That Settles It

The owner of the Audi Q5 was another of Li Xian's friends, Sui Jiji. Li Xian had recognized him the moment he arrived and had deliberately stepped on the gas to cut in front of him.

"Damn, I was wondering whose car that was. Scared the hell out of me." Sui Jiji lowered his window and looked at Li Xian's cheeky grin. "You cut me off on purpose just now, didn't you? Just wait till I park, you little punk..."

"Heh... Who knew you were such a scaredy-cat?"

Sui Jiji found a parking space nearby and pulled in. After getting out, he hooked an arm around Li Xian's neck. "You son of a bitch, it's not that I'm scared. I can't afford the repairs! One scratch in the paint and I'd be working a whole month for free."

"Come on, does Young Master Sui really care about a little repair bill?"

"Quit messing with me! I really am short on cash. My dad's been keeping a tight leash on me lately. I'm barely scraping by."

"Give me a break. Who doesn't know how you live? You don't rely on your dad—you're living off your aunt's handouts."

"Heh heh heh..." Sui Jiji chuckled knowingly. They all understood each other without needing to say it. After a few steps, they reached the G-Wagon and circled it, admiring it. "Tsk, what a beast. It's taller than all of us and looks like it could crush anything." As Sui Jiji spoke, he looked at Li Xian and winked. "When are you going to let me borrow it so I can show off?"

Li Xian put an arm around his shoulders. "Same as always: I don't lend out my wife or my car. But I'm a generous guy. When I get a new 'wife,' you can take this one for a spin. You'll have to pay for the gas, though."

"Your monster's got twelve cylinders. It guzzles gas like water. I couldn't afford to keep it running even if I sold myself." Sui Jiji's mouth twitched.

"Heh... It's not that bad. The fuel gauge drops about as fast as the minute hand on a watch. That's nothing for you, Young Master Sui."

"Fuck... Does this thing leak gas or something?"

"Get out of here..." Li Xian shoved him away, and Sui Jiji grinned as he went to greet Sun Wei and Wang Meng.

The four of them walked into the seafood barbecue restaurant, chatting and laughing. The place was fairly large, with two floors. The first floor had around thirty tables, arranged in three rows. The tables along either side seated four, while the ones in the middle seated six. If you wanted extra chairs, you could ask a server.

The second floor had a similar layout, but with a few private rooms for larger gatherings.

The restaurant was decorated in a rustic style. Red brick walls were set off by white mortar, and the tables and chairs were made of wood with natural grain. Green plants dotted the space, giving it a lively feel, while landscape paintings on the walls added a touch of artsy flair.

Judging by the decor, the owner had a bit of a refined, middle-class streak.

They followed a server to a table for four and sat down. Li Xian looked around and asked, "Should we get the beer first?"

"Yeah, I'm a little thirsty," Sui Jiji replied. Sun Wei and Wang Meng nodded along.

Li Xian told the server, "Bring us two cases of Qingdao Pure Draft to start."

"Sure." The server nodded and immediately went to get someone to bring the beer over. A little while later, she returned with a male server carrying two cases. "Would you like us to open them all for you?"

Li Xian raised a hand to stop her. "No need." Then he took the bottles out one by one and set them on the table. "Don't just sit there. Take your share."

In no time, they'd divided up all twenty-four bottles. They were perfectly in sync: each man took six to start, and no one made a fuss.

Li Xian opened his bottle with a bottle opener. "It's been ages since we've all gotten together. Let's start with a toast!"

Sun Wei had strong teeth and opened his bottle with them. Wang Meng used a lighter as a bottle opener, while Sui Jiji popped his cap off with a pair of chopsticks. They each had their own way.

"Bottoms up!"

"Cheers..."

They meant it when they said bottoms up. No one backed down.

"Glug, glug..." They downed a bottle to whet their appetites, then started ordering food.

They got a plate of peanuts and edamame, a plate of dressed vegetables, and, of course, lamb kidneys. They didn't order ten plates this time; four of them settled for two.

They ordered beef and lamb, chicken wings, wing tips, big shrimp, scallops, oysters, stir-fried clams, eggplant with garlic, and a dozen or two other dishes.

The restaurant let customers grill their own food or order it cooked. There was a charcoal grill in the middle of the table. The skewers hadn't arrived yet, but the charcoal was already there.

Sun Wei took charge of grilling, with Wang Meng helping him. Li Xian and Sui Jiji handled the eating and kept the conversation going. After several rounds of drinks and a good spread of food, they'd pretty much finished shooting the breeze, so Li Xian got down to business.

"I asked you guys here today because I want your opinions. Let's talk it over and figure out what to do together."

Sui Jiji lit a cigarette and spoke first. "I still think an entertainment venue would pay for itself faster and make more money. Whether it's a KTV, a bar, or a bathhouse, the cash comes rolling in.

"A buddy of mine runs a bathhouse near People's Square. It's only medium-sized, and he invested three or four million. He brings in tens of thousands a day at the very least, and sometimes over a hundred thousand. Guess how much he makes in a year?"

As he spoke, he held up his hand and sighed. "It's a gold mine. He made back his investment in half a year. In a year, he made this much."

"Come on! I know those places make money too." Whether it made money or not wasn't the point. Li Xian took a swig of beer and said, "There's too much hassle. Are you going to take care of it for me? And who knows how much of what he makes he has to hand over.

"Then there's the question of hiring people. Should we have Sun Wei post job ads on Z Internet? Or are you going to do it yourself? If your dad finds out you're working as a pimp, he'll tear you limb from limb."

"Heh..." Sui Jiji licked his lips and gave an awkward laugh. "At most, I can help you find a place. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."

"Then let's not go on about it. We'll put entertainment venues aside for now." Li Xian turned to Sun Wei.

"I'm pretty into KTVs and clubs. It'd be nice to get together and sing now and then. But if you don't want the hassle, we could set up a large internet café instead. As for coffee shops, bakeries, milk tea shops, and that sort of thing, forget it. I've got a few clients who run places like those, and they're all losing money." Sun Wei poured himself a drink as he spoke.

"Whatever kind of venue we go with, plain and simple won't cut it. A proper mass-market KTV could work, but can we compete with the chains? I don't care about making money, but getting beaten by someone else would be embarrassing." Li Xian paused.

"An internet café could work, but we'd need to pick the right location. Somewhere around here would be good. There are schools all around us: the University of Technology, the University of Finance and Economics, the Maritime University, and Neusoft. The only problem is finding a good spot."

When he finished, Li Xian nudged Wang Meng with his elbow. Wang Meng, who hadn't said a word, hurriedly swallowed the meat in his mouth and said, "We could build a barbecue restaurant in the same style as this one, but bigger. We'd put all the little stalls around here out of business."

"Haha, sounds good. Three to five million should be enough." Li Xian slapped the table.

"Did you already have something in mind? Are you just messing with us?" Sui Jiji sensed something was up and asked.

Li Xian grinned without denying it. He took out his phone and said, "Take a look at this."

He opened a webpage on his phone, searched for the video on Bilibili, and set it on the table.

The guys all leaned in. On the screen, a fat man was pounding the table as a bizarre, meme-like song played.

"Ten plates! Ten plates, come on! Ten plates, ten plates of kidneys!"

Wang Meng was the first to react. He pointed at the screen. "Holy shit, isn't that us eating skewers at Third Sister's place the other day?"

"Yeah, some UP creator turned it into a meme video, and it went viral." Li Xian replied.

"Heh, that's pretty funny." Sui Jiji laughed and looked at Li Xian. "You're quite the troublemaker. How viral is this thing?"

Li Xian said irritably, "It's number one on Bilibili's trending page, and it's about to hit Weibo's trending list. A few barbecue places have started pretending to be me. What do you think?"

"Damn, it's about to trend? There's potential here." Sui Jiji exclaimed.

Sun Wei joined in. "Kidney Bro? That name's a little rough. How about Brother Xian's Kidney and Seafood Barbecue?"

For fuck's sake, what's the difference?

Li Xian rolled his eyes and ignored him. "We'll look for a location while I give this video another push. No matter how this business goes, at least we won't get driven out of business, right?"

"You're way too cautious. Didn't you say you didn't care if you lost money?" Sui Jiji patted him on the shoulder. "I don't think the question is whether this business will work. If you really make the top few spots on Weibo's trending list, you'll be set. Then you'll need to start thinking about opening a chain."

I didn't care about the money. I was just worried that the damn system would pull something on me.

What if the business tanked and it came back to settle the score with me afterward?

Li Xian was constantly matching wits with the damn system. No matter how obnoxious it was, he wanted to cover every loophole. He'd completed all the tasks properly anyway, leaving it nothing to complain about.

The system's disdainful voice rang in his mind: You really think too much. If I wanted to mess with you, would I need to lift a finger?

All right, the system probably couldn't be bothered with that kind of thing.

Still, Li Xian was determined to leave it with nothing to say. He wasn't just opening a barbecue restaurant; he was setting up an internet café too.

"Jiji, help me find a place. Let's settle on something in the next few days—the sooner, the better." Li Xian paused and tugged at Wang Meng. "Forget that shitty job of yours. Go help Jiji out. I'll pay you from now on."

"Uh, I don't mind. Whatever Brother Xian says. You don't have to pay me, bro—you gave me ten thousand last time..." As Wang Meng spoke, Jiji smacked him on the back of the head.

"Are you drunk? Brother Xian's asking you to work for him. You're not getting paid for nothing. President Li, what about me? Aren't you going to find me a job?"

"Master Sui, how could I afford to hire you? You're about to go home and inherit your family's fortune any minute now." Li Xian teased him.

"Come on. My dad won't retire for another ten or twenty years. Let me earn a little on the side. Nothing too much—ten or twenty thousand will do." Sui Jiji rubbed his fingers together with a suggestive grin.

Li Xian shuddered and turned to Sun Wei. "I'll need your help with hiring. Keep working at Z Internet for now and build up some connections. Leave once the time's right."

"So I'm going undercover, then?" Sun Wei blinked and copied Sui Jiji's finger-rubbing gesture. "Can I get a little side money too?"

"You lot are a bunch of assholes. Of course I'll look after you." Li Xian was worried they'd refuse to take money. They were all playing along perfectly, just as he'd hoped.

"By the way, Jiji, I'm planning to open a barbecue restaurant and an internet café at the same time. Help me find another place too, preferably two floors and over a thousand square meters."

"Okay. It's not easy to find a storefront that big around here. The good places are already occupied, and the owners may not want to let them go. I'll do what I can, but we might have to pay a hefty price."

"Money's no problem. I may be short on everything else, but I'm not short on money." Li Xian thumped his chest, looking unbearably smug.

Wang Meng suddenly chimed in. "Brother Xian, would a one-floor storefront work? The Feidu Internet Cafe we go to by the school—its owner doesn't want to keep running it."

"Feidu Internet Cafe?" Li Xian thought for a moment. The place had been around for six or seven years, covering roughly five or six hundred square meters with about two hundred computers. Business seemed to have been good all along.

"Why can't they keep going? Their business always seemed pretty good."

"Heh, it used to be." Wang Meng explained, "But competition's gotten fierce over the last couple of years. Two or three internet cafés have opened nearby, with better decor and machines, and their hourly rates aren't much higher. That internet café's fallen behind. Oh, and there's a Net Fish Internet Cafe on the corner by South Gate Street. It's doing even worse."