Pei Qian’s hand trembled as he held the phone.

What did “congratulations” mean?!

Pei Qian put away his phone and quickly walked toward the second floor.

There was a small private theater on the second floor that could also be used to watch TV programs.

Old Liu also became nervous.

What was going on?

Judging by Pei Qian’s movements and expression, this phone call must be extremely important.

After Pei Qian had gone upstairs for five minutes, Li Shi finally left his seat and strolled toward the second floor, pretending to be just wandering around.

Slackin’ Internet Café had two floors, both with internet café areas and coffee areas. There were two or three customers scattered around the second floor now, so Li Shi’s behavior wouldn’t appear particularly conspicuous.

The private theater had been playing a movie, but no one was watching. Pei Qian had already switched to the Magic City TV channel.

The moment the screen appeared, Pei Qian froze.

On the giant screen appeared Chen Lei’s figure!

He was at the microphone, gently strumming his guitar strings, singing emotionally.

“In the quiet of night/I walk the streets”

“In the yellow glow of lights/You’re waiting for me”

“In this bustling city/only you understand my sorrow.”

“No matter how far I wander, I never forget you/That intoxicating glass of wine…”

The melody was pleasant and moving. Chen Lei sang with his unique voice, perfectly expressing the subtle lazy atmosphere of the song.

The song’s melody was slow, with a special human touch and essence of life, yet with a subtle hint of melancholy that made it difficult to forget after hearing it just once.

“Bang!”

An excited mentor slapped the light in front of them.

“Bang!”

“Bang!” “Bang!”

Chen Lei had barely sung a few lines, just reaching the chorus, when all four mentors had already turned around!

Pei Qian looked carefully at the name of the TV program.

“The Search for Good Voice”!

Pei Qian: “???”

Looking at the big screen, Pei Qian fell into a state of stupor.

He even began to doubt his memory.

What was going on?

If he remembered correctly, wasn’t “Good Voice” a show that only started broadcasting in 2012? And it wasn’t broadcast on Magic City TV either??

The AiLiDao tragedy, was it going to happen again???

Pei Qian suddenly understood. No wonder Huang Sibo had called him!

Huang Sibo knew that Chen Lei was a singer who had come from Slackin’ Internet Café, and Mr. Pei had specifically instructed him to take good care of Chen Lei. The relationship between the two was not ordinary.

When Chen Lei appeared on this kind of national variety show, of course, Huang Sibo would notify Pei Qian.

…

Li Shi had already found a corner to sit in the coffee area of the second floor, pretending to look at the scenery outside the window while paying attention to the big screen.

After seeing Chen Lei, Li Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

“False alarm, I was overthinking it.”

“Chen Lei used to be a resident singer here, and he has a good relationship with the people here. As a friend, it seems normal for Mr. Pei to come watch his program.”

“Wait…”

“Something seems wrong!”

Li Shi suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem and could no longer remain calm!

…

Chen Lei had finished singing a song, and the audience below was giving prolonged applause and cheers.

“Hello to the four mentors.”

“My name is Chen Lei, from Jingzhou.”

After briefly asking about Chen Lei’s basic information, one mentor went straight to the point: “I noticed this song is called ‘Waiting,’ it’s a love song.”

“When you were singing just now, I wanted to say, the lyrics are written so well! This is written by someone who has a story to tell.”

“In the quiet of night, you understand my sorrow, no matter how far I wander, I never forget, that intoxicating glass of wine…”

“Did you write this for your girlfriend? She’s still waiting for you somewhere, right?”

Chen Lei smiled somewhat embarrassedly, obviously still not used to occasions with so many people, appearing very shy.

“No.”

“This song was written for a place, a small internet café that makes me feel the warmth of home.”

“I’ve always been very insecure. After graduating from high school, I couldn’t find a job for a long time, until one day, I passed by a nearby internet café…”

Li Shi sat in a corner on the second floor, his hands slightly trembling.

He looked toward Pei Qian, who was facing the big screen, and vaguely felt that the silhouette was like a huge mountain, pressing down heavily on him!

“Could it be… he’s deliberately playing this for me to see?”

Li Shi’s heart sank further.

On the screen, Chen Lei was continuing to tell his story about Slackin’ Internet Café.

“Later, with Mr. Pei’s strong support, I finally gathered the courage to pursue my dreams in Magic City.”

“I heard that after I left, the café’s revenue dropped significantly, but Mr. Pei never contacted me again, probably because he didn’t want this news to affect me.”

“So I wrote this song, remembering that time I will never forget.”

“Now that I have the opportunity to appear on the Good Voice stage, I want to say to Mr. Pei, Manager Ma, and everyone at Slackin’ Internet Café: thank you.”

“Thank you all for allowing me to firmly walk down this path. Slackin’ Internet Café will always be like home to me!”

The mentors had already started applauding.

“My goodness, I thought it was going to be a moving love story, but it turned out to be a story about dreams!”

“Well said, really touching. It reminds me of when I was in a really bad place, and it was the little things that gave me warmth…”

“Don’t worry, Chen Lei, I promise you, you’re already famous! Join my team, I have more than twenty tour concerts around the country next year…”

“Stop, stop, stop, it’s not time for the recruiting phase yet, wait a minute! Chen Lei, now that all four mentors have turned around, you’re advancing to the next round. So, what’s your plan next?”

Chen Lei didn’t hesitate at all: “I want to go back to Jingzhou and sing a few more songs at Slackin’ Internet Café.”

“I want to tell them in person how much I miss this place.”

Chen Lei’s face radiated with a happy smile.

With a “click,” the screen went black.

Pei Qian had turned it off.

The moment the screen went dark, Li Shi felt his heart sink, as if it had fallen to the ground and shattered into pieces.

In the darkness, Mr. Pei’s silhouette was like a huge beast, seemingly ready to devour someone!

Pei Qian’s behavior, in Li Shi’s view, was a display of extreme confidence!

Although Mr. Pei didn’t turn around, Li Shi could imagine his extremely confident expression, as if saying: “The game is decided, there’s no need to watch the rest, right?”

Indeed, there was no need to watch any more.

Only now did Li Shi understand that Pei Qian wasn’t here to watch Chen Lei sing at all; this whole thing was deliberately staged for him to see!

The popularity of “The Search for Good Voice” was already undeniable, and Chen Lei’s song “Waiting” would likely become a sensation across the internet very soon.

And the story Chen Lei shared at the end about Slackin’ Internet Café would naturally spark discussions across the internet!

Chen Lei said he wanted to return to Jingzhou and sing a few more songs at Slackin’ Internet Café. Anyone could imagine what kind of scene that would create…

Li Shi struggled to stand up, walked over to Pei Qian, his heart filled with bitterness.

He had thought Pei Qian was already at his wits’ end and resigned to his fate, but clearly, that was a huge misunderstanding.

“Mr. Pei, I admire you.”

“You laid this chess piece so deep, not making a move until necessary, and when you did, it was decisive.”

“I never expected that I still underestimated you.”

“You win this time. I hope that in the future, we might still have opportunities to cooperate.”

Li Shi shook his head and turned to go downstairs.

Everything had collapsed at this moment without a fight. Continuing with those little tricks was pointless now, and thinking about investing in Slackin’ Internet Café was even more impossible.

Of course, the business world was like a battlefield, and victory and defeat were common for soldiers.

Li Shi had navigated the business world for a long time, so naturally, he accepted the outcome gracefully with no complaints. In fact, in his heart, Pei Qian’s status had been elevated even further, becoming an opponent worthy of great respect.

Pei Qian was still immersed in tremendous shock and grief. By the time he reacted, Li Shi had already left Slackin’ Internet Café.

Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

Damn it, don’t go!

It’s a misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding!!