### Chapter 9: A Job Better Than Soaking Feet
The day’s classes wrapped up quickly.
At six, Lin Tian and Xu Yong rushed to their part-time job location without a moment to spare.
The restaurant, named “SWING,” was a popular eatery across from their school, renowned for its bustling atmosphere.
Though it was called a “tea restaurant,” it was more like a fusion of Hong Kong tea houses and afternoon tea spots, serving everything from roasted duck platters to steak pasta, embodying the perfect blend of Eastern and Western cuisine. With artistic decor and a retro vibe, it catered to a younger crowd.
With an average cost of 70-80 yuan per person, it wasn’t cheap, but still reasonable, and students often flocked here for a good meal.
Today marked the restaurant’s anniversary, making it even livelier than usual.
Upon arrival, Manager Wang was quick to usher Lin Tian and Xu Yong into action.
“Quick, quick, you two! You’re late!”
“Don’t bother changing into uniforms for now, Tables 7 and 8 have customers! Go serve them!”
With his backpack still in tow, Lin Tian swiftly grabbed his notepad and darted through the bustling aisles.
Arriving at Table 8, he greeted the two women in professional attire with a bright smile.
“Hello! Ladies, what would you like to eat?”
“I’ll have the Swiss twin wing rice, and one…”
The first lady stared intently at the menu, lost in thought.
Her friend elbowed her gently under the table.
“Hey, hey, look!”
The lady looked up in confusion and, upon spotting Lin Tian, her eyes lit up.
“Little brother, are you still in school?”
Her friend teased.
“Yep.”
“You must still be in high school! By the way, are you from the nearby No. 7 Middle School?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re so handsome! You must have a lot of girlfriends at school, huh?”
“Ha! You’re flattering me, sister.”
Lin Tian didn’t shy away but flashed a sunny grin.
“Our school doesn’t allow dating.”
“That makes sense. A hard-working student like you wouldn’t waste time on other things,” the lady said, gazing at Lin Tian with unabashed admiration, her eyes glued to his face, showering him with compliments.
“What else would you two like to order?”
Lin Tian skillfully steered the conversation back to business.
The ladies suddenly realized they’d been too caught up in chatting and had barely finished ordering.
They quickly flipped through the menu.
“Let’s add a double cheese pineapple bun and an egg fried rice.”
“Our fried chicken steak is a specialty, just 38 yuan!”
“Alright, add one of those too.”
“The iron plate original cut steak is also great—only 89 yuan.”
“That sounds good, include it!”
The friend quickly grasped the lady’s arm, looking alarmed, “Just the two of us? We can’t finish all that!”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” the lady said, cupping her face while gazing at Lin Tian, her expression blooming like a flower.
“If we can’t finish, we can save it for you, little brother~”
“Absolutely! I’ll get right on it!”
“Great!”
Lin Tian took the menu with a smile and retreated.
Just like that, he landed a hefty order with ease.
For him, encounters like this were nothing new.
With his charming looks and towering height of over 180 cm, still a high school student, he worked part-time in this upscale restaurant right after school.
Total skill points achieved!
It was hard not to attract attention, especially from the ladies!
It wasn’t uncommon for female customers to ask Lin Tian for his WeChat while ordering, but he usually declined, citing a busy study schedule and minimal social media usage.
This often earned him understanding nods, with the ladies sighing, “What a good student!”
They wished they could turn back time and meet Lin Tian a few years later.
For Lin Tian, he was quite pleased with this situation.
His hourly wage of 30 yuan for the job had been bumped up to 40 because of his exceptional performance, even Manager Wang, usually stingy, had to give in.
Among the other part-time high schoolers in the restaurant, Lin Tian earned the highest salary.
With a handsome face, succeeding in any job was much easier.
Definitely better than washing feet!
For Xu Yong, every time he heard this, his eyes turned red in envy.
Same hours, yet he could earn dozens of yuan more!
It was downright unfair!
Finally, the busiest hour — the dinner rush — passed.
Lin Tian and Xu Yong found a moment to lean against the wall and catch their breath.
Lin Tian, bored, scanned the restaurant and suddenly noticed the table he had just served. The two ladies had propped their phones on the table and were waving their hands around in front of the camera.
It looked like they were performing some sort of ninja moves.
Curiously, he nudged Xu Yong.
“What are they doing over there?”
“Huh?”
Xu Yong took a quick glance, immediately finding the answer, “Isn’t that obvious? They’re filming a TikTok! Must be that popular hand gesture dance!”
“TikTok?”
“Yeah!” Xu Yong suddenly remembered something, “Oh right, I forgot you don’t use TikTok.”
“It’s the app everyone’s on! Recently, Qingzhou has been fostering a trendy image; walk around the streets, and there are people everywhere filming their TikToks.”
“Those two ladies are struggling, though. Their figures aren’t great, so they have to crank up the beauty filter, only showing their upper bodies going all over the place. If they were really talented, they’d be busting a move!”
“These days, who knows how many people who used to wash feet have turned to online work thanks to TikTok.”
“…”
Listening to Xu Yong’s less-than-pleasant remarks, Lin Tian rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
“Is there a TikTok for making music videos, like playing instruments?”
Lin Tian suddenly asked.
He only knew of many music videos on Bilibili.
But TikTok’s short video platform? He didn’t know much about it.
“Yeah! Tons of them!”
Once the topic shifted, Xu Yong became animated.
“There’s this one guy who plays the piano! Every video showcases only his lower half, with a top-down camera focusing on his hands. Man, that dude is the absolute king of the scene! You skip a day watching him, and you’ll feel like you’ve missed out on the world.”
“…”
If Lin Tian guessed right, the person Xu Yong mentioned probably had an account on Bilibili too.
But he didn’t think it was that exaggerated.
Maybe the perspective from forums differed from the average person.
Speaking of pianos…
Lin Tian suddenly noticed the piano in the middle of the restaurant. Usually surrounded by faux flowers as decoration, its cover was now thrown aside.
“Why’s the piano uncovered?”
Lin Tian pointed at the piano and asked Xu Yong.
“You mean the piano?”
“It’s the anniversary, isn’t it normal to have it out?”
Xu Yong replied.
“They probably don’t want to spend on a piano player to perform, letting any customer who can play hop on. You know how miserly Manager Wang is.”
Lin Tian stared intently at the piano, lost in thought.
“What’s up?”
Noticing Lin Tian’s unusual gaze, Xu Yong turned to look, puzzled.
He glanced at the piano again.
Quickly, his expression turned comical, and he joked, “What, you don’t want to hop on and play, do you?”
Lin Tian remained silent, fixated on the piano.
Now Xu Yong looked ghostly, “Hey! You’re not serious, are you?! Don’t gross me out! You didn’t watch some ‘Easy but Impressive Piano Piece – Super Simple Fingering Tutorial’ online and want to try it, did you?”
“Those videos aren’t real!”
Lin Tian ignored Xu Yong.
Instead, he weaved through the crowd and headed straight for the piano.
(End of Chapter)
