Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

“Yutenji Wakana... that is, Miss Nyanmu, right?”

Just like a scene from a cheesy movie, a handsome young man of the same age sat down next to her and used his good looks—so good he could play a Kamen Rider—to say the most cliché pickup line imaginable.

"Sorry, today is a private day, so no autographs or photos can be taken... um."

Miao Meng, who had just finished reciting her lines smoothly, paused for a moment, because when she turned her head, she saw the face of the boy beside her.

Although she had never seen this person before, he had a face that made her feel familiar.

Miao Meng remained silent, glanced at her phone again, and swiped the progress bar back to the beginning.

"...Oh dear, I really haven't greeted you properly."

As the guitarist in the video gradually came to recognize the person in front of her, Miao Meng's face lit up with a bright smile again.

"Excuse me, are you...?"

“Kazama Akatsuki. You can just call me Akatsuki.”

"Oh my, Kazama Akatsuki... What a lovely name. Akatsuki-chan, what brings you here all of a sudden? If you want to appear in my vlog to boost your popularity, you'll have to contact my manager, not me privately."

"What a pity, I really wanted to appear in Miss Meow Dream's video. I'm even more photogenic than I thought!"

The boy couldn't help but purse his lips, not obediently accepting Miao Meng's tactful refusal.

"However, since this wish cannot be fulfilled, perhaps I should make another request and ask Miss Meow Dream to consider it further."

"oh……?"

Miao Meng curved her eyes into a beautiful arc, looking as cunning and shrewd as a fox.

After a brief explanation, the cloud of worry that had been hanging over Miaomeng's heart gradually dissipated.

"I see—you want to form a band with me? That's interesting. I thought Xiao-chan was only interested in me because of my good looks."

"Compared to her beauty, it is Miss Miaomeng's unspoken friendliness that makes people want to get closer to her."

Kazama smiled and packaged "Because you are my dear aunt" into a high-EQ statement that wouldn't get him chased and beaten up by girls.

"Well, if it's Xiaojiang's level, she probably wouldn't have any problem joining a currently popular professional band... But I have a question."

With a voice so sweet it couldn't be sweeter, Miao Meng smiled and asked a very insightful question.

"How many members have been confirmed for the band you came to me to join?"

Wow, they're really cautious.

"Sorry if this question is a bit too sensitive for you. Sigh... blame the last girl who came to me."

Miao Meng shrugged awkwardly at this point. Although she had originally said that she would not discuss work-related matters outside of working hours, she still made an exception under Kazama's coercion and enticement (handsome face + sweet words).

"Although she came to me with a very good proposal, the number of people confirmed so far is actually none other than her—no matter how interesting or novel the proposal is, I have to carefully consider whether to join, don't you think?"

Oh? It seems that this time, Miss Xiangzi not only didn't sit idly by and wait for her fate, but instead sped up her efforts to persuade Miss Miaomeng.

Kazama smiled slightly; an idea had already taken shape in his mind.

Chapter 40 Is it okay to be a third party?

Ms. Toyokawa Shoko could sense that things had been going wrong for her lately.

But despite repeated defeats, she did not give up. Even though she failed to achieve satisfactory results each time, she continued to fight on despite repeated failures.

Her plan didn't receive a firm approval from Yawata Kairin because she didn't have enough people to recruit. So, she quickly and flexibly changed direction, focusing her attention on another member candidate she had been eyeing for a long time.

This person is none other than Yutenji Wakana, also known as Miss Meow Dream, who naturally attracts a lot of attention.

Imagine a band where one member is a beauty influencer you see on your video streaming app every day, who has already performed professionally several times under a different identity—

This topic will probably cause a huge stir when the time comes.

Well, at least Xiao Xiang is quite satisfied with his conjecture and plan.

"But...does the audience of beauty bloggers like me really overlap with the audience of metal rock?"

Miss Meow Dream herself held a different view on this point, and since Kazama was right beside her, she took the opportunity to share her own insights.

"Of course, I wouldn't be so tactless as to reject that lady's suggestion outright. So I just said I'd think about it—well, usually, even if you get a negative answer after saying something like that, she should be mentally prepared, right?"

Miss Meow Dream wore a friendly, gentle yet slightly smug and playful smile, while Kazama returned the smile with a nod.

"What if my invitation to Miss Miaomeng was simply to get you to agree to that lady's proposal?"

"……Um?"

Miao Meng tried her best to maintain a slightly stiff smile on her face, making sure that her blinking didn't seem too abrupt.

"That's right. My relationship with Ms. Toyokawa Shoko isn't very pleasant, but our interests are aligned."

Kazama had anticipated her expression, so he simply smiled and stopped a waiter who happened to be passing by.

"Hello, could you please bring this lady a cappuccino? It would be my way of thanking you for your kind words, Miss Meow Dream."

His sensible actions didn't leave her feeling helpless or embarrassed; on the contrary, they made her eyes sparkle.

"Oh my, I thought Xiaojiang was the kind of artist who wasn't good with words but had a sensitive mind. I didn't expect her to be so mature in her dealings with people."

"That's all thanks to the good teaching of my elders."

Kazama wasn't lying; this way of dealing with people was something Aunt Meowmu had taught him when he was a child.

"Appropriately catering to someone's preferences does not mean being utilitarian; on the contrary, it can demonstrate an individual's desire to resolve the matter more perfectly and appropriately—doesn't that sound right?"

He repeated Aunt Miaomeng's intriguing words and deeds as he remembered them.

"Hmm... I like your way of putting it."

And as expected, this also received the approval of the girl Miaomeng in this time and space.

"Although this kind of talk may sound a bit out of character for someone your age, I like talking to smart people—especially smart people who are willing to speak the same language as me, Xiao-chan."

The girl winked playfully at him, and Kazama returned the wink by raising an eyebrow at her.

To be honest, Kazama's talent for sweet talk was largely learned from Aunt Meowme's teachings.

He learns skills from Lixi and Mumu, and interpersonal skills from Miaomeng... Sometimes Kazama himself is amazed that he hasn't gone astray.

Looking back now, whether it was her youthful teenage years or her mature thirties, Aunt Miaomeng's words have always been so sweet.

Back to the topic.

"Xiaojiang just mentioned that the interests are aligned... Could it be that you have some connection with that young lady from a once-wealthy family who has fallen on hard times?"

Miao Meng pouted her lips into a cute shape, seemingly lost in thought. It seems that after receiving Xiangzi's invitation, she also went to investigate Xiangzi's family situation in private.

"Hmm, it seems you two do look a bit alike... Is it that the older brother secretly cleans up his younger sister's messes? Or is the younger brother tolerating his older sister's willfulness? Wait, speaking of which, the surname you gave when you introduced yourself was [Kazama]... Could it be that you are an illegitimate child of the Toyokawa family?"

"I am very grateful to Miss Miaomeng for being lenient and not letting her thought process lead her to the assumption that Xiangzi and I are actually a couple who disagree with each other."

"To be honest, I just thought about it, but something just feels off... This whole 'rich family drama' thing seems a bit too far removed from a girl band."

Miss Miaomeng smiled brightly, unaware that she had inadvertently revealed the truth.

"Right, I also think that once girl bands and the mundane family dramas of wealthy families get involved, they become very boring and cliché."

Unfortunately, that's just how it is; Old Deng's single burst of bullets unearthed four girl bands.

Kazama could only smile helplessly. If the force that caused him to travel through time had moved the timeline forward a bit, allowing him to control Toyokawa Noboru's stick, then probably none of this would have happened.

Unfortunately, all of this has become an unchangeable fact.

"So, Xiaojiang, you're here to recruit for that Miss Xiangzi? But if it's just you alone, even with your pretty face and impressive skills, I'll probably need to think about it for a while if I don't recruit any other teammates."

"Don't lump me and Xiangzi together, okay?"

Kazama smiled and told Hai Ling about Chu Hua and Hai Ling's agreement, not including Mutsu, whose condition was still unstable.

"Hmm...sumimi's Mitsuba Hatsuka and Hachiman Urin? It does sound much more convincing than Ms. Shoko's pale proposal."

Miao Meng nodded her head, then her eyes became cunning again as if she had thought of something.

"Ha... Xiaojiang and Xiaochuhua are going to be in the same band? There have been a lot of rumors about you two lately."

The idea queen, who was born with a ton of wicked ideas,—Miss Meow Dream—looked Kazama up and down with a malicious gaze for a long time.

"Okay, I'll join! It would be really fun to be in a band with you two."

"So he agreed to join because of some vague, unsubstantiated online rumor?"

Kazama didn't think much of it—even if Hatsuka in this timeline was no longer his aunt, she was still his irreplaceable friend.

Who cares about rumors circulating about them and their friends?

"Even if the band can't continue, at least they can use the romantic rumors within the band to keep it going!"

Okay, it seems Miss Meow Dream still cares quite a bit.

"At least this way we don't have to worry about generating buzz, right? Plus, with my support... ah, I've already figured out the marketing strategy for the later stages! Teacher Miaomeng, the third party standing between Xiaojiang and Xiaochuhua, what will become of the love triangle within the team—how about that! Pretty sensational, right!"

Isn't that thinking a bit too far ahead? Is it okay to be seen as a third party by everyone?

Chapter 41 Skipping lovers, going straight to family!

Yutenji Wakame didn't have any lofty ambitions or any noble ideals she felt she had to achieve. Her consideration of Kazama and Shoko's requests to join the band was based solely on the premise that forming a band would bring her attention and income.

"If we really follow what you say, Miss Meow Dream, is it okay to be seen as the third party who ruins a relationship in a love triangle?"

Kazama wasn't surprised that Nekomu's profit-driven business acumen would influence her to make such a decision.

In his distant memory, Aunt Miaomeng relied on this shrewdness and resilience—a willingness to tarnish her own reputation for the sake of popularity—to gradually become a top-tier influencer and eventually achieve financial independence, while also allowing her family to enjoy the fruits of her hard work.

He knew that this girl would do anything within the bounds of principle in order to succeed.

"It doesn't matter, it's all fake anyway. I won't actually jump to conclusions like everyone else and think there's something between you and Xiao Chuhua. If the three of us can get tons of traffic by just putting on an act, isn't that a win-win-win situation?"

as predicted.

“It seems that Miss Meow Dream has never considered the possibility of forming a real bond with the band members.”

"Bonds... Do you even believe in that kind of thing, Akatsuki?"

Miao Meng's smile was somewhat amusing.

Young people often gather together because of a momentary shared sentiment, but they come to know each other better over the long years that follow.

Watching something beautiful wither away before your eyes, and how disagreements and frictions can lead from mutual appreciation to mutual loathing – if this is destined to happen, wouldn't it be better to avoid creating any obstacles in the first place?

Regardless of the final outcome, at least when they met, they were somewhat sincere.

Because I didn't want to see the flowers wither, I avoided growing flowers from the age of one or two.

Miaomeng might be a proponent of this view.

"Well, actually, whether this kind of thing exists or not is irrelevant to me."

She calmly finished the rest of the dessert, then slowly and deliberately wiped her lips with a tissue.

Miaomeng distanced herself from this serious viewpoint one by one, as if the discussion had already gone deep enough for her.

"Alright—if Xiao-chan came to me hoping to build some kind of bond, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just a realistic woman."

"So what if it's reality? At least it's honest enough."

Kazama smiled. In fact, the current Meow Dream was much more idealistic than the shrewd and capable Aunt Meow Dream who was thriving in the entertainment industry more than ten years later in his memory.

"Oh? Don't you think I'm pouring cold water on your idea? Choosing not to cultivate flowers just because they wither is pretty utilitarian, isn't it?"

"Hmm—if you're going to lose something, why bother having it in the first place? That's certainly an eternal question. But aren't both having and losing part of the life experience?"

Whether it's family ties, friendships, or even romantic love—something Kazama had never considered—he couldn't simply reject them all because he knew he would eventually lose them all.

After all, these things are what make up the pieces of life's puzzle.

"...Even though she's about the same age as me, Xiaojiang is much more mature than I imagined."

Miao Meng was briefly taken aback by his words, but quickly put on a bright smile again.

"Actually, you were just about to say that I'm preachy, weren't you?"

"Oh, you can understand it that way if you want to~"