Chapter 37: Business Prodigy (Special thanks to our Silver Patron, Xiao Han of Yueshuan Bay!)

Morning, Feiyang Internet Cafe.

I was repeatedly dismantling and reassembling a computer tower to rack up skill experience. Leveling up my Tier 2 skills to their maximum as quickly as possible was crucial for me at this stage.

"Don't eat instant noodles for lunch today." Lu Xiaobei leaned over the counter and looked at me. "I'll go to Auntie Xue’s restaurant across the street and order you a few dishes."

"There’s such a thing as good luck?" I was overjoyed.

Lu Xiaobei rolled her eyes and ignored me.

At noon, she returned from the restaurant as promised, carrying several takeout containers in a plastic bag. We ate behind the counter together—simple home-cooked food: shredded pork with garlic sauce, stir-fried cured meat with garlic leaves, and stir-fried pork kidneys.

"So fast?" I set aside my work and picked up a portion of rice to dig in.

"Yeah, their business hasn't been great," Lu Xiaobei said. "I heard that Xicheng University recently banned food deliveries from outside, forcing all students to eat at the school cafeteria. Word is the cafeteria owner is the principal’s brother-in-law. The students are furious, so the restaurants outside campus are struggling. Auntie Xue’s place is doing poorly; there were hardly any customers at noon."

"Actually, the taste is still quite good," I said, devouring the food.

"Mm, I think the cook there has real talent, too," Lu Xiaobei agreed, nodding deeply.

After eating, I cleared away the containers and tossed them into the trash bin outside before returning to work.

Lu Xiaobei sat to the side, holding a cup of milk tea and pulling a pocket-sized novel from her bag. The title was something like *Don't Speak, Someone Is Under the Bed*. I figured it was either a horror novel or a story about an affair.

"Ding Han." She read for a while, then set the book down. "We’ve had quite a few people topping up their accounts recently. I’ve saved up thirty thousand yuan. How do you think we should use it to make Feiyang Internet Cafe’s business even hotter?"

"Are you asking me for advice?" I asked.

"Yes!" She nodded vigorously, then rested her chin on her hands, her large, beautiful eyes fixed directly on me.

"Alright, since you're asking so humbly, I'll teach you a trick or two." I leaned back in my chair and hooked my finger. "Come closer. The fewer people who know these trade secrets, the better."

"Okay!" Lu Xiaobei immediately stood up, rested her hands on my shoulders, and leaned in close.

"First, the zoning in our cafe isn't great. We only have two price tiers. Of course, that’s related to the quantity and quality of our machines, so we can’t rush it. But as a service-oriented business, I think we should put more effort into humanized services."

"Uh-huh!" She nodded repeatedly. "Go on!"

The faint scent of her perfume drifted to me, and I felt a bit dazed.

"We have many regular gamers who sit here all day without even taking time to eat. I’m thinking, since Auntie Xue’s restaurant is struggling, why don't we partner with them? We could set up an ordering system for Feiyang. When a customer gets hungry, they just pay at our counter, we place the order with the restaurant, and they deliver the food. It’s a win-win for the cafe and the restaurant, and the customers get a better experience."

"Huh?" Lu Xiaobei’s beautiful eyes widened, as if a new world had opened up. "Ding Han... you really are a business genius!"

"Save the praise for later." I put on a look that suggested this was merely an appetizer. "It’s not just food; it’s the same for milk tea. It’s a hassle to set up a machine here, but there’s a milk tea shop less than fifty meters away. Their business is average, too. We can talk to them about setting up a similar ordering channel."

"That could work! I can go talk to them about the partnership," Lu Xiaobei said.

"Mm," I nodded. "Also, to improve the gaming experience, I think we should build a voice broadcast system."

"Huh?" Lu Xiaobei’s lips parted slightly. "What... what do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." I smiled. "Take *Legend*, for example. If a player logs into their account in our cafe, and they’re a level 42 warrior with high-level gear, but no one knows, they might feel underwhelmed. But if we build a system that automatically pulls game data, as soon as their stats hit a certain threshold, the cafe’s speakers will announce: 'Welcome, level 42 Warrior "Blade of Fire" from Legend Server 7, logging in at terminal 22.' Or, 'Welcome, level 71 Bishop "I Can Heal Anything" from *Cross Gate* (Mabinogi), logging in at terminal 18.' Wouldn't that provide a completely different experience?"

Lu Xiaobei stared at me, dumbfounded.

"How about it? Shocked?"

"Honestly, I really am..." Lu Xiaobei looked at me deeply. "Ding Han, how do you come up with these things?"

"If you start from the deep-seated psychological needs of the customers, you can think of it too."

"But..." Lu Xiaobei asked, "Building such a system must cost a lot of money, right?"

"Doesn't cost a cent. I can write the program myself. It’s not too difficult; just grab the game info from the client machines and set a trigger threshold."

"Deal!" She nodded firmly. "I'll leave that to you. I'll go handle the partnerships with the restaurant and the milk tea shop."

"Fine by me."

That afternoon, I started coding the voice broadcast program. Before starting, I spent all the skill experience I’d saved that morning to upgrade my Advanced Programming skill to Level 5, which significantly broadened my insight and vision in coding. I finished the entire system in under three hours.

At four o'clock, Yingzi arrived for her shift, and Lu Xiaobei returned.

"I’ve settled things with Auntie Xue’s restaurant, but we need a way for them to hear our orders instantly."

"Simple. I can write a small program so their phone automatically plays our order notification."

"Great! And the milk tea shop?"

"Also settled!"

Just then, three young men with bleached hair walked in, surrounding a punk-style girl. They were our regulars.

They sat down at their machines. When the girl logged into her *Audition* account, the voice broadcast suddenly echoed through the cafe:

"Welcome, 'We Are Sugar, Sweet to the Sorrow,' the dance king of East China Server 1, logging in at terminal 21!"

In an instant, the entire cafe erupted.

"Holy crap!" One of the guys stared at the girl with the frizzy hair. "Zhou Lijuan, did you hear that?"

"I heard it! That is so badass!" The girl named Zhou Lijuan stood up. "Xiaobei, how did you guys do that? That is so cool..."

"It’s our voice broadcast system," Lu Xiaobei said with a smile. "A new feature at Feiyang. We’re the only ones in Xicheng with this."

I added, "The system is still being optimized. Currently, it supports seven games, including *Audition*, *Legend*, *Mir*, *Cross Gate*, *StoneAge*, *Red Moon*, and *Fantasy Westward Journey*. More will be added soon."

"Badass, seriously badass..." one of the guys said. "Boss, this voice thing is invincible!"

Lu Xiaobei smiled and said, "Then please spread the word for us! Feiyang is always striving for excellence to give our customers the best gaming experience. If you have friends who don't know yet, help us promote it a little."

"Definitely, count on it!"

The group sat down, excited. Lu Xiaobei shot me a look that said, "You're a genius." I replied with a look that said, "Just a basic operation, keep calm and carry on."

...

That evening, I bought some groceries and returned home to cook.

"Han," I was in the middle of cooking when Milo spoke up. "Do you want to come to our bar tonight? I happen to have a free entry pass and some complimentary drinks. Come show some support—I’m performing 'Ordinary Road' for the first time tonight, and I’d like you to be there."

"Sure." I thought about it. I didn't have anything major planned for the evening. I had intended to dismantle my blue "Roarer" hundreds of times to grind skill experience, but that wasn't urgent.

"OK, it's a date!"

"Mm."

After dinner, Milo didn't rush off. Instead, he handed me his guitar. "Can you play?"

"A little bit."

"Alright, play something and let's see."

"Afraid I can't?"

I took the guitar in my arms and played and sang Richie Jen's *Too Softhearted*.

"Definitely 'a little bit'," Milo laughed, pinching his nose. "Out of ten notes, you missed at least three. I could barely tell what song it was."

"What do you expect from an amateur?" I glared at him. "I only learned for a short while with a buddy back then. I figured my talent points weren't in music, so I stopped."

"Actually, your tone is quite good," Milo said seriously. "Why don't you spend a skill point and learn the 'Instrument Mastery' skill?"

"Learn music?" I frowned. "With all due respect, only a dog would do that. What’s the point of wasting skill points on instruments? If someone aims a shotgun at me, am I supposed to pull out a *suona* and play 'Hundred Birds Worshiping the Phoenix' at them?"

Milo was speechless. "Seriously, don't you think about it? With your voice, if you leveled up the Instrument Mastery skill seven or eight times, you could basically form a band with me. You could be the lead singer, and I’d play for you."

"No interest." I shook my head. "I really have no interest in music. I prefer fighting and killing."

"Damn, you're crude..."

...

We chatted until eight o'clock, then headed out to catch a taxi to the bar where Milo worked.

Ten minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of the bar.

I looked up. The bar was called "The Fifth Element." It had a sci-fi theme, even featuring two statues of soldiers in power armor holding power swords on either side of the entrance. Too bad they were fake.

I followed Milo inside. He’d reserved a seat for me on the left side of the stage, very close. Quite a few customers had already arrived, and the bar was filled with dim, sultry lighting.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, at a table not far away, two beautiful women stood up in unison, staring at me, dumbfounded. "Ding Han?"

They were none other than Zhang Ruolin and Ling Baiwei!

I was speechless. Those two decadent, spoiled women! So they were the ones supporting the resident singer—Milo!