Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
By the time the team members returned, Happy Internet Cafe had returned to normal.
When the Challenger League ended, players and reporters swarmed there to see if they could catch a glimpse of anything. Unfortunately, the protagonists weren't there. And now that the finals had started, the reporters wouldn't be missing this annual meeting, and the players couldn't stick around the Internet cafe endlessly. As a result, people gradually took their leave.
Ye Xiu's trio didn't return to Happy Internet Cafe after they left Excellent Era. In fact, ever since they rented the gaming house in Forest Park, everyone apart from Chen Guo rarely went to the Internet cafe. This included Ye Xiu and Tang Rou, who previously worked in the cafe. Chen Guo employed new people to take their place, so they could commit their efforts wholeheartedly towards Glory.
Chen Guo felt that the house in Forest Park was no longer enough for them though.
The terraced houses were two stories tall: the bottom floor was used as a training room, while all the rooms in the top floor became the bedrooms, which accommodated two members each. In the beginning, Chen Guo thought this was enough, but after thinking about it now, she realised that she thought too simply of a team's structure.
Nowadays, players were the main core of the team. To keep up their fighting power, the guild and R&D departments were necessary.
Wu Chen was now completely committed towards Happy's guild department. The players they had met in the tenth server like Seven Fields didn't originally plan on joining the Heavenly Domain again. However, after seeing how successful Team Happy became, their hearts were moved. All of them planned on completing the Heavenly Domain Challenge, so they could fight their way through Heavenly Domain and assist in the team's expansion.
However, members like Seven Fields could only support part-time. Happy only had Wu Chen to take care of the guild full-time. However, the team would grow. No team would only have the guild leader alone in the guild office. Just from the number of people alone, the guild department would be the largest group in a club. There would be both full-time and part-time members. But since their job was limited to the game, most of them wouldn't come to the club for work. In the end, it didn't matter whether they worked at the club or not. But because they belonged to the club as permanent or contract employees, their numbers would be great.
As for the R&D department, it was the department requiring the highest confidentiality, so they appeared to be the most absolutely necessary part of the internal affairs fo the club. So even though the number of people working in there would be far less than those in the guild department, it was required of them to work at the club.
Happy wasn't that large yet, but as it continued to grow, they would eventually have to build these up. After taking in all these factors, the terraced houses in Forest Park wouldn't be enough to fit all of them in.
Should we rent another house?
While Chen Guo was thinking about how she should solve this problem, Ye Xiu brought a person before her.
"Guan Rongfei, the core God of Excellent Era's R&D department." Ye Xiu introduced Guan Rongfei to Chen Guo.
"Hi, welcome!" Chen Guo took the initiative to go up to shake his hand. She was extremely excited, because she knew that the person Ye Xiu brought here wasn't here to just look around.
"Hi." Guan Rongfei greeted Chen Guo simply. He didn't even bother to ask about her identity before he turned his head to ask Ye Xiu. "When should we start? Where's my computer?"
"Uh, over there." Ye Xiu had to search around the living room before he could finally point out a position. In the training room Chen Guo set up, there were twelve computers in a circle. If Happy included Su Mucheng, as well as Chen Guo, who was always using one, there was only one unused computer left. This remaining computer was allocated to Guan Rongfei by Ye Xiu.
"Oh." Guan Rongfei replied and quickly moved towards the computer. When he reached there, someone sat in the middle seat between the three computers and didn't even look at him when he went over.
"I'm Guan Rongfei." Guan Rongfei introduced himself.
"Mo Fan." That person only reported his name without even turning his head.
After that, Guan Rongfei sat down to turn on the computer and didn't pay attention to Mo Fan's reply. The two sat together without any bit of interaction as they did their own work.
The first thing Guan Rongfei did after the computer turned on was to connect to his external hard drive. He went through the documents as he controlled the keyboard and mouse with familiarity. He would occasionally murmur "This can" and "This can't."
Chen Guo followed along earlier. She saw Guan Rongfei move all the "can" documents into the computer while he instantly deleted the "can't" documents.
"Why can't we use those?" Chen Guo couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Those are confidential, so they can't be used." Guan Rongfei said.
"Huh?" Chen Guo didn't really understand.
"It's the R&D department's NDA." Ye Xiu came over to explain.
Members of the R&D department definitely needed to sign an NDA, otherwise there wouldn't be any secrets about Silver equipment; a person could leave a club and take away large amounts of information.
The club couldn't stop the people from leaving, so signing the NDA was required. Although the agreement couldn't completely prevent the club's information from being taken, at least it wouldn't be used in such a broad and open way. People would often find loopholes, but it hadn't gone far enough that they could not tolerate it anymore and took it to court.
Guan Rongfei dove into his job without having a second word spoken. His increasing enthusiasm was rather shocking for Chen Guo. This God of the R&D department from Excellent Era... What sort of compensation was needed to keep him up and going?
For the past days, Chen Guo had constantly been pondering about these problems. However, it would be underestimating Boss Chen if her mind was completely blank. During the days they stayed at Heavenly Sword's place in City B, Chen Guo had humbly asked Lou Guanning about managing a team. As for Lou Guanning, he had even gathered the actual managing team of Heavenly Sword to help Chen Guo analyse Happy's current situation.
From what the professional team saw, Happy's current situation was excellent.
After defeating Excellent Era and advancing forward to enter the professional scene, no new team had ever received such widespread attention. How could Team Happy not get any sponsors in the new season? For them, this was simply impossible. In their current situation, sponsors might come to their doorsteps without even having to search for them.
The fact that Excellent Era might possibly split and be disbanded was very beneficial news for Happy's development. For sponsors in the same city as Excellent Era, if they still prized Glory as a good way to advertise, it was very likely for them to directly switch their sponsorship to Happy. By having a sponsor that was in the same city, they would naturally be able to establish a regional reputation. Since Glory was a popular esports, a team that won the championships would give pride to the whole city. By supporting a team in the same city, it would naturally give them a beneficial foundation in their local region.
Heavenly Sword taught a bunch of everything here and there to Chen Guo, and she was genuinely determined to learn this time. If there was anything she didn't understand, she made sure she could ask and be clear about it. She gained a lot within the few days. Even though she would constantly ponder about matters such as the compensation towards the team members, she was finally able to ease her heart. According to what the professionals in Heavenly Sword had said, Happy was a project that could not fail.
"What if we become the champion?" Chen Guo asked.
The professionals of Heavenly Sword looked at one another speechlessly. After a while, a glasses dude pushed up his spectacles before speaking. "If that really happened, I think this is probably what we call lucrative…..."
After returning from City B, Chen Guo was enormously proud and was thinking about how she could improve their training environment. Now that Guan Rongfei was brought here, it really reached the point where they couldn't stay unchanged. The twelve computers were all used up. If someone else joined, where should they be distributed? In addition, it was unpresentable for a team to have the guild and R&D department to sit together! For technological jobs like Guan Rongfei's, they probably needed peace and quiet, right? However in guilds department, there would constantly be yelling and screaming.
After Chen Guo made up her mind, she pondered on the different kinds of ideas. From what she saw, now was the right time to discuss this matter, so she looked for Ye Xiu.
"Hold on, I'll give this to him first." Ye Xiu was organising Myriad Manifestation Umbrella's information for Guan Rongfei. Guan Rongfei was the one being impatient, not Ye Xiu. When he was finished with his external hard drive, he started to hurry Ye Xiu up with his eyes.
"It's nothing important. I was just thinking that since we have become a formal team, team members would increase in the future, which is why I think this place is a bit unsuited. I currently have two ideas. Hear me out." Chen Guo spoke.
"Sure, go on." Ye Xiu nodded as he continued to import the documents.
"I am personally leaning towards the first idea, as it's also more homely. I was planning to clear out the whole of floor 2 in Happy. That level would become the training center and no longer be used for the Internet café business. After visiting Heavenly Sword, I feel it's enough for our training center and as well as some space for the guild and R&D department." Chen Guo said.
"Mm, not bad." Ye Xiu nodded.
"The other idea is to find a proper workplace and hire three to five rooms as our base. I keep feeling like it wouldn't be proper though." Chen Guo said.
"Are you telling me that you were planning on having us practice in an office?" Ye Xiu asked.
"It's not proper, right?" Chen Guo asked.
"Not at all!" Ye Xiu said.
"Then we'll go along with the first idea. We're currently unable to build another floor anyways!" Chen Guo said.
"The first idea is pretty good. Did you know that when I first started, the place where the team trained was in an Internet cafe. I'm merely walking through the same path from before again. However, we didn't have such good conditions at the time. The most we could do was to reserve a row of computers just for us in the Internet cafe." Ye Xiu said.
"Oh... Speaking of it, what did Tao Xuan used to do?" Chen Guo asked.
"Him? He used to be a boss of an Internet cafe as well..." Ye Xiu said.
Chapter 1067: SponsorshipsTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Tao Xuan used to run an Internet cafe as well?
This answer was shocking for Chen Guo. She had never felt a lick of anything but distaste for Tao Xuan, yet now she found out that this guy used to be in the same line of business as she was and immediately felt shame for him.
"I really couldn't tell." Chen Guo said in disgruntlement.
Ye Xiu smiled, but didn't say anything.
"And after that?" Chen Guo then pursued because she suddenly realized that Excellent Era's rise to power back then was something she could probably learn a lot from.
"After? After that was going around competing in competitions. By then, the Alliance might've already been created, but it was just starting out and didn't have the same influence and renown as it does today. There were plenty of Glory competitions just like it and we would enter them all. Online matches, offline matches, so long as there was no scheduling conflict, we wouldn't miss a single one," Ye Xiu said.
"To train the team?" Chen Guo guessed.
"No… to win the prize money and make sure the team lived on and make sure the players lived on." Ye Xiu said.
Chen Guo was stunned. Though she was older than Ye Xiu, she hadn't been a part of Glory for as long as he had. She had started out playing casually to pass the time to becoming a fan to follow the pro scene. By then, the Alliance had already been already well established, and the teams and players had become shining stars. At the very least, Club Excellent Era had already settled opposite to Happy Internet cafe and the resplendent team logo was already hung up. It was no longer what Ye Xiu described, needing to play in all sorts of matches to win enough prize money to live on.
"I no longer remember how many matches we played that year, how much prize money we won, how much prize money we won but never received. However, the Glory Pro Alliance was the most stable competition, which also gave the heftiest cash rewards. A year later, it had already gained much attention from the populace. More sponsorships, promoting it far and wide meant that the competing teams would get larger bonuses and more prize money. With this cycle, the teams and the Alliance began to grow rapidly, side by side.
Chen Guo nodded. She understood now. Even some of the things Ye Xiu didn't explain explicitly, she could guess. Excellent Era had successively won the first three championships of the Alliance. Without a doubt, disregarding the Alliance itself, they were the organization that took the greatest share of profit from the Alliance's first years. It was with this that Excellent Era managed to go from an Internet cafe team, a team that sounded downright poverty-stricken, to a top powerhouse.
As for the current Happy?
Chen Guo suddenly realized that the most difficult section of Happy's journey had somehow gone by without notice. Recalling their journey, from nothing to something, and then to the Challenger League, facing a massive powerhouse like Excellent Era, this was an impossible journey. But they did it. Would there be anything as difficult as this?
Taking the championship title?
Of course it would be difficult, but winning or losing the championships didn't affect the continued survival of a team. Team Happy had even managed to get through a life and death situation. Wouldn't the future be smoother?
In that moment, Chen Guo's confidence returned to her in full. She immediately left the house and returned to the Internet cafe. From now on, she was going to focus completely on doing the best she could for her team.
Before, she had turned part of the second floor of their Internet cafe into a training center, but she was still a little anxious inside. After all, the Internet cafe was her most stable source of income. But now, Chen Guo wasn't afraid anymore. Happy had come this far; there was no reason they'd fall now.
On the way over, Chen Guo had already picked up her phone to make a call and booked for renovators to come and take a look at the Internet cafe. After getting back to Happy and welcoming said renovators, they all went to the second floor together. She relayed her requirements to the renovators as they looked over the place of discussion. After discussing for almost a full day, the other went back to begin on blueprints. As for Chen Guo, she took her second big step after this first one.
"Is this Little Chang? It's Sis' Chen!" Chen Guo dialed the City H Esports Home reporter's number.
Of the two Esports Home reporters assigned to City H, one was in heaven and the other was in hell.
Glory was currently the hottest esports in the country. Although Esports Home was a comprehensive esports media group, they still focused primarily on Glory. The reason for the construction of City H's reporter base was entirely because of the local Team Excellent Era.
Logically speaking, there was no longer a reason for City H's reporter base to exist anymore with Excellent Era's relegation. However, no one had ever doubted Excellent Era's ability to immediately slaughter its way back into the Alliance from the Challenger League, not even Esports Home. Thus, the City H reporter base remained. Even though this year was a desolate one for the renown reporter Cao Guangcheng, he didn't despair, patiently waiting for the day Excellent Era would return to the Alliance.
But no one had ever thought that Excellent Era would fail just like that. What was even more awkward for Cao Guangcheng was that the one to defeat Excellent Era was Team Happy, Chang Xian's treasure, but a team that Cao Guangcheng didn't approve of.
Team Happy had Ye Xiu, so this shouldn't have been a team that Cao Guangcheng would look down on. However, Cao Guancheng did, because he had thought he knew more than anyone that it didn't matter if Ye Xiu was there or not since he couldn't be interviewed anyways. If he couldn't interview Ye Xiu, then what value did Team Happy have to him? What, you think they would actually win the Challenger League?
But they did.
Happy became the champions of the Challenger League and Chang Xian had a monopoly over Happy's interview resources. His publications continuously appeared on Esports Home. He had even gotten an exclusive interview from Ye Xiu. Everyone knew that Ye Xiu no longer shied away from this sort of thing, but, why didn't that asshole show this attitude earlier? If Cao Guangcheng had known that Ye Xiu would be willing to accept interviews, would he have so easily given Happy's lane to Chang Xian to run? Of course not!
Unfortunately, there were no 'if's.
The Excellent Era that Cao Guangcheng had his bets on and followed was now facing the problem of disbandment. And Happy, having defeated Excellent Era, was now a news hotspot. Chang Xian's attitude towards him hadn't changed any, still treating him respectfully as a senior, but Cao Guangcheng understood clearly that their roles had changed. In the future, City H's reporter base would be Chang Xian's turf because if the reporter base in City H were to remain, then it would be there for Happy. Chang Xian was on good terms with Happy and this was no secret in their circle. Through his connections, Cao Guangcheng had also gotten wind that the higher ups had no intentions of switching out Chang Xian and instead couldn't stop praising him.
During this period of time, Happy was a news hotspot and Esports Home had the best reports of all things Happy. This was entirely thanks to Chang Xian. The people in their circle were all too satisfied with Chang Xian's work and didn't have any intentions to try for his place.
Cao Guangcheng despaired. None of the higher-ups even tried to take this chance to pick peaches. It was probably impossible for him to replace Chang Xian. Follow around and wait on his past disciple? Cao Guangcheng couldn't bring himself to do that. He had already applied to his higher-ups, using Excellent Era's absence as a reason, to be switched to a different place.
Cao Guangcheng's application hadn't been accepted by Esports Home yet, but he was set on not staying in City H. He had already begun preparing Chang Xian to take over.
"Ah ah, Sister Chen, hi!!"
The sound of Chang Xian taking a call met Cao Guangcheng's ears. He knew who Chang Xian was talking to: Team Happy's boss, Chen Guo.
A call from the boss of a team. Little Chang really had it good. Even though he knew Happy's current situation and the boss personally calling wasn't anything big, Cao Guancheng couldn't help but be a little jealous.
"Oh oh, I think we should have some of that! I'll look into it for you and call you later?"
"Okay, I'll do that then. Bye, Sister Chen."
The call was hung up. It sounded like Chen Guo had asked for Chang Xian to look into something.
"What did Happy want?" Cao Guangcheng asked casually. Usually, a question like this meant that he had eavesdropped on Chang Xian's phone call. Even though Chang Xian had no intentions to hide it from him, this still wasn't very good, especially between reporters. It was a sort of taboo. However, Cao Guangcheng was down-in-the-dumps and didn't care to consider this.
"Oh, Brother Cao, I was going to ask. It'd probably be more convenient for me to just ask you," Chang Xian said.
"What?" Cao Guangcheng asked.
"Happy wanted to ask, what sponsors does Excellent Era have, big or small. The more details we have the better," Chang Xian replied.
"That? Do they really need us to help them look into that?" Cao Guangcheng couldn't help but laugh at the answer he had gotten. What was a sponsor? They were the ones who gave you money and in return, you had to promote them. Thus, sponsors wouldn't be any sort of secret. Excellent Era had to find every way to show the world what sponsors they had. If you took a look at that, wouldn't Excellent Era's sponsors become clear?
"Uh, she wants to know all the sponsors they've ever had, including ones that backed out, so I think I should still take a look for her," Chang Xian said.
"Oh, I'm not too certain about that either. How about you look into it!" Cao Guangcheng said. As for the reason Happy wanted to look into this information, never mind him, even Chang Xian could easily guess that. It couldn't be anything but that Happy was starting to look for sponsorships, and they wanted to take the sponsors from Excellent Era, who were facing disbandment. This was an appropriate move to make.
However… wasn't Happy simplifying everything too much? If a sponsor sponsored Excellent Era, then that showed where they stood. Now, Happy had defeated Excellent Era and blocked them out of the pro alliance, pushing them to the dire situation they were in. Happy was Excellent Era's enemy. Those who were only just sponsoring Excellent Era a moment ago would turn around and sponsor Happy instead? Businesses cared about how they looked. Doing this would be no different from calling whoever had milk mother. Who would want that sort of image?
Taking Excellent Era's sponsors was a good idea.
However, Happy's boss Chen, it seems like you really don't understand. Glory is a competitive scene. If anyone were to invest in this area, it was a little different. Especially for local sponsors, it would be more than difficult for them to turn to Happy the moment Excellent Era fell.
"Oh yeah…" Cao Guangcheng suddenly remembered something, calling out to Chang Xian. "If Happy wants sponsors, there's one I recommend."
"Ah? Who?" Chang Xian asked.
"Dry Tea Green," Cao Guangcheng said, a barely perceptible smile flashing over his face. He didn't want to compete for anything anymore, but, maybe watching Happy humiliated would help get rid of the frustration in his heart.
Chapter 1068: Dry Tea Green’s SponsorshipTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
"Dry Tea Green?" Chang Xian stared blankly. He wasn't a City H person, but he had worked as a reporter here for quite some time. He was no stranger to this name. It was a name that could be seen everywhere in City H.
Dry Tea Green was a privately owned tea beverage company in City H. The various tea drinks that they produced were best sellers in the country. In City H, it occupied a large market share.
Beverages had an extremely wide range of uses. They could sponsor practically anything. However, for esports, the goods that gained the most benefit from sponsorships were tech-related products. As a result, the vast majority of team sponsorships were tech-related products.
Cao Guangcheng said that he had a good recommendation. Chang Xian originally thought that it was a tech-related product, but it turned out to be a tea drink? How could you say that was a great recommendation?
Cao Guangcheng saw Chang Xian's hesitation and obviously knew what he was hesitating about. He smiled: "Go do some research!"
"Okay!" Chang Xian replied and went to look up related information. Since Cao Guangcheng had recommended Dry Tean Green, he would naturally pay particularly close attention to it.
"What do you think?" Cao Guangcheng asked a short while later.
"This Dry Tea Green really is Excellent Era's most faithful sponsor!" Chang Xian was moved. The data showed that Dry Tea Green had sponsored Excellent Era for a good seven years. Starting from season three, Dry Tea Green had been Excellent Era's most loyal sponsor.
"Take a look at this season." Cao Guangcheng said.
"Oh?" Chang Xian checked the season nine data. Dry Tea Green was still a sponsor. Although the amount wasn't as high, Excellent Era had been relegated this season, so all their sponsors substantially lowered their sponsorship amounts. That wasn't anything strange, no?
"Dry Tea Green still sponsored them during season nine." Cao Guangcheng said.
"Yeah! Most of Excellent Era's sponsors stayed. After all, with Excellent Era's position, these sponsors probably hadn't included any clauses in their contract that would nullify it as soon as they were relegated." Chang Xiang said.
Yes, clauses that cancelled the contract once the team was relegated. Whether it was sponsors or players, these types of automatic clauses would show up. However, those were for mid-tier and bottom-tier teams. For a powerhouse like Excellent Era, adding in that sort of clause was an insult. How could Excellent Era get relegated? Not long before, no one thought it was possible. As a result, whether it was sponsors or players, no one would be concerned about adding in this clause in the contract. It was a groundless fear!
"Haha, the vast majority didn't, but there are exceptions." Cao Guangcheng said.
"Could you mean Dry Tea Green..." Chang Xian realized what Cao Guangcheng was getting at and immediately checked the data.
"We don't have any of the details of the contract here, but I know that the contract between Dry Tea Green and Excellent Era has always included this clause. However, in season nine, even though the contract could be cancelled because of the clause, they did not cease their sponsorship. They only reduced the sponsorship amount. This at least shows their determination in sponsoring Glory!"
Chang Xian nodded his head. Cao Guangcheng's words were reasonable. But after looking at the data some more, he asked again: "But this Dry Tea Green….... Their sponsorship amount isn't really that high!"
"Dry Tea Green is determined to sponsor Glory, yet the sponsorship amount isn't high. What does this mean? It means that there's room for negotiation! After Excellent Era won three championships in a row, they fell on the decline. Their performance was just passable. But Happy has instantly become famous. Their reputation is rising accordingly. There really is an opportunity for them to get a deal with Dry Tea Green." Cao Guangcheng said.
"You're too right!" Chang Xian was excited. He sincerely hoped the best for Happy. After organizing the information, he immediately called Chen Guo, sending her this information, while stressing the name Dry Tea Green.
Dry Tea Green…...
Chen Guo grew up in City H. She was very familiar with this name. Saying that she grew up drinking their tea was a bit too much, but she had the circumstances to. Chen Guo just didn't really like it that much, that's all.
In the beginning, Dry Tea Green was focused solely on tea drinks, but they had expanded their market into all sorts of areas now. Their tea drinks were still their most popular products though, especially in City H. This company's strength didn't need to be mentioned. If Team Happy could get a sponsorship from them, that would be a huge step forward!
Chen Guo asked about everything she could from Chang Xian. After hanging up, she smugly started to prepare her attack.
According to Lou Guanning's analysis, Team Happy just needed to wait for sponsorships to come knocking on their door. However, Chen Guo wanted to be more proactive.
Dry Tea Green was their first target! Chang Xian had told her who to contact. Chen Guo immediately contacted him. The person on the other end was clearly just an assistant or secretary responsible for taking calls. After hearing Chen Guo's purpose for calling, the secretary was slightly startled and seemed to ask someone for more instructions. Then, the secretary gave Chen Guo a reply: tomorrow at 9 AM.
Not bad!
The other side had quickly arranged for a meeting. It looked like the other side was very interested in sponsoring them. Chang Xiang's recommendation was good. This Dry Tea Green valued sponsoring Glory quite a bit!
Chen Guo excitedly returned to Upper Forest Park and told the news to Ye Xiu.
"Dry Tea Green?" Ye Xiu heard the name and wrinkled his brow.
"What's wrong?" Chen Guo was a bit confused about Ye Xiu's response.
"I'll go with you tomorrow to take a look." Ye Xiu said.
"Oh?"
"How did you think to contact them?" Ye Xiu asked.
"Little Chang recommended them." Chen Guo said.
"LIttle Chang?" Ye Xiu was surprised, "Why did he recommend them?"
Chen Guo told him what Chang Xiang said. Ye Xiu nodded his head: "That's reasonable!"
"Yeah! Then let's go tomorrow morning. We can't be late." Chen Guo said.
"Understood." Ye Xiu nodded his head.
Chen Guo excitedly logged into Glory and started playing. As for Ye Xiu, his QQ blinked. He saw a message from Su Mucheng.
"Dry Tea Green?"
"Yeah... we'll take a look tomorrow and then we'll see." Ye Xiu replied.
"Okay." Su Mucheng didn't say anything more.
The next morning, Chen Guo dragged Ye Xiu out the door. She didn't want to leave a bad impression on the other side by being late. But when the two arrived at Dry Tea Green, it was only 8:30 AM. After being guided by the receptionist, the two came to Dry Tea Green's external affairs department. The person to receive them was the person who had picked up Chen Guo's call yesterday. Because it wasn't yet the appointment time, the secretary arranged for the two to wait a bit at the lobby.
Everything seemed to be going well, so Chen Guo was very excited.
"External affairs... hm, will we need this type of department in the future?" Chen Guo asked Ye Xiu.
"Of course." Ye Xiu nodded his head.
Time passed. In the blink of an eye, it was 9 AM. Chen Guo was looking forward to it, but then that secretary came back on time with an apologetic look: "Sorry.... Mr. Xiazong still has some business to take care of. I'll have to ask you two to wait just a bit longer."
"Oh... no worries. We'll wait then. Thanks!" A thread of disappointment flashed across Chen Guo's face, but it disappeared soon. It was just a bit longer. It was nothing.
"Then let's wait a bit!" After the secretary left, Chen Guo let out an expression of disappointment and then sat back down.
"This meeting... it's best if you don't put too much hopes on it." Ye Xiu suddenly said.
"Why?" Chen Guo didn't understand.
"Do you know who the Mr. Xiaozong she mentioned is?" Ye Xiu asked.
"Yeah!" Chen Guo nodded her head, "Xia Zongtian, Dry Tea Green's external affairs director. Dry Tea Green is his Xia family's business. He's the son of Dry Tea Green's CEO Xia Dongnan. More importantly, he's a huge Glory fan."
"Correct." Ye Xiu nodded his head, "He's a Glory fan. What's more, he's a very loyal Team Excellent Era fan."
"Oh?" Chen Guo was slightly surprised. Even though she hadn't realized anything, she could feel that Ye Xiu was hinting at something.
"How much do you know about Dry Tea Green's sponsorship for Excellent Era?" Ye Xiu asked.
"They've been sponsors for seven years, starting from season three of the Glory Alliance. Dry Tea Green's sponsorship for Excellent Era has never stopped even when Excellent Era was relegated this season. Despite having a clause saying that they could null the contract after the team was relegated, they insisted on sponsoring them and only reduced the sponsorship by a bit." Chen Guo said.
"Correct..." Ye Xiu nodded his head, "Then what if I told you that Dry Tea Green's sponsorship for Excellent Era is actually Xiao Zongtian's personal decision. What would you think?"
"Personal decision?" Chen Guo was puzzled.
"Yes... in reality, the company Dry Tea Green doesn't have much interest in sponsoring a Glory team. However, Xiao Zongtian is a big fan of Glory and also a loyal Excellent Era fan, so he stood his ground against everyone else and insisted on sponsoring Excellent Era. Dry Tea Green is the Xia family's business, so the department turned a blind eye towards it and approved his request. You can say that this sponsorship isn't a business contract, but rather a fan's personal support for the team." Ye Xiu said.
"Why do you know so much?" Chen Guo was astonished.
"Hello? If I remember correctly, I was once Team Excellent Era's former captain?" Ye Xiu said.
"So you're saying that apart from Excellent Era, Dry Tea Green isn't interested in supporting any team other than Excellent Era?" Chen Guo said.
"Yes." Ye Xiu nodded his head.
"Then why did Little Chang strongly recommend Dry Tea Green?"
"Uh, he's probably too young and didn't understood this crux of the matter!" Ye Xiu said, "From the surface, a sponsorship from Dry Tea Green truly has a lot of potential."
"Then why were we called over?"
"I'm puzzled about that too." Ye Xiu said.
Chen Guo had originally been excited, but now she was nervous. In the blink of an eye, it was 10 AM. In terms of their appointment time, they had waited for an entire hour.
"Xiazong, they've already waited for an hour. Shouldn't you meet them?" In Xiao Zongtian's office, the secretary asked.
"No time. I'm busy. Have them wait some more." Xiao Zongtian didn't even glance at his secretary. He just looked at the screen as sounds of mouse-clicking and keyboard-tapping sounded incessantly.
Chapter end
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