I'm A Baller - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: The Legend
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

When Wang Yan arrived at the office of the catering department, Manager Liu was speaking on the phone in a respectful manner.
“Sure, sure! Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it!”
After hanging up the phone, Manager Liu was practically glowing, grinning from ear to ear.
He poured some tea for Wang Yan and gave him a thumbs up.
“Aiyo, Boss Wang, you’re amazing!”
Being fawned over by a greasy, middle-aged man felt… strangely good.
“You were incredible! Even our boss has only praise for you. He thinks you’re a trendsetter and will become a force to be reckoned with!”
Another compliment, this time from the mouth of a well-known Gujiao entrepreneur, didn’t please Wang Yan. On the contrary, he shivered.
“Sh*t!” he thought.
“Please don’t offer me a discount!”
Just as Wang Yan was thinking about that, Manager Liu said agreeably, “Our boss said we’ll only charge you for the crabs!”
Oh!
“You gave me a scare…” he thought.
Wang Yan breathed a sigh of relief and gestured nonchalantly. “Thank your boss for me. If I have other needs in the future, I’ll be sure to call Dong Yuan International again.”
“Thanks for your business, Boss Wang!”
Manager Wang was impressed by Wang Yan’s calm demeanor and gave him yet another thumbs up.
Next on the agenda was settling the accounts.
A total of thirty king crabs were consumed; the bill was 18,080, so Wang Yan paid 18,300.
The tip was well-deserved.
“Everyone deserves it for working so hard!”
Manager Liu was almost moved to tears, and with a wave of his hands, he waived the costs for the rooms, the spa, and the beverages.
Actually, all those extras barely amounted to 1,400 dollars. Everyone had ordered only soft drinks and mineral water, and none of the four bottles of Maotai were opened.
Wang Yan paid the hotel an extra 7,000 so that Manager Liu could withdraw cash for the contestants to cover the prize money, as well the reimbursements for lost working time.
Liu Yuanfang had previously reported transport expenses of twenty thousand, which was reasonable for a group of ten.
Wang Yan didn’t bother calculating and simply transferred forty thousand through WeChat.
He had spent 220,000 on the event, so his EXP was now 22/500.
Looking at Wang Yan’s bill for beverages, Manager Liu asked, “Boss Wang, today’s live stream was such a hit. Did you really not make any profit from it?”
“Nope.” Wang Yan shook his head with a smile on his face.
“But just the virtual gifts alone amounted to more than a hundred and forty thousand!” said Manager Liu with his eyes wide.
“So? How much will the platform be giving the hosts?” Wang Yan asked casually.
“Even if it’s just half of it, that’s still seventy to eighty thousand!”
Manager Liu couldn’t fathom why the youth before him was acting so calm and casual about this.
“That’s seventy to eighty thousand, not seventy or eighty dollars!” he thought.
In comparison, his spending was only about 28,000.
However, Wang Yan really couldn’t have cared less.
A large proportion of the virtual gifts had been contributed by the veterans, who had specified who they were giving them to. How Liu Yuanfang split the earnings was his problem, not Wang Yan’s.
One King Crab Card, thirty king crabs. How much profit would he be making from those?
Four million!
In the time taken to have just one meal, his savings had jumped to 4.97 million!
In other words, he would not only be able to obtain the Attribute Modifier right away, but he would also be able to upgrade the System to Level 6.
So how Liu Yuanfang chose to split the earnings that came from the virtual gifts was the least of his concerns.
To put it crudely, that paltry sum wasn’t even as important as his graduation party tomorrow.
But Manager Liu felt that it was unfair to Wang Yan and mumbled, “Even if there had been no prior agreement, Boss Liu ought to show some consideration, right? If not for you, this event wouldn’t have happened.”
Just then, the staff from the Finance department came by with five stacks of cash. While picking up the cash, Manager Liu continued nagging, “If it were up to me, I would have let him come up with the prize money. Just saying…”
Wang Yan understood that Manager Liu was trying to ingratiate himself with him. He was mildly amused but also now harboring some expectations towards Liu Yuanfang.
“I don’t need the money, but you ought to have the right attitude,” he said in his head.
“Otherwise, we can’t be friends.”
…
By the time they finished settling miscellaneous matters, quite some time had already elapsed. The ten of them were seated around the table, seemingly in the midst of a serious discussion.
Liu Yuanfang had a pair of chopsticks in one hand and a bowl in the other. He was talking animatedly.
When he saw Wang Yan coming in, he immediately put down his chopsticks and bowl and welcomed his presence warmly.
“Ah, Boss Wang! We did well today! It was too bad you weren’t around to see how exciting it was!”
He then turned around and instructed the others, “C’mon, ladies and gentlemen. Please give a round of applause for Boss Wang, and thank him for giving you such a wonderful opportunity!”
Everyone starting clapping, while Da Gang and someone else whistled.
Ling Ya jumped up and down as she cheered, and Mizi, while quiet, was looking at him with unadulterated adoration.
It was very lively.
Had it been any other man, they would have been on cloud nine by now. But Wang Yan merely waved his hands and remained composed. He did sound extra humble and sincere in his words, though.
“Your accomplishments were made through your own efforts. I dare not claim any credit.
“The platform’s right there. I won’t get in anyone’s way if they wish to collect their cut of profits from today’s event. The event was not about me giving you guys an opportunity. It was about you guys helping to fulfill a wish of mine, so I’m very grateful to all of you.
“Alright, let’s cut to the chase. I’m now going to hand out the prize, as well as reimbursements for lost working time.”
That concluded his short speech. Manager Liu distributed the envelopes to everyone.
Mizi received twenty thousand, and the remaining six received five thousand each.
Everyone was now holding a thick wad of cash.
They were all immensely touched and grateful to have received the money.
Wang Yan hadn’t made them uncomfortable, not even one bit. Whatever awe they had for him previously was now converted to an equivalent amount of gratitude.
Holding on to the envelope tightly, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling, Mizi couldn’t help whispering to Ling Ya, “Boss Wang is such a nice person. He doesn’t look cold or arrogant at all…”
Ling Ya nodded subconsciously, but there was an indecipherable look in her eyes, as if she was mulling over something.
As for Liu Yuanfang, he made a show of licking Wang Yan’s boots but made no mention of the profits or how the profits were to be split.
Wang Yan had a good idea where this was going, so he didn’t want to waste any more time.
“That’s it for today, then. Everyone get some rest. We’ll meet again if the opportunity arises.”
Wang Yan declined Liu Yuanfang’s attempt to shake his hand again and bid him farewell with a smile on his face.
It was human nature to hold on to money that was already in one’s hands.
Liu Yuanfang knew very well what he was doing. They were from different parts of the country, had different connections, and would be going in different directions after this, so why bother splitting the profits, since they were about to part ways anyway?
It wasn’t like they would be cooperating again in the future, since the brand had been established!
While Liu Yuanfang’s line of thinking did make sense, he wouldn’t go very far if he didn’t learn how to share.
Liu Yuanfang hadn’t made a name for himself even after producing more than seventy episodes. This itself was self-explanatory.
Even if he had just offered not to claim reimbursements for transport expenses, that would have sufficed.
Wang Yan would have still considered keeping in touch with him or working together again in the future.
But now… haha.
Even as Wang Yan discreetly shook his head, Liu Yuanfang was still sneering.
“You dumb*ss rich kid. Doesn’t matter how rich or influential you are. I’m not going to be wasting my time making a living in a mining province, anyway!” he thought.
“Since you wanted to play, I kindly obliged and sucked up to you.
“As for the rest… Sorry, we already agreed that the profits from the live stream would belong to me!
“I worked hard to produce these results, and no one has the right to take them away from me!
“Frankly speaking, it was all thanks to you that Principal Wang worked with me… Haha! Thanks a lot!”
All sorts of filthy thoughts were running through Liu Yuanfang’s mind, yet he was still able to maintain an amicable expression on his face as he escorted Wang Yan to the main entrance of the hotel lobby.
Just as he was about to wave goodbye, Ling Ya suddenly appeared from behind and headed towards Wang Yan.
“Hang on, Boss Wang! I would… like to thank you in private…”
Eh?
What was this?
Wang Yan hadn’t quite come around to it, but he couldn’t help but wonder—
Could this possibly be…
Was this an unspoken proposition?!