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

Su Che squatted in front of the phone booth.

The pavilion has eaves on all four sides, which can block out the remaining light.

Now that things had come to this, there was no reason left to refuse Yu tide's plea.

His final solution was,

"We can work things out first."

The senior student readily accepted.

"If they really become teammates, what will happen to Yuan Xiao and An Qing?"

He still cherishes the cats he raised himself.

[My senior's strength is undeniable; after all, she's someone who could fight her way through the Mosse qualifying rounds and reach the finals. Even I would probably have to give it my all to match her. Given that, the question becomes clear—]

If I want to bring Yuan Xiao and An Qing along, will she disagree?

[Is her skill level good enough to accept two newbies in a band? Especially for such important roles as guitarist and lead vocalist...?]

Su Che was uncertain.

Generally speaking, when watching an ACG band, laypeople almost always focus their attention on the lead singer on stage, maybe glance at the guitarist's solo, and pay little attention to the other instruments.

Unless the musician is exceptionally beautiful.

This means that the vocals are equivalent to the "face" of a band, and the guitar represents the upper limit of the band's overall "glamour".

If your presentation isn't good and your technical skills are lacking, then you're basically doomed. You can't rely on how great your bass is, how powerful your drummer is, or how elegant your keyboardist is to turn the tide.

But all of this has one crucial prerequisite:

To meet the standards for competing in the "Mosse Cup"...

In other words, it means "competing against a series of opponents whose level is no less than that of the teams I saw at Tianlai a few days ago."

"This is such a hassle..."

Su Che analyzed the situation calmly.

The odds of losing are 9.0, while the odds of winning are only 1.

This is all based on the fact that the senior students are willing to accept newbies, the newbies are incredibly hardworking and all of them are geniuses, Gu Zhi is willing to join the team even though she is introverted, and the drummer is incredibly steady...

【Are you kidding me?】

One or two requests can be barely met, but to do all of them at the same time...

"Is it really okay? For me?"

A sense of urgency welled up inside me.

Su Che is the type of person who is used to starting to prepare for any plan well in advance, after all, this is a common problem for people with anxiety disorder.

—I'll stay anxious until the big problem is solved.

"Failure can lead to depression, but only success can bring a real sense of relief."

So, how is the disease treated?

Self-control.

Do your best within your capabilities.

“After this week, Yuan Xiao will start classes, and we can also help An Qing over the weekend and make arrangements for her.”

Tomorrow is Gu Zhi's class, I need to bring her inside. If that's not possible, I'll have to trouble Nana to teach me a few classes remotely..."

"She's willing to come, isn't she? I'll ask her then... Even if I have to pay for it, I'll make sure Gu Zhi gets the most proper bass lessons."

Su Che made up his mind.

There have never been many women he has treated with such care.

Gu Zhi is the kind of student, or "personal disciple," who would still want to see her soar even if it meant doing favors.

Her temperament is perfectly suited to electric instruments, especially when she switches from electric guitar to bass. The long neck of the guitar complements her entire demeanor, and just imagining it is almost overwhelming...

Su Che, a tech enthusiast, could immediately picture Gu Zhi gently rocking a large white AZ-shaped device on the stage.

Just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

Hmm... I'll have to talk to Nana about it too, depending on the situation. She seemed really hurt after I rejected her last time...

As a fellow online friend and music enthusiast, who could be counted on one hand, the girl with the ID "NaiNai" conquered the cold and aloof Su Che almost instantly with her skills.

The way the two met was quite surreal.

Su Che loves watching performance videos, while Nana is a music content creator who likes to record videos to document her progress.

Her output was astonishing, and the quality was also incredibly high. She played the entire piece live, and because there was no post-production mixing or processing, Su Che could tell that.

If I had to go into detail, it was probably when I was a teenager, in junior high school, after the maid in my house left.

Feeling utterly bored and lonely, I started admiring the works of great masters online in my spare time from practicing the piano.

When he encounters someone with an exceptionally high level of performance, Su Che transforms into a praise machine, showering them with compliments indiscriminately. Some respond, some don't, but it doesn't matter; that's how he honed his praise skills.

Over time, I discovered Nana on a certain ACG platform.

Nana's original full name was "Nanako", but later, for some reason, one character was deleted, and it became Nana.

Her videos never show her face; the camera focuses on her snow-white neck, and the instrument she plays is a Japanese zither.

Later, I upgraded to a handmade piano brand starting with B, and then I sold the piano that cost more than 2 yuan and went straight to the ultimate form, ESP "Swamp".

With this amazing instrument, her playing skills naturally improved as well. With the attention of her small number of fans, she gradually became a master in the performance field.

Even though she became a master, very few people were willing to listen to her play seriously.

because……

Nana's figure is not ideal.

A few years ago, she

Very fat.

Although her face wasn't shown, you could tell she was about 1.6 meters tall and weighed over 150 kilograms.

Su Che didn't care about any of that; he was listening to the music, not the person.

Drawn by the rhythm and the magical artifact, he went from initially observing, understanding, paying attention, and stalking, to being unable to resist praising, receiving replies, praising again, and receiving replies again...

After that, I was showered with endless praise and always the first to reply...

He finally took the initiative and sent a private message praising her new piano as too beautiful, and then she grabbed him.

"Hehe! I've wanted to have a good talk with you for a long time! After all, we've known each other since the very beginning of my piano playing! And you've watched every single one of my videos! That's so rare, sob sob."

Nana's way of speaking is quite unique; she always likes to add a tearful emoticon to the end of her sentences, and her communication with Su Che is even more concise—

"It's great, the piano is good, and you play it well. This ESP is being put to good use in your hands."

For musicians, nothing is more captivating than the compliment that "you deserve your amazing instrument."

"Really?! Thank you so much!! When my teacher passed the instrument to me, I was always worried that I wasn't good enough! Oh my! Really!"

It was probably amidst such praise that Nana gradually lost herself.

From then on, he would come to chat with Su Che every three to five days, and they would talk for a long time.

Since we don't have any friends, we can only chat through the platform's private messaging window.

It will take Su Che a long time to see and reply.

Later, Nana increased the frequency of her video updates.

Because the video is being pushed to users...

After the push notification, Su Che would open the app immediately to show his support.

That way you can grab him and start chatting right away.

Both of them are relatively introverted. Su Che is a gloomy man who attacks hard online but hides in the shadows in real life.

Nana is even more extreme. Not only is she extremely timid online, but she also doesn't dare to participate in any social activities in real life. Going out has become an obstacle for her.

Once, Su Che asked out of curiosity, and the reply he received was:

Sigh, as you can see, someone as ugly as me can only hide at home and play the piano. My money is all paid for by my teacher's wife, including my music school tuition. As for myself, I have absolutely no friends.

Her words revealed a deep sense of inferiority, which caught Su Che's attention at the time.

Su Che knew that there was no point in trying to persuade him, so he said, "As long as you keep playing the piano, I will keep listening. I can't do anything else, but I can still be a listener."

These words brought tears to Nana's eyes on the spot.

This is a rare instance of pushing their luck.

"I...I want your QQ number...! Can...can we be good friends?"

"..."

【sure.】

-

This is how our fate was sealed.

-

……

Su Che stood up and walked towards the door of "Night Listening".

I was filled with emotion.

It's been such a long, long time since I last contacted Nana.

Deep down, I know that with each passing day, my secret will become impossible to hide.

It all started with that request Nana made during her freshman year of college:

"Xiao Che, I found your piano playing video on another website!!! How are you so amazing! I thought... you were a complete novice!"

She was so excited that she frantically clicked the window to make it shake and tried to make a voice chat, "I should have guessed! Only an expert could give such professional comments! They praised my dynamics, my timbre and soundstage...! I...I...I have a favor to ask!"