Chapter 55: Shadows of the Metropolis

Li Yan felt that his mission could pretty much be wrapped up tomorrow.

Although today had been exhausting, the progress he made was real and palpable.

"We've practiced enough for today. Come back for one more day tomorrow, and this piece will be completely fine."

Teacher Wang was also quite gratified. After all, Li Yan possessed a certain foundation in music theory.

Combined with his diligent practice, his progress was quite encouraging.

It was just turning four o'clock in the afternoon, but because he had practiced almost without stopping all day, Li Yan was extremely tired.

Both his mind and body were somewhat exhausted.

Checking the time on his wristwatch, Li Yan decided to call it a day and continue his piano practice tomorrow.

Teacher Wang had already left, and the two of them had agreed to resume the next day.

Li Yan stretched lazily, pushed open the door of the practice room, and walked outside.

The small tutoring center was packed to capacity by this point, with the sound of music drifting from every practice room.

There were truly many people taking advantage of the summer vacation to practice the piano, and Li Yan was simply one of them.

Walking toward the lobby of the tutoring center, Li Yan intended to say hello to Wang Wanjun before heading home. He planned to treat himself to a nice full-service massage tonight to reward himself.

After all, between the morning exercises over the past few days and the piano practice today, he was indeed quite tired.

Having the young ladies give him a proper massage would be a great way to relax~

As for choosing a specific number, Li Yan didn't understand the system, nor did he need that sort of thing.

The reception desk seemed a bit noisy, but Li Yan didn't think much of it, as there were bound to be many people inquiring during the summer vacation.

After taking a few steps, Li Yan spotted Wang Wanjun standing right by the front desk.

To be honest, every time he saw Wang Wanjun, he experienced that genuine, breathtaking sense of being struck by her beauty.

Regardless of whether you had seen her before, seeing her again would still captivate you with her peerless and ethereal looks.

The receptionist was standing beside Wang Wanjun, looking with a somewhat impatient expression at the two middle-aged men in their thirties or forties standing before them.

As for Wang Wanjun's expression, it was hard to make out clearly from this angle. Figuring she might be busy, Li Yan decided he would just say a casual hello and leave; after all, there would be plenty of opportunities later.

However, as Li Yan walked closer and closer, the sounds reaching his ears made his expression turn rather ugly.

***

"Young lady, would you like to go sit at the coffee shop next door and explain the courses to me in more detail?"

"I've already explained the details clearly to you. If you have any questions, just look at the promotional flyer!"

"Aww, I wasn't talking to you, why are you cutting in? Isn't it because I don't understand?"

"Exactly, young lady. We both want to sign up for the most expensive tier. Show us some face and come sit with us, and make friends with our Brother Li here while you're at it, won't you?"

The two men looked like greasy middle-aged guys in their thirties or forties—one had a protruding beer belly, and the other was somewhat bald.

The balding man in his thirties, while blocking the receptionist's remarks, vaguely deferred to the potbellied man who went by "Brother Li."

Meanwhile, Wang Wanjun stood with a cold expression, her slender, fair, and delicate fingers clutching a stack of promotional flyers on the front desk, faint blue veins standing out even more prominently on the back of her snow-white hand due to the force of her grip.

Wang Wanjun had spent the afternoon distributing flyers. Seeing that the time on her Redmi phone had reached four o'clock, she figured her food delivery would arrive soon.

She tucked a strand of hair dampened by sweat behind her ear, a few droplets of sweat sliding down her delicate, sun-flushed cheek and following her perfect jawline.

Looking at the remaining flyers in her hand, she still felt quite pleased.

At the very least, during the course of the afternoon, three prospective piano students had been introduced by her to the tutoring center.

In the WeChat message the receptionist had sent her earlier, it was mentioned that two people had already paid on the spot, which meant another substantial commission for her.

She might even reach six thousand yuan this month!

Head back! Then give the milk tea she ordered to Li Yan! Today she could relax just a tiny bit~

Wang Wanjun was in a good mood; the exhaustion and sun from a whole day of work seemed to fade, making her spirits even brighter.

Only on her way back to the shop did she unexpectedly run into those two middle-aged men.

She seemed to recall having handed them flyers earlier. She remembered them very clearly because the looks in their eyes had made Wang Wanjun feel utterly disgusted.

With cliché predictability, a plotline all too common for Wang Wanjun played out just like that.

As soon as she returned to the shop, before her receptionist colleague could even finish congratulating her, the two greasy men who had followed her arrived.

Well, let them come—their appearance and whether they wanted to learn piano only mattered if they were real clients; everything else was irrelevant.

That was what Wang Wanjun had thought.

Yet what Wang Wanjun hadn't expected—or perhaps refused to contemplate—was that the two greasy men stood at the front desk asking questions for over half an hour.

Their words, both overt and implied, kept steering toward inviting her out to eat at a nearby coffee shop or restaurant, and then "explaining" things in detail to this so-called Brother Li.

***

Could Wang Wanjun possibly not know what was going on?

The receptionist was also losing her temper.

What era was this? It was 2023, and you were trying to pull this routine on a Sichuan girl?

If not for the fact that the men were mostly asking questions related to the piano tutoring classes, the receptionist would have already called someone to throw them out.

Even so, after dragging it out for half an hour, the receptionist realized that these guys were entirely gunning for Wang Wanjun!

Wang Wanjun stood there with a cold face, looking somewhat helpless. Such situations had actually happened quite a bit ever since she was in high school.

Back then, she still had her mother to protect her, and her head teacher to protect her.

Now, she had come to Rongcheng all by herself, her salary was still being withheld by the shop, and she didn't know a single soul here.

If she fell out with them, what would she do?

Could she keep working here?

Would they even pay her salary?

Besides, these two greasy men looked like they had some money. A belt with a giant LV logo was fastened around the potbellied Li Ge, who looked like he was eight months pregnant, making him appear utterly repulsive.

Wang Wanjun didn't dare to gamble on whether this tutoring center would stand by her if things turned sour.

Her tuition fees, her laptop expenses, and her living expenses were all tied up in the salary here...

Wang Wanjun felt utterly helpless. If only her best friend were here; she was the only person she knew in this massive metropolis of Rongcheng where she felt like she didn't belong anywhere.

Wang Wanjun felt like a small village girl dropped into an international megalopolis. Surrounded by flashing neon lights and luxurious extravagance, she lived cautiously in the shadows of the big city.

Even her emotions had to be hidden away. Otherwise, would this sprawling metropolis truly ever have a place for her to fit in?

Wang Wanjun was not someone prone to affectation; her past experiences had made her quite resilient.

Yet today, in the vast city of Rongcheng that filled her with a sense of dread, the grievances she had encountered suddenly threatened to burst forth.

She felt her nose stinging, and her heart felt horribly blocked...