Chapter 7: Like a Speeding Youth
“You still dare to laugh!”
Chen Jianhao said with a serious expression: “Do you want to make your life miserable? My younger cousin is extremely vengeful, since you have provoked her today, you will definitely suffer in the future!”
Even though he was being serious, Lu Chen still remained fearless and paid him no heed, Lu Chen smiled and said: “Boss, did you want me to sign the contract?”
“Sign or don’t sign, do whatever you want…”
Chen Jianhao waved his hand and said: “However, starting from tonight, you are a resident singer of Nepenthes Bar.”
Lu Chen was immediately overjoyed: “Thank you Boss!”
He was originally a small singer, belonging to the lowest class within the bar singer’s circle, there wasn’t even a minimum wage and he completely depended on his share of the tips, with good luck he could still earn a bit of money through hard work, but with bad luck he wouldn’t even be able to sing even one song.
However, Resident singers were different, although they had no fixed salary, they were guaranteed time to perform on stage, and their share of the tips were also raised to 70% —— furthermore, they could even leave the stage and go to another bar to perform.
Compared to working as a waiter and a small singer, after becoming a resident singer, Lu Chen didn’t even need to work as a waiter anymore, but his income would still greatly increase!
“Now you can sing…”
Chen Jianhao passed Lu Chen a bottle of beer and encouraged him: “Little Lu, if you keep performing at this level and come up with a few more amazing songs, I am sure that you will definitely be successful sooner or later and that you’ll be the biggest star of Nepenthes.”
Chen Jianhao had never said this to any other singer in the bar, even to the contract singers Zhang Nana or Qin Hanyang, whose qualifications and reputation far surpasses Lu Chen!
Compared to Su Qingmei, he was a bit more optimistic about Lu Chen’s future prospects.
Lu Chen was touched, he downed the bottle of beer in one go.
He put the empty bottle down, and after wiping his lips he sincerely said: “Boss, if that day truly comes, I’ll buy part of the bar’s stock, no matter how much it costs!”
Chen Jianhao was stunned, but he immediately laughed afterwards: “Good, when that time comes you can be the small boss, ha ha ha!”
He knew that Lu Chen meant that he wouldn’t forget his roots.
However, Chen Jianhao didn’t truly take him seriously, there were plenty of talented young people floating around Beijing, but only a few could truly succeed, and most of the others remain obscure until they finally fade away.
Pointing his finger, Chen Jianhao said: “Little Boss Lu Chen, your customers are waiting for you, hurry up and go!”
Lu Chen looked around and saw a few customers waving at him.
As a bar singer, unless one was successful enough, few people would refuse to interact with the customers, everyone would drink and chat a bit about music, life, and their dreams, furthermore they would still earn their share of the drinks.
The customers of Nepenthes Bar were mostly good people, so there were basically no dirty matters.
Even though it was Lu Chen’s workplace, he also liked the atmosphere there.
“I’ll be going then…”
Lu Chen hesitated for a moment before asking: “Boss, my share of tonight’s tips will be raised to a resident singer’s share, right?”
Chen Jianhao suddenly became furious: “Scram!”
Lu Chen ran away hurriedly.
………
When he left the bar, it was almost midnight.
The month of may brought with it a slight chill during the nights, the night wind blew along the desolate street and made Lu Chen squeeze his head instinctively as he almost sneezed —— the difference in temperature between inside and outside of the bar was enormous.
However, his heart was burning hot.
The source of the heat came from the 47 hundred Yuan bills inside the pocket of his jacket, the heat was scorching hot.
Although he was already a resident singer of Nepenthes Bar, Lu Chen had still performed well as a waiter during his last shifts and he had finally earned his salary for the month.
From cashier sister’s mouth, Lu Chen heard that Xiao Gao had been fired by the boss, as for the reason, since Fatty Yinguan suddenly ran out of the electronics room and tried to curry favor with him for no apparent reason, Lu Chen had a faint understanding.
Lu Chen just wanted to laugh as he thought about this matter, he wasn’t a narrow-minded villain, but he also wasn’t a noble saint, he had quite a carefree attitude as he watched someone who hated him get sent away.
However he became cheerful once again, the 47 brand new crimson bills made him extremely happy.
One third of this money came from his salary as a waiter, it wasn’t much because he earned it prematurely, however the other two thirds came from his share of the tips of the evening customers —— his share of 70% as a resident singer!
Chen Jianhao was quite a good boss, although he had strict requirements for his staff, he wasn’t harsh or stingy with their salary, the singers were paid their share of the tips daily.
With more than 3000 Yuan of his share of the tips, after working for half a year at Nepenthes bar, this was the greatest amount he had ever earned!
And this was just the beginning!
Suddenly, Lu Chen’s future was filled with hope, the originally drab and dejected feeling within the space of his brows had already disappeared. He took a step and started to walk hurriedly towards the subway station.
Like a Speeding Youth!
After riding the final train of the night, Lu Chen returned to his extremely simple home.
He took a bath and went to sleep afterwards.
It was a night without dreams.
At 6:30 am, Lu Chen woke up on time.
Since he had two jobs, he spent more than 15 hours working each day, and he only had two days of rest each month.
Today’s sunday was a rest day so he could afford to sleep lazily, but he still opened his eyes due to his biological clock, while staring at the ugly, gray, cement ceiling of his room, he no longer felt the least bit sleepy.
Lu Chen felt a bit scared in his heart, he was afraid that after waking up, everything that he had obtained from the dream would disappear.
But the familiar yet unfamiliar memories quickly surfaced in his mind and erased his fears.
Lu Chen got out of bed and quickly dressed himself, then he put on his pair of worn out sneakers and hurriedly tidied himself up before leaving for work.
At this time, most people were still asleep, one could still hear the sounds of snoring beyond the fire resistant wood separating the rooms, sleeping until noon was the greatest pleasure for the members of the “ant tribe”.
As he left the district, Lu Chen ran through the road towards the river bank, then he followed the course of the long river as it flowed forward.
Lu Chen was always extremely busy with work so he seldom had time to rest, he never had the habit of doing morning exercise, since running around on his job at KFC from early morning was basically exercise.
However today he wanted to run, otherwise his empty heart would be engulfed by anxiety.
At this moment, the sky was shining bright, the green willows provided shade and the river bank was still shrouded with a thin layer of mist. There were already a lot of morning joggers around the flower beds beside the path and the roads, but most of them were elderly.
A few birdcages were hanging from the tree branches, thrush birds hopped around inside the cages and would occasionally chirp beautifully.
After running for more than 10 minutes, Lu Chen had already used up most of his strength, his forehead was covered with sweat, his breathing became heavy, his legs felt as heavy as lead, and his dry mouth was filled with a rusty taste.
His body was protesting because he had not exercised in a long time, after all he normally ran to work for at most 4 to 5 minutes and his speed was also not this fast.
However there was a voice inside his mind, it was urging him, encouraging him, and supporting him, that allowed him to continue running.
In the future, he needed to have a robust and healthy body!
So while being supported by that belief, Lu Chen gnashed his teeth and continued to run until his footsteps slowly became effortless.
Lu Chen was still very young, and youth was the greatest asset, therefore everything was possible.
It was almost noon when Lu Chen returned to his home in the basement.
He naturally didn’t spend the entire morning exercising, more time was spent on trivial chores like depositing the money he had earned last night to his bank card, then he travelled to the nearby mall and bought a set of sportswear and sport shoes, and lastly he went to the supermarket to buy daily necessities.
After running back and forth all morning, Lu Chen finally returned home, his clothes were soaked with sweat and he was covered in dirt so he felt quite uncomfortable.
However he didn’t have time to take a bath or change clothes, he turned on his computer first to transfer the 4000 Yuan inside his bank card to his mother Fang Yiyun, and to his younger sister, Lu Xue.
He only had around 300 Yuan left inside his pockets.
However, Lu Chen wasn’t worried because his future was full of hope!
After the transfer was completed, Lu Chen felt like he was freed of something heavy, his entire body relaxed, but he also felt the ache from the accumulated fatigue in his body.
His exercise was extremely intense today and it completely exceeded his limits in the past, therefore it was natural that some lingering effects appeared.
While he removed his clothes that were reeking with sweat, Lu Chen prepared to take a shower.
Ring Ring Ring~
At this time, a cell phone on top of a small desk suddenly rang, the caller light was flashing incessantly.
Lu Chen grabbed the phone without looking and answered the call.
“Big brother, what are you doing?”
From the other side of the phone, he could hear the familiar voice of his younger sister Lu Xue, she had a sweet and beautiful voice that had a youthful vibe.
Lu Xue was turning 17 this year and she was studying in Lu Chen’s old middle school.
Lu Chen replied: “I was just about to take a shower and i was gonna eat afterwards.”
Lu Xue replied with “En”, then she asked: “Big brother you aren’t rich, so why are you giving me money?”
“Is that all?”
Lu Chen laughed and said: “I earned more than 4000 Yuan yesterday, i transferred 3000 Yuan to mom, then i transfered 500 Yuan to you for your pocket money, so aren’t you very touched? Quickly tell me that I’m the best brother in the world!”
“Go to hell!”
From the other side of the phone, Lu Chen could imagine his sister rolling her eyes: “You’re pretty good, but you don’t have to give me so much, mama also gives me pocket money, you also don’t need to work so hard, you need to take care of your body.”
While listening to his sister ramble on, Lu Chen couldn’t help feeling a bit sad.
If it was before the accident, his sister Lu Xue was spoiled by the family like a little princess, 500 Yuan wouldn’t even be enough to buy her a pair of shoes, how could it be compared to the present, where he had to force her to accept money.
“Ok, study well, give me a call if something happens.”
After chatting for a few minutes, Lu Chen asked about the circumstances at home, then he ended call afterwards.
He rushed into his small bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the faucet.
Cold tap water flowed from the shower head, turned into tiny streams of water, and flowed down his body.
Lu Chen closed his eyes as memories of his past surfaced in his mind.