Evening.

Slacking Internet Cafe, flagship store.

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan sat by the window, drinking alcohol and looking at the sparse customers, feeling a sense of melancholy in the atmosphere.

Still so few customers!

Now, two more Slackin Internet Cafes were being renovated and should soon be officially open for business.

However, the flagship store of Slacking Internet Cafe remained in a state of steady losses.

Business revenue had stabilized, and many regular customers had even become acquainted with the staff, but no matter how they calculated, this small number of people could never support the operating costs of Slackin Internet Cafe.

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan—one the general manager of Slackin Internet Cafe, the other the regional manager for Jingzhou Slackin Internet Cafe—were now raising their glasses to drown their sorrows.

Zhang Yuan drained the glass before him: “I’ll go sing two more songs.”

Ma Yang reached out to stop him: “Forget it, there’s hardly anyone here to listen…”

Including the two of them, only eight people were sitting and drinking.

Zhang Yuan still stood up: “It’s fine, I’ll howl a bit to relieve some stress.”

Arriving on stage, Zhang Yuan did as before, strumming his guitar a couple of times, thinking about what to sing today.

As for the people drinking below, they were mostly regulars, so they weren’t particularly surprised.

Besides, which internet cafe didn’t have a resident singer? This wasn’t anything unusual.

When Slacking Internet Cafe first opened, Zhang Yuan had sung energetically every night, but it didn’t help much. Although it did boost the atmosphere somewhat, the improvement was quite limited.

Over time, he sang less and less. Today, it was only under the influence of alcohol that he suddenly felt inspired to take the stage again.

Zhang Yuan didn’t say anything polite; after setting up the equipment, he began to sing.

His singing couldn’t be called heavenly, but it was quite pleasant. After all, he had been a resident singer at a bar, so his voice was not bad.

The deep, raspy voice floated out leisurely.

Zhang Yuan had previously tried singing intense rock songs, but quickly found that the audience wasn’t responsive—not feeling the vibe at all.

So later, he mostly sang slower songs or folk music.

This way, at least the atmosphere wouldn’t be too awkward.

Ma Yang drank his alcohol while listening to Zhang Yuan sing, his mind wandering.

Suddenly, he noticed a vague figure outside the glass wall, hesitating at the entrance.

It was already evening, and the lights inside the internet cafe were brighter than outside, making it easy to see the interior from outside, but harder to see clearly from inside.

But there was definitely a silhouette hesitating at the door.

“A new customer?”

“And they’re hesitating, which means we can try to convince them!”

Ma Yang instantly became alert.

Although he was now the esteemed general manager of Slacking Internet Cafe, who said a general manager couldn’t solicit customers?

Ma Yang, as general manager, had absolutely no airs about him.

Opening the cafe door, Ma Yang greeted warmly: “Young man, coming in to play?”

The young man standing at the door was clearly startled. He had been hesitating at the entrance, but suddenly the door opened, revealing a long face.

The young man lowered his head, somewhat embarrassed: “I… I’m not here to use the internet.”

“No problem, you can drink too.” Ma Yang remained enthusiastic.

He carefully examined this young man, who appeared rather ordinary—messy hair, clothes that looked somewhat old, but still fairly neat.

The young man scratched his disheveled hair: “I… I wanted to ask if you’re still hiring resident singers?”

Ma Yang: “…”

Slightly disappointed.

We don’t need more workers, we need customers!

Without customers, what’s the point of singing well?

Seeing Ma Yang’s long face visibly collapsing, the young man hurriedly said: “I think I can sing better than that person, so I wanted to try.”

Ma Yang thought for a moment, and it seemed reasonable.

Zhang Yuan was now the regional manager for Jingzhou Slacking Internet Cafe; he couldn’t be singing on stage every day anymore.

Hiring a resident singer wasn’t a bad idea.

“Alright, what’s your name?”

“Chen Lei.”

“Come on in.”

Ma Yang led Chen Lei into the Slacking Internet Cafe and found a random seat.

After waiting a while, Zhang Yuan finished another song and came down for a break.

Ma Yang pointed to the stage: “Go ahead, don’t be nervous.”

Ma Yang didn’t have much musical sense and couldn’t really tell good from bad. He figured as long as this young man sang decently enough to barely take over from Zhang Yuan, it would be fine.

Zhang Yuan had just poured himself a glass of water when he turned to find his spot on stage occupied.

An unfamiliar young man was on stage plucking at the guitar, seemingly preparing to sing.

Zhang Yuan sat down next to Ma Yang, completely puzzled: “Brother Ma, who’s this?”

“His name is Chen Lei, he came to apply for the resident singer position. I was thinking, if he sings decently, I’ll let him take the stage, and you can rest more.”

Ma Yang said with concern: “After all, your work is demanding. Now that we’ve also hired a new bartender, if we hire a resident singer too, you can focus solely on managing the internet cafe.”

Zhang Yuan wanted to say that he actually had nothing to do all day, but hearing Ma Yang speak like this, he felt a little touched.

Wait, that’s not right—we’ve never hired a resident singer before?

Just as Zhang Yuan was about to ask this question, a clear voice with a hint of raspiness resonated through the internet cafe.

“The flowers of spring, the wind of autumn, and the setting sun of winter…”

Zhang Yuan was surprised: “He’s singing an old song.”

This song was so widely known that almost everyone had heard it.

However, the moment Chen Lei opened his mouth, almost everyone drinking turned to look at the stage.

It was like clear water cascading down from the stage, enveloping everyone.

Zhang Yuan was also stunned and unconsciously began to hum along softly.

Ma Yang drank his alcohol, muttering quietly: “He doesn’t seem to sing better than you.”

Zhang Yuan glanced at him helplessly: “Brother Ma… his singing is much better than mine.”

“Really?” Ma Yang was a bit surprised. “His voice doesn’t go very high or very low. What’s so good about it?”

Zhang Yuan felt like they were speaking different languages, but considering that old Ma was his boss, he maintained his smile.

“Good singing has qualities that can move people. With his voice singing folk songs, it’s like heaven gave him a gift.”

“Can’t be envious.”

“Don’t believe me? Look at everyone’s reaction.”

Ma Yang looked around at the people in the cafe.

Previously, when Zhang Yuan was singing, everyone continued drinking or chatting. Although they were listening, it was clearly just background music.

But after Chen Lei took the stage, everyone seemed to freeze.

They all held their drinks silently, no one spoke, no one chatted. Several people were staring at Chen Lei on stage, lost in whatever memories his voice had stirred.

Zhang Yuan sighed: “Brother Ma, where on earth did you find such a talent?”

Ma Yang remained silent for a moment: “…He came to us on his own.”

Zhang Yuan: “That’s quite a coincidence.”

“Actually, it’s not.” Ma Yang said, “He said he heard you singing outside and thought he could definitely sing better than you, so he gathered the courage to come in. I think the credit mainly belongs to you.”

Zhang Yuan: “…”

“Brother Ma, I’ve changed my mind. Can we not hire him?”

“No.”