A few customers sat down and ordered a round of drinks. The one paying the bill frowned. "Other than the DJ, the girls in here are nothing special!"
Apparently, he had scanned the entire place the moment he walked in.
"Nothing special" was just a polite way of saying they were ugly or not up to par.
Chen Jincheng sighed, mentally cursing his uncle again. Finding good hostesses wasn't something you could do overnight.
But then, an idea struck him. He couldn't hire hostesses right away, but he could find some "little bees" to start.
In other words, what was commonly known as an "atmosphere team."
An atmosphere team consisted of young, good-looking guys and girls hired to dance in prominent spots. Their job was to liven up the place and create the illusion that the bar was popular and fun.
Then he could have his promoters shoot videos and post them on social media. That would attract their existing clients and even make it easier to recruit fresh talent.
And he knew just how to do it.
With that thought, he headed out of the bar, dialing a number as he went.
"Where are you?"
"Tang Street Park main entrance!"
"Wait for me there!" Chen Jincheng hung up and left the bar.
Once outside, the first thing he did was look up at the Extreme Bar's sign. He could feel a difference. The sign had been completely ordinary before, but now it had a quality that instantly drew the eye. Even if you just glanced past, the name "Extreme Bar" was the first thing to jump out at you.
It was like scanning a crowd of girls on the street; everyone's eyes would instinctively lock onto the prettiest one.
'So the game's attributes can actually affect reality?'
'If that's the case, I need to figure out how to make the most of this +100% Signboard Attraction Effect.'
'Maybe this bar really could solve my money problems. After getting screwed over by my uncle, this is much better than just sitting around waiting to die.'
'After all, with a +100% Customer Attraction Effect from the sign, and with so many people passing by on this street, anyone who's into the nightlife scene and gets drawn in by the sign will most likely go inside.'
'And there are plenty of nightclubs around Jingyuan Building, which means there should be plenty of people looking for a good time.'
Seeing this, Chen Jincheng got into his BMW 530 and headed straight for the main entrance of Tang Street Park.
As soon as he pulled over, he saw two young guys with bleached-blond hair and tattooed sleeves standing at the park entrance.
"Brother Elephant, that's a botched dye job."
"As long as a guy's got the looks, who needs good hair? I'm the real deal!"
Brother Elephant's words were cringey and melodramatic. He ruffled his blond hair as he spoke, his devil-may-care attitude a mix of sheer arrogance and street swagger.
The crazy thing was, despite how cringey he was, he was surrounded by four young girls.
Every guy who walked by couldn't help but stare, their faces etched with envy.
Chen Jincheng honked his horn.
The honk got Brother Elephant's attention. He scampered over and leaned against the car window. "Bro! You're here! Where are we going tonight? Can I bring my friends?"
Chen Jincheng grinned at his younger cousin. "We're going to a bar. Think you can round up 20 girls? And I mean *only* girls."
He'd gone out with the guy a couple of times and knew that while these "spiritual youths" were broke and lacked just about everything else, they never lacked for female company. One phone call and they could summon a whole flock of "spiritual girls."
His cousin, Chen Xiang, was one of the most well-known "spiritual youths" in the area.
The two main sources for a bar's atmosphere team were either female students from obscure art and nursing schools, or "spiritual girls" from poor families.
You could usually tell the two types apart by their general demeanor and whether or not they had tattoos.
Hearing his cousin's request, Elephant immediately replied, "Bro, 20 is no problem. But once I get them all here, where are we taking that many people?"
Chen Jincheng explained with a smile, "I bought our uncle's bar. I want them all to come to Extreme Bar. You'll lead them onto the dance floor, I'll reserve the three center tables for you, and drinks will be on the house."
"Holy shit! Badass! Bro, you're on another level!"
Chen Xiang's face filled with admiration for his cousin. He immediately called over the other guy and the four girls and announced proudly, "This is my cousin, the owner of Extreme Bar! Tonight's on me, we're all going to his place to party. Now, get on your phones and call more girls."
Suddenly, Elephant was putting on the airs of a big shot, acting like it was all his treat.
Chen Jincheng just smiled and didn't call him out on it.
Hearing they were going to a bar, the other guy and the four girls' eyes lit up. They all immediately whipped out their phones and started making calls.
Elephant also grabbed his phone and started dialing:
"Forget the milk tea! Grab your besties and get over to Extreme Bar! Would I lie to you? You know we're tight. See you at the entrance!"
…
"What're you up to? Brother Elephant is treating you to a night at the club. For real, why would I lie? And hey, do me a favor and bring all the girls you're with. See you at the entrance to Extreme Bar!"
…
A short while later, Chen Jincheng was driving back to Extreme Bar with Elephant and the five others.
Of course, the car was overloaded, but when you're with a crew like this, they just pile in. There was nothing he could do.
Luckily, there were no warnings about police patrols in the local group chats, and it was just a short drive anyway.
The other guy was put in the passenger seat.
Elephant and the four girls squeezed into the back. It was so tight that two of them ended up on his lap, his hands casually wrapped around their waists.
Honestly, you could look down on these guys for being broke, but there were times their simple happiness would make a lot of people wish they could be them.
"Bro, are you that 'Ancestral Master' from online?" the guy in the passenger seat asked, having a sudden realization.
This caught the attention of the four girls in the back; they'd also heard of the Ancestral Master's famous quotes.
For example:
"Cherish good girls, but don't waste the bad ones?"
"Making promises is fine, but posting them on social media is not!"
"Sincerity is the ultimate power-up to any other move, but on its own, it's a losing hand!"
...
They made it back to Extreme Bar without incident.
By the time Chen Jincheng had parked, a crowd of "spiritual girls" was already gathered outside Extreme Bar. They were all dolled up and very young; most were actually quite easy on the eyes, if you could ignore the constant stream of crude slang that ruined the aesthetic.
Elephant and his crew hurried over to greet them. Clearly, these were the girls he had summoned.
There were more than 30 of them now. After all, with friends of friends and besties of besties, the numbers added up quickly.
So it wasn't that there was a shortage of girls out there; it was just a matter of whether you could get them to show up.
Chen Jincheng signaled for Elephant to lead the girls into the bar, his mind already spinning.
'These "spiritual girls" have their advantages,' he thought. 'They're bold, they're not afraid to show some skin, and they know how to party.'
'That last part is especially useful. They've got more energy for it than professionally trained dancers. If I wanted to film those viral, low-effort dances from my past life, these girls would be even better for it.'
'Dances like the "window wiper," the "chest shake," and the Booty Dance.'
'The crucial thing is, the secret formula for this kind of female influencer to go viral isn't popular in this world yet. There hasn't been a girl named Dagula K who blew up overnight from a Booty Dance video that got nearly 12 million likes.'