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

The people in the front row were undoubtedly Xiangzi's classmates from Class B. He could only hear them surrounding him like a flock of sparrows, chattering in unison, asking:

"Toyokawa-san! Who was that guy who just pulled you away? Is he your boyfriend?"

"He must be her boyfriend! Otherwise, he wouldn't do such intimate things in front of everyone!"

"I'm so envious. I didn't expect Toyokawa-san to have such a considerate boyfriend~ But why does he seem to have such a good relationship with Chihaya-san from the next class and Takamatsu-san?"

"He's not a scumbag, is he? You're not being deceived, are you, Toyokawa-san?"

So many questions suddenly came up that Xiangzi didn't know how to deal with them for a while. However, the "boyfriend" that came from his classmates again and again made Xiangzi's originally depressed mood seem to recover a little bit...

It was obvious that this was not the case, but Xiangzi now had an urge not to explain and let public opinion develop in this way.

But, just when this thought just emerged in Xiangzi's mind, suddenly, the old but powerful voice from Tsuzuki Shichuan suddenly echoed in Xiangzi's mind.

……

"This kid is not a character that a band can keep."

"My expectation for him is not just to be a rising star in a small livehouse. In the future, he may even perform on the Red and White Songs Contest."

……

"…No, he's not my boyfriend, just an ordinary friend."

"Hey~"

However, Xiangzi's low-pitched answer surprised the classmates who were very curious about the relationship between Chen Qi and Xiangzi, but this did not reduce the discussion. Xiangzi's obviously lonely expression aroused everyone's curiosity.

"Could it be his ex-boyfriend? Did they break up for some reason?"

"No way? Such a high-quality dish, Xiangzi, you don't want to eat it? And didn't he show quite affection?"

"——Don't mention such things again." Xiangzi, who was already in a gloomy mood, faced everyone's doubts and had no intention of answering. Instead, she forced herself to remain calm and said to everyone in a cold but polite voice:

"Everyone, hurry back to the classroom. Morning reading is about to begin. If you gather here any longer, you will be late for class."

"Hey... okay."

Obviously, although Toyokawa Shoko rarely interacted with her classmates, her excellent appearance and grades, as well as her aristocratic temperament in her every move, made her very popular among her peers. With just a few simple words, the classmates around her dispersed.

After there was no one else around her, Xiangzi, who was standing alone, fell into deep thought. She silently picked up her phone and fixed her eyes on the phone number marked "Chuhua", but her expression was shaken.

Xiangzi couldn't help but start thinking about a question... Is his selfishness really a good thing for Chen Qi?

No, this is impossible. My selfishness may only hinder Chen Qi's future.

My current band hasn't even started yet. With the little money I've accumulated, I can't even afford a large-scale public live. Even booking a recording studio would take a long time.

Is he really qualified to be compared with Chen Qi, who is destined to be on the Red and White Song Festival? Do they really have a chance to stand on the same stage?

"Is it already... impossible?"

A trembling question, or perhaps just a repetition of the facts that have already been determined in the heart.

Under the strong inner turmoil, Toyokawa Shoko had unknowingly dialed Chuhua's cell phone.

Soon, after a busy tone, Chu Hua's voice, which was surprised but also trying to hide her joy, came from the other end of the line:

"Xiao Xiang?"

Xiangzi: "...Chuhua, I want to meet you. There are some things I want to talk to you alone."

Chuhua, whether his wish can be fulfilled, now it all depends on you.

I may no longer have the chance to personally make up for the mistakes and regrets I made in the past...

So, please help me to completely give up this idea. It's time for me to face this fact.

Chapter 49: Chen Qi was beaten? Liang's little heart was moved?

"Stop right there, you little brat! I'm going to tear your brain apart today to see what's wrong with you!"

In the afternoon, when the four beautiful girls who had finished the band got out of school and came to [SPACE] together at the agreed time, they were shocked by what was happening in front of them.

Inside the store, manager Tsuzuki was holding an old guitar and chasing the fleeing Chen Qi around the store, as if she was not willing to let the old guitar get any more scratches. As long as she could hit Chen Qi's butt, she would do it without hesitation.

On the other hand, Manager Tsuzuki's granddaughter, Yao Lenai, was dragging Chen Qi around the store the whole time, helping Chen Qi avoid her grandmother's guitar attack.

However, Aine, and another cute girl with short grey hair who had not been seen by anyone after the band ended, followed behind Tsuzuki the entire time, trying to stop this senior from hurting the man they cared about the most.

"Oh no! Manager Tsuzuki is chasing after Senior Chen Qi and beating him up again!"

When Hongxia saw such a familiar scene, she stepped into the store without hesitation. Behind Hongxia, Ryo, Kita and Pochi-chan all stepped forward at the same time, wanting to stop this violence.

However, before the four members of the band ended their action, a petite white figure stepped forward first.

"Grandma, if you want to hit Qi, then hit me first."

Finally, seeing that his grandmother was not giving up, Yao Lenai once again took out his "ultimate trick" that worked every time. He stood in front of Chen Qi, looking directly into his grandmother's eyes, and said softly:

"Qi helped me, and I promised Qi that I would help him share the responsibility."

"It was Qi and I who left SPACE open. If grandma is still angry, Qi and I will be punished together."

"Lena, you——"

However, facing his granddaughter standing in front of him, Tsuzuki almost couldn't catch his breath. And at this moment, Aine and Deng beside him also seized the opportunity and stood with Kaname Rakuna in time to face Tsuzuki.

"Manager Tsuzuki, I don't know what happened, but if you want to teach Brother Qi a lesson, I won't sit idly by!"

Aine was also unusually angry. Although she respected seniors like Tsuzuki because of Chen Qi, and could tolerate her harshness and corporal punishment during special training, the situation was different this time.

Aine didn't understand why, so she and Deng followed Qi to SPACE, wanting to ask Manager Tsuzuki if he could repair her electric guitar. But as soon as they stepped into the store, the manager saw Qi and looked very angry, as if he wanted to hit him. She and Deng were so scared that they couldn't react for a while.

But no matter what Brother Qi did to make this old senior so angry, it is not okay to hit Brother Qi!

To be honest, if the person who did it wasn’t Tsuzuki, but a woman of the same age as Aine, who dared to be so violent towards Qi-ge, even someone as good-tempered as Aine would have gotten angry and grabbed that person’s hair.

Compared to Aiyin, Gao Songdeng was the first to support Chen Qi who was hit on the buttocks. Looking at his injured brother, Gao Songdeng looked like he was about to cry, and asked in panic and concern:

"Brother, how are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, I'm right next to my brother, but, but..."

"Don't cry, Deng, I'm fine, hiss—"

Chen Qi also covered his butt with a look of pain. After a moment of numbness, he felt the pain belatedly and grimaced unconsciously. The old lady was really cruel!

This also surprised Chen Qi a little. Tsuzuki had beaten him many times. After all, he had been training under her for several years. However, this was the first time that she had really fought with him like today. What had he done to provoke her?

Although he couldn't figure it out, looking at Deng who was about to cry out of self-blame, Chen Qi temporarily put his own pain behind him. He rubbed his buttocks with one hand, half-knelt down, wiped away the tears from the corners of Deng's eyes, and said in a gentle manner as possible:

"Okay, okay, Deng, didn't you say you've become stronger? Why are you still crying like a kid?"

"Don't worry, your brother is fine. If you cry, I will feel bad, so don't cry, okay?"

"Um……"

With Chen Qi's comfort, Gao Songdeng finally held back the tears that had already reached her eyes, but she still looked at Chen Qi's buttocks that were hit by Tsuzuki with an extremely worried look.

Brother... it must be painful, right? After all, the guitar is so big, and the manager Tsuzuki hit it very hard, so brother must have suffered a lot of injuries.

I failed to protect my brother from getting hurt this time, but he still protected me... Then after I go back, I will do what I can, such as applying medicine to my brother, or soothing his wounds...

But at that time, my brother had to take off his pants.

When she thought of this, Gao Songdeng's cheeks couldn't help but turn red. Deng, who was already very thin-skinned, felt like fainting just by imagining that scene in her mind. After all, she had never seen a similar scene in the more than ten years that she had been with her brother.

But, my brother is injured now. If he needs to apply medicine, there shouldn't be anyone else to do it except me, his sister, right? After all, Aine-chan is a girl, and she is an outsider. My brother probably won't ask her to do the application of medicine.

After all, Mrs. Chihaya and Mr. Chihaya are the elders, so it would not be convenient for my brother to ask them for help.

Then, I am the only one who can help my brother, right?

I'm a little shy, but if it's my brother who asks me...

However, just when she thought of this, Gao Songdeng suddenly came to her senses, and quickly shook her head to drive these messy thoughts out of her mind, forcing herself not to let the dark side of herself affect the brother-sister relationship between her and her brother whom she had finally found.

However, Gao Songdeng, who kept her head down and said nothing, still felt itchy in her heart. Obviously, her spirit was still wavering, or in other words, she was expecting that scene to happen...

"So, Senior Chen Qi, what on earth happened that made Manager Tsuzuki so angry?"

On the other side, Hong Xia, who had already walked into the store, also walked around Gao Songdeng, whom she did not know, and considerately helped Chen Qi, who was suffering from the pain on his butt, from the other side. Then, she showed a little bit of unhappiness, which was rare, and turned to Tsuzuki and asked:

"Besides, even if Manager Tsuzuki is angry, he shouldn't hit Senior Chen Qi, right? Don't you think highly of Senior Chen Qi? Why did you do this?"

"You don't know?" However, after the breathless Tsuzuki placed the guitar in his hand on the counter, he looked at the four people who had ended the band in surprise. Facing their blank eyes, Tsuzuki couldn't help but get angry and cursed at Chen Qi:

"Ask this kid what he did yesterday?! This kid was spotted by [sumimi]'s Mikado Hatsuka and was about to embark on a professional career, but this kid ran away!"

"Tell me, little brat! What on earth could have made you run away at this critical moment? Do you really want to play house band for the rest of your life? Do you know that this opportunity you have is an opportunity that many people who have been in the music industry for a lifetime can only encounter but cannot ask for?"

"Why did you run away? You ran in such a hurry that you didn't even have time to leave any contact information, right? Is your father or your mother there?! Give me, an old woman, a reasonable explanation! Otherwise, I will beat you to death today!"

"..."X5

However, as soon as Tsuzuki said this, the four beautiful girls who had witnessed the whole process of the band ending showed embarrassed expressions. Then everyone's eyes were simultaneously cast on Liang who had a slightly stunned expression on the side.

Especially Goto Ichiri, who witnessed Chuhua handing the contact information to Liang at that time. After seeing his idol injured, he looked at Liang with a very resentful and even slightly cursing look.

After all, when Liang got Chuhua's contact information, Goto strongly requested that the good news be conveyed to Chen Qi as soon as possible. But for some reason, Liang Senior actually withheld the contact information and insisted on telling Chen Qi in person today.

If Senior Chen Qi had listened to me at that time, he would not have been injured... What on earth was Senior Liang thinking?

At this moment, Chen Qi himself was also silent... How could he know that this was the reason why Tsuzuki wanted to hit him as soon as they met. If he had known earlier, he would have told her that he had already obtained the contact information from Xiangzi, and he would have avoided this beating.

"Hey? Mikado Hatsuka? You mean the idol artist from [sumimi], Mikado Hatsuka?!"

The only one who had a different reaction was Chihaya Aine, who had long been a fan of Hatsuka. After hearing the name and the whole story from Tsuzuki, she immediately realized that this matter seemed to be related to her.

After all, according to what Tsuzuki said, Chen Qi was very panicked when he left, and this made Aiyin involuntarily think of the messages that the sad self sent to Chen Qi yesterday, and Chen Qi's panicked and nervous expression at that time, as if he was worried that she was going to hang herself.

Was it me... who ruined Brother Qi’s future?

When she thought of this, Chihaya Aine's eyes widened significantly, but she couldn't help but lower her head in shame. She pursed her lips slightly, and her palms unconsciously clenched into fists, as if she would slap herself in the face without mercy if there were no other people around.

What stupid thing did I do...

"Huh, you little brat, why did I teach such a useless student like you?"

Just when Chen Qi finally straightened up with the help of Deng and Hongxia and was about to speak, he only heard Tsuzuki shaking his head in annoyance, and then he went behind the counter to search for something.

After a while, Tsuzuki took out a thick notebook, flipped through it skillfully, and then underlined one of the lines in red. He said to Chen Qi in a bad mood:

"This is Sanjiao Chuhua's phone number. Remember it clearly."

"Hey? Manager Tsuzuki, why do you have the contact information of Sankaku Hatsuka?"

When Tsuzuki suddenly took out the notebook, everyone present was shocked. Especially Ryo, she rarely showed a look of surprise, as if Tsuzuki's behavior made her idea come to nothing.

"Don't forget, I run a livehouse. Not to mention [SPACE]. There are so many livehouses in Tokyo. How many of them are not run by my people?"

"Anyone who wants to book a performance or a studio session, let alone a Sanjiao Chuhua, even if it's Miyuki Nakajima, she has to leave her contact information and name."

Tsuzuki also shook his head in annoyance. The look he cast towards the dazed Chen Qi was filled with helplessness and indignation, and then he shook his hands and cursed:

"I didn't intend to help you, kid. You have to walk the road by yourself. With the wind blown for you by me, an old woman, you can fly to the sky as long as you are not a pig. This time, let's make an exception."

"Remember, don't aim too high. There are indeed many names on this list that you will be familiar with, but don't think about climbing up. As the saying goes, you have to walk your own path. Remember that!"

"…Thank you, grandma."

Although Chen Qi had already obtained Chuhua's contact information, he couldn't help but feel touched from the bottom of his heart when he saw the opportunity that Tsuzuki had carefully pointed out for him. He called Tsuzuki "Grandma" from the bottom of his heart for the first time in a long time.

However, Tsuzuki didn't buy into Chen Qi's tricks. He squatted down and put the notebook back to its original place, while angrily scolding Chen Qi and the others:

"Don't give me that. Go outside and practice. Today I'm going to test your skills and coordination. If any of these little girls make a mistake, you will be punished as well."

"That's great! Brother Qi! You finally have the chance to become a professional musician!"

However, when hearing that everything had taken a turn for the better, besides Tsuzuki, the first person present who was happy for Chen Qi from the bottom of her heart was Aine.

Aiyin knew that because of her, Qi Ge lost the opportunity to become a professional musician, and she was still in deep self-blame. But when she heard that this opportunity had not disappeared, under the strong contrast, Aiyin was even more excited and hugged Chen Qi from behind in front of everyone.

No, it was more like riding than hugging. Aiyin's smooth legs went directly around Chen Qi's waist, and her arms went around Chen Qi's neck. She leaned on Chen Qi with a look of joy and tears, and even shed a few tears of excitement.

Of course, she was mostly grateful. Aiyin couldn't imagine how she would face Brother Qi if Brother Qi was hurt or his future was ruined because of her.

And now, this is undoubtedly the best outcome for Aiyin, and she can stand with Brother Qi with peace of mind.

Brother...are you going to become a professional musician?

Unlike Aiyin, Takamatsu Deng felt a little complicated when she heard the news... It's not that she was not happy for Chen Qi, but Deng realized that her brother who was embarking on a professional path might spend less and less time with her in the future.

After all, it must be very difficult for a professional musician to be promoted. My brother may not have much time to spend with me in the future and he needs to spend more time on his profession.