"William, you say you can drink and converse well, but I've only heard you say it; I haven't seen your actual abilities yet. So there will be a three-day trial period. If your performance satisfies me during these three days, I'll let you be the sales manager," Maria said.
Maria didn't entirely believe what William said. In the nightclub, she had seen all sorts of people, including those like William, but many of them were spent after drinking continuously for a week.
William nodded and asked, "So my task is to sell alcohol and accompany the guests, encouraging them to spend?"
As he asked this, William realized the nature of his job. Wasn't this the same as the job those girls used to do as drinking companions? Only the gender had changed. This job seemed quite challenging, something he had never done before.
Maria squinted and smiled, "You can understand it that way, so your monthly salary depends on your abilities. If your tolerance for alcohol isn't good and the young ladies get you drunk and take you to a hotel room, I won't interfere."
Evelyn, standing nearby, was stunned by what she was hearing. She came to work here to earn some money while studying, and although she knew bars could be chaotic, she expected some regulation at least. Listening to Maria and William's conversation, she realized this bar must be pretty wild. It wasn't just women who were unsafe here; even men were at risk.
"Maria, I..." Evelyn began.
"Evelyn, you don't have to worry about these problems," Maria interrupted. "I have rules here. Since you applied to be a waitress, I absolutely won't have you accompany anyone drinking, and no customer will trouble you. Like I said, I'll look out for you."
She looked directly at Evelyn's concerned face and said, "Different jobs, different responsibilities. You'll only be responsible for serving drinks to the guests, or you can be a greeter if you prefer."
"Okay," Evelyn finally said, her last doubts dispelled. Maria's decisive and confident manner made her feel reassured.
"William, I have a few friends coming tonight for drinks, and the tables are already reserved. You'll be responsible for accompanying them, okay?" Maria smiled, "First, I want to test your drinking ability. Don't worry about tonight; even if you can't keep up, my friends won't make it hard for you."
William didn't hesitate, saying, "Sure."
He was now eager to adapt to his new life and even briefly wondered what if the female guests tonight were unattractive? He supposed he would just have to endure it.
He considered the analogy of courtesans in brothels, who had no say in choosing their customers. However, even there, top-ranking courtesans had the privilege to select customers.
Since this was William's first job, he wanted to excel at it.
"Maria, what do I have to achieve to pick my customers?" William asked outright.
Maria stared at him, pausing for a moment before saying, "If you can get my table of friends happily drunk tonight, I'll allow you to choose one table of customers each day."
She hadn't taken William's question seriously. Her wealthy friends, regulars in the nightlife, could play hard, downing dozens of beers, whiskies, and wines. She expected they might have William vomiting by the end of the night.
"You two, go change into your work clothes," Maria said, leading Evelyn and William to the back.
She handed Evelyn a simple employee dress and William a small suit.
"You can change in the rest room."
Maria left them, and other bar staff began to arrive. When William emerged in his suit, Maria couldn't help but look him over. This young man was excessively handsome, probably able to enchant wealthy women with his face alone.
Though only twenty, something about his demeanor made him seem like a worldly-wise man, with eyes that seemed to hide galaxies, pulling people in. His features were flawless, with no detectable imperfections.
At this moment, Maria's heart was racing a bit.
She really felt like she had struck gold today.
The two people who came in for the job interviews, one was calm and refined, almost ethereal like a fairy, and the other was handsome and gentlemanly, enough to overshadow any man in the world.
At this moment, Maria genuinely wanted to cultivate William. If this young man could really drink as much as he claimed, he might actually become a money-spinner for the bar.
Having run the bar for so many years, Maria understood one truth: men pursue women for the novelty, and perhaps lose interest after sleeping with them.
But if a woman becomes infatuated with a man, it's like she has lost her mind. And Maria knew many rich women. If these wealthy women were beguiled by William, the more he refused to sleep with them, the more they would desire him.
Women's spending power is the most terrifying thing!
"Maria, where did you recruit this handsome young man?" One of the girls working there started to eye William.
"Hello, my name is William, today's my first day at work, please take care of me." William had learned this line online just today.
The girl giggled and said, "William, don't worry, big sister will take good care of you from now on."
"Don't scare him off," Maria shot her a glance, then asked William, "Have you been to bars often before?"
William shook his head, "No, today is only the second time I've been in a bar, counting yesterday as the first."
"..." Maria's mouth twitched, and she asked, "Have you played games like dice, poker, Beer Pong, etc.?"
William pondered for a moment and said, "I'm quite good at dice, I can roll whatever I want. As for poker, I don't know how you play it here, nor Beer Pong."
"You can teach me; I'll learn quickly."
William had run a casino before, so he was no stranger to dice, but poker and other things might be different due to the different times.
"Blow it out your ear!" Maria rolled her eyes, "You can roll dice and get whatever you want?"
William nodded seriously, "Although I haven't played for a while, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Heh! I don't know about the rest, but your bragging ability is quite good." Maria took a pair of dice cups from a nearby table and slammed them in front of William, "Roll five ones for me. If you can do it, I'll double your salary!"