Chapter 4

Wang's expression vanished instantly. He looked at Cheng Lang with icy eyes.

Cheng Lang still wore that flippant grin. "I just said it. I want everything, except I can go without dignity."

"But once I decide to have no shame, I won't leave anyone else any face either."

After a long silence, Wang suddenly laughed. "You've got guts, kid."

Cheng Lang waved a hand. "Whether I've got guts doesn't matter. Shouldn't we settle the pay first?"

Cheng Lang was baffled. He only wanted to know how much a resident singer could earn per hour and how much commission they got on drinks. Why was it so difficult?

Chapter 4

Resident singers earned two thousand yuan an hour, while their cut of drink sales was twenty percent of whatever the customers spent.

When Cheng Lang finally found out, he could not help clicking his tongue in admiration. As expected of the city's most prestigious money pit. The employee benefits were excellent, and the pay was at least double that of comparable establishments.

Of course, with such generous rewards, White Jade Capital also had higher standards for its employees than similar places outside. Even servers who poured tea and drinks had to be pleasant-looking and possess some kind of skill. They also had to undergo half a month of strict training before starting work. Even so, handsome men and beautiful women still flocked there to apply.

So Shen Huaiyu being able to skip training and start work immediately was not just because of the protagonist halo granted by the original novel. It was entirely because his looks and temperament were simply too outstanding. Even if he stood by the roadside gnawing on corn, he would still look otherworldly and refined.

By comparison, Cheng Lang, whose looks were equally handsome in a somewhat wicked way, seemed a little...

The System sighed. [Eat slower. No one's going to choke you to death!]

Cheng Lang looked innocent. He always felt that his System Companion was somewhat irritable. But the key was—

"What are you acting so high and mighty for? I haven't even complained that you're useless!" All it knew was how to urge him to follow the plot and complete tasks, yet it would not even unlock a points shop for him.

The System fell silent.

Noticing something off about Cheng Lang's expression, Shen Huaiyu frowned slightly and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No." Cheng Lang came back to himself. "You're done eating, right? Then let's head back to school."

Shen Huaiyu nodded obediently and tossed both the corncob in his hand and the one Cheng Lang had finished into a roadside trash can.

Cheng Lang bought two more ears of corn and hailed a taxi. Shen Huaiyu instinctively stopped him. "It'll cost at least a hundred yuan to take a taxi back to school from here. Shouldn't we take the bus?"

"It's fine. My treat." Cheng Lang waved his hand. "You bought me corn just now. It's only right that I return the favor."

Shen Huaiyu suddenly understood. No wonder Cheng Lang had started clamoring for food the moment he got off work and had insisted that Shen Huaiyu treat him.

Shen Huaiyu blinked. He knew Cheng Lang was trying to protect his pride, and being naturally sensitive, he could not help feeling touched.

By the time the two returned to school, it was already past one in the morning. The dormitory building's doors had been locked. Cheng Lang banged on the door, then handed the dorm manager two hot ears of boiled corn amid her scolding. "You've worked hard, Auntie. We couldn't help it. I'm an orphan with no father or mother. It wasn't easy for me to get into college, and I have to earn my own tuition and fees through part-time work."

His words successfully stirred the dorm manager's sympathy. She sighed and waved them in. "Hurry inside. Get some rest. You still have classes tomorrow morning. Keep it down, and don't wake the other students."

"Thank you, Auntie." Cheng Lang thanked her with a smile, then led Shen Huaiyu back to their dorm room on tiptoe.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Cheng Lang was awakened by the sound of his roommates washing up.

"Could you keep it down? I didn't get back until after one last night."

"You've got the nerve to say that? The school checked the dorms last night, and we were the ones who covered for you." Roommate A glanced at Shen Huaiyu, who was already bent over his desk reviewing his lessons. "You haven't even thanked us. Next time, don't expect us to cover for you."

Shen Huaiyu's expression stiffened. Just as he was about to thank them, Cheng Lang clattered down from his bunk and casually said, "Is something this minor worth going on about? Then next time, don't use Shen Huaiyu's and my names to ask girls for their WeChat."

"We weren't going on about anything!" The roommate who had just been complaining immediately put on a broad smile. "We were just saying. Besides, we weren't talking about you."

They were not talking about Cheng Lang. Shen Huaiyu nervously squeezed the pen in his hand. Just as he was about to thank them, one roommate suddenly asked, "Shen Huaiyu, you've been going to White Jade Capital with Cheng Lang for two days now. Have you run into any rich older women?"

"Exactly! You're so handsome! Girls at our school already like you so much. If you went to a place like that, wouldn't it be even crazier?"

Shen Huaiyu's face went pale. Those unbearable memories instantly flooded his mind.

"...Shen Huaiyu is good-looking enough. But none of the servers at White Jade Capital are ugly. He's so stiff that he can't even speak once he gets there. He hasn't managed to sell a single bottle of alcohol in two days." Cheng Lang said lightly. "He's not even as good as me. I've already become one of White Jade Capital's star performers."

Cheng Lang's explosive revelation immediately drew the attention of both roommates.

"What? You've become one of White Jade Capital's star performers?"

"Didn't they say all of White Jade Capital's star performers had what it took to become huge celebrities?"

"Do I not have what it takes to become a huge celebrity?" Cheng Lang sat on the desk with one leg crossed over the other, asking with a half-smile, "Do the two of you have some kind of misunderstanding about me?"

They did not dare. The two roommates obligingly shook their heads. With Cheng Lang stirring things up like this, they forgot to keep pressing Shen Huaiyu about working at White Jade Capital.

Yet in the original plot, those two had interrogated Shen Huaiyu under Cheng Lang's goading until they learned the ugly scandal that Shen Huaiyu had been slept with by a White Jade Capital customer on his very first day of work. Then they spread it until the entire school knew.

Inside his mind, the System kept issuing warnings. [Character setting OOC! Character setting OOC! According to the plot, you need to join your roommates in belittling Shen Huaiyu!]

Cheng Lang calmly brushed the System off. "Isn't the only purpose of putting someone else down to elevate yourself? I'm just skipping the process and going straight to the result."