Green plums cannot become lovers.

Descending the slightly dim staircase from the brightly lit street, and pushing open the heavy soundproof door, a familiar scent—a blend of wood, electronic devices, and a faint fragrance—wafted towards me. Unlike the tranquility of last night, although it was daytime and not business hours, the underground space seemed to have awakened, with the faint, intermittent sound of drumming practice emanating from somewhere.

"Wow... this is inside the livehouse."

Marina was the first to exclaim in surprise, looking around curiously. Her usually bright eyes were wide open now, like those of an explorer who had stumbled into a new world.

"A stage! It's a real stage! And there are seats underneath! How cool!"

Shizuka appeared much more composed, but her eyes still held a sense of novelty. She carefully observed the layout of the audience area, the equipment on the stage, and the starry sky mural on the wall, nodding slightly: "The atmosphere is great. Although it's underground, it doesn't feel oppressive at all; the lighting and decorations are very thoughtful."

As an idol, Xiao Ai is no stranger to the stage, but the livehouse, a venue that leans more towards band culture, has a more underground feel, and a more intimate atmosphere, is a new experience for her.

She tiptoed slightly, looking at the microphone stands and monitor speakers on the stage, seemingly imagining herself standing there: "It feels... very different from an idol's stage. Closer, more direct."

Eriri crossed her arms, adopting a critical "it's nothing special" expression, but her slightly bright eyes betrayed her interest. Her gaze lingered more on the lighting equipment and sound control panel: "The equipment models don't look the latest, but they're in decent condition. The stage size... hmph, it's enough for now."

Kasumigaoka Utaha's wine-red eyes calmly scanned the entire room, finally landing on Ijichi Seika, who was wiping glasses behind the bar, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"The owner is younger than I expected. My junior found a great place."

"How about it?" An and Asuka asked the girls with a smile, asking for their collective opinion. "As our future training base."

"not bad!"

With everyone's approval, An and Asuka felt relieved and walked towards the bar.

Ijichi Seika had already noticed their arrival. She put down her cup and put on a professional smile, but the smile deepened almost imperceptibly when she saw the five beautiful girls behind An and Asuka, each with a different temperament but all quite striking.

This kid's got something special.

"Welcome to STARRY." Ijichi Seika walked out from behind the bar. "Anwa-kun, you brought your friends?"

"Yes, thank you for your help." An and Asuka nodded politely.

"No trouble at all. We've arranged the innermost practice room for you; it's the largest, has the best soundproofing, and is equipped with the most complete facilities. If you have any special needs, just let us know, and we can use whatever we have in the shop."

Ijichi Hoshika's introduction was very detailed, and her attitude was professional and thoughtful. Clearly, she valued An and Asuka, this "special client," not only because of their fame, but also because she had heard about their band's serious attitude from Nijika.

"Regarding the fees..." She paused, looking at An and Asuka, "If you feel the previous quote wasn't right, we can discuss it further."

The implication is clear: she is willing to offer more favorable terms to maintain this good working relationship and even looks forward to more possibilities in the future.

An and Asuka shook their heads, their tone sincere: "No need, Miss Hoshigo. The previous quote was already reasonable, let's just stick to the contract."

He didn't want to take advantage of the other party, understood their good intentions, but also knew that maintaining a proper business distance was healthier for both sides. Besides, the organization certainly didn't need the money right now.

A hint of appreciation flashed in Ichiji Seika's eyes, but she didn't insist: "Alright, let's do it as agreed. I wish you a pleasant practice and that you will soon be able to step onto a bigger stage."

Her words weren't entirely just polite.

"Hongxia!" she called out as she turned towards the backstage area.

"Coming!" With a crisp reply, Ichiji Nijika ran out of a side door like a cheerful little bird. Today she was wearing a black T-shirt with the STARRY logo and denim overalls, her hair tied in a high ponytail, looking refreshing and neat.

Upon seeing An and Asuka's group, her eyes immediately lit up, especially when her gaze swept over the unfamiliar girls, filled with curiosity and friendliness.

"Take the guests to Practice Room A," Ichiji Seika instructed.

"Alright! Leave it to me!"

Ichiji Nijika readily agreed, then turned to An and Asuka, a bright smile spreading across her face: "Ladies and gentlemen, please follow me! Practice Room A is the best room here!"

She led the group through a short corridor on the side of the audience area, with posters and photos of various bands displayed on both sides. Pushing open a heavy, soundproof door at the end of the corridor, a spacious and bright room came into view.

The room is about 30 square meters, with walls and ceilings covered in professional sound-absorbing materials and a smooth wooden floor. Equipment is neatly arranged along one wall.

Best of all, one wall of the room is made of soundproof glass, through which you can see a small monitoring room outside. Inside, there is a simple mixing console and monitoring equipment, making it easy for people outside to observe and adjust the sound inside.

"Wow, Master Yi! So professional!"

Marina exclaimed in admiration once again, and couldn't wait to run to the drum set, picking up the drumsticks and gesturing with them.

Shizuka walked over to the bass amp and gently plucked the strings of a bass guitar hanging nearby. Ai curiously tried out the keyboard's tone. Eriri began checking the synthesizer and cables. Kasumigaoka Utaha surveyed the surroundings, her gaze finally settling on the soundproof glass, seemingly quite interested in the monitoring room.

Ichi Nijika completed her guiding duties but did not leave immediately. She stood at the door, her fingers fidgeting nervously with the straps of her overalls, a blush of anticipation and embarrassment spreading across her face.

"that......"

She spoke softly, drawing everyone's attention, "Anhe, and everyone else... may I... may I stay and watch you practice?"

She mustered her courage and spoke faster, "I promise I won't bother you! I'll just sit in the monitoring room and watch! I just... I just think that teammates who are valued by Anhe must be really amazing! I want to learn from them! Really, just for a little while!"

Her amber eyes were filled with pleading and longing, like a young apprentice eager to watch a duel between masters.

An and Asuka didn't answer immediately, but instead looked at their companions. After all, practice was an internal band matter, and everyone's opinion needed to be respected.

Kasumigaoka Utaha replied calmly, "It doesn't matter. As long as we keep quiet and it doesn't affect our practice."

"Go ahead and look if you want, we don't have any secrets anyway."

"It's alright, Miss Hongxia."

"Come on, let's all come together! It's more fun with more people!"

Xiao Ai nodded in agreement.

Seeing that everyone agreed, An and Asuka nodded to Ijichi Nijika: "Okay, please do as you please. However, as Eriri said, we are still in the basic training stage, so there may not be much to see."

"No, no! It's definitely going to be good!"

Nijika Ichi was so happy she almost jumped for joy, and quickly assured them, "I'll be in the monitoring room, it'll be absolutely quiet! Just pretend I don't exist!"

After saying that, she tiptoed into the monitoring room next door, closed the door, waved to them through the glass, put on her listening earpiece, sat up straight, and looked like she was watching intently.

An and Asuka smiled and turned to their companions: "Alright, let's begin. Today's main goal is to reinforce the ensemble parts of the two pieces we just played a few more times. As usual, let's start with tuning and warm up."

The atmosphere in the practice room quickly became focused and busy. The beeping of the tuner, the sporadic sounds of instruments being tested, and the hushed conversations mingled together.

In the monitoring room, Ichiki Nijika watched everything through the glass, listening to the initial mixing of the various channels on the mixing console. Initially, she did indeed have the mindset of "observing the experts," her gaze first fixed on An and Asuka.

He skillfully adjusted the effects pedals, checked the guitar's pitch, and occasionally whispered something to Kasumigaoka Utaha beside him. His expression was focused and composed, and every move exuded professionalism. Lead singer Ai was doing simple warm-up exercises; her vocal placement was stable, and her pitch was excellent, clearly indicating that she had received good training.

However, when the joint training officially began and the other members joined, Ichiji Nijika's keen ears immediately noticed something was amiss.

The drumbeats have a good rhythm, but the embellishments are too simple and the stability needs improvement; the dynamics are uneven in some places. The bass's pitch and basic lines are fine, but it lacks variation and sounds a bit stiff.

The second guitar's chord progressions were generally correct, but the strumming rhythm and dynamic fluctuations were noticeably rough, and the solo passages revealed a cautious and uncertain approach.

The keyboard tone selection and environmental setup are thoughtful, but the playing is slightly mechanical, the chord fingering is sometimes not clean enough, and it is noticeably strained in some passages that require fast runs.

This... is not quite the "elite band of An and Asuka" that she had envisioned.

Apart from An and Asuka themselves and the lead vocalist, the other four members' skill level was clearly that of beginners who had just started learning! They might even be worse than some of the high school light music club members she had seen.

Ichika Nijika was stunned, her mind filled with confusion. Given An and Asuka's musical talent, why would they choose to form a band with partners of such low skill levels? Was it because they were exceptionally beautiful? No, An and Asuka didn't seem like that kind of people. Then why was it?

She suppressed her doubts and continued to observe.

Soon, she discovered something even stranger.

These "beginners" are progressing at an absurdly fast pace.

From initial chaos to complete order, it only took a few songs to transform the world.

What moved her even more was the way these people were during practice.

Whether right or wrong, they feel almost no burden, and their faces are filled with relaxed smiles. They don't blame themselves for a small mistake, and no one blames them.

And An and Asuka, as the core members, did not show any impatience or condescension. He moved among his companions, sometimes stopping next to someone to give a quiet instruction, sometimes returning to his position to demonstrate, sometimes calling a stop, playing back the previous segment on the mixing console, and discussing with everyone where improvements could be made. His attitude was equal, patient, and even encouraging.

When they finally managed to finish the ensemble, albeit with some stumbles and some mistakes, and despite the fact that it sounded rather rough overall, everyone's face radiated a pure, satisfied glow.

It's a joy of "We did it!", a happiness of creation and collaboration, unrelated to technical skill.

As Ichi Nijika looked at the scene on the other side of the soundproof glass, the confusion in her heart was gradually replaced by another, stronger emotion—envy.

Deeply envious.

She also has a band, and she has friends who want to play music together. But her band... well, it's a long story. Liang's talent is undeniable, but his personality is too difficult to deal with, and lately he's been indulging in some strange behaviors.

They searched for a guitarist for a long time and finally found a girl named Kita Ikuyo, but she disappeared for some reason and there has been no news of her since.

Let alone achieving their own goals, even forming a band would be extremely difficult for them.

"I really want... I really want a band like that."

Just then, the practice seemed to come to an end. An and Asuka clapped their hands: "Take a fifteen-minute break. Drink some water and relax your fingers."

Everyone put down their instruments and stretched their wrists and necks, and the atmosphere immediately relaxed.

An and Asuka pushed open the door to the practice room and walked to the monitoring room.

"Miss Hongxia, what do you think?" he asked casually.

Nijika Ichi quickly took off her headphones and stood up somewhat flusteredly: "Ah! W-Wow, that was great! Everyone worked so hard!" She paused, but couldn't resist her curiosity and cautiously asked, "Um... Anwa-kun, if I may ask... did your friends only recently start learning musical instruments?"

An and Asuka nodded, not hiding anything: "Well, apart from Xiao Ai and me, everyone else only started formally learning the instruments they're playing now after forming the band. About... a little over a week."

"One, a week?!"

Ichika Nijika's voice rose, her eyes widening. She'd reached this level in just one week? Even as a beginner, the progress was astonishing! This wasn't just talent; it was superpower!

"They are all smart and hardworking."

An and Asuka smiled, offering no further explanation, and instead asked, "Miss Hongxia has her own band, right? I heard Miss Xingge mention it."

When her band was mentioned, Ichiji Nijika's shoulders slumped slightly, and her smile became somewhat forced: "Well... but... the situation is a bit complicated now."

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "We're short a guitarist, and... next month, we signed up for a small concert. But right now we don't even have enough people, and practice is..."

She didn't say anything more, but the anxiety on her face was obvious.

Volume 1: Chapter 209 Helping Out

Looking at the smile on Ichiji Nijika's face, a mixture of anxiety, anticipation, and forced expression, Anwa Asuka had a vague idea in her mind.

STARRY has a great atmosphere. Hongxia and her sister Xingge are both people who genuinely love music. A band born in such a place shouldn't be supported by just two people struggling to survive.

"Is Hongxia's band facing any difficulties?" he asked directly, his tone calm.

Ichi Nijika's smile faded, but she still tried to appear calm: "Um... I don't know where the guitarist has gone. I haven't been able to contact him for days."

She sighed, her fingers unconsciously twisting the straps of her overalls. "So now the band just consists of me and Ryo—by the way, I'm the drummer, and Ryo is the bassist."

She paused, her voice lowering, revealing obvious anxiety: "A band without a guitarist, and the lead singer too... In short, we can't practice or perform normally at all. Moreover, we signed up for a small livehouse performance next month, a rare opportunity... But in this situation, I really don't know what to do."

Without a guitarist, the music loses its most important melodic support and harmonic framework; without a lead singer, it lacks the most direct emotional connection with the audience. For a band that aims to perform live, this is indeed a crisis that can shake its very foundation.

A moment of silence fell, broken only by the faint sound of music from other practice rooms in the distance. Looking at the calm, black-haired boy before her, a bold, almost whimsical idea suddenly welled up from the depths of her heart like an uncontrollable bubble.

If... if we could get Anwa Asuka to help...

Even if it's just temporary, even if it's just to get through next month's performance...

The thought, once it surfaced, began to grow rapidly. She knew, of course, that it was abrupt and excessive. The other person had their own band, was a highly regarded musician, and was from a completely different world than their small, amateur band, which didn't even have all its members.

But... but those dark brown eyes looked very gentle, and he always spoke very politely. He even offered to help introduce Kita to me...

Perhaps... there's even a tiny bit of a possibility?

She took a deep breath, a faint but determined light shining in her amber eyes, and opened her mouth—

"Um, Anhe-kun!"

Almost simultaneously, another clear, slightly impatient female voice came from the practice room doorway:

"Asuka! Have you rested enough? We still can't get the interlude of the new song right, come and take a look!"

Eriri leaned in halfway, her golden twin tails swaying with the movement. Her azure eyes swept over the two people in the monitoring room, finally settling on An and Asuka, her urging clearly evident.

The courage she had been building up deflated instantly, like a balloon punctured by a needle. Ichiji Nijika's shoulders slumped slightly, the words she was about to say were swallowed back, and a somewhat forced smile returned to her face.

Anwa Asuka looked at her and nodded apologetically: "I'm sorry, Nijika, I have to go back to practice."

“…Okay, you guys go ahead with your work.” Ichiji Nijika tried her best to make her voice sound normal. “Sorry to bother you.”

Watching An and Asuka turn and leave the monitoring room, closing the door behind them, and walk back to the practice room while talking to the blonde twin-tailed girl, Ijichi Nijika finally let out a long, silent breath, leaning against the mixing console as if she had no bones left.

As expected... it didn't work.

Inviting An and Asuka to be temporary guitarists is just wishful thinking. How long have they known each other? How many words have they exchanged? Why should they go to all this trouble to help their own lousy, disorganized band? Besides, he looks very busy; he has his own band to lead, and his novice teammates need his guidance more...

She rubbed her face, completely suppressing that unrealistic thought.

Forget it, I'll try to contact Kita again, or... if all else fails, I'll post a recruitment notice at a nearby music school? Time is tight, but I have to give it a try.

Another hour passed, and the "Praise Music" band's practice for the day came to an end. Everyone packed up their instruments, tidied up the practice room, and came out one after another.

Ijichi Seika was already waiting outside to see them off. Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo also stood to the side. Nijika had her usual energetic smile on her face, but those who knew her well could see that there were worries hidden beneath that smile. Her eyes kept glancing at An and Asuka, and her lips moved slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't speak.