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

Deng: "...Meow Dream Kiss?"

Faced with this address which was definitely not her real name, and the extremely familiar attitude of Miao Meng from the other end of the phone, as if she knew everything about her and her brother, Gao Songdeng, who was already wary, couldn't help but feel a little "uncomfortable" in her heart.

This emotion rarely arises in Takamatsu Deng's heart.

"Meow Dream?"

However, when Gao Songdeng inadvertently murmured this nickname, Chen Qi, who was not fully awake at the side, suddenly came to his senses. He immediately stood up, took the phone from Deng's hand, and asked Miao Meng on the other end of the phone;

"Hello? Is this Meowmeng?"

Miao Meng: "Xiao Qi! You finally answered the phone! Do you know that you are famous now?!"

On the other end of the phone, Miao Meng, who was in her small rental house, turned her ergonomic chair and cast her eyes on the data and hot topics in the computer in front of her. She said to Chen Qi in a very excited tone:

"The live show you did yesterday has gone viral on the internet! Did you know that the official recording of your live show has already received over 500,000 hits?"

"Hmm?" Chen Qi was slightly stunned by this sudden news, and then quickly said to Miao Meng on the other end of the phone:

"Wait a moment, I'll go cut the screen."

After that, Chen Qi quickly put down his phone and clicked on the hot search topic. What came to his face was a list of hot topics. The first one was undoubtedly [＃Chu Hua and Chen Qi's first collaboration, Chu Hua shed tears throughout the audience]

The second one is also related to Chen Qi and Chu Hua, which is the song sung by the two, [＃"Gray and Blue"].

Is it true? Chen Qi was a little surprised that his first public performance could become such a hot topic.

However, Chen Qi changed his mind and realized that the person he was working with was after all Sanjiao Chuhua, a popular idol, so it was not surprising that he could bring such strong popularity.

"How about it? Do you believe it now? Xiao Qi, you are really a big star now!" The other end of the phone seemed to think that Chen Qi should have seen the hot topic, and Miao Meng's voice that could not hide her excitement and envy came one after another. However, soon, Miao Meng's tone changed, but it became more teasing and said:

"That's great, Xiaoqi, now your dream has finally come true~"

"So, may I ask my dear celebrity Xiaoqi, when do you plan to pay off your debt to Meow Mengqin?"

"Uh……"

However, when Chen Qi mentioned the debt he owed Miao Meng, his face was filled with embarrassment, and even his voice suddenly became unconfident. After his eyes swept over the lamp that had been staring at him, he lowered his voice and replied:

"Miao Meng, this is my debut live show. Although everyone in [sumimi] doesn't want any money to help me, if I really don't give a penny, then I don't understand the ways of the world."

"Besides, the agency hasn't settled the remuneration yet, and I haven't received the money yet... Meow Meng, can you wait a little longer?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, Xiaoqi~" However, what surprised Chen Qi was that Miao Meng rejected Chen Qi's proposal after a chuckle, and instead made a series of teasing sounds with a hint of charm.

Since Miao Meng herself did not hide anything, and the cabin was so quiet, some of these sounds naturally reached the ears of Gao Songdeng who was not far away.

Unconsciously, after hearing Miao Meng's mature and slightly frivolous smile, Gao Songdeng, who was sitting on the bed, clenched his hands slightly.

"As for money, Miao Mengqin, I have no shortage of it now. Miao Mengqin, I would prefer you to repay me by teaching me how to fish."

"Xiao Qi, next time if Miao Meng kisses me and wants to shoot a new video, you can't refuse the invitation."

"Besides, Miao Mengqin, I have a new requirement this time - you must show your face. Hehe, if everyone knew that Miao Mengqin, I actually know the popular singer of the new generation who is in the limelight now, the number of fans of my account will definitely increase~"

"——I understand." Chen Qi nodded with a dumb smile. When he thought about the establishment of Ave mujica in the future, he would probably need Miao Meng's assistance. So he agreed with the idea of ​​building a more solid relationship with Miao Meng.

Of course, Chen Qi felt that relying on his current "creditor relationship" with Miao Meng, as well as their occasional interactions and cooperation over the past six months, their relationship was already solid enough.

Finally, after some greetings, Chen Qi waited for Miao Meng to hang up the phone before he slowly put away his phone.

But at this moment, suddenly, the long-awaited figure of Gao Songdeng on the side slowly stood up, facing Chen Qi, and threw himself into his brother's arms.

"Brother... who is that? Why do you know her?" Deng skillfully buried her face in her brother's chest and asked in a muffled voice.

"He's just a partner. Of course, he's also my creditor now."

Faced with his insecure sister, Chen Qi couldn't help but laugh and stroked Deng's head, trying to comfort his sister again.

This kind of thing happened frequently, especially when Deng was in the third grade of junior high school. When Chen Qi came to pick Deng up from school, some female classmates who arrived at the school gate a few steps earlier than Deng and knew that he was Deng's brother would also chat with him.

At that time, as long as Deng witnessed this scene, he would rarely show a very unhappy expression, carefully squeeze out of the crowd, and immediately grab Chen Qi's hand, or hug Chen Qi's body.

Now that he thought about it carefully, Deng had actually already had some inclinations at that time... and at this moment, facing Deng who had not changed much in this regard, Chen Qi couldn't help but show a bit of bitterness on his face.

Although I have said that I would help to change the lights little by little, it seems that there is still a long way to go.

"Creditor?" This title also made Deng raise his head subconsciously. His pair of eyes as bright as stars were filled with worry. He asked Chen Qi in a low voice:

"Brother... do you owe her money?"

"Yes, I owe a lot." Chen Qi stroked Deng's head and shrugged his shoulders and said, "I have been paying it back for so long, but I still haven't paid it back. I can only pay it back little by little in the future."

"Brother, why do you owe so much money?" Deng was obviously not fooled by Chen Qi and immediately grasped the key point of the problem.

As siblings who have lived together for such a long time, Gao Songdeng certainly knows that his brother is not the kind of person who cannot control his wallet once he has freedom. Rather, when his brother ran away from home, he did not even have a stable income and had to send money home every month, which could be said to be quite difficult.

And what was the reason? Why did my brother want to borrow money from Miss Miao Meng? And they should have only known each other for the past six months, right? Would Miss Miao Meng really agree to such a request?

In response to this, Chen Qi also shook his head bitterly, and seemed not to want to explain anything. He just said softly to the lamp:

"This matter is a bit complicated... Of course, if you want to know, you can ask Kaname Lenna. Of course, the premise is that Lenna is willing to answer."

Le Na? The first thing that came to Deng's mind was the white-haired cat girl. Does this matter have anything to do with her?

However, before Takamatsu Deng asked again, Chen Qi struggled to break free from the Deng's restraints with a little effort. He planned to wash up well and then visit Shiina Riki's home according to his plan yesterday.

And on Chen Qi's phone, the line message he sent to Hai Ling last night had already received a reply.

Hailing: [I understand. Let’s meet downstairs at Lixi’s house tomorrow.]

On the other side, at the door of the bathroom where Chen Qi was washing, Gao Songdeng was like a follower who had always been following his brother, silently staring at his brother's every move, but some anxious thoughts flashed through his mind because of this scene.

In the past six months...how many "friends" has my brother made that I don't know about?

……

"coming."

Downstairs at Li Xi's house, Hachiman Hailing, who had been browsing her phone early in the morning and looking at the hot searches and topics related to Chen Qi and Sanjiao Chuhua, quickly noticed Chen Qi's figure and whispered to the doll girl with long light green hair beside her.

"Mu? Why are you here?"

Chen Qi, who was jogging along, was also surprised to see Ruoye Mu standing beside Hailing. Hailing, whose expression remained unchanged, promptly explained for Mu:

"It's a coincidence, but when I was still waiting for you, I found that Ruoye was here too, and she seemed to want to talk to Li Xi as well."

Mu: “…Yeah.”

In response to Hailing's explanation, Mu, with a cold expression, nodded slightly, acknowledging that Hailing's guess was correct.

"I am also responsible for what happened to Li Xi... Like Qi, I knew the reason why Xiang left the team, but I didn't say anything at the time."

"So, I wanted to talk to Riki, but I didn't expect that Inori had asked Hachiman-san to come here as well."

The puppet girl also turned her gaze to Chen Qi and conveyed the purpose of her visit. Although it was clumsy, Mu really hoped to help Chen Qi relieve even a little bit of the burden.

Of course, Mu herself knew that she often meant well but ended up doing something bad, so before coming here this time, she had done a lot of homework.

There were many notes in Mu's pocket, all of which were what she had rehearsed last night, telling her how to respond to Li Xi's sharp questions.

"Then you should have told me first, Mu. I won't let you bear this mistake alone."

Facing Mu's kindness, Chen Qi didn't know what expression to make for a moment... Should he say, fortunately Hailing came early? Otherwise, if Mu and Lixi had a private conversation, Chen Qi couldn't imagine how Mu's leader would respond to Lixi's straightforward questioning.

Faced with Li Xi's repeated torture, even Chen Qi did not dare to confront him head-on. I don't know where Mu got the confidence to dare to come to Li Xi alone.

But facing Mu's kindness, Chen Qi was still quite touched. He lowered himself slightly in front of Mu, looking at this girl who really wanted to help him, and smiled a little relaxed for the first time in a long time, saying:

"Thank you, Mu. Fortunately, you are still by my side."

Mu: "…You're welcome, Qi."

However, in response to Chen Qi's thanks, Mu's heart was slightly filled with joy. At the same time, in this long-lost close contact, he quickly caught the subtle changes in Chen Qi during this period of time.

Qi, you seem to have lost some weight again.

Not sure if it was because of the heat or because he forgot to button his clothes in a hurry, but Mu clearly saw Chen Qi's collarbone, which seemed to be a little deeper than what she remembered when she accidentally saw it one time.

Of course, it wasn't just his body, Mu also noticed the dark circles under Chen Qi's eyes, which proved that he didn't get enough sleep yesterday. And his slightly pale face, dry lips... Everything that was reflected on Chen Qi seemed to prove that his body and physical endurance were about to reach their limits.

Pray, it's almost broken...

Mu looked at the slightly haggard Chen Qi in front of him, and a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. Even as a bystander, Mu knew clearly how hard Chen Qi had been working during this period.

First, there were more than two weeks of intense rehearsals, just to solve Xiangzi's problem. Now, Xiangzi's problem has finally come to an end, and the band's disunity has made Qi worried again.

Mu knew very well that although Chen Qi had not nominally returned to the band, he very much hoped that this band that had inherited his wishes could continue. He also hoped to see that the four old members could find a home in the new band.

Qi has always hoped that they could be independent, not only because he wanted to see that scene, but also because Qi himself knew very well... he could not withstand such great pressure and he was about to collapse.

But I can't do anything...

If only I could stop all this, if only I could do more, Qi might not have to suffer so much.

Mu's eyes wandered slightly. Even though her emotions were surging, her face only slightly pursed her lips - she didn't even dare to reveal her emotions in front of Chen Qi.

Chen Qi's current condition makes Mu extremely worried, so Mu doesn't want to add any more burden to Chen Qi because of his own reasons.

These things about Xiangzi and everyone in the band... Although they made Mu very upset for a while, she could still bear it.

I absolutely must not collapse before Qi, otherwise, I might not be able to help Qi at all...Mu thought silently in his heart.

"Okay, then everyone, let's go upstairs."

After Chen Qi simply expressed his gratitude to Mu, he and Hai Ling slowly walked towards Shiina Tachikawa's apartment.

But when Chen Qi turned around, he did not notice that behind him, Mu silently stretched out a hand towards his back, as if he wanted to say something but was unable to say it.

Mu stretched out her hand, not to grab Chen Qi...she just wanted to help Chen Qi button up the buttons he forgot to put on his shirt.

However, her hand was only half extended. The scene of Toyokawa Shoko hugging and crying with Chen Qi yesterday unconsciously echoed in her mind, forcing Mu to retract her hand.

The dream has been shattered. It's time to wake up, Ruo Yemu.

He...is no longer the same as he was half a year ago. He no longer belongs to you alone.

After figuring out all of this, Mu's eyes flashed with a sadness and grief that only she understood... She had given up everything, but the person she cared about was hurt and became so haggard by those who were fighting for him.

Is it right or wrong for me to give in?

……

"Uh...uh..."

In the dim room, Shiina Tatsuki, who had stayed up all night yesterday and couldn't fall asleep, fell down in front of the computer desk without knowing when.

However, she, who was immersed in sleep at this moment, did not seem to have any good dreams. On the contrary, Lixi's body had been twitching constantly from beginning to end, and even her delicate face revealed a ferocious expression from time to time.

In her dream, Lixi recalled everything that happened when Crychic disbanded. Every word she had said to Chen Qi at that time now echoed in her mind very clearly.

"Ah, ah... I see! You are that kind of person, right? The kind of person who doesn't care about anything else as long as he can achieve his goal!"

No, no, I know the truth now, he is not that kind of person.

In the dream, Li Xi, who now knew the truth of the past, felt as if her body was bound. She watched helplessly as everything she had experienced was replayed again.

And the me who didn't know the truth and only knew how to vent my emotions was standing in front of the drum, speaking vicious words to the innocent young man again and again.

And now she knew that all this had nothing to do with him, but there was no way to change anything... She could only curse herself over and over in her heart for her rude words.

Shut up, shut up, shut up!

What do you know? Do you know how vicious your words are? He is innocent, why did you do this to him!

"——Congratulations, great genius."

"Now, you are free."

"Shut up!!"

Suddenly, Shiina Riki, who was awakened from the nightmare, yelled at himself in the dream. After a moment of mental trance, the breathless Riki realized that everything in front of him had returned to reality.

The computer screen in front of her had already gone dark, and under her arm was the song that she should have thrown away as scrap.

However, just before Lixi was about to crumple up this scrapped song and throw it away, she faintly felt the weight coming from her shoulders and realized something was wrong.

Why are there clothes on me? Did my mother or sister come into my room?

Wait, this black leather jacket...she seems familiar.

"You're awake, Lixi."

Suddenly, a familiar male voice came from behind, which made Li Xi stand up from her seat almost reflexively. At the moment when Li Xi turned around, Chen Qi, who was only wearing a white shirt on his upper body, was also sitting on her bed, smiling at her.

What attracted Li Xi's attention even more were undoubtedly the crumpled papers in Chen Qi's hands - those were all the scraps of her work!

Her scrapped manuscript was seen by this guy? Doesn't that mean that he already knew that she was in a creative bottleneck?