Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

In the evening, at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…

Suddenly, a significant number of people entered the ordinarily quiet and deserted internet cafe. Many young people came in groups of threes and fives to the internet cafe. Other people remained outside, observing and confirming that this was the right place, before pushing the door open.

“Are you sure this is the place? How come there isn’t even a sign?”

“That’s right, this is it.” “What are the rows of computers here for?’

“This isn’t just a bar; you can surf the net here, too.”

“Surf the net…? Why wouldn’t I go to an internet cafe for that? I’m here to drink alcohol.”

“You can also drink alcohol. The cocktails here are much better than ordinary bars. We came here mainly to listen to music! Listen to music!”

“Is it really that good?”

“The resident singer is just different from those in other bars. Just have a listen, and you’ll understand.”

A few young people pushed the door open and entered. The waiters immediately put on smiles and led them to their seats. After handing them the wet hand towels, they courteously asked them for their orders.

Among this group of people, the liveliest was a trendy-looking, young lady. After everyone ordered their drinks, she excitedly explained to the group how she found a treasure like this.

“Do you know how I discovered this place?

“Actually, I passed by this place before. However, when I scanned the menu, I realized that the items sold in here are very expensive. There were very few people in here as well so I decided not to enter.

“When I passed by this place by chance last week, I heard someone singing! I had just gotten off work at the time. I stood outside, listening for a while, before entering. I ordered a drink and listened all the way until the singer ended for the night!

“It was very good. What’s more, he doesn’t try to hype the crowd up. He’s just plain and leisurely. There’s also a bit of melancholy to him. Coupled with the drinks, the atmosphere makes me feel very emotional.

“After coming here several times, I discovered that although this place is expensive, the service is particularly good. All the waiters take very good care of the customers. You don’t even need to shout; all it takes is one glance in their direction, and they will make their way over at once. It’s very comfortable!”

Someone interrupted, “Is that true? Do the waiters know how to read minds?”

The young lady cast a sideways glance at him and said, “Of course, it’s not mind-reading. This just shows that they’re very responsible in doing their job. They keep an eye on the customers the entire time. They notice even the slightest movements and expressions of their customers; once they realize that the customer needs assistance, they would make their way over.

“What’s more, the waiters here do not waste time spouting nonsense. They would not recommend drinks to you or ask you to become a member. They’re very polite. Subsequently, I came here even in the day. I ordered coffee and read books and still felt very satisfied.

“Don’t be anxious; the singer will appear very soon.

“His name is Chen Lei. I heard that he lives nearby. After graduating from high school, he did not study anymore. Instead, he stayed at home and focused on music. I don’t know how this shop managed to dig such a talent out. Quick, look on stage! He’s here, he’s here!”

Chen Lei was holding onto his guitar as he walked up the stage. Applause and cheers could immediately be heard coming from the audience. A girl even shouted, “Chen Lei, I love you!”

Chen Lei blushed. He adjusted his microphone and strummed his guitar a couple of times, acting like he had not heard the confession. There was a low giggle coming from off-stage. There were no pleasantries or greetings. He did not even bother getting familiar with the audience. Chen Lei was not good with words.

He cleared his throat and then began strumming as he sang into the microphone

“The light is out. The moon is the eye of loneliness, looking quietly for people who are having difficulty sleeping[1]…”

A pleasant melody echoed throughout the internet cafe. The audience off-stage sipped their cocktails and quietly basked in this atmosphere.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It’s so different from the original version, but its flavor is so similar.”

“Chen Lei is like this. No matter what he sings, he injects his own style. It is particularly relaxing, and yet on closer inspection, you would realize that you feel a bit sad.”

“It’s great.”

A slightly-aged man took a sip of his alcohol and looked out of the glass panel, into the dimly-lit outdoors. One could only imagine the kind of memories such lighting dug up in his mind. All of a sudden, he looked at the glass of alcohol in his hands in confusion.

“What’s the matter?” His female partner asked.

The man took another sip.

“This alcohol… is real?”

The lady scoffed and said, “Are you spouting nonsense? This place has a real business license. Could they possibly sell fake alcohol to cheat you?”

The man shook his head. “You don’t understand. Many bars these days put fake alcohol in the branded bottles. Alcohol that costs hundreds of yuan is poured out into empty bottles while alcohol that costs about a hundred to two hundred yuan takes its place. Once they are made into cocktails, how many people would be able to tell?

“This is not considered fake alcohol; they are just cheaper alternatives. Fake alcohol will go to your head, and you might even get sent to the hospital after drinking them. However, cheap alternatives would only leave a slightly different taste in your mouth. They will end up in your stomach all the same.”

His lady partner did not seem to believe him. “Are you able to tell?”

The man laughed. “Of course. Alcohol that costs a few hundred yuan and alcohol that costs a hundred to two hundred yuan… they might all be alcohol, but they taste different. Otherwise, why would people spend all that extra money?

“People who know a bit about alcohol would be able to tell the difference.”

He gently swayed the glass in his hands and then looked at Chen Lei, who was singing on stage. “This place is quite interesting. We can ask a couple of old friends to come here one day.”

At the bar counter…

Ma Yang held onto his own glass of alcohol and sipped from it. As he watched Chen Lei perform on stage, he felt moved. “It feels like… he really does sing better than you.”

Zhang Yuan, humble and pleased, said, “That’s right. Brother Ma, are you finally able to tell now?”

Ma Yang shook his head honestly. “I can’t tell, but I can see the results. When you sang, not many people listened to you, and not many people ordered drinks. Now, everyone is listening intently—”.

Zhang Yuan, “…Brother Ma, on account of this glass of alcohol, can you not hurt my heart anymore?”

Ma Yang was a real son of a b*tch. Chen Lei was here as a gift from the heavens; why did he have to keep comparing Zhang Yuan to him?!

“So how are we going to pay him?”

Ma Yang asked a very serious question. Last week, after hearing Zhang Yuan sing, Chen Lei felt strangely confident. He took the initiative to step up onto stage and sing. After he finished singing, the results were obvious. Ma Yang immediately invited him to stay and sing for the week.

If he were satisfied by the end of the week, they would sign a contract. Otherwise, he would give the man a thousand yuan and ask him to leave. Now, the week was almost over. Ma Yang was very pleased with Chen Lei’s performance.

However, there was another problem. That was the problem of remuneration.

“How much are resident singers in bars normally paid?” Ma Yang wanted to see if he could consider the market price for such jobs.

Zhang Yuan was very clear about this. After all, he used to work in this line. “Brother Ma, small bars normally pay their resident singers about three thousand yuan a month. Of course, that’s the remuneration for singers who are not very famous.

“Exactly how much they are paid depends on what tier the bar belongs to, the fame of the singer, and how generous the boss is.

“Some bars have high traffic. In order to rise to fame, many singers agree to sing there for free. On the flip side—if smaller bars want to hire famous singers, they have to be prepared to fork out more money.

“According to Chen Lei’s standard, I think giving him four to five thousand yuan would not be too much. We might even be underpaying him.”

Four to five thousand yuan…

Ma Yang began to hesitate.

“This… it’s not that I don’t want to pay him, but I feel like Chen Lei is not worth that much. The main problem is that our internet cafe is still incurring losses. What do you think of this? Let’s offer him 1,500 yuan as his base salary. The rest will be left to commission.”

Zhang Yuan paused. “Commission? How would that work?”

Ma Yang pointed at the alcohol on the bar counter. “We’ll pay him commission based on our alcohol sales. In the future, we can tell the customers that while he is singing, half of the profits of the alcohol would go to Chen Lei.”

Zhang Yuan sucked in a deep breath. “Brother Ma, giving him half of the profits is a bit too much, right?”

“It’s alright. We don’t sell that much alcohol to begin with…” Ma Yang did not seem too bothered.

Zhang Yuan was momentarily speechless. “That’s true. What’s more, we only sell real alcohol. The profit margin would not be that high. On second thought, it seems acceptable…”

If they followed the model of regular bars, the alcohol would be their main source of profits.

Many bars, nightclubs, KTVs, and the like would take part in a bit of adulteration. Take XO for example; they would keep the empty bottles and add in cheap alcohol before putting it up for sale again. This was very common.

Selling alcohol in this manner would guarantee profits.

However, from the beginning, Boss Pei instructed all of them-time and time again —that the alcohol sold by Fish-Catching Internet Cafe must be real. Selling fake alcohol aside, they were not even allowed to sell a drop of ordinary wine.

They had to sell whatever alcohol they said they were selling.

Therefore, while they were all selling alcohol and Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had included a profit margin in their prices for alcohol, the profits Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was earning could not compare to ordinary bars.

What’s more, given the number of people in the internet cafe each day, they could not sell much alcohol to begin with.

Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment, and then said, “You can make the call, Brother Ma. If you want to pay him based on commission, that works. For all we know, he might help us sell more alcohol.”

Ma Yang slapped the countertop and said, “Alright, that’s decided, then. Once Chen Lei finishes for the night, I will speak to him and settle the terms of the contract.

“If we really follow this method, I have a suggestion,” Zhang Yuan suddenly said, having thought of an idea. “We can come up with a new menu. Next to the prices of all the alcohols, we can put another number in brackets. That number would represent the amount of commission Chen Lei would get.

“Take the Aurora Jungle-Juice, for example. We sell them for sixty yuan a cup. Our cost is about thirty yuan. Add in the place and the salary for the employees; that makes the total cost of each glass about forty yuan. Our profit is twenty yuan. If we give half to Chen Lei, that’s ten yuan.

“We can immediately add a ‘(10)’ next to the 60 on the menu. That way, everybody would know that ten yuan out of this drink goes to paying Chen Lei commission.”

Ma Yang frowned and hesitated. “Wouldn’t everyone be able to guess our profit margin, then?”

Zhang Yuan shook his head. “Brother Ma, even if you don’t write it down, wouldn’t people be able to guess our profit margin? You can find out the price of these alcohols on the internet. Most people who come to bars to drink have a good idea of the bars’ profit margins. If that’s the way the entire industry works, nobody would take these numbers too seriously.

“If we write the amount of commission Chen Lei gets on the menus, it would show how nice we are to our resident singer. We might look very generous.”

A realization dawned on Ma Yang. “Oh, that’s right! That suggestion sounds good; let’s do that!”

[1] These are the lyrics to the song ‘Does Any Song Remind You of Me?’ by Wakin Chau.