People are in animation, but they can connect to reality

"This has nothing to do with you!" Toyokawa Shoko suddenly stood up and yelled at Asagi. Her angry pupils seemed to be burning. Asagi secretly clicked his tongue. It seemed that he had hit Toyokawa Shoko's sore spot. This was the first time he had seen Toyokawa Shoko like this.

Everyone in the train car looked over here, staring at Toyokawa Shoko and Asagi in surprise. Realizing something was wrong, Toyokawa Shoko suppressed her angry expression and sat down without a word.

"It does matter," Asagi smiled after her plan succeeded. It wasn't a very glorious thing, but at least it had gotten Shoko Toyokawa to back down. She had been maintaining the facade of a young lady to hide the secret of her father's bankruptcy.

His father, eager for quick success, fell into a business trap, resulting in a loss of over 160 billion yuan, and was driven out by his grandfather. After losing his mother, his father changed a lot. If he lost her again, Xiangzi felt that his father might not be able to survive.

Xiangzi rejected her grandfather and chose to live with her father. She thought her father would cheer up and find a proper job, and the family would live happily like an ordinary family. She was not a pretentious young lady who coveted wealth and fame. On the contrary, she could accept this ordinary life.

However, her father fell into decline. Unable to bear the blow, he lost the courage to start over and began to do nothing all day, drinking heavily, getting drunk, and even getting into fights. She tried to persuade her father, but he ignored her. Communication between father and daughter began to decrease, and they became almost strangers.

Even so, Shoko Toyokawa still wanted to see the moment when her father cheered up.

She wanted to see that gentle father who would touch her head, tell her fairy tales, hold her in his arms, and patiently comfort her when she was sad.

To this end, Shoko Toyokawa has been working hard.

Chapter 256: Take Out 1 Million Yuan

"Because I became friends with Su Shi, I wanted to help her. Fengchuan also knows the feeling of a friend, the kind of feeling that you can't bear to see your friend sad, and even more so, the sadness of her hiding in the corner with her head buried in her knees. Because Su Shi like that is very pitiful, even a little heartbreaking. Can Fengchuan understand what this feeling is like? Remember that Fengchuan and Su Shi were also friends before."

Asagi put on a smile and faced Toyokawa Shoko. He held his cheek with one hand and began to look away, looking at the distance, outside the car window.

"But Fengchuan abandoned Su Shi. I don't know why." In fact, he had known it for a long time.

"Is Su Shi really annoying? Or really hateful? Toyokawa-san is so disgusted with her that he abandons her, even wants to step on her and crush her into the dust. Seeing her covered in mud and crying miserably in front of him, only then will he be happy and feel better?"

Shoko Toyokawa bit her lips, looking very painful.

But this wasn't enough. Toyokawa Shoko wasn't in enough pain. It wasn't enough to make her open up. Her body began to tremble slightly, her hands tightly gripping the corner of her schoolbag. She gritted her teeth, making a creaking sound.

The atmosphere around them suddenly became quiet. The passengers next to them were frightened by the sight of Toyokawa Shoko and stepped back. It seemed as if the girl named Toyokawa Shoko would go berserk in the next moment.

"What do you know? You obviously know nothing."

"You put on a smug expression, like you know it all. You look down on people in trouble with an arrogant expression. You're so ugly!"

Toyokawa Shoko lowered her head, buried it deep in her chest, her eyes dim, and a voice like a demon came out of her mouth. After a while, she suddenly raised her head and stared at Asagi, almost crying with grievance.

Asagi looked at Toyokawa Shoko curiously. Something crystal clear kept swirling in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, and she stared at Asagi angrily.

After a while, Toyokawa Shoko looked at herself in astonishment, with an expression of disbelief on her face.

I felt strange. Where had my pride and confidence gone? Why had I become like this?

Shoko Toyokawa slowly backed away, looking around blankly. People stared at her in astonishment.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything. I don't understand anything. If I accidentally upset Toyokawa-san, I apologize." Asagi turned aside, avoiding Toyokawa Shoko's sight. He had no intention of ruining his relationship with Toyokawa Shoko, but he just couldn't help but say it.

Asagi pretended to look outside, but he didn't want the conversation to end. Whether it was the bet between them or the relationship with Toyokawa Shoko, he continued the topic intentionally or unintentionally.

"I just feel sorry for Su Shi. She obviously cares about Fengchuan. If Fengchuan encounters any difficulties, Su Shi will definitely be willing to lend a hand."

"Would you mind shutting up?" Toyokawa Shoko said coldly. She no longer wanted to talk to Asagi. However, Asagi couldn't give up. She still wanted to talk to Toyokawa Shoko and revise the bet. If she couldn't do that, Sushi and the others would definitely lose.

"Of course, but Toyokawa-san must be having some trouble. She's the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family, but she's working part-time. I've run into Toyokawa-san many times, and she always looks tired, especially late at night."

"If you have any difficulties, please let us know. Although we are not very familiar with each other, we have met many times and talked with each other a few times."

"You keep chattering away, chattering away. What will it take for you to stop?"

"As you know, Su Shi and I are friends. Since Fengchuan is also Su Shi's friend, I still hope that we can reconcile as before. If Fengchuan encounters any difficulties, maybe we can help."

"What an arrogant fellow! A child who hasn't experienced darkness is far too naive." Toyokawa Shoko gave him a wry smile of pity, a look that looked at him like a fool. Asagi understood that smile. To Toyokawa Shoko, he was a naive, unworldly high school student, unsophisticated and without much experience, only able to spout innocent, fairy-tale-like nonsense.

In the eyes of these high school students, the world is simple. When encountering difficulties, they just need to work together to solve them, or they use beautiful words to deceive others.

In Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, Asagi was already a fish on the hook. She wanted to get rid of this guy in front of her, but he was clinging to her like a piece of taffy, and she couldn't get rid of him no matter how hard she tried. In that case, it would be better to let him give up.

Since we've decided to form Ave Mujica and take off our masks, the secret is no longer a secret. Everyone will know about it sooner or later.

Why did she reject Su Shi and accept Mu? Perhaps she hated being pitied by others. She clearly had no strength, but they kept saying nice things like "come on" in her ear. However, such words did not help Toyokawa Shoko's real life at all. Instead, they seemed like an arrogant charity.

If Su Shi knew the truth, she would definitely cling to her and be particularly concerned about her feelings. Then she would indulge her in everything, tolerate her, and even think that she was protecting her. However, this is what Toyokawa Shoko hates the most. She never feels weak, nor does she feel that she needs others' pity. If she wants, she can continue to stay in the Toyokawa family and continue to be the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family.

You're just a high school student, how can you take on the responsibility of someone else's life? She still remembers what she said to Su Shi that night. Toyokawa Shoko's life is no longer on the same track as Su Shi's. They are already from two different worlds.

That look is so similar to Su Shi's, the look of wanting to help others but not having the ability, just like an incompetent rabbit, which makes people feel disgusted.

"If you want to help me, show your sincerity. 100 billion, no, 1 million. If you put 1 million in front of me, I will acknowledge that you can help me. Can you do it? You can't." Not to mention 100 billion, even 1 million is an amount that an ordinary person cannot earn in his entire life.

"Stop talking big. If you want to face the reality, just shut up!" Shoko Toyokawa snorted coldly and turned away.

Toyokawa Shoko doesn't need friends without strength. Her life requires a lot of money, a huge amount, far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Besides that, Toyokawa Shoko doesn't have the extra time to make friends and play house-style friendships.

Chapter 257 Stay away from me

Toyokawa Shoko raised her head confidently. No one could agree to such an offer. Even she, the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family, had to offer the money. She didn't have that much pocket money, and if she asked the adults for it, she would be lectured. Lectures teach children to face reality.

"Do you need 1 million yen? Okay, I get it," Asagi replied calmly. He faced the crowd, but his mind was mulling over how long it would take him to earn 1 million yen. Given MMK's recent momentum, there was hope they could perform at the Budokan this year.

Tickets for the martial arts hall are categorized into VIP, seated, and standing-room tickets. The highest VIP price is around 20000 NTD, standing-room tickets are around 9000 NTD, and seated tickets are around 15000 NTD. The martial arts hall has approximately 12000 seats, and Asagi doesn't expect their live shows to be completely packed.

If they can sell 8000 tickets, they'll basically earn 1 million yen. After deducting various expenses, there's no telling how much will be left. In other words, they're going to squeeze as much surplus value out of MMK as possible. Oh, what a ruthless ZBJ.

Besides MMK and the others, Sushi and her band also need to speed up their progress. If two bands can operate at the same time, the pressure will be much less.

Across from her, Toyokawa Shoko stared at Asagi in a daze, even blinking in confusion. Did he not hear clearly? Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but wonder, even wanting to say it again. However, Asagi's answer left no doubt that he had heard it, and heard it very clearly.

That's 1 million yuan, more than the average office worker could earn in their entire lifetime. How could he be so calm and composed? At this point, he should have given up.

"Could you please wait a while, Toyokawa-san? 1 million yen is a lot of money, so it'll take quite a while."

"How long is a while? Do you think I have a lot of time? Even if you do, I don't. I don't have the time to wait for you forever." Toyokawa Shoko sneered. She thought it was ridiculous. She'd been overthinking it. This guy wouldn't spend his whole life trying to earn 1 million yuan, would he? 1 million yuan is out of reach for the average person, but for those with a small career, it's within reach.

But how long would that take? 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, a lifetime? Was it really necessary to spend my entire life trying to earn 1 million yuan just for something like this? Did this guy really like me that much?

Whether it was the first time we met or the many chance encounters that followed, I always felt like I was being watched.

"It won't take that long." Asagi chuckled.

Toyokawa Shoko frowned, and instead felt that the guy in front of her was even stranger. She also turned her face away from Asagi. After that thought just occurred to her mind, she was not so disgusted with the guy in front of her anymore.

Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but turn her head and look at Asagi again. An irrepressible curiosity began to grow in her heart.

"I should be able to come up with 2 million yen by my second year of high school. If I'm lucky, it will be even faster." Asagi smiled, "But before that, there's something I'd like to ask Toyokawa-san for help."

"what's up?"

"The question about the bet between Toyokawa-san and Suyo."

"That cannot be revoked, and there's no point in begging." Shoko Toyokawa refused directly.

"It's not about cancelling the bet, but adding a few conditions. Toyokawa's band, Ave Mujica, is very powerful and has been making great strides. So, I think the bet should include a new condition: to be the first to enter the Budokan and to achieve profitability. This will better demonstrate the strength of the band." Asagi stared at the other party.

Toyokawa Shoko was silent for a moment. She understood what Asagi meant. Lately, Ave Mujica had been leveraging her agency's spending strategy to generate buzz online, generating significant publicity and gaining a significant following.

This should have been something to be happy about, but when she thought about the fact that her grandfather, the head of the Toyokawa family, was behind her agency, Toyokawa Shoko couldn't be happy. For her, seeking help from outside forces wasn't a problem; she had taken the initiative to approach the head of the Toyokawa family to discuss the deal.

It was just that this was a bit like cheating, using money to quickly clear levels. But it was part of the rules of the world, and Toyokawa Shoko could totally accept it.

"I understand. You're worried I'll resort to trickery and use my connections to force my way into the dojo and win." Toyokawa Shoko gave Asagi a cold look. "There's no need to worry about that, because we've already overpowered Suyo. A band that's just playing around in the RiNG Livehouse and having fun can't possibly win this bet."

"I accept your conditions, but I also have a corresponding condition." Shoko Toyokawa stared at Asagi.

"what?"

"stay away from me!"

Shoko Toyokawa stood up, grabbed her schoolbag, and walked out of the train. When the train arrived, the students in their school uniforms began to get off. Asagi realized they were already at school. He and Shoko Toyokawa had been chatting for far too long.

"I will try to stay away from Toyokawa-san." Asagi said, standing 2 meters away from Toyokawa Shoko. Toyokawa Shoko looked at him unhappily, because she didn't mean to stay away from him.

"I understand what Toyokawa-san means. Unless there's something important, I'll treat Toyokawa-san as a stranger."

"As long as you know."

"Then it's a deal, Toyokawa-san." Asagi grinned, stopping where he was, waiting for Toyokawa Shoko to disappear from his sight. Looking in the direction Toyokawa Shoko had disappeared, he scratched his head. This carefully planned encounter today had yielded quite a few results.

At least it gave Sushi a chance to win the competition. Toyokawa Shoko leveraged her family's influence to aggressively buy traffic and promote her. So, he became Sushi's external support, using MMK and the others to help promote her and provide her with music. With all this going on, it's still unclear who will win in the end.

Furthermore, he had also eliminated any possibility of Toyokawa Shoko cheating. With Toyokawa Shoko's proud personality, she wouldn't go back on her word. Furthermore, they had a slight advantage: the enemy was in the open, while we were in the dark. At the moment, Toyokawa Shoko's impression of the Sushi Band was still limited to a small-time fan club. She considered them to be virtually no threat.

Indeed, at Su Shi's current rate, she wouldn't even be able to get into a martial arts school after graduating from university. Besides, who knows which will come first, the future or an unexpected event?

Chapter 258 Will not give up

"Sometimes I feel like going to school is really a hassle. I kind of understand Chi-chan's feelings now." During lunch break, Asagi came to the club's activity room. He usually wouldn't come here at this time, but this time he brought good news.

Gently pushing open the door of the club, not only was Chihaya Aine in the activity room, but also Takamatsu Touma. Looking at Takamatsu Touma, Asagi felt a little strange.

"Xiao Deng, have you joined our club too?" Asagi asked.

"No, I just came here with Aine to take a look." Takamatsu Deng lowered his head slightly, looking very timid. However, Asagi had long been accustomed to Takamatsu Deng's personality and did not ask any more questions.

"Asaki, you seldom come here at this time. Why did you think of coming here today? Did you see a cute girl? Is Asaki following Aine and Touma?" Senior Takeda looked at Asaki mischievously.

Asagi had never been to the club room during lunch break, and this was his first time here at this time.

Asagi pulled a chair and sat at the table, facing Aine, Deng, and the senpai. "I just had something happy that I wanted to share, so I came over."

"Hmm?" The senior student tilted her head.

"It has nothing to do with senior." Asagi rolled her eyes at senior.

"I'm so sad. You don't care about me at all." Takeda put on a very fake performance.

"Because I'm almost understanding senpai's true nature." Asagi ignored Takeda-senpai's performance and looked at Aine and Deng. Aine looked over with a puzzled expression, while Deng lowered her head, not daring to look directly at Asagi. Because Deng was just like that, Asagi didn't care.

"Regarding the bet, I've discussed it with Toyokawa-san, and she's agreed to fairer terms."

Takamatsu Deng raised his head and looked at Asagi.

"The final conditions remain unchanged and are still based on the martial arts hall. However, to ensure fairness, only profits will be considered a victory." Asagi spoke slowly.

Chihaya Aine and Takamatsu Deng were not as happy as they thought.

"But there's no chance of winning this way. We'll still lose in the end. Fengchuan-san is already way ahead of us. What do you think, Xiao Deng?"

Chihaya Aion's gaze fell on Takamatsu Deng. Takamatsu Deng nervously grabbed the hem of her skirt with both hands, raised her head, and her gaze kept switching between Asagi and Chihaya Aion. In the end, Deng nodded woodenly, agreeing with Aion's statement.

"So, do you want to give up?" Asagi looked at them calmly.

Both of them turned their faces away at the same time, avoiding Asagi's gaze.

"Just give up like that and don't care about anything? In that case, why don't you go straight to Toyokawa-san and apologize at the dogeza. Then go find Suyo and tell her that it doesn't matter if she doesn't have a name. It's just a name. It doesn't matter if she loses it. We will come up with a better one later."

"If that's the case, just pretend I didn't say anything. Anyway, the parties involved in this kind of thing don't care about it, but we outsiders care so much and beg Toyokawa-san so humbly. Don't we look stupid? Like idiots." Asagi said angrily.

He propped himself up, leaning against the table with one hand on his face, snorting heavily and putting on an angry expression. As expected, Chihaya Aine and Takamatsu Touma's faces instantly showed expressions of apology and regret.

"Did you go and ask Toyokawa-san for help?"

"Have you looked for Xiaoxiang?"

They whispered to Asagi, their voices filled with an indescribable guilt. Aine and Deng looked bewildered and uneasy, even a little anxious.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know Asagi went to ask Xiaoxiang for help." Gao Songdeng lowered his head, feeling very guilty, and even seemed about to cry.

"It's because of me, it's all because of me, it's my fault that Asagi had to ask Xiaoxiang for help." Takamatsu Deng kept repeating and apologizing.

Huh? Takamatsu Deng's sudden self-blame made Asagi a little uneasy. He hadn't meant to do that; he was just trying to provoke Aine and Deng. He hadn't intended to make Takamatsu Deng cry. If he did, he'd feel bad and might even feel guilty.

Takamatsu Deng's sudden change in mood caught even Chihaya Aine off guard. She had no time to express her feelings and could only coax Deng first.

"This has nothing to do with Deng. Don't take it all on yourself." Asagi was a little anxious. He really didn't know how to coax Deng, so Asagi looked up to Takeda-senpai for help. In some ways, Takeda-senpai was very good at using her status as a senior to [coax] the younger students.

However, the senior student just stood there watching with a smirk on her face. That expression clearly said, "You made yourself cry, so go and comfort yourself. I won't help you."

What a useless senior! She didn't even help at the critical moment! Asagi glared at the senior, but she didn't care and continued to play the guitar in her hand leisurely.

"It's all your fault," Chihaya Aine snorted and actually put the blame on Asagi.

"It's your fault," Asagi retorted, throwing the blame back. He would never take it.

Takamatsu Deng still kept her head down, and Asagi couldn't see her face, but she looked so fragile, like a pitiful puppy, that it was hard not to be accommodating. Perhaps this was Deng's personal charm? Otherwise, why would her classmates be so accommodating to her despite her eccentric personality? Perhaps Takamatsu Deng also had a kind of magical power that made people unable to resist being tolerant and doting.

"It's all my fault. I made up my mind but didn't do it, and ended up making my friends worry about me." Gao Songdeng kept apologizing.

Before he knew it, Takamatsu Deng started crying. What a crybaby. Asagi looked at Deng, then at Aine, and finally decided to put all the blame on Aine.