After his music skills finally reached level 3, Xia Yu could hardly wait to go to the coffee shop on the corner to apply for a job. However, today was Thursday, and he still had classes to attend.
After waiting impatiently for his classes to finish, the class monitor kept everyone behind.
“Next week is Culture Festival, so we must finalize our class’s performance plan today. Right now I have six proposals here. I’ll read them out and then we’ll vote,” the monitor said, picking up the proposal list and beginning to read.
The six proposals were: Maid Café, Butler Café, After-School Tutoring, Breakup Experience, Wall Pin Experience, and a Chinese Hand Game Contest.
Maid Café and Butler Café were the only two popular options. The remaining four were just fillers, among which the After-School Tutoring plan was something Xia Yu had hastily written to humor his classmates who were pushing him to sign up for either Maid Café or Butler Café.
Knowing that his classmates only cared about the titles and not the actual content, the monitor read quickly, and three minutes later, it was time to vote.
To prevent outside influence, the voting was done anonymously using notes. Two minutes later, the monitor collected the notes and, together with the arts committee member, began tallying the votes.
After just a few seconds, the tallying was complete. Xia Yu noticed the monitor’s expression turning strange.
The monitor coughed twice and began announcing the vote counts:
“Maid Café received twelve votes.”
Xia Yu thought: There are forty students in total, so twelve votes seem low. So, is Butler Café the winner?
“Bu
tler Café also received twelve votes.”
Also twelve? A tie would be problematic. Speaking of the remaining four filler plans, could they really have gotten sixteen votes?
The monitor continued:
“Breakup Experience received one vote.”
“Wall Pin Experience received one vote.”
“Chinese Hand Game Contest received one vote.”
At this point, Xia Yu and his classmates panicked. The remaining four filler plans had sixteen votes in total, but three of them only got one vote each, meaning the last one must have thirteen votes?
And the last plan was…
“After-School Tutoring received thirteen votes.”
“So, our class’s performance will be After-School Tutoring.”
The students began to groan:
“No way! I just didn’t want to vote for Maid or Butler, so I randomly picked one!”
“Same here! Who would actually vote for After-School Tutoring? I just voted for fun!”
“I just wanted to support Xia Yu!”
“Oh no.”
All the classmates turned their gazes toward Xia Yu.
“Maybe we can vote again?” Xia Yu tried to correct the timeline.
“No need. Anyway, Maid and Butler are pretty boring. Tutoring might actually be more fun.”
“We can give that group a big surprise!”
“…”
Seeing his classmates oddly excited, Xia Yu rubbed his forehead.
Whatever makes you happy.
With everything settled, he stood up, left the classroom, and headed toward the coffee shop on the corner.
The convenience store had already found someone to replace Xia Yu, and the manager asked him to come on Sunday to collect his final paycheck, so he was now free.
Taking the subway to the next stop and walking five minutes brought him to his destination—the coffee shop in the middle of a street.
Looking at the sign reading “Corner Coffee Shop,” Xia Yu walked inside.
“Welcome! How many people?” A girl wearing a waitress uniform approached him.
“I’m here to apply for a job,” Xia Yu said.
“Eh?” The girl was surprised. “But we only need a pianist.”
She assumed he was applying to be a waiter since she saw he was a high school student.
“That’s exactly what I came for.” Xia Yu wasn’t surprised at all by her doubt. It would be abnormal if she hadn’t doubted him.
“Sorry, the manager is in the back. I’ll take you there.” The girl led Xia Yu to the break room inside the coffee shop.
A young man was sitting on a chair playing with his phone.
After the girl briefly explained the situation to the young man, she left, leaving Xia Yu alone with him.
The young man took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at Xia Yu suspiciously. “Let me make this clear—I don’t care about certificates here. I’m a pianist myself, so I only care about real skill, okay?”
“Okay,” Xia Yu nodded.
“So, what level certificate do you have?” the young man asked.
“None,” Xia Yu said.
“Huh?” The young man’s eyes widened.
“Aren’t you not supposed to care about certificates?” Xia Yu didn’t have time to take exams anyway. Luckily, the young man had dug a hole for himself earlier.
“Well, even though I don’t care, you can’t have none…” The young man sighed and put out the cigarette. “Fine, there’s a piano outside. Go play something.”
They went to the main hall, where Xia Yu sat down at the piano.
The customers in the hall also turned to look at the new pianist.
At this moment, the young manager felt somewhat regretful. Nowadays, who learns piano without a certificate? Certificates have become the goal for many learners.
Was this high school student just assuming he could get a job after learning a little piano in music class?
There were quite a few regulars in the shop. If he played something like “Two Tigers,” he would completely lose face!
But it was already too late to stop him—this teenager had already pressed the first key.
An elegant melody echoed through the hall.
The young man, who had stood up, sat back down. This string of notes already proved Xia Yu’s skills.
Wait, what piece was this?
“The Wind of Cold Valley?” “Autumn of the Ashina Clan?” “The Carp in the Lake?”
After listening carefully for a while, the young man’s mouth dropped open in shock.
He slapped his thigh:
“Good Lord! It’s ‘The Pontiff’s Dancer!’
Among the customers in the hall, those who understood music were also somewhat shocked, but most customers simply found it pleasant to listen to. Xia Yu didn’t notice anything unusual either.
After finishing the piece, he lowered his hands, somewhat dissatisfied. This was the first time he had played piano with his new body, and some of his movements were a bit stiff. Plus, this piano didn’t sound as good as An Siyao’s at home.
Turning his head, Xia Yu wanted to ask if he could play again, but saw the young man’s face already very close to his.
Instantly creating some distance, Xia Yu was about to ask what was wrong when the young man grabbed his hand.
“Please, please stay at my coffee shop.” The young man’s eyes were sincere.
Xia Yu was very pleased to receive confirmation, but this proposal-like scene made him feel awkward.
Pulling his hand away, Xia Yu and the young man went back to the break room to discuss the employment details.
First, Xia Yu mentioned that he was still in school. After thinking for a moment, the young man said:
“You’ll work from 3 PM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday, and from 1 PM to 5:30 PM on Saturdays, with a one-hour break in between. You’re off on Sundays.”
“That works. What about the salary?” Xia Yu asked the core question.
“Well, you know, this is just a small coffee shop, so the salary won’t be as high as those big cafes,” the young man said somewhat awkwardly.
Xia Yu nodded in understanding and lowered his expected monthly salary from 4,000 to 3,000.
Then the young man revealed the figure: “So it’ll be around 8,000 a month.”
“Excuse me?” Xia Yu was shocked.
“8,000 might seem low, but it’s only temporary. With you here, I can elevate the coffee shop’s atmosphere. It’s easy to fool those middle-class customers, and once we earn more money, I can raise your salary,” the young man enthusiastically shared his future vision with Xia Yu.
Xia Yu fell silent. He sensed something was off. “It’s not that I think it’s low. Didn’t your job posting say ‘negotiable, around 3,000 to 5,000’? Why is it so much higher now?”
Hearing Xia Yu’s words, the young man also froze.
Scratching his head, he asked Xia Yu, “Just out of curiosity, what level do you think your skills are at right now?”
“The most difficult piece I can play is ‘The Pontiff’s Dancer.’ Isn’t that a standard repertoire for coffee shops?”
Xia Yu was beginning to understand. The reason he thought that was because he had previously asked An Siyao, and the coffee shop An Siyao went to…
Sure enough, the young man replied: “…’The Pontiff’s Dancer’ is indeed a standard piece, but it’s for big coffee shops. Usually, they only play the first and second parts.”
“So what are the standard pieces for places like your coffee shop?” Xia Yu asked.
“Gotthardt’s Study, and some modern pieces like ‘Autumn of the Ashina Clan.'”
“…”
He had been tricked by An Siyao.
Thinking about the days he had spent practicing piano for eight hours a day, Xia Yu felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.
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