Chapter 42: New Team Base!

Compared to Lin Lin Lin Xuejie's needle-in-a-haystack inquiries, the taxi driver clearly had more experience; before getting off, he pulled out a pack of Hongtashan and walked straight to a corner.

An old man was squatting, using a newspaper as a mat to eat a sticky rice ball; oil stains spread across the yellowed "Yangtze Evening Post," whose headline was still last year's old news about Mo Yan winning the Nobel Prize.

"Brother, help me find someone who can drive an Iveco."

An Iveco!

That is, the large passenger van many people are familiar with.

The Hongtashan pack was opened, and two cigarettes were handed over.

The old man was practiced; he tucked one behind his ear, held the other in his hand, clicked the lighter with a snap, and began puffing away, click-click.

"A driver?"

"Also need a cook."

"Alright!"

Perhaps because he had been squatting for so long, the old man found it a bit difficult to stand, but having accepted someone else's cigarette, he didn't hold back on what needed to be done.

"Hey, over there..."

It was a bit too far for Jiang Ming to hear what the other person was shouting, but soon, the crowd suddenly came alive. Women in rubber shoes gathered first, their chapped, red cheeks polished shiny by cheap scarves.

"Young man, do you think she'll do? She cooked in large pots for people in Pukou for a few years..."

"She has a health certificate too!"

The driver led a slightly plump auntie over; while speaking, the auntie pulled a health certificate from her faux-leather shoulder bag. The edges of the plastic sleeve holding the certificate were curled up, and the blue background of the ID photo had faded to gray-white.

Jiang Ming exchanged a few simple words with her, sensing her sincerity in her speech, so he did not refuse.

"No problem. I'll have someone sign a contract with you, Auntie, shortly."

"Oh, oh, good. Do we start work today?"

"Not today for now, but at the latest, you'll be required to start by the end of this week. Don't worry, Auntie; your wages will be calculated from the day the contract is signed!"

"Of course, if needed, please keep your phone on; I'll contact you by phone."

By the time dawn broke, Lin Lin Lin Xuejie finally arrived with two resumes.

"Finding a driver is a bit hard; many only know how to drive tractors, and some who can drive don't have licenses."

"That's normal. Those with driver's licenses generally don't need to get up early to look for work here."

"Only two suitable ones. Here is their personal information. I think the second one is more suitable in terms of age."

"Then let's go with the second one."

Jiang Ming didn't nitpick. "Lin Lin Xuejie, please trouble you to buy two packs of Yuhua Stone at that small shop over there."

"Yuhua Stone?" Lin Jingyi was somewhat puzzled; her junior brother didn't smoke either.

But though puzzled in her heart, she didn't ask further and turned to walk toward the small shop.

Buying cigarettes certainly wasn't for him to smoke. The driver who brought him hadn't accepted payment. Although he had covered the driver's trip to check out the base rental later, adding an extra token of gratitude was always good.

The club's two support staff were thus settled.

Cook Auntie Deng: monthly salary 3,600, meals and accommodation included; also manages hygiene for the entire club and the players in her spare time.

Support Staff Master Zhou: monthly salary 3,200, meals and accommodation included; besides driving, he also handles logistics and security management for the club.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

After briefly instructing the two support staff, Jiang Ming and Lin Jingyi had breakfast and took a car to the agreed-upon rental location to view the property.

From Jin Ling to Taicang, the distance is roughly two hundred kilometers, so Jiang Ming's requirement for the team's base location was to be as close to the midpoint as possible.

There was no choice; the venue for the first LPL had already been set in Taicang, Suzhou. Although they wouldn't need to take the subway or train to compete like other teams, the few hundred kilometers in between meant that even if they drove themselves, it would take at least two or three hours.

"We're here!"

The driver pulled the handbrake and pointed to several plane trees directly ahead.

Behind them stood a three-story, beige-colored small building.

Jiang Ming's gaze swept over; the iron railings cast horizontally across the balcony were covered in vines, looking exactly like a moss-covered defensive tower in a game.

It had a bit of that old, dilapidated, small-house vibe from the last century, but compared to the basement where the players currently stayed, a standalone three-story building was already a heaven-level existence.

"Why don't I see the landlord?"

"The key is at the door. The landlord is the biological uncle of a junior brother in our department. After we confirm, we can just find that junior brother."

The biological uncle of a junior brother...

Jiang Ming was momentarily speechless; indeed, having connections in high places makes things easier. The ancients did not deceive me.

Clatter-clatter!

After getting the key, Lin Jingyi pushed open the iron gate, and the view suddenly opened up. "Oh my, not bad."

The first floor was very spacious, roughly over a hundred square meters. The few existing partitions could also be utilized. "We can make a few partitions: the west room on the first floor as a training room, partition out a kitchen on the east side, and the rest... hmm, feels like it could be a laundry room or something."

"Let's go up to the second floor and look!"

Jiang Ming squinted at the arched windows on the second floor, where cracks in the glass refracted rainbows in the morning light, and spoke.

The terrazzo stairs still retained the dark red patterns of the last century; perhaps due to no one living there for a long time, the peeled areas of the wall exposed deep brown mold spots.

"We can call Auntie Deng over this afternoon to clean up."

"Mm, okay."

Once wages were paid, directing people became much easier.

The two stepped on the creaking floorboards to measure the second-floor space. "There are four rooms on the second floor. If we buy bunk beds, one or two rooms should be temporarily enough for the players. Support staff Master Zhou and Auntie Deng can each have one room, and we can still reserve one room."

Jiang Ming stomped on the floor beneath him and said, "The floor will probably need some treatment."

Lin Jingyi understood instantly. "I'll ask in the group chat. The renovation company from our previous startup park was a bit too expensive. If it really doesn't work out, I'll find a teacher from the department's logistics office; they know more about these things."

"Renovation doesn't need to be that troublesome." Jiang Ming smiled. "Did you forget where we came from this morning?"

"Labor market?"

Lin Jingyi said uncertainly.

One could only say that, ability aside, Lin Lin Xuejie — still carrying the dopey college-student BUFF — ultimately couldn't escape its shackles.

When it came to something like renovating a house, how could the workers from a renovation company possibly be as affordable as those from a labor market?

"No need to fix it up too well. Just put some putty on the second floor, do a simple renovation."

We won't be staying here for too long anyway!

Jiang Ming looked around and said to himself inwardly.

"Expand the training room on the first floor a bit — enough to fit seven or eight computers. Leave space for a water dispenser and a fridge, and add an extra air conditioner. Summer's coming."

"Put some extra thought into the training room part. I'll send you the requirements tonight. As for the design plans…"

"Hehe, don't worry — I'm familiar with those folks at the university's design institute too."

"There's an attic upstairs too. I'll have them set you up a boss's office."

The moment connections were mentioned, Lin Jingyi immediately perked up.

After looking around once, the two were fairly satisfied with this three-story small building as their team base.

They did look at two more places afterward, but in terms of hard conditions and rent, none stood out particularly. In the end, they settled on the first three-story small building they'd toured as their team base.