Some things cannot be achieved through effort alone.

So any conversation after that was just the aftermath, a time for smoking, though Bai Haonan didn’t smoke. Still, adopting a sage-like attitude, he earnestly reflected on his work: “Look, even with you, I can’t start from your feet the moment you take off your high heels. Today, I saw a guy utterly entranced, holding onto that plump lady’s toes right after she took off her shoes, the smell… I almost threw up. I couldn’t even bring myself to hold my client’s leg. Failure!”

Qiao Yingna’s eyes shimmered with seduction. “So you were using me as practice.”

Bai Haonan sighed. “This line of work isn’t easy. Just drinking and playing games with clients is fine, but then there’s stuff like this… Not to mention, if you want to make big money, you need to be kept, and then you have to be ready for action—but where’s the weapon?”

His troubled expression made Qiao Yingna burst into laughter, filling the room with spring warmth. She couldn’t help but soften her voice: “Forget it, I’ll keep you. At least we can sing and have dinner together, that’s not a problem.”

But she underestimated him, for Bai Haonan was actually ambitious. “No! Love what you do, right? I want to challenge myself. Finally found something I’m willing to work hard at, and even the supervisor said I’d definitely be a success.” He gritted his teeth. “If I could really find someone willing to pay tens of thousands a year to keep me, it’s basically like playing ball. No matter how ugly, I’d endure!” He wasn’t greedy; he never expected those legendary million-dollar arrangements.

Qiao Yingna was amazed to find Bai Haonan was serious as he spoke, and could only say, “So… are you still going to practice?”

Bai Haonan thought about it and confirmed, “Practice!”

Professional athletes are best at training through actual competition.

The result was that the next day, Qiao Yingna was forced to skip class for a whole day, and almost couldn’t make it to her singing gig that night!

Bai Haonan, meanwhile, went to work with renewed insight…

And then came home each evening to confirm, discuss, and practice with Qiao Yingna.

People say things about land and oxen, but it depends on the land and the ox; soon enough, it was the singer who couldn’t keep up. If only they could sit and discuss, combining theory and practice, everything would be easier—too much action leads to dehydration.

But Bai Haonan’s efforts were clearly misguided. Over time, his face grew increasingly gloomy and dejected. After more than a week, he finally decided to give up on this field, one in which he’d once thought himself gifted.

Qiao Yingna was packing, preparing to escape. The past few days had been too much for her, and she seized the opportunity of summer break to go home, rest, and cool her mind. “Next week, all the colleges are starting their break. Right at the start, the bar district quiets down. I’ll go home to be with my parents. You’re still not contacting Xiaofen?”

Bai Haonan, frowning and scratching his head at the balcony door, replied gruffly, “Contact her for what? I’m on the run, not here to serve her…”

Rarely did she detect such irritation in his tone, and Qiao Yingna had to stifle her laughter. She bent down beside him, not daring to touch him lest any contact devolve into something else. “Haonan, I haven’t been around as much as you, but among college students I’ve had more social experience. I may not be able to spout grand theories, but after more than ten years of decent grades, I want to say: just because something exists doesn’t mean it’s right. You can’t take being a gigolo as normal just because it exists. Maybe you joke about how people mock poverty but not whoring, and that’s real. But society’s rules and moral boundaries are clear. However dark football may be, it’s still legitimate. Being a prostitute or a gigolo is strictly forbidden—that means your direction is wrong, so don’t work hard in the wrong direction…”

By the end, she was earnest and focused—a singer from the medical university who prided herself on viewing society coolly, now surprised by her own sincerity.

Bai Haonan snorted. “I still can’t let go of my pride! Sigh… I just can’t take the hardship!” He took a deep breath, as if gathering courage.

Qiao Yingna finally couldn’t help herself, laughing so hard she collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach and crying out: “Oh—told you to throw it out, it stinks, and you still… Oh, it hurts, hurts so bad, can’t take it… close the door…” Especially as she gasped, the stench wafting in from the balcony felt suffocating!

Bai Haonan, disgruntled, shut the door firmly.

It turned out that the so-called industry training involved buying a slab of pork belly, leaving it to bake on the balcony for days, then slicing it open and stuffing a one-yuan coin inside. If you could get the coin out with your tongue, you were qualified.

In July’s heat, two pounds of pork belly were crawling with maggots; the smell was worse than shoes freshly removed, utterly unpalatable for Bai Haonan!

Apparently, this was an essential skill for a top gigolo.

The ability for “that” was only a basic requirement—the real key was shamelessly catering to anything.

Bai Haonan could only conclude that he hadn’t yet been pushed to utter desperation. He sincerely admired those successful peers. Especially after fully understanding the industry, he finally realized the college student who once dabbled as a gigolo was right: clients don’t see prostitutes as human, and gigolos aren’t seen as human either. This path isn’t for most people; it’s even darker and harder than being a prostitute. You can’t just lie there and pretend it’s a dog bite.

Turning to see Qiao Yingna sitting on the floor, even though she wore a plain cotton nightdress devoid of any sensuality, the way she sat was still revealing enough to make him reach for her and head to the bedroom to change the mood. Qiao Yingna could only scream in advance; at this point, Bai Haonan was practically a professional compared to her amateur status!

Afterward, the exhausted girl felt she couldn’t go on living like this and hurried to leave. If she didn’t, she feared she’d never want to leave. She quickly made the excuse of needing to stay at her dorm to prepare for exams, insisting Bai Haonan drive her and her luggage back to campus.

At least she still had a bit of reason left.

In these positive days, Bai Haonan even paused his basketball games. After loading her luggage into the car, he felt no sentimental farewell: “If anything happens and I leave, just shove the door key through the crack.”

Qiao Yingna, trying to distract herself, asked, “Why does your license plate come from the city next to my hometown, not Jiangzhou?” Her home was in a prefecture near Rongdu, and the white Polo’s plate was from another nearby city. Common in Rongdu, but considered second-class, easy to be looked down on by city folk—her friends had noticed it before.

Bai Haonan, absent-minded: “Is that surprising? The day I arrived, I just grabbed someone else’s plate from the parking lot and swapped it. I’m on the run… Should’ve kept tricking those guys out of meal money.”

Qiao Yingna couldn’t help herself: “I can still earn some this month, it’s fine.”

Bai Haonan shook his head a few times, meaning unclear. Just watching him made Qiao Yingna anxious; after singing so many love songs, she knew this was why love makes people humble. So when the little white car reached the medical university gate, she quickly called for him to stop, dragging her suitcase inside.

Otherwise, she might have cried, especially passing the hollow-shaped teaching building—if there’d been a director and camera, Qiao Yingna felt she could have sung a sad love song for an MTV, her mood and state so perfectly in sync.

Women are sentimental after all.

Bai Haonan turned around easily, deciding to let himself relax and enjoy a few days. Just from entertaining clients at tables these days, he’d earned three to five thousand yuan. Maybe he should just be a clean entertainer, only serving drinks?

He wasn’t quite ready to give up.

After all, what else could he do?

Labor was too tiring, he had no science or culture, and even being a gigolo was too smelly. What could he do?

Then, that afternoon, Qiao Yingna joyfully called him.

Someone wanted the “glasses basketball god” to coach a team over the summer!

A proper job!