My daily life is getting weird because I am caught between being in a band and being an idol.

Everyone embarked on their journey home.

. .

late at night.

After a relaxing shower, Chaoyang came out, drank a beer, and checked his phone one last time before going to bed to make sure he hadn't missed any messages.

"How was the performance? Pretty awesome, right?"

It was sent to me an hour ago, but Chaoyang was chatting with his beautiful female subordinates at the time, so he wouldn't have been looking at his phone, which is why he only found out now.

"...Seriously, it's not your place to be so smug, is it?"

Chaoyang muttered a self-deprecating remark.

I was just about to reply to the message when I checked the time and it was already past midnight.

"It's not a good time to reply to messages... Never mind, I'll reply tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he threw his phone on the bedside table, turned off the light, and went to sleep.

the other side.

In Yuyuko's room.

Yuyuko was sitting on the bed, intently staring at the LINE chat box with Asahi.

Upon seeing the text indicating that it had been read, he immediately shouted excitedly.

"Ah! Finally read! Are you going to reply soon? Hehehe, this is the first friend I added this year!"

Results to the end.

Youyouzi waited until the morning sun rose the next day, but there was still no reply.

Chapter 99 Nagasaki Soseki is here!

"Excuse me... what exactly are you planning?"

Listening to Xiangzi's interrogation from in front of his desk, and seeing the reproachful look in Xiangzi's eyes, Chaoyang unconsciously looked under the desk. After Xiangzi came to the office that afternoon, Chaoyang immediately told Xiangzi that he had invited the Youyouzi SIDEROS band to perform.

Upon hearing this news, Xiangzi immediately changed his attitude.

"Hmm... the main thing is that since it doesn't cost any money, isn't it nice to get a band to perform for free?"

The rising sun glanced sideways at something else and spoke softly.

"you are too naive."

She crossed her arms, stared sharply at the rising sun, shook her head twice, and continued speaking.

"Hiring a band on stage, even without paying a performance fee, means providing equipment setup, sound support, and even on-site coordination. These direct expenses, not counting personnel, all cost money. Can you guarantee that the band's performance will help the agency balance these additional investments? The agency's financial burden is already heavy, with a serious imbalance between income and expenditure. If we continue to act recklessly like this, even if you invest the money you borrowed from the mortgaged store, it won't even make a splash, understand?"

"understood."

"...I will check if SIDEROS has any corresponding value. If not, please explain the situation to the other party and cancel the invitation."

"This won't do. I've already extended an invitation. Changing the order so frequently would damage the company's reputation."

"Then please don't make decisions lightly in the first place."

At this point, Xiangzi sighed and took a step back.

"That's it for now. I'll research the band you mentioned and then schedule a suitable time slot."

"You've worked hard. Are you staying at the office today?"

"No, I'll go downstairs."

Xiangzi narrowed his eyes unhappily and spoke to Chaoyang.

"...Ha...We need your help here too. To be honest, in the eyes of my other colleagues, I'm just a kid, with limited influence...Although some of your actions give me a headache, I have to say that you're capable of handling the work. And with you around, the employees will be more vigilant and on edge. No matter how you see yourself, in their eyes you're still the boss."

Chaoyang couldn't explain to Xiangzi why he still went to izakayas so often and could still afford to spend some money there. It was because he could increase his favorability and recover his losses by going to izakayas.

"After all, the downstairs area is our core business. If you're really too busy, just let me know and I'll come back to help."

After finishing his sentence, Chaoyang packed his bag and left the office.

. .

"Ok?"

Chaoyang saw that the girl who came here a couple of days ago was the very gentle-looking young woman with long brown hair. As compensation for making her come all this way for nothing, he specially took a business card, wrote "Five Cuts" in Chinese characters on the back, and added his own signature, so that he could give her a discount if she came again.

I thought it would be a while before we met again, but I didn't expect to come over so soon on Monday. However, I still arrived a little early, as the store was still preparing and there was still some time before it officially opened.

"Ah, hello, Mr. Manager~"

"Hello, welcome! You're here so early today too. You're putting a lot of pressure on me. If the skewers I serve you aren't good, I'll feel guilty."

Chaoyang greeted him half-jokingly, but inwardly he was already harboring doubts.

"How could that be? Your restaurant's food is all delicious. I became a fan after trying it myself."

While speaking, the girl kept fiddling with a few strands of her hair, looking somewhat absent-minded.

"Although it's not open for business yet, please come in."

"Is this alright? Thank you so much."

The girl quickly bowed her head to express her gratitude.

Then Chaoyang opened the door and gestured for them to enter.

"Thank you~"

The girl went into the store first, followed closely by Chaoyang.

"I'm sorry, the store is not open yet..."

At this moment, Fujita Kotone was in the store. When she saw that the person who came in was a stranger, she greeted him with a smile, but she was actually a little annoyed inside.

Why are there always people like this?! They insist on coming in even though the sign hasn't been put up yet, and even when they're leaving get off work at night, even though the store is already cleaning and tidying up the tables and chairs, the kitchen lights are off and the fire is off, and the roller shutter is half down, they still come in and ask if the store is open!

"Ah, Qinyin, I let this guest in. Last time she made a wasted trip, but we've gotten used to each other, so I let her in. Miss, please find a seat."

The girl looked at the music with a smile, creating a warm feeling.

"I'm so sorry, I'll just sit at the bar."

"This is the right place. I'm so sorry~ I didn't know you were invited by the store manager."

Qin Yin quickly grabbed a wet towel and placed it on the bar seat.

At this moment, Chaoyang walked into the kitchen, where Taoxiang was sitting and dozing off. Chaoyang didn't disturb her, understanding that it was hard work to work part-time while also managing the band.

"Please have some oolong tea, this cup is on me."

Chaoyang walked to the seating area, poured himself a cup of oolong tea, and placed it across the bar in front of the girl.

"I can't accept this, please don't be shy, just put it on my tab."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. By the way, what is your surname, Miss?"

After a moment's thought, the girl smiled gently and said...

"...My surname is Nagasaki...and my name is Nagasaki Motoyo."

"Ah~ it's a good name~"

"Hehe, how could my name be so ordinary? What's your surname, shop manager?"

"My surname is Hiraishi, and my given name is Hiraishi Asahi. I look forward to working with you in the future."

As Chaoyang prepared for business in the bar area, he chatted with Su Shi.

However, the conversations were very casual and not in-depth. Su Shi basically asked questions about this and that, and only touched on any topic briefly.

"...Wow, this shop has been around for so long!"

"...Oh, so it refers to pig's head meat."

Since izakayas are essentially places for chatting, Sose's behavior isn't exactly strange.

If I had to say something, it would be very strange for Su Shi to be a customer in this kind of shop.

Nagasaki Motoyo turned around and started chatting with Kotone, who was replenishing the condiments and disposable items on the tables.

"...Oh, Ms. Fujita~ She's so cute, like a rough gem that hasn't been polished yet."

"Hehehe~~ It's alright~ I'm not that cute, but I'm still an idol~"

Qin Yin immediately became shy and coy.

Su Shi was slightly surprised and lightly covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, so Ms. Fujita is an idol? No wonder... The other girls in the shop are all so cute, are they all idols? Can I be friends with Ms. Fujita?"

"Of course... As for the rest..."

Kotone thought for a moment and realized that Pastel* only had one person who came to help out occasionally, so they shouldn't be considered employees of the store. As for Momoka and Nina, they were just dropouts who played in a band.

"No, I'm the only one who's permanently stationed here right now."

"Wow, when I came here last time, it seemed like all the staff at this store were pretty girls~ Everyone wants to work here~ The work atmosphere must be really good, right?"

Qin Yin glanced at the rising sun, then gently clasped her hands together in front of her chest and tilted her head to speak.

"Hehe, I'm not trying to flatter you~ The manager is probably the best manager I've ever met. He's never yelled at any employee, and he didn't even care that guy inside was dozing off~~"

Su Shi coldly retorted to himself.

This is going too far; it's probably the kind of shop manager who really likes female employees. Occasionally, you'll see posts online about shops that are particularly friendly to cute female part-time staff.

Of course, what Chaoyang really thought was...

Well, actually, I'm mainly afraid of losing favorability.

But for Nagasaki Motoyo, it didn't matter what; she didn't really care about any of these things.

She just wanted an excuse.

"Sigh~ Actually, I've been thinking about finding a part-time job lately..."

He only told half of what Su Shi had said.

However, as long as everyone understood what it meant, Qin Yin's expression changed slightly at this moment.

Did I overpraise her? Oh, another girl has arrived.

Chaoyang also received a system notification at this time.

. .

"System-designated beautiful girl detected"

Name: Nagasaki Motoyo.

Charisma: 77.

Monthly revenue growth: 0.

Favorability: 5/100.

Evaluation: None.

. .

However, Chaoyang also heard Qin Yin's inner thoughts and began to make plans.

We have enough manpower now, so there's no need to hire anyone else... If we hire her, Qin Yin's favorability will decrease, and the benefits might actually be reduced. Besides, honestly, constantly trying to guess what girls are thinking and increasing their favorability is a bit tiring, and now we have to deal with another one... But the financial pressure is indeed quite significant.

He was undecided.

But then he remembered what Xiangzi had said before he came.

We need your help here too.

The sound echoed in Chaoyang's mind.

Haha... We can't really let Xiangzi manage the company entirely. Firstly, she can only handle things after school, and some things need immediate attention; by the time she arrives, it'll be too late. In the end, I'll still have to make the decisions myself. Besides, she's not in management, not even a full-fledged employee... Maybe I should just marry her and make her the boss's wife... Haha, I almost laughed at my own thought.

. .

at the same time.

Xiangzi, who was typing on his keyboard at his workstation upstairs, suddenly felt a chill.