It is the human heart that grows restless.

Li An once firmly believed that the two of them would make it to the end together.

But in the end, they only reached the brink of that ending.

They endured the days of eight-yuan-fifty meals at the canteen and the ever-changing seasons, but in the face of graduation, their journey could not continue.

Graduation signaled the close of their student days and the onset of a series of challenges in the wider world. Standing at such a critical juncture in life, no matter how passionate their feelings once were, reality forced them to let those emotions cool, if only for a while.

This cooling was not giving up; it was the careful planning of two mature individuals for their futures, a necessary stage for their relationship to move forward.

Due to choices about location and career direction, in the end, Violin decided to return home, as her parents had always hoped.

“Li An, you don’t need to see me off any further. Let’s stop here.”

“All right. Check your luggage again after you clear security.”

“Good luck.”

“You too.”

Watching Violin’s figure recede, Li An raised his hand in farewell.

At the airport metro entrance, he waved as though bidding an old friend goodbye, letting go of all the promises of the past.

Later, Li An heard that Violin had become a civil servant in her hometown, accepted her family’s plans, and found a new boyfriend.

Her boyfriend’s family was well-off, and he worked at the local tax bureau.

It was probably for the best.

Having someone next door to keep you company while practicing always brings a sense of peace.

Time slipped quietly toward noon, and the system’s notification lit up.

Li An’s expression shifted. He finished playing the last bar, paused, and summoned the panel.

His experience points had reached (20/20).

He had thought he’d see this moment yesterday, but Xiao Bei hadn’t practiced because she’d gone home.

“Would you like to upgrade?” the system prompt appeared.

“Yes.”

A blue light flashed.

His level on the interface increased from 1 to 2, with experience points (0/40).

“Congratulations, Teacher Li An, your level has increased by 1.”

This time, the potential student list capacity did not expand.

For a moment, he was transported back to that familiar cartoon scene: the little animated Xiao Bei followed behind him, wielding a small hoe, working hard to dig the ground.

“Upgrade reward being excavated. At level 2, you may obtain 1 item.”

“Please wait.”

As the seconds ticked by, Li An found his initial curiosity and excitement about the system gradually replaced by the trivia and bustle of daily life.

If it weren’t for the occasional popup saying a student’s affinity had increased by a point or two, he might have forgotten the system even existed.

Three meals a day, a nine-to-five—that was real life.

He found that, after a busy day, coming home to a cold drink, feeling the fan’s breeze, and watching “Report Boss” brought more fulfillment than staring at columns of data.

With a calm expression, he watched the teacher and student digging together. The scene was heartwarming, but it no longer stirred him the way it had when he first received a reward.

Of course, he sometimes fantasized about those miraculous rewards.

Would it be like in novels—a top-up rebate card, or the special effects of a movie king’s blessing?

Even a small thirty-square-meter apartment to help him through his current difficulties would be wonderful.

If the reward related to piano performance or music, that would be best.

For instance, a way to express the balance and beauty of Bach’s keyboard works, or how Beethoven’s subjectivity is revealed through his objective notes.

Or perhaps a few anecdotes about the great composers before they found fame—anything to make him feel the system’s presence a bit more.

Anything would do.

To say he had no expectations would be a lie, but the system was simply not on his side...

Suddenly, a white light flashed, and the little teacher and student in the scene stopped.

Li An’s eyelashes trembled slightly...

“A Niuean language learning list has been discovered.”

[Niuean Language Learning List]: Contains methods to quickly master the Niuean language.

...He almost wanted to give up entirely.

With a minute left on the selection countdown, he quickly pulled out his phone to look it up.

What he found surprised him.

A quick glance at Baidu Encyclopedia, and he couldn’t remember if the country of Niue had eight thousand or nine thousand residents.

It didn’t matter anymore.

His eyes landed on the last sentence:

“Niue provides free internet for all residents, but not all villages are connected.”

Goodness, some villages didn’t even have internet yet.

Returning to the interface, he decisively abandoned the reward.

“This upgrade reward distribution is complete. The probability of excavating a rare item on your next upgrade has increased to 10%.”

After quitting the system, Li An felt more normal again.

His phone screen was still on the search page.

Only then did he notice the headline under the encyclopedia entry—“The Forgotten Nation of the World—Niue.”

He clicked in.

Two scenic photographs appeared.

One showed golden reefs beside a sapphire sea under a blue sky, the other a star-studded night.

The scenery was indeed beautiful; he scrolled down.

The accompanying text was a travelogue.

Clearly written by a young woman, it brimmed with poetry and dreams of distant places.

To his surprise, he found himself growing interested in this tiny country of just 260 square kilometers.

Without realizing it, he reached the end of the page and tapped on the final video.

In the video, beneath the night sky, a group of locals in traditional attire danced around a bonfire, their bodies swaying as they sang an exotic melody.

In their song, Li An sensed an ancient calling, and he was truly amazed.

He had always loved this kind of unadorned, natural vocal music.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand a word of what these grass-skirted singers were performing.

For a moment, he thought that mastering this language might actually be rather nice.

He never lacked curiosity about life.

Now, thinking back, if the reward had been for a major language, perhaps he would have accepted without hesitation.

Li An’s thoughts drifted to the system’s name—“The Life Feedback System for Piano Teachers”...

Was its purpose to give piano teachers more experiences in life?

Perhaps his attitude from the start hadn’t been quite right.

No matter. Since it had come to him, he might as well accept it.

Apart from the rewards, the system was actually quite helpful for his teaching.

Besides, no matter how many cheats life gave, in the end, things depended on one’s own effort.

[Ji Yang’s teacher-student index has risen to 51]

...

Guanshan No. 1 Residence.

“Yangyang, how did your practice go this morning?”

Seeing her daughter come downstairs from the second floor, the family gathered for lunch.

“Teacher Li is amazing!”

This was the phrase the couple had heard most often at the table these past two days.

“Mom, using the practice method Teacher Li taught me the day before yesterday, today I can already play the first eight bars at 85 bpm with good accuracy. I can clearly feel my right hand’s control improving, though my fourth finger and pinky on the right hand are still a bit stiff when I try to speed up.”

As Ji Yang set down her chopsticks, she looked up expectantly, “Mom, when is Teacher Li coming again? Haven’t you contacted him yet?”

Hu Rong and Ji Chenguang exchanged glances before replying, “Let’s eat first. We’ll talk it over.”

“What’s there to discuss?” Ji Yang asked in surprise. “Teacher Li’s explanations are really good. You were there the other day!”

Seeing no response from her mother, she turned to Ji Chenguang, “Dad, didn’t you say after watching the video that Teacher Li plays beautifully and that I should learn from him?”

Ji Chenguang squinted and smiled, “Your mom and I need to sort out your schedule before reaching out to the teacher. Now, come on, Yangyang, let’s eat.”

Hearing her father’s words, Ji Yang reluctantly picked up her chopsticks.

Hu Rong heard it all and saw it all. Truth be told, she was very satisfied with Li An’s professionalism and teaching ability.

But now, there was a concern weighing on her mind that she just couldn’t shake.

After lunch, Ji Yang went upstairs for her nap. In the afternoon, another teacher was coming to help her with her academic subjects.

In the living room, the couple began to quietly argue again.

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing wrong. I think Teacher Li is very proper. Don’t overcomplicate things,” Ji Chenguang tried to reassure her.