"Mr. Frank, we're in a pickle and need your help!"
Frank had just wrapped up the principal - handover with the old head honcho. Eager to track down the twin sisters, Su Qianqian and Su Yueyue, with their enrollment papers in hand, he'd barely stepped out when the two girls came pelting towards him like bats out of hell.
They looked like they were in a tight spot; something had clearly gone pear - shaped.
Su Qianqian, leading the charge, was out of breath with sweat trickling down her forehead.
"Mr. Frank, we're up a creek without a paddle! Please help us!" she cried out, repeating herself in desperation.
Frank steadied the winded Su Qianqian, saying, "Qianqian, slow your roll. Take a breather and spill the beans. What on earth happened?"
Su Qianqian was breathing like a spent racehorse, her words tripping over each other in a stammering rush.
"M - Mr. Frank, Mr. Frank! Aunt Wang just came by, and she... she said the sky's fallen! Grandma's in a bad way!"
She took a ragged breath, knuckles white.
"Aunt Wang said some knucklehead on an electric bike bowled grandma over. She's laid up in the hospital right now! Mr. Frank, we're up a creek without a paddle. We need you to come with us, please! You're our last hope!"
Frank reacted immediately.
"Something has happened to Grandma May!"
Frank rushed back to the principal's office and took out the key of an old tricycle left by the former principal from the drawer.
"You two wait for me downstairs. I'll go and drive the tricycle here."
In the town hospital, when Frank arrived there with the girls, they learned that Grandma May's condition was so serious that she had been urgently transferred to a hospital in the city.
It was over two hundred kilometers from Spring Town to City Z. There was no way they could rely on the old principal's tricycle. Frank had no choice but to leave the tricycle by the roadside. He quickly hailed a taxi and urged the taxi driver to drive to City Z without delay.
All the way, the girls were in floods of tears. Frank felt deeply pained seeing them like this, yet he didn't know how to console them.
So, Frank could only gently embrace the two girls in his arms. He carefully stroked the back of their heads and patted their backs softly.
"It's going to be all right. It's going to be all right. God will bless Grandma May. Grandma May is a kind and gentle elder. She will surely be protected by divine providence."
Perhaps the girls were exhausted from crying, or maybe Frank's words of comfort had taken effect. Their sobs gradually subsided. When Frank lowered his head to look at the girls, he was surprised to find that the two of them had actually fallen asleep in his arms.
From the profiles of the girls as they slept soundly, Frank could sense the trust they placed in him.
Frank smiled warmly to himself. "Go ahead and sleep, my lovely little princesses."
The girls were sleeping peacefully, and the car bound for City Z was still speeding along.
Frank was sitting in the back seat. While looking at the street scenes flashing by on both sides, he took out the expert - level skill card rewarded by the system from the system space.
To prevent the rewarded items from suddenly appearing in reality and causing unnecessary commotion, the principal system specially provided the host with a special space independent of reality.
This space only allows the host to take out the rewards issued by the system and does not allow items to be deposited in it. It can be regarded as a buffer zone.
Frank looked at the purple card that suddenly appeared in his hand. "So this is the expert - level skill card? It looks quite ordinary. I wonder what will happen after I use it."
With that, Frank silently said "use" in his mind, and the purple card disappeared instantly.
The reason why Frank chose to use the skill card here was simple. He didn't want to waste the time waiting in the car. He wanted to do something.
It was very appropriate to use up the items rewarded by the system by taking this opportunity.
[Ding! The host has successfully used the expert - level skill card. Congratulations to the host for obtaining a new skill, Piano (Expert - level).]
"What? Piano?"
"What help will this skill be to me?"
Before Frank could think carefully, a vast amount of piano knowledge flooded into his mind like turbulent ocean waves.
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata!
Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3!
Liszt's "La Campanella"!
Fast scales!
Arpeggios!
Large interval leaps!
The sustain pedal! The soft pedal!
Frank felt as if his brain was being stuffed with a huge number of piano pieces and playing techniques, and he felt as if his head was about to burst!
Fortunately, when his brain reached the critical point, a sudden sense of relief washed over him, like cold water dousing a raging fire, saving him.
"Whoosh—"
Frank exhaled a breath of relief.
"Is this what an expert-level piano skill feels like? It's so amazing!"
Frank wished there was a piano right in front of him at that moment, and he couldn't wait to play an impromptu piece.
"This feeling is simply wonderful!"
Beep, beep, beep—
At this moment, the driver's voice came from the front.
"Sir! The First Hospital is here! Be careful of the vehicles coming from behind when you open the car door!"
What? We're here already? It's so fast!
Frank himself didn't notice that while he was absorbing the piano knowledge that was flooding into his brain, three hours had already passed.
"Oh, thank you, sir. Thanks for the reminder."
Frank quickly woke up the sleeping twin sisters and rushed towards the inpatient department of the hospital with the girls.
"Doctor! I'm a family member of Grandma May. Please take me to Grandma May's ward!"