Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

Haha, that's definitely what she was thinking just now.

"But I don't dislike your maturity, you know? You can accept and find common ground even with people who have different opinions. This kind of tolerance is indispensable in teamwork."

After these rounds of conversation, Miaomeng seemed to have truly let down her guard and nodded in satisfaction.

"Then I'll be looking forward to teaching you from today onwards, Xiao-chan."

She extended her right hand, a symbol of cooperation, her face beaming with a composed smile that seemed to say, "I look forward to a pleasant collaboration."

"Please take good care of me, Miss Meow Dream."

Kazama didn't hesitate and shook her hand as she wished.

"So what role do you play in this band? I'd say I'm more like the drummer. Judging from Xiao Chuhua's performance in Sumimi, she should be the lead vocalist and guitarist, right?"

"Yes, Hachiman Kairin is on bass, and Shoko is on keyboard."

"You actually included her, you're not kidding? Okay, fine—but then, that means you only have one other guitarist spot left?"

"Hmm... about the guitarist's position..."

Kazama scratched his cheek.

It's not impossible for someone to take their mother's place in the army.

His performance is certainly no worse than Mu's, but if possible, it would be better to let Mu take the stage himself.

After all, she probably wanted to reunite with Xiangzi and form a band.

Moreover, in a sense, Kazama chose to handle the conflict between himself and Shoko in this gentle way because of her.

If it weren't for the fact that Mu was caught in the middle, torn between the two of them, and even chose to hide in his mind and let Metis take over in order to avoid their conflict, he wouldn't have cared whether Xiangzi's team-up plan was progressing smoothly.

"--It's not certain yet."

So in the end, all he could give was this ambiguous and vague response.

"Could it be that this 'rooster hole' is reserved for the person you love most?"

"Hmm~ You're right this time."

Compared to Aunt Meowmu's teasing and speculation many years later, it was nothing, so Kazama answered without any difficulty.

"Okay, okay, even if the love triangle in the script turns into a love quadrangle, it's fine. I believe you can handle the personnel arrangements properly, Xiao-chan."

At this point, Teacher Miaomeng gave a sweet, flirtatious wink.

"Just remember to include my character in the script, okay?"

Black and red are still red, so you should try to get some attention, right, Hagi-meow?

"Speaking of which, are you and Sumi's Hatsuka really just friends, Akatsuki? She must have visited you quite often while you were in the hospital, right?"

"Even if we're not more than friends, this kind of thing isn't worth making a fuss about and putting it under the spotlight. By the way, didn't we just agree not to follow the crowd, Miss Meow Dream?"

"Oh, I'm just doing some background research on my teammates beforehand—if the three of us are involved in a love triangle but the media finds out that you two are actually dating, then I'll be the one making a fool of myself."

Miao Meng spoke with conviction, but her worries and fantasies were indeed quite in line with reality.

"So? What are your feelings towards Xiao Chuhua?"

I have a feeling that all that Teacher Miaomeng said before was just a setup for this gossip.

After a moment of contemplation, Kazama finally gave a brief answer.

"...She is a woman who can be part of my family."

"........."

Now it was Miss Meow's turn to remain silent.

Does becoming family mean skipping the romantic relationship and going straight to becoming family?

Chapter Forty-Two: Bai Xiang's Return (?)

Toyokawa Shoko has recently become traumatized by repeated setbacks.

How could it have turned out like this?

She had finally come up with an unprecedented and unparalleled project idea, and logically, someone as meticulous as her shouldn't have encountered any trouble—

However, Muhe Chuhua encountered one problem after another, causing changes to her already stable talent recruitment plan.

Currently, ave mujica is no longer the fledgling entity it once was. However, both Mutsu and Hatsuka failed to join her project as planned due to various reasons, leaving only Toyokawa Shoko as the lone commander in the team.

This naturally prevented them from acquiring Hachiman Kairin and Yutenji Wakame.

What should we do?

After a tiring day at work, Toyokawa Shoko returned home under the stars and moon. After preparing dinner for her father, who was still fast asleep in bed, she dragged her weary body back to her room.

She finally understood that if she didn't stabilize Mu or Chuhua beforehand, she wouldn't be able to get the ticket that Hailing or Miaomeng would approve of on her own.

But if we let her maintain this harmonious relationship...

Xiangzi sat at the narrow wooden desk, staring at the phone on the table with a worried look in his eyes.

Inevitably, the topic of how she caused trouble for Kazama, leading to his hospitalization due to her serious injuries, will come up.

What will Mu's attitude be at that time?

Although Kazama and she had never gotten along, he was someone Mutsu could let her guard down and be close to. Even if Shoko had some complaints, Mutsu herself probably regarded him as a cherished friend from the bottom of her heart.

She clearly didn't know she would encounter such a thing, nor did she intend to drag Kazama down with her—but he was indeed injured while saving her.

In other words, whatever emotions Mu harbors towards her are reasonable.

...Just thinking about the possibility that Mutsu might show disappointment towards her because of Kazama made Shoko feel a churning in her stomach, and she could no longer maintain her usual calm and radiant demeanor.

If she could, she really wished she had been the one who got hit, so she wouldn't have to worry about how to repay Kazama's favor.

"Hey……"

In short, after a series of setbacks, Toyokawa Shoko breathed a sigh of relief, still unable to make up her mind to discuss forming a band with Mutsumi.

What Toyokawa Shoko least wanted to see was the unprecedented look of disappointment in Mutsu's eyes when he looked at her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't ready to face Mu.

In that case... maybe if we ask Chu Hua again, we might be able to move her?

Xiangzi's little brain never stopped working. She remembered how Chuhua always evaded the question whenever she contacted her.

Although it's still unclear why Chu Hua hesitated slightly regarding her suggestion... as long as she can demonstrate her strength and determination through concrete actions, it should dispel Chu Hua's hesitation.

Okay, that's decided. I'll start with Hatsuka, then try to influence Hachiman Kairin and Yutenji Wakana—and finally see if Mutsumi will contact me first.

Having made up her mind, Toyokawa Shoko looked at the phone quietly placed on the table with a renewed sense of energy.

Just as she picked up her phone to prepare her words, an unexpected vibration and ringtone suddenly came from the phone—it was a call from someone she had never expected.

"Hello? Xiangzi-chan? Xiao Xiang? Is Xiao Xiang there?"

“Miss Yutenji… cough, I am Toyokawa Shoko.”

Miss Miaomeng's light, airy voice always gave Xiangzi the illusion that he was still at work, and he almost blurted out the employee number of customer service representative Xiao Xiang just now.

"Yes, yes, I knew it. It's like this, Xiao Xiang, about your invitation to me last time—"

The woman's voice on the other end of the phone was still sweet with a hint of amusement, but this time she said something Xiangzi hadn't expected, with absolute certainty.

"I think it's great! It's a pleasure working with you!"

"……Eh?"

Faced with this unexpected and delightful surprise, Xiangzi sat at the table, somewhat stunned.

"Hey~ Can you hear me? Or is the signal bad?"

"No, no, I just heard it."

After recovering from the shock, Xiangzi was overjoyed, a feeling he had never experienced before.

"I just... didn't expect Miss Yutenji to grant my request..."

"Oh, is it because when I accepted your contact information, I said, 'I'll contact you after I've thought it through,' which sounded like a polite way of saying no? "

"Uh-huh……"

Xiangzi responded softly in a somewhat heavy tone; she had been mentally prepared to be completely isolated and helpless, relying solely on herself.

"It's not that bad~ Especially your project, I really liked it after reading it, right? As long as you create enough hype with this theme, it'll definitely generate a lot of buzz. Hmm—I think Ms. Hachiman Kairin probably thinks the same way."

"Eh? Hachiman-kun..."

"She hasn't responded yet? Oh dear, why don't you go and ask her how she's thinking about it? There might be a pleasant surprise!"

At this point, Miss Miaomeng, feigning mystery, chuckled and hung up the phone.

Xiangzi was left staring blankly at his phone screen, his face filled with disbelief.

Before she could even make a move, a message came from Yawata Kairin about a minute or two later.

[Sorry, I've been busy processing previously accepted boosting requests these past two days, so I haven't been able to respond to Toyokawa.]

I've accepted your invitation. As a member of the same band, I look forward to your guidance :)

Hailing's reply was concise and to the point, and it successfully brought a new light back to Xiaoxiang's eyes, who had been at a loss.

Okay, thank you for choosing to trust me, Hailing! Please feel free to entrust your trust to me!

Miss Bai Xiang was briefly jolted back to reality by the series of good news, as these were the only good news she had received in a long time.

I never expected that these two would choose to believe her after careful consideration.

Miss Xiangzi stood up from the table and paced back and forth with light steps, as joyful as a child.

"Great! That means we're halfway there!"

Although she didn't know why these two guys would choose to believe her after careful consideration, even though she hadn't received any help from her companions besides a proposal—

In any case, this is a good start.

Quickly tell Chuhua this news, and then invite them to discuss important matters together.

Miss Xiangzi excitedly formulated her next course of action—of course, if she knew the truth, she certainly wouldn't be laughing so happily.

Chapter 43 Are you here to quit Ave Mujica?

Kiyotaka Toyokawa had another hangover last night.

When he was groggily awakened by his daughter, it was already the next morning.

"Father...Father? Please get up and have breakfast. I've already prepared the hangover soup for you."

Sitting by her bedside, her daughter was well-behaved and sensible. Even when Qinggao was indulging in alcohol, she managed everything at home perfectly—she already had the demeanor of a mistress of the house.

Originally, Qinggao would have felt guilty for having to rely on his daughter to take care of him, but after so long of relying on each other, he had gotten used to Xiangzi's meticulous care.

Humans' desire to repeatedly dwell on pain is even stronger than their desire for happiness.

He knew this was no excuse to wallow in the present, but Xiangzi's silence only made it harder for him to face the current situation.

"..."

When Qinggao sat down at the dining table, he noticed that Xiangzi seemed a little different today.

Unlike the girl who looked worried but pretended to be strong a few days ago, Xiangzi was in a great mood today for some reason—she even hummed a song while serving him breakfast.

"Xiangzi... what happened?"

"Ah...it's nothing serious, it's just that I have a project underway, and everything is going smoothly so far."

After so long, Xiangzi finally showed a genuine smile on his face.

"You don't need to worry about it, Father."

For a fleeting moment, Kiyotaka Toyokawa felt as if he had returned to the days before he was kicked out of his home.

He was still the diligent son-in-law of the Toyokawa family, and Xiangzi was still a carefree young lady living in an ivory tower.