At 7 PM, Tang Song returned to Qingxin Homestead. After a brief rest, he washed up and tidied his bedroom. He changed into a youthful outfit: a white shirt, black casual pants, and white sneakers. He fixed his sports camera, grabbed his guitar, and sat down on a chair. Adjusting the camera angle, he ensured it captured his body and guitar.

Closing the door, he turned on the camera and casually played a gentle folk tune, checking the recording effect. The music, his hands, the guitar, and his outfit all came together nicely. However, Tang Song felt something was missing. Simply replacing the BMW with a guitar didn't add much novelty.

After pondering for a while, he opened Douyin to search for similar videos for inspiration. Soon, a video with over a million likes caught his eye. It was similar to what he had in mind, but the performer used a fingerstyle guitar and paid more attention to the environment setup. Fingerstyle is a solo guitar style that combines various playing techniques. It involves using a single acoustic guitar to perform multi-voice music through methods like tuning, pressing, tapping, and finger drumming, enhancing the instrument's expressiveness beyond a single voice.

Realizing this, Tang Song excitedly rearranged his setup. He placed a table lamp on a shelf, adjusted the angle and color temperature, and turned off the ceiling light. Holding his guitar, he sat down, with soft light casting a glow on him from the side. After tweaking the camera settings, he started recording.

Relaxing, he began playing "Preference," his expert skills allowing him to control rhythm and notes effortlessly, even adding some improvisations. After a minute of fingerstyle playing, Tang Song reviewed the recording. The surrounding darkness contrasted with the cool white light on his guitar and shirt. His fair, slender hands gleamed as they danced over the dark guitar, producing rich, layered, and emotionally charged notes.

Tang Song felt a rush of excitement, confident this video would go viral. He edited a 40-second highlight and added a filter to enhance the atmosphere. After posting it on Douyin, he watched it several times, satisfied with both the visual and auditory impact. Anticipating a surge in followers and a hundredfold cash reward, he grabbed his guitar and sang joyfully in his room.

His voice was pleasant, and combined with his exceptional guitar accompaniment, he sounded quite good. After tiring himself out, he put his guitar away and pulled out "Marketing Management" from the shelf, resuming his reading. A golden ginkgo leaf bookmark was tucked inside. The 30% memory boost was more powerful than he had imagined, significantly enhancing his absorption of knowledge, comparable to his high school days.

"Ping!" A WeChat notification interrupted him.

【Zhao Yaqian: "The last day of the holiday is finally over! The toughest part is done!"】

【Zhao Yaqian: selfie.jpg】

He opened the photo to find her sitting on a small stool in her uniform, chin resting on her knees, hair pinned back with a net, looking pitiful. Recently, her selfies had become more frequent but much more restrained compared to the first day. Tang Song wanted to criticize this, but couldn't bring himself to do so.

Glancing at the time, 9:20 PM, Zhao Yaqian usually finished work around 10 PM and caught the bus home from Xingdong Road. It took about 20 minutes from Qingxin Homestead to Yisa Beauty Salon. Recalling her messages and photos from the previous days, Tang Song smiled, grabbed his keys, and quickly headed downstairs.

Maybe he should talk to his beautician friend in person about proper photo-taking techniques. Plus, since he was now in the fashion business, he could gift her some black stockings, white stockings, and short skirts to enhance the aesthetics of her photos.

Under the night sky, his black BMW 330's headlights lit up. The tires screeched on the cement as he smoothly turned and accelerated, driving towards the stars ahead.

...

"Why hasn't he replied yet? He shouldn't be asleep at this time," Zhao Yaqian muttered, a bit upset.

"Qianqian!" a woman's voice called from outside.

Zhao Yaqian quickly stood up and walked out of the beauty room, responding loudly, "Wei Jie, I'm here."

Wei Ziyan waved her over, "Come here for a moment. This beauty room had a water leak earlier, and the technician just fixed it. The floor and walls are dirty. Clean it thoroughly, including the mud spots on the equipment."

Zhao Yaqian hesitated, feeling a bit overwhelmed, "Wei Jie, this is a lot of work, and I'm about to clock out. Can I do it tomorrow, or should we wait for the cleaning lady to handle it?"

Wei Jie frowned, her voice turning stern, "Then you'll just have to stay late. Is your time so precious that you can't make a small effort for the company?" Original content can be found at novel⦿fire.net

With that, she turned and left. Zhao Yaqian bit her lip, holding back her anger. As a probationary worker, she couldn't refuse a senior beauty consultant's orders.

Rolling up her sleeves, she grabbed the cleaning supplies from the restroom and started scrubbing. Cursing Wei Jie silently made her feel a bit better. She cleaned mud, rust, and wiped down the walls and equipment.

"Buzz, buzz—" Her phone vibrated.

She checked it and saw a message from Tang Song: "It's almost 10 PM. Are you off work yet?"

Feeling wronged, Zhao Yaqian replied, "Not yet, the boss just gave me extra cleaning work. I'm working overtime, so miserable!!"

After sending the message, she informed He Liting and continued her cleaning. As her colleagues gradually left, none offered to help her, and she knew few people well enough to ask for help.

By 10:30 PM, she had finally finished cleaning the beauty room. In the changing room, she removed her uniform, wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck with a towel, and began getting dressed.

"Yaqian, still here?" a familiar colleague entered the changing room.

"Yeah, some work held me up. Vivi Jie, why are you so late?" Zhao Yaqian replied, putting on her sneakers.

"Had a client come in around 9 PM, just finished now," Li Weiwei explained while changing clothes. "Wait for me, let's leave together."

"Okay," Zhao Yaqian nodded, sitting quietly on the bench. She texted her cousin, "Almost off work."