Chapter 15: Soft Rice Is Tastiest When Eaten With Grit!

Jiang Ming fell into a brief moment of thought.

To be honest, even if YY hadn’t offered such terms, he would still have pursued the task of topping the national rankings—for the sake of his team and online store—there was only a difference in whether the live platform’s prefix served as an ad spot.

The reason the other side rushed to approach him with such generous terms was also because the rival Shark platform was making similar preparations.

For an ordinary person, they would have accepted immediately, but Jiang Ming, who possessed the information advantage and knew the rival was planning the same thing, would not settle for this.

“Brother Xu, let me think about it.”

“Think about it? What’s there to think about? It’s just changing an ID—unless you think the terms aren’t good enough…”

“It’s different now. Before, I was alone; now I have a team, another identity.”

He was considering, not debating the merits of their offer.

Xu Tao suddenly froze—platforms were well aware of professional team operations.

He recalled the preseason entry list released by the LPL organizers: JM’s NXG had already secured a professional slot with four straight wins.

Shit… this is a problem now.

If those terms had been offered to a major streamer, they’d have been genuinely sincere.

But if that major streamer was also the leader of a professional team, their value was entirely different.

Remember, the WE team was currently streaming on their 90001 channel.

“Interested in hearing my idea?”

“Idea?”

“…”

Jiang Ming had another reason to negotiate with the platform.

That was the hundreds of thousands of genuine League of Legends fans he’d accumulated over the past year through streaming and tutorial videos—this was a qualitative difference between him and ordinary King of Glory players.

For an ordinary player to top the national rankings, YY would have to spend money and run extra promotions.

In Jiang Ming’s case, he didn’t need YY to invest much extra in promotion—he could even provide some return.

When he queued up, he’d go live; after matches, he’d edit two videos. He’d already thought of the titles: “XX Live Stream—JM Tops National Rankings Series.” Which would draw more attention and attract more new players?

Xu Tao fell silent, finally understanding the source of Jiang Ming’s negotiating confidence.

“Wait a few hours—we’ll give you a deal you’ll be satisfied with.”

“Your NXG team already secured a professional slot, right? You haven’t got a live platform sponsor or naming rights yet—we’re interested in that.”

Dealing with smart people was refreshing.

Jiang Ming’s smile grew brighter—he’d been waiting for exactly that phrase. Sponsorship and naming rights? Things you beg for aren’t just base—they easily interfere with the team itself.

When you demonstrate your true value, you won’t face the classic cliché: some manager flying into a rage, threatening “You’ll regret this!”—instead, resources will come to you automatically.

The famous philosopher Mr. Cao Dahua once said: soft rice tastes best when eaten with grit.

After hanging up, knowing the other side would now convene to discuss the live platform’s sponsorship terms for topping the national rankings, Jiang Ming thought for a moment and quickly opened his computer.

He logged into the League client and opened YY Live.

While the platform folks were still in discussion, he needed to deliver one more powerful blow.

The call had lasted over an hour—it was now past midnight, just as the ranked system update went live. Perfect time to queue up and stream.

While waiting for the client to update, Jiang Ming rushed to his fan group and Weibo to post a stream notice.

JM-A Ming@All Members: “Ahem, a little unexpected turn—I’ve risen from the dead to make up for lost streaming time.”

A Zhen: “????”

“The missing person’s back.”

“Who is this? Fake account, right? Isn’t today Dog Ming’s class day?”

“Bro, I just left the internet cafe—you’re pulling this on me?”

Don’t be afraid to roast me to death: “Haha! I said today’s League update meant he might stream—you all doubted me. Those who lost bets, pay up for my all-night cafe fee!”

“Oh yeah, Ming, go go go! You’ve got to claim the first Master title!”

“First Master? No way—top the national rankings!”

“Lao Ming, you deserve to die! Ever since you posted that Shadow Assassin video, half the ranked queue is filled with ninja pups and kid Jaxs ganking people.”

Watching the group replies, Jiang Ming, fiddling with his streaming software, felt a bit embarrassed.

There was nothing he could do—it wasn’t his fault. League players were utterly powerless against heroes with flashy mechanics. This was just Kid Jax—wait till his “Lightning QA” tutorial dropped, and the Wind Man showed up.

Yu Weiwen: Daycare Center requests to join the Kid Jax squad!

Minutes later, the messy streaming setup was finally complete. Unlike the idiot-proof one-click streaming of his past life, streaming in 2013 was genuinely tedious.

“Ranked System Updated—Will Master Get a Gift?”

Jiang Ming adjusted his camera so his upper body was fully visible, especially his right hand and mouse.

He had no energy to argue with malicious people about whether the national #1 was a smurf.

“Play with your brain—climbing is easy!”

“Hello everyone! Welcome to the new hero, new understanding—JM-A Ming’s stream!”

Streaming required a clear style. Jiang Ming designed his as a classic high-rank player + enthusiastic teacher format, mixed with post-era humor that attracted a broad range of players.

As soon as he went live, the room flooded with viewers—some from his fan group, some from Weibo, and many more players preparing to pull an all-nighter at internet cafes to climb their ranks.

But since the top-ranked player on the national ladder was streaming, everyone was happy to waste a little time seeing which rank he’d been assigned.

Thanks to the spread of his tutorial videos and his shop’s commitment to genuine value, Jiang Ming had an excellent reputation among strangers—few trolls appeared in the chat.

【Bro Ming, show us your rank!】

【Yeah yeah, last time you were at 2400—this has to be Master already!】

Seeing the chat demands, Jiang Ming made no extra moves—he simply switched the client to his profile page.

The previous ranked tier shattered into a burst of dazzling light, and brilliant blue-white energy coalesced in the center.

A system message popped up: “LOL Ranked System Updated. Based on your previous rank, your new season placement is—Diamond 2 (0 LP).”