Why didn't you tell me earlier that my little sister is still waiting for me?

Lin Bufan waved his hand: "It's not a test, just asking."

Upon hearing that it wasn't a test, Hu Youyu instinctively straightened his back and was about to start boasting about his years of dominating the dating scene!

Before Hu Youyu could even start boasting, Lin Bufan knew what he was up to, so he slowly said, "This is very important; it relates to whether you can write a good song. Think it through before you answer."

Hu Youyu's smile froze instantly, and his fingers, which had been tapping the table, stopped. His eyes darted around, stealing glances at the four ladies sitting beside him—Xu Hongdou, Chen Nanxing, Nana, and Da Mai—all looking at him with curiosity. He immediately felt embarrassed, coughed twice, leaned closer to Lin Bufan, lowered his voice, and mumbled something almost into Lin Bufan's ear.

Lin Bufan tilted his head, looking bewildered: "What did you say? I didn't hear you."

Hu Youyu looked even more embarrassed, leaned closer, and raised her voice slightly, but it was still muffled: "...uh...it's just..."

"Tsk!" Lin Bufan stepped aside irritably, saying with disdain, "No, Lao Hu, what's there to be embarrassed about, you're a grown man? So what if you have a lot of dating experience? What's wrong with not hiding it? With me here, even if they want to criticize scumbags, they'll be criticizing me, not you!"

After Lin Bufan's encouragement, Hu Youyu became even more embarrassed, her face turning red.

Looking at Hu Youyu's appearance, Nana blinked, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. In a tone tinged with surprise and sympathy, she tentatively asked, "Hu, you wouldn't... be over thirty and have never been in a relationship, would you?"

"Who said that?! Who said I'm over thirty?!" Hu Youyu nearly jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her voice rising several octaves: "I'm only twenty-nine! Twenty-nine, okay?!"

Da Mai whispered, her tone full of pure curiosity: "Oh... so that means, Hu, you're twenty-nine and have never been in a relationship?"

Hu Youyu's face turned even redder. He stiffened his neck and spoke in a loud voice, but his confidence was clearly lacking: "Who said that?! Who said I've never been in a relationship? I have! I've been in one, okay!" He paused, and his voice weakened again, as if afraid that others would hear him, and added in a low voice: "...although...it was just an online relationship."

"An online romance?" Chen Nanxing became interested and asked, "How long have you been dating?"

Hu Youyu stopped talking, remained silent for a few seconds, then stretched out his right hand and raised one index finger.

Chen Nanxing guessed: "A year?"

Hu Youyu remained silent, but his fingers did not fall down.

"A month?"

Hu Youyu remained silent.

Chen Nanxing's eyes widened in disbelief: "You don't mean... just one day, do you?"

Hu Youyu finally lowered his finger, and in a defiant tone, his voice was not loud but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear: "One hour!"

"what?!"

The people at the table couldn't help but gasp softly, their faces filled with shock and... a hint of sympathy!

Lin Bufan was the worst among them—"You can't even find a partner, what are you doing making music?"

You know, musicians may or may not be rich, and they may or may not have wives, but they can usually find quite a few girlfriends. After all, musicians generally have a lot of contact with the opposite sex, and with so much contact, if they really want to, even a blind cat will stumble upon a few, right?

Xu Hongdou pursed her lips, trying to make her expression look normal and attempting to ease the atmosphere: "Uh... it was indeed a bit short. But... I can understand, it's the internet age now, the pace is fast, dating is faster... that's normal."

Da Mai, however, looked puzzled and inquisitive. She frowned and muttered to herself, "But this is too fast... What can you do in an hour?"

Is it enough?

Lin Bufan stroked his chin, looking serious as he pondered, then solemnly explained, "Well... for most men, this amount of time is indeed enough, even including time for a pre-coital shower and a post-coital cigarette. But for me... it is indeed a bit rushed."

Da Mai looked at Lin Bufan with a puzzled expression, then at the others: "What wealth? What haste? What are you talking about?"

As the person who knew Lin Bufan best among those present, Chen Nanxing was naturally the first to realize the "deeper meaning" in Lin Bufan's words. She was immediately both ashamed and angry, her face turning bright red. She reached out and punched Lin Bufan's arm, saying, "Lin Bufan! You shameless bastard! What nonsense are you spouting! Shut up! Don't talk nonsense anymore!"

Lin Bufan raised his hand to parry while dodging with a grin, saying, "I'm telling the truth! There's scientific evidence for all of this!"

Da Mai was even more confused. She turned to Xu Hongdou and Nana, her eyes clear yet foolish: "What's wrong? Why did Nanxing hit President Lin? What did President Lin say?"

Xu Hongdou and Nana exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness and a hint of amusement in each other's eyes. Nana gently patted Damai's hand and whispered, "It's nothing, Damai, it's just... Nanxing's hands are a little itchy, she wants to stretch them out, it'll be fine in a bit."

Xu Hongdou nodded, suppressing a laugh: "Yes, they're just joking around."

When Chen Nanxing finally stopped punching him, panting heavily, she glared fiercely at Lin Bufan and warned, "I'm warning you, Lin Bufan! Don't say anything more! Especially those... nonsense things! What if you corrupt our innocent and lovely Da Mai sister? Can you take that responsibility?"

Innocent and cute?

Don’t understand anything?

Lin Bufan said, "I didn't believe your nonsense!"

There's absolutely no way someone who writes online novels could be so clueless about the ways of the world!

After confessing, Hu Youyu wasn't as embarrassed as before. He smiled awkwardly and turned his hopeful gaze to Lin Bufan, carefully steer the conversation back on track: "Teacher Lin, you see, my dating experience is a little... lacking, but that shouldn't have much to do with songwriting, right?"

"How could it not be related?" Lin Bufan's eyes widened, as if Hu Youyu had asked an unbelievable question: "It's totally related! Old Hu, have you ever thought about why some people's songs can penetrate your heart and make you feel a lump in your throat or your blood boil as you listen to them? Why are some songs still being sung for decades?"

Hu Youyu was stumped by the question; he opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

Lin Bufan didn't expect him to answer, and continued speaking on his own, tapping his fingers lightly on the table as if emphasizing the key point: "That's because when people write songs, they really put their hearts into it, they knead and melt their own emotions, their own flesh and blood, even their own soul into it! Only with 120% emotional investment, the kind of heartfelt dedication, can you write truly moving songs. This feeling is exactly the same as being in love."

"Dating?" Hu Youyu was even more confused.

"Exactly!" Lin Bufan slapped his thigh, clearly excited. "Think about it, what does it feel like to truly fall in love with someone? Isn't your mind filled with her, happy when you see her smile, and heartbroken when you see her frown? You want to give her your best, and you wish you could be with her all the time? That kind of intense, pure, and reckless emotion is the most fertile ground for creation! If you've never truly loved or suffered with your whole heart, how deep or genuine can your songs be? At best, they're just empty moaning and scratching the surface!"

Hu Youyu nodded thoughtfully: "So... you mean, as long as I seriously have a relationship, I can write good songs?"

"Hey! That's too narrow-minded, too narrow-minded!" Lin Bufan raised a finger and shook it, his face showing an expression that said, "You're still too young." "Just being in love isn't enough. If being in love could make you a creative master, wouldn't great songs be everywhere? The key is that kind of love—wholeheartedly devoted, loving to the point of life and death, loving to the point of no return, loving to the point of feeling that you can't live without her! That kind of extreme, self-burning feeling, do you understand?"

Hu Youyu was stunned: "The ultimate? Burning oneself?"

"Yes, it's about the extreme, burning yourself out, having a feeling of loving even unto death, and not being satisfied until it's completely unrestrained!"

After a pause, Lin Bufan added, "Of course, even at this stage, not everyone can write good songs!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Youyu realized that he was exactly that kind of person, so he pressed on, "Yes, what if you still can't write it?"

Lin Bufan did not answer immediately, but remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Then there is only one way left—break up!"

When you love her most, at the peak of your love, when you feel your life is complete and you have no regrets—break up with her!

"Huh?!" Hu Youyu was dumbfounded. You can play it like this?

Lin Bufan's expression was so serious, as if he were imparting some martial arts secret: "Stop abruptly at the most intense, sweetest moment. Experience that feeling of falling from heaven to hell in an instant, that pain of your heart being torn apart, of breathing blood and foam, of the despair of being abandoned by the whole world and seeing only darkness before your eyes. The huge gap between this extreme pain and your previous extreme joy is the source of your inspiration! At that time, what heart-wrenching love songs, what piercing melodies, won't they be just a piece of cake?"

Hu Youyu was stunned by this theory, his lips trembling slightly: "Isn't this too cruel? I'm afraid I can't handle it!"

"Cruel?" Lin Bufan curled his lip, giving him a "you've never seen anything like this" look: "Didn't that painter even cut off his ear? What you've done is nothing. Why don't you cut off an ear and try it yourself?"

Compared to cutting off his ear, Hu Youyu suddenly felt that breaking up wasn't so bad after all!

Seeing Hu Youyu's eyes growing brighter and brighter, and his eager expression, Chen Nanxing finally couldn't help but speak up: "Old Hu, don't listen to Lin Bufan's nonsense! He's just trying to fool you! Who teaches songwriting like this? Isn't this pure nonsense? Why not have a proper relationship and instead go for this kind of sadomasochistic romance, and break up when you're most in love? Isn't that crazy? Songwriting relies on accumulation, insight, and talent, not on this kind of... this kind of crooked method!"

"Nanxing, you don't understand if you don't write songs!" Lin Bufan retorted indignantly, "Since ancient times, only unorthodox cultivators have been able to cultivate the fastest! I know a celebrity who releases a great song when he's in love, another song when he breaks up, another song when he falls in love again, and another song when he breaks up again. You could say that as long as he wants, he can exploit bugs infinitely!"

Hu Youyu's eyes lit up instantly, brighter than the spotlights in a bar: "You can... do that?"

"Of course you can!" Lin Bufan patted Hu Youyu on the shoulder, his tone full of encouragement and urging: "Go, Pikachu! Go find your true love, go have a love that's earth-shattering, unwavering until death, and that ends just as easily! After you've experienced that kind of extreme joy and extreme pain, if you still can't write a good song, come back to me, and I'll write my name Lin Bufan backwards!"

Hu Youyu was fired up by Lin Bufan's highly inflammatory words, as if he could already see himself reaching the pinnacle of the music scene with a series of "divine songs." He jumped up, his face filled with an almost devout excitement and determination: "Okay! Teacher Lin! I'll listen to you! I'll go right now! I'll go find my...my creative source!"

After saying that, he ignored the reactions of the others at the table, turned around and hurriedly left the booth, searching for his creative inspiration in the bar.

Seeing Hu Youyu, who had been completely fooled, the four women in the booth fell into a brief silence.

Nana blinked, looking at the empty seat where Hu Youyu had just sat, her tone filled with uncertainty and a sense of absurdity: "He... really believed it? He really went to find someone to date?"

Xu Hongdou also looked incredulous: "Judging from this... it's quite possible."

Chen Nanxing sighed and added, "It's not a possibility, it's a certainty! Didn't you see the look in his eyes just now? It was like he was possessed!"

Da Mai, who had been listening quietly, frowned slightly and muttered to himself in a low voice, filled with deep confusion: "The sky is falling and the earth is collapsing... unwavering until death... a relationship that ends just like that... what kind of emotion is this? It sounds so complicated, so contradictory, and so... tragic."

As Da Mai finished speaking, Xu Hongdou, Chen Nanxing, and Nana were all stunned at the same time. Then, as if they had agreed beforehand, they all turned their heads and focused their gazes on the culprit—Lin Bufan, who was leisurely sipping his wine as if nothing had happened.

Lin Bufan felt four gazes, each with a different meaning. He put down his wine glass and spread his hands innocently: "Why are you all looking at me? I'm just giving him pointers, imparting to him the ultimate secrets of creation. Whether he can understand it and put it into practice depends on his own destiny. I'm doing this for his own good, to help him break through his creative bottleneck and reach the pinnacle of art."