Romantic comedy with all members, why am I single?

Chapter 302 Lemon's Five Glaze

Gogen Ruri muttered to herself, feeling inexplicably irritated.

Although Tsukimi Eiko quietly loosened her grip on Iura Hide's sleeve immediately after pulling it, Gokou Ruri did not notice it.

However, when she saw Tsukimi Eiko secretly looking at Iura Hide with eyes full of admiration, love and sweetness, she instinctively thought that this was another "superficial girl" who fell in love at first sight for Iura Hide's handsome looks and musical talent.

Yes, that's right. In her opinion, only looking at looks and talents is too superficial. Only when you get along with each other slowly and fall in love with each other's interesting soul, in her opinion, is it true love.

However, after Iura Hide's introduction, she found that the situation seemed different from what she had imagined.

"This is my sister's classmate Gokou Ruri, and this is my friend Tsukimi Eiko."

"Tsukimi Eiko?" When Gogen Ruri heard this name, she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Although her interest in music was not as great as that in comics and light novels, she had such a big star among her "acquaintances", and Iura Hide also helped her find a new part-time job with good conditions, so out of curiosity and gratitude, she bought all of Iura Hide's songs.

As the singer of "Proclaiming Spring", Tsukimi Eiko is naturally familiar with this name.

"So, it's not just because of your looks and talent, but also because we have the same hobbies and seem to be able to talk and get along well? But even if that's the case, we can still be friends, right?"

"Ruri-chan, what's wrong with you?" Iura Hide's voice, with a hint of curiosity and concern, interrupted Ruri Gokou's whispering in her heart.

"Nothing!" Gogen Ruri quickly came back to her senses and changed the subject, "So, Senior Jingpu and Sister Yingzi are having dinner together to celebrate their new song reaching the top 1 and 2 on the daily chart?"

"correct."

"What about Kitagawa Umi and Hoshino's love for them?" Gokou Ruri really wanted to ask, but due to the distance in their relationship, she forced herself to hold back and didn't ask.

Otherwise, if she really asked, it would be difficult for Jingpu Xiu to answer.

After all, Iura Hide couldn't just tell her directly that Tsukimi Eiko was too poor and couldn't afford to hire so many people, right?
Although Eiko Tsukimi's hourly wage as a waitress in a bar was not low, her parents and relatives had passed away, so she did not have a free house, and she did not have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of living expenses every month.

The life they have lived is even more difficult than that of Nanami Kuon and the other two who had just come to Tokyo from the countryside in Hokkaido.

After all, at that time, Nanami Kuon and the other two could share an apartment. Although the support from their family was not much, it was tens of thousands of yen a month, which was equivalent to their income from more than 30 hours of part-time work.

So it is really not easy for Eiko Tsukimi to keep persisting like this.

You know, she is not like the three people of Jiuyuan Nanami, who have the option of returning to their hometown to farm.

"Ruri-chan, are you also here to eat soup curry?" Iura Hide asked.

"what?"

Gokou Ruri, who was originally guessing what the relationship between Iura Hide and Tsukimi Eiko was, was stunned at first, and then she finally remembered why she was standing here. An expression of guilt, panic and embarrassment suddenly appeared on her delicate face.

"I just got off work. I ate this last time and it tasted good."

Gogen Ruri hesitated, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

In fact, to put it simply, she had worked hard all day and finally finished her work. She was collecting her freshly-earned salary and preparing to go home.

As a result, I passed by this soup curry shop on the way to the station. I stopped unconsciously when I smelled the tempting aroma wafting out of the shop. I recalled the scene and taste of the last time I had dinner here with Iura Hide and others. I was suddenly "possessed by hunger" and even my stomach started to growl.

If it were Noha Sugaya and the others, they would probably have pushed the door open and walked in immediately.

But the problem is that, apart from using the money she earns from working to support her own little hobbies, the rest has to be used to supplement the family income.

Since this soup curry restaurant is located in Shimokitazawa, the prices are not particularly expensive, but they are definitely not cheap.

In fact, she already felt a little painful when she was dragged here by Chie Takasago last time.

Now looking at the menu, even the cheapest discounted set meal costs 1300 yen per serving, and she really can't bear to spend it.

This amount of money can buy two ordinary Maschera figures, or seven or eight posters!
So should she have a good meal to satisfy her appetite for a short time, or should she save the money and buy some anime merchandise to put in her room for a long time?

This really made her so confused!
The most important thing is, she was looking at the menu at the door with a conflicted look on her face just now. Could it be that she was seen by Iura Hide?
It is hard to say whether poverty is a disadvantage or not, but at least at this moment, Gokou Ruri does not want Iura Hide to know that her family’s financial situation is actually not good.

So, how should she get around it?

White smoke was almost coming out of Gogen Ruri's head, but she still hadn't figured out what to say.

But at this moment, Jingpu Xiu seemed to see something, and said with a casual smile: "Ruri-chan, did you forget to bring your wallet? It's okay, I'll lend it to you~"

"What? You didn't bring your wallet?" Gogen Ruri was stunned. Then, when she came to her senses, a strong warmth involuntarily emerged in her heart.

She is not the kind of slow-reacting fool. Apart from being arrogant and scheming, she seems gloomy and withdrawn, but she is actually very sensitive.

So she immediately knew that Jingpu Xiu had seen her conflicted expression before and guessed the reason for her conflict.

Then he deliberately used this method to help her resolve the embarrassment.

I even deliberately used the term 'borrow money' instead of 'treat' out of consideration for her feelings.

Such thoughtfulness made her, even though she had always had a prejudice against Jingpu Xiu, couldn't help but feel moved.

"Damn it. Does this annoying, arrogant follower of the sun think that we girls are idiots? Who can't hear such a lame excuse!"

Gokou Ruri suppressed the complex emotions churning in her heart and turned to look at Tsukimi Eiko beside Iura Hide.

then
Bah, bah, bah!

Tsukimi Eiko blinked with a silly look on her face.

Gogen Ruri: “.”

Well, looking at Tsukimi Eiko's silly appearance, Gogen Ruri had to admit that there are indeed many girls in this world who are really stupid.

Look, in addition to Pochi-chan who I met last time, there is now Tsukimi Eiko by Iura Hide's side.

so.
"Only fools attract fools."

Gokou Ruri complained silently in her heart again, then reluctantly accepted Iura Hide's kindness and followed her into the store.

"Welcome!" Warm and soft orange light, antique wooden tables and chairs.

Coupled with the tempting aroma that is several times stronger than the smell outside.

Gokou Ruri secretly turned her head to glance at Iura Hide, and her eyes, which had originally seemed a little cold, softened unconsciously.

However, when the three of them found a seat to sit down and chatted while waiting for their meal, Gogen Ruri accidentally found out about how Tsukimi Eiko was lucky enough to meet Iura Hide, and that Tsukimi Eiko's boss had offered Tsukimi Eiko a performance fee of 100,000 a night, and she immediately felt jealous.

"One hundred thousand a night, seven hundred thousand a week, three million a month!?"

This is more than their family’s income for most of the year!

As for herself, even though Chie Takasago had taken good care of her because of Iura Hide and offered her a higher hourly wage than when she worked in other bookstores before, it still took her more than half a month to earn 100,000 yen.

It's really true that comparing yourself to others will make you feel depressed!
If it weren't for her tsundere personality and her love for comics and light novels, she would have almost asked Iura Shu if he could write a song for her.

"It's not that exaggerated. I can't possibly go to the bar to perform every night." Tsukimi Eiko said, scratching her head embarrassedly.

What he got in return was an angry look from Gogen Ruri.

Are you kidding me? That’s 100,000 yen a night!

With such a high income, why bother taking a rest? Just work hard and make money!

Gogen Ruri secretly complained.

However, after listening to Tsukimi Eiko's explanation and knowing that Tsukimi Eiko wanted to set aside part of her time to perform at Fanxing, her mood became even more complicated.

"The performance fee offered by Fanxing should not be as good as the performance fee offered by the bar, right?" Wu Geng Liuli couldn't help but ask.

"It's definitely not as good as it could be." Iura Hide explained.

"The performance fee is not only related to the popularity and ability of the band and singer, but also to the size of the performance hall itself."

"Although Fanxing has been very popular recently and is basically full every night, due to its limited size, it can only invite one popular band with three songs and 100,000 yen per night, or two or three bands with one song and 10,000 yen per night."

"The rest will only be ordinary bands that charge less than 10,000 yen for three songs."

"So if Yingzi goes to perform at Fanxing, I'm afraid the most she can charge is 10,000 yen per song. Fanxing can't afford more than that."

"The income of an ordinary band is too little, isn't it?" Gogen Ruri couldn't help but frowned.

Ten thousand yen, and it's shared among several people. If you calculate it this way, the monthly income of an ordinary band member is probably not as much as the income from a normal part-time job, right?
To be honest, although she was embarrassed to ask Iura Hide to help her write songs, after hearing that Tsukimi Eiko could make so much money by singing, she couldn't help but want to try if she had any talent for music.

"That may not be the case," Jingpu Xiu shrugged.

“If the band is popular and has good connections, it is possible to perform in two or three performance halls in one night.”

"In this way, even if we calculate the performance fee based on 10,000 yen for three songs, we can earn 20,000 to 30,000 yen a night, right?"

After hearing this, Gogen Ruri was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Yeah! Wouldn't it be better if we could visit more exhibition halls?"

"If a song is 10,000 yen, and I go to three venues a day, no, in one night, how long can I go to five or six venues? Then I can earn more than 100,000 yen a night!?"

"If I were like Sister Yingzi, I wouldn't have to share with others."

At this moment, Gogen Ruri was muttering to herself rapidly, and her eyes seemed to have turned into the shape of gold coins.

When Iura Hide and Tsukimi Eiko heard her say that she had to visit five or six exhibition halls in one night, they almost spit out the curry in their mouths from laughing.

"Cough cough!"

“If you have good connections, you can visit five or six exhibition halls in one night.”

"But most performance halls, after offering a 'high performance fee' of 10,000 yen per song, will ask that you cannot perform at other performance halls that night."

"Master Xiu is right. Although our boss has always taken good care of me, the performance fee he offered me of 100,000 yen a night also requires me to stay in the bar all night and not go to other bars." Tsukimi Eiko also echoed.

"So, this idiot who doesn't look very smart and exudes stupidity all over his body, went to perform at the Stars just for him, right?"

Gokou Ruri glanced at Tsukimi Eiko and said meaningfully, "If that's the case, then it would be easier to perform in a bar, and the income would be higher, right?"

"That's true," Jing Pu Xiu said with a smile, "but compared to the bar, the performance fee of the performance hall is not very high, but there is one advantage, that is, the fan conversion rate is much higher than that of the bar."

"Because people who buy tickets to the performance hall are there to watch the performance. So as long as you perform well enough, it is easy to gain a lot of fans and then increase your popularity."

"In addition, I can also earn some income by relying on these fans and selling peripherals and physical CDs."

“So those bands and singers who have potential, aspirations, and want to improve usually prefer to perform in exhibition halls.”

"So that's how it is!" Wu Geng Liuli suddenly realized.

Then, looking at Yuejian Yingzi, who also had a look of sudden enlightenment, the corners of his mouth twitched again.

My goodness, you’ve been a resident singer in a bar for so long, and you don’t even know this?

"This guy really isn't very smart, is he?"

Gogen Ruri secretly complained.

On the other side, Jingpu Xiu said this and remembered the bet he made with Feng Zhensaki before, so he continued: "By the way, if everything goes well, I will soon acquire an artist agency, and then Yingzi-chan will join my agency."

Before he finished speaking, Tsukimi Eiko and Gokou Ruri both widened their eyes and exclaimed in surprise, causing the other diners in the restaurant to turn their heads and look over.

"What!? Buying an artist agency!?"

"Well, it's just a small agency that was established not long ago. Although there are more than a dozen artists in it, their main development direction is voice actors, so it won't have any impact on your development."

"Oh, then I'll listen to Master Xiu."

(End of this chapter)