"Little Su, you say you can drink and talk, but so far, that's just your word. I haven't seen what you can actually do, so there'll be a three-day trial period. If I'm satisfied with your performance over those three days, I'll make you the business manager."
Zhang Ting hadn't completely believed what Su Yi said. She had seen all sorts of people in nightlife, including people like him, but many of them were utterly wrecked after drinking for a week straight.
Su Yi nodded and asked, "So my job is to sell drinks and keep the customers company, getting them to spend?"
As he asked that question, Su Yi understood the nature of his job.
Wasn't this just like the girls in the brothels of old?
Only the gender had changed.
This job was quite a challenge!
At least he had never done it before.
Zhang Ting smiled, her eyes narrowing. "You can think of it that way. So how much you make each month depends on your ability. If you can't hold your liquor and the ladies get you drunk and take you to a hotel room, I'm not getting involved."
Lin Yiyun was dumbfounded as she listened beside them. She had come here to work her way through school, and she knew bars were places where dragons and snakes mingled, but surely there were respectable establishments too.
Listening to Zhang Ting and Su Yi's conversation, she understood. This bar was probably quite a wild place.
It wasn't just girls who were unsafe out in the world. Boys weren't all that safe either.
"Sister Ting, I..."
Lin Yiyun had barely spoken when Zhang Ting said, "Little Lin, you don't need to worry about any of that. I have rules here. Since you applied to be a server, I absolutely won't make you drink with customers, and no customers will give you trouble either. Like I said, I'll have your back."
She saw Lin Yiyun's concerns at a glance and said, "Different jobs have different duties. You'll only be responsible for opening drinks for customers, or you can work as a greeter if you'd like."
"All right." Lin Yiyun's last concerns were dispelled. Zhang Ting's answer was so decisive, and her absolute confidence as she promised to look out for her made her feel warm inside.
"Little Su, I have a few friends coming over for drinks tonight. They've already reserved a table. How about you keep them company?" Zhang Ting smiled. "First, I want to test how well you hold your liquor. Don't worry about tonight. Even if you can't drink any more, those friends of mine definitely won't give you a hard time."
Without even thinking, Su Yi said, "Sure."
He was trying to adjust to a new life now. At that moment, he even wondered what he would do if tonight's female customers were very ugly.
He would probably just have to put up with it.
Just like the girls in brothels. Did they have the right to choose their customers?
But even brothel girls had their top courtesans and flower queens. If he was outstanding enough, then even if he was drinking with customers, he would have the right to choose them!
This was Su Yi's first job. Since he had started, he naturally had to do it to perfection.
"Sister Ting, what do I have to do to choose my own customers?" Su Yi asked the question outright.
Zhang Ting stared at him and fell silent for a moment before saying, "If you can get that whole table of friends of mine happily drunk tonight, I'll let you choose one table of customers each day from now on."
He had only just arrived, and he already wanted to choose his customers. This Su Yi certainly had a lot of ideas.
Zhang Ting hadn't taken Su Yi's question seriously at all.
Hadn't he heard that women came with a few measures of drinking capacity built in?
Besides, those friends of Zhang Ting's were all rich women who had spent years frequenting nightlife venues. Once they got going, knocking back dozens or even a hundred bottles of beer apiece was nothing to them. They mixed spirits, beer, and wine as they pleased. They would probably have Su Yi throwing up tonight.
"Go change into your uniforms first." Zhang Ting stepped out from behind the bar and led Lin Yiyun and Su Yi toward the back.
Zhang Ting fetched a simple staff qipao for Lin Yiyun, then a neat suit for Su Yi.
"Go change in the restrooms."
With that, Zhang Ting left them to it. By then, the bar's other employees were also arriving one after another.
When Su Yi came out in his suit, Zhang Ting couldn't help looking him up and down.
This boy was outrageously handsome. That face alone could probably leave those rich women utterly bewitched.
He was clearly only twenty, yet for some reason, his bearing made Zhang Ting feel he was like an older man weathered by life's vicissitudes.
His eyes seemed to hold stars, making it hard to pull free once one gazed into them, and not a single flaw could be found in his features.
At that moment, even Zhang Ting's heart began to race.
She had truly stumbled upon treasure today.
Of the two applicants, one was as serene and refined as a fairy untouched by worldly dust, while the other could instantly put any current young heartthrob to shame.
At that moment, Zhang Ting truly wanted to put effort into developing Su Yi. If he could really drink as well as he claimed, he might actually become the bar's money tree.
Having run a bar for so many years, Zhang Ting understood one thing very well: when men pursued women, they were chasing novelty. Once they had slept with them, they might lose much of their interest.
But when a woman became infatuated with a man, she could truly act as though she had lost her mind. And Zhang Ting happened to know so many rich women. If those women became utterly bewitched by Su Yi, the more he refused to sleep with them, the more they would crave him.
Women's spending power was the truly terrifying thing!
"Sister Ting, where did you recruit this handsome young guy?" A young woman who worked there also began looking Su Yi over.
"Hello, my name is Su Yi. Today's my first day. Please look after me." Naturally, Su Yi had also learned such words online that day.
The young woman giggled. "Little Su, don't worry. Your big sister will definitely take good care of you from now on."
"Don't scare him." Zhang Ting rolled her eyes at her, then asked Su Yi, "Did you used to go to bars a lot?"
Su Yi shook his head. "No. Today counts as my second time in a bar. Yesterday was the first."
"..." The corner of Zhang Ting's mouth twitched. "Have you played games like dice, finger guessing, or fifteen-twenty?"
Su Yi considered for a moment, then said, "I'm quite good at dice. Whatever I want to roll comes up. As for finger guessing, I don't know how you play it here, or fifteen-twenty."
"You can teach me. I'll learn right away."
Su Yi had run gambling houses before, so dice were nothing unfamiliar to him. But things like finger guessing probably differed from era to era.
"Keep bragging!" Zhang Ting rolled her eyes. "You can roll whatever number you want?"
Su Yi nodded earnestly. "It's been a while since I last played, but it should be no problem."
"Ha! I don't know about anything else, but you're certainly good at blowing your own trumpet." Zhang Ting picked up a dice cup from a nearby table and set it down in front of Su Yi with a smack. "Roll five ones for me. If you can, I'll double your salary!"