Internet Cafe Opening

At 7:20 a.m., the Mercedes-Benz van turned into Wenhui Road in Songjiang University Town.

Ye Chen stopped in a marked parking space 200 meters away from Tianqiong Internet Cafe, turned off the engine, and got out of the car.

There aren't many people on the commercial street yet.

The breakfast stall had its shutter door half-open, steam rising from the steamer. The milkman rode his bicycle close to the curb, the plastic basket on the back of his bike rattling loudly. Most of the other shops were closed.

A crowd had already gathered at the entrance of Sky Dome Internet Cafe.

A red inflatable archway spans the sidewalk, with blowers whirring along the wall, and several lines of bright yellow lettering pasted on either side:

"Sky Dome Internet Cafe Grand Opening".

The floor-to-ceiling windows were sparkling clean, and two large red posters, each about half a person's height, stood out starkly on the door:

"No smoking throughout, high-end competition" and "Free internet access for 90 minutes with your ID card".

An hour before the gates opened at 8:30, a dozen students had already crowded at the bottom of the steps. Some had bags slung at an angle, while others had half a bun in their mouths and were peering intently through the glass with their hands pressed against it.

Ye Chen tugged at the brim of his hoodie, avoiding the group of people in front of the door, and turned into the fire escape in the back alley.

Push open the safety door, and the hinges spring up behind you.

Two rows of people stood sparsely in the middle of the hall.

Zhao Peng, dressed in a black stand-up collar work uniform with the collar open, was gesturing and pointing at people with his hands on his hips. Ma Xiaodong was standing in front of him, and a dozen or so cashiers, network administrators, and cleaners were dressed neatly. In the last row, four unfamiliar students stood huddled together, their name tags still wrapped in plastic, looking uneasy.

As soon as the door hinges clicked, Zhao Peng's eyes lit up: "Damn, Chenzi, you finally showed yourself! Look at me! I've been peeling off a layer of skin these past few days, do I look presentable?"

He spread his arms and spun halfway around, his employee badge slapping against his chest.

Ma Xiaodong also stepped forward, his eyes slightly dark, clutching a walkie-talkie: "President Ye, we've tested everything, the machines, the cold storage, and the ice maker in the water bar are all working fine."

He lowered his voice and gestured with his chin toward the four part-time workers behind him: "I've explained the rules for the part-time workers, but newbies are prone to getting flustered. I'll have experienced employees mentor them one-on-one later, so that we don't end up scrambling when people come in."

Ye Chen walked over the bar, wiping the quartz countertop with the back of his hand, but no dust was on it.

He turned around and glanced at the two rows of people. The young people straightened their backs a bit because of his gaze, and a girl in the back row was quietly pulling down the hem of her work clothes.

Several dark figures had already pressed themselves against the outside glass, peering eagerly inside.

"Once the door opens, it'll definitely pour in, so don't panic." Ye Chen didn't launch into a long explanation; he simply tapped the edge of the bar. "Manager Ma has already covered everything else, so I'll just emphasize two points."

"First, ID cards must be scanned. Don't let anyone who borrows someone else's ID, or who looks young and doesn't have their ID with them, even if they are the King of Heaven himself. We'll open for business and the police will raid our place the next day. Twenty thousand yuan is a small matter, but we can't afford to lose face."

Several network administrators nodded quickly: "Understood, Mr. Ye."

"Secondly, regardless of whether they're a rich guy spending a thousand yuan or a student just trying to freeload for an hour and a half, don't roll your eyes when you're pouring barley tea." Ye Chen glanced at the clearly marked red and white "No Smoking" sign in the corner. "As for cigarettes, no matter who lights one, even if it's just a cigarette butt, politely ask them to put it out. If you encounter someone being unreasonable or rude..."

Zhao Peng rolled up his sleeves: "Just knock them down and throw them out!"

"Shut up." Ye Chen glanced at him sideways. "This is a society governed by law. What are you doing? Just lock his phone from the back end, return the few dollars left on his card to him, and ask him to leave. We're running a business, don't act like we're running a brothel."

Zhao Peng awkwardly lowered his arm and muttered, "I was just trying to make things easier for you."

The young women working part-time below couldn't help but purse their lips and suppress their laughter, instantly easing the tension in the room.

Ye Chen casually pulled out a thick stack of gold-embossed red envelopes from his pocket, weighed them in his hand, and said, "Everyone has worked hard today. This is a lucky start; everyone who sees it gets a share."

The veteran employee smiled and stepped forward to accept it, saying, "Thank you, General Manager Ye."

When it was the turn of the four part-time students in the back row, they took the flyer, squeezed the cover, their fingers trembling. Inside was a crisp hundred-yuan bill. These days, handing out flyers on the street only earned forty or fifty yuan a day. Before the store even opened, they had two days' wages in their pockets. The students' originally reserved faces immediately lit up with their eyes, and their backs straightened a bit.

Zhao Peng stuffed the red envelope into his back pocket, slapped it loudly, and put his arm around Ye Chen's shoulder, chuckling, "What kind of restaurant are you treating tonight? Let me make it clear, I'm not doing this without seafood."

"Eat at a street food stall, take it or leave it." Ye Chen laughed and nudged him with his elbow.

……

The steps outside were packed with people, and bicycles were parked haphazardly along the roadside. Two of them were even leaning against camphor trees without any kickstands.

The students huddled together in twos and threes in the wind, sipping soy milk through straws and making a lot of noise.

"Damn it, what are you doing?! You stepped on my shoe!"

"Old Chen, is this reliable or not? Really free for an hour and a half?"

"It's written in black and white on the poster, are you trying to fool me? Anyway, it's free, just go in and play a couple of rounds of CF, if it's not fun, I'll immediately go back to my dorm and sleep."

"This new name is such a damn pretentious change. The old Sky Internet Cafe used to reek of urine, but look at the entrance now, it looks like a bathhouse..."

In the lobby, Ma Xiaodong stared intently at the time on his phone screen.

The second hand skips the last tick and lands at half past the hour.

"Open the door!"

The door lock clicked open.

Two heavy tempered glass doors were pushed open, and the autumn wind, carrying the noise from the school gate, rushed in.

A few boys in the front row rushed in, their shoulders bumping together, shouting "collective punishment! Collective punishment!" But as soon as their feet touched the gray-black marble floor, they suddenly stopped.

"Holy crap..."

The boy with the buzz cut at the front instinctively opened his mouth wide, and half a fried dough stick in his mouth almost fell onto his collar.

The ceiling is nearly four meters high, without the spiderweb-like filaments of old internet cafes. The lighting is soft and refreshing, and as far as the eye can see, there are rows of large, dark brown leather chairs and 24-inch LCD screens. Best of all, the air blowing in is cool and refreshing, with a faint lemon scent, and not a trace of the smell of smelly socks or burnt tobacco from staying up all night.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go!" someone behind gave him a push.

The crew-cut man then came to his senses and followed the receptionist's directions.

The cashier smiled sweetly and said in a clear, cheerful voice, "Young man, please show your ID card. Those who boarded for free, please take your receipt. There's hot barley tea at the water bar, please help yourself."

A "beep" sound.

"Apartment C, Unit 14, go inside and turn left, second row."

The crew-cut man, clutching the printed receipt, stumbled upon the booth, his steps dazed, as he walked on the thick floor tiles.

He sank into the leather sofa, his entire back completely encased, and let out a long sigh: "Damn... this chair is way softer than my wooden bed in the dorm."

The desktop was so clean you could see your reflection in it, the keyboard was a mechanical keyboard with tactile feedback, the mouse didn't have the greasy black and gray grime of old internet cafes, and the mousepad was perfectly flat.

He entered the temporary card key, and the screen lit up instantly. The desktop in the lower right corner was clean and uncluttered, without any pop-up windows.

The crew-cut guy casually patted the empty computer next to him and frantically waved to his roommates who were still queuing at the door, yelling, "Li Qiang! Hurry up! Get a seat in section B! This computer is fucking amazing!"

In less than forty minutes, all 120 machines on the first floor were occupied, and the soft blue-green lights from the side panels of the main unit chassis formed a galaxy in the hall.

On the second-floor corridor, Ye Chen leaned on the railing and looked down.

The five-person gaming booths on the second floor weren't free at the moment, but several students with receipts were so engrossed in finding the restrooms that they couldn't tear themselves away from the glass doors of the booths, pointing and gesturing at the adjustable tables and headsets inside.

"Dude, how much is this private room on the second floor per hour?"

"Four yuan for members, five yuan for non-members."

"Damn... that's a bit pricey. How about we save the money we'd spend on two packs of cigarettes this afternoon and get five of us together for a game?"

The ticket printer downstairs was still making a "sizzling" sound as it cut paper, and the long line outside stretched all the way to the street corner from the roadside trees along Wenhui Road.