No Matter How Desperate You Are, Don't Pick Up Girls at a Footbath Parlor

Based on the information Lin Tian had been able to find online.

Gan Hua was Grandpa Gan.

The neighborhood grandpa who studied pour-over coffee in the café every day, always looked energetic, and cheerfully greeted every customer.

Lin Tian had never expected him to be a world-renowned cellist.

No matter how he tried, he could not connect the famous musician who performed in magnificent concert halls wearing a suit with Grandpa Gan, who teased him every day and fiddled with his own beloved coffee blends at the counter.

If the article had not exaggerated.

Grandpa Gan had also been China's number-one cellist.

Yet this very number-one figure in China.

Sixteen years ago, at the Kohl Cup—a competition representing the highest standard in the cello world.

Had suffered a crushing defeat.

The entertainment industry in this world seemed to place even more importance on honors in music than in his previous life.

It was easy to imagine.

What a painful blow this had been to China's cello scene and the entire music world.

It was like the LPL sweeping every domestic championship, winning MSI, and taking both the spring and summer titles.

Only to fail in the round of eight, the match to advance to the top four, after reaching the World Championship.

The number-one player everyone had pinned their hopes on had fallen.

Who knew how many people had quit the game, how many had lost heart completely and never watched another match again.

Lin Tian did not know the specifics of that competition sixteen years ago.

But what he did know was that Grandpa Gan probably had not continued with the cello.

At least, during the time Lin Tian had spent with him, he had never heard him mention it.

That gave Lin Tian a bold guess—

Grandpa Gan's granddaughter, Gan Yan Yu, had now become a cellist.

Could that have something to do with the dream Grandpa Gan had failed to achieve?

But why did Gan Yan Yu want to commit suicide now?

She had clearly not fulfilled her dream yet, nor had she helped Grandpa Gan make up for his regret.

Was she just going to give up like this?

Lin Tian had no way to verify those questions for now.

He could only take things one step at a time.

Still, this article was really ridiculous!

It kept telling everyone to reflect on themselves, making it read like Reader's Digest.

He opened the interface from yesterday, when the system had successfully bound itself to him.

Partner List

Name: Gan Yan Yu

Identity: Cellist

Abilities: Cello A+, Foreign Languages B+, Vocal Music B, Dance C, Communication C, Learning S

Current Stress Tolerance: E

Sanity Points: 8

Health Status: Very Poor (Extremely Poor, Very Poor, Poor, Stable, Good, Excellent)

Note: Each time the host raises the partner's stress tolerance, Sanity Points, or health status by one level, a new reward can be unlocked.

This was another status panel that looked doomed at a glance.

Of all those abilities, stress tolerance had been given its own separate line, which was enough to show how important it was.

Only E, huh.

Well, she had already clearly attempted suicide.

Still, although the values related to her mental state were all terribly low, Gan Yan Yu was very capable in terms of her actual abilities.

Her learning ability was at the highest rank, S.

And her cello was A+ as well.

Rewards or not, Lin Tian believed that if Gan Yan Yu could regain her footing, someone with her ability would definitely accomplish something great!

Afterward, Lin Tian opened his inventory and opened the starter gift box the system had given him.

Obtained: Instrument Skill Selection Card ×1

After opening it, choose one of five common instruments to obtain its beginner skill card.

Note: The host will only have this one opportunity to obtain a similar music skill card. Please choose carefully.

Choose an instrument?

Lin Tian fell into thought. Since he only had one chance, and he had no use for it at the moment, he could set it aside for now.

After Lin Tian opened the gift box, the system displayed another interface.

Personal Task Issued—

Objective: Perform a piece of music using any instrument and receive praise from more than ten people.

Reward: Musical Memory Enhancement Card

Musical Memory Enhancement: Enhances all music-related memories in the host's mind. The host can easily write sheet music based on their own musical theory knowledge.

Note: The system will occasionally issue reward tasks, divided into "Personal Tasks" and "Producer Tasks." They are not mandatory. The host may choose whether to complete them. Completing them grants rewards, while not completing them will not affect the issuance of later tasks.

It was obvious.

This task was meant to be used together with the earlier selection card.

Neither of those things was something Lin Tian needed to consider immediately.

Right now, he had to go to school.

Jingzhou No. 7 High School.

As a school that was not among the city's best but could still be considered the lowest threshold for key high schools, No. 7 High School had always believed in one educational principle—healthy education, with self-discipline above all else.

Perhaps because there had once been several cases of senior students jumping to their deaths under excessive pressure, and the school had been called out by the Education Bureau several times, No. 7 High School was now generally quite lenient in its management of students.

For commuting students like Lin Tian, there was no need to attend morning self-study. He only needed to reach the classroom before the first period.

The first class was math.

Summer classrooms were always stuffy, especially during math class, when even the air seemed filled with an irritable atmosphere.

The old-fashioned ceiling fan spun and spun overhead, looking as though it might fall at any moment and saw off these students' heads.

"Brother Tian, don't leave after school tonight."

His deskmate, a boy with several pimples and square-framed glasses, turned toward Lin Tian and spoke.

The boy was named Xu Yong, Lin Tian's deskmate.

He was also one of Lin Tian's few friends at school.

"It's our shift tonight."

Lin Tian paused slightly when he heard that.

He and Xu Yong had a part-time job outside school, working at a tea restaurant near campus.

Since their main occupation was being students, and they were only temporary workers, they were rarely assigned shifts.

Only on days when the restaurant had a heavy flow of customers, or when someone took leave, would they be called in to work.

"Do we have to go?"

Lin Tian hesitated.

He had only just arranged to have dinner with Gan Yan Yu tonight. Her mental state was unstable right now, and he feared that every additional moment of delay would put the girl in greater danger.

"What's wrong?"

Hearing the hesitation in Lin Tian's voice, Xu Yong widened his eyes.

"You have something to do?"

"Sort of."

"What could you possibly have to do? Don't I know you? Your life is just home and school every day."

As he spoke, Xu Yong suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"You little punk, don't tell me you're going on a date?"

"How could that be?"

"Wait, didn't you say you went to get your feet washed last night? Don't tell me you met some slut and are going to meet her tonight!"

As he said that, Xu Yong's expression grew increasingly horrified.

"Brother Tian, we can joke around and mess about, but don't actually make a move on girls from a footbath parlor, okay?! I know you usually have no luck with girls and none of them pay attention to you, but no matter how desperate we are, we can't do that!"

"Nutcase." Lin Tian stared at the blackboard and impatiently waved a hand.

Lin Tian knew Xu Yong better than anyone.

The guy was just an absurdity addict who loved running his mouth about the most outrageous nonsense.

Clearly diagnosed as someone who spent too much time on Tieba.

Bzz, bzz—

Just then, the phone in Lin Tian's pocket began to vibrate.

Lin Tian took out his phone beneath the desk and saw that Sunshine After Rain had sent him something.

It was a video.

Xu Yong quickly leaned his head over beside him.

When he tapped it open, Gan Yan Yu was holding up her phone and filming herself and the pot in the kitchen in selfie mode.

She had also sent a text message:

"Lin Tian, how do you turn on the gas at your place?"