Chapter 160: Removing the Fuel from Under the Pot
Chapter 160: Removing the Fuel from Under the Pot
Pei Qian watched the situation unfold with pain in his heart.
He wasn’t too bothered if Moyu Internet Café made a little bit of money.
The real issue was that this tiny bit of profit could completely ruin everything he had been working toward during this settlement cycle!
The current cycle was only two months long, and a full month had already passed.
He had already roughly calculated the expected profits and losses. Including all the last-minute spending, he should’ve been able to achieve a loss of a few hundred thousand yuan by the time of settlement.
Out of that, the combined loss from all the Moyu Internet Cafés was supposed to be over a million yuan—a very important part of his plan!
If the cafés ended up making money instead, or even just broke even, that would mean he suddenly had an extra million-plus yuan left over at settlement—money he wouldn’t have time to spend!
That million might not sound like much, but it could easily turn what should have been a solid loss into a profit—and that would be fatal.
Wouldn’t that mean everything he had done was for nothing, and all his other projects would be wasted as well?
His original idea was to create a mishmash of services: naming the store “Moyu Internet Café” and adding a bar area, a reading zone, a small screening room, food service, and more—all built around the core function of being an internet café.
The ultimate goal? Turn the place into an unprofitable internet café.
But who could have guessed that the bar area would completely steal the show—because a live singer had gone viral!
Now, Moyu Internet Café has basically turned into Moyu Bar. How could that be acceptable?
This completely went against his original intention!
What now?
Remove the tables and chairs outside the café?
Stop taking a cut from alcohol sales?
Or maybe just get rid of live singers entirely?
None of those ideas really worked. They lacked legitimacy.
Earlier, he had told Ma Yang to remove some of the display screens and reduce the number of outdoor seats. That could be justified—restoring the café’s original “vibe.”
But taking things further? That would be hard to explain.
Remove all the tables and chairs? Then where would the customers sit?
As for stopping the alcohol profit-sharing—it's good for the café’s income and motivates the singers. On what grounds would he cancel it entirely?
All of these measures would be too forced, too suspicious, and might even trigger a warning from the system.
More importantly, these were just surface-level issues.
If he wanted to fix this, he had to remove the fuel from under the pot!
What’s the point of removing tables and canceling alcohol commissions?
These people were here to see Chen Lei sing!
Even if there were no seats, they'd stand to listen. That wouldn’t solve anything.
So the real solution was clear—deal with Chen Lei!
‘I wonder if this young man has any dreams I could help him fulfill?’
...
At 10 PM, the performance ended.
Chen Lei bowed and left the stage, while the audience continued to clap and cheer.
Ma Yang, Zhang Yuan, and the café staff began seeing customers out.
Pei Qian pulled Chen Lei aside to a quiet corner of the café.
Chen Lei had never met Pei Qian before, but once Pei Qian introduced himself, he immediately realized this was the “President Pei” Ma Yang often talked about—and naturally felt a bit nervous.
Pei Qian casually asked about his background and learned that Chen Lei had not continued school after graduating high school. He was introverted, even borderline socially withdrawn.
He spent his days at home messing with music and had only come to Moyu Internet Café on a whim. After hearing someone else singing there, he finally gathered the courage to apply to be a resident singer.
His family was overjoyed that he’d found a job and told him to work hard and get along well with his colleagues.
“You’ve lived in Jingzhou your whole life. Don’t you want to see the outside world?”
“If you’re really chasing your musical dream, I think you should go to places like Shanghai or Beijing. That’s where dreams come true.”
Pei Qian's words were full of temptation and persuasion.
Chen Lei was stunned for a moment, then said, “Of course I want to! I've dreamed of seeing places like Beijing and Shanghai!”
“I used to tell people that I’d become a singer, but no one believed me. I know—Jingzhou is just too small, there’s no way I can achieve that dream here.”
“But... Beijing and Shanghai are too far from home. My parents wouldn’t agree. And I’ve heard that the cost of living is sky-high in those places—I’d probably starve.”
Pei Qian was secretly thrilled.
Since he had a dream—that made things easy!
Helping others achieve their dreams was his specialty!
Pei Qian shook his head with a smile. “You’re underestimating yourself.”
“You have no idea how amazing your singing is! At your level, your voice is basically a weapon of mass destruction. Do you know how many girls would gladly get ‘pregnant in the ears’ listening to you?”
“So don’t sell yourself short. You’ll have way more opportunities in a big city. One day, you’ll return to Jingzhou in glory and make all those classmates and so-called friends who looked down on you eat their words in envy!”
Pei Qian’s pitch clearly had an effect—he saw the light flicker in Chen Lei’s eyes.
A shy young man, average-looking, who had dropped out of school after high school and stayed home—someone like that would’ve been under a lot of social pressure.
Parents, classmates, classmates’ parents—they probably all saw Chen Lei as a cautionary tale.
So what if he could sing? In a second-tier city like Jingzhou, there just weren’t any decent platforms for him to showcase his talent.
Chen Lei was obviously someone who longed for validation.
That’s why, when Pei Qian painted that beautiful picture of a future, Chen Lei was visibly moved.
He’d always wanted to see the big world, to chase his dream in a wider space, and to have his talent recognized by more people.
And now, from the way President Pei was talking—it sounded like he was even willing to help out financially?
The only thing still holding Chen Lei back was money.
At the café, he had decent commissions and a growing fanbase. This was his comfort zone—leaving it wasn’t easy.
In places like Beijing or Shanghai, aside from the challenge of starting over in a strange new city, the cost of rent and daily expenses alone was more than he could afford.
After all, he wouldn’t have any income once he moved.
So if he wanted to make Chen Lei leave willingly, he had to resolve that concern first.
Pei Qian thought for a moment, then said, “If you want to go to a big city like Shanghai to pursue your musical dreams, I can help make that happen.”
“Tengda has a subsidiary called Feihuang Studio, they are currently operating in Shanghai. I can transfer you there. At most, it just means they’ll need to arrange food and lodging for one more person. You won’t have to do any real work there—just be officially ‘employed’—and focus on chasing your music dreams. What do you think?”
On one side was a comfortable, stable life. On the other—a dream worth chasing in the distance.
Chen Lei didn’t hesitate for long. “President Pei, I... I’m willing!”
…
The next day.
Evening.
The crowd was still large, but people noticed that something was off about Chen Lei.
He seemed distracted.
“Outside the pavilion, beside the ancient road, The grass stretches far into the sky…”
“May I ask when you’ll return from your journey? Don’t linger too long before you go…”
Just like before, Chen Lei sang song after song without speaking a word in between. He kept his head down, focused only on the music.
But his fans in the audience could still sense something was wrong in his voice.
“Hmm? Isn’t it weird how all the songs tonight are about farewells?”
“Yeah… it’s kind of melancholic.”
“Two more glasses of Aurora Borealis, please.”
“By the way, what happened to the display screen? It’s gone.”
“No idea. But whatever, it’s not important. We’re here for Chen Lei, not the flash.”
People drank and chatted as usual, but somehow… the atmosphere tonight felt different.
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 180: Plug One Leak, Another Springs Open
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/134900537?collection=1399284
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.