientific management methods.
Whether it was hundreds or even thousands of people, she could manage them with ease.
Shen Wei only needed to communicate well with the team leaders.
They would then instruct the staff below them.
Now this was a big meeting.
Shen Wei felt a bit intimidated standing in front of such a large crowd of employees.
She only said a few words about the current favorable situation and encouraged everyone to work hard.
The benefits and treatment at Starry Sky Kindergarten were very good.
Everyone who came here already knew that.
Many had even given up decent jobs elsewhere to choose Starry Sky.
Now, Starry Sky was clearly a coveted workplace in the eyes of job seekers.
After Shen Wei spoke for a few minutes, she stepped down, and Lin Rui said a few words. Although there were many people at this meeting, it lasted less than half an hour.
Afterward, Shen Wei called over the team leaders and small managers from each department, about forty to fifty people, to a large conference room.
This time, there were relatively fewer people.
Almost all the core staff of Starry Sky Kindergarten were involved.
Now that the number of applicants had exceeded 200,000, what should they do?
Shen Wei was urgently discussing how to conduct the written test and interviews.
...
All the parents who had applied sprang into action.
In the following days, pre-exam training classes across the city were fully booked.
Many one-on-one tutoring sessions were completely unavailable.
Only group classes were available.
Even those who used to train students for art exams had been recruited.
It was evident how seriously parents were taking this.
The training institutions were busy, tired, and excited.
They loved institutions like Starry Sky Kindergarten that had such strong appeal.
When Starry Sky started recruiting, the entire training industry felt like it was celebrating New Year's.
They had never had business this good before.
Previously, they couldn't even attract students.
Now they were frantically pushing back appointments with clients.
Every teacher was working non-stop.
But in these ten days, they could earn as much as they did in a year before.
So all the institutions began to study Starry Sky Kindergarten's recruitment process.
The first round was a written test, followed by interviews.
A written test had been added.
So even cultural courses for preschool education began to be supplemented.
Many people thought there would only be an interview like last year.
They had neglected the written test aspect, and now they were rushing to catch up. They were terribly anxious.
Those parents who prided themselves on having started preparing since the first recruitment finally saw Starry Sky beginning to recruit for its second location.
They had wanted to sigh at their own foresight.
They had started training early.
It was certainly much more thorough than those who were cramming at the last minute.
But faced with 200,000 applicants, even they became nervous.
Even with early preparation.
This time, they might not even make it to the interview stage.
When they learned about Starry Sky's recruitment, their hearts felt like they were on a roller coaster, going up and down.
They knew Starry Sky Kindergarten was popular, but they hadn't imagined it would be this popular.
Now they could only hope their children would perform well.
After some time, an announcement was released: one day for the written test, ten days for interviews. Specific times were also provided.
This time, Starry Sky Kindergarten sought help from the new district.
The district was also closely watching Starry Sky Kindergarten's recruitment this time.
As soon as they saw Starry Sky Kindergarten's request for assistance, they immediately consulted with the bureau.
Subsequently, they dispatched a group of teachers and a school to specifically proctor the exam for the children on the weekend.
Proctoring an exam for kindergarten children.
This was a first for these primary and middle school teachers.
But it was quite novel.
They were curious about what kind of questions this internet-famous kindergarten would ask.
On the day of the exam, when they opened the document envelope and looked inside.
It was all simple Chinese language and math questions, along with some thinking questions.
These thinking questions were mostly multiple-choice and matching questions. For others, answers could be written in words or pinyin.
The questions were suitable for children aged 6 to 7 years old.
When these questions were made public afterward, parents were relieved.
They had been worried that Starry Sky Kindergarten might ask questions beyond the syllabus.
After all, everyone knew that Starry Sky Kindergarten had produced genius students before.
He Lingfeng was a child who could tutor middle school students when he was just five years old.
They were afraid Starry Sky might take an extreme approach and ask some very difficult questions.
But their worries didn't materialize.
They felt their children would definitely be able to answer these questions.
However, netizens were a bit concerned.
200,000 people had applied, but they only wanted 500.
If they couldn't differentiate the applicants enough.
It would be impossible to pass the interview stage later.
The teachers all had good judgment.
The Chinese language and math papers were straightforward to grade.
They had standard answers and were extremely easy to mark.
As for the thinking questions, there were many possible solutions.
Basically, all possible solutions were given as answers.
They could grade the papers quickly.
When the final results came out, many people couldn't believe it.
Adults found it simple because they had already gone through their learning phase.
But for children, these questions were quite challenging.
Who would have thought that such a simple written test would eliminate 180,000 people?
In the end, 20,000 people were selected.
Finally, each test paper was scanned and uploaded online.
By entering the child's ID information, parents could retrieve their child's test paper.
The answers had already been published online.
Parents could judge for themselves whether their child's disqualification was justified, and if they felt there was a misjudgment, they could appeal within three days.
After all, with so many papers to grade, there might have been some oversights.
But this move silenced many critics.
They made everything public and transparent, earning great praise from netizens.
They hoped all exams in the future could be like this.
Knowing where you got things right and where you went wrong.
A popular comment from netizens read: "It's too intense. Do the staff at Starry Sky Kindergarten have eight hands each? How can they be so thorough in every aspect?"
