Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

Under Li Xi's incredulous gaze, Xiao blurted out everything she wanted to say in a moment of impulsiveness.

"Li Xi is so cute!!"

When he shouted those last words, Lixi was truly dumbfounded.

Her mind went blank, and she stood there blankly, her face gradually flushing with a thick, red blush.

Ai Yin, who peeked out from the recording studio door, scratched her cheek, her smile particularly awkward.

"Oh dear... have we stumbled upon a confession scene?"

Lena, who was half a head shorter than her, had her eyes shining and put down her matcha parfait, giving Xiao a thumbs up.

"Xiao, Niu—Ooh ooh ooh!"

Shh! Don't disturb them!

Fortunately, Aine quickly silenced Rana's commotion; otherwise, the presence of these two onlookers would have only made Shiina Ritsuki, whose face was already as red as a sunset, even more embarrassed.

"...Do you doubt that O亿7④〆〦吾氿是j『iu覇卄 is an idiot?"

After a long while, a faint sound, as weak as a mosquito's buzz, finally escaped from Lixi's throat as he turned his head away.

She seemed to be trying hard to lower her head to hide the blush on her face, but the harder she tried, the more noticeable her clumsiness became.

Well, it seems the strategy of exchanging sincerity for sincerity has worked.

Xiaogang, who had relaxed, was about to say something to continue the emotional stunt when he was suddenly startled by what Lixi said next.

"...and he's also a perverted idiot who knows everything about other people's affairs."

Even though the flush on her face lingered, Li Xi's eyes became exceptionally sharp and piercing at this moment.

"Okay, maybe I should admit that you know me better than I know myself—but why do you know so much about me?"

Lixi's change in attitude was indeed somewhat abrupt, but Kazama realized his loss of composure after calming down.

It seems that because she said too many things she shouldn't have in front of Riki in a moment of passion, she finally began to doubt Kazama.

"These are things that an ordinary fan shouldn't know, right? Even if you have a relationship with Xiangzi, you shouldn't know so much about my personal information, should you?"

Originally, there were still five centimeters between their hands, but in the next instant, Li Xi turned around and grabbed the boy's hand forcefully.

As if unwilling to let the person in front of him leave no matter what, Li Xi's determined eyes were full of thirst for and determination for an answer.

This is a bit tricky... How can we get through this?

Chapter 57 Corner God of War Chu Hua Jiang (3k views/Pre-release promotion)

Although Lixi is practically clueless compared to Su Shi, she still won't miss any suspicious points that are presented to her directly.

"What do you mean? Why do you know so much about everything about me...?"

Lixi, whose face had just been flushed, quickly shifted her focus and even took the initiative to grab Xiao's wrist.

She wasn't stupid. Although Xiao's blunt words had just bombarded her mind like a confession, she still needed to question the points that needed to be questioned.

Feeling that his heartfelt confession had been a bit too forceful, the boy twitched the corners of his mouth. Now he had to figure out how to come up with a new excuse to deal with Lixi.

Actually, I traveled from the future decades in advance as Mu's son and your nephew—if I said that out loud, Li Xi would definitely send me to a mental hospital.

As for other reasons that could explain his knowledge of everyone so well... he might as well just admit that he is a sasaeng fan of CRYCHIC. That seems to be the only reasonable explanation.

Just as Xiao was desperately trying to figure out a way to escape, Li Xi's gaze became increasingly sharp.

The sudden ringing of the phone broke the tense atmosphere of their confrontation.

"Ah... excuse me, I need to take this call."

"……snort."

The urgent ringing of the phone forced Lixi to let go of Xiao's hand, but her gaze remained fixed on the boy who picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hey?"

Xiao felt a sense of relief as she swiped the screen.

Although it's unclear who called, it at least bought him some breathing room.

"Hello? Xiaojun?"

The familiar voice coming from the other end of the phone made him feel much more relaxed.

"Chuhua?"

"...?"

Li Xi, who had been staring intently at Xiao, was momentarily stunned when she heard those two words come out of his mouth.

Of course she knew about Sumi's Triangle Hatsuka—but when did Kazama get in touch with Hatsuka?

"What's wrong? Is there something you need that you're calling me all of a sudden?"

Xiao ignored Li Xi's somewhat surprised look, because he himself was also slightly puzzled.

Chu Hua has always been a very proper girl in her interactions with others. Because she doesn't want to bother others, she only communicates with Xiao by text message and almost never calls him.

"It's nothing serious, it's just that I messaged you and you didn't reply... Xiaojun rarely does this, so I was a little worried. I'm really sorry for calling you without my permission, did I bother you?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao unlocked his phone and saw that he had indeed been so focused on talking to Li Xi that he hadn't noticed the text messages Chu Hua sent him every few minutes.

"Ah...you didn't bother me at all. Sorry, I was busy with something else and didn't notice your message at all..."

Xiao lowered her voice and turned around. Li Xi's eyes were sharp and filled with curiosity.

These two are not only related, but they also seem quite close.

"It's like this... I wanted to ask if Xiaojun is free on Saturday."

"Hmm? Are we going to the planetarium again?"

"No... If possible, I'd like to wander around in other places that Xiaojun frequents."

Chu Hua's voice on the other end of the phone was still gentle and pleasant, but also somewhat cautious.

“…Isn’t it possible?”

Oh my, it sounds just like a soft, pitiful little puppy.

"Or did you have plans with someone else that day? If so, that's alright..."

"No, no, I didn't make any plans with anyone on Saturday!"

Just as Chu Hua's gravitational field was about to burst forth, Xiao quickly shut off the floodgates that were opening for her.

"Really? That's great! We'll get in touch later!"

"Okay, I'll text you later."

With a beep, Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What, busy with a date?"

Li Xi's sarcasm was unpleasant, and for some reason, she felt that Li Xi was even more awkward than before.

"In that case, you probably won't have time to keep the promise you just made, Kazama."

She seemed to be mocking something, her tone was somewhat sarcastic and sharp—but Kazama still managed to find the key point in it.

“…Lixi, you really took what I just said to heart.”

"...What kind of tricky idea is this?!"

Well, Miss Lixi's face turned red again; it seems he was right after all.

“That’s exactly right… You seem to have no expectations of anyone’s promises, but you still keep them in your heart—that’s why I said Lixi, you’re obviously very cute.”

"It's so noisy! Aren't you annoying?!"

Lixi shook off Kazama's hand, which she had just taken the initiative to hold, and staggered back a step or two, as if she didn't want her loss of composure to be further interpreted by Akira as something like "cute".

"And don't try to change the subject! You didn't answer my question directly!"

They said not to change the subject, but it was too late for Lixi to get the conversation back on track—Chuhua's phone call bought Xiao enough time.

"...Since you're so eager to know, Lixi, how about this?"

A new idea suddenly popped into his head.

"If Lixi can defeat me with the 'Jia Er 1' (a type of drum), I'll tell you this secret."

"……what?"

Li Xi let out an incredulous "Ha," seemingly extremely displeased with Xiao's suspenseful behavior.

"You...didn't you keep saying you liked us the most?"

"What's wrong? Just because I like you guys the most doesn't mean I can keep secrets from you. That's called 'a secret makes a man man'—speaking of which, this anime about Nan still isn't finished even after more than twenty years... Anyway, if you want to pry my mouth open, then show me your true skills, Riki!"

"What are you muttering about, you rascal? (Moon-Ripples ⑴O⑴VIIIV Noon, you're so meddlesome...)"

Lixi rubbed her forehead, feeling a slight headache, but what troubled her even more was a sense of powerlessness.

Because this guy was right, and he hadn't assured anyone that he would tell everyone everything he knew.

Will I only reveal the secret if I defeat him with the drums...?

He's such a megalomaniac.

However, Shiina Tatsuki's competitive spirit was indeed ignited by this arrogant man.

"...I'll give you some time to think carefully about how to reveal the secret, Kazama."

When Lixi raised his head again, the fatigue and self-doubt in his eyes had vanished, replaced by an undeniable fighting spirit.

She won't take this victory or defeat too seriously, and she won't next time either.

"Waiting for good news."

The boy smiled and shrugged, feeling relieved to see her fighting spirit rekindled.

"Are you saying this on purpose? Just to cheer me up?"

"No, I just know you too well, Lixi. How about I give you a chance to get to know me and treat me and Lena to a parfait?"

Regarding the four-way rainbow (part 2), the phrase "Agreed—" is used.

"Wildcat, where did you come from? Seriously, there's nothing I can do about the two of you... Hey, I wasn't planning on including you, Chihaya."

The atmosphere in the corridor returned to calm. The tension between Xiao and Lixi, which had been somewhat palpable, eased due to the three rules they had just agreed upon and the sudden arrival of Aine and Ronai.

"……call."

Unbeknownst to the four of them, a blonde girl around the corner in the corridor also breathed a sigh of relief and put her phone back in her pocket.

She peeked out from the side, watching the four of them laughing and joking in their leisurely daily life. She stood there gazing for a long time before turning away quietly.

"Using this method to help Xiaojun out of a predicament, and incidentally achieve one's own goal...?"

As she turned around, Nagasaki Motoyo was already blocking the end of her path.

"Alright, I have to admit you are indeed a cut above me, Chu Hua."

Su Shi's expression was somewhat complicated; clearly, she, like Chu Hua, had also overheard Li Xi and Xiao's conversation in the corridor.

"No, that's not true. I just ask people if they're available before I ask them out."

Chu Hua's smile remained calm, but Su Shi always felt that she could detect a hint of sarcasm in that nonchalant expression.

She narrowed her eyes, and for the first time, she couldn't quite control her facial expressions.

"Chuhua, you seem to be more concerned about Xiaojun than I expected. Is it because of his connection with Xiangzi?"

Since a direct confrontation offered no chance of victory, Nagasaki Motoyo decided to try a more indirect approach using magic.

"Maybe that was the case at first... but I realized it the second time we met."

Chu Hua smiled faintly and lowered her eyes, her beautiful purple eyes beneath her long eyelashes gazing longingly at the floor.

"Although Xiaojun has eyes that are very similar to Xiaoxiang's... they are actually completely different people."

When Chu Hua raised her head again, she met Su Shi's judgmental gaze with composure.

"My desire to protect him is completely different from my desire to protect Xiao Xiang."