Chapter 9

"Everyone come over here!"

Before preparing to leave, Jiang Ming called every member of the team in front of him.

"Brother Ming, wha..."

"Huh?"

When the red banknotes were pulled from the kraft paper bag, the rustling sound froze everyone's movements. "What is Brother Ming doing?"

"It's already December, so I'm paying you all the wages for November!"

"But isn't today only the 1st?" Xu Jing, the team's AD, spoke weakly, only to quickly receive death glares from the four people beside him.

No, damn it, are you stupid? Getting paid early is a good thing, right?

Xu Jing:...

Seems like it is. Getting paid early, why the hell am I being pretentious about it?

Jiang Ming smiled coolly and handed the divided Renminbi to the players one by one.

"Take it, it's what you deserve."

"I'm not going to play those fake games with you. From now on, our team's wages will be paid at the beginning of every month, so you won't have to worry about the team suddenly disbanding one day and owing you your wages."

"That's not true, Brother Ming is joking. Our team will never disband..."

"Nothing is impossible. If we play badly and the results are terrible, why not disband and just stay here to breed?"

Jiang Ming said with a serious expression, "Not a single cent of your wages will be short. The bonuses promised for reaching the Pre-Season and the LPL regular season will be paid to you on time and in full as the team advances. I have only one requirement: during the competition period, strengthen self-management and guarantee the necessary Fundamentals and pre-match warm-up training volume..."

"Only by reaching the LPL can you truly upgrade from a game player to a professional esports athlete and realize your own value."

"Understood!!" ×5

When the team was still at the stage of a basement makeshift crew, it was unrealistic to make very high demands on the players.

Not to mention whether the players could accept it, the team currently did not have the corresponding management conditions.

Just for himself, he was now rushing around between the live stream, the team, the school, and the online store; in the short term, he could only hope for a bit of chicken soup for the soul.

Of course, Jiang Ming was not the type of person who believed in chicken soup for the soul to conquer the world. On this great land of Huaxia, he was more willing to believe that if his money-making speed was fast enough and the money-making amount was large enough, he would not be afraid of the players' effort level failing to keep up.

Coming out of the team's underground training room, Jiang Ming, who had once again bumped his head full of dust due to the narrow hallway, was full of resentment.

"MMP, once we reach the LPL, the first thing I'll do is settle on a permanent base for the team."

It didn't matter if it was good or not; at the very least, there had to be a normal space above ground. The basement had no doors or windows or anything. Winter was fine, but summer was truly unbearable. Not to mention the smell of athlete's foot filling the room, playing two matches would truly make one "sweat profusely."

"But the biggest problem right now is still funds. The venue can be entrusted to someone to find. Given the current level of domestic esports development, a club base doesn't need to be too luxurious or build a villa or anything. A standard one or two-story building where the training room, player rest area, and basic living area conditions can be met is sufficient."

Jiang Ming calculated in his heart and walked two steps back to his rented room.

"Alright, I'll go back to school tomorrow. I can't waste the title of 'Student Entrepreneur Model' I have. Let's see if I can cry out some more support from the Dean..."

After all, the Dean had the title of Entrepreneurship Guidance Teacher attached to him; if a student has difficulties, it's unreasonable not to help, isn't it?

Just based on the part-time jobs for impoverished students that my online store provides for the school, and the exclusive scholarship sponsorship for the School of Economics and Management students every semester, the Dean has no reason to refuse.

After thinking it through clearly, Jiang Ming's mood improved significantly at once.

Having lived once again, he knew all too well that at this stage, his greatest help was not others, but the university, which everyone felt had an abnormally weak connection with themselves in daily life.

There is a saying that goes well: university is the best way for an ordinary person to contact the top big shots in society.

Those who feel the university has a weak connection with you are simply not excellent enough. When you become strong enough, you will find your alma mater is very willing to provide you with support in funds, venues, and even connections.

Nothing happened throughout the night.

The next day, Jiang Ming got up very early. He didn't disturb his teammates, whose daily schedules were different from ordinary people's. He just gave a heads-up to the restaurant owner before leaving, reminding him to send the food up to them around 12 noon.

No choice. For a small family business, save where you can first. Consider hiring a cooking auntie or something only after reaching the LPL and having two or more rich patrons.

"Where to?"

Stopped by Jiang Ming, the taxi driver rolled down the window and asked.

"Jin Ling University!"

"Alright."

The taxi driver didn't ask much, focusing more on the road conditions, thinking mostly about getting to the destination quickly to take the next order.

The winter sunlight was very warm, shining through the university gate and sprinkling fine golden spots on the white path.

Jiang Ming arrived at the University Student Entrepreneurship Park and walked to the door of a small shop named "Ming Jing Realm." The bronze wind chime hanging on the lintel made a clear sound.

The interior decoration was very simple. Two rows of shelves in the middle held various snacks currently popular among young people, while the cabinets along the walls on both sides were strangely filled with all kinds of electronic digital products. A junior female student wearing a navy blue apron was restocking the snacks on the shelves.

"Beep beep!"

"Hey, Lin Jie, there's a new order."

The part-time junior female student at the front desk shouted towards the back of the shop.

"Got it, got it... Ahhh, when Jiang Ming that guy comes back, I'm definitely going to ask him for a raise. Exploiting people isn't done like this."

"Five hundred orders a day, I'm going to tear the tape until it smokes. He wants to go to the sky!"

"Lin Xuejie, it's not good to speak ill of people behind their backs."

Jiang Ming arrived at the counter, tore off the order from the printer before the part-time junior female student, and walked towards the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, various goods were piled up. Lin Jie, who had just been complaining about Jiang Ming, was now hurriedly packing with several part-time junior male students. A strong scent of biscuit filled the air from the packages.

Jiang Ming bent down to help with the packing and only then looked at the information on the order label.

Hmm... all meat floss cakes!

The shop had three rooms in total. Besides the general store on the outside that was still open to the university interior, the main body was actually the two warehouses at the back.

Orders placed by customers in the online store, except for some relatively special products, would basically be shipped from here.

"Yo, big busy person, today you finally know to come inspect your Jiangshan?"

"Ahem, ahem, I've just been busy making videos for a new round of shop product promotion. Look, our orders have exploded..."

"Exploded?"

"Yes, they exploded." Lin Yidan, skillfully pulling the tape and finishing wrapping the package within five seconds, gave a resentful look. "But do you know how many packages the rest of us have wrapped from yesterday until now?"

"Five hundred orders, five hundred orders—that's three or four hundred packages in total!"