After circling around, I returned to the entrance of the bar, where Leyao, CC, and Luoben arrived as scheduled.
Luoben, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, joked with me, saying, “Zhaoyang, after one round, you’ve transformed magnificently and returned like a savior.”
I smiled and gratefully patted his shoulder, saying, “Thanks for taking care of the bar during this period!”
“We’re friends; what’s the point of saying such things.”
Luoben and I have similar temperaments. I nodded without saying anything sentimental, took out a cigarette, lit one for him and myself, then looked at the bar’s sign.
Leyao’s bar was named “bobo Music Bar,” a quite fashionable name. However, many bars used this style of naming, so it was lost among the fashionable and individual ones, nothing particularly unique.
The bar opened at 7 p.m. Leyao opened the closed door and led us inside, then turned on the lights.
Looking at the bar’s hardware configuration and decoration, I believed the investment was definitely no less than one million yuan. However, on this commercial street without a formed business atmosphere, such a huge investment was clearly very risky.
Of course, if someone dared to invest ten million to build the most luxurious bar in Suzhou, it would be another story. It might even drive the development of the entire commercial street. But speaking of it, with ten million yuan, who would still be interested in investing on a commercial street that hadn’t yet developed?
An investment of over a million yuan was merely standard for a bar, not enough to create a sensation. Therefore, the hope of operation could only be pinned on the development of the entire commercial street.
However, changing consumers’ habits, making them shift from one commercial street to another, was extremely difficult. This was no longer an issue conventional marketing strategies could resolve. The marketing environment was extremely harsh, and this harshness was entirely due to the weakness of the entire commercial street, not merely a problem of the bar itself.
After further analysis, I became even less optimistic. At least currently, I had no ideas to improve the operation.
The four of us sat on the sofa, all frowning. Finally, Leyao asked me, “Zhaoyang, what should we do now?”
I thought for a moment and asked, “How much available money do you have now?”
Leyao answered somewhat gloomily, “Less than one hundred thousand.”
“That’s okay. It can support operations for a while. Let’s put the bar’s operation aside for now and first find a way to repay the high-interest loan you borrowed.”
As soon as I finished speaking, CC said, “I still have more than 200,000 yuan in savings. Let Leyao use it first.”
It wasn’t the time to be sentimental. Before Leyao could speak, I helped her accept CC’s offer of the 200,000 yuan.
Luoben, who had been silent, also spoke, “I don’t have much savings either, just less than 20,000 yuan. Let me contribute that to Leyao.”
“You’re amazing, actually having 20,000 yuan in savings. When I left Suzhou, I didn’t even have two thousand yuan on me!” I exclaimed.
Luoben joked, “You, Zhaoyang, are not someone ordinary people can easily surpass!”
In such teasing words, everyone forced a smile, but Leyao firmly refused Luoben’s two ten-thousand yuan, because Luoben had already sung for free in the bar for over a month.
After forcing smiles, Leyao said to us, “As for the rest of the money, I will find a way myself. Thank you all.”
I immediately asked, “Tell me, where will you find this money?”
“I will definitely find a way.” Leyao spoke vaguely without specifying where she would get the money.
“Leyao, listen to me. We will figure this out together. No matter what, don’t do anything stupid, understand?” I reminded Leyao seriously, fearing she would sink deeper into an irreversible path.
CC also told Leyao, “Zhaoyang is right. People will definitely make mistakes in life, but never make the same mistake again. We all believe you will achieve great success in the entertainment industry. This is just the darkness before dawn. Once you get through it, you will find that all the hardships were nothing.”
Leyao was silent and finally nodded.
The four of us sat for a while longer, agreed to meet again when the bar opened in the evening, and then went our separate ways.
…
After leaving the bar, my mood became complicated because until now I still hadn’t been able to make up my mind to ask Xiangchen for the one million yuan. Over the years I had known Xiangchen, I had come to understand his personality somewhat.
Although he wasn’t a profit-driven person, he had a strong businessman’s demeanor. Additionally, this was a significant amount of money, which might make him very reluctant. Moreover, since he got together with Jianwei, although we maintained our usual appearances on the surface, there was truly a rift between us, making it even harder for me to bring up the topic.
However, at this point, I had no other options besides Xiangchen. Whether he was willing or not, I had to try.
After making my decision, I finally dialed Xiangchen’s number, a call I hadn’t made in over three months.
After a while, Xiangchen answered the phone, laughing in surprise, “Zhaoyang, what wind blew you to call me?”
I also smiled and said, “Where are you now?”
“Suzhou.”
“You’re still in Suzhou?” I asked in surprise this time.
“Yeah, recently I’ve been talking with Baoli Department Store about setting up a specialty counter. I’m planning to set up a tobacco and liquor specialty counter at Baoli, selling top-tier tobacco and liquor.”
I was genuinely surprised. I didn’t expect Xiangchen to expand his business to Suzhou. After a while, I asked, “Was it Fangyuan who arranged it?”
“Right, completing this deal is his work performance, which can also expand our business territory, testing the Suzhou high-end tobacco and liquor market is a win-win situation.” Xiangchen explained.
“That’s great. By the way… Are you free tonight? Let’s have dinner together. I also have something to ask for your help.”
Xiangchen immediately agreed, saying, “Sure, Jianwei is also in Suzhou. Let’s get together.”
Hearing the name “Jianwei,” I immediately fell silent. After a long while, I said, “No problem. You decide the place.”
“Okay, then see you tonight.”
After Xiangchen said this, we both hung up the phone, but my mood was even more complicated than before the call. After three months, I was going to meet Jianwei again.
I still clearly remembered how hard it was for me to break free from the memories she left behind. Whether I had truly broken free or not, tonight’s meeting might be a test. When I faced her again, I hoped there would be no more emotions or pain…
Taking a deep breath, I put the phone into my pocket and then took a taxi back to my residence. I didn’t plan to do anything this afternoon, just wanted to take a nap, then go to my appointment with Xiangchen tonight, preferably completely ignoring Jianwei.
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