The so-called VIP area was actually the outdoor balcony of the bar's middle and upper levels. About a dozen tables with sun umbrellas were set up, offering a perfect view of the entire parking lot from above. It was undoubtedly the best spot to watch the performance.
Compared to squeezing in below and standing on tiptoe to see the show, sitting here was incredibly comfortable and relaxing.
The Blue Lotus Flower bar had reserved a great VIP seat for Lu Chen, at table number 5 near the center. However, the waiter who brought them up mentioned that due to the large number of guests, they'd have to share the table with others instead of having it all to themselves.
Neither Lu Chen nor Li Feiyu had any objections to this.
After the waiter left, Li Feiyu plopped down into his seat, gripping the armrests of his soft chair and twisting his body around in satisfaction. He then grabbed the chilled mint water that had just been served and took a big gulp.
He squinted his eyes, looking down at the stage below where people were still preparing. His expression screamed, *This is awesome, truly awesome!*
Meanwhile, Lu Chen opened up the suitcase he had brought along and took out the tripod, laptop, and other equipment.
"Let me do it!"
Li Feiyu, satisfied after his little indulgence, put down his empty cup on the table and immediately sprang into action.
Setting up for outdoor LiveStreaming was pretty simple. You just needed to connect the camera, microphone, noise filter, and laptop, attach the camera to the tripod, and adjust the shooting and sound pickup angles— then you were all set.
No special skills were required. They connected to the bar's free Wi-Fi, and within minutes, they successfully logged into their Whale TV LiveStreaming channel.
"101, this is 105, do you read me? Respond!" Li Feiyu imitated the tone of a military drama protagonist, seriously shouting into the microphone, "Respond!"
He repeated this three times before the screen finally responded.
"I heard you, you pig!"
"Wow, who's that? His voice is terrible."
"What a terrifying voice!"
"Wait, why is the LiveStream up now? I thought the music night LiveStreaming was supposed to start at 7 p.m.?"
"Looks like a test run. I can see the stage, and it looks huge!"
"Where's Lu Fei? Where's the host?"
"Yeah, where is he?"
Li Feiyu laughed heartily and turned the camera towards Lu Chen.
"Ta-da! Here's our host, the great Lu Fei! Everyone, give a warm welcome!"
Lu Chen chuckled, waved at the camera, and said, "Hello everyone, I'm Lu Fei. We're just testing the equipment for now. The LiveStream will officially start at 7 p.m., so don't miss it!"
Lu Fei's LiveStreaming channel had over 120,000 followers, though not many were online at that moment. However, those who were greeted Lu Chen enthusiastically, with messages flooding the screen.
Aside from greetings, what everyone was most curious about was tonight's LiveStream event.
Lu Chen patiently answered their questions, assuring them that he would indeed be performing. As for what songs he'd be singing, he kept that a secret, promising it would be a surprise.
"I'm so excited! Will it be a new song?"
"I still want to hear My Old Classmate— I could listen to it a hundred times and never get bored!"
"Cinderella! Cinderella! Cinderella! Cinderella! Cinderella!"
"Spamming is rude! Keep up the good work, General Lu!"
"I canceled my date with my girlfriend tonight just to watch Lu Fei's performance!"
"Isn't your girlfriend just your right hand? You were going to bring her along anyway."
"Hahaha!"
*And just like that, the chat went off-topic again o(︶︿︶)o sigh!*
After a few minutes of casual chatting and making sure everything was running smoothly, Lu Chen said goodbye to the fans, promising to see them again at 7 p.m.
"Brother Li, let's go eat!"
Lu Chen checked the time, noting that it was just after 5 p.m. He closed the laptop and said, "I'll treat you to beef brisket clay pot rice on the pedestrian street. The taste is amazing!"
Li Feiyu swallowed a little saliva and rubbed his belly. "I'm starting to feel hungry. Let's go. What about the laptop?"
"Just leave it here," Lu Chen said casually. "No one's going to steal it. There's nothing important on it, right?"
The laptop belonged to Li Feiyu, and it was an old one he had used for years. Even if you gave it away to someone sitting in the VIP area, they might not even want it. As for the microphone and camera, those were even less valuable.
Li Feiyu chuckled, "Oh, there's plenty of important stuff on there— 500GB of files! If it got stolen, that'd be a huge loss!"
Lu Chen was speechless and quickly dragged this mischievous guy out of the bar.
After enjoying a delicious meal of clay pot rice, they returned to the Blue Lotus Flower around 6 p.m.
By this time, the sky had begun to darken, and the lights were turning on, though there weren't many yet.
At the performance venue, at least a thousand audience members had already gathered. They sat on small plastic stools provided by the bar, many of them couples, whispering sweet nothings to each other—much to the envy of all the single people.
The big screen on the stage was playing music videos, with the sound turned down low. Only a few staff members were still bustling around.
Inside the bar, quite a few bands and vagabond singers had arrived, chatting, greeting each other, and drinking.
Lu Chen found his spot, but the Wandering Band and Sister Na still hadn't shown up.
However, there was a new sheet of paper on the table, likely the evening's performance schedule judging by the bold heading.
He didn't pay much attention to it and said to Li Feiyu, "Brother Li, you go back up to the VIP area first. Order whatever you want to drink, it's on me. I'm counting on you for tonight's LiveStreaming!"
"Don't worry!"
Li Feiyu patted his chest and said, "If I don't earn 5T in tips, you can come collect my head!"
Lu Chen didn't know what to say as he sent off his goofy friend.
He sat down in his seat and reached for the performance schedule on the table.
The Blue Lotus Flower's music night not only featured the bar's own vagabond singers but also invited performers from other venues.
The performances weren't pre-rehearsed; the set times were arranged based on the number of bands and vagabond singers. The live performances had no audio enhancements, and some singers even performed unplugged, relying solely on their talent to win over the audience.
Thanks to Chang Wei's generous spending and wide network, Blue Lotus Flower's music nights gained significant fame. They even attracted well-known vagabond singers, and every event brought in people from the showbiz community, including executives and directors from entertainment companies.
Because of this, the order of performances was important. Lu Chen wanted to see where he was in the lineup.
Just as he picked up the schedule, four or five young men approached.
Leading them was a guy in his early twenties, about 1.6 meters tall, sporting a trendy haircut that was all the rage. His fair skin and handsome face gave him a youthful appearance, with a diamond stud in his left ear. His eyes gleamed with arrogance as he looked down his nose at everyone.
This trendy guy walked with a spring in his step, as if there were springs in his shoes, causing the metal pieces on his denim jacket to jingle loudly. A thick silver chain hung from his waist to his pant leg.
He stopped in front of Lu Chen, chewing gum, and asked, "Are you from Daylily Bar?"
Lu Chen, unimpressed by the rude tone, remained seated and nodded slightly.
"You're Lu Chen, right?"
The trendy guy smirked mockingly and said, "I heard you're pretty good at playing the guitar, and you're quite full of yourself. Well, seeing you now, I guess it's true. Know who I am?"
Lu Chen slowly stood up and responded calmly, "What if I do, and what if I don't?"
Lu Chen wasn't one to seek trouble, but he certainly wasn't afraid of it either.
Although he didn't know why this guy was provoking him, the idea that Lu Chen would just take it quietly was laughable!
The trendy guy was startled and instinctively stepped back two paces.
Standing over 1.8 meters tall, Lu Chen had a clear height advantage. And thanks to his consistent workout routine, even though he hadn't yet built a muscular physique, he exuded a sense of strength and confidence.
In this face-off, Lu Chen completely dominated the situation.
Noticing the smirk on Lu Chen's face, the trendy guy, embarrassed by his own cowardice, yelled, "What? You wanna fight?"
His companions, standing behind him, all wore unfriendly expressions.
Lu Chen smiled faintly and said, "Fight? If we were outside, I'd be happy to oblige anytime. But here? That's out of the question."
After all, this was the Blue Lotus Flower, owned by boss Chang Wei.
Who would dare cause trouble here?
"That's smart of you!"
A few people nearby had noticed the commotion and were watching. The trendy guy, realizing he couldn't escalate things further, shouted with false bravado, "We'll see, you'll be crying soon enough!"
He and his companions left, but after a few steps, he suddenly turned around and made a throat-slitting gesture towards Lu Chen.
What a brat!
Lu Chen couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. Whose kid was this, anyway?
(End of the chapter)
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