One Less Star in the Night Sky

Chapter 13: Fished a Needle From the Bottom of the Sea

Chapter 13: Fished a Needle From the Bottom of the Sea

I stood in front of the counter with a wooden tray in my hands as I waited for Feng Maojing to prepare the hot americanos that Table 7 ordered.

Deng Zixuan's soulful and rich baritone voice accompanied by the powerful strumming of guitar chords filled the café. Reaching the quiet and heart-wrenching bridge of the song, his eyes closed as his fingers deftly plucked the guitar strings and his singing voice thinned out with deepening emotions.

"Shen Yan, the drinks are ready," Feng Maojing called out to me.

Turning away from the stage which was finally being put to good use, albeit only for three hours a day (Deng Zixuan showcased his talents for two and Yu Sifan became a clown for one), I gingerly loaded the two cups of coffee onto the tray and served them to the customers at Table 7. During the time when Deng Zixuan was performing, I was asked to cover him and wait on tables. I didn't mind helping out around the café for a couple of hours each day.

Since Deng Zixuan started working here a week ago, we had been getting more customers, or so Yu Sifan claimed. I told him that there was probably some sort of cognitive bias, as people would be hogging up the seats for two hours and so it would appear as if the café was at full capacity when in actuality, we weren't serving that many drinks or desserts. Yu Sifan then tutted and proclaimed that Music Box Dream Café was a place for music and dreams, and that it would not be tainted by worldly concepts of profits and KPI. In response, I only rolled my eyes, too unbothered to remind him that he had a goal of proving himself to his family. From the start, that goal was probably just an excuse for Yu Sifan to build an avenue for himself to perform.

To be fair, Yu Sifan was a pleasant singer; however, he was not well-versed in musical instruments. As such, he could only play a backing instrumental track as he sang. Even so, there were some people who were willing to listen to his performance after Deng Zixuan's was over. But there were also many customers who would their leave soon after Deng Zixuan stepped off the stage.

As the café's business slowed down for the day, a group of young people filed in noisily, joyfully exclaiming that they could finally enjoy some warmth. I looked up from my laptop in surprise to find them gathered around me.

"Shen Yan!" Du Shanshan shrieked excitedly while tapping my shoulder. "Are you happy to see us here here? I know you told us to come over to play next week, but we thought to give you an early surprise!"

Standing beside her, Tan Qing looked about the café curiously before pointing to the empty stage. "Why is there a stage with musical instruments in here? Is there a performance or something?"

"This is a music café. There are performances every now and then," I quickly explained, as it dawned on me that I had only mentioned that I was helping out at a cousin's café but I had never actually specified that it was a themed one.

"Can anyone perform?" asked Gao Yi as his gaze lingered on the stage. He looked over at Liu Haowen with a smile as if to ask if he was interested in jamming, but the latter only gave him an uncomprehending look.

"You'll have to ask my cousin over there. He'll be more than happy to arrange for you to perform." I smiled and gestured at Yu Sifan who was silently observing us from behind the counter. Having all the attention on him, he returned with a huge welcoming grin.

"Why don't you all go order something to drink and eat, and have a seat? We can go to the bigger table over there—how many of us are there?" I stood up and started gathering my things.

"One, two, three... There are five of us," counted Du Shanshan, before asking: "Is anyone else coming?"

"Tao Xiang is busy making arrangements to return to his hometown for the holidays and Cheng Yujin didn't reply," Gao Yi answered. He pulled out his phone to check if there were any message notifications, but seeing that he didn't follow up with a response, my guess was that there was still no reply.