Cannon Fodder Substitute Alliance 

Chapter 7

Translator: Google Translate

Editor: Sai Hiroto

At eight o'clock in the evening, Cheng Lang reported to White Jade Capital on time. However, compared to the previous high-spirited fight, Cheng Lang always hid in the corner and played with his mobile phone from time to time today. So much so that the foreman repeatedly reminded him, "Don't look at your phone all the time during working hours. It would be terrible if a customer complained."

"I know." Cheng Lang put away his phone with a serious look on his face.

When the foreman saw this, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Did something happen at home?"

The foreman knew something was wrong as soon as the words came out. As we all know, Cheng Lang grew up in an orphanage without a father or mother, so where did he have a family?

"Could he be dumped by his girlfriend?" But he has yet to hear that Cheng Lang has a girlfriend.

"No." Cheng Lang looked solemn. The situation he is facing now is much more serious than being dumped.

Cheng Lang registered two social accounts in the afternoon, originally thinking that this kind of nymphomaniacal licking posts would attract the attention of netizens—after all, where is Shen Huaiyu's temperament? His photography skills are so good, and his writing about secret love is delicate and touching.

Unexpectedly, one afternoon passed, and the two posts he posted on Weibo and the school forum had only a few hundred views, and there were also very few replies. Not to mention diverting traffic to milk tea shops.

Cheng Lang didn't know what went wrong. He could only create a few small accounts to post for himself. To ensure that there would be no mistakes, he also bought a proxy IP to avoid being exposed too early.

Unfortunately, it had little effect.

Cheng Lang sighed. Sure enough, everything is difficult at the beginning!

"Stop sighing!" The foreman patted Cheng Lang on the shoulder. 

Although Cheng Lang always liked to slack off during work, Cheng Lang had a good personality and was sweet-talking. He was also one of the waiters with the highest commission for selling drinks in the bar, and he was considered a general under the foreman. 

The gold medal salesman was in a bad mood, and his performance was affected. Of course, the foreman had to comfort him, "Today is your first day as a pillar of Baiyujingtai. Are you ready for the show you are going to perform on stage later?"

As they were talking, Brother Wang from the performing arts department also came over to look for someone. When he saw Cheng Lang, his face was as gloomy as a piece of black iron, "I can't find you anywhere, so you're just lazing around here."

Before Cheng Lang could reply, Brother Wang asked again, "You'll be on stage at nine o'clock. Do you need to put on some makeup and change into your performance clothes?"

Generally speaking, White Jade Capital's resident artists have their own stylists and bring their own costumes to performances. However, Cheng Lang's situation is special. Although Wang Ge dislikes Cheng Lang, who was parachuted in, for the sake of White Jade Capital's style, he can't let Cheng Lang make a fool of himself. He still has to point out the things that need to be pointed out, "How do you need the band to cooperate with you? There was no running-in before."

"No need." Cheng Lang said casually, "They can tune my voice to whatever they want." The strong are so confident.

Brother Wang: "..."

"What about the performance clothes?"

Cheng Lang lowered his head and glanced at the waiter uniform he was wearing, "This one is pretty good."

Brother Wang frowned hard.

Cheng Lang raised his eyebrows, "Why, I don't look good in this outfit?"

That's not true.

Although Brother Wang is not very optimistic about Cheng Lang's talent. But even he had to admit that Cheng Lang's appearance was excellent. Especially the careless and slutty temperament about him.

Brother Wang snorted. He looks like a dog.

"Since you don't want anything, I'll prepare as you said. But I want to remind you that this is White Jade Capital. You'd better not embarrass me."

Cheng Lang ignored Brother Wang. At nine o'clock, under the complicated gaze of all the employees, he lazily stepped onto the stage.

"Why is it you again?" A guest in the audience asked dissatisfiedly, "Where is Tianye? We want to see Tianye!"

"Your Tianye's throat is still uncomfortable today, so I'll take over." Cheng Lang said casually. He picked up the guitar on the table and didn't give the guests a chance to ask more questions. His slender fingers plucked the strings, and a melodious and graceful guitar solo sounded.

The guests sitting in the bar looked at the stage in surprise. Some guests who are familiar with this prelude can't help but sway gently along.

The band members on the stage looked at each other. The drummer couldn't help but chime in. The others were stunned for a moment and couldn't help but follow with itchy hands.

Cheng Lang, who was playing the guitar, casually glanced at the band behind him. A beam of light from above his head hit him, making Cheng Lang's silhouette even more handsome. The bow tie originally tied around his neck was pulled off by Cheng Lang, and the top two buttons were unbuttoned, revealing the raised Adam's apple and delicate collarbones. Under the illumination of the light, there is a casual sexiness.

"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair..." A slightly low singing voice accompanied by a melodious melody reached the ears of the guests. Cheng Lang's subwoofer has a cello-like texture despite being deliberately suppressed.

"[Hotel California]..." An older guest muttered. He didn't expect to hear such an old song in a bar like this.

At that moment, the whole bar fell silent. Only Cheng Lang's singing and the band's playing could be heard.

When the song ended, the whole place was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly thunderous applause broke out, and the guests in the audience screamed and whistled excitedly.

Some people ordered drinks directly and brought them to the stage. They were very satisfied with Cheng Lang's performance.

Cheng Lang raised his eyebrows and was also very proud of his own charm.

After taking a sip of wine and resting for a few minutes, Cheng Lang sang a few classic old songs. Then he became a little impatient.

"What do you want to listen to?" Cheng Lang said lazily, "You can order songs."

After a pause, Cheng Lang was afraid that the guests wouldn't understand, so he further explained, "But you have to pay more."

Brother Wang, who had been watching Cheng Lang's performance, couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was just shocked by Cheng Lang's singing and guitar-playing skills, but now he was disgusted by Cheng Lang's naked greed.

"Why did Brother Chen fall in love with such a vulgar thing? He knows money when he opens his mouth and shuts up!" Brother Wang couldn't help complaining to his subordinates: "Is he short of money?"

His subordinates smiled and said, "I heard I had no parents and grew up in an orphanage. Maybe I had a hard time and had some bad habits."

Brother Wang shook his head. However, the prejudice against Cheng Lang in my heart was a little lighter.

In contrast, the guests in the audience liked Cheng Lang's straightforwardness. In all their time in White Jade Capital, this was the first time they saw a resident singer with money written on his face.

"As long as I give you money, you can sing anything?"

Cheng Lang stared at the guest talking in the audience, squinted his eyes slightly, and said with a wary look, "There's something wrong with you."

"What's wrong with me!" The guest in the audience blushed a little after hearing what Cheng Lang said. Under the encouragement of other guests around him, he forced an explanation, "I'm just asking casually. I'll pay you more to sing Peking Opera. Can you sing it?"

Cheng Lang hugged the guitar with an unruly look on his face, "As long as the money is in place, you can let me sing a duet!"

The guests in the audience burst into laughter.

The guest who spoke before was also a little bit dumbfounded. He threw a wad of money directly on the table, and instead of asking Cheng Lang to sing a duet, he ordered a classic song from thirty or forty years ago.

Two hours later, Cheng Lang retired.

After leaving the stage, Cheng Lang looked at his phone first. There were slightly more netizens leaving messages under those two social accounts. Everyone seemed to treat Cheng Lang's account as an emotional treehole. Some people were talking about their secret crush. Some people were asking who the boy in the photo was.

"Cheng Lang, you sang well!" The foreman patted Cheng Lang on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to have this skill. If I had known that you could sing so well, I should have applied for the resident singer directly. Why do you still want to be a waiter?"

"What's wrong with being a waiter? There is no high or low status in earning money, just different divisions of labor." Cheng Lang replied casually, "Is there any water? My throat is about to smoke!"

This group of customers in the bar is really unethical. They knew that he had a bad voice, but they still ordered wine for him. No one offered him water.

The foreman smiled, "There is no resident singer who is as willing as you to refuse anyone who comes."

Cheng Lang disagreed, "I pay 10,000 yuan for a glass of wine!"

The rules were just set yesterday. Those who spend money are not afraid of being taken advantage of, so why should he, a moneymaker, be afraid of spending too much money?

The foreman was completely speechless, "I'm too lazy to care about you, just go find some water in the back."

Cheng Lang raised his eyebrows. Before looking for water, he went to the bathroom first. Because there were too many people on the first floor, he couldn't get a number. Cheng Lang simply went to the VIP area on the second floor.

When he came out, he ran into Meng Tianye again in the rest area. This guy was holding a bottle of XO and drinking it!

Cheng Lang frowned and stepped forward to talk, "Drinking so hard, are you going to hurt your throat?"

"What do you care?" Meng Tianye glared at Cheng Lang fiercely, "Are you very proud today? So many people support you, it's very glorious!"

Meng Tianye heard the cheers and screams from downstairs on the second floor. Before yesterday, these cheers and screams belonged to him. Thinking of this, Meng Tianye couldn't help but feel sad, sour, and angry.

"After all, he is White Jade Capital's new number one. He still has this reputation." Cheng Lang saw free lemonade placed on the coffee table in the rest area. He simply sat down and poured himself a glass.

"Are you deliberately angry with me?" Meng Tianye glared at Cheng Lang, "You ran in front of me on purpose to show off your power?"

“You gave me that opportunity first.” Cheng Lang watched Meng Tianye guzzle the wine and went up to grab the bottle from Meng Tianye’s hand, “Don’t drink anymore. If you really drink your throat, you won’t even be able to cry.”

Cheng Lang remembered that in the original novel, after Meng Tianye was abandoned by Lu Chengxuan, he gave up on himself and began to drink heavily, eventually ruining his good voice. He was also driven out by White Jade Capital, and his end was miserable.

"I want you to mind your own business!" Meng Tianye looked at Cheng Lang impatiently and asked, "Aren't you also drinking the wine ordered by the guests, glass by glass? I've never seen you so willing to refuse anyone who comes. What a shame!"

"Can I be the same as you?" Cheng Lang said funnyly, "I don't have any music dreams. I don't want to sing and become a star. I don't expect to sing for a living."

Cheng Lang remembers that Meng Tianye's dream is to debut as a singer, right?

Meng Tianye stopped talking. He lay on the sofa for a long time and suddenly said sullenly, "Qinchao Records only signs White Jade Capital's number one as a contracted artist every year." His number-one spot was snatched away by Cheng Lang. He had no hope.

Meng Tianye didn't realize that, due to Cheng Lang's influence, he kept saying he was the "number one".

"Why are young people so stubborn!" Cheng Lang shook his head. He thought it was a big deal, "If this path doesn't work, just try another one. There are so many talent shows on the market now. You are so good-looking, and you sing well. If you participate in a talent show, even if you don't win the championship, you can still make a splash, right?"

By then, you have fans and popularity, but you still worry about not having a contract company come to you?

"A talent show?" Meng Tianye frowned. He didn't really like this way of debuting, "You don't know, talent show singers are at the bottom of the contempt chain in the circle."

Meng Tianye still wants to debut as a serious artist.

"Today's young people are so serious!" Cheng Lang almost laughed angrily, "They start to consider whether the Manchu-Han banquet is to their taste before they are even full!"

Cheng Lang shook his head, too lazy to pay attention to these ambitious young people.

"No matter how you want to debut, if you still want to sing, remember to take good care of your voice. This is the only capital for you to realize your dream." The ancients knew that if you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. You can't even take good care of your own food, and you still want to make a fortune. Dream on!

Meng Tianye looked at Cheng Lang's back and suddenly asked, "Why are you so nice to me?"

Shouldn't he come over to ridicule him and make fun of him?

"Me? Good to you?" Cheng Lang was stunned when he heard this. When had he been nice to Meng Tianye? He doesn't even know it himself.

Meng Tianye looked at the wine bottle in Cheng Lang's hand. He hinted to Cheng Lang with his eyes that this was how good he was to him.

Cheng Lang shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and could not help but complain, "Is this good for you? How much do you lack love!"

After that, he ignored Meng Tianye, who was angry and embarrassed, and waved his hand and said, "Others can coax you to the point of not knowing where to go with just a few nice words. I say you need to change your personality." Otherwise, if you suffer a loss in the future, you won't know who betrayed you.