Twisted Dreams-Chapter 227 - 197: Rules

"Could this be a prank game?"

Qin Ming wandered around the bar.

He didn’t find any prank team or anything like that.

In fact, Qin Ming even took ten yuan from the bar counter to buy two bottles of cola.

When he sat back at the bar, he finally confirmed that the bar was indeed only left with him.

"To get a bar so magically? And there’s seven or eight thousand yuan in the bar?"

Qin Ming pinched himself.

This is not a dream.

This means that those bizarre illusions just now were also real.

"The legendary urban strange tale, did it really just fall into my lap?"

Qin Ming considered himself an ordinary person.

A template lost in the crowd.

He didn’t understand why so many absurd things kept happening to him lately.

Qin Ming sat at the bar, drinking his cola, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

It was a black notebook, right next to the account book.

Qin Ming remembered what Li Yang said.

To carefully read the contents of the book, or something serious would happen.

Qin Ming picked up the notebook to read, his brow gradually furrowing.

[Desire Exchange Rules.]

[First: Ensure the bar is open at 9 p.m. every night.]

[Second: Do not reveal anything about desire to anyone other than bar staff.]

[Third: The bar owner has the authority to hire staff; staff must adhere to the first and second rules.]

[Fourth: The bar must remain profitable.]

[Fifth: The bar drawer has cocktail recipes for special cocktails that must be followed strictly for customers with special needs.]

[Sixth: The above five rules must not be violated, or there will be punishment.]

[Seventh: The bar owner and staff are protected inside the bar.]

[Eighth: Fired employees will face severe punishment.]

Qin Ming silently put down the black book.

Having gone through nine years of compulsory education and being a web novelist, how should he say it?

Instinct tells him, it’s all real.

However, reason tells him he must be dreaming.

No matter what, everything that happened tonight ignited his exhausted inspiration.

Qin Ming took out his notebook and quickly scribbled down notes.

Writing until his palms sweat and his eyes ached, until morning.

Qin Ming looked at his draft with satisfaction.

The story described was about an ordinary person suddenly inheriting a bizarre bar.

Qin Ming looked at the mid-morning sun, and smacked his lips.

Feeling a hunger pang, he stepped outside, and as the sun shone on him, Qin Ming finally admitted he had encountered an urban strange tale.

Qin Ming went to a breakfast shop to eat buns and fried dough sticks, his mind wandering.

"If it’s a blessing, it’s not a curse; if it’s a curse, you can’t avoid it.

Maybe my luck is turning?

I’ve been sick, and had no money, and now heaven has granted me a bar."

Qin Ming secretly resolved to run the bar properly.

However, he had no idea where to start as he had no experience as a boss.

After breakfast, Qin Ming returned to the bar.

He found seven or eight thousand yuan in the bar drawer.

"Maybe I should hire an employee? Seven or eight thousand yuan is enough for a month or two of wages."

Hiring staff is essential.

The third rule in the Desire Exchange rules states the bar owner can recruit staff.

The fourth rule states the bar must be profitable.

Qin Ming needed an employee to help him make money.

There was another important point.

Being alone in this eerie bar, he genuinely felt insecure.

Qin Ming printed a recruitment notice using the printer in the bar owner’s office and posted it at the bar entrance, then went home to rest.

The bar starts operating at nine in the evening, and he couldn’t be late.

He didn’t know what the punishment mentioned in the sixth rule of the Desire Exchange Rules was, nor did he want to find out.

...

In the evening, at 8:30, Qin Ming took a cab to Mandala Bar.

At the bar entrance, a girl was holding the recruitment notice, nodding off as she squatted beside the door.

Qin Ming walked up and tapped the girl.

The girl looked up, and Qin Ming could finally see her face.

She had earrings, a nose ring, and a tattoo on her collarbone, the typical rebellious girl look, but she was very pretty.

The girl blinked her eyes at Qin Ming:

"Are you the boss? Is this place hiring?"

When she spoke, Qin Ming noticed the girl also had a tongue stud.

Qin Ming said:

"Yes."

The girl brightened up:

"How much is the salary, with meals and accommodation included? Do you think I qualify?"

Qin Ming thought for a moment and said:

"Salary is five thousand, we can order takeout for food.

As for a place to stay... there’s a sofa bed in the office, you can stay there."

The girl was stunned:

"Five thousand?"

Isn’t five thousand a bit low?

She spends four to five thousand a month just on gas.

But her Ferrari is at home.

She left home after a fight with her family, or else she wouldn’t be in this situation.

Qin Ming also thought that hiring an employee in the Imperial Capital with a monthly salary of just five thousand was indeed quite low.

There’s no other way; he was very poor, with only seven thousand eight hundred yuan left by the previous owner as startup capital.

Qin Ming apologized:

"This is the best I can offer."

After saying this, Qin Ming took out a hundred yuan and handed it to the girl.

He thought she must have her own difficulties; otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited with the recruitment notice at the bar entrance for so long.

Qin Ming opened the bar door and went inside.

Glancing at the time, it was not yet nine; perfect.

Qin Ming headed to the bar and studied the bartending equipment.

At this moment, the girl at the door ran inside, having made up her mind:

"Five thousand yuan, including meals and accommodation, is fine. Are you starting work tonight?"

Qin Ming nodded:

"What’s your name?"

The girl hesitated for a moment and said:

"Zhang Qian."

Zhang Qian was the young lady of the Zhang Family, one of the Four Great Families of the Imperial Capital.

At ten in the evening, the bar began to fill with customers, and Zhang Qian was bustling around actively.

Qin Ming remarked that he indeed hired the right employee.

Zhang Qian was experienced in nightlife and had been to all kinds of bars.

Sometimes, when there were things Qin Ming didn’t understand about the bar, Zhang Qian could explain them.

For instance, when Qin Ming couldn’t figure out bartending, Zhang Qian handled the shaker with proficiency.

Qin Ming even tasted it, and it was indeed better than the previous owner’s martinis.

At midnight, most of the customers had left.

Qin Ming counted the money in the bar, smiling with joy.

The money earned tonight surpassed his monthly earnings from writing novels.

Strictly speaking, it couldn’t be calculated this way because Li Yang solved the rent issue; otherwise, the earnings would only break even tonight.

The phone rang.

Qin Ming glanced at it; it was a message from his editor.

"Good brother, this subject is fantastic. Please make sure to submit this draft to me; I’ll immediately sign it and find a way to get it a recommendation."

Before arriving, Qin Ming submitted a draft to the editor about the ’Strange Talk Bar’ subject he contemplated last night.

The editor seemed to be full of praise for it.

Qin Ming couldn’t help but sigh; art indeed draws inspiration from life!

The opening of Strange Talk Bar was mostly a heavily adapted version of what happened last night.

However, Qin Ming had no idea how to write the subsequent parts of ’Strange Talk Bar.’

At that moment, Qin Ming was still pondering one thing.

What the previous owner meant when they said desires could trade anything in this bar, what did it mean?

By midnight, there were no more customers in the bar, and Zhang Qian was bored, playing with her fingers in the corner.

Because she ran away from home, she had no phone.

At this moment, the bar door opened, and a sharply dressed handsome guy walked in.

The heavy perfume he wore hit Qin Ming’s nose.

The handsome guy paused for a moment seeing Qin Ming:

"Has the owner changed?"

Qin Ming nodded.

The handsome guy mysteriously asked:

"So... do you still have that kind of drink here?"