After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

The purpose of having someone entice Yutenji Wakami to break the unspoken rules was essentially to make the band more loosely organized.

Regardless of whether the staged accident plan and the subsequent exposure and hype plan succeeded, Yutenji Wakamai had already achieved his goal when he accepted this private job.

Even the details of this private job were leaked to Toyokawa Yuu by someone she sent immediately.

She made a lot of preparations afterward, and many of the programs and events that Ave Mujica recently contacted were facilitated by her.

Yutenji Wakamai is just one link in the chain.

This is all for...for my daughter's future.

With a smile playing on her lips, Senmina Nami now felt a sense of smoothness, as if everything was proceeding according to plan.

The script for awakening my daughter's talent has been written; all that's left is to follow it step by step.

"No, no, Miss Toyokawa and Mr. Toyokawa are here to cooperate."

The man in the suit shook his head and recounted everything that had just happened.

After listening to the man's story, Minami paused, her fingers holding the pastry twitching slightly, a subtle ripple flashing deep within her golden eyes.

It seems like a clever way to salvage the situation, but it wasn't in her script.

Moreover, based on her understanding of Toyokawa Shoko, her daughter's other half was not such an adaptable person.

"Ms. Minami, I didn't expect you to actually be here."

The boy's voice burst into the reception room. Honda Yutaka opened the door, and Toyokawa Yuu walked in with a smile on her face.

"Gentlemen, I have something I'd like to discuss with Ms. Minami privately."

Honda Yutaka, who had just spoken with Toyokawa Yuu, naturally understood and gestured to the other person to go out with him.

"You don't need to come here tomorrow, go back to headquarters..."

The instant the door closed, Toyokawa Yuu heard Honda Yuuko whisper coldly to another man.

"It seems that Youyu-kun has a pretty good ability to win people's hearts. You've made people devoted to you so quickly?"

Seeing that Toyokawa Yuu didn't go up to the balcony but sat down directly on the sofa in the guest room, Mori Minami didn't mind and sat down opposite him with her plate.

Time seemed to rewind to that night a few days ago, to the moment when Minami visited Yuu Toyokawa's office.

"He's trying to win me over. He's eyeing Xiangzi's future as heir to the Toyokawa family, so he's trying to show his loyalty in this way. But he probably won't go too far. He can't possibly be in this position without the ability to play both sides."

Faced with the pastries that Minami pushed in front of her, Yuu Toyokawa gently shook her head, indicating that she was not sharing her appetite with her at the moment.

"But no matter what, Starlight Plaza is now your ally. Using the Toyokawa family's name to get something for nothing, if Qinggao had your mindset, he wouldn't have been fooled."

Once again, her hints of cooperation and sharing were rejected. Looking at the stubborn boy in front of her, Senmina was not discouraged at all; on the contrary, she became even more interested.

Given her standing in the industry, it's been a long time since anyone has so decisively rejected her collaboration invitation.

Unless what the other party is after is greater than the benefits of cooperating with her.

During their last meeting, Minami Mori was already certain that Yuu Toyokawa would never be content to be a mere supporting character to Shoko Toyokawa.

"However, using the Toyokawa family's name to form cliques shouldn't be Xiangzi's idea, right? Xiangzi probably doesn't know you're using her. If Grandpa Sadaharu finds out about this, he'll be unhappy, won't he? Aren't you afraid I'll report you?"

"Of course Xiangzi knows I'm using her. I've made it obvious enough in front of her. If she still can't figure it out, she'll never be able to inherit the Toyokawa family in the future. As for complaining... didn't you already complain last time? If it had worked, you wouldn't be saying these things to me now."

Toyokawa Yuu's words made Mori Minami's fingertips tremble, her eyes narrowed, and her smile deepened.

"How rude of you to talk about me like some kind of venomous snake that bites people from behind."

Toyokawa Yuu remained unmoved by Mori Minami's smile.

do not you?

"However, I'm suddenly starting to feel a little fortunate now. It's because Yu-kun didn't accept my collaboration invitation before, otherwise I'm not sure if I could have withstood your exploitation."

Only another scorpion, a venomous snake, could see through the venomous snake.

If Toyokawa Yuu had accepted her invitation and then stabbed her in the back, Mori Minami wasn't sure how much blood she would have lost.

"Well then, Ms. Minami, since you value me so much, how about you do me a favor?"

Chapter 45 Yutenji Wakana, who was blacklisted

Oh? Because they discovered that they were actually two sworn enemies, so they stopped pretending to be stupid in front of me?

With a smile in her eyes, Minami picked up a piece of pastry and held it to Yuu Toyokawa's lips.

"Tell me, if it's not too difficult, consider it an advance payment to save my life in case I lose to you, Yu-kun."

"As a top-tier movie star, your life shouldn't be treated so lightly. That favor was nothing more than a small thing for you."

Yuu Toyokawa paused, turned her head to snatch the pastry from Minami Mori, and then slowly spoke.

"How about you help me block Yutenji Ruomai from becoming a beauty blogger?"

Banning Yutenji Ruomai's future as a beauty blogger...

When these words came from Toyokawa Yuu's mouth and reached Mori Minami's ears, a shadow crossed the scheming actress's narrowed eyes.

Then came a knowing smile.

"Yu-kun, you really are... But aren't you worried that I'll use this as leverage to destroy the band you want to keep going?"

Without uttering the adjective that came to mind, Mori Minami took out her phone and looked at the boy in front of her with a smile.

“Not at all worried. Doing this before you’ve brought out Mortis’s acting talent will only make your daughter more withdrawn from social situations and waste the acting talent that you value so much. And I… won’t let Mortis fall into your hands.”

That's quite confident of them.

Even though she knew that the boy in front of her would not cooperate with her on matters concerning Wakaba Mutsu, a hint of mutual appreciation still flashed in Minami's eyes.

She opened her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, this is Sen..."

................................................

There was no sun this afternoon. Although it didn't rain, the sky was still overcast, just like Yutenji Wakanagi's mood at that moment.

Yuu Toyokawa and Sumimi had finished communicating. With the guitarist's schedule confirmed, the schedules of the other members were quickly determined by the capable Umi Hachiman and shared in the group chat.

Unsurprisingly, aside from necessary group activities, I had virtually no personal activities planned.

It seems the agent is serious.

Sitting on the chair he used to practice drumming, Yutenji Wakame scratched the back of his head in frustration, thinking that he must be considered to have been sidelined now.

So... should I leave the band?

The hand holding the drumstick paused, and the wooden drumstick left a soft sound on the drumhead that echoed in the room.

My development in this band has hardly had a good start.

If future development cannot be guaranteed, then taking advantage of this freelance opportunity to switch jobs might be a good option.

Anyway, when that young lady invited me, she didn't sign any very detailed contract, and you could even say that the binding force on me was so low that it was almost negligible.

At the time, Yutenji Wakana wondered if the other party was playing her for a fool, but now it seems that she should be grateful for that not-so-rigorous contract, which made it less difficult for her to run away with the bucket.

But...do you really want to do this?

Yutenji Wakame knew very well that Ave Mujica was actually a good stepping stone for her to transition from her dwindling influencer career.

But that band, no matter how you look at it, seems like a spoiled rich girl playing house.

Even though the manager who joined later, Yuu Toyokawa, seemed very reliable, Yutenji Wakana could see who the entire Ave Mujica was actually running around.

If that rich girl becomes determined to be willful, then this band probably won't last long.

This path, where the future is uncertain, makes Yutenji Wakame hesitant to invest all her energy in it.

She... couldn't see any definite chance of winning.

Rather than blindly following the rich girl's whims, Yutenji Wakame, whose family background and life cannot withstand failure, is actually more inclined to retreat into her comfort zone and find a new way out.

No one can bail her out, so she has to at least protect her core base.

While wavering between persisting and hesitating to give up, Yutenji Wakame's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.

I picked up my phone from the computer desk and saw it was from a cosmetics brand that I had a partnership with.

As a beauty blogger, Yutenji Ruomai certainly can't live off video revenue alone; a significant portion of her income actually comes from advertising fees for collaborations with various cosmetics brands.

These were all his major clients, so Yutenji Wakame certainly wouldn't neglect them.

"Hello, this is MeowDream~"

She greeted the voice on the other end of the phone warmly. Yutenji Wakana had been working with the other party for quite some time, so it must be some business deal again.

【We regret to inform you, Ms. Yutenji Wakami, that due to the fact that the video traffic and product sales generated by your video today are no longer sufficient to meet the original contract terms, our company has decided to temporarily suspend our cooperation with you…】

The voice coming from the other end of the phone left Yutenji Wakana stunned, and it took her a while to realize what had happened.

"Wait, is there some mistake? The video data has indeed been a bit low recently, but that's just normal cyclical fluctuation..."

The dial tone interrupted Yutenji Wakana's explanation. She stared blankly at the appliance in her hand, not making a move until the screen went dark.

Advertising fees for cosmetics are a large part of her income as a beauty blogger. The news of the termination of the cooperation is like adding insult to injury for her, whose traffic is gradually declining.

Well... it's alright, it's just a cosmetics company. Maybe they just don't have much patience.

For the next period of time, as long as we continue to focus our energy on video production, we will definitely be able to…

Holding her phone to her chest, Yutenji Wakame breathed heavily, trying to comfort herself.

However, before she could compose herself, the phone screen, which had just dimmed, lit up again.

【I'm sorry, Miss Yutenji…】

【I'm so sorry, Meow Dream...】

【terribly sorry……】

One piece of bad news after another came: all the cosmetic brands that had partnered with them canceled their collaborations, and some didn't even bother to make a phone call, only sending a text message.

Yutenji Wakana's eyes went from initial confusion to shock, then to pleading, and finally to numbness.

"Okay...okay...I understand..."

Numbly reciting the same lines he'd said countless times, he instinctively wanted to maintain a shred of dignity for himself, who was rapidly losing everything.

As the screen dimmed once again, the lost light seemed to drain the last bit of strength from my fingertips.

[Crack--]

The phone, which had finally stopped ringing, fell to the ground.

Chapter 46 Yes, it was me.

Yutenji Wakana doesn't know how she left her residence and arrived at Starlight Plaza.

She felt a blur in her mind, and couldn't even remember whether she instinctively set off when it was time, or whether she was urged by another phone call to finally snap out of her daze.

It wasn't until a staff member at Starlight Plaza reminded him that Yutenji Wakame's mind began to clear up somewhat from that dazed state.

"Miss Yutenji, the performance room is ready, and we have also invited professionals to provide guidance, so it won't take up too much of your time."

"Ah... okay, I'll be right there."

He instinctively responded with a reply. Under normal circumstances, Yutenji Wakami would have noticed the unusual nature of his words.

After all, this was a publicity stunt to piggyback on Ave Mujica's fame, and she herself was a member of Ave Mujica.

How could there possibly be someone more professional than her?

However, Yutenji Wakami no longer has the heart to think about these things.

She just wanted to finish this side job as soon as possible, then return to her small apartment and continue her struggle, which was supposed to be about finding a solution, but was actually likely to be a futile effort.

Yutenji Wakana was impatient and greedy, but she wasn't stupid.

If it's just one or two cosmetics companies terminating their contracts, it could be considered a coincidence, a sign of disappointment and frustration after seeing their traffic decline.

At that time, almost simultaneously, the termination of all collaborations led to the only possible outcome.

Someone is targeting and trying to blacklist me, and their influence is so great that they can affect so many cosmetic brands at the same time.

But what benefits are there?

He's just an online influencer, and at most, he's also the drummer for Ave Mujica, which hasn't been made public yet. He doesn't have much value as a target.

Wait... the drummer for Ave Mujica...