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After a long moment,
Yao Beiguo finally recovered from his shock.
If it had been ten million, he would have needed to crunch the numbers to see if the budget would be enough.
But with a hundred million, it was more than sufficient—probably even excessive.
After all, the list President Chen had given him mostly consisted of retired professional players or benchwarmers.
These people all had one thing in common: they wouldn’t cost much.
The biggest expenses would likely be the club’s venue rental, renovations, and computer equipment.
But even then, a hundred million would be far more than necessary.
“President Chen, a hundred million might be a bit too much.”
“My requirements are simple. For the club—whether it’s the venue, the renovations, or the equipment—I want only the best…”
“Actually, how about this: you make a budget plan for me.”
Chen Mo paused mid-sentence, then changed his mind.
After thinking it over,
He decided it was best to oversee things himself. The end of the month marked the settlement period for a special task, and to avoid any unexpected issues, he had no choice but to personally keep things in check.
Besides, this hundred million was part of the System Funds he needed to spend after deducting other expenses.
He didn’t expect the establishment of a gaming club to burn through the entire hundred million in System Funds.
But the more he could spend, the better. That was why he gave Yao Beiguo such a generous budget—to keep him from cutting corners and to ensure as much of the System Funds were used as possible.
“Understood, President Chen.”
Yao Beiguo quickly agreed. Drafting a budget was no problem at all.
The two chatted a bit longer,
Then Yao Beiguo took his leave, exiting the office and riding the elevator down to the building’s entrance.
The same glaring sunlight, the same flow of traffic.
But his mood was completely different from the last time he walked out of the NNG Gaming Club.
Back then, he had been lost, uncertain of what the future held.
Now, it was the opposite. He saw hope. Although this new venture would be extremely challenging—bringing retired professional players back into competition and achieving results was no easy feat—
This time, things were different. He had a hundred million in funding.
With that kind of support, he believed he could find a way to lead the gaming club to success.
Back at the hotel,
The first thing Yao Beiguo did was pull out the personnel list President Chen had given him.
Of course,
He didn’t look at the retired players first. Instead, he flipped to the section listing potential management staff.
After all, he was just one person. If he wanted to run an entire club, he’d need help.
And President Chen had made it clear: he could only choose from the people on this list.
No way around it. He’d just have to pick the best among them.
He flipped through the profiles one by one, until his eyes landed on a familiar name.
Tao Ze.
Seeing the name, Yao Beiguo was a little surprised.
This man had once been his partner. If he remembered correctly, they had worked together during the launch of his second gaming club.
But when that club disbanded, Tao Ze had moved on to another organization, and they’d lost contact after that.
He hadn’t expected to see his name on this list.
Skimming through Tao Ze’s profile, he saw that after joining his last gaming club, Tao Ze had worked there for two years before leaving for unknown reasons.
The file didn’t specify whether he had resigned or been fired.
What was clear was that after leaving that club, Tao Ze hadn’t worked for any other gaming organization since.
Still, back when they had worked together, Tao Ze had been highly competent—sharp in both management and decision-making.
After some thought,
He looked through the rest of the management candidates. According to the files, most of them were about the same level—either they had made serious mistakes or simply lacked ability.
Comparing them all,
His gaze finally settled back on Tao Ze. He didn’t know much about the others, but he was at least familiar with Tao Ze. Even if he didn’t know why Tao Ze had left that last club after two years and never worked in the industry again,
He was confident in Tao Ze’s capabilities. As an assistant, he would be more than qualified.
Having made up his mind,
Yao Beiguo pulled out his phone and dialed the number listed in the file.
“Hello? Who is this?”
A gruff, impatient voice came through the line.
Yao Beiguo instinctively pulled the phone slightly away from his ear, frowning. From the tone and slurred speech, it was obvious the man on the other end had been drinking—and not just a little.
What’s going on?
He glanced at the time. It was just past 2 p.m. Drinking this heavily at this hour? Something was definitely off.
After a moment’s pause, Yao Beiguo spoke calmly.
“This is Yao Beiguo. I’d like to meet with you. Would that be convenient?”
“Yao Beiguo… who’s that? Oh, oh!! You’re coming to drink with me, huh? Then come on over, I’m at…”
Tao Ze slurred his words, then gave an address.
The call ended shortly after.
Yao Beiguo looked surprised. When Tao Ze mentioned the address, he hadn’t expected him to be right here in Jiang City.
That made things a lot easier.
No matter what, he was planning to meet this Tao Ze anyway. Judging by the current situation, something was clearly going on with him. If he went over now and offered a helping hand, then maybe, if Tao Ze ended up joining the Gaming Club in the future, they could work together more smoothly. That wouldn’t be a bad outcome at all.
With that thought in mind, Yao Beiguo headed straight to the address Tao Ze had given him.
………
Jiang City.
Inside a high-end residential complex,
Yao Beiguo followed the directions and found Tao Ze’s apartment.
He took the elevator up to the sixth floor. As soon as the doors opened, a voice laced with mockery drifted over.
“Tao Ze, the more you act like this, the more I look down on you. Yes, I’ve fallen for Young Master Wang. I admit I betrayed you emotionally. He’s the heir of the Ruishang Group, comes from a wealthy family, and has more money than you. I chose a better future—what’s wrong with that?”
“And you? You were doing just fine as the manager of the Gaming Club, but you actually quit that job for me. You came to Jiang City to work as a supervisor at some small company, earning less than half of what you did before.”
“And now you’ve even quit that supervisor job too. Sitting here in this rented apartment, drinking yourself into a stupor—do you think that’ll make me feel sorry for you? That I’ll come running back? How pathetic.”
“I came here today to make it clear—there’s no chance for us. Here’s two thousand yuan. You’re unemployed now, so this should help you get by for a little while.”
As Yao Beiguo stepped out of the elevator, he saw a door slightly ajar just ahead. The voice was coming from inside that apartment.
He glanced at the unit number. It matched the address Tao Ze had given him.
This…
Yao Beiguo hesitated. Was this really something he was supposed to hear?
He wasn’t sure…
Should he go in or not?
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