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

This time, the resentment in his tone carried a hint of pleading.

just like,

It's like begging the other person to care about you.

A sense of humility flowed through him, making Su Che feel a pang of sympathy.

"Alright. Go ahead and say it. Anything within the bounds of principle is fine. As for the rest, we can talk about it after I'm done with this busy period. It was really my mistake to refuse you before because you weren't in Tianhai. That won't happen again. I will carefully consider any requests you make."

He began to think from her perspective.

This is one of the core skills in "The Bad Water Technique" that must be learned in times of crisis: "Putting yourself in someone else's shoes and admitting your mistakes." Its effect is to make verbal concessions, soften the target's heart, and temporarily ease the deadlock.

The tactical rating is 37, which is considered an advanced technique.

"is it?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nai's heart stirred, and she once again revealed her charming smile.

"Authentic." Su Che confirmed again.

"Alright, then I'll start by collecting some interest."

She released him, took a half-step back as if there was no danger, and demanded:

"It's simple, I want you to drink heavily with me after your performance."

"?!"

Upon hearing this, Su Che's previously anxious heart skipped a beat, and he actually breathed a sigh of relief.

"This……"

"That's all?"

"What? You think my needs are too easy to satisfy, don't you?"

Jiang Nai's smile deepened, "Then if you want to offer me something more, I certainly won't refuse."

"No, no, let me think about it."

Su Che wasn't stupid; he began to plan.

Obviously,

Drinking alcohol might seem like a perfectly safe activity, and I drink every day at Night Listening, so it's definitely within the bounds of what's considered "principled."

However, based on his understanding of Jiang Nai, he could judge that...

What she meant by "having a drink" was definitely not normal drinking.

Otherwise, you will lose the opportunity to receive this reward.

Something's not right.

Knowing how to get drunk, he suddenly realized that if he drank outside the shop, he might accidentally get a hangover, which could easily lead to very serious consequences.

At best, you'll be left with a sore throat and soaked; at worst, you'll be completely ensnared by her.

Since Nana was able to say that, it means she must have come prepared and is not as simple as she appears.

"How big of a drink are you referring to? Where are we drinking it? Please clarify first."

Su Che kept a watchful eye on things, recalling Jiang Nai's drinking capacity in the past.

Compared to Yuan Xiao and An Qing, she was definitely much older, because she would drink at least 6 bottles every time she went to the bar, and she would also mix cocktails, showing her formidable drinking prowess.

However, it was still a step behind the first guest.

After all, the opponent is a heavy drinker, the kind who can get himself completely drunk, so their combat strength cannot be compared horizontally.

"It's not a big deal, just enough to knock one person out, in my rented apartment."

"..."

An ominous aura wafted over, making Su Che sense that the newcomers meant no good.

"Drinking too much is still too unhealthy. A little is fine, but set a limit. Don't drink too much, or it will harm your health and affect your work the next day."

He dodged the question, hoping to steam it a little longer.

"Okay, then I'll buy the wine. Just drink it all, don't worry, it won't be too much. Is that alright?"

"Um……"

Now that things have come to this, we can't reduce the reward any further.

I truly owe her a great deal.

Su Che followed the flaws of the secret manual—focusing on overcoming the immediate difficulties first.

He agreed to Jiang Nai's suggestion and set the date for the first Friday after the performance.

Little did they know that making a deal with a succubus would never end well.

"You're busy now, right? I won't bother you any longer~"

After the two reached an agreement, Jiang Nai got what she wanted to her satisfaction.

Before leaving, just like last time, it suddenly leaned in when someone wasn't paying attention, left a cheek print, and then floated away.

"... "

Su Che took out his phone, turned on the reverse camera, and after confirming that there were no obvious lipstick residues on his face, he went downstairs again with a feeling of unease.

-

……

At the same time, on Riverside Street, at the Swan Cafe.

This is a small shop located on the second floor of a building on the edge of the commercial street. The decor is understated, the drinks are unique, and the prices are not expensive for the Tianhai area.

It can be described as a small, amazing store with extremely high cost performance, which is very popular among young people.

At this moment, two teenage girls sat by the window, looking idly at the passersby below.

Pedestrians come and go, some in groups of three or five, some alone.

A girl in a navy blue school uniform rested her rosy cheeks on her hand, staring blankly into the distance.

"Ling, you haven't said a word for 30 minutes. Is the view outside really that beautiful?"

Yui Tsukishima held a cup of iced lemon tea, tilted her head, and looked at the lead guitarist across from her, who seemed to be in a daze. The more she observed, the more interesting she found it.

"It doesn't look good."

"If it's not good, why do you keep looking at it?"

"I do not know either."

"..."

Yui took a sip of her drink, exclaimed "Ha!", and sighed:

"Aya, you're really interesting."

"."

Ling Yao picked up her coffee cup, staring at the rising steam and her reflection in the black coffee.

His brows furrowed deeper.

The atmosphere between the two women was strange.

One person looked worried, their expression tense.

Watching a play alone, one feels completely detached from it all.

"What's wrong, Aya? Why are you so downcast?"

"Yui, do you think there's any hope for our team?"

"Eh...?"

"I mean, is there any possibility of further development in this direction?"

Ling Yao asked the question seriously.

"Wow, Aya is so serious. When I came here, I never thought I would play this seriously."

Yui didn't care about any of that and just said whatever came to mind.

She felt that the three teammates of Shui Se had been bad for quite some time, so in these few rehearsals, they just did whatever they could to fit in, completely just going through the motions in the team to match the guitar performance.

"is it?"

"Yeah! I think having big goals is great for playing in a band, but the most important thing is to have fun in the process. If you're not happy in the process, then all those big goals are just pipe dreams. What do you think?"

Yui rarely spoke so sensibly, and even used an idiom, which made Ling Yao glance at him slightly.

"But didn't you say that you also had a very clear goal, wanting to gain the approval of your senior from high school?"

"Of course! But I know she probably doesn't like me! Because I'm not that good."

"No, you are very strong."

Ling Yao shook her head, denying Yui's modesty.

“If the rest of the team were you, I think we could still put up a fight against Mosse.”

She said objectively.

"...I'm sorry, Aya, I'm not a ninja, I don't know how to use the clone technique."

"."

Ling Yao put down her coffee cup, reflecting on what had happened in the team recently.

The water color is no longer the "water color" it once was.

Although it spurs them on to break through their limits.

But no matter how much they increased rehearsal frequency, compressed the performance efficiency that could be improved per unit of time, pressured them to practice their instruments and songs even harder, and forced them to study and watch live videos of other teams...

Apart from Yui, the improvement of the others was very limited.

This roughly represents the upper limit of a band's potential.