Chapter 7

“How dare you laugh!”

“Do you how miserable you’ll be now? My cousin is not kind. Since you’ve offended her today she’ll have you suffer in the future!” Chen Jianhao said with a serious expression on his face.

Lu Chen saw the seriousness on Chen Jianhao’s face, but he had no fear in his heart. Instead, he grinned and said, “Boss, you’d allow me to sign that contract?”

“Sign or don’t sign, it’s your decision…”

Fanning his hand Chen Jianhao added, “From now own you’re a resident at Forgotten Worries bar!”

Lu Chen rejoiced, “Thank you boss!”

Previously he was a singer at the lower end of the hierarchy with no guaranteed rewards. If one was lucky you’d be able to make some money from tips. However, there was no guarantee that you’d be able to sing a song every night.

Although there’s no fixed salary, a resident singer is different. You are guaranteed to have time to play and a part of the rewards were increased to 70%. There was also the possibility to go to other bars to perform.

Compared being a part-timer, becoming a resident would greatly increase Lu Chen’s income and he’d no longer need to serve customers.

“Continue to sing…”

Chen Jianhao passed Lu Chen a beer and encouraged him.  “As long as you maintain your current level of singing and come up with a few originals I believe you’ll become the first singer to walk out of her being well-known!”

Chen Jiahao never said that to the other singers in the bar, even if they were Zhang Nana or Qin Hanyang. Both of which were famous and much more qualified than Lu Chen.

He’s much more optimistic about Lu Chen’s future prospects than Su Xiaomei.

Lu Chen’s heart was so moved that he took a bear guzzled it down quickly.

He set the empty bottle down and wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth before saying, “Boss, one day i’ll purchase a share of Forgotten Worries no matter how much it is worth!”

Shocked at first Chen Jianhao swiftly smiled, “Very well, when you do you’ll become the little boss, hahaha!”

He saw the seriousness in Lu Chen’s expression and wasn’t planning on forgetting what he said.

However, Chen Jianhao himself wasn’t too serious. There were a lot of young and talented people in the capital. How many of them really make it big? Most of them stay unknown and eventually vanish.

Pointing his finger Chen Jianhao said, “A customer is looking for you, hurry and go!”

Looking back Lu Chen saw several customers he knew waving at him.

Unless you were famous there was no bar singer that would refuse to talk with the customer. They’d talk about music, life, and dreams while drinking.

Most of the customer who comes to Forgotten Worries bar are good people, therefore he wasn’t worried about what they wanted to talk about.

Lu Chen loves the atmosphere when he works here.

“Then If you’d excuse me…”

Hesitating for a second Lu Chen asked, “Boss is tonight’s reward divided between the resident singers?”

Chen Jianhao furiously said, “Get out!”

Lu Chen hung his head low.

…..

When he came out of Forgotten Worries bar it was nearly midnight.

In the capital of Beijing, the night was cool was the wind blew. Feeling the cold breeze on his body caused Lu Chen to shrink his head and almost let out a sneeze. The temperature inside the bar and outside was very different.

But his hands felt hot.

The source of the heat was the forty-seven hundred yuan bills sitting inside his jacket pocket.

While he might have become a resident singer at Forgotten Worries bar, Lu Chen still continues to be a waiter.

From the cashier’s elder sister’s mouth, Lu Chen knew that Xiao Gao had been fired by the boss.

The reason being that there was no sound from the audio room due to him and fatty, letting Lu Chen’s natural voice flow out.

Lu Chen felt like laughing at him. He is not some narrow-minded villain, but he’s also no saint. Seeing a guy who hated him get fired, how could he not be happy?

While that was nice, it wasn’t as good as the forty-seven new banknotes in his pockets.

A third of the money came from his time spent as a waiter and the rest came from tonight’s share. A resident singers reward of 70% really was not a joke!

Chen Jianhao is a great boss. The requirements for the employees might be very strict, but the treatment isn’t bad. Not to mention a resident singer’s rewards were settled on the same night.

Lu Chen’s been working at Forgotten Worries for more than half a year, but this was his biggest extra income!

And this was just the beginning!

Lu Chen was full of hope for his future life. The darkness and sorrow that had been hung over his head suddenly vanished. He stepped towards the subway station.

He felt like a teenager running.

On the last subway train at midnight, Lu Chen returned home.

He took a shower and went to bed.

There were no dreams that night and at 6:30 in the morning Lu Chen woke up.

Working two jobs that kept him busy for 15 hours a day, he only had two days off every month.

Today was one of the days he could rest – Sunday. While he could have slept in, he was already used to waking up with his bodily alarm. Opening his eyes and looking at the gray cement on the ceiling he felt all his drowsiness vanish.

Waking up he was a bit afraid that everything he acquired was just a dream and would disappear.

The strange memories emerged in his mind quickly causing all his worries to vanish.

Getting up Lu Chen put on his clothes and the worn-out sneakers. He left the basement after rushing to finish his cleaning.

At this time, other people are still sleeping and he could hear the sound of snoring through the walls. Sleeping on a Sunday at noon in Beijing was the greatest enjoyment for all the drifting ants.

Out in the neighborhood, Lu Chen crossed the road to the river and ran forward along the river bank.

He’s too busy working two jobs that he doesn’t have much time. Previously he had a habit of doing morning exercises and run to KFC.

Today, he just wants to run otherwise he’d feel uneasy.

Right now the sky was bright and the river bank was still covered with thin smog. There are many people that exercise early mornings on the trails and flowerbeds on the side of the road. Except most of them are old people.

Several bird nest sat on the tree’s while the birds would often make sweet tweeting noises.

After a quick ten minute run, Lu Chen’s physical strength was consumed. There was sweat on his forehead, his breathing became heavy and his legs felt like they were stuck to the ground.

Due to the lack of long-term exercise, his body became like this, or else he’d be able to work out for longer.

There was a voice in Lu Chen’s mind urging him on, encouraging him, and telling him to continue.

For his future, he needs to have a strong and healthy body!

With the voice’s support pushing him forward, Lu Chen continued to run with his teeth clenched.

He’s still young, and being young is his biggest assets so anything is possible.

When it was nearly noon Lu Chen returned to his home.

Naturally, he didn’t exercise for the whole morning, he wasted some time on trivial matters. For instance, he put the money he earned last night on a bank card and went to a nearby mall to pick out some cheap sportswear and sneakers. Afterward, he ran to the supermarket to buy his daily necessities.

Running back and forth at full speed caused Lu Chen’s clothes to be soaked in sweat. Although it was dried up now, he felt uncomfortable in these clothes.

However, he did not really care about changing his clothes or bathing right away. The first thing he did was turn on his computer and transferred 4000 yuan that he deposited to his bank to his mother Fang Hao and his sister Lu Xue.

There was only a little more than 300 yuan left in his pocket.

However, Lu Chen’s not worried because he’s hopeful of the future!

Once the transfer was completed, Lu Chen seemed to have finally settled a big problem that his whole body became relaxed. The fatigue and soreness crept up all across his body.

Today the amount he exercised was already beyond the limits of his past self. Taking off his smelly clothes Lu Chen is ready to go to the bathroom for his shower.

Ring! Ring!

His phone that was on the desk started to ringer and the caller light flashed non-stop.

Lu Chen reached out and answered the phone without even looking at who was calling.

“Brother, what are you doing?”

The familiar voice of his sister Lu Xue came from the other side of the phone, it was sweet like a maiden.

Lu Xue is seventeen years old this year and attends a high school in Lu Chen’s hometown.

Lu Chen replied, “I am going to take a bath then have dinner!”

Lu Xue couldn’t help but ‘hmm’ and question Lu Chen. “Brother are you rich if not then why’d you give me money?”

Smiling Lu Chen replied, “I earned more than 4000 yesterday, after transferring 3000 to mother I gave you 500 for pocket change. Isn’t it nice? Come, tell me that i’m the best brother in the world!”

“Go to hell!”

At first, Lu Chen imagined his sister saying, “You’re the best, but why’d you give me so much? Mom could have given me some pocket money. Also, you shouldn’t work so hard, instead pay attention to your body…”

After hearing her reply his image of her shattered and he couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

Before the accident at home, his sister Lu Xue was like a little princess that loved the whole family. Although 500 yuan is not enough for her to buy two pairs of shoes, where’s the love?

“Well, study hard and call me if you need anything.”

After chatting for a few minutes and making sure the situation at home was alright Lu Chen ended his conversation with his sister.

He rushed into the small bathroom and closed the door.

Turning the faucet he let to cool water pass through the shower head and fall onto his body.

Closing his eyes the memories of the past appeared in his mind.