Henry Parker pondered for a long time, looked at the cello in his arms, and asked with a last glimmer of hope, “Sugar mommy happiness... instrument?”

Boss, is there a cheat code?

“So basically, you can’t do anything at all?”

The interviewer was furious, pointing at his nose and berating him: “Do you have any idea how busy I am? You can’t do anything and you come here to be a host? I turned down several appointments just to interview you—aren’t you wasting my time?”

“...Isn’t this place hiring musicians for a restaurant?”

Only now did the utterly confused Henry Parker realize: he’d been scammed by a dumb intermediary again... Eh? Why did he say ‘again’?

“Wait a minute!”

He raised his hand seriously: “Sir, I sell my art, not my body!”

Bang!

The office door closed behind him.

Kicked out of the office, Henry Parker sat on a chair in the hallway, scared out of his wits, feeling like he’d just been one step away from losing his lifelong innocence. But after glancing at his bank balance, he couldn’t help but feel tempted to take that step...

He’d been selling his art for so many years—would selling his body really be that different?

Anyway, with the lights off, it’s all the same. In the end... as long as the money’s good, maybe it’s not so unacceptable.

Just as he was stroking his chin in contemplation, the “Sugar Mommy Happiness Series” of products popped into his mind, making him shudder all over.

At that moment, Henry Parker deeply realized: happiness in this world is conserved.

Better forget it, just forget it...

With tears in his eyes, he resisted the temptation of money, looking back three times with every step as he walked out of the club. Seeing the golden-wrapped stone lion at the entrance, he couldn’t help but want to turn back again.

“Wait!”

Suddenly someone called out to him from behind—a man in formal wear, handsome and stern, his gaze full of harshness as he swept over him. “Hey, you! Stop right there!”

“Me?”

Henry Parker felt a bit flustered, unconsciously leaning back under the man’s intense stare.

“You’re the new guy today? Leaving without paying respects to the club’s top host—don’t you know the rules?” The man walked ahead of him, standing on the steps and looking down from above, nodding. “Your face is decent, but you’d better behave. When it comes to looks, you can’t beat me.”

As he spoke, he flamboyantly ran his hand through a few strands of his golden hair, making Henry Parker feel a wave of disgust. Annoyed, he retorted, “Sorry, top host, I’m not doing the host thing!”

“Oh, it’s called ‘male escort’ now. Same difference.”

‘Big Brother’ nodded knowingly, waved his hand generously, and said, “No worries. Since you called me Big Brother, I’ll look after you from now on.”

With that, he pulled a bottle out of his clutch and stuffed it into Henry Parker’s arms, patting his shoulder earnestly: “Even as a host, you need to be professional. Go home and get that oil off your face. Your skincare routine is way too rough—what a waste of that pretty face... Use it sparingly, this is high-end European stuff.”

Before Henry Parker could thank him, he lifted his chin and turned to leave.

“...”

Henry Parker stood dumbfounded at the door, looking down at the cosmetic product in his hand, unsure whether he should throw it at the door and shout something like “thirty years on the river’s surface, thirty years on the riverbed—don’t look down on the poor when they’re young.”

After a while, he looked at the delicate little bottle, stuffed it into his coat with a toothache.

Forget it, since I’m already here, and it looks pretty expensive, it’d be a shame to throw it away... It’s not even opened yet. I’ll have Mr. Parker sell it later.

Poverty makes me humble.

Why am I still so poor when I clearly have a cheat code!

He pulled out the notebook from his backpack, flipped through it several times, sighed deeply, and stuffed it back into his pocket.

Thinking of Mr. Parker, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth in anger, took out his phone, dialed the number, and started cursing: “Mr. Parker, are you out of your mind? Why did you send me to interview for a host job? Are you so desperate for that agency fee?”

“Hey, I just didn’t ask clearly. They wanted someone young, experienced, good-looking, and talented... Bro, I thought of you because you’re so broke, wasn’t I looking out for you? Don’t be mad, how about I treat you to dinner the day after tomorrow? To celebrate your sister-in-law getting out of the hospital. Remember to bring some chives...”

“Bring your damn chives, will you eat them or not?”

Henry Parker hung up in annoyance. That bastard definitely did it on purpose, counting on the agency fee he’d get if Henry Parker accidentally got roped in.

But thinking of Mr. Parker’s family situation, he couldn’t stay mad.

That guy was risking his life to scrape together money for his wife’s cancer treatment. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even bother with odd jobs like Henry Parker’s, just for a few dozen bucks in commission... Besides, except for never giving a discount on the agency fee, he was actually pretty decent, never trying to squeeze extra money out of him.

They were both down on their luck.

Forget it, forget it...

Henry Parker sighed and heard thunder.

Above the gloomy sky, dark clouds drifted in from afar. In the dim sunlight, you could vaguely see coral reefs growing among the clouds, and the shadows of schools of fish swimming...

The slightly blue ocean gently rippled, casting a shimmering light over the earth.