Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 624: Sponsorship

Ma Lu returned from the mental hospital and, thanks to the medication, slept straight through to the next morning.

When he woke up and checked his phone, he found over a dozen unread messages.

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

They were from Angie, Zhen Ye, Han Feifei, and the Wandering Sorcerer, all of whom seemed quite interested in taking a bath.

Among them, Han Feifei was the most enthusiastic, even saying she didn't have much to do at school today and could come over to help out at the restaurant, after which they could go for a bath together.

Ma Lu scratched his head when he saw these messages; he had originally only wanted to find one person to go with, but it turned out that so many people were available.

What the hell, did these people not have jobs?

In the end, he came up with a solution: he staggered the four people's schedules, planning to bathe with one each day.

It would take four days to finish, which was just perfect – he could arrange different styles of bathhouses according to each person's preferences.

The downside was that it was a bit exhausting for him. Although bathing was relaxing, doing it every day was also tiring.

Moreover, in order to conceal the fact that his bathhouse was portable, Ma Lu had to find another place outside, stick a refrigerator magnet on the door, and then go through the motions of driving around in circles.

The only consolation, perhaps, was the bikinis.

So, Ma Lu spent the week running the store and taking baths.

Furthermore, he kept his promise and even found time to subscribe to "Ancient Emperor Begins with Divorce."

But he couldn't even finish the free part because it was just too terrible.

Back in Hou De, Ma Lu was rubbing his hands together, ready to lead the team to take on Guoguang Academy.

But to his surprise, Cao Youyi informed him that last week's challenge to Guoguang had not been approved.

"What do you mean, 'not approved'?"

"Because before that, we got challenged by someone else," said Li Zhengwei, wrapped in a coat.

Ma Lu was astonished, "Who dares to challenge us from behind the rankings? Could it be that Lingnan, which lost last time, isn't convinced and wants to get even? But I remember that the loser of a spar can't initiate another challenge for two months."

"That's right, so this time the challenger is Heroic Concealment, ranked 89th," Cao Youyi said.

"Huh? A higher-ranked school can challenge a lower-ranked school? Is that even allowed?" Ma Lu asked.

"It's part of the reforms introduced by the Ministry of Education, aimed at promoting competition and exchange between schools. Usually, it is the lower-ranked schools that challenge those above them.

"If they win, the two schools can exchange rankings, but there's no rule against higher-ranked schools challenging those below," explained Cao Youyi.

"Maybe they think no one would do something that obviously has no benefit," Ma Lu mused.

"For Heroic Concealment it really doesn't seem beneficial, but for us, it could be harmful because if we lose, we can't challenge any other school for the next two months," Li Zhengwei added.

"Basically, the Hero Group is trying to stop us from climbing the rankings with this method," Ma Lu remarked, "Tsk tsk, it seems our victory over Lingnan last week has made some people restless."

"Indeed," Cao Youyi said, "your victory over Church Lingnan Education College last week has spread throughout Ping City. The Ping City Daily is sold out, the newspapers that were 20 cents apiece are now being scalped for 1 yuan and 40 cents."

Qi Baichuan, in charge of business, also said, "This battle has completely made a name for our school. When I previously went out to seek sponsorships and discuss partnerships, most companies hardly paid any attention to me.

"Now I get no less than ten calls a day, all from companies looking to proactively discuss partnerships, saying that our school's vigorous spirit aligns with their brand image.

"I've filtered and negotiated four partnership agreements, just waiting for your confirmation and signature." As he spoke, Qi Baichuan handed the documents from his chest to Ma Lu.

Ma Lu flicked through them and found that there was a match factory, a department store, a textile factory, and a coal mine – all local industries of Ping City.

Ma Lu set aside the cooperation agreement with the coal mine first, "We probably don't need this, right? It seems like the coal mine wouldn't really need to cooperate with us."

The industry on this plane was rapidly developing, factories were being established like bamboo shoots after a rainstorm, and the demand for coal was consistently rising. Hence, coal mined from the pits had no trouble finding buyers.

Moreover, they didn't need to collaborate with schools for promotions, and Ma Lu was skeptical about the integrity of mine owners. He didn't want a partnership to end up causing a negative impact on Hou De.

Qi Baichuan nodded, "I think so too, but I felt it was necessary to show you this agreement, because the Siping Coal Mine is actually owned by the Salt Gang."

"That's not exactly accurate – the situation with Siping Coal Mine is rather complicated," Cao Youyi, a local, clarified with more detail.

"The shareholders of the Siping Coal Mine are numerous, including some local tycoons and gentry of Ping City, even the current mayor and the chief of the police department have shares in it. However, the largest shareholder is the Kong family from Xindu, one of the four big families.

"They hold about 30% of the shares. Additionally, the Minister of Transportation, the head of the Mining Supervision Bureau, and several high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Military Department also have stakes.

"As for the Salt Gang, they primarily handle maintaining order in the mine and dealing with troublemakers, um, they can also be considered one of the actual managers of the mine."

"So, this partnership agreement is their idea?" Ma Lu raised an eyebrow.

"That should be the case," Qi Baichuan confirmed, "Gao Feng, the deputy leader of the Salt Gang, was the one who approached me.

"Gao Feng was quite generous, offering a sponsorship fee of 4,000 big ocean without any additional demands, basically just giving it to us for free."

"It looks like they're trying to compensate for the previous conflict and use this money to mend their relationship with us," Cao Youyi analyzed.

"Oh, you're talking about the time when the railway bank came knocking on our door, trying to mortgage the school buildings to the Salt Gang for their opium den, right?" Ma Lu recalled.

"Anyway, it was either them or the railway bank, and both are in cahoots with the Hero Group. But thinking back, did we really need to change their attitude towards us this quickly just because we beat Lingnan once?"

"That's my doubt too," Cao Youyi said. "Given the power behind the Salt Gang and Siping Coal Mine, there's really no need for them to care too much about a talisman master school, especially one that hasn't even broken into the top 100."

"Hmm, regardless, it's always good to be given money. Since they have no demands on us, we don't need to worry about being tarnished by their reputation. Let's accept this 4,000, as the school has been in need of funds recently," Ma Lu said.

He then looked at the other three partnership agreements. Their offers weren't as generous as Siping Coal Mine's, but even the smallest was a sponsorship of 1,400 big ocean.

The most generous was the match factory, offering a sponsorship of 1,600 big ocean and willing to give Hou De 1% of their sales revenue, provided that Ma Lu, as the principal, would become their spokesperson.

The match factory was also willing to print his photo on matchboxes.

Considering the education industry, burning oneself to illuminate others, it did indeed match well with a match factory.