At 3 a.m., the landmines in front of the station

Advantage: Turning the tide against all odds.

Disadvantage: Cats might take it seriously.

"~"

As expected, upon hearing Su Che's words, An Qing's previously gloomy expression immediately brightened, and she pursed her lips again, asking, "Really? It's a date?"

"Ah."

Su Che nodded in affirmation.

"Hehe~"

Now, the thorny wall between their hearts seemed to have been completely burned away.

An Qing, unable to hide her joy, stretched out her snow-white little feet, put on her bunny ear slippers, and ran over, taking Su Che's arm and asking:

"Cheche, tell me, who bit you last night, okay?"

[Ding ding dong.]

Thirty-Five Counter-Attack Techniques: "Emotional Monopoly"—Originating from "The Way of the Spirit, Volume Two":

When an advantage emerges, don't forget to use it to cut off external connections. If you can't eliminate them completely, at least gather all the opponent's intelligence so you can seize the initiative in the future.

The core of this technique is intelligence gathering and "getting a bargain but still demanding more." As long as the model is good enough, one can ask for crucial information with a capricious and coquettish attitude, even if the spellcaster's status is higher than the enemy's.

【…】

Su Che was helpless.

I thought to myself, even so, should I still ask Nana about it?

Dating, to some extent, is tantamount to a tacit agreement to a relationship.

"More than a friend, almost a girlfriend."

However, cats are never satisfied. Being spoiled and willful is in a cat's nature, as is being curious.

"He is a guest."

Su Che chose to keep it short, "He drank too much, got drunk and confused, and started biting people."

"……so?"

An Qing narrowed her cat-like eyes, opened her small mouth to reveal her fangs, picked up Su Che's left arm that was cooking, and let out a loud "woof!"

A red mark of his own remained in the symmetrical spot where his right arm had been washed off.

"Ouch!"

Su Che winced in pain, feeling that this bite was significantly deeper and harder than Jiang Nai's.

He couldn't help but grimace as he immediately pulled it out and asked, "An Qing, I've noticed that you're really serious about many things."

"Hmph, of course! Anyway, don't wash it off. Let it air dry."

"..."

Su Che sighed and hummed in agreement, thinking to himself that house cats were indeed more concerned about territory.

Even if given a piece of candy, they will still focus their attention on the outer defenses after eating the candy.

"alright."

After calming the cat down and feeding it breakfast, Su Che picked up his violin bag and prepared to head to Gu Zhi's house.

"Keep up the good work today!"

The girl's sweet voice followed him to the door, and she obediently watched him go, just as always.

Su Che smiled, got dressed, and left satisfied.

-

……

Today's plan is to teach Gu Zhi a lesson in the morning, and to move tomorrow's playtime to the next day.

Complete the order a day ahead of schedule.

After all, he had to give An Qing his time ahead of time tomorrow. The 14-hour impromptu date disrupted the original plan. Therefore, in order not to break up the time, Su Che had to make a big adjustment and change the 3 hours of playing with her to Saturday.

Fortunately, upon learning of the changes, Blank showed no dissatisfaction or resentment. He readily accepted the adjustments and stated that he would "definitely go live on time."

The server they agreed on was in Southeast Asia.

Because the server was located in southern Australia, it would lag even on their own server. Therefore, Su Che needed to use a Hong Kong server accelerator so that the two could use an intermediate node to meet on a ghost server in Southeast Asia.

Daylight saving time involves a three-hour time difference, while standard time involves a two-hour difference.

Therefore, as summer arrives on his side, the blank space will feel closer to him in time, creating a sense of compression similar to time and space, which Su Che finds very novel.

【call…】

Around nine o'clock,

Su Che left his house and, as usual, headed to Gu Zhi's mansion.

"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll finish class before noon, come back to feed the cat, then write for another 3 hours, and start teaching again in the afternoon, finishing around 6 or 7 pm. My day is pretty full."

He did some quick calculations and found that he could barely accept his current level of living.

But if we add what happened with Senior Yu Xi...

My already busy weekends suddenly become less than ideal, with not enough time for anything.

They even have to use "evening hours".

Teaming up means practicing the piano like crazy, refining techniques endlessly, with no room for laziness or slacking off.

As the lead vocalist, Su Che has to bear even more pressure.

"Oh, right, Gu Zhi sent me a message a few days ago saying she still needs to borrow my piano for class today..."

The reason wasn't stated, but it's probably quite easy to guess.

Even if you place an order for an AtelierZ handmade piano, it is often not in stock and needs to be made to order. It will take up to six months to arrive after being shipped overseas, and at the fastest it will take three to five months.

All the large AZ products sold online are second-hand, or even 3 to N times used, which Gu Zhi would definitely not consider.

Su Che held the same view: buying a piano is like marrying a wife; you must buy a brand new one and never consider anything more than a second-hand one, because it's something you'll be holding every day.

There's no need to be overly demanding about portable peripherals like speakers, rare effects pedals, and cables, or consumables like picks.

The instrument I'm carrying is a GU Bass, not a high-end one, but just right for lessons.

Considering that Gu Zhi is only a semi-beginner in switching from fingerstyle to bass, I should be able to teach her the first few lessons without any problems.

As for what comes next...

"Ugh."

The images from last night involuntarily surfaced in my mind.

The relationship with Nana has become strained here.

It was one thing to refuse her when it came to forming a team, but it turned out that she actually refused more than once.

Besides the invitation, Jiang Nai came to ask him to drink with her twice, but each time it was basically a waste of time. She drank a lot, but usually left empty-handed.

The plane tickets weren't cheap, and the hourly rate for a "sex session" started at 300 yuan, with a minimum charge of nearly 2,000 yuan for the whole night. But all she got was brief words of companionship, and in the end, she was surrounded by a huge sense of loss as she left Ye Ling alone.

[After she came over and had a few drinks with me the first time, she said she wanted to take me away. Ningning stopped her.]

I still remember our first encounter two years ago; she wasn't exactly a landmine back then.

Makeup artists always have a sophisticated aesthetic sense. At that time, she was wearing a very sexy black bad sister outfit, high heels, and a lace floral long skirt. Her flawless features seemed to be covered by a mask, and her appearance was completely different from when she came for the second time.

It's safe to say that even if I saw Jiang Nai on the street again tomorrow, I wouldn't recognize her if she wasn't carrying her zither.

— The "face-changing makeup technique" truly lives up to its name.

"How can we resolve this awkward situation?"

Su Che was very troubled by this problem.

It's fine as long as they don't realize it's a scam; they treat them as customers, and it doesn't matter what they do.

But now, he needed her help to teach Gu Zhi, and after considering all the details, he suddenly realized that he couldn't bring himself to speak.

[Contacting her only when you need her, and then using the silent treatment when you don't—isn't that a bit inhumane?]

Su Che had thought it through clearly, but there was no solution for the time being.

"Furthermore, the fact that she carried her violin into the flower shop and posted on social media that she was going to an interview suggests that she might be looking for a job or a new teammate."

Self-rejection – social withdrawal – emotional release through extreme weight loss methods – improvement – ​​confidence – finding new teammates…

The whole process seemed reasonable.

"It's her prerogative to find new teammates, even if it's within Tianjin Tianhai."

Su Che was unsure whether Nana's actions were retaliatory in nature.

But asking via QQ doesn't seem like a bad idea.

The two did not have a "non-amicable breakup," but rather a relationship of "online friends who gradually stopped chatting."

Compared to the estrangement she once had with Hare, Nana is now the type who, even if they no longer keep in touch, won't actively bother him (on the surface).

"Then let's ask, pretend we don't know anything."

Su Che established his policy: "Show concern and care."

That is, to find out her state by chatting casually.

If she still holds a grudge, then just don't mention anything else and continue to isolate yourself.

If she is enthusiastic and proactive, then you can further inquire about her recent situation, subtly ask her for information, and deduce the truth from her.

With this in mind, Su Che decided to take immediate action.

Click on her profile picture and compose your first chat message:

"NaiNai, your IP address is in Tianhai, are you here for tourism?"

A relapse after a long period of time often determines whether there will be any follow-up.