Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

May 14th, Saturday…

Pei Qian and Li Yaling got out of the car outside DGE Esports Club. After she alighted, Li Yaling scanned her surroundings expectantly. From the looks of it, Boss Pei had rented a villa at Ming Yun Villas for the body-building athletes to train at.

It seemed strange but not ridiculous.

Pei Qian did not say anything. Instead, he led Li Yaling into the villa.

It was past 9 AM on a Saturday morning. The entire living area was empty. Only Zhang Yuan stood by the whiteboard, writing the training schedule that he had planned earlier.

09:00 Wake Up

09:00-10:00 Shower, have breakfast, arrive at the training room

10:00-12:00 Analysis, meeting, training

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30-13:30 Rest

13:30-14:00 Warm-Up

14:00-17:30 Mock Competition

17:30-19:00 Dinner, rest

23:00-24:00 Analysis, meeting

24:00-01:00 Shower, keep cell phones, sleep

According to the daily schedule, the athletes had probably just finished washing up and were now eating breakfast.

This villa was not far from Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's Ming Yun Villas branch. They could choose to order Fish-Catching Take-Out or have their breakfast in the internet cafe itself.

When Yaling saw the schedule, she could not help but frown. It was so unprofessional! The feeling was intensified when she studied Zhang Yuan, who had been writing the timetable on the board. He did not look like he trained at all. Yaling thought that this was ridiculous.

It's no wonder that Boss Pei wanted me to take over. Did they just randomly grab the current instructor off the streets? He was clearly an amateur! Wouldn't he delay their progress?

The timetable was even more problematic.

First of all, there was a huge problem with the sleep schedule. To keep the body in top shape, one should wake up at about 6 AM and sleep before 10 PM. Staying up so late would affect training progress!

On top of that, the timetable did not include meal details. At the very least, it should state how many times athletes should eat per day, what they should eat, and how much they should eat.

Last of all, too much time had been allocated for training. Professional body-builders varied. Some trained three to four times a week and only did a few simple exercises each time. Others had higher pain tolerance and worked themselves to exhaustion. Those athletes could train anywhere from eight to ten hours per week.

However, at the end of the day, how long an athlete should train depended on his or her body type. A one-size-fits-all method where everyone had to sleep past midnight was completely unscientific!

There would even be mock competitions. Li Yaling could not figure out what would be the point of having mock competitions for body-builders. Were they going to compete in striking poses?

She had many other opinions on the schedule. In her heart, she promised herself to change everything once she took over.

On seeing Boss Pei, Zhang Yuan quickly put his marker down. "Boss Pei, why are you here so early today?"

Pei Qian nodded and grinned as he said, "Yes, I've brought the coach here!"

Zhang Yuan clapped happily. "That's great, Boss Pei! I was getting anxious, and so I found a training schedule online that the contestants could follow. I can relax now that the coach is here. The coach can set the new timetable!"

Pei Qian introduced the two of them. "This is the in-charge-cum-team-leader, Zhang Yuan. This is the professional coach, Li Yaling."

Both of them shook hands. After that Zhang Yuan looked at his own hand, confused.

This girl's grip is pretty strong!

Li Yaling was dressed in long pants and a sweater today. Since she was quite small in stature, all of her well-built muscles were hidden underneath her clothes. On top of that, her face looked sweet and beautiful. One would not be able to guess her true strength from her appearance.

Li Yaling had been feeling quite apprehensive at first. She had been afraid that she would teach badly and embarrass Boss Pei. However, after seeing the current situation, all of her worries dissipated. No matter what, she would definitely do a better job than Captain Zhang.

The only thing that she could not figure out was why there were so many computers in the living room.

Footsteps were heard outside the door. The contestants were back from their breakfast.

Pei Qian glanced at his watch: they were just in time. He quickly gestured for the contestants to gather around him.

"Coach Yaling, come on. I'll introduce you to the ten contestants you'll be training."

Li Yaling was stunned. She looked at the young, skinny internet addicts and then looked at the serious Boss Pei. It was then that she realized something was off.

The ten of them were even worse than Zhang Yuan!

Although she could tell that Zhang Yuan had never trained in his life, at least he had muscles. On the other hand, the ten contestants either looked as skinny as monkeys or overly plump. Some had hunched backs, and some had twisted bones. Even their postures were problematic.

Obviously, those ten people were not body-builders.

Then, Li Yaling thought about the computers in the living room. All of a sudden, she understood something.

At the same time, the ten young, internet addicts formed a row in the living room and sized their new coach up. Many of them instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to make eye contact with her.

So… so adorable!

Strictly speaking, Yaling's face was quite bewitching. She was sweet and beautiful, especially in the baggy sweater and jeans that she had on today. They covered her muscles and accentuated her figure perfectly.

Of course, none of the internet addicts had seen anyone like her. At once, all of them became more autistic.

All of them had been expecting to see an oily, middle-aged man or a more experienced internet addict like themselves. They would never have thought that their coach would be a cute girl.

This was so exciting!

As for Zhang Yuan, he naturally felt worried.

Everyone knew that female candidates did not have the upper hand in the world of esports. He did not even know which section this female coach belonged to, whether she could serve her team or not or whether she understood the game well enough to become a coach or not.

At that point, Pei Qian knew that it was time to come clean with everyone. He cleared his throat and prepared for his performance.

However, at that moment, someone knocked on the door. "Hello, your bottled water is here."

There was a water dispenser in the living room, but the bottle was already empty.

One of the young internet addicts stepped forward bravely and rushed over. "Let me!"

The young man who had delivered the water had intended to help with refilling the water dispenser. However, after seeing how ready the internet addict was to move the bottled water, he did not object.

The internet addict huffed and puffed as he carried the bottled water with both of his arms. Then, he struggled to move towards the water dispenser.

Midway through, he began to regret his decision. The bottled water was much heavier than he had imagined!

He had only wanted to show how manly he was in front of the beautiful, sweet, and adorable coach. He had not thought that he would pay such a high price. He was only halfway through, but he was close to collapsing.

The other contestants showed no intention of helping him. Instead, they suppressed their smiles and waited to see the man make a fool of himself.

You want to show off in front of the coach? You've scr*wed up, haven't you?

That's just as well. You've made a mess of yourself; our chances just got higher.

The internet addict moving the bottled water saw that no one was stepping forward to help him. Thus, he had no choice but to put it down on the floor. He wanted to take a break before completing the rest of the journey.

His face became flushed, and he panted in exhaustion. At that moment, Coach Yaling walked up to him and effortlessly lifted the bottled water with a single hand.

"Let me."

The internet addict had huffed and puffed and used up all of his energy to make it halfway. Yet, Coach Yaling easily completed the rest of the journey, towed the bottled water with her left hand, and refilled the water dispenser.

She looked so relaxed that one could mistakenly think the full bottle of water was just as light as the empty one.

A weird silence filled the room.

A few of the young, internet addicts pinched their own arms and then looked at Coach Yaling who had easily refilled the water dispenser without panting. Immediately, they fell silent.

The atmosphere was extremely awkward.

Coach Yaling sighed. "I don't know what is going on, but I think there must have been some misunderstanding. This seems to be an esports training club, but I'm a fitness trainer."

As she spoke, she removed her sweater and revealed her well-built biceps.

The internet addict who had tried his best to move the bottle of water continued to pant, with the change in his expression looking very exciting.

This one coach could defeat all ten of us without even panting.

Zhang Yuan looked at Boss Pei, confused. In his heart, he wondered what exactly was happening.

Boss Pei, you said that the club would not be able to poach reliable trainers and that you would find someone more suitable. I believed you, but why have you picked a fitness coach for me?!

It doesn't make sense!

Even if the team had to come face-to-face with their opponents while competing, they could only talk to them and not fight with them.

Just as everyone was looking confused, Pei Qian cleared his throat and walked to the center of the living room.

"I know everyone is feeling slightly confused, but please listen to my explanation. I think that all of the esports clubs in the country have been too irregular. There's a huge problem with the way they train.

"That's why I'm trying out a new method of training!"

Pei Qian looked very serious and sounded very righteous. In fact, he was almost convincing himself.

"At the moment, all the esports clubs in the country have been neglecting their contestants' health. Most esports contestants are internet addicts with unhealthy lifestyles.

"They spend long hours in front of their computers. Their backs, necks, and wrists could easily develop injuries. This is especially so for those who spend even more time training—they could develop work injuries. Many professional esports players suffer from injuries during their competition years, which results in their careers being affected.

"Many esports clubs exhaust their contestants. They make their contestants train as hard as they can in their younger years without taking care of their nutrition or physical health. How many young and talented contestants end up developing health problems and quitting competitions?

"That's pure violence!

"On top of that, taking care of your own physical health can improve your focus and endurance. One might only need to move their fingers for esports, but their brains have to be operating at high-speed, and they have to remain focused as well. Thus, the physical exhaustion it causes is comparable to other competitive sports!

"Often, competitions result in protracted battles and tie-breakers. Those are tests of contestants' willpower and physical reserves. Whoever can maintain sufficient energy and high focus in the later stages of the competition will end up winning!

"Talent is innate, and technique is trained. However, apart from both of those, many clubs overlook the hidden condition—one's physical fitness!

"In modern competitions, athletes do not merely compete in terms of talent. They also compete in terms of science and logistics. Making up for one of our biggest shortcomings would be far better than trying to do more than other clubs!

"That's why I invited Coach Yaling to become your coach. She is to give your weak bodies a complete makeover. You have to build your team's combat fitness on a fundamental level, understand?"

Everyone exchanged confused looks.

It seemed to make sense, but…

Zhang Yuan cleared his throat. "Ahem, Boss Pei, I think there's no problem at all with inviting Coach Yaling to help our team members train their physical fitness. However, someone has to guide the team's esports training as well…"

Pei Qian smiled. "Of course, I have thought of that as well.

"The two teams will each elect a captain who would be responsible for giving directions and summarizing and replaying after each game.

"Leave the professional things to the professionals. All of you reached the top of the charts based on your own talent. As long as you seriously delve deep into the game, you would have a better understanding of it than most of the coaches in the industry."