The Boiling College Dormitory

Facing the Internet Cafe employees, Lin Qiye gathered his thoughts and said, "Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens Internet Cafe will adopt a modern management model from now on. The finance and business managers hired by the company will manage the Internet Cafe remotely."

After a pause, Lin Qiye turned the computer monitor on the desk toward them.

Two video windows were displayed on the monitor, a man and a woman waving at everyone from within them.

They were Virtual Humans created by Intelligent AI, yet they looked exactly like real people.

Lin Qiye said, "These two are the newly hired remote staff. They'll introduce themselves now."

The man in the video said, "Hello, everyone. I'm Manager Xiao. I'm responsible for scheduling and managing daily operations. If anyone wants to take leave, you'll need to report it to me in advance."

The woman spoke gently. "I'm the company's accountant. For now, I'm responsible for calculating the Internet Cafe's revenue and distributing wages."

Once the two Virtual Humans had finished introducing themselves, Lin Qiye demonstrated a remote-work application.

The remote-work application was not complicated, and the employees understood it before long.

They were quite surprised that an Internet Cafe would use such an advanced management model, but no one said anything. After all, it was already 2012, an era when the internet was widespread, so people could still accept such things.

After explaining everything and seeing the employees out of the office, Lin Qiye let out a breath.

That settled it. He no longer needed to worry about the Internet Cafe's daily operations.

He had been busy for two weeks and had no idea what things were like at school, so he took out his phone and called Jiang Dabao.

"Dabao, our homeroom teacher didn't mention me, did he?"

"No. I helped you apply for a long leave of absence. I said you twisted your arm while playing basketball and went home to recover."

"Was it really that easy? What about a hospital certificate?"

"It was Tian Nina. She had a blank medical record form from the school clinic, so she copied the handwriting and made a fake one. Our homeroom teacher didn't even look at it, just approved it."

"Tian Nina?" Lin Qiye could not remember her for a moment when black-and-white subtitles appeared on the screen before him.

[The mixed-race girl who got drunk and passed out in the Internet Cafe half a month ago.]

So it was her. Tian Nina's image surfaced in Lin Qiye's mind. Beautiful girls always left a deep impression.

"How are you in touch with her?" Lin Qiye asked.

"She was looking for you. She couldn't find you at the Internet Cafe, so she came to me. How would I know where you'd gone? Still, she really cares about you. When she heard your leave was almost over, she helped me make a fake medical record."

Lin Qiye nodded and shared his joy with his good brother.

"I made a huge profit. Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens Internet Cafe belongs to me now."

Jiang Dabao sucked in a sharp breath over the phone. "Bro, don't scare me. That huge Internet Cafe is yours now? Don't tell me you kidnapped Li Nanguang's Uncle over the past half month."

"How could that be? I helped Li Xiongye make a fortune. According to our agreement, the Internet Cafe is mine now."

The other end of the line fell silent.

After a while, it suddenly exploded.

A group of boys shouted over one another.

"Let's go to Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens! Big Lin's the Boss now, so he can waive our bill tonight!"

Good heavens, Jiang Dabao had spread the news in an instant.

That was not bad either. Business at the Internet Cafe had been poor, and a group of college students could help promote it.

Lin Qiye did not refuse. He instructed Jiang Dabao, "Let them come over. There are only a hundred computers, first come, first served. Also, internet access is free, but they'll have to pay for their own drinks and snacks."

Jiang Dabao put down his phone and faced a large group of eager boys. "Big Lin agreed. Internet access is free today, but you pay for your own drinks and snacks. There are limited computers, so first come, first served."

The entire boys' dormitory immediately erupted. A crowd of college students rushed out, some of them running bare-chested before they had even finished putting on their shirts.

The rushing crowd frightened pedestrians into moving aside.

Some curious people followed them as well, wanting to see what they were up to.

The crowd ran all the way from the dormitories to Fallen Street, heading straight for Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens Internet Cafe.

Lin Qiye stood at the Internet Cafe entrance with the employees.

"Welcome..."

Before he could finish, the college students charged inside. A few of them felt a little embarrassed and called out explanations.

"Big Lin, don't stand on ceremony. We need to grab computers first."

That was right. More than half the dormitory building had come running over, and one hundred computers definitely would not be enough.

Lin Qiye decisively pulled the employees aside and shouted, "Brothers, show some manners. Even if there aren't enough computers, we can't start fighting. Civility and courtesy come first."

Everyone laughed as they claimed every computer in the Internet Cafe. Those who did not get one were not angry or anxious. Instead, they gathered in small groups to chat or watched their companions play games.

Perhaps because Lin Qiye was a college student and the Internet Cafe's Boss, they naturally felt an affinity toward the place.

They already regarded it as a great place to hang out.

With so many people staying there, even if internet access was free, they would still spend money on other things.

The Internet Cafe's stocked goods quickly sold out, forcing the employees to call the distributor and have them deliver more supplies immediately.

Watching this scene, Lin Qiye realized that internet fees were not the only way an Internet Cafe made money. As long as people were in the Internet Cafe, they were a constant source of profit.

Wasn't that exactly how things were done in the future?

He raised his voice and asked, "Brothers, let's be direct. From now on, if you come to my place for internet access, everything will be half price. What do you say?"

Half price. Someone immediately responded, "Sure! Boss Lin, you'd better keep your word. I'm topping up my account right now."

It seemed that Internet Cafes were still a growing consumer trend in this era, and major discounted top-ups were rare.

The college students felt they had struck it rich at the mention of half price, and they all demanded to top up their accounts immediately.

Lin Qiye hurriedly had the employees change the recharge rules, then pretended to protest.

"Wait a second. I was only saying it casually. Are you really going to take advantage of me?"

Everyone burst into laughter. "Big Lin, quit dragging it out. You said it yourself, so you can't go back on your word." "Exactly. The money's already out. How can we put it away again?"

Once the employees had changed the recharge rules to give an equal bonus for every amount topped up, the college students took out cash and lined up to recharge.

With such a bargain, they would be fools not to take it. Every one of them topped up at least a hundred yuan.

Some even called their friends, and more people continued arriving from outside.

At this rate, the Internet Cafe's business had stabilized. For quite some time, he would not need to worry about its operations.

Jiang Dabao and Li Nanguang, who had followed them to the Internet Cafe, witnessed the whole scene as well.

"Glasses, doesn't your family specialize in running Internet Cafes? Why do I feel like Big Lin is even better at it?"

"I think this is called prepaid consumption. He locks in future cash flow through discounts. Uncle says it's a crooked tactic and doesn't approve."

As they spoke, Lin Qiye walked over. "Come on, let's go have fun. My treat tonight."

"Wait, my girlfriend hasn't arrived yet," Jiang Dabao replied.

Li Nanguang was the same. "Wang Meijia is coming too."

Lin Qiye was surprised. He had not been back at school for over half a month, yet Li Nanguang was still with Wang Meijia.

He asked, "You won her over?"