pjbooks Chapter 4: Never mind, I'll go all out!
Chapter 4: Never mind, I'll go all out!
……
It's 5:30 PM, time to leave work.
Chen Mo packed his things and left the company building on time.
He remembered Wang Qing's offer to treat him to a meal and wondered if he should find a hole-in-the-wall restaurant to reward his stomach.
After all, he had heard many people talk about that hole-in-the-wall restaurant, saying the food was quite good, but he used to get off work very late every day and didn't want to go there.
I got off work at the normal time today, and it was still early, so it wouldn't be too late to go home after dinner.
Since the store didn't seem to be too far from the company, Chen Mo didn't take a car but walked there instead.
After walking for about twenty minutes, he didn't feel as tired as he used to.
It seems that even a 1-point increase in health attributes still has an effect.
Soon, Chen Mo arrived at a relatively quiet side street.
The restaurant is indeed small, and the facade looks a bit old, but the inside is clean and tidy.
It was lunchtime, and the restaurant was already full of customers, lively but not noisy.
The proprietress was a middle-aged woman around fifty years old.
When Chen Mo came in, he was too busy to pay attention to him and just said something casually.
"Handsome, find an empty seat for yourself."
Chen Mo looked around and found that there was still an empty seat at one of the tables, but a woman was already sitting down and eating opposite him.
She's quite pretty, the kind of girl with a delicate, refined air.
She had long, beautiful hair, wore a white shirt on top, a gray midi skirt on the bottom, and white sneakers.
She was dressed in typical office lady attire, and looked to be similar to me; she came straight here after get off work.
"How about we ask her to share a table?"
Chen Mo thought to himself, "I've come all this way, I certainly don't want to give up just because there aren't any seats."
But soon he thought, what if the other party rejects him? That would be so embarrassing.
Just then, the system interface suddenly popped up.
[Social context detected; host triggers new task]
【Task Name: Courageous Socializing】
[Task objective: Approach the woman and strike up a friendly conversation between strangers]
[Mission Rewards: Emotional Intelligence +1, Memory +1, Courage +300]
[Note: Courage in middle age also includes facing normal social relationships with equanimity, without being overly sensitive.]
"..."
Chen Mo looked at the system task and decided to go over and give it a try.
"Hey beautiful, is this place taken?" Chen Mo stepped forward and asked with a smile.
The woman stopped and looked up at him.
Chen Mo quickly explained, "It's like this, could I share a table with you? This place is so popular, there are no seats available when I come here after get off work."
"Sure, it's alright, please have a seat."
The woman smiled and nodded, saying, "This place is indeed quite popular; if you come late, there won't be any seats available."
"Thanks."
After Chen Mo sat down, he ordered a braised chicken, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, a cold dish, and two bowls of rice.
As soon as the order was placed, the system reward for completing the task was instantly credited to my account.
[Congratulations, host, on completing the mission and receiving the following rewards: Emotional Intelligence +1, Memory +1, Courage +200]
Emotional Intelligence: 71 (Medium)
Memory: 57 (Slightly low)
System Level: Lv1 (700/10000)
While waiting for the food to be served, two strangers, a man and a woman, sat facing each other, creating a somewhat awkward atmosphere.
Chen Mo felt embarrassed to keep staring at the other person eating, so he could only pretend to play on his phone to pass the time.
Fortunately, the dishes were served quickly.
The aroma of braised chicken wafts through the air, with tender chicken and potato chunks soaking in a red oil broth, topped with chopped green onions and cilantro, making it look incredibly appetizing.
The woman opposite him was somewhat surprised to see Chen Mo eating so much by himself.
As we were more than halfway through our meal, the restaurant became increasingly crowded.
Suddenly, the restaurant owner's voice came from the speakers.
Good evening, everyone! Thank you for visiting our shop. Today is our eighth anniversary, and we're having a special event!
The guests all looked up, curiously glancing over.
The proprietress stood by the bar, holding a raffle box, and said with a smile, "Today, anyone who wants to come up and sing can enter a raffle and win a special prize."
But no one responded; everyone was uninterested.
After all, there are still few people who possess the qualities of a social bull.
Seeing this, the proprietress said, "Here's what we'll do: whoever is the first to sing today gets their whole table free!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone immediately became eager to try.
But still no one came up!
Chen Mo was also tempted at this moment.
But I'm not a very good singer, and I have to sing in front of so many people...
He hesitated.
The system has detected a special situation and triggered a timed task.
【Task Name: A Brave Song】
[Task objective: Step onto the stage and bravely sing a song]
[Task Rewards: Appearance +1, Emotional Intelligence +1, Memory +1, Courage +500]
[Note: Life is full of spectators; you need some impromptu courage. Even if your singing isn't perfect, daring to step up is a victory.]
"..."
Chen Mo was tempted.
This is a much richer reward than any previous mission.
And it's also good-looking.
After his last mountain climb, he had already tasted the benefits of having good looks as an attribute point.
Even the smallest change is still a change!
Besides, didn't I just get a beginner level singing skill?
You should definitely give it a try.
Not to mention, you can even get it for free!
Looking up, Chen Mo noticed the beautiful woman across from him, blinking her eyes and looking at him expectantly.
Chen Mo: "..."
She just wanted the meal to be free!
I don't care anymore, I'm going all out!
It's just singing a song!
What's the big deal? So what if I lose face? We don't know anyone here anyway, so what's there to be afraid of!
Thinking of this, he bravely stood up.
When the proprietress saw someone coming up, she immediately said happily, "Great, finally someone's here! Handsome guy, come up quickly."
Chen Mo steeled himself and went up.
The proprietress asked, "Handsome, did you come with your girlfriend today? How about we invite one of the beauties up to sing with you?"
"Uh, no, no."
Upon hearing this, Chen Mo quickly denied it, saying, "We just temporarily put the tables together and don't know each other."
"So, what about this beautiful woman's order...?"
Chen Mo figured that since he was already up here, there was no difference between losing face once or twice.
Besides, they had just kindly offered to let me share a table with them.
So he gritted his teeth and decided to throw caution to the wind, retorting, "Boss lady, didn't you just say you'd waive the bill for the whole table?"
Since we're sitting at the same table, we must be destined to meet. I'll just sing a couple of songs later.
As soon as these words were spoken, some people in the store immediately started clapping and making fun of him.
Upon seeing this, the beautiful woman blushed slightly, a rare occurrence for her.
"Fine, even if you're together."
The proprietress wouldn't really care about that, and smiled, "Excuse me, handsome, what's your name?"
My surname is Chen.
Chen Mo took the microphone from the proprietress and replied.
"What song would Mr. Chen like to sing?"
The proprietress said, "We have a full range of accompaniment tracks here."
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