Chapter 912 - 910: A Mom Who Dreams of Getting Rich Every Day 12
Chapter 912: Chapter 910: A Mom Who Dreams of Getting Rich Every Day 12
Ah Chen was relieved; she hadn’t really wanted to tutor Pei Chen. From Pei Chen’s earlier reaction, she figured he wouldn’t swallow his pride and would try to cover for himself.
After all, they’re just teenagers; it’s impossible for them to handle it with complete composure.
After this incident, Pei Chen probably won’t come to her with questions for a while, at least not in front of Jian Mo.
Lately, Jian Mo has been coming to school every day, becoming much more diligent.
It’s said that he lives nearby with a few new male students who recently transferred to their school. These guys are also in the first year, but in different classes, and judging from their interactions, they seem to have a really good relationship.
Since they transferred, they’ve been coming to have lunch with Jian Mo every day, and Ah Chen has gotten familiar with them too.
However, Ah Chen had a puzzling question: why do they all call Jian Mo "Brother Leng?"
During lunch one day, she voiced her curiosity, and for a moment, everyone at the cafeteria table paused, turning their attention to Jian Mo.
Jian Mo coughed: "It’s an online alias; we got to know each other through the internet."
"Met while gaming."
"Been a few years now."
Ah Chen understood and asked again: "So is your online name ’Brother Leng’ or just ’Leng?’"
"Leng," Jian Mo replied. "I originally thought about naming myself ’Gao Leng’ (Cool Guy)."
The conversation got away from them, spilling over into awkward territory. Jian Mo couldn’t help feeling a little at a loss for words, but seeing that An wasn’t bothered by it reassured him.
"Back then, I was playing on behalf of a well-off classmate. I didn’t expect to run into Brother Leng," Xie Musheng (Piaopiao) said. "Because I was playing on behalf, it was a paid gig, and they’d specified a certain role, which happened to clash with Brother Leng’s. But Brother Leng got the position he wanted, and since my classmate usually plays that position poorly, there was no way to prioritize him over Brother Leng. I tried requesting to swap lanes, briefly explaining that I was helping the account owner and earning some living expenses. Unexpectedly, Brother Leng agreed."
"In situations like that, most people want to play their favorite role and are unwilling to switch."
"Piaopiao played quite well. It was during that time I discovered that I’m actually quite suited to playing support," Jian Mo chuckled. Later, they added each other as friends and gradually learned more about Xie Musheng’s situation.
His academic performance wasn’t particularly outstanding, making it unlikely for him to get a scholarship.
At that time, the grandmother who had taken him in was still alive, but life was tough for them. Even with subsidies, life was hard for the grandmother and grandson. He was too young to work. By chance, there was a wealthy classmate in his class who, one day while playing games together, noticed how engrossed he was and invited him to join in.
He said he didn’t have a phone, so the classmate lent him theirs to play, and even took another one out from their backpack later. Eventually, the classmate wanted to give it to him.
He declined, and the classmate didn’t insist. However, whenever they were free, the classmate would bring out the phone and let him play together.
Sometimes when the classmate didn’t feel like playing, they’d ask Xie Musheng to play on their account, offering compensation, which Xie Musheng happily accepted. He couldn’t accept something for nothing, but he could use his labor to earn it.
By the time he was in eighth grade, the classmate was set to go abroad.
Xie Musheng, with average grades, had planned that once he graduated junior high, he would start working to earn money, hoping to buy a phone and maybe even earn some pocket money by playing on others’ accounts. With limited access to information and no personal phone, he only played games and accessed information using a classmate’s, leaving him unaware of potential opportunities in gaming.
It was Jian Mo who, upon hearing his circumstances, was struck by an idea.
By that time, the five of them were already familiar with one another. In fact, all of them got to know each other through Jian Mo initially.
Among them, Ma Xuan and Jian Mo had been classmates since kindergarten and were close friends.
Upon hearing Jian Mo talk about going pro after they turn eighteen, everyone was excited. When Xie Musheng heard about the potential earnings, he jumped aboard without much hesitation.
They weren’t of age yet, so all they could do was wait eagerly.
Ah Chen now understood why Jian Mo had been missing classes; it all made sense.
"We’re planning to head to our place to train for a bit, would you like to join us?" Jian Mo asked, spilling all the details. He felt a bit anxious; after all, many people viewed students playing games as irresponsible.
What if An didn’t understand either?
Jian Mo was troubled, wondering if turning eighteen really makes everything possible. It seemed not.
An wasn’t an object he could just possess or manipulate according to his whims; he couldn’t infringe on her choices.
Seeing Jian Mo ready to pull at his hair, Ah Chen nodded: "Sure, what are you playing? Can I join in?"
The huge weight on Jian Mo’s chest lifted, and he quickly got his phone out to introduce Ah Chen to the game.
After lunch, Ah Chen had already downloaded the game and followed Jian Mo and the group to where they were staying.
On the same floor, Jian Mo had rented out two apartments opposite each other, spacious enough for the five of them. They even hired an auntie to handle cooking and cleaning.
Since they had only just turned sixteen this year, they wouldn’t be eligible to participate in professional competitions until next year. They still had plenty of free time.
"No coach?" Ah Chen realized upon arrival that they were still just an informal group without even a coach, leaving her slightly speechless.
Based on Jian Mo’s situation, his family seemed wealthy enough to afford one.
"Can’t recruit good ones; everyone thinks it’s just kids fooling around when they hear about us. My plan is to address that next year. For now, without tournament experience or professional training, we’re obviously not seen as legitimate," Jian Mo explained, feeling a bit helpless. He had a lot of money and no one to control him, yet hiring a capable coach sometimes required a bit of luck.
As it stood, despite people reaching out in the gaming community, he had his own plans. Now that his own team was formed, joining another squad would limit his freedom and potentially separate him from his friends, which neither he nor they wanted.
They wanted to forge their path together, without parting.
The future was uncertain, but at least for the moment, they had no desire to be apart.
Among them, he and Shen Xiaoju (Xiaoju) were financially secure. Particularly him, all family resources were at his discretion, and upon reaching adulthood, he could fully manage them. Meanwhile, Shen Xiaoju received a substantial bonus annually, which could completely support this endeavor. Given the opportunity to chase their dreams, why not?
As for Chi Fang (Langlang), Xie Musheng (Piaopiao), and Ma Xuan (Huanhuan), among them, one initially couldn’t be contained at home and often skipped classes to hang out outside, one was an orphan whose only grandmother had passed, and another’s family wasn’t as affluent as Jian Mo or Shen Xiaoju’s but wasn’t terribly off either; his family was only too happy for Ma Xuan to befriend Jian Mo, so they didn’t object at all.
Especially Chi Fang and Xie Musheng, without Jian Mo’s invitation, one might still be a troublemaker, and the other already working in a factory. Could their future be worse than that?