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

"Xiao Mu, you probably don't want Ah Qi to live in guilt, self-blame or resentment all the time, right?"

Mu: “…”

However, Mu, who had already made up his mind, could not help but waver a little after hearing Su Shi's words. Especially Mu, who had met Chen Qi several times, actually knew very well that Chen Qi had no way to let go of the past.

The more hurt he had been caused by the past, the more he would exploit himself... This was the case with Xiangzi, and it was probably the same with the lamp.

Mu had always wanted to help ease Chen Qi's burden or the pain in his heart, but there was really little she could do...

And now, Deng wants to organize a new band to sing his apology to Chen Qi... Is this a good thing or a bad thing for Qi?

To relieve Qi's inner burden would almost certainly make Qi reconnect with his past. But Qi's life was so painful now, and if Mu didn't help relieve his burden, he was worried that Qi would not survive.

Mu was a little unsure.

"Xiao Mu." At this moment, Su Shi also saw Mu's hesitation and seized the opportunity in time. She held Mu's hands and helped her make up her mind with a smile:

"Let's help Aqi together this time, okay? In the end, whether to stay or not is Aqi's own choice, isn't it?"

Mu: “…”

In the end, the balance in his heart tilted slightly, but it was not because friendship overwhelmed concern, but because he wanted to help Chen Qi as soon as possible. Mu sighed softly and replied in a compromising tone:

"I see."

"If you just want Qi to listen to Deng's song, I can help."

"Very good……"

Mu's final joining also made Gao Songdeng breathe a sigh of relief, and Deng's expression quickly changed from cloudy to sunny. The urgency and hope burning in her heart again made her take the initiative to initiate band practice for the first time.

"Then let's all start training now!"

"——Speaking of this." At this moment, Su Shi, who had just persuaded Mu to join the band, turned her eyes to Ai Yin with a smile on her face. She looked at this girl who seemed to be a rival to Chen Qi in the band, and she also said what she was thinking, saying:

"Deng-chan said before that Aine-chan also composes her own music and lyrics~ So I am also very curious, how good must Aine-chan's original works be to impress Deng-chan~"

Aine: “Eh? Uh, that…”

"Yes, this matter is indeed very important." Li Xi, who suddenly remembered this, immediately cast a scrutinizing gaze towards Ai Yin. For a moment, Ai Yin felt two extremely sharp rays of light from Li Xi's gaze, like blades!

"The rest of us have been band members before, and we all know each other's level very well. You are the only newcomer, so show us your skills."

"When the time comes, you will also be involved in composing the music and writing the lyrics. Your level is crucial. Now let's go to the recording studio. Just play your original song for us."

"that……"

However, Aiyin, who had never expected that she would become the focus of attention, was sweating profusely and cast a guilty look at the lamp beside her, frantically sending a distress signal, hoping that the innocent lamp could speak a word for her.

However, after Takamatsu Deng noticed Aine’s gaze, he failed to comprehend Aine’s meaning, but instead smiled encouragingly and said softly:

"Come on, Aine-chan. I believe you can do it."

Aiyin: “…”

This kid can even compose original songs... And Nagasaki Motoyo also glanced at the embarrassed Aine with a rather scrutinizing gaze, but because of various familiar attributes, a figure that she had been thinking about day and night emerged in her mind.

A girl who is as creative as Aqi, knows how to compose music and write lyrics, and can also play the guitar which Aqi can’t?

And with that reason, was she willing to help? Did she not mind that the band might find someone who could replace her at any time?

There was a barely perceptible flash of calmness and alertness in Nagasaki Motoyo's eyes. She vaguely felt that Chihaya Aine's joining was not that simple.

Chapter 30: Su Shi saw the clues, but Mu discovered the truth...

Half an hour later, in a recording studio of "RiNG", the sounds of different musical instruments were being intensely blended together, trying to blend the different sounds into a complete piece of music.

But all this did not seem to go as smoothly as expected...

"stop!"

Finally, when the song was about to end, Lixi, who was the drummer, took the initiative to interrupt everyone. Soon, everyone's attention, which was originally going smoothly, was suddenly focused on Lixi.

However, a hint of unwillingness flashed across Shiina Riki's delicate face, but in the end, the principle of seeking truth from facts made her sigh and take the initiative to admit her problem.

"...I haven't practiced this song for a while, so the drum beats were a little messy. That's my problem."

"Everyone, give me a little time, I can recall the music."

After finishing her question, Li Xi did not forget to look at other people. However, when her eyes swept over Su Shi, Deng and the expressionless Mu, she opened her mouth but could not utter any words.

Because, in the performance just now, except for herself, everyone's performance was almost impeccable.

In the end, Shiina Riki had nothing to say, but she was very unwilling in her heart, so she cast her eyes on the innocent Aine beside her. However, her tone was not very sharp, and she just said to Aine in a bland tone:

"...You need to coordinate with everyone's rhythm more. After all, you are now in charge of the rhythm guitar, which is definitely different from when you played alone before. Do you understand?"

"Oh……"

In response to this, Aiyin realized that this was an unfamiliar place and openly admitted her mistake.

But for some reason, her unequivocal appearance made Li Xi reveal a complex expression that was difficult to explain...

But in the end, Li Xi closed her mouth and silently focused her attention on what was in front of her. She opened her mobile phone, called up the music score that had been saved in the mobile phone album, and then spoke to everyone:

"Everyone, go and rest first. I'll get familiar with it a little bit. We'll continue when I think it's ready."

"...Everyone, let's go first and give Li Xi some private space."

Realizing that the atmosphere was a bit heavy, Su Shi promptly asked everyone in the band to temporarily leave the recording studio. Soon, in such a large recording studio, only the silent Shiina Riki was left in the room.

As the door closed, the slight vibration caused by the beating of the drums soon came vaguely from the recording studio. The amplitude of the vibration seemed to be a little bigger than before, and the strength of the people in the room beating the drums also seemed to be a little heavier, as if to vent their emotions.

"It seems that Li Xi is really the same as always, always putting too much pressure on himself."

On the other side, the group of people who returned to the cafe also sat down around the table. In the past, Su Shi, who was in Crychic and was a member of the "mortal group", had a closer relationship with Li Xi than other members. Naturally, he also understood Li Xi's current mentality.

"It seems that Lixi has not slacked off in her training in the past six months, but she probably doesn't have the extra energy to improve herself. She must have been living in confusion."

"It seems that the disbandment of Crychic has hit everyone hard."

"I'm not in a very good condition today either." Takamatsu Deng took the initiative to admit the mistakes he made during practice, and said with a rather gloomy expression:

"I haven't practiced singing for a long time, so my performance today was a little awkward. It's just that Li Xi is always reluctant to point out my problems, so..."

"Well, I think Deng-chan has done a great job!"

Aine, who had known Takamatsu Deng for two days and had a better understanding of his personality, saw that the little girl was about to get depressed again, so she spoke up and stopped her, encouraging her immediately:

"If I hadn't sung for half a year, I would have forgotten all the lyrics! I think it's amazing that Deng-chan was able to sing it perfectly this time."

“Where, where…”

And in response to Aine’s straightforward praise and compliments, Takamatsu Touma, who was originally still reflecting on what she could do better, blushed slightly and politely praised Aine as well, saying:

“Come to think of it, it’s Aine-chan who’s really amazing.”

"Not only can she create her own original songs, but she can even perform our band's old songs so skillfully all of a sudden. You're really worthy of being called Aine-chan."

"That's true." After hearing Deng's words, even Nagasaki Suyo, who was standing by, couldn't help but change her opinion of Chihaya Aine. Suyo squinted her eyes slightly, and her gentle face also showed a bit of interest. She said to Aine, who was avoiding her gaze, word by word:

“Aine-san, you really are a genius. This is really eye-opening.”

It can be said that it was natural for Nagasaki Suyowa to regain her feeling this time after just a few simple rehearsals.

Because Su Shi herself has never slacked off in her bass skills in the past six months. Whether at school or at home, she often plays the songs that Chen Qi left behind by herself, silently reminiscing about the past.

Therefore, in the past six months, Nagasaki Suyo's bass skills have become more proficient than before. At least none of the songs left by Chen Qi are difficult for her.

As for Mu, she had very strict family education and had a lot of guitar training. In addition, Mu herself was very talented. It only took her a short while to quickly find the rhythm of the band performance.

But Aine, Sushi couldn't figure it out. How could someone who wasn't even a member of Crychic be so familiar with their band's songs? Could she be a fan of Crychic? But she didn't hear Aine mention this on her own initiative?

Should we say... Is he worthy of being considered as a genius by even Dengjiang? At least this talent, in a sense, is probably not inferior to Aqi's ability in composing and writing lyrics?

...But, Nagasaki Suyo always felt that this kind of thing should not be simply summed up with the word "talent".

Nagasaki Suyo, who had been silently paying attention to Aine since the band began training, keenly noticed that Aine was very familiar with their band's past songs, which was very unusual.

Even when she first saw Crychic's old music scores, her first reaction was surprise.

Nagasaki Motoyo didn't think that, considering the level at which Aine could write "ただ君に晴れ", she would be so surprised at how good Crychic's arrangement and lyrics were.

So that means... Aine may have seen these songs before? The reason why she played them so well is because she practiced them before and was familiar with them?

Aiyin, is there any connection between her and Aqi, or Xiaoxiang?

Such a thought flashed through Nagasaki Suyo’s mind, but she quickly covered it up with a smile… However, Suyo’s smile made Aine, who was sitting opposite her, feel even more stressed…

"Sure enough, Brother Qi was a member of this band in the past... When Brother Qi taught me guitar, some of the songs he taught me were songs that this band had once sung!"

"I practiced those songs as my own exercises for a month...it would be strange if I wasn't proficient in them!"

If she had encountered the same situation in the past, Aiyin might have been complacent about her luck, but now, after only practicing a few songs with Gao Songdeng and others, Aiyin could already keenly feel how terrifying Chen Qi's past band was.

They are all monsters!

What's wrong with these people? Isn't Dengjiang's singing voice too good? It even makes people feel that the hair on their body stands up when he sings. Is this performance average?

Wasn't Sushi's bass a little too skilled? And there was the girl named "Mu", whose guitar skills were so good that even Aiyin felt inferior to her, so she gave up the lead guitar position to her so that she could feel less pressure.

Even Shiina Tatsuki, who is now reflecting on herself and thinks that she performed the worst, to be honest, during the practice, Aine didn't hear any mistakes she made. Why is she so dissatisfied with her performance?

Aiyin was very worried. The longer she stayed in the band, the more she worried that she might be exposed... Her "genius" persona was fine for maintaining friendly relationships with classmates she didn't know very well at school, but she was too worried about being exposed in front of a real band, or in front of Qi Ge's former band members.

Worrying about being exposed and becoming the one who holds the team back is not a big deal. What Aiyin fears the most is the moment when her "genius" persona collapses in front of everyone in the band, and that Chen Qi's affairs will be implicated.

After all, once they knew that she was not a genius and did not have the ability to master a piece of music after just one look, it would be easy for them to guess that it was Brother Qi who was helping her prepare in advance, right?

Not only would I lose face in front of Brother Qi’s former band members... I might even... lose Brother Qi?

After all, this band is a band of geniuses coming together...

If I can't maintain my "genius" persona, will I be kicked out? Will I never have the chance to be in the same band with Brother Qi again?

Aiyin didn't want to admit it, but after a practice session, she clearly felt that the talent she was so proud of was just average in this band... The other members were all more experienced and skilled than her.

If I only have the guitar skills I learned in this month, can I really continue to survive in this band?

"Ah, everyone, Li Xi said that she is in good condition now, so let's all go back to the recording studio."

While Aiyin was thinking about countermeasures in her mind, before she knew it, fifteen minutes had passed. Takamatsu Deng also received a message from Li Xi in the recording studio, and immediately took everyone back to continue practicing.

"Then let's go." Nagasaki Motoyo, who always felt that she vaguely knew the answer to the question, also planned to slowly explore the truth of the matter. Therefore, her attitude towards Aine became a little softer.

Mu didn't tell me the truth, and Dengjiang was not mentally prepared to meet Aqi. As for Lixi... Su Shi felt that Lixi was definitely not interested in Chen Qi's whereabouts.

Then, it's all up to you to explore the truth of the matter.

Aine, I'm really curious, among so many possibilities, which one is the real answer?

If you hide Aqi's whereabouts from all of us... I'm not sure what I would do.

Nagasaki Motoyo thought so and turned to walk towards the recording studio. However, behind her, Aine seemed to still not move and was still in a daze.

At this moment, Mu, who had been expressionless, also noticed that Aine didn’t respond. After thinking for a while, he took the initiative to step forward and reminded her calmly:

“…Aine, let’s go.”

"Hey? Yeah, I'll be right there."

Aiyin came back to her senses and subconsciously put down her phone, then picked up her guitar that had been placed beside her in a panic.

During this period, Mu glanced at Ain's phone without leaving any trace. However, everything she saw made Mu's eyes freeze!

I saw that the wallpaper of Ain's phone after unlocking it was a selfie of her.

I saw Aiyin on the wallpaper, holding her mobile phone high up, with her guitar on her back, which was consistent with her narcissistic and proud personality.

However, next to Aine on the wallpaper, there was another focused figure who was playing the piano with his head down, and seemed not to pay attention to Aine's movements, which made Mu's body freeze for a moment.

Mu's pupils contracted slightly, and he wavered for a moment.

For a moment, she even thought her eyes deceived her.

However, the clear figure on the wallpaper did not seem fake at all. The person that he had been thinking about day and night had always been...

"Okay. Mu-san, shall we go together?"

Aiyin, who had her guitar on her back again, turned around lively and directed her gaze towards Mu.

And at the moment when Aiyin's voice rang out, Mu's gaze quickly shifted from Aiyin's mobile phone to the soles of his feet. Everything was so silent.

She didn't even dare to make the slightest movement to express her emotions. She just nodded as usual and responded without any amplitude in her voice:

"……Um."