Here it comes—justice is on its way.

When Li An arrived, Wang Xiaohu didn't bother to stand up; he simply called out "Teacher" and then set himself in position, waiting for the next instruction.

Li An was already used to this. The days when he himself was a student were long gone.

Nowadays, students would call you "Teacher" when they felt like it, and if they didn’t, they could just as easily treat you as their father.

"Move your stool back," Li An said as he approached the piano, pointing at Wang Xiaohu’s seat. "Scoot your hips forward."

"Chest out, head up, eyes straight ahead."

"Good."

"Let your arms down naturally."

Wang Xiaohu moved like a little robot, adjusting himself each time Li An issued a command.

Finally, his hands came to rest on the keyboard.

"All right, let's start with the D major scale," Li An said, waving his hand and gently counting the beats. "One—two—three—"

"Begin—"

Following Li An’s slow tempo, Wang Xiaohu brought both hands down and started playing the D major scale.

His hand shape and finger lift on the first two notes were just fine, corrected as Li An had instructed in their last lesson.

But on the third note, his left middle finger landed incorrectly, playing the wrong note.

Li An said nothing.

Two seconds passed.

Li An rubbed his brow. Clearly, the boy hadn’t practiced at home after last week’s lesson.

"Stop."

Wang Xiaohu withdrew his hands, and the classroom fell silent.

After a moment, Li An asked, "Did you practice piano at home last week?"

Wang Xiaohu shook his head woodenly.

Li An didn’t even bother to ask why this time.

"Five minutes. Just practice this scale."

"Hands separately, slowly."

"Begin."

No longer paying attention to Wang Xiaohu, Li An walked to the window and sighed softly.

He had tried nearly every method imaginable to get the child to practice at home.

But this was already his seventh lesson with Wang Xiaohu, and not once had the boy practiced after class.

If things continued this way, Li An feared he might lose the child altogether.

A crisp chime rang in his ears just then.

"Piano Teacher’s Life Feedback System activated—"

"Collecting Earth data"

"Analyzing character data"

Li An’s vision flickered, and a translucent interface suddenly appeared before him.

[Piano Teacher]: Li An

[Level]: 0 (Experience 0/5)

[Teaching Points]: 10

[Inventory]: Empty

|Potential Student List|

Yu Xiaobei, Teacher-Student Index (55/100)

Song Kun, Teacher-Student Index (25/100)

Liu Fengrui, Teacher-Student Index (19/100)

Wang Xiaohu, Teacher-Student Index (2/100)

[Teacher-Student Index: the student’s willingness to learn piano from the teacher.]

Another chime sounded.

"System binding successful. More functions will unlock as the host’s level increases. Please explore on your own."

"Enjoy your life on Earth."

As the prompts faded, Li An calmly closed the interface.

Then opened it again.

Closed it.

Opened it.

Closed it.

"Hmm—" Li An’s voice abruptly halted the piano music behind him.

"Keep practicing," he said.

Wang Xiaohu mumbled an assent and resumed playing.

Li An summoned the panel again, examining it inside and out. After a long moment, he let out a deep sigh.

Justice had not only arrived late, but came bearing poverty.

Still, Yu Xiaobei’s index of 55 offered considerable comfort.

Li An was touched, and a little guilty.

He hadn’t expected the quiet, reserved girl to be so fond of his piano lessons.

He always thought Xiaobei lacked talent, so he hadn’t paid her much attention.

In contrast, Liu Fengrui, whom he valued highly, disappointed him. The boy professed his love for Li An’s lessons in front of his parents, but his sincerity didn’t even match Song Kun’s.

If memory served, Song Kun should be a student in Lin Pengfei’s Sunday morning class.

What a strange situation...

Finally, Li An’s gaze landed on Wang Xiaohu’s name, and he couldn’t help but smile wryly.

In all his years of teaching, he considered himself a well-liked teacher.

Yet with Wang Xiaohu, his index was only two...

"Teacher."

Li An turned around at the sudden call.

Wang Xiaohu was looking up at him, "I’ve practiced."

Li An closed the panel, refocusing on the piano.

"All right."

He was about to set the tempo for Wang Xiaohu, but lowered his hand.

"This time, I won’t give you a speed. Try it yourself."

Wang Xiaohu nodded, set his arms and hands, held his breath for four seconds, then brought down his left pinky and right thumb.

"Re—MI—#Fa—..."

He played the D major scale in double octaves with both hands, smooth and steady.

Though slow, he made no mistakes, earning Li An’s praise.

"Nice, much more fluent."

Li An sat at another piano. "From here, we need to keep working on your right-hand finger crossing. If you don’t control it, you’ll have uneven finger strength and drop speed."

"Like this."

He exaggeratedly demonstrated how improper finger crossing produced an uneven scale, the volume fluctuating and speed abruptly changing, marring the beauty of the music.

"This is the correct finger crossing," he continued, pressing the keys again, "Watch my right thumb."

"After the second finger comes down, we prepare for the thumb crossover. The wrist can tilt outward a bit here."

Another scale flowed from Li An’s fingers, each note crisp and full, the intervals clear and even.

"Lift your fingers high, almost like you’re throwing them out and pulling them back."

Li An slowed down, making sure Wang Xiaohu could see the trajectory of each finger.

"Just like this. Once you’re completely comfortable—"

Suddenly, his hands burst into a dazzling speed.

All ten fingers fired in rapid motion, two streams of electric-fast scales racing side by side, echoing through the classroom and vanishing in an instant.

Silence returned.

"That’s the performance you can achieve," Li An said, withdrawing his hands. "Is it fast?"

Wang Xiaohu nodded.

Li An smiled, "Do you want to play fast?"

Wang Xiaohu replied, "I don’t mind."

Li An paused, "If you want to be fast, you must first be slow. Your turn."

Wang Xiaohu returned to his piano, recalling Li An’s demonstration.

After only three tries, he solved the major issue with his finger crossing.

Li An nodded repeatedly from the side.

The boy had talent, he just didn’t practice.

Ah.

After reviewing the D major scale, teacher and student reinforced the other content from last lesson.

Half the class flew by.

"Teacher, my stomach hurts."

"Go."

"No tissue."

Li An glanced at the empty tissue box. "Go next door and ask Teacher Chen."

Wang Xiaohu left, and Li An quickly summoned the system for a glance.

Half the class had passed, yet Wang Xiaohu’s teacher-student index remained unchanged.

He felt the lesson had gone well.

So if the classroom atmosphere continued like this, Wang Xiaohu’s index would stay at two.

Li An fell into thought.

Looking at it another way, at least Wang Xiaohu had some small desire to take lessons with him.

Perhaps, enhancing their interaction could be a breakthrough.

For a moment, Li An felt he’d grasped something.

He’d focused all his efforts on getting Wang Xiaohu to practice at home, neglecting their relationship, assuming the boy’s reticence was simply his nature.

It seemed that might be the real issue.

Fixing his gaze on Wang Xiaohu’s index, Li An pondered how to improve their rapport when a window popped up.

‘Would you like to unlock Wang Xiaohu’s beginner student guide?’

Li An hesitated, then instinctively selected yes.

‘Unlocking the beginner student guide will deduct 10 teaching points. Proceed?’

He glanced at Yu Xiaobei’s name uncertainly.

After a moment,

"Yes."

His 10 teaching points vanished instantly.

‘Please wait’

As he waited, Teacher Li An felt a bit anxious, curious what kind of guide the system would offer for Wang Xiaohu.

Ten seconds later, a line of small text appeared beneath Wang Xiaohu’s name.