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

The double blow without any warning almost caused devastating damage to the self-esteem of Shiina Riki who had just woken up. As a result, the cheeks of this delicate and cold beauty suddenly turned red with anger.

"You! How did you get in?! No! You actually walked into a girl's room like that?!"

"And! Put down those scraps! Who allowed you to read them? I don't need your help with my creation!"

Having said that, Li Xi, who was both embarrassed and annoyed, didn't care about the difference between men and women. Relying on the many quarrels he had with Chen Qi in the past, he unceremoniously pulled the 1.88-meter-tall Chen Qi up from the bed, then pushed Chen Qi's back and rushed out the door.

"Get out! Get out! I didn't allow you to come in! You are not allowed to come in again in the future!"

"boom!"

In the end, accompanied by a dull sound of the door closing, Chen Qi, who showed no resistance, was kicked out of the room by Li Xi.

In the living room, Hailing and Hemu, who were sitting on the sofa, and Lixi's sister, who invited them in, all turned their eyes to Chen Qi who was kicked out.

Especially Li Xi's sister, who looked 80% similar to Li Xi, but was a few years older. Her temperament and appearance were more outstanding than Li Xi's. She was about the same age as Chen Qi. After seeing Chen Qi's defeat, she showed a gloating expression and chuckled:

"Let me tell you. My little sister has a difficult personality."

"...Really? I don't think I've failed."

Chen Qi didn't care about this expected result at all, and sat down on the sofa without any shame. Now he just had to wait until Li Xi was ready to see him, and then he would be done.

……

"Huh...huh..."

"How did this guy get in? Did my sister let him in? Didn't I tell you that no one is allowed to enter my room?"

Li Xi, who had finally pushed Chen Qi out, also had red cheeks and was panting as she murmured to herself. Having used up a lot of her energy, she sat down on her bed, her beautiful eyes involuntarily looking at the scrap manuscript left by Chen Qi beside her.

Perhaps it was out of curiosity, or maybe he knew Chen Qi's abilities too well, even though he had just spoken rudely to Chen Qi, Li Xi subconsciously picked up the scrap manuscript that Chen Qi had revised.

On it, there were many changes written by Chen Qi in ballpoint pen, as well as his notes. More importantly, Chen Qi had even written a few lines of lyrics and marked them below the manuscript.

However, although he gave some suggestions, he did not make any complete changes. Most of the song was still Li Xi's own conception. Chen Qi just made some modifications to make the melody more catchy and more natural.

While reading, Li Xi tried to hum along with the melody modified by Chen Qi, but she soon noticed a black lunch box on her bed that had been covered by the manuscript.

"Is this... a sandwich?"

Lixi opened the lunch box and found that it was filled with triangular sandwiches, which contained a lot of vegetables and also some meat, which Lixi liked more.

"Did that guy bring this too?"

As Lixi was thinking, she suddenly felt hungry and took a bite of the sandwich without thinking.

Li Xike had no worries at all. After all, she and Chen Qike knew each other too well. When they were in Crychic, Li Xi often asked Chen Qike to bring her a lunch box as an apology gift for Chen Qi's "torture" of her.

Therefore, even if Chen Qi ate this lunch box himself, Li Xi felt at ease taking it. At most, he could just turn around and give him one in return, but his cooking skills were probably not as good as his brother's.

Just like that, in the dim room, Lixi ate a sandwich with one hand and looked at the manuscript revised by Chen Qi with the other hand... After experiencing a nightmare, Shiina Lixi's spirit also briefly ushered in his own peace.

It's like... that time that can never be returned to, when he and I were still "bad friends" who knew each other well.

Chapter 63: Shiina Riki's memory: the man she disliked the most

dislike.

Shiina Riki has always disliked the man who joined the band later than herself but became the new core of the band before herself.

The reason why Shiina Riki joined Crychic was purely coincidental, it was just because of a school festival at Yugaoka Girls' High School.

I was just bored at that time, and my sister kept inviting and pleading with me, so I had to go watch the performance of my sister and Yuqiu's brass band.

To be honest, Lixi actually didn't want to go to the scene, not only because she was more of a "lone wolf" person, but also because if possible, she didn't want to watch her sister's performance at all.

Don't get me wrong, the relationship between Lixi and her sister is not strained. The sisters have a very good relationship. It's just... Lixi has some personal opinions about her sister who was born three years earlier than her and started earlier than her in all aspects.

Li Xi even always suspected that it was because her sister was born earlier than her that she inherited the better genes from her parents. Otherwise, why was she inferior to her sister in every way?

Although my sister is very similar to me in terms of appearance, her softer features and friendly personality always make her more popular than me.

When it comes to studying, my sister is always better than me. They both go to the same school and even have the same professors, but Li Xi's academic performance is always a little bit behind her...

Even though I have rarely seen my sister stay up late, and she likes to socialize when she has nothing to do, my sister is always in the top ten in the high school department, while I can only get into the top 30 in the junior high school department even if I study very hard.

Even in terms of musical talent, the two sisters have a huge difference.

Lixi's sister has had a strong interest and talent for music since she was young. Lixi has heard her parents bragging to neighbors more than once about her sister's first time touching a guitar. Her sister, who was only six years old, could try to play the melody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in just a few hours after she first got familiar with the guitar.

The reason why Lixi came into contact with musical instruments and music was not because she loved it. She just simply wanted to prove that she was better than her sister in the area where her sister was good at.

In other words, the reason why Lixi first got involved in music was just to compete with his sister.

The final result is that more than ten years have passed, and his sister has become the leader and absolute main force of the Yuqiu Wind Band.

And Lixi... Although she thought she played the drums very well, compared with her sister, Lixi always subconsciously felt that her level was not good enough.

No, it can no longer be said to be subconscious, it is almost like a stamp of thought, that strong sense of "inferiority" is almost imprinted in Li Xi's bones.

From childhood to adulthood, no matter whether it is neighbors or classmates and teachers in the same school, everyone's praise is centered on her more outstanding elder sister, and she herself, Shiina Tatsuki, seems to be just an accessory of her elder sister.

"Ah, Li Xi turned out to be her sister."

"That's great. Li Xi actually has such an excellent sister. It's really enviable."

...Having an outstanding sister is something people envy?

Oh, you guys are so naive. You don’t know at all how much pressure it is for a younger sister to have such an outstanding sister over your head.

Suffering from such a sense of inferiority time and time again, and being considered "not as good as her sister" by outsiders and even herself, Shiina Tatsuki, under the accumulated pressure, has a personality that is increasingly different from her sister, and her attitude is becoming more and more sharp.

Of course, for Lixi, who has suffered setbacks for more than a decade, the biggest change in her is her motivation.

The countless repeated results of never being able to surpass her sister deeply affected Lixi's enthusiasm. After she realized that no matter how hard she tried, she could not surpass her sister, Lixi, who had become numb, chose to give up on herself completely.

She stopped playing the drums and didn't listen carefully in class. She just slept. Naturally, her academic performance plummeted. She no longer paid attention to her interpersonal relationships and even hoped that others would not associate her with that outstanding sister.

But it was this school festival that Li Xi had no choice but to watch, which changed Li Xi's fate...

"Shiina Riki-san? Excuse me, are you the sister of that Shiina-senpai?"

After the performance of the wind band ended, Lixi was about to leave without saying goodbye to her sister. However, just as she stepped out of the door of the studio, she was stopped by two figures wearing school uniforms that were not from Yuqiu Girls' College.

"My apologies. I'm Toyokawa Shoko, and the person next to me is my childhood friend, Wakaba Mutsuki. We both attend the junior high school of Tsuki no Mori Girls' Academy."

The blue-haired girl in the Tsuki no Mori school uniform had a warm smile on her face. However, her next words made Li Xi frown.

"We just watched your sister's performance and went backstage to consult with our seniors, but they declined my invitation and recommended you to us instead."

"Senior Shiina said that Shiina Riki is a very good drummer. I plan to form a band and I'm in need of a talented drummer. Do you have any interest in this?"

Drummer? Form a band? Originally, these words attracted Li Xi's attention, but Xiangzi's previous sentence made Li Xi feel extremely uncomfortable.

Did this guy just come to pull my sister? His first target wasn't me.

However, after hearing this, Shiina Tatsuki, who originally wanted to refuse outright, couldn't help but change her mind - if she joined the band, perhaps she could have less contact with her sister.

Besides, judging from the appearance of this person in front of him, Toyokawa Shoko, he was probably just playing house with a band on impulse.

Shiina Tatsuki, who had a clear understanding of her own level, couldn't help but start to think that even if she couldn't compare to her sister, she should at least be able to be a main force in this kind of pretend band, right?

After all, for such a temporarily formed band, the initiator might not even have any special skills, and some people might not even know how to play a musical instrument. Li Xi had seen this kind of thing in several bands formed in his class.

After all, not everyone has a good friend who has the same persistence and perseverance as Hachiman Kairei.

I'll just go and take a look, just to show off my skills. If the band is really hopeless, I'll just quit then.

At least, I don't have to see my sister for a while, so I can relax a little.

“I’m in.”

Without much thought, Shiina Riki agreed readily, holding on to her own unknown and slightly inferior idea.

But soon, Shiina Riki began to regret the decision he had made.

First of all, this cobbled-together band was different from what she had imagined. Aside from Takamatsu Tomori who was chosen as the lead singer at the beginning, every member not only knew how to play an instrument, but each one of them was extremely proficient at it!

Among them, Nagasaki Motoyo, who is also from Tsukinomori Academy, has a bass level that is almost the same as his own, while Mutsu, the guitarist, and Toyokawa Shoko, the initiator, both perform better than himself in the positions they are responsible for.

The band she chose to join not only failed to improve her "status", but instead pushed her to the bottom of the mountain once again.

Fortunately, there was someone whose situation was worse than hers, and that was the lead singer of their band, Deng Takamatsu.

"You said you can't sing? What do you mean? You can write such good lyrics? But you can't sing it yourself?"

Deng: "Well, that... "Haruhi Shadow" was not created by me... My brother helped me arrange the music and write the lyrics."

In front of Li Xi, Takamatsu Deng, who was almost the same height as Li Xi but much weaker in aura, was also worried about his fatal problem. Although Li Xi was somewhat dissatisfied with Deng's inability to sing, he was secretly glad in his heart.

Fortunately, I am not the last one in this band.

Although Li Xi was a little dissatisfied with the predicament faced by Takamatsu Deng, he actually took better care of Deng.

Just because, Li Xi hoped that Gao Song Deng, who was like her former self, was at a loss and had no confidence, and when she heard that Deng had a brother who could compose music and write lyrics and was much better than her, Li Xi felt that Deng was just like herself in another time and space.

She thought, the reason why Deng was so cowardly and courageless... maybe it was because he was the same as herself, because he had a brother or sister who was much better than herself, so he was oppressed and had no confidence?

But compared to Deng, I am already lucky.

At least, I haven't lost confidence to the point where I can't even make a sound.

"Don't, don't worry, Lixi." Gao Songdeng didn't seem to understand Lixi's inner thoughts. He just thought that he was holding back from Lixi's unfriendly words, and then hurriedly said carefully:

"I have discussed this with Xiangzi. Xiangzi plans to visit my home and invite my brother to join our band..."

Li Xi: "Huh? Xiangzi made the decision? How come we don't know?"

However, Gao Songdeng's unintentional words suddenly ignited Li Xi's temper. Especially when Li Xi had never heard of this decision, she was even more dissatisfied with Xiangzi's presumptuous decision.

But more than that, Lixi had to be honest with herself...she was actually afraid.

In this band, except for the lights, she is almost at the bottom. Although everyone has only practiced a few times, once there is a deviation in the drum beat that Lixi is responsible for, the mistake will always be particularly clear.

In particular, to the ears of the genius Toyokawa Shoko, even the slightest flaw can be heard clearly by her.

The fact that there was only one person in the band, Xiangzi, whose talent was far inferior to everyone else's, was enough to make Lixi feel a little suffocated. Although she had never met Deng's brother, she knew that he could write the lyrics of "Haruhi Shadow" almost by himself, which made her heart tremble. He must be no worse than Xiangzi, right?

If only the band had one more talent like this, and the problem of the lamp losing its voice was solved…

Then wouldn't I be back to my previous situation again?

And this time, the ones "oppressing" him were not just one or two people, but five people in the band!

When she thought of this, even though Shiina Riki appeared calm on the surface, she felt a sense of oppression as if a mountain was pressing down on her in her heart. The mere imagination of that possibility made Riki feel suffocated.

Xiangzi never tells anyone about his decisions, and never consults with anyone. He always ignores everyone's decisions and makes his own decisions!

How could such an outstanding person like Xiangzi know and care about the feelings of himself and Deng, the two "oppressed" sisters!

"I'm going to find her right now!"

"Eh? Wait, Lixi..."

However, faced with Li Xi's sudden indignation, Gao Songdeng was unable to stop his band friend in time. He could only look at Li Xi's back as he left, silently withdrew his hand, and stayed there at a loss.

That day, Lixi found Xiangzi and had a big fight with him, or rather, Lixi unilaterally protested against Xiangzi's decision, but was rejected by Xiangzi.

However, this quarrel between the two did not change any outcome.

The next day, when Li Xi and others were waiting in the recording studio early, Xiangzi arrived and finally met Takamatsu Deng's brother.

"Let me introduce to you all, this is Senior Chen Qi! He is Deng's brother, and the genius composer and lyricist who helped Deng create "Spring Shadow"."

Chen Qi? Why is he Deng's brother but not Deng's last name?

However, Shiina Riki, who was unable to change Xiangzi's mind and was in a very bad mood that day, also paid attention to this point and finally glanced sideways at the extremely tall and thin figure standing behind Xiangzi.

Maybe it was because Li Xi had an unfriendly filter, but her first impression of Chen Qi was just average.

He was not like his sister, who had a beauty that amazed people wherever he went, nor did he look sunny and cheerful at first glance. With his slightly long bangs and a decent appearance, apart from being a little tall, there seemed to be nothing special about him.

This also made Li Xi, who thought she was at least good-looking, feel a little more balanced. But her mentality did not last long.

"elder brother."

Suddenly, Gao Songdeng, who usually seldom spoke in the band, noticed his brother's figure and immediately walked forward. He was not timid at all and took the initiative to hold Chen Qi's hand in front of everyone.

"lamp."

Under the extremely astonished gazes of Lixi and others except Xiangzi, Chen Qi also lowered himself with a gentle smile and rubbed Deng's little head without any worries.

At that moment, although Li Xi did not notice Deng's expression, she could imagine how happy Deng must have been as he lowered his head slightly and enjoyed the touch from his brother...

Ah...it turns out that everything is different from what I thought.