Chapter 10: Boss Jiang, surely you wouldn't want to...

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“When I applied for the job, the contract clearly said ‘financial assistant.’”

Lin Jingyi slammed the delivery boxes onto the desk, the packing tape ripping with a harsh screech. “And now? I’m supposed to maintain the financial system, verify inventory data, and even record the customer-service voice prompts. Boss Jiang, would you like to give me an Employee of the Year award too?”

Hearing her complaints, Jiang Ming knew perfectly well that he was in the wrong. He hurried over to steady the precarious mountain of parcels and sheepishly handed her the cup of milk tea he had picked up on the way.

“Calm down, calm down, Director Lin. We’ll hire people! Today! I’ll post notices in the campus groups, on the confession wall, and on the cafeteria bulletin boards!”

As for the question of wages, once Lin Jingyi had risen to her feet, Jiang Ming sidled over and made a discreet gesture.

We’ll discuss the money privately!

He had no choice. If this tireless, undemanding all-purpose assistant quit, where else was he going to find a university student who could do so much for a monthly salary of only three thousand yuan?

She could handle the finances, serve as an assistant, manage logistics, and, when things got busy, even impersonate a customer-service girl, saying to customers, “Dear, everything in our shop is genuine branded merchandise. Quality guaranteed!”

His immediate agreement to hire more people was partly because the store really did need to expand. With the arrival of Season Three, League of Legends had grown increasingly popular under Tencent’s promotion of its various tournaments, and the store’s traffic had surged.

Another reason was that part-time work such as packing orders came remarkably cheap among university students.

The standard hourly wage was only ten to fifteen yuan—nothing compared with Lin Jingyi, an indispensable talent who currently handled several positions at once.

She complained, but as she looked at her slippery junior schoolmate, Lin Jingyi gradually found herself smiling despite her irritation.

After all, the fellow really was capable. While students his age were still fretting over their English proficiency exams, Jiang Ming had led this group of part-timers in transforming a university warehouse once crammed with broken desks and chairs into an online shopping mall that shipped more than five hundred orders a day, all through the promotion of gaming videos.

Several first-year boys working part-time nearby also regarded him with undisguised admiration. They were both envious of and curious about this legendary second-year senior from their own School of Economics and Management.

An online shop that sold more than ten thousand yuan worth of goods a day brought in several hundred thousand yuan a month. After costs, that still amounted to an annual income of over a million.

An ordinary second-year student had started from nothing with a little financial support from the university and was now earning a million yuan a year…

One look at him was enough to know that this kind of success was beyond their reach.

“I’m not joking with you. Our daily order volume keeps increasing, and there simply aren’t enough people to handle it.”

She pulled out the inventory sheet and slapped it on the desk. “Also, customer service needs to be divided into morning, afternoon, and evening shifts. The warehouse team must have two male students to move the goods. Most importantly…”

The tip of her pen jabbed hard at the sharply rising sales curve.

“If we don’t expand the warehouse, the two of us will be sitting on the athletic field packing orders tomorrow!”

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“Boss Jiang, you don’t want your online store packing and shipping orders out in the open air, do you?”

Ahem. This Japanese senior, please tone down the cultural flavor.

Jiang Ming nodded repeatedly, recording each point before thanking her earnestly. “Sorry to trouble you, Senior. I was planning to deal with all of this together this time.”

“Talk is cheap. Don’t be young and do nothing but draw up grand promises.” Lin Jingyi rolled her eyes at him. “It’s true that we’re close, but I’ll still fight for what I’m entitled to. Don’t think you can get free labor.”

“Haha, of course not.”

…

Agreeing was one thing, but apart from raising wages, the other improvements to the store’s structure would have to be implemented step by step.

Starting a business as a university student had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were that the university had provided him with startup capital and two enormous basement floors to serve as warehouses for the online store. The shopfront where they had operated before was little more than a display space, allowing university administrators to inspect it whenever they wished and ensuring that, under the name of Jinling University, he would not sell anything bizarre enough to damage the school’s reputation.

Snacks, gaming peripherals, and clothing were one thing. But if he started selling some obscure local specialty from Guanyun County in Lianyungang, the dean would never live it down.

That was where the problem lay. Universities offered different levels of support, and the resources of the department were limited. Once the two warehouses were no longer large enough, should he move the online store off campus, or apply to the university for several more?

And what about the employees?

People already working in society were, after all, nothing like university students. As for their wages…

Well, Jiang Ming admitted it: he simply could not bear to part with these ambitious, inexpensive fellow students from his own university.

“I hope this proposal, titled ‘The Operations of Esports Clubs in the Emerging Esports Industry…,’ will be enough to move my adviser.”

He weighed the thick manuscript in his hand.

Jiang Ming felt somewhat uncertain. If he had been studying at an ordinary university—or even a second-tier institution in a smaller city—he would have had no trouble persuading the administrators to expand the entrepreneurial support available to him.

After all, for an average second-tier university, a student who could build a “company” generating over a million yuan in annual revenue during his second year would have been a dream achievement, something to be celebrated beyond measure.

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But this was Jinling. Although it still could not compare with the two old powerhouses of the capital and Shanghai, it was in no way inferior in cultural heritage, national importance, or economic development. Jinling University, the city’s most prestigious institution and its symbolic pinnacle of higher education, naturally had even higher standards.

In reality, his million-yuan online store was little more than a small-time venture.

However, if he could connect it to an emerging industry on the verge of taking off—one capable of unlocking a market worth tens of billions—the significance would be entirely different.

Economic benefits were secondary. To university administrators, what could be more attractive than the promise of becoming a model institution with the foresight to support an outstanding new industry and help talented young people enter its ranks?

As for the team’s future development, Jiang Ming had already made financial arrangements. This time, he was not coming to the university to ask for money.

What he wanted was Jinling University’s name—a protective seal that could provide enormous assistance once he founded an esports club and joined the League of Legends Pro League.

Having someone powerful standing behind you and having no one behind you were two entirely different levels of difficulty.

The King of Hell might be easy to deal with, but his minions were troublesome. As an ordinary person, Jiang Ming naturally intended to cling tightly to the leg of his alma mater, his beloved university mother.

What bad intentions could Jiang Ming possibly have?

He merely wanted to help the university improve its future employment figures, earn himself the title of Outstanding Graduate of Jinling University, and give his teacher the honorific of Mentor to an Outstanding Entrepreneur.

Oh, and, as a side benefit, he would present his alma mater with the title of Pilot Base for Research and Trailblazing Development in an Entirely New Field…

Once he had thought everything through, Jiang Ming quickened his pace. Carrying the tea leaves he had picked up along the way, he headed toward his teacher’s office.

Knock, knock!

“Come in!”

After the two knocks, the middle-aged man seated behind the desk lifted his eyes. A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the corners of his mouth as he called out.