They are in the music show, but I am a stranger to them

"......Ah?" For a moment, Xiangzi, who was kneeling on his mother's hospital bed, holding her hand reluctantly, asked in surprise with his pupils slightly shrunken after hearing his mother's words.

However, at her last moments, Mrs. Toyokawa, who was concentrating all her energy on holding on to her last breath, had no time to pay attention to Xiangzi's surprised expression at this time. She tried her best to say to her daughter:

"Chen Qi agreed to my request... He is willing to... take good care of you. Whether as a friend or as a partner... He will be with you."

"This is... the last thing that mom can do for you... Xiangzi... you must be well and don't let mom worry about you too much... okay?"

"And... this..."

Mrs. Toyokawa took off the ring on her dry ring finger which was tortured by illness with difficulty, and handed it to Xiangzi with trembling hands. Her voice became more urgent and trembling as she said:

"Mom... I couldn't give you more... This was given to me by your dad when he proposed to me..."

"Now, I'll give this to you... Xiaoxiang... Then, you can give it to... the boy you like."

"When that time comes, Xiaoxiang... remember to say sorry to Chen Qi on behalf of your mother..."

"I really... really want to keep watching you guys go on..."

"..."

Finally, under the hazy gaze of Xiangzi, who was crying like rain, the hand that had been gently wiping away her tears fell into her palm like an autumn leaf, and the last bit of warmth was taken away along with it.

Xiangzi knew that the person who loved her most in the world had left her completely from then on.

At the end of her life, the mother was still making her final effort for her life. She used her lifelong request to entrust her most beloved daughter to the boy who, after repeated examinations, she believed was the most trustworthy and the least likely to let her daughter down.

As a mother, she has done everything she can to the best of her ability...

But... Mom...

If possible... I really hope that you didn't make this decision for me and didn't make this request to him...

Did Xiangzi not want Chen Qi to take care of her for the rest of her life? Of course not.

If possible, Xiangzi really wanted to rush out of the ward at this moment, throw himself into the arms of the person who could give him comfort and warmth, and let him lean on her, and release all the bitterness that he had accumulated during this period of time...

But she couldn't, especially after knowing her father's self-degradation and her mother's lifelong instructions, she didn't dare to let Chen Qi really take care of her for the rest of her life...

It's not that Xiangzi doesn't believe Chen Qi, but it's precisely because she believes in Chen Qi too much. Since he has made a promise to her mother, he will definitely try his best to do it! He will really use all his abilities to try to take care of her for the rest of her life.

As for his father, needless to say, Chen Qi will definitely take good care of him as well for his own reasons.

But now, his father has fallen into depravity, and he is addicted to drugs and may never be able to quit. Even if he can withstand all this, it may be difficult for him to get back on his feet, and he may even be a useless person for the rest of his life!

Chen Qi was just an ordinary person born in an ordinary family. How could I let him bear such a life? !

This has nothing to do with Xiangzi's self-esteem. She doesn't want others to know about her father's affairs. This is her self-esteem, but she doesn't want Chen Qi to bear this burden that has nothing to do with him and that he cannot bear. That is another matter.

Xiangzi knew that Chen Qi was talented and capable, and she had no doubt that with Chen Qi's abilities, he could make a difference in the music industry - but precisely because of this, Xiangzi was more worried that Chen Qi's talent would become a burden to him.

There is a high probability that his father is beyond salvation... Xiangzi can only rely on the poverty of his future family to force his father to reform himself.

But if Chen Qi took on the responsibility of her life, his father might cling to Chen Qi like a life-saving straw, trying to get endless nutrients from him.

After all, if there was no hope, he might be forced to reform himself, but once he had a way out... especially someone like Chen Qi, who had promised his mother that he would take care of her for the rest of her life, how could he not seek help from Chen Qi?

Xiangzi believed that Chen Qi would never do anything to help the tyrant...but would he really just ignore it?

Moreover, there are more temptations and sins in this world. Once the father who started this has the capital to absorb nutrients, can he really resist the temptations from the outside world?

And by then, wouldn't Chen Qi, who had promised to take care of him for his whole life, be completely pushed into this bottomless abyss by himself?

No, this kind of thing...must not happen!

My life has been completely ruined... I can't ruin his life along with it!

"Click."

"... Xiangzi?"

As the door of the ward quietly opened, the distraught Xiangzi noticed Chen Qi, who had been waiting outside the door, and Mu, who was standing side by side with him and also looking at her with a worried look on his face, the moment he stepped out of the ward.

At that time, Chen Qi, who had already noticed Xiangzi's sad expression, came to Xiangzi almost immediately.

The next second, before Xiangzi could react, she felt herself being gently embraced by a warm hug...

In this warm embrace, Xiangzi, who should have made up his mind, forgot to resist at the first moment. At the most vulnerable moment, Xiangzi was hit in the softest corner without any preparation, and he could no longer suppress his grievances and sadness.

"It's okay, Xiangzi..." In her ear, the boy who promised to take care of her for the rest of her life showed her even more meticulous care and love at that time.

"I will try my best not to make you feel sad again, Xiangzi...":

"……sorry."

At that time, Xiangzi, who was unable to control herself, kept repeating "I'm sorry" over and over again in the arms of the person she wanted most. Only she understood the meaning of this.

I'm sorry, I really want to be with you forever.

I am so immature, but you have always tolerated my immaturity and my weakness... I also hope that one day I can grow up to be able to protect you like you protect us...

But... I'm sorry... I really can't do it now...

So, at the moment when everything was irreversible and hope was completely shattered, Toyokawa Shoko finally made a decision that made her feel painful but also like reaping the fruits of her own labor.

"I'm quitting...Crychic."

Everything you said before was correct, Chen Qi.

I am really the first one to break my promise.

……

Exhausted both physically and mentally, Xiangzi chose to withdraw from the sight of everyone she knew. She never contacted her friends in Crychic again. She wanted everyone she knew to forget her.

Especially that one boy, who seemed to have known everything on the day she announced her withdrawal from the band. He did nothing to dissuade her and could really forget everything about himself.

She had already arranged all these things. From the day she quit the band, she took her father and left the Fengchuan family completely. At that time, Chen Qi and the others would not be able to find her, and it would be even more impossible to contact her. With the passage of time, everything was completely over.

Xiangzi knew that all she had done would only hurt him in the end. She could not even explain the reason for all this, let alone reveal the slightest reason to Chen Qi.

Once he knew her predicament, this unbearable burden, he would really be brave enough to shoulder it...

But all this seemed to be so unsatisfactory. Just when Xiangzi was about to leave the Toyokawa family with her father, the notice from the housekeeper directly hit her fragile nerves.

"...Chen Qi and Xiao Mu? They... are outside the door?"

Why did they come? Xiangzi, who had just thought of this question, soon had the answer - of course they came to ask why he had quit the band without any warning!

Just when Xiangzi was feeling panicked after hearing the news, suddenly, a miserable sound came from the second floor, which made Xiangzi tremble unconsciously again, and his face suddenly turned pale.

Soon, the panicked words of the housekeeper who ran down from the second floor confirmed the news that Xiangzi feared the most.

"Miss! The master is having another attack! Do you need us to hold him down?"

"—Don't let him out!"

Why now? ! Why now!!

Shoko Toyokawa gritted her teeth and didn't even have time to care about Chen Qi and Mu outside the door. She ran to the second floor immediately and soon noticed her father who was being held down by several maids and housekeepers and struggling in pain.

However, he seemed to have noticed his daughter's approach as he was in a frenzy of torture. But he was completely in a trance and said to Xiangzi in a tone that was almost begging, but also irritable and angry:

"Xiangzi - help Dad carry the book! Just a little bit, just a little bit!"

"Although Dad has no money left, you still have some, right? And Dad, I heard it too! Your friend is just outside the door, right?"

As he spoke, he seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw in his frenzy, and he didn't notice Xiangzi who was keeping her head down and silent in front of him, or her fists that she unconsciously clenched.

"Please, just help me this time! Don't you still have that boy who has always liked you? He will definitely help us!"

"--Snapped!"

For a moment, there was a sound as if a line of "reason" was completely broken, and the next second, a crisp slapping sound followed, echoing softly on the second floor.

For a moment, not only the housekeeper and the maids, but even Mr. Toyokawa who was slapped in the face, were stunned for a moment. He stared blankly at his daughter who was hitting someone for the first time in her life, and only heard her voice full of desolation and cold despair.

"Give me...enough is enough, Dad."

"I won't give you a chance, and I won't let you use Chen Qi as a lifeline! Absolutely not!"

After saying this, Toyokawa Shoko, whose last glimmer of hope was completely extinguished by the words of her hopeless father, left behind a sentence "Keep an eye on Dad for me and don't let him get out", and then ignored the crazy roars behind her and went alone to face the person she felt most sorry for.

In the heavy rain, Xiangzi did not hold an umbrella, but used the rain to hide her unstoppable tears of desolation. Facing the arrival of Chen Qi and Mu, she could not even utter a single warm word.

"It's all over, Chen Qi, Xiao Mu."

"Please, completely forget about me... Don't get entangled with me anymore, okay?"

Under the heavy rain, Xiangzi, who was almost numb inside, spoke to them in an almost pleading tone.

And at that moment, suddenly, a dull sound coming from the villa caught Xiangzi's attention at once, and at the moment when her eyes were unfocused and her heart and lungs stopped beating, she quickly noticed the door that was pushed open behind her, and the looming figure that she least wanted to face.

"do not want!"

Why did you come out?!

I beg you, Dad, please don't ruin his life anymore.

This... is the last thing I can do...

At almost the fastest speed in her life, Xiangzi chose to use her body to press down the half-open door. While she was suppressing the pressure from the other side of the door, she also said the most heartbreaking farewell words to the person behind her in almost despair.

"Didn't I tell you? Don't come again! Chen Qi! Don't come again ever again!"

"I'm done! We're done! Whatever the relationship was, it's over!"

"Go away! Go away! I never want to see you again!"

Don't talk to me anymore. Don't let me have hope anymore... Please.

I really don't want to destroy everything for you... Don't let me push you into this abyss with my own hands...

Not until the pressure on the other side of the door completely disappeared did the distraught Xiangzi step into the house again. At that moment, looking at the figure of his father who had been injected with sedatives by the housekeeper and the maid and had been carried back to the second floor, Xiangzi, who could no longer bear it all, finally knelt weakly on the cold floor.

She curled up her wet body slightly, with her back against the door, suppressing all her emotions, grief, sadness and guilt in her heart, letting the rain and sweat fall down... like a wounded little animal.

But she could only suppress herself like this, even when crying, for fear of being seen through... From then on, she no longer had the qualifications to vent her emotions.

His fifteen years of dreamlike life... were shattered in an instant like a bubble. For a moment, Xiangzi could not even tell what was reality and what was a dream.

If the past fifteen years of my life were really just a dream.

Then let her wake up.

She didn't ask to still be the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family after she woke up. She just hoped that she was really just an ordinary person... an ordinary girl born in a complete and happy family.

If that were the case, then she might not be so desperate. She might still be able to accept his love and kindness openly, grow up with him, and stay by his side forever, until one day, she can also become his support.

But all this is impossible now.

I'm sorry... I'm really sorry...

Please, please let me forget all this forever...

Chapter 1:

Chapter 147 Chapter 146: Gathering of MYGO and Mujica, Shoko's confession

What a strange dream...

In the haze, Chen Qi's mind finally regained some clarity, but the dream he had when he was in a coma quietly echoed in his mind...

In that dream, he seemed to dream about everything that happened to Xiangzi? Were those all about the reasons why Xiangzi left without saying goodbye?

However, before Chen Qi, who had just recovered a little, could sort out all his thoughts, a familiar voice came to him, sobbing and calling him again and again in his ear.

"Qi, Qi? Can you please wake up? Don't scare me..."

"Please, don't do this to me... don't just abandon me like this..."

"As long as you can wake up, no matter what you want me to do, I will listen to you...really."

And Chen Qi, whose heart was touched by the crying whispers in his ears, tried his best to open his heavy eyelids. In the blurry vision, he gradually saw the blurry light green petite figure who was closest to him.

"…"

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious. Chen Qi only knew that the moment he opened his mouth, his voice was so hoarse and weak, even as faint as a mosquito's.

Especially with his current physical condition, Chen Qi not only felt that he couldn't exert any strength, but also felt that there was no part of his body that didn't hurt. Every muscle was sending him a signal of protest, making it difficult for him to even move a finger.

However, even though Chen Qi's voice was so weak, his response still attracted the attention of everyone in the ward, including Ruo Ye Mu, who was standing by his bed, holding her hand tightly.

"pray!"

Chen Qi's weak voice was met with a very surprised response from Ruoye Mu, who had always been calm. Chen Qi only felt that his hand, which was tightly held by Mu, had gained a little more strength, and a few drops of cool tears fell on the back of his hand.

"Great, great..."