Chapter 11: Just Know How to Shake People!

The next moment, a hand holding tea leaves reached out from behind the door, followed by Jiang Ming’s chuckling laugh: “Hehe, Professor, it’s been days—I’ve missed you terribly, so I came to pay a visit.”

The middle-aged man inside sipped his tea but ignored him, staring at his computer, his expression as if he were facing some urgent state affair.

Jiang Ming instantly understood—his professor was angry.

He dashed into the room, placed the tea leaves he’d picked up on the way onto the desk, and leaned in close.

“Professor?”

“My beloved Professor Yu!”

“The most handsome, most beloved professor in our School of Economics and Management?”

“Pfft…”

Professor Yu nearly choked on his tea, glaring at this smooth-talking student and scolding with a laugh: “You little rascal, your mouth… Spill it—what scheme are you cooking up now?”

“Come on, you’re such a busy man—why aren’t you guarding your shop or your gaming livestream? What do you want from me this time?”

“Oh, don’t tell me you failed a class and came begging for mercy?”

“How could I?”

“Besides, can’t I just come visit you when I feel like it?”

“I just missed you! You’re the anchor of our School of Economics and Management, the guiding light for student entrepreneurs…”

“Don’t flatter me. As long as you don’t flunk and have to retake the course, you’ve already made me look good.”

“Oh, if there’s nothing else, then I’ll be going?”

“Wait, wait—yes, it’s about my entrepreneurship project.”

Professor Yu frowned. “I thought your online store was doing fine—using livestreams to gain attention, then converting online fans into store traffic… The school can’t really help you with that.”

As his student’s entrepreneurship advisor, he had thoroughly studied his business model.

After all, among a sea of student ventures—milk tea shops, fruit stalls, print shops—he’d finally found one touching the emerging e-commerce field. He’d even considered applying for a research project. Now that the store’s revenue and growth were positive, the boy should be buried in organizing his team, not wandering here with free time.

At the mention of real business, Jiang Ming dropped his playful grin and solemnly pulled out a business plan from his bag: “Professor, please take a look at this.”

“Operation and Future Prospects of Esports Clubs Under the Emerging Esports Industry”

The moment the title came into view, Professor Yu’s expression changed.

…

Seconds ticked by.

The only sound in the office was the rustling of turning pages.

At that moment, the Dean of the School of Economics and Management at Jinling University was undergoing a mental storm, relentlessly testing the feasibility of what lay before him with his accumulated knowledge.

Professor Yu frowned, then nodded, finally exhaling deeply: “Brilliant ‘attention economy’! You’re turning traffic into art.”

“Esports!”

“Professionalization!”

“Network development, youth social platforms.”

“Livestream traffic… E-commerce!”

One by one, these specialized terms rolled off the professor’s tongue, while Jiang Ming stood before him like a well-behaved student awaiting guidance.

Professor Yu lifted his eyes. “E-commerce isn’t new to us—the Business School established its E-commerce major back in 2001. But judging by this plan, those people who’ve studied it for over a decade probably haven’t grasped it as deeply as you have.”

“I used to be confused about the connection between your livestreaming, video creation, and e-commerce.”

Professor Yu set the plan down. “Now I get it. Using one of your own terms—it’s fan economy.”

“No, fan economy is too shallow—it’s a fusion of attention economy, creator economy, and influence economy.”

Jiang Ming’s eyes lit up: “No wonder you’re my professor!”

“Exactly—under attention, it’s influence economy!”

No wonder he was a master—he saw through the essence of esports and its underlying business mechanics at a glance.

Professor Yu took off his glasses and rubbed his temples: “Venues, qualifications, talent—those can be handled. But you need to think clearly—right now, the gaming industry is the hottest trend in our country…”

As an economics and management professor, he had closely followed emerging economic forces.

“That’s exactly why we need the support of our School of Economics and Management!” Jiang Ming quickly added. “Think about it—once our club makes a name for itself, it’ll become a model of industry-academia-research integration…”

“Stop painting me pies!” Professor Yu scolded with a laugh. “But… this is indeed a promising research direction.”

“So, are you planning to use this as your graduate thesis already?”

He wanted to hurl the plan across the desk like a pack of Seven Wolves cigarettes at this ungrateful student. How had he ever been so foolish last year, after a classroom debate, to consider taking this boy on for his master’s or PhD?

First, the boy ditched his studies to become his entrepreneurship mentor, and now, just when he’d finally produced something worthwhile, he was leaving it here as a trap.

“Hehe, I need real-world material first.”

“In a few years, I might write: ‘This thesis requires no references to other literature…’”

“Get out!”

“So—you want to deepen the influence you’ve built in gaming livestreaming and enter the professional scene, right?”

“Yes, Professor. Abroad, due to earlier internet development, esports has already made great strides toward professionalization. Domestically, it’s still a blank slate. But overall, with advancing technology and wider internet access, our country will inevitably enter this field.”

“Back in 2004, the Guojiatiyuzong Bureau even launched the first National Esports Games (CEG), but due to limited internet penetration, lack of commercial infrastructure, and poor management, it never progressed.”

“But recently, Tencent Games has taken the lead in attempting a professional league for League of Legends…”

“So you want to leverage your existing strengths to become one of the pioneers, adding a professional title to your content influence?”

“Exactly, Professor. If I only stick to derivative content around one game, I’ll always be trapped—when the game thrives, I thrive; when it dies, I die.”

“It’s good you see this. Attention economy arrives fast—and vanishes just as quickly. Without key traffic, e-commerce collapses easily.”

“To move from a dependent to a participant—even a creator—that’s true application of learning.”

“So, what do you need me to help you with?”

Jiang Ming beamed. “Professor, you’re agreeing?”

“Agreeing to what? I don’t have money!”

“No money needed! I’ve got it covered myself.”

“Of course not—current esports players earn barely a couple thousand a month, while your net profit alone is at least seventy or eighty thousand. Money isn’t the issue.”

“As for venues—no way I can approve campus space. Esports still carries social ambiguity. But I can help you find connections to rent a cheaper place outside.”

“For business registration and licensing—don’t worry. Prepare the documents and send them to me. One of your senior brothers works there.”

“For legal and risk management—go to the Law Department and find senior students. Don’t cheap out on contract drafting. If you hit a wall, have those useless kids go cry to their professors. You can also recruit management talent from graduating students nearby. I don’t need to teach you this.”

In short: you don’t need to be good at everything—just know how to shake the right people.