Ruan Qing made up his mind to clear customs within three days just to avoid this dance performance, but he never expected such an unexpected turn of events.
Ruan Qing stiffened and turned around, looking at the short-haired girl who was speaking to him. “What happened to Linglan?”
Before the short-haired girl could respond, Ruan Qing continued, “But my foot is injured, and I can’t dance. Maybe I should see if Linglan can handle it on his own.”
Before Ruan Qing could finish speaking, the short-haired girl shook her head, interrupting him. “Linglan has been taken away by the police; it seems there was a fatal incident.”
“I doubt he’ll be able to come back tonight.”
“But my foot is injured, and the doctor advised me not to engage in strenuous activities for the next few days. I can’t dance either.”
Ruan Qing’s eyelashes trembled slightly, looking hesitant. “Can you talk to the supervisor about replacing me with someone else?”
Ruan Qing walked with a cane, visibly limping, and the short-haired girl naturally noticed.
She hesitated for a moment, also looking reluctant. “You better go talk to him yourself; you know the supervisor’s temperament. Your team’s performance has always been a bit...”
The short-haired girl paused, then continued, “I think it’s a bit precarious; you better prepare early.”
Even though the short-haired girl didn’t finish her sentence, Ruan Qing understood her meaning.
The supervisor’s temper was more than just a problem; he was very strict with their group of employees, often targeting them if things didn’t go his way.
The bar’s supervisor did not just oversee one person; he oversaw quite a few “employees,” and his income mainly came from the commission on their salaries.
If the “performance” was a bit better, the supervisor would give them a good attitude. Unfortunately, Wang Qing’s group had the worst “performance.”
Linglan had a bad temper, often getting into conflicts with customers, which naturally affected their “performance.”
Despite Wang Qing having a face better than most employees, his “performance” was the worst in the group, and no one even asked him to accompany them for drinks. This made the supervisor dislike him greatly.
Every day, there were open and covert attempts to ostracize Wang Qing.
In this bar, the manager’s rules were more significant than anything else.
As long as the rules were not violated, even if an employee was accidentally killed by a customer, no one would care, let alone some minor ostracization.
Wang Qing could only endure it.
The performance was the favorite method for the third type of employees to attract customers. Logically, the supervisor shouldn’t want to exclude others, especially since he always feels that letting Wang Qing perform was a waste of performance slots.
If it wasn’t for the rule that the third type of employees must perform at least once a month, the supervisor might have been able to remove Wang Qing from the performance list.
It’s estimated that the incident of being two hours late today was also exaggerated and reported to the manager by the supervisor. Otherwise, the manager wouldn’t have called him to his office.
But why let him perform a shift tonight?
Didn’t the supervisor want to keep him off the stage every month?
Ruan Qing lowered his eyes and looked at his sprained foot. It couldn’t be because he knew about his injured leg and deliberately scheduled him. Given the supervisor’s personality, it’s quite possible.
If it’s really the case, applying for a replacement might be somewhat unlikely, as the other party was clearly targeting him.
Ruan Qing looked at the silent dance stage, and although he felt the chances were slim, he still wanted to make a last-ditch effort.
“Ding ling ling, ding ling ling.”
Just as Ruan Qing was about to go find the supervisor with his crutches, his phone rang.
It was the supervisor calling.
Ruan Qing answered and, imitating the original owner’s soft tone, said, “Supervisor, I’ve sprained my foot, and I’d like to apply...”
Before Ruan Qing could finish, the supervisor interrupted him.
The supervisor’s cold voice came through the phone, “Linglan has had an accident. You and Linglan are switching shifts. In ten minutes, you’ll replace Linglan in the performance. Prepare yourself.”
“I hope you won’t disappoint me this time. Otherwise, I will directly explain the situation to the manager and remove you from the performance list.”
“Take care of yourself.”
After saying this, the supervisor didn’t give Ruan Qing a chance to speak and hung up.
Ruan Qing held the phone that had been hung up in silence. Obviously, the supervisor was deliberately targeting him, going to great lengths to cancel his performance slot.
The news of his injured foot was likely to have been reported to the supervisor from the beginning when he encountered that young colleague. After all, that colleague had been looking down on Wang Qing while envying his appearance.
Ruan Qing was not afraid of losing the performance slot, but the original owner definitely was. The original owner would probably force himself to perform despite the sprained foot, just to comply with the supervisor’s words.
Ruan Qing looked at the employees dancing on the stage once again and fell into silence.
Wanting not to go on stage to perform was no small matter. Unless truly injured and unable to move, going would be akin to seeking death.
After all, there’s a lurking threat in the shadows, eyeing him as a potential victim. If he was genuinely injured and unable to move, there would be no way to escape the trap set by the culprit.
Alternatively, something unexpected could occur, bringing the entire performance to a halt.
Ruan Qing rapidly considered possibilities, but eventually gave up.
The disturbance would be too great, inevitably alerting the manager.
Even if they couldn’t find out that he was involved, there was a chance everyone present could be implicated. At that point, he wouldn’t be able to leave.
Despite the manager’s seemingly amiable appearance, he was like a smiling tiger known for being ruthless. Incidents of mass punishment were not unheard of.
Ruan Qing couldn’t bring himself to create chaos and shift the blame onto others.
After a few seconds of silence, Ruan Qing, using his crutch, slowly made his way towards the backstage where the dancing was taking place.
Since his foot was injured, no one would suspect him if he stood there without doing much. Being removed from the performance list by the supervisor would be convenient; he wouldn’t have to go on stage again in three days.
People backstage were somewhat surprised to see Ruan Qing with a crutch, but seeing “Rose” written on his work uniform quickly explained everything.
It was probably intentional on the part of their supervisor.
The name ‘Rose’ was well known in the bar, not only because of the name itself, but also because of his unpleasant personality. Many people knew him and were aware of his ‘achievements.’
After understanding this, onlookers withdrew their gazes, and no one came forward to express sympathy for Ruan Qing. It was as if they hadn’t seen him at all.
Ruan Qing paid no attention, staying in the corner, waiting to go on stage.
Such performances occurred only once every three days, with two shows each time. The further toward the outside of the T-shaped stage, the more easily visible one was to the audience. The order of appearance was usually predetermined.
Ruan Qing looked at his position—it was on the outermost edge.
It seemed the supervisor had deliberately planned to embarrass the original owner.
After some thought, Ruan Qing took the position card and approached the staff member that had a position closest to the innermost area, with a conflicted and reluctant look in his eyes. Eventually, he spoke, “Can we exchange performance positions?”
“I’m afraid of accidents; my foot is seriously sprained.”
The innermost area was close to the bar, it’s the drinking area, where there were not only fewer people watching, but it was also difficult to capture what was happening.
So most employees were trying hard not to get that position.
The order was not determined by luck.
After each performance, guests would cast their votes for their favorite performers. These votes counted both as ratings and as income for the employees, since they could be exchanged for wages.
The more votes, the closer to the outside, and the better the position.
The original owner was never popular; with few votes, he always performed in the innermost area.
However, Linglan was different. Despite his difficult temperament, he was very popular in the ‘Huayue’ bar. He always received the most votes in each performance, standing on the outermost part where the audience was.
Ruan Qing also knew that the original owner would be ecstatic to get the outermost position. His actions of changing positions would disrupt his original character setting.
Ruan Qing had a guess in his heart.
It seemed that the character setting was not judged by his preferences, but rather by whether others perceived that he was going out of character.
The original owner had a gloomy and unsociable personality, with hardly any friends, so people in the audience might think that he wanted to change positions because of his foot injury, which could lead to accidents not only affecting the performance but also possibly being questioned by the supervisor.
In the eyes of others, his move to change positions was understandable.
Although everyone was surprised when Ruan Qing asked this question, they just glanced at him. When they saw him holding a crutch, they immediately understood and turned their attention away.
The performer, who was supposed to perform fewer acts due to his lower ranking, happily agreed and immediately swapped positions with Ruan Qing.
There was no rule against performers changing positions in the ‘Huayue’ bar as long as both parties agreed.
Ruan Qing breathed a sigh of relief, standing in the innermost area where hardly anyone paid attention. The situation was much better.
Ten minutes quickly passed, and the previous performers slowly left the stage.
It was now the turn of Ruan Qing and his group.
Ruan Qing made up his mind to clear customs within three days just to avoid this dance performance, but he never expected such an unexpected turn of events.
Ruan Qing stiffened and turned around, looking at the short-haired girl who was speaking to him. “What happened to Linglan?”
Before the short-haired girl could respond, Ruan Qing continued, “But my foot is injured, and I can’t dance. Maybe I should see if Linglan can handle it on his own.”
Before Ruan Qing could finish speaking, the short-haired girl shook her head, interrupting him. “Linglan has been taken away by the police; it seems there was a fatal incident.”
“I doubt he’ll be able to come back tonight.”
“But my foot is injured, and the doctor advised me not to engage in strenuous activities for the next few days. I can’t dance either.”
Ruan Qing’s eyelashes trembled slightly, looking hesitant. “Can you talk to the supervisor about replacing me with someone else?”
Ruan Qing walked with a cane, visibly limping, and the short-haired girl naturally noticed.
She hesitated for a moment, also looking reluctant. “You better go talk to him yourself; you know the supervisor’s temperament. Your team’s performance has always been a bit...”
The short-haired girl paused, then continued, “I think it’s a bit precarious; you better prepare early.”
Even though the short-haired girl didn’t finish her sentence, Ruan Qing understood her meaning.
The supervisor’s temper was more than just a problem; he was very strict with their group of employees, often targeting them if things didn’t go his way.
The bar’s supervisor did not just oversee one person; he oversaw quite a few “employees,” and his income mainly came from the commission on their salaries.
If the “performance” was a bit better, the supervisor would give them a good attitude. Unfortunately, Wang Qing’s group had the worst “performance.”
Linglan had a bad temper, often getting into conflicts with customers, which naturally affected their “performance.”
Despite Wang Qing having a face better than most employees, his “performance” was the worst in the group, and no one even asked him to accompany them for drinks. This made the supervisor dislike him greatly.
Every day, there were open and covert attempts to ostracize Wang Qing.
In this bar, the manager’s rules were more significant than anything else.
As long as the rules were not violated, even if an employee was accidentally killed by a customer, no one would care, let alone some minor ostracization.
Wang Qing could only endure it.
The performance was the favorite method for the third type of employees to attract customers. Logically, the supervisor shouldn’t want to exclude others, especially since he always feels that letting Wang Qing perform was a waste of performance slots.
If it wasn’t for the rule that the third type of employees must perform at least once a month, the supervisor might have been able to remove Wang Qing from the performance list.
It’s estimated that the incident of being two hours late today was also exaggerated and reported to the manager by the supervisor. Otherwise, the manager wouldn’t have called him to his office.
But why let him perform a shift tonight?
Didn’t the supervisor want to keep him off the stage every month?
Ruan Qing lowered his eyes and looked at his sprained foot. It couldn’t be because he knew about his injured leg and deliberately scheduled him. Given the supervisor’s personality, it’s quite possible.
If it’s really the case, applying for a replacement might be somewhat unlikely, as the other party was clearly targeting him.
Ruan Qing looked at the silent dance stage, and although he felt the chances were slim, he still wanted to make a last-ditch effort.
“Ding ling ling, ding ling ling.”
Just as Ruan Qing was about to go find the supervisor with his crutches, his phone rang.
It was the supervisor calling.
Ruan Qing answered and, imitating the original owner’s soft tone, said, “Supervisor, I’ve sprained my foot, and I’d like to apply...”
Before Ruan Qing could finish, the supervisor interrupted him.
The supervisor’s cold voice came through the phone, “Linglan has had an accident. You and Linglan are switching shifts. In ten minutes, you’ll replace Linglan in the performance. Prepare yourself.”
“I hope you won’t disappoint me this time. Otherwise, I will directly explain the situation to the manager and remove you from the performance list.”
“Take care of yourself.”
After saying this, the supervisor didn’t give Ruan Qing a chance to speak and hung up.
Ruan Qing held the phone that had been hung up in silence. Obviously, the supervisor was deliberately targeting him, going to great lengths to cancel his performance slot.
The news of his injured foot was likely to have been reported to the supervisor from the beginning when he encountered that young colleague. After all, that colleague had been looking down on Wang Qing while envying his appearance.
Ruan Qing was not afraid of losing the performance slot, but the original owner definitely was. The original owner would probably force himself to perform despite the sprained foot, just to comply with the supervisor’s words.
Ruan Qing looked at the employees dancing on the stage once again and fell into silence.
Wanting not to go on stage to perform was no small matter. Unless truly injured and unable to move, going would be akin to seeking death.
After all, there’s a lurking threat in the shadows, eyeing him as a potential victim. If he was genuinely injured and unable to move, there would be no way to escape the trap set by the culprit.
Alternatively, something unexpected could occur, bringing the entire performance to a halt.
Ruan Qing rapidly considered possibilities, but eventually gave up.
The disturbance would be too great, inevitably alerting the manager.
Even if they couldn’t find out that he was involved, there was a chance everyone present could be implicated. At that point, he wouldn’t be able to leave.
Despite the manager’s seemingly amiable appearance, he was like a smiling tiger known for being ruthless. Incidents of mass punishment were not unheard of.
Ruan Qing couldn’t bring himself to create chaos and shift the blame onto others.
After a few seconds of silence, Ruan Qing, using his crutch, slowly made his way towards the backstage where the dancing was taking place.
Since his foot was injured, no one would suspect him if he stood there without doing much. Being removed from the performance list by the supervisor would be convenient; he wouldn’t have to go on stage again in three days.
People backstage were somewhat surprised to see Ruan Qing with a crutch, but seeing “Rose” written on his work uniform quickly explained everything.
It was probably intentional on the part of their supervisor.
The name ‘Rose’ was well known in the bar, not only because of the name itself, but also because of his unpleasant personality. Many people knew him and were aware of his ‘achievements.’
After understanding this, onlookers withdrew their gazes, and no one came forward to express sympathy for Ruan Qing. It was as if they hadn’t seen him at all.
Ruan Qing paid no attention, staying in the corner, waiting to go on stage.
Such performances occurred only once every three days, with two shows each time. The further toward the outside of the T-shaped stage, the more easily visible one was to the audience. The order of appearance was usually predetermined.
Ruan Qing looked at his position—it was on the outermost edge.
It seemed the supervisor had deliberately planned to embarrass the original owner.
After some thought, Ruan Qing took the position card and approached the staff member that had a position closest to the innermost area, with a conflicted and reluctant look in his eyes. Eventually, he spoke, “Can we exchange performance positions?”
“I’m afraid of accidents; my foot is seriously sprained.”
The innermost area was close to the bar, it’s the drinking area, where there were not only fewer people watching, but it was also difficult to capture what was happening.
So most employees were trying hard not to get that position.
The order was not determined by luck.
After each performance, guests would cast their votes for their favorite performers. These votes counted both as ratings and as income for the employees, since they could be exchanged for wages.
The more votes, the closer to the outside, and the better the position.
The original owner was never popular; with few votes, he always performed in the innermost area.
However, Linglan was different. Despite his difficult temperament, he was very popular in the ‘Huayue’ bar. He always received the most votes in each performance, standing on the outermost part where the audience was.
Ruan Qing also knew that the original owner would be ecstatic to get the outermost position. His actions of changing positions would disrupt his original character setting.
Ruan Qing had a guess in his heart.
It seemed that the character setting was not judged by his preferences, but rather by whether others perceived that he was going out of character.
The original owner had a gloomy and unsociable personality, with hardly any friends, so people in the audience might think that he wanted to change positions because of his foot injury, which could lead to accidents not only affecting the performance but also possibly being questioned by the supervisor.
In the eyes of others, his move to change positions was understandable.
Although everyone was surprised when Ruan Qing asked this question, they just glanced at him. When they saw him holding a crutch, they immediately understood and turned their attention away.
The performer, who was supposed to perform fewer acts due to his lower ranking, happily agreed and immediately swapped positions with Ruan Qing.
There was no rule against performers changing positions in the ‘Huayue’ bar as long as both parties agreed.
Ruan Qing breathed a sigh of relief, standing in the innermost area where hardly anyone paid attention. The situation was much better.
Ten minutes quickly passed, and the previous performers slowly left the stage.
It was now the turn of Ruan Qing and his group.
