"Yeah, I heard that he plans to complete his MBA in just one year and return to China to help run their family's company. He's, like, super rich in their country."

"Oh, I remember something. I heard that the babe who's always following Liam around—what's her name again?—Lily or Daisy…something flower—"

"Rose, if I remember correctly. What about her?"

"Yeah, her! I heard that her family is running the Singapore branch of Liam's family company."

A girlfriend of one of the group members crossed her arms over her chest and snorted while rolling her eyes. "That girl's too thirsty for Liam. I mean, can't you be any more obvious? Popping up wherever he is? We all know that Liam hates it when girls throw themselves at him and try too hard to get his attention. He even becomes grumpy whenever I and the other girlfriends hang out with you. I swear that guy has a phobia of girls or something."

"True. Liam really has a strong aversion to females."

"Incorrect! Liam only has a strong aversion to females who go gaga in the eyes chasing after him. If you're one of the rare females who isn't attracted to him, then he'll be okay with interacting with you."

The girlfriends in the group pouted. Although they were in a relationship with Liam's friends, they still felt attracted to him to some degree. They were able to hang out with the group because they held themselves back and didn't act on their attraction. There were girlfriends before who tried seducing Liam while still in a relationship with his friends. They were now exes.

The guys in this group of university friends followed the code: bros before hoes. If Liam continued to be an overachiever, he would certainly become the next head of his family's multinational company with a net worth in the billions of dollars. Although they were only university students right now, they were already thinking about their futures. Befriending someone like Liam who would become a formidable figure in the business world in the future would, without a doubt, benefit them in the long run.

When given the choice of staying loyal to Liam or hooking up with some hot girls at this stage of their young lives, of course they would choose their Mr. Moneybags friend! Was there even a need to think about something so obvious? They sacrificed so much in order to enroll in this world-class and prestigious university, so they were all ambitious and determined to succeed. Thus, they never hesitated to dump girls who tried using them to get close to Liam no matter what a hot fuck they were.

The guys and their girlfriends continued chatting under the cool shade of a centuries-old tree waiting for Mr. Moneybags.

"Oh! Liam just texted. He says that he still need to talk to his professor, so we should go ahead to the square. He'll meet us in the restaurant when he's done."

"That's great! It means we can spend more time with you, guys," one of the girlfriends said. "You always make us girls leave when you're with Liam. I think I'm getting jealous of him."

Everyone laughed before the group headed to the square outside the campus which was also a popular entertainment hub among the students. It was a vibrant community featuring eclectic yet cheap shops and lots of good food.

When they arrived at the square, it was bustling with life even though it was summer. People milled around looking for a place to eat lunch. There were fewer students at the moment compared to the regular fall and winter terms when new students would join the university life every start of the academic year.

The group headed to their favourite Italian restaurant. But on the way there, they encountered a crowd consisting of students, locals, and some tourists. Someone placed a piano on a mini park by the street a few weeks ago. Anyone could play it. Some music students used it for busking to earn some spare change and also hoping for someone to "discover" them and hopefully make them rich and famous someday.

At the moment, it looked like someone was busking again. The group stopped by to watch for a bit.

Indeed, a music student was playing an original song. The song sounded okay but it was nothing amazing. People came and went. Not many people stayed for the entire performance. The group arrived near the end of the song. There was a smattering of applause when the performance ended. A couple of tourists even each gave a dollar bill to the performer. The group was about to leave and head to the Italian restaurant when they saw someone familiar.

"Hey, it's that gorgeous lady from earlier. Look!"

[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you're not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It's very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]

They all turned their heads and watched as the blonde lady with beautiful green eyes appeared and walked towards the piano. Her long floral dress rippled gently in the breeze, making her look like she was floating instead of walking. Everyone was mesmerized by her, their eyes following her every move.

She spoke to the music student who just finished his lukewarm performance. When she smiled, the music student couldn't close his mouth and kept staring at her. Moments later, he gave up his seat and they exchanged places in front of the piano.

Oh, was she performing? The people already started clapping even when she hadn't done anything yet.

The beautiful woman smiled at the audience, making them catch their breaths, before placing her hands over the piano keys. Her smile deepened. Then she started playing.

Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" started playing under her graceful hands.

Many recognized the popular classic ragtime piano piece. The easy, catchy tune made them bounce on their feet and put smiles on their faces. However, they were a bit surprised that the beautiful young woman would play a ragtime piece. Looking at her elegance, flowing beauty and aristocratic air, they thought that she would play one of those intricate piano pieces fit for high-class concertos. Instead, she played a very relatable piece that almost everyone could appreciate.

A minute into the performance, someone stepped out of a crowd—he looked like a student, too—and started tap dancing to the tune, eliciting another wave of enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. People whipped out their phones to record the fun impromptu performance.

The group of friends also joined. They had now become engrossed with the street performance and had temporarily forgotten that they were supposed to wait for their friend Liam at their favourite Italian restaurant in the square.

When the performance ended, everyone gave a loud standing ovation—well, they were already standing in the first place. Cheers, whistles, and loud clapping. The crowd had grown thrice its original size since the beautiful woman took over the piano.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

"Don't go yet! We want more!"

Evelina Vetrova paused for a moment. She only played on a whim, unable to stop herself upon seeing a piano. She only planned on playing one piece before leaving but the crowd's applause and request for more made her happy. Her bodyguards weren't happy by all the attention she was getting, though. They were already walking towards her, ready to take her away, so she made a quick decision. Smiling quickly at the guy who tap danced, she returned in front of the piano and started playing again.

Her favourites to play on the piano were the great classical pieces from the best masters in history, but today's vibrant and youthful atmosphere made her decide against playing the usual. This was why she chose to play Joplin's "The Entertainer" to match the casual and fun environment.

'What should I play next?'

While walking around the university earlier, she overheard all kinds of conversations from the students. They were all studying hard in order to reach their dreams, hoping to be successful one day. Everything was hard for them right now but they were holding on for that chance to be big someday.

With that in mind, Evelina decided on the piece that she was going to play next.

Her left fingers bounced on the piano keys and produced a deep, bass sound before tapping the same hand on the wooden top of the piano for a beat. She repeated these curious actions eight times for the intro before her right hand joined and started playing a familiar tune.

"Ah!"

Everyone recognized the music.

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