After singing for over an hour, Chen Lei temporarily left the stage to rest.

Ma Yang immediately called him over and briefly explained the matter of salary and drink commission.

Chen Lei scratched his head and replied straightforwardly: “That works.”

This made Ma Yang feel a bit embarrassed.

“It’s fine. If you think the base salary is too low, we can add a bit more,” Ma Yang said.

Chen Lei blinked: “Then… add a bit more?”

Ma Yang: “…”

Look how honest this kid was!

Ma Yang felt like he had dug a hole for himself. He had expected Chen Lei to politely say “no need, no need,” allowing him to gracefully back down after exchanging a few courteous words and move past the topic.

Instead, Chen Lei had taken advantage of the situation.

But having spoken, Ma Yang couldn’t go back on his word.

After a moment of internal struggle, Ma Yang said, “Alright, we’ll increase your base salary to 1,800 plus drink commission. When you go back on stage, make sure to tell everyone to order more drinks, understand?”

Chen Lei looked troubled and hesitated: “Ma Bro, I’d be too embarrassed. I’d rather take 1,500 and not have to talk to the audience.”

Ma Yang was speechless—this kid was so shy.

“Fine, you just focus on singing, and I’ll make the announcement. The base salary remains 1,800, and you don’t need to worry about anything else.”

Chen Lei nodded and went offstage to drink water and rest.

Ma Yang gave Zhang Yuan a look, and the latter immediately understood, walking onto the stage.

“Testing, testing.”

“Hello everyone, let me briefly introduce myself. I’m the manager of Slacking Internet Café. My surname is Zhang.”

Someone in the audience muttered quietly: “Wasn’t he the resident singer just last week? After getting replaced by Chen Lei, did he get promoted?”

Seeing that many people didn’t seem very interested in him, Zhang Yuan quickly got to the point: “Thank you all for your continued support. I mainly want to tell everyone that our internet café is offering a special benefit to our resident singer!”

“Starting today, during Chen Lei’s performance hours—that is, from 7 PM to 11 PM every evening—a portion of all drink sales will be given to Chen Lei as commission.”

“The specific commission method is…”

“In a few days, we’ll have a new batch of custom menus that will clearly show how much commission Chen Lei receives from each drink.”

“In short, if you enjoy our singer, please consider ordering a few more drinks. These will become tangible support. Thank you all!”

Zhang Yuan immediately left the stage after speaking, without adding a single unnecessary word.

This aligned with Slacking Internet Café’s consistent principle: less talk, more action. Service should be like a gentle breeze, only felt when customers need it.

The audience immediately stirred.

“Drink commissions go to the singer?”

“How conscientious!”

“And they’re giving half! Can I go up and sing now?”

“Haha, only if you sing better than Chen Lei.”

“Great, I support this! Please bring me another drink!”

“I’ll have one too.”

“Over here, over here!”

Several servers became busy—a first since Slacking Internet Café opened!

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan exchanged smiles.

Well, it seemed promising!

…

Late night.

Many people were slightly tipsy but still reluctant to leave.

Before leaving the stage, Chen Lei unprecedentedly said “thank you” to everyone, then left the stage with a flushed face and hid in the internet area.

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan, along with the servers, saw the customers off.

“Thank you for your support!”

“Please be careful on your way home.”

“Welcome back next time!”

By 10:30 PM, all the customers had finally left.

“Quick, calculate how many drinks we sold!” Ma Yang eagerly rushed to the cash register.

A few minutes later, Ma Yang’s excited expression faded.

“We sold quite a few drinks, but… this is all the money?”

Ma Yang was disappointed.

He had thought they would immediately turn losses into profits, but after seeing the sales figures, his heart sank.

The drinks sold tonight were indeed substantial, at least 80% higher than the average of the previous few days!

This meant that after hearing that ordering drinks would give Chen Lei a commission, most of tonight’s customers ordered a second drink, including some expensive cocktails.

However, they were still far from making a profit.

Zhang Yuan was more rational: “This is normal. Ma Bro, drink sales have indeed increased significantly, but we have too few customers.”

“Think about it—we only have this many seats. Even if they’re all filled, plus people standing, we’d sell what, over a hundred drinks? That’s a lot, right? But in one night, we’d only earn a few hundred to a thousand yuan. After deducting half for Chen Lei’s commission, that’s only twenty to thirty thousand a month.”

“Wait,” Ma Yang frowned. “Does that mean we earn twenty to thirty thousand, and we also have to give Chen Lei twenty to thirty thousand?”

Zhang Yuan was exasperated: “Ma Bro, isn’t that obvious? Giving Chen Lei 50%—that was your decision…”

Ma Yang’s long face immediately collapsed: “…I regret it now. Let’s not give Chen Lei half; how about 5%, or even 1% would work.”

Zhang Yuan laughed: “Ma Bro, you can’t go back on your word on the same night! Isn’t that just driving him away? Giving half was your decision.”

“It was my decision, but I didn’t think it would be so much money…” Ma Yang scratched his head in pain.

Zhang Yuan was speechless.

No wonder Ma Yang had been so generous—he hadn’t calculated the numbers!

But seeing that Ma Yang was genuinely considering going back on his word, Zhang Yuan quickly tried to dissuade him.

“Ma Bro, it’s unnecessary. We’re already losing three hundred thousand a month anyway. Even if you kept all of Chen Lei’s commission, you’d only earn an extra twenty to thirty thousand—that’s not a long-term solution.”

“If we give Chen Lei more, the audience will show more support. When word spreads and we have enough customers, then things will be different.”

Ma Yang frowned: “What counts as enough customers? According to your calculation, we’d need to sell a thousand drinks in one night to make up for the internet café’s losses, which seems impossible. With our limited space, we can’t even fit two hundred people, let alone a thousand.”

Zhang Yuan was momentarily speechless: “Well… anyway, now that drink sales have improved, let’s observe for a while. We absolutely cannot abandon someone after they’ve served their purpose.”

“I still feel the pain.” Ma Yang rubbed his temples, feeling a heartache that made it difficult to breathe.

His long face was filled with reluctance.

“No, I can’t feel this pain without making it clear!”

“The customers must feel it too!”

Zhang Yuan was confused: “How can we make the customers feel it?”

Ma Yang looked around and noticed there was still space on the wall next to the stage. He pointed: “Here, let’s hang a small screen.”

“Every time someone orders a drink, it will display a line of information: table number, what drink was ordered, and how much commission Chen Lei received. We could even add a short message at the end.”

“This way, whenever someone orders a drink, all the audience can see it.”

“At the top, we’ll add another line showing the total commission Chen Lei has earned tonight.”

“Since I’m making such a big sacrifice, I can’t endure it silently. All customers must know about my contribution!”

Zhang Yuan considered it: “That could work. It’s just a small display screen—won’t cost much. I’ll take care of it and have it ready by tomorrow afternoon.”