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

"I have secured a place for you at the Berklee College of Music in the United States. You can improve your singing skills there."

"Don't think you can keep going just by being emotionally rich. There are so many geniuses in this world. Don't think you can be arrogant just because you are at the top of Japan. If you want to reach a higher goal, that's a good place to go."

"By the way, you can also make your high school diploma on your resume look better! A year of further study will not hinder your future, but may benefit your career for the rest of your life!"

"——This is indeed a good opportunity, but let's wait until our concert at Tokyo Dome is over." Chen Qi also took a long, deep breath, calmed his gradually accelerating heartbeat, and changed the subject:

"Alright, everyone, the book signing is about to start, everyone please stand on the stage for me, I'll be in charge of the signing."

"Oh!"

However, facing the huge crowd outside RiNG, there were thousands or even tens of thousands of fans who couldn't wait any longer. The moment Chen Qi and others walked out of RiNG, a loud noise that shook the building and the ground covered half of the Chiyo district.

However, while Chen Qi was responding to every fan with a familiar smile, his thoughts were drifting away slightly in his heart as he signed autographs for each fan.

It's been four years already.

I don't know how Chuhua and the others are doing. Are they getting used to life in Osaka? Although I video chat with them every week, I'm really worried that they'll be lonely...

And there is Xiangzi... She deliberately applied to go to university in such a faraway Osaka, and I haven't seen her for a long time.

I wonder how she is now.

Although he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, Chen Qi also respected Xiangzi's choice. Since that day at the martial arts hall, he understood that Xiangzi had already decided on her own path. If she didn't want to see him, it meant that she was not ready yet.

When the day comes that Xiangzi appears in front of him again, perhaps... that will be the time when everything starts again.

Gradually, Chen Qi's thoughts drifted away. The autograph session lasted from noon to dusk, until the red sun covered the entire sky, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

"Hello." Chen Qi's cheeks twitched a little from smiling, and even raising his head was a bit difficult. His right hand, which had signed countless names, was trembling slightly, but his voice remained gentle.

This is the last one.

However, just as Chen Qi was thinking this and signing the new album by muscle memory, suddenly, a notebook surprisingly appeared in his sight.

This was an ordinary notebook, but the flowers printed on it made Chen Qi's pupils shrink unconsciously for a moment.

Gradually, Chen Qi also noticed the hands in front of him… Although they were not as delicate as he remembered, they were still extremely white and smooth, as if a lot of effort had been put into them.

Following the familiar and slightly shorter cuffs, Chen Qi's sight gradually turned to the front of him...

Under the evening sunlight, the girl with long, smooth sky-blue hair was looking at him intently with tears in her eyes but a beautiful smile on her face.

"——I'm sorry, I saw a song in this notebook."

"This song really touched me. I heard that you wrote it."

"Oh, my apology. I forgot to introduce myself."

In front of Chen Qi, the blue-haired girl bowed slightly to him. Her gentle and considerate smile was not diminished at all. Her voice, which made people feel like spring breeze, made people intoxicated.

"My name is Xiangzi."

"If possible, could you tell me your name?"

In a trance, it was as if time and space were confused, and the first encounter in time travel seemed to be replayed like a dream.

The only difference was that the girl's cheeks were no longer filled with the excitement of being about to touch her illusory dream, and the smile on her face was no longer just basic etiquette as a young lady.

At dusk, she seemed to have experienced a whole life and let go of everything, but when it all happened again, she uncontrollably shed a crystal tear.

She has come back.

It was like meeting him for the first time.

She once again asked him if she could meet and recognize him again as a brand new self.

And he also smiled faintly in the dusk, with a smile that had never changed, as if he could accept everything, and answered her just like that day.

"…My name is Chen Qi."

"Nice to meet you... Welcome back."

(End of the book)