Chapter 104: Mi Cao’s Performance

I didn’t take CC’s suggestion seriously, still immersed in the scene with Jian Wei, until CC hit me in dissatisfaction, did I finally come to my senses.

“Zhaoyang, are you listening to me?”

I instinctively lit a cigarette before replying, “You said Mi Cai is coming later, I heard that.”

CC continued to ask, “What about the next sentence?”

“The next sentence? Was there more?”

Le Yao answered instead of CC, “CC just said that Mi Cai is the CEO of Zhuo Mei Shopping Center and a master of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She must have valuable insights in business marketing. We can ask her for some good suggestions later.”

I nodded to show that I understood.

CC finally asked in confusion, “Zhaoyang, what’s wrong with you? You seemed like a different person after coming back from stepping out just now… You seem so distracted!”

I ignored CC’s confusion, took a deep puff of my cigarette, then pulled out the bank card from Jian Wei and handed it to Le Yao, saying, “There’s 500,000 in this card, you take it first. I’ll figure out how to get the rest.”

Everyone looked at me in surprise, and finally Le Yao asked, “Who borrowed this money for you?”

I didn’t want to tell them it was Jian Wei who lent it to me. After a long silence, I told Le Yao, “It’s from a friend. As for who it is, don’t ask. The money is clean.”

Le Yao finally nodded and took the bank card from my hand, saying, “Zhaoyang, please let your friend rest assured. I will definitely repay this money to him.”

I once again reminded Le Yao, “It would be best if you can repay it when you have the ability. If not, please don’t force yourself. I will figure it out together with you.”

As I was speaking, Mi Cai walked in through the entrance with her handbag. Since there were very few people, she immediately spotted us sitting in the corner and walked towards us.

CC made room for Mi Cai to sit down. Mi Cai placed her bag on the table and looked around. The cold atmosphere of the bar caused her to show a hint of sympathy on her face.

I didn’t want the atmosphere to be too heavy, so I smiled at Mi Cai and said, “What do you want to drink? Let the big shot Le Yao treat you.”

“Beer.”

Mi Cai’s answer surprised me, so I asked, “But you don’t like drinking, right?”

Mi Cai glanced toward the performance stage and said, “I want to go up and sing later.”

“Is there a necessary connection between drinking beer and singing?” Ruben also asked in surprise.

I smiled and answered for Mi Cai, “She’s imitating CC, indeed, one tends to pick up habits from those they associate with closely!”

CC then patted Mi Cai’s shoulder and laughed, “Sweetie, do you want me to light a cigarette for you later? I smoke, you know!”

Mi Cai just smiled at CC’s teasing, while Le Yao called over a waiter to get Mi Cai a glass of beer.

Under everyone’s gaze, Mi Cai picked up the glass and took a sip, but frowned. Judging from her expression, she really wasn’t used to drinking. She put the glass down and asked Le Yao, “Is the business in the bar always like this?”

“Except for the first few days after opening when the business was better, it’s been like this ever since,” Le Yao replied.

CC concernedly asked Mi Cai, “Sweetie, do you have any way to help Le Yao’s bar?”

Mi Cai was silent for a moment before saying, “Honestly, it’s difficult! Actually, the bar itself doesn’t have too many problems. The main issue is that this commercial street hasn’t developed a commercial atmosphere yet… and I can’t really judge when this street will develop.”

CC looked disappointed, while I nodded. Mi Cai’s analysis was exactly the same as my own judgment. Changing the overall marketing environment would be extremely difficult for us without capital.

Le Yao, who had been silent all along, finally asked Mi Cai, “So you’re saying that unless this commercial street develops, the bar has no future?”

Mi Cai shook her head, “Not necessarily… but we need to change our business approach. Perhaps there’s still a glimmer of hope, right, Zhaoyang?”

I nodded, naturally agreeing with Mi Cai. However, changing our business approach meant repackaging the bar, which would incur many costs. Under the current circumstances, where we haven’t even resolved our debts yet, talking about changing our business approach was indeed premature.

Mi Cai picked up her beer and took another sip. When she put the glass down, I said to her, “Didn’t you just say you wanted to sing? We’re all waiting for your performance!”

CC chimed in, “Sweetie, you’ve never sung at my restaurant. Why are you so enthusiastic today?”

Mi Cai looked at me but didn’t speak. I pointed at myself in surprise and asked, “Could it possibly have anything to do with me?”

Mi Cai gave an ambiguous smile without saying anything. I looked at her fingers and realized she had indeed cut her nails. Judging from this, she had indeed come prepared today.

Mi Cai turned to Ruben and asked, “Can I borrow your guitar for a while?”

Ruben nodded and handed her the expensive Fender guitar by his side. Mi Cai said “Thank you” and then walked toward the performance stage with the guitar in her arms.

Because the bar was not doing well financially, there was no band hired. Therefore, Mi Cai would be performing solo, accompanied only by her own guitar playing, which would be a real test of her abilities. I couldn’t help but doubt whether she could handle it.

Mi Cai first tested the guitar’s tuning and then closed her eyes as if recalling the music score. She strummed the strings, and from that single action, it was clear she was very skilled with the finger techniques. It seemed like there wouldn’t be any problems, and I became even more eager to hear what song she would perform.

After a few notes, CC and I exchanged smiles. The first song Mi Cai was performing for us was “The Posture of a Flower” by Cheer Chen. It was a very fresh and clean song. Although it didn’t quite match Mi Cai’s indifferent temperament, we still looked forward to it.

Not only us, but also the few customers in the bar put down their glasses and looked at Mi Cai with anticipation, ready to perform. After all, it’s rare to see such a beautiful woman, and even rarer to see a beautiful woman who can play the guitar. If she also had a great voice, she would be an absolute gem. At least in the entire C-pop music industry, female singers who can meet all three of these conditions are few and far between!

“The Posture of a Flower” was sung by Mi Cai. Her voice was clear and delicate, lacking the huskiness and texture of CC’s voice, but it was very clean. During the performance, she didn’t use any techniques to embellish the song, yet it felt more natural and enchanting.

CC looked at Mi Cai on the small stage and sighed, “Can there really be such a perfect woman in this world? God is too biased, seemingly giving her all the favors.”

Even the usually arrogant Ruben nodded in agreement with CC. I felt a bitterness in my heart. Actually, God wasn’t biased. They probably didn’t know about Mi Cai’s background yet. Although she was beautiful, rich, and intelligent, she was ultimately a lonely woman without the warmth of a family.

Mi Cai finally finished singing Cheer Chen’s “The Posture of a Flower.” Although the audience was small, the applause was enthusiastic. The few customers present were not satisfied and strongly requested Mi Cai to sing another song, but she shook her head and politely declined.

Mi Cai returned to our side and handed the guitar back to Ruben. Ruben gave her a thumbs-up and praised, “Your playing technique is excellent, you can definitely match CC.”

This wasn’t just flattery from Ruben. During Mi Cai’s performance, she had mastered various guitar techniques like single-finger arpeggios, multi-finger arpeggios, strumming, right-hand muting, and fingerpicking. It was no exaggeration to say that her skills could rival CC’s.

In response to Ruben’s praise, Mi Cai just smiled. CC put her arm around Mi Cai’s shoulder and said, “Mi’er (CC’s nickname for Mi Cai), you must come to my restaurant and support me when you have time. That was amazing!”

Mi Cai smiled and said, “I will.”

CC nodded, and our moods slightly relaxed after Mi Cai’s first performance. We all raised our glasses and clinked them together.

After setting our glasses down, Mi Cai picked up her handbag, took out a check that already had numbers filled in, and handed it to Le Yao, saying, “Here’s one million. Use it first to pay off the debts of the bar. As for the remaining business issues, Zhaoyang will help you resolve them.”

Mi Cai’s sudden action shocked us all. Was this really the main purpose of her coming to the bar today?