I didn’t pay much attention to CC’s suggestion, still immersed in the scene with Jian Wei just now, until CC slapped me discontentedly, bringing me back to reality.

“Zhao Yang, are you listening to me?”

I habitually lit a cigarette before replying, “You said Mi Cai is coming over, I heard you.”

CC asked again, “What about the second part?”

“Was there more?”

Le Yao spoke for CC, “CC just said that Mi Cai is the CEO of Zhuomei Shopping Center and also holds a master’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She must have insightful views on business marketing. We can consult her later to see if she has any good suggestions.”

I nodded to indicate that I understood.

Finally, CC asked with confusion, “Zhao Yang, what’s wrong with you? You went out for a while and came back like a different person… like you’re not all there!”

Ignoring CC’s confusion, I took a deep drag on my cigarette, then took out the bank card Jian Wei had given me from my pocket and handed it to Le Yao, “There’s 500,000 in this card. You take it first, and I’ll figure out the rest.”

Everyone looked at me in surprise, and finally Le Yao asked, “Who lent this to you?”

I didn’t want to tell everyone that it was Jian Wei who lent it to me. After a long silence, I said to Le Yao, “A friend, don’t ask who, the money is clean.”

Le Yao finally nodded and took the bank card from my hand, “Zhao Yang, tell your friend not to worry, I will definitely pay this money back.”

I reminded Le Yao again, “If you can pay it back, that’s great, but if you can’t, don’t force it. I’ll figure it out with you.”

As we were talking, Mi Cai walked in from the entrance with her handbag. Because there were few people, she spotted us sitting in the corner right away and walked over.

CC gave up her seat for Mi Cai. Mi Cai put her bag on the table and looked around. The cold atmosphere of the bar brought a hint of sympathy to her face.

Not wanting the atmosphere to be too heavy, I smiled and said to Mi Cai, “What would you like to drink? Let Le Yao treat you.”

“Beer.”

Mi Cai’s answer surprised me, so I asked, “I thought you didn’t like to drink?”

Mi Cai glanced at the stage and said, “I want to sing later.”

“Is there a necessary connection between drinking beer and singing?” Robben also asked in surprise.

I laughed and answered for Mi Cai, “She’s imitating CC. Indeed, those who are near ink get stained!”

CC, draping her arm over Mi Cai’s shoulder, laughed, “Darling, do you want me to light a cigarette for you later? I smoke too!”

Mi Cai just smiled at CC’s teasing, and Le Yao called a waiter to order a beer for Mi Cai.

Under everyone’s gaze, Mi Cai picked up her beer and took a sip, but frowned. It seemed she really wasn’t used to drinking. She put down her glass and asked Le Yao, “Has the bar’s business always been like this?”

“Except for the first few days of opening, it’s been like this.” Le Yao answered.

CC asked Mi Cai with concern, “Darling, is there any way to save Le Yao’s bar?”

Mi Cai was silent for a moment before saying, “To be honest, it’s difficult! … The bar itself doesn’t have a big problem, the main issue is that this commercial street hasn’t formed a commercial climate… and I can’t predict when this street will develop.”

CC looked disappointed, while I nodded, because Mi Cai’s analysis was in line with my judgment. But to change the overall marketing environment is too difficult for us who have no funds.

Le Yao, who had been silent all along, finally asked Mi Cai, “Do you mean that unless this commercial street develops, the bar is doomed?”

Mi Cai shook her head, “Not necessarily… but if we change the business strategy, there might be a glimmer of hope, right, Zhao Yang?”

I nodded, of course agreeing with Mi Cai’s words. But changing the business strategy means repackaging the bar, which would incur a lot of costs. It’s too early to talk about changing the business strategy when we haven’t even solved the debt problem.

Mi Cai picked up her beer again and took a sip. When she put down her glass, I said to her, “Didn’t you say you wanted to sing just now? We’re all waiting for your performance!”

CC chimed in, “Darling, you’ve never sung in my restaurant before, why are you so interested today?”

Mi Cai looked at me but didn’t say anything. I pointed at myself and asked in surprise, “Does it have something to do with me?”

Mi Cai just smiled without saying a word. I looked at her fingers and sure enough, her nails were cut. It seemed she was indeed prepared today.

Mi Cai said to Robben, “Can I borrow your guitar?”

Robben nodded and handed his valuable Fender guitar to Mi Cai. After thanking him, Mi Cai walked towards the stage with the guitar.

Because the bar wasn’t doing well, there was no band, so Mi Cai would be playing and singing by herself, which was a real test of skill. I couldn’t help but wonder if she could handle it.

Mi Cai first tested the sound of the guitar, closing her eyes as if recalling the sheet music, then she strummed the strings. From this alone, it was clear that her finger technique was very skilled. I was curious to see what song she would sing.

After a few notes, CC and I exchanged smiles. The first song Mi Cai sang in front of us was Cheer Chen’s “Posture of the Flowers”. It was a very fresh and light song, although it didn’t quite match Mi Cai’s indifferent temperament, we were still looking forward to it.

Not only us, but the few customers in the bar also put down their glasses, looking expectantly at Mi Cai who was about to perform. After all, it was rare to see such a beautiful woman, let alone one who could play the guitar. If her voice was also good, she would be a gem among gems. At least in the entire Chinese music scene, there were only a handful of female singers who possessed these three qualities!

The song “Posture of the Flowers” flowed from Mi Cai’s lips. Her voice was clear and delicate, lacking the roughness and graininess of CC’s voice, but it was very clean. During the performance, she didn’t use any techniques to dramatize the song, which made it seem even more natural and intoxicating.

CC, watching Mi Cai on the small stage, sighed, “Is there really such a perfect woman in this world? God is too biased, it seems all the favor has been given to her.”

Even the always proud Robben nodded in agreement with CC. However, I felt a bit bitter inside. God was not biased, they probably didn’t know about Mi Cai’s background. Although she was beautiful, wealthy, and intelligent, she was ultimately a lonely woman without the warmth of a family!

Mi Cai finally finished singing Cheer Chen’s “Posture of the Flowers”. Although there weren’t many people in the audience, the applause was very enthusiastic. The few customers were not satisfied and strongly requested Mi Cai to sing another song, but she shook her head, indicating that she wouldn’t sing anymore.

Mi Cai returned to us and handed the guitar back to Robben. Robben gave her a thumbs up and praised, “Your playing skills are very good, you can definitely rival CC.”

This was not an exaggeration from Robben. During Mi Cai’s performance, her use of guitar techniques such as single-finger arpeggios, multi-finger arpeggios, strumming, right-hand muting, and rolling… was masterful. Saying she could rival CC was not an exaggeration at all.

In response to Robben’s praise, Mi Cai just smiled. CC put her arm around her shoulder and said, “Mi (CC’s nickname for Mi Cai), you must come to my restaurant when you have time, you’re amazing!”

Mi Cai smiled and said, “I will.”

CC nodded, and our mood lightened a bit after Mi Cai’s first performance. We all raised our glasses and clinked them together.

After putting down her glass, Mi Cai took out her handbag and handed a check with a filled-in amount to Le Yao, saying, “Here’s a million, you can first use it to pay off the bar’s debts. Zhao Yang will help you with the remaining management issues.”

Mi Cai’s sudden action surprised us. Could this be her main purpose for coming to the bar today?