Musheng got up early in the morning, feeling refreshed.
Today he was going to work, and he felt a bit excited, but he had to settle for breakfast outside, because Mo Yao had been up late last night playing games. When Musheng woke up this morning, she was completely oblivious to it, sleeping like a log in a very ungraceful manner, spread-eagled with her head twisted almost ninety degrees and suspicious traces of drool at the corner of her mouth.
Mo Yao was truly testing Musheng's patience every minute.
After washing up, Musheng gently closed the door.
The morning sun wasn't too harsh yet, Musheng ate a basket of soup dumplings and drank a bowl of porridge at the base of the apartment building, and that was breakfast sorted.
After eating his fill, Musheng arrived at the internet cafe in a good mood, right on time for his 8 a.m. shift.
Probably because Zhao Junjie had given prior notice yesterday, the female cashier noticed him as soon as he entered the internet cafe. She came over with a smile, "Junjie said you should just go up to the second floor when you arrive, and by the way, my name is Zhang Yingyan, but you can call me Yan Zi."
Musheng nodded, "Musheng."
Zhang Yingyan looked momentarily surprised, then quickly recovered and led Musheng to the second floor.
At this time, the second floor was empty except for a few tireless people still battling away at their computers. The vast space was only filled with the sound of the vacuum cleaner operated by the cleaning lady.
There was also just a young man at the bar, who was playing a game on the computer there. Seeing Musheng, he immediately threw down his headphones and cheerfully waved at Musheng, "Hey, hey lady, come here."
Musheng walked over to see him fussing with the master computer, babbling incessantly, "Lady, I am barely hanging on here, I need to go sleep. Junjie asked me to show you the basics of managing memberships and making cards, those who want to add game credits can wait till noon. Remember, lady, you must check ID, minors are not allowed..."
After a bit of instruction, Musheng got a good grip on how to operate the master computer and learned that the young man handing over to her was called Tang Jiaqi, a very straightforward guy, just a bit too chatty...
"I'm off, lady. You need to hold the fort, lady. If anyone causes trouble, don't be scared, no one dares to make too much of a scene here... I'm really going now, lady. If you have any problems, there's a number stuck on the bar, you can find Junjie—or find me..." until a man surfing the net on the side couldn't take it any longer and took off his headphones to laugh and curse at Tang Jiaqi, "Hurry up and get lost!"
Probably a regular, Tang Jiaqi just chuckled and said a few more words before leaving to sleep. After he left, Musheng sat in front of the master computer, zoning out, when the man surfing the net turned to look at her, asking curiously, "How old are you?"
"Eighteen." Still in the prime of youth.
"Heh, really young."
He raised his eyebrows slightly and then continued playing his game with his headphones on, but added lastly, "You can ask me if there's anything you don't understand. I've been here long enough to pretty much know everything."
Musheng didn't respond but just pursed her lips and smiled.
By nine o'clock, the second floor began to fill up, most of the internet users, surprised to see a new cashier and network manager, especially a woman, appeared to be regulars.
Some of them even teased Musheng a bit while waiting to make their cards, but Musheng didn't react or show any displeasure, just smiling lightly. These people could only take small verbal liberties, she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her annoyed, especially since she was just there to work.
However, this place indeed differed from the typical internet cafe, and although people joked a few words here, they weren't overly annoying. It wasn't that they were self-aware, rather, it seemed like they were wary of something.
Being able to make a group of Capital City's social youths feel apprehensive, the owner of this internet cafe was likely someone formidable.
Guarding the internet cafe was monotonous, so Musheng switched on a domestic soap opera to pass the time. Although the production was somewhat tacky, it was a fresh experience for Musheng who had never watched these dramas before.
...
"Hey, Miss, why bother? It's just lending the place for shooting a scene, and they even paid a reward. It's just clearing the place for half a day, maybe there's no need to clear at all. Why can't it be done?"
"I don't care, Empire is my territory, and I won't let those messy drama crews film here…"
Suddenly, there was noisy clamor from the staircase. Musheng listened and the male voice sounded a bit like Zhao Junjie's from last night. He immediately looked up and saw Zhao Junjie accompanying a stylishly dressed, beautiful girl coming over. She wore a white blouse and sky-blue pleated skirt paired with simple flat canvas shoes—a peculiar combination that somehow harmonized incredibly well on her—Musheng immediately knew why—it was all because of the face!
"Stop arguing, I won't consider it, hmph... hey, who is this? Where is Little Fat?"
The girl had shoulder-length curly hair that made her face seem only as big as a palm, with a refreshing beauty like limpid water lotus, her eyes brimming with a brightness, evoking an aura described just like in television—somewhat ethereal.
Her voice, clear and crisp, was like pearls falling onto a Jade Plate. She was talking to Zhao Junjie when she suddenly looked surprised upon seeing Musheng behind the bar.
Zhao Junjie also spotted Musheng and immediately came over to introduce, "Didn't you say Little Fat and the others couldn't adjust their schedules and you were short-staffed? So I hired someone, though she's a girl, but that won't upset you, right? Let me introduce you—this is Musheng. Musheng, this is the internet cafe BOSS, Xiao Ke…"
"Xiao Ke!"
The girl said with a stern face, Zhao Junjie shrugged and sighed, "Xiao Ke then, Xiao Ke, don't get so worked up." Then he half-covered his mouth with his palm and cheekily winked at Musheng, "Actually, it should be with another Ke…"
"Zhao Junjie!"
Xiao Keke stamped her foot in annoyance and glared at him. Musheng raised an eyebrow; even though he didn't know why Xiao Keke seemed unhappy by her appearance, he still had some memory of her.
Naturally, Musheng didn't know Xiao Keke, but she was famous—because she was a girl from the Xiao Family.
In Capital City, only a few esteemed families existed; in his previous life, he had dealt quite a bit with them.
Among them, the Xiao family was primarily business-oriented, having a natural talent for commerce that sprang up in wartime and had since accumulated unimaginable wealth, with an extensive network of connections, truly Capital City's most substantial legitimate wealthy family, such that even the media dared not publish any small news about the Xiao Family.
Xiao Keke was the youngest daughter of the current generation of the Xiao family. Musheng remembered her because the elderly lady of the Xiao family was prolific, having three sons. In this generation of sons, each had one son; the third child of the family even had three sons. The ideology of favoring males over females was impossible in the Xiao family, so naturally, they longed for a daughter.
Xiao Keke was born to the third elder of the Xiao family and was two years younger than her youngest uncle. Being the youngest of the family and a girl, she was exceedingly doted on, even her name was a rare repeated character.
Musheng had heard that Xiao Keke was raised abroad from a young age and was supposed to be eighteen this year. He hadn't expected her to return and start fussing with an internet cafe, much less that he would end up working beneath her.