Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

As if he found the man's words too boring, the young man shook his head and looked at the bright and beautiful stage again.

The man stared quietly at the young man's smiling profile.

"...So, your target is Xiangzi?"

"Ah?" Zhe Li blinked and glanced at him in surprise.

"...Even if I have fallen to this point, I am still that child's father."

The man clutched his clothes tightly at his chest, his face, which had once been filled with some sorrow, was now covered in frost. He stared at Bao Deng Zheli with eyes that seemed to contain the fire of evil, opened his cracked lips, and said:

"Even if I lose Toyokawa's power, I still have my own trump card. Please put away your covetousness for my daughter."

"..."

Baodeng Zheli didn't know what expression to make for a moment. He looked at the old beast with his mouth half open, which was grinning at him.

“—Pfft. Hahahaha…”

In the end, he couldn't help laughing wildly.

Fortunately, the decibel level in the exhibition hall was high enough to drown out his unbridled laughter with the music and cheers, leaving the man in front of him only with a confused and embarrassed look.

"Sorry, sorry. It just occurred to me—"

The young man's expression changed, and in an instant the exaggerated apology turned into outright ridicule.

"If you could show some of that attitude to Xiangzi now, she wouldn't have that face of hers that her father had died all day long."

"..."

After hearing this, the middle-aged man's eyes twitched slightly, but his expression did not change much.

"——I'm just a country bumpkin from a small town. I don't understand the twists and turns of you rich people."

The young man seemed disappointed when he didn't see the man in front of him react. He shook his head, leaned back against the wall, and said with his hands spread out, "But even I understand that no matter what family honor or responsibility it is, it shouldn't be shouldered by a child who hasn't even graduated from junior high school."

He glanced sideways at the man's conflicted expression with an almost disdainful look.

"And every single one of the adults in your family is an accomplice."

"…………ha."

The middle-aged man was speechless for a long time before he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

"I understand that kind of thing."

My heart is throbbing, my blood is boiling——

The hot breath was burning his trachea, and he had to take deep breaths to extinguish the fire erupting in his chest.

"...That's why the child's mother left."

“‘No matter how hard I try, I’ll never see the day of freedom.’”

The man strained his lips, as if trying to suppress the loneliness in his heart with this forced smile.

"She gave up. Almost surrendered to Toyokawa. So I told her—"

"'Leave it to me from now on.'"

……

Leave Xiangzi to me.

And, I'm sorry for not being able to make you a happy wife.

if--

If only I hadn't met you in the first place, it would have been fine.

……

"How, so stupid."

"A foolish man who has never learned how to raise a daughter, just because the person he loves shows a vulnerable expression in front of him, he swells up his face and says such bravado."

"……Hahaha……"

He grabbed his neck and tried to calm his shaking body down bit by bit.

"I didn't agree with my wife's parenting style. I simply wanted Xiangzi to have a childhood, however short, at least one that was carefree and happy."

"I'll schedule Xiangzi's private lessons and use my own business achievements as leverage to get his father to give him a few more years to have fun..."

"Mr. Bao Deng, do you know what Xiangzi said to me at that time?"

The middle-aged man raised his head, with only a pair of dull eyes above his overly exaggerated smile.

"'Father, when will we move on to the next stage of the course?'"

“…She no longer knows how to rest.”

The lights on the stage were like a wall, separating the depressed man below the stage from the confident girl on the stage.

"She truly is a genius. She learns everything quickly. Perhaps my wife is right: let her turn her talent into ability as soon as possible, using Fengchuan's resources to grow into someone capable of standing on her own. Only then will she have a chance to break free from the constraints of this bloated family."

The man opened his arms towards his daughter with a bleak smile on his face.

"…But I know. If that were all, Xiangzi would just become the next 'Toyokawa'."

Just like myself in the past. It’s not that I don’t love my wife, nor am I indifferent to my daughter, but——

Until then, he would maintain this family, support this clan, and dedicate everything he had to continuing this bloodline. Generation after generation, they would transform their talents into fuel, accumulating them into capital and passing them on to the next generation.

There is nothing wrong with that. It is definitely not evil.

"But that would be so unfair to the kid."

Precisely because becoming a "part" is the "destiny" of this surname, this man and the woman he loves deeply want to subvert such "naturalness".

——There has never been any great purpose.

I just want my daughter to live the life she wants.

"...Haha. What position do I have to speak from?"

The man laughed at himself and pinched his cheeks.

"Anyway, I failed."

Now that I can’t even protect myself, how can I take responsibility for my daughter’s life?

Even dragging her down, forcing her to adapt to this kind of life that should have been out of her reach—

"——Failure? Is that so?"

The music on the stage was moving towards its final rest, but Baodeng Zheli, who had been listening quietly, suddenly loosened his arms from around his chest.

He smiled and looked at the stage not far away, and said as a matter of course:

"But haven't you already left her with 'hope'?"

“…————.”

The man slowly moved his neck and followed his gaze.

Look at the girl playing the piano, look at the simple smile on her face.

"Ah. ...I see."

Maybe.

As early as the first time the man saw his wife holding a girl sleeping peacefully.

As early as that afternoon when it was so quiet that even the fragile breath was deafening.

A spark had already been quietly ignited somewhere in the hearts of both of them.

It turns out that there is me and her.

It's not like I'm doing useless work——

"Oh, right. I almost forgot."

Baodeng Zheli took out a thick envelope from his pocket and handed it to the dazed man.

"The children's live performance was a success. This is my reward according to the contract."

"……Eh."

The man stared at the envelope but did not reach out to take it.

--contract.

On that day, a young man who claimed to be a teacher and club manager came abruptly.

The embarrassed guardian expressed obvious dissatisfaction with the poor living conditions, and finally asked him to allow his daughter to attend the band's last concert, and left a signed contract as a basis.

It was too absurd. He had never restricted Xiangzi in any way, so he certainly wouldn't force his daughter to do anything she didn't want to do. For example, no matter how dissatisfied and disappointed he was with his daughter's running away from home, he ultimately said nothing.

Since he couldn't give his daughter a free future, he should at least tolerate this bit of willfulness.

The man whispered to the young man, "I didn't do anything."

Baodeng Zheli shrugged, "That's what I thought."

"...?"

As the man stared at him in confusion, Zhe Li forced the envelope into his hand. He then quickly withdrew his hand, not giving him a chance to react, and took two steps back.

"But now it seems that you have put in a lot of effort. I approve of it."

The man stared at the heavy envelope for half a second before coming to his senses and hurriedly shouted, "Wait—"

"...if you still feel even a little bit guilty about getting something for nothing."

Almost at the moment his voice fell, the young man who was walking towards the exit suddenly turned back:

"How about handing the letter to your daughter personally after you get home?"

"—and everything you two have ever thought and done."

He grinned at the stunned man.

"After all, if you don't say it out loud, how will anyone understand?"

"Well then. Ciao~..."

……

Amid the cheers that filled the entire venue, the young man's figure quietly disappeared behind the door.

The overly haggard man stared blankly at him as he left until the music faded and the crowd dispersed.

"……Yeah."

He then quietly smiled.

It turns out that Xiangzi is luckier than her mother.

"If I had been half as carefree as you were back then—"

No.

He clutched the envelope tightly and took a deep breath.

"For the time being, I am still the father of that child."

……

If we start working hard now, it’s not too late, right?

Chapter of Lost Stars Act 1 Summer Time Record: Epilogue Restart

Stepping into the dark backstage, Toyokawa Shoko felt as if she were in another world.

On the stage, she didn't think about anything, just followed the singing and the melody, letting her fingers dance on the keyboard.

It was as if the stage, which was far from wide, contained an entire world. There was rain and mud, but also sunshine and a gentle spring breeze. She experienced it all in those moments until the voice guiding her stopped.

I have no idea how well I played the piano.

But one thing is clearly remembered——

"……lamp."