At 3 a.m., the landmines in front of the station

"How many?"

Suddenly, Asai Suzune's expression froze.

"...Oh no, I forgot you haven't left yet."

UU yawned, whether intentionally or not, but the sound was just loud enough for her to hear.

"You... only gave me a few thousand for the performance fee..."

Lingyin's pretty face flushed pink. "He actually has 14...?"

"Of course! Why are you fussing over these things? Giving you 5000 at market price is already a good deal. As for him, he's the one I chose; he's different!"

"..."

Su Che realized something was wrong and looked at UU in surprise.

Does that mean she only gives that little money to others?

This is a live performance...

Preparing a whole live performance's worth of music, for someone of Rin's caliber, investing so much effort and time, and they won't even give her 10,000 yen...?

He spends lavishly on himself but is stingy with the other musicians...

Su Che didn't know if what UU was doing was right or wrong, after all, he was the beneficiary, being frantically "taken care of" by her in her own way...

But I always felt that this kind of care seemed a bit unfair to Asai Suzune.

"UU, you..."

He originally thought that Asai Suzune might climb the ladder step by step by leveraging UU's popularity, but now it seems that her appearance fee of such a low price is really... somewhat outrageous. From now on, let's not call her Suzune anymore, let's just call her "Asai Cabbage".

"Hey? Don't tell me you want a share of her money. If you do, it means you're after her, you want to sleep with her, and you're prioritizing your girlfriend over your friend!"

UU put her hands on her hips, raised her little face, and refused to give in.

"?? I didn't say I wanted to split it..."

Su Che sighed, looking rather helpless.

Faced with UU's stare, he really had no reason to make Asai Suzune feel at ease. After all, they were just putting on an act and then going their separate ways, so he had no obligation to speak up for her.

At this moment, Asai cast a complex look at him, a look that was tinged with grievance, but more so with a sense of powerlessness and resignation after being bullied.

It seems that in her eyes, Su Che is the kind of person who can act like a local tyrant in the team just because he has strong connections...!

This gave Su Che a huge headache, making him feel like he had been misunderstood.

"Alright, alright! Let's go, little fan! Let's go eat at Hudi Hot Pot! It's on you! Oh, Lingyin, it seems there's nothing more for you here, go home by yourself. Remember to practice your piano, there's another performance next month. Because it's a smaller event, your performance fee is 3000."

"..."

Asai Suzune lowered her head and nodded, then picked up her violin case and silently left.

That unyielding back view made Su Che feel a little itchy inside.

She's too easy to bully...

I wonder if she's particularly easy to bully in other aspects of life as well.

A strange curiosity arose in his mind, and amidst UU's playful laughter, he headed to the autograph room to meet the friends who had come to support him.

Before long, Miya, Jiang Nai, Yi Xiang, UU, and himself got into a private car prepared by their agent. Their destination was the Tianhai chain hot pot restaurant on the top floor of a nearby large shopping mall.

Having not seen Jiang Nai for several days, she was like a wildcat in heat, taking over the seat next to Su Che in the car and putting her thighs directly on his lap. Her expression was full of longing the whole time, which gave him a real headache.

"Xiao Che! You haven't come to see me in so long! And I heard you're moving tomorrow?! Tell me the truth, where are you going? You need to let me find you, right?"

"........."

Su Che glanced at Miya.

The kitten stuck out its tongue and shrank its head.

"Hey, this is my house. My big house is just sitting idle anyway, so I might as well put a cat in it. But let me make this clear first, I only have a few cats in my house, so if you want a piece of the pie, that's absolutely not allowed."

UU, in the passenger seat, picked up the conversation, proudly showing off her assets.

"What! Your house?!"

Jiang Nai had planned everything meticulously, but she never expected Su Che to choose UU's house as his permanent residence.

In particular, she is currently renting an expensive apartment to serve "Hana-hime", and she has to wait in line and try her luck to get a hot "chasu". How come UU seems to have moved him home without doing anything?

Is this reasonable?

"Haha, I know, I know~ You must be amazed by my methods~ But I need to tell you, the relationship between me and my little fans is very healthy, and we have signed a 'long-term cooperation agreement,' a very proper contract, you understand?"

UU keeps talking and never stops, revealing a lot of core secrets.

Jiang Nai narrowed her beautiful eyes and quickly figured out that Su Che was short of money, otherwise he wouldn't have done this.

[Although UU is exceptionally talented and a prodigy in her field, she's not as pretty as An Qing, not as graceful as Gu Zhi, and not as cute as Miya. Plus, she's a bit eccentric, always using strange methods to calculate things…wait. No, no…she got to eat this, could it be because she used…]

Upon realizing this, Jiang Nai had a sudden realization.

She strongly suspected that UU cheated in the emotional competition and brought her Xiao Che home through improper means.

Feeling somewhat dissatisfied, she subtly probed Su Che, "Xiao Che, did she threaten you?"

No.

Su Che shook his head.

"So you really won't choose any house other than hers?"

"...Well, how should I put it, I've checked out UU's place, and it really suits my current needs."

He was somewhat reserved in his words.

From Su Che's perspective, the real need was to "earn tea money through legitimate means." As for changing houses, it was just a side effect, intended as a reward for Yuan Xiao's tireless efforts.

He saw everyone's efforts and wouldn't forget them easily, but Jiang Nai didn't know that. Jiang Nai only felt that she also wanted to be closer to him, so that she wouldn't always toss and turn in the lonely nights, suffering from insomnia and almost becoming depressed from thinking about someone.

"Xiao Che..."

"I know, stop talking, this house might be small, but listen to me—"

Suddenly, Su Che lowered his voice, leaned close to her cheek, and whispered in her ear:

"I have some new emm... goods that may require periodic testing. These tests are very inconvenient to conduct at my own place, so when the time comes, wait for my message, and I will come to your place to conduct the research."

"!!!"

One word, and all things come to life.

Jiang Nai understood and felt relieved.

I'm not upset anymore, and I'm no longer jealous.

Now we have everything.

"Okay, okay, okay! If you had said so earlier, I would have understood! I knew it! UU's house is really nice! It's big and luxurious, and it even has acoustic design. Hmm, it would be perfect for you to move in! I'll visit sometime when I have time!"

She knew very well that Su Che had some secret "medicines" or similar things that required prior experimentation. The tests he conducted at her home last time involved this aspect.

As his "experimental subject," I experienced not only uncertainty but also unimaginable pleasure. And most importantly, I was the first to taste it!

That's right, I have "early access" privileges!

I have "beta testing access"!

[I'm a beta tester! Ahead of everyone else!]

[I'm far ahead!]

Jiang Naile was amused.

She even pulled back her long legs from the fishing net, beaming with joy in the car as if she had won some big prize; the corners of her mouth never left her lips.

"..."

Su Che breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself how close he had come to disaster.

He wasn't afraid of anything else, but he was afraid that Nana would also have a change of heart and insist on living next to him.

If two teams are crammed into one apartment, how will I be able to keep up?

The conflict is definitely much more intense than that involving just Miya; there's no doubt about it.

Emotionally, the more outsiders there are, the more one's energy will be drawn away; past experience has already provided the answer to this.

In the back seat of the car, Yi Xiang silently observed the changes in her teammates' expressions, taking everything in with her.

Sitting next to her was Miya, who was breathing on the car window to draw.

The drawing depicts cat ears and a crying face. The drawing will quickly fade due to the heat, leaving no trace.

In fact, the entire car was filled with people from "Hana-Hyou". Apart from Su Che, even the driver was their manager.

Yi Xiang had long expressed deep curiosity about this guitarist who had "gone deep behind enemy lines."

She looked at the kitten playing with the glass on her left and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Miya, how long have you known Su Che?"

"Huh? How long...maybe, a long time."

The kitten's answer was practically meaningless. Seeing Yi Xiang's speechless expression, she couldn't help but add:

"What I mean is, even though it's only been a few months, I feel like I knew him in a past life. Xiangxiang, do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand."

Yi Xiang nodded. "They've been brainwashed. Once they're completely devoted, they lose all sense of time, like a stray cat that has found its master."

"What are you saying, hmph."

Miya pursed her lips, thinking that she still had a good eye for talent.

"He's so good to me! When my sister bullies me, he always manages to rescue me from her!"

"Really? Does your sister really bully you?"

Yi Xiang had met Maru and even visited Maru's store.

After getting to know her, she felt that Miya's older sister was a very responsible person. Although she dressed very sexy and her social circle was full of unconventional women, Maru was definitely capable of being an older sister.

"Of course, although my sister provides me with a place to live, gives me pocket money, and even gives me a lot of clothes to wear for free, she always makes me go to internet cafes with her. I don't like going... I want to go to arcades, but she won't let me."