Life-Style Tycoon?
Life and money had always been closely intertwined.
While money didn't guarantee happiness, rich people's joy was beyond most people's imagination!
When it came to believing in the system, Li Yan made his decision the moment that synthetic voice echoed in his head.
The moment that ordinary-looking interface appeared before his eyes while none of the hostesses around him showed any sign of seeing it.
He had to believe!
Tycoon?
When that word flashed through his mind, Li Yan realized he might actually get to properly enjoy this world for once!
"Li Yan? What are you smiling about? Something good happen?"
"Uh... just thinking the weather's been nice lately."
"Weather?"
"You feeling okay, Li Yan?"
The speaker was a girl styled to look innocent, appearing eighteen or nineteen but actually a year older than Li Yan.
Truth was, commercial KTVs weren't what they used to be.
With live streaming getting more popular and profitable, plenty of former hostesses had jumped ship to become streamers.
But the industry had seen a reverse flow recently—lots of streaming talent coming back to KTVs.
The reason was obvious: live streaming had become oversaturated. It wasn't the gold mine it once was.
Most girls working at KTVs now had streaming side hustles too. The money wasn't bad.
Li Yan wasn't in the mood to chat with the girls. His mind was completely occupied with the system.
All he wanted to say was: finally, time to sing "We Shall Rise Again!"
But major developments required calm analysis and steady thinking.
Li Yan was handling it well, which was actually why he got along with everyone at Crown International. When people had activities or problems, they liked including Li Yan or asking his advice.
"I'm heading to the control room for a bit. You guys have fun."
Li Yan stood up, leaving behind the room thick with various perfumes and cosmetics, ignoring the teasing complaints about how boring he was.
He walked through KTV's second-floor hallway—a mix of gaudy luxury and high-tech ambiance with mood lighting—and took the elevator downstairs.
He passed the usual mix of employees, colleagues, and various customers, some with beauties on their arms, others stumbling around drunk.
Li Yan didn't know most of the staff. As technical crew, he rarely dealt with servers or front desk workers.
He only knew the hostesses because the control room's machinery noise was uncomfortable, so he'd started hanging out in their break rooms and gradually got acquainted.
Crown International's customers were mostly men, typically thirty and older.
Made sense. Women generally didn't visit commercial KTVs—singing wasn't really the main service.
Younger people usually went to karaoke chains. No need for the "commercial" experience.
Li Yan headed toward the back exit, reaching the storage rooms near the main control room. He unlocked the door and stepped inside.
This was his daily workplace—everything needed regular checking and maintenance.
Only Li Yan and his shift partner came here. If anyone needed him, they'd use the walkie-talkie.
Without wasting time, Li Yan entered the somewhat cluttered control room and sat at a small desk nearby.
He pulled out his work notebook and pen from a drawer, then unlocked his phone.
The sounds of machinery mixed with pen scratching on paper.
Li Yan's mind was racing. When his thoughts got chaotic like this, he always found something to keep his hands busy.
Like doodling stick figures on paper.
Was ten thousand yuan a lot?
Not really. It wouldn't even buy one square meter of decent property in Hangzhou's Yuhang District!
Was ten thousand yuan a lot?
Absolutely. It would take Li Yan over a month of not eating or drinking to save that much!
Ten thousand yuan in cash weighed about 115 grams.
Stacked up, it was roughly one centimeter thick.
With ten thousand yuan, Li Yan could rent a really nice apartment in downtown Hangzhou for a month.
With ten thousand yuan, Li Yan could buy the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max.
With ten thousand yuan, Li Yan could send five thousand home so his parents wouldn't have to work so hard this month.
Ten thousand yuan... could do so many things.
Li Yan stayed in the control room for two solid hours. When boredom finally hit, he grabbed his phone and headed to the KTV's back exit for a smoke.
April nights still carried a chill, especially when the breeze picked up. The cool air cleared Li Yan's head.
Looking at his pack of fourteen-yuan Liqun cigarettes, Li Yan smirked. Maybe soon he could upgrade to the expensive stuff.
His Uniqlo and Taobao clothes could probably be replaced with luxury brands gradually.
Not that he was obsessed with luxury goods—some designer stuff was ugly as hell, in his opinion.
But that didn't change the fact that most people couldn't even dream of affording luxury items.
A basic LV t-shirt cost three to four thousand, sometimes four to five thousand.
Regular working people might spend their entire monthly salary on one t-shirt.
Don't even get started on jackets or pants worth tens of thousands.
Li Yan had developed a passive knowledge of luxury brands.
"Passive" because his hostess colleagues constantly showed off the bags their sugar daddies bought them, or the jewelry some older guy gifted them on shopping trips.
Compared to society's general disdain for their profession, Li Yan's insider perspective gave him different views.
While he still didn't think it was a great career path, he understood their choices.
Trading youth and beauty for money and resources was essentially resource exchange. Nothing wrong with that fundamentally.
Working in this industry, even as just a sound engineer, Li Yan had witnessed plenty.
Compared to some wild girls outside, several KTV hostesses could practically be called pure as snow.
Not all of them, obviously, but Li Yan had met a few.
One reason Li Yan got along well with everyone was that he occasionally lent money to some of the girls he knew better.
Why would girls earning tens of thousands monthly, sometimes hundreds of thousands, need to borrow money from Li Yan, who made mere thousands?
That was something everyone could understand...