Shen Wei had just planted the seeds, and she didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt a faint glow when the tomato seeds rewarded by the system were planted in the ground!
The cherry seedlings looked even more obvious; as soon as they were planted, the leaves turned greener.
The rewards from the system were all good stuff.
Who knew what they would look like after the harvest?
While she was planting, her phone suddenly rang. Shen Wei answered it—it was a clear, mellow female voice on the other end.
"Hello, is this Starry Sky Kindergarten? I'm Teacher Tang from the kindergarten. I received the offer from you last time and wanted to inquire about the specifics. Are you free now?"
Shen Wei immediately perked up, "Yes, I'm free!" She then arranged to meet Teacher Tang at a nearby café.
In less than half an hour, a woman in her early 30s arrived. She had a standard oval face with a gentle, curved gaze. Although she wasn't conventionally attractive, she exuded a particularly soothing aura.
Before coming, Teacher Tang had researched Starry Sky Kindergarten.
However, it was just a new kindergarten without much information, and she hadn't heard of it in the industry.
Yet the salary they offered Teacher Tang was very high—20,000 yuan per month.
But money wasn't the final deciding factor that drew Teacher Tang here.
She mainly wanted to investigate what else was on offer besides the money.
On the phone, Teacher Tang had felt that Shen Wei sounded very young.
But when they met in person, she was taken aback.
She hadn't expected Shen Wei to be so young.
She looked like a fresh college graduate.
Could someone so young really make such big decisions?
Although Teacher Tang had some doubts, her years of work experience had honed her emotional intelligence, so she kept her questions to herself, planning to inquire slowly.
Before Teacher Tang could even start asking, she received a phone call.
With some embarrassment, she said to Shen Wei, "Sorry, let me take this call."
"No problem, go ahead," Shen Wei replied readily.
As soon as Teacher Tang answered, she heard the person on the other end cursing loudly: "You think the world stops turning just because you left, Tang? Go ahead and leave, I'll still make money on this end. Don't forget who got Ning Fubao a tuition reduction."
"Not an ounce of gratitude, getting cocky and wanting to leave now that your wings have hardened."
"If you want to leave, then leave. I'm telling you, you won't get a single cent of this month's salary, and I'll tell everyone in the industry that you're an ungrateful wretch. Let's see who will hire you then?"
The person's voice was extremely loud, so clear that even Shen Wei sitting opposite could hear every word.
Teacher Tang was trembling with anger and immediately hung up.
Gone was her gentle demeanor from before, replaced by incoherent rage.
Seeing Shen Wei's concerned gaze, Teacher Tang let out a bitter laugh, "I have no reason to hide anything from you. That was my former employer on the phone just now."
"I worked there for 10 years, and the kids always liked me a lot."
"Later, I went and studied children's education and psychology, things like that. At the time, everyone was afraid of the difficulties and didn't want to study, but I persevered. I used my own time and money to complete the studies—I was the only one who succeeded. The boss was afraid she couldn't keep me under control."
So at every meeting, they would criticize and suppress Teacher Tang, even arranging for fresh graduates to substitute her classes. They adjusted her schedule to the worst classes.
Teacher Tang's eyes grew dim as she spoke, but for the children's sake, she had endured and held her tongue, especially for the student she mentioned earlier, Ning Fubao.
Ning Fubao had no parents, only a grandmother who collected scraps for a living.
If the school hadn't reduced her tuition, she wouldn't have been able to attend at all. Teacher Tang paid special attention to this child.
That immediately gave her former employer leverage to threaten her using Ning Fubao.
Now it had gone too far—they were quietly deducting her salary without a word.
A brand new teacher could earn around 4,000 yuan per month, but she could only get a little over 2,000.
Earning so little, yet receiving no respect or understanding at work. Anyone else would have quit long ago.
Teacher Tang had reached her limit too, which was why she had come out looking for a job today after a big argument with the principal.
She had happened to remember the place that had sent her an offer before and thought she would come take a look.
But it seemed her former kindergarten had guessed she was out job hunting and immediately fired her, on top of saying many unpleasant things.
After hearing all this, even Shen Wei was angered. "Teacher Tang, we truly want to hire you here!"
"But I think what you need more is legal assistance. Here's what we'll do—you go file a labor arbitration case. I'll fully support you, and once you've resolved these matters, come join us."
Teacher Tang hadn't expected Shen Wei to directly suggest labor arbitration.
Generally, once an employer heard a job seeker had a labor dispute with their previous company, they would assume there was something wrong with that person, no matter the issue.
Shen Wei said, "You have to fight for your rights in this world! Are you going to let them bully you? Starry Sky Kindergarten supports you."
"If you're having any financial difficulties, I can advance you one month's salary."
Teacher Tang had endured enough suppression from her former employer. Hearing Shen Wei's words, her eyes reddened. "Thank you! Thank you."
There was one more thing Teacher Tang wanted to add, "I will join you. But I want to bring a student along to our kindergarten—the Ning Fubao I mentioned before."
With her 20,000 yuan per month salary, Teacher Tang thought she could cover Ning Fubao's tuition fees. Otherwise, based on her former employer's behavior, Ning Fubao would eventually be driven out if she wasn't there.
It was better to have her under Teacher Tang's care.
Before Teacher Tang could finish, Shen Wei immediately said, "As for Ning Fubao, I'll also waive her tuition fees. You can come now."
Teacher Tang felt embarrassed, "Then please deduct that portion from my salary?"
Shen Wei said, "The kindergarten can afford to cover the tuition fees, not just for Ning Fubao, but for any students like her who need it in the future, we'll waive their fees." She still had several antagonists left to help. This was also laying the foundation for that.
Teacher Tang tightly grasped Shen Wei's hand, the most emotional she had been since their meeting. "Thank you, thank you."
Their goals were aligned.
Teacher Tang had been able to work at the grassroots level for so many years because of her kind heart.
From the moment she met Shen Wei today, she felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.
Perhaps this was how bonds between people were forged in an instant.
All the questions she had wanted to ask had disappeared. She decided to sign the contract right then and there. Only when she was leaving did she remember her questions, but the contract was already signed, so she didn't feel right bringing them up!
Plus, she had an important matter to attend to now—she was determined to file a labor arbitration case against her former employer.
Just as Shen Wei said, one had to fight for one's rights.
