"Cheng Ran, your principal and I are old comrades, you never imagined that... So I know everything you do in school." Cheng Bin said to Ma Weiguo, "Old Ma, just give me face. If he doesn't do well, his grades drop, or he becomes arrogant, you can criticize him if you can."
This is simply my uncle...
Ma Weiguo smiled and said, "That's why I said that you have a hot temper. It's a blessing for you to be a deputy director. You should encourage your children more instead of just criticizing them. Let me tell you, good children are those who have been encouraged since childhood. On the contrary, those who are scolded and abused every day and beaten since childhood have more or less some psychological problems. I'm an educator, so don't show off your skills in front of me."
Cheng Bin laughed, and Ma Weiguo looked at Cheng Ran, "Cheng Ran is a very smart kid. I like him very much."
“Spiritual energy…” Cheng Bin stared at Cheng Ran. Perhaps it was because he remembered the various things that had happened to Cheng Ran in the past six months, coupled with his current incredible results and ranking, he nodded in approval.
Seeing Cheng Ran, Ma Weiguo and Cheng Bin chatting, the others said goodbye and left to do their own work. Ma Weiguo and Cheng Bin were comrades-in-arms and had private emotional contact. Without Ma Weiguo's permission, it would not be good for anyone to stay here.
Ma Weiguo and Cheng Bin were walking and talking, Cheng Ran was beside them, and the two did not avoid him. This is probably the privilege of being the first in the school, and naturally you are classified as "sensible".
Cheng Ran had heard of Ma Weiguo in his previous life. After all, he was the principal of Shanhai No. 1 High School. Although he and Cheng Bin were relatives in his previous life, they were not closely connected, and he did not know whether he and Cheng Bin were old classmates. Moreover, not long after, his uncle's career was not smooth, and Cheng Bin fell into obscurity. Later, he was implicated in an incident... Now, listening to Ma Weiguo's warning to him, he was also worried about Cheng Bin's character.
This is a true friend, not just flattering him, but actually worrying about him from his perspective. Cheng Ran thought that if he transferred to another school at the end of the next semester, Cheng Bin would lose face in front of Ma Weiguo, and his head teacher Tan Qingchuan might also be disappointed.
But there is no way to do this. It is impossible to do everything. To be able to pass the transfer exam of Rongcheng No. 10 Middle School is a good thing in the eyes of everyone. After all, it is related to personal wishes and future. I believe Ma Weiguo and Tan Qingchuan will understand.
All good things must come to an end. In fact, Cheng Ran sometimes feels reluctant to leave his hometown, but whether he is reborn or not, this is an inevitable step. If Cheng Feiyang continues to develop according to the current situation, he will naturally break through. This is no longer his own business, but the future of hundreds of people under him. Cheng Feiyang brought them out, so he must take this responsibility.
One day I will leave the mountains and seas, but I will not abandon the old house. My relatives and friends have connections here, so this is still my home. I will come back from time to time, because this is my root.
The conversation between Ma Weiguo and Cheng Bin entered his ears from the side.
"I've said it before, this beauty pageant... it's only made the atmosphere worse and worse. These people created such a mess a few years ago, and now they're showing up again..." Ma Weiguo's voice was filled with anger.
The two were talking about the beauty pageant in Shanhai City that had recently popped up.
Cheng Ran narrowed his eyes. The Miss Universe, the originator of television beauty pageants, began in the 1950s. This event, sponsored by Trump, has been popular for half a century and has profoundly influenced many countries and regions. It also gave rise to Miss Asia, Miss Hong Kong and other pageants.
The 1970s to 1990s were the peak period of Miss Hong Kong's greatest influence in the Chinese community. Many women who emerged from the Miss Hong Kong pageant, such as Maggie Cheung, Angie Chiu, and Michelle Reis, achieved great success and influence. At one time, this activity represented the open and inclusive social atmosphere and played a positive role in promoting society. However, it became increasingly biased and rampant in later generations, with more and more negative things.
The Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant influenced the Chinese world. At that time, the influence of Hong Kong entertainment was still radiating inland, which naturally led to the prosperity of such activities in the country.
These days, the earliest people who organized beauty pageants can basically be said to have made a fortune by taking advantage of nothing. They obtained local permits through their connections, and made connections with both the white and black worlds. They then promoted the whole city, organized training, and advanced to the next round of the beauty pageant. But in fact, the whole process was to find companies to sponsor the contestants, the so-called "sponsor", and the one who sponsored more would win the championship. Later on, they simply bid against each other for the championship, and the "sponsors" fought each other fiercely and spent money like water. It was common for the organizers to take advantage of nothing and make hundreds of millions from a single competition by relying on their connections.
Of course, power, money and sex transactions are inevitably involved.
This kind of competition is also very popular in the market. It is undeniable that people all have the mentality of chasing beauty and watching the excitement. Moreover, in a small inland city like Shanhai, the influence it creates is even greater, and this kind of competition is more eye-catching.
"Every time this happens, there are so many awards. I heard that the families who sent their daughters to the competition paid sponsorship fees. Some families who hoped their daughters would succeed paid tens of thousands of yuan, which was just a small amount of money. But they only got 20 or 30 places. In addition to these dozens of awards, there are also awards for best vitality, best talent, best appearance, best affinity... Look at these messes. Aren't they just a disguised way of taking up names and making money?"
Ma Weiguo said, "The key is that in several of my classes, there were students who participated in it and talked to their families, but they didn't care! These families even thought that their children were capable and qualified because they paid money to get a place... The key is that they harmed the children... Some dropped out of school because they got pregnant. We had a student in the 1995 class... Some dropped out of school to become stars and joined some training classes, but now there is no news... At the music academy next door, every time there is such an activity, so many good girls are deceived... Don't you care about this kind of thing?"
Cheng Bin shook his head and said, "If there is anything illegal or criminal, we will certainly deal with it, but the key is that this is approved by someone, and the process is consensual... Just like you said, let alone those stubborn girls, even their families want to push them into it... I am just a deputy director of the public security department, and I cannot interfere in matters outside of my duties."
Ma Weiguo shook his head, "How foolish!"
"These people did this during the holidays, so today I want you to give a lecture on safety and legal education to remind these students to protect themselves and not be deceived..."
Vanity is the original sin, just like the emperor's new clothes. Cheng Ran knows that the reason why this kind of activity can flourish, and the money can be defrauded from it, and the organizers can use the participating women as resources and sell them to those in power and wealth, is actually due to the role played by the families of the participants and themselves.
In fact, during the participation process, one knows the nature of the competition by asking for sponsorship fees and "fighting" for sponsorship themselves, but these people and their families will still go in without hesitation, not necessarily because they want to invest something, whether it is money or their own body, and eventually get a name and rewards that everyone will pay attention to.
But all these have nothing to do with him at the moment. Even Cheng Bin showed helplessness and powerlessness. You can imagine how deep the water is behind this. Moreover, these things cannot be stopped. As long as he doesn't get involved, it's fine.
Unfortunately, Ma Weiguo was worried, but in fact he had no solution to the problem.
The two talked about this and finally walked towards the school gate. Gu Xiaojun's car was waiting for Cheng Bin at the gate. Cheng Bin turned around and asked Cheng Ran, "I'm going out. Do you want me to give you a ride home?"
"The teacher still needs to assign homework and talk about some matters, so I have to go back to the classroom."
"Do you want me to wait for you for a while?"
"No need, cousin, you have things to do first." Cheng Ran smiled.
Cheng Bin said goodbye to Ma Weiguo, waved to Cheng Ran, and left in Gu Xiaojun's car. Before leaving, Gu Xiaojun gave him a thumbs up through the car window.
(I’ll return Xiaodai’s chapter first. I think I still owe him one. I won’t have one today.)