With this in mind, Pei Qian stood up and clapped his hands. “Alright, I think everyone has discussed enough, let’s wrap it up. Get ready, we’re having dinner together tonight, my treat!”

He had been worried that Zhang Yuan would object, since the dinner would certainly occupy the evening training time, but to his surprise, Zhang Yuan was very happy and immediately agreed, promptly chasing out these gaming-addicted teenagers who didn’t want to leave.

Zhang Yuan thought to himself, sure enough, Mr. Pei had identified the problem!

These players were getting a bit carried away now and should calm down. At the same time, such a dinner could increase team cohesion—it could be said to be the first step toward the right path!

…

Soon, DGE’s players successively arrived at the Ming Mansion Family Banquet.

Pei Qian had already reserved a spot, booking the largest private room in the restaurant with two large round tables, each able to seat more than a dozen people.

They wouldn’t fill all the seats, but that was fine—plenty of space to eat!

Pei Qian didn’t waste words and directly ordered expensive dishes, trying to erode the players’ fighting spirit with delicious food, making them completely forget about their previous training matches.

These newcomers had never been to Nameless Restaurant, and the good food at Ming Mansion Family Banquet was enough to whet their appetites. They all began to gorge themselves.

Zhang Yuan was also eating, but alongside his relief, he had some concerns.

He was relieved that Mr. Pei had activated his skill “Food Motivation,” which was effective!

In his opinion, every time Mr. Pei treated a department to a meal, the department seemed to have a performance breakthrough shortly afterward. This appeared to be a kind of mysticism, but in reality, Zhang Yuan preferred to see it as one of Mr. Pei’s special techniques.

This meal had a motivating effect on DGE’s new players, giving them a sense of belonging to DGE Club, while also helping them calm down again, avoiding that anxious mentality of seeking quick success.

But alongside his relief, he was also worried that this was still just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.

DGE Club’s current training methods were outdated. With other clubs making rapid progress, if DGE Club’s two teams continued this novice-level practice against each other, they would only fall further and further behind.

This point… how did Mr. Pei plan to solve it?

Zhang Yuan felt the best solution would be to hire a team of professional coaches and analysts.

But who to hire? That was the biggest question.

As he was worrying, Zhang Yuan noticed his phone vibrate.

Taking it out, he saw it was a message from Huang Wang: “Brother Zhang, why is no one at the club?”

…

At the DGE Club’s entrance.

Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the other eight old DGE players gathered together, looking at the club’s locked door, feeling somewhat confused.

After H4 Club won the championship yesterday, Huang Wang naturally went to celebrate in the afternoon, and in the evening, he also had to stream, sharing his joyful mood with fans.

The other players had also returned to their respective clubs to rest. They had been in high-intensity training and competition for a while and needed a break.

This afternoon, everyone had recovered and wanted to gather at DGE Club to catch up.

But when they arrived at the club entrance, they found the door locked tight.

It should be dinner time now. DGE Club’s dinners were always provided by Slackin’ Takeout, so there was no need to go out.

Huang Wang and the others were afraid of disturbing everyone’s training, so they specifically chose this time to come.

Huang Wang had originally wanted to give Zhang Yuan and Coach Yaling a surprise, but unexpectedly came up empty, so he had to message Zhang Yuan to ask where they were.

Soon, Huang Wang’s phone vibrated once, with a reply from Zhang Yuan.

Huang Wang looked at the message from Zhang Yuan: “Ah, so Mr. Pei is treating everyone to dinner! At Ming Mansion Family Banquet. Brother Zhang invites us to come over, saying there’s enough room!”

Old Zhou was very happy: “That’s perfect! We haven’t seen Mr. Pei for a long time, let’s go!”

…

Ming Mansion Family Banquet.

Watching the players stuffing themselves, Pei Qian felt his appetite being stirred up.

It had to be said that the taste of Mr. Li’s dishes was gradually improving.

After all, with Nameless Restaurant’s taste as a benchmark, Ming Mansion Family Banquet, as the second most high-end dining brand in Jingzhou, couldn’t fall too far behind, and its flavors were constantly improving.

Pei Qian himself couldn’t eat at Nameless Restaurant every day, so using Ming Mansion Family Banquet as an important dining expense supplement was a good choice.

As they were eating, Zhang Yuan put away his phone and happily said, “Mr. Pei, Huang Wang and the others want to come over to eat with us!”

“Oh?” Pei Qian was taken aback, then nodded. “Sure, waiter, add more dishes!”

With ten more mouths, and Huang Wang and the others all being muscular with huge appetites, this would cost at least a few thousand more yuan, which seemed quite cost-effective.

Although Pei Qian didn’t particularly want to see them, these people were coming to help him spend money, so he could welcome them.

Soon, Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the others arrived.

The seats at the two big round tables had already been rearranged. Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the other old players sat in the empty spaces. Just as they wanted to catch up and chat a bit, they were stopped by Pei Qian.

“Less talking, eat first!”

Pei Qian was afraid these old players would start boasting and reignite the fire of struggle in the new players’ hearts, so he just hoped that Huang Wang and the others could find their proper position, eat silently, and not say a word more.

Huang Wang, Jiang Huan, and the others looked at each other. Since Mr. Pei had spoken, should they just eat hard?

They all began to stuff themselves.

DGE Club’s new players all had looks of admiration on their faces.

It was one thing that their skills couldn’t match these old veterans, but even their appetites couldn’t compare!

We still need to work harder!

Soon, everyone was full of food and drink.

Pei Qian looked at the messy table, nodding with satisfaction.

Well, training these people into muscle men still had benefits—at least their appetites had increased!

With bigger appetites, they ate more, and naturally, the bill was more expensive.

When others paid the bill, they would feel the pain, but when Mr. Pei saw the bill, he was ecstatic.

DGE Club’s old and new players were all lying dead in their chairs, rubbing their round bellies, and starting to chat.

Huang Wang burped: “Burp. Mr. Pei, Brother Zhang, Coach Yaling, Jiang Huan, and I, along with the other old players, couldn’t have achieved our current success without your help and support.”

“As the saying goes, when drinking water, don’t forget those who dug the well.”

“Although we are now at various clubs, our hearts will always belong to the DGE Club!”

“The club certainly doesn’t lack money, so we thought about it, and the biggest problem for the club now is the talent gap, with the two teams’ training lacking direction and progressing slowly.”

“So we’ve decided to join together to conduct special training for DGE’s new players, striving to help them catch up with the current competition rhythm faster!”

Pei Qian, who had just taken a sip of tea, almost spat it out.

What the hell?

The ten of you together conducting special training for the two teams?

Before Pei Qian could say anything, Zhang Yuan was already overjoyed, immediately nodding: “Of course that’s good!”

“But… you are now players for other clubs, is it appropriate for you to come back and help DGE train?”

Huang Wang smiled: “No problem, our clubs have all agreed!”

Jiang Huan drank a sip of tea and explained: “Because DGE Club doesn’t have a competitive relationship with them, but a mutually beneficial one.”

“If it were other clubs, they would all be competing for rankings, and they definitely wouldn’t help each other.”

“But DGE Club doesn’t participate in any competitions, so naturally, there’s no conflict of interest.”

“Not only that, the only way out for DGE Club players is to perform well, reach a certain level, and then be bought by other clubs. So, by helping DGE train players, it’s equivalent to building a youth training camp that all major clubs can share.”

“When these teams lack a certain position, they can directly come to the DGE Club to buy players. Isn’t that much more cost-effective than maintaining their youth training camp or poaching people at high prices from other clubs?”

“Moreover, Mr. Pei’s previous allocation of players was very fair, winning the approval and unanimous praise of all major clubs.”

“So our clubs are all very supportive and have expressed their willingness to provide help to the DGE Club!”

Zhang Yuan suddenly understood: “So that’s it!”

He couldn’t help but look at Mr. Pei, once again marveling at Mr. Pei’s ingenious arrangement.

Who would have thought that DGE Club’s inability to participate in official competitions would objectively bring such unexpected benefits?

It was precisely because DGE Club didn’t participate in competitions and had no conflicts of interest with other clubs, but instead continuously supplied them with talent, that these clubs needed DGE Club to maintain its strength and level even more, as this completely aligned with their interests!

Zhang Yuan no longer needed to worry about poaching coaches or selecting players; this club had perfectly integrated into GOG’s esports ecosystem and could operate on its own!

Young people wanting to enter the esports industry had three choices:

DGE Club was the best choice because once you joined and demonstrated your abilities, you would immediately be fought over by other clubs.

Other clubs were a second-tier choice;

As a last resort, you could form your team to play in internet café tournaments—as long as you had the skills, you wouldn’t be buried.

DGE Club no longer needed to worry about player training because other clubs were very willing to let DGE Club’s old players spare a little time to train DGE’s new players.

This way, Zhang Yuan and Coach Yaling only needed to oversee the process!

Over time, a virtuous cycle would naturally form between DGE Club’s old and new players, with talent updating and regenerating batch after batch, and strong players constantly emerging.

Even when the first batch of players could no longer compete and retired, they could return to the DGE Club to coach, perfectly qualified to be head coaches, analysts, or fitness coaches!

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but look at Mr. Pei with admiring eyes.

DGE Club was like a perfect bond, closely connecting GOG, esports competitions, various clubs, Slackin’ Internet Café, and other related industries in the large esports ecosystem.

Brilliant! Mr. Pei was truly brilliant!

However, Pei Qian’s hand holding the teacup hung in mid-air, his expression frozen in a daze.

It’s over, completely over!

He had thought that after the Global Invitational ended, the DGE Club could be reborn.

Now it seemed he was completely wrong.

DGE Club was now truly beyond saving!