You are Toyokawa Shoko, then who am I?

But deep down, she had no idea how Toyokawa Sho and Shiina Tatsuki would get along.

She had joined a band before. Everything was fine at the beginning. Everyone had a voice that they wanted to express themselves, and the team relationship was harmonious. But gradually, the band's style became too popular. This was the most intolerable thing for her who was pursuing individuality, so she chose to quit the band.

After leaving the band, she thought that if she had the opportunity to form a band again next time, she would definitely find people with distinct personalities that would not fade with the passage of time, and secondly, pursue harmony and commonality within the team.

Both Toyokawa Sho and Shiina Tatsuki roughly meet her requirements in terms of ability, so what she cares about now is naturally how the two of them get along.

And now it seems.

The relationship between the guitarist and the drummer is indeed very close.

When one of them was not selected for the song recording, they were able to care about each other at the first moment instead of being immersed in their own affairs.

Found a great band.

I.

Yamada Ryo nodded secretly. Sure enough, coming for the interview yesterday was the right decision.

……

……

……

the other side.

In the practice room.

Tsuzuki Shifune found a chair and sat down, and pushed the speaker effects pedal she had prepared in advance to Kaname Lena.

Although Yao Lenai had been idle for two years, the memory of his past physical body was still engraved in his body, just like a master who has been using weapons for many years touching the sword case again. What he felt was definitely not strangeness, but that long-lost familiarity.

So, Maomao went to connect the effects pedal while humming a song. She would play the rhythm guitar and practice with Toyokawa Sho later.

Needless to say, this was the rehabilitation plan designed by Tsuzuki Shifune for his good grandson.

Next to them, Tsuzuki Shifune and Toyokawa Sho, one old and one young, looked at each other in the air, and finally Tsuzuki Shifune spoke first.

"You seem to have something you want to tell me?"

Although the old man's voice was old, his tone was full and powerful.

The life experience gained over a long period of time, and the character that has been tempered and tested by the years, can now be transformed into aura or a sense of oppression at will, materializing these things that cannot be captured by the naked eye but can be truly felt by people.

She just sat there and said a few words lightly.

But when those words came out of her mouth, it was like a towering mountain suddenly falling from the sky, pressing the person down so that he could only crawl on the ground and couldn't even look her in the eye.

"Before you say anything, think carefully about whether or not you should say this. The record company's people will be here this afternoon. If everything goes according to plan, they'll pay you 300,000 yuan as an initial copyright fee today. They'll settle the remaining amount based on the release's performance. I'll be keeping an eye on it for you, so you don't need to worry about anything going wrong."

"But if there's something you absolutely want to tell me, then these things are a different matter."

Tsuzuki Shifune looked into his eyes, his tone very serious, and it was hard to tell whether he was joking or really thinking so.

The oppressive feeling released from her was like an overwhelming flood, enough to submerge dozens of meters high buildings into the sea. Just looking at the raging waves was enough to make people feel despair.

"I'll give you time to think about it. Tell me when you've figured it out."

Toyokawa Sho stopped tuning the curry stick and the image of Li Xi's confused and helpless face in the coffee shop just now flashed before his eyes, as he swallowed all the emotions in his heart.

Don't even think about it.

Li Xi must have felt inferior just now.

In Toyokawa Sho's understanding, the feeling of inferiority is essentially a feeling that one can reach something, but cannot achieve it due to various practical factors, which makes the mind feel a sense of gap.

In other words, as long as you prevent the other person from even thinking you're within their reach, the feeling of inferiority will naturally fade away.

It’s like people only get anxious when there’s a gap between them and their similar friends, but they don’t get anxious about how dazzling those geniuses who have nothing to do with them are.

Therefore, Toyokawa Sho showed his comprehensive talents from the beginning, allowing Lixi to see the difference between them that could not be made up by hard work alone, and then transformed her inferiority complex into admiration for him and a willingness to ask for advice and learn, thus making their relationship generous and clean.

If Tsuzuki Poetry Ship had not chosen Riki today, Riki would probably have been able to maintain a good attitude for a long time in the future.

But the current situation is that Riki, who originally performed The Old Man and the Sea together, was not selected by Tsuzuki Shisen to record songs because of his lack of ability.

For Li Xi, who had always longed to prove herself, surpass or even approach her genius sister, this was like a grenade thrown into her chest that exploded.

The meaning of Tsuzuki's poetry ship is very clear.

She wanted to use a more professional drummer to replace Lixi to record this song.

But Toyokawa Sho doesn't want this to happen.

His main reason for choosing "The Old Man and the Sea" to perform was not because the song had the potential to become a hit.

He chose this song because it did not require a high level of skill from the drummer and it could just lighten the burden on Li Xi who was already very tired at the time.

It can be said that without Li Xi, he would not have come up with "The Old Man and the Sea". Now that he is the only one who wants to record the song and Li Xi is not included, he naturally will not accept it, let alone sell the copyright.

Yesterday, Li Xi appeared like a hero, behind me when I was feeling the lowest on my way home.

It was Li Xi who covered his food expenses for half a month, sat on the lawn with him to watch the fireworks, and even made a lunch box for him.

Now that my relationship with Toyokawa Shoko has broken down, I can no longer find any other anchor in this world to give my life meaning.

Shiina Tachibana.

This is the last straw that Toyokawa Sho can hold on to.

So when faced with Tsuzuki Shifune's words that almost made his meaning clear, Toyokawa Sho did not hesitate. He cared more about Riki's self-esteem than his own affairs.

Facing Tsuzuki Shifune's almost overwhelming gaze, he looked back at her neither humbly nor arrogantly. His voice was neither loud nor soft, but it was quite deafening in this room.

"Boss, we already have Lixi."

36

Chapter 36: The Succubus Bai Xiang is still attacking [Three-in-one reward]

Let’s go back a little in time.

After Toyokawa Sho picked up his guitar bag and left with Tsuzuki Shifune, only Shiina Ryuki and the other two were left in the cafe.

Rinrinko, who holds the highest official position among the three, has the most gentle and considerate personality, and is also the only adult, couldn't help but feel sorry for Riki's sensible attitude when she heard that Riki was not depressed about the song recording, but instead calmed down and did his job well.

"Shiina-san, you'll have more time to practice after coffee practice, but not everyone has the opportunity to record a song."

"Yesterday, you and Toyokawa performed The Old Man and the Sea together. I was really moved when I heard it from the audience. If you're willing, I'll take you to the boss and ask her to let you and Toyokawa record together."

As Rinrinko said, most people get in touch with music by going to KTV or opening software. It is rare for someone to suggest forming a band together or learning a musical instrument.

But even if it is forming a band or learning musical instruments, these things still just remain at the level of interests and hobbies. Everyone may be a student or have other identities, and they don't necessarily have to make a living from music in the future.

Those who really plan to debut as a band and change their fate are even fewer among the minority.

If you want to make a name for yourself as a band in today's traffic-driven society, it is essential to create an original song of your own. After creation, you need to record it, and recording involves real professional fields.

Generally speaking, if you do not have enough professional conditions and do not know how to use music software such as AU, you will need to rent a recording studio and hire a dedicated recording engineer to record and correct the sound for you.

Only after completing the above preparatory work which requires huge investment of energy and financial resources, can you put your work online with trepidation.

I am waiting for the market’s response and hope that I can become famous with this work, and become a professional musician.

Given the level of completion of "The Old Man and the Sea", there is no need to worry about whether it will become a hit. The heart-stirring performance in the cafe yesterday said it all.

Not only that, as of this morning, the number of views of "The Old Man and the Sea" video posted on RiNG's official account has exceeded 400,000, and the number of likes has reached more than 10,000, and the data is still growing.

This terrifying rate of growth and astonishing data are so high that even the anime aired in the current season may not have such traffic.

It can be said that as long as you can record songs as the creator of "The Old Man and the Sea", victory is inevitable.

By then, Shiina Tatsuki will have more traffic and use fame and praise as a treasure to impact the professional realm. She will catch up with her sister who has been suppressing her for many years and making her feel breathless. From then on, she will be awarded the status of a genius and become a light admired by everyone in Yugaoka Junior High School.

When people talk about Shiina Tatsuki, they will no longer say that she is the sister of Shiina Maki who led Yuqiu to win the gold medal in the national competition, but will say that she is one of the producers of the super popular song "The Old Man and the Sea" on the Internet.

This kind of affirmation of identity.

This is a path to redemption that can free you from inferiority and pain.

This is indeed what Shiina Riki deeply desires.

To be able to create a masterpiece that shocked the entire Internet at the age of fifteen, still in the third grade of junior high school, this amazing achievement seems a bit too unrealistic even when it is placed on the vision and fantasy of the future during breaks or when one is distracted in class.

Of course, Tatsuki Shiina wanted to seize this opportunity and continue with Sho Toyokawa.

But the fact that Tsuzuki Shisen only chose Toyokawa Sho to record this time also made her realize that she and Toyokawa Sho were not from the same world.

Whether it was the impromptu performance during their first meeting or even the song The Old Man and the Sea, Toyokawa Sho did so only to accommodate his own level.

With his talent, he could have had a more brilliant performance and a brighter future, but because of this shortcoming of hers which was insignificant compared to his, his brilliance and shine were limited to a level similar to hers.

Shiina Riki bit his lower lip.

She wanted to prove that she was right.

But recalling everything that happened between her and Toyokawa Sho over the past two days, she now hoped that this stranger who suddenly came to another world alone, like a rootless duckweed, could get rid of his burdens and leave a strong mark in this world with the most complete and best attitude.

Moreover, originally, the song "The Old Man and the Sea" was basically written by Toyokawa Sho, and she was just helping her play the drums and gongs. The truly irreplaceable core was Toyokawa Sho, and she could be replaced at any time.

Use other people's achievements as a pillar to prove your own.

What's the point of doing such a thing?

Shiina Riki repeatedly explored his thoughts in his mind and finally came to a conclusion.

Xiang needs this opportunity more than he does.

Since the boss didn't choose me, it means that there are better drummers to record with Toyokawa Sho. From the boss's point of view, there is nothing wrong with making this song, which has in a sense become RiNG's representative song, even better.

I have no objection.

"Manager, thank you, but my level... is definitely not enough to stand on the same level as Xiang."

Lixi's eyes dimmed a little. Before this, she had never dared to face up to the inferiority complex that had tormented her for years. But now, after getting along with Toyokawa Sho, she has learned from Toyokawa Sho to face up to her inner strength.

"I have my own pride, and I won't rush to claim things that don't belong to me. This song was basically all Xiang's responsibility, and it should have been Xiang's work. I'm very happy to perform with him, but when it comes to recording and releasing... I really hope to have more professional people by his side to bring out his strengths."

"Shiina-san..."

Rinrinko was really shocked by Riki's mentality. Could it be that today's junior high school students have such open-minded and strong hearts...?

Resist the temptation and control yourself.

These eight words seem easy, but even most adults who have gone out to work in society cannot do this.

"Okay, I get it. I respect your opinion, Shiina-san."

Rinrinko sighed. She really hoped that this song could be recorded by the original two people.

"...If only Toyokawa could hear what Shiina-san said. He seems a little frustrated today. If he could hear that you, Shiina-san, care about him so much, he would definitely feel better."

"..."

At this point, Shiina Riki can no longer deny the fact that anyone can tell that she cares about Toyokawa Sho.

If she hadn't been so shameless as to admit in front of Su Shi yesterday that she cared about Toyokawa Sho, she might still have had the nerve to find an excuse to deny it now.

But now that the words have been spoken, even if others don't know, she can't lie to herself. Since she has said it, she must be responsible for it. This is her principle.

"Is this really good?"

However, just when both of them were about to give up.

A rising star from Shimokitazawa is rising, and he actually wants to persuade them a little more.

Shiina Riki turned her head in surprise. She didn't expect that Yamada Ryo would also advise her to reconsider like the store manager. She had a slightly different opinion of this girl who sometimes spoke incoherently like Toyokawa Sho.

"That's good. I've made up my mind."

Shiina Riki shook his head.

"Besides, even if the store manager takes me to see the boss, the boss may not agree. He might even say... The store manager has been very caring towards me. I don't want the store manager to be blamed by the boss because of me."

"Shiina-san...!!"

Rinrinzi was touched. She really didn't expect that Lixi actually cared about her. She immediately held Lixi's hand and said.

"Don't worry, I will definitely treat you and Fengchuan as my younger brothers and sisters from now on. You must be happy!"

"Huh? Wait, manager, he and I aren't like that—!"

Li Xi was anxious. She had never said that she liked Toyokawa Sho, so of course she had to deny something that sounded so corny to say out loud.

"Oh, you're still saying no, but you two are almost flirting with each other."