Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

"Wow..." Liang smiled knowingly, and turned to Qiu Hui with a strange expression, "It seems that you will be very busy recently. You should take care of your health."

"Thanks to Hongxia, my sleep quality has been pretty good recently..."

While everyone was chatting, Nagasaki Suyo, who had gone to the front desk to handle formalities, turned back.

"Everyone, there's an empty recording studio available right now...ah, are you a friend of senior Akiie?" Su Shi looked at Ryo who suddenly appeared and asked.

"I'm just a bassist passing by." Liang answered irrelevantly, "Don't pay too much attention to my existence."

"…This guy's name is Yamada Ryo." Akie introduced her name, "He's the bassist of the band I'm in now."

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Nagasaki Motoyo, and I'm also a bassist." Motoyo smiled, "We're on our way to the recording studio now. We asked Akee-senpai to be the backup keyboardist, so I hope she can play there so that we can get to know her better..."

"Oh, that's great." Liang nodded. "We rely on guitar for the lead vocals, so Akie plays some supporting parts. I also want to see how she performs when she plays solo now."

"Well, it's better not to set your expectations too high." Qiu Hui shook her head, "Let's go to the recording studio."

Chapter 82: Akihime's Performance Level

In the recording room.

Togawa Aie stood behind the electronic keyboard.

The electronic piano in front of her was an unfamiliar model - or rather, apart from the one she was using now, there was no other model she was familiar with.

Because she was unfamiliar with the setup, she decided to just use the plainest piano sounds.

What should I play... Let's find a slightly simpler exercise.

"Then shall I start?" Qiu Hui asked the three audience members in front of her.

"Yeah!" Su Shi nodded with a smile, "I'm looking forward to it."

"..."

Qiu Hui looked at the keyboard in front of her with a bitter face.

Taking deep breaths to ease the tension, she placed her stiff hands on the piano keys.

Akie began to play.

Just dealing with the music in her mind and the movements of her hands had already consumed most of her energy.

Therefore, she had to actively contract her senses and reduce the entire world in her subjectivity to a simple system with only two objects: herself and the electronic piano.

She played the slightly stiff melody with a tightrope-walking mentality.

With the attitude of showing her best side as much as possible, Qiu Hui tried hard to squeeze out her little remaining musical attainments.

Logically speaking, there was no need for her to work so hard.

If the level of performance is really bad, it may make Su Shi reconsider the arrangement of the support keyboard player, thus reducing the pressure of her already overwhelmed daily life.

But Qiu Hui realized that even so, she was still playing very hard, intending to do her best with her limited ability.

This is so strange. Do I really want to stay in Suyo-san's band?

Even if it was for Aine, it wouldn't be necessary to go to this extent, right?

Qiu Hui felt the sticky touch of her shirt as it was wet with sweat from her back.

Suddenly, she heard a discordant note and she quickly realized that she had played the music wrong.

Oops! When I made a mistake, I should have… used my momentum to cover it up! Just pretend nothing happened!

Not being overly affected by the occasional mistakes, Qiu Hui quickly got her rhythm back on the right track and continued playing the etude until the end of the coda.

Although it cannot be said to be very smooth and vivid, and it is difficult to feel the so-called emotion and soul, but no matter what, I still played the whole song more or less correctly.

Qiu Hui felt relieved about this. Even if she was not recognized, at least she would not be laughed at excessively in the hearts of the audience.

With her hands off the keyboard, Qiu Hui subconsciously wanted to bow to the audience - but she quickly gave up the idea. It wasn't like she was going on stage for a competition, and doing so in front of her acquaintances would only look ridiculous.

"……how?"

Qiu Hui, who was asking the question in a low voice, suddenly found that the three audience members in front of her suddenly applauded at the same time.

"You play very well!" Su Shi praised with a smile, "In this case, it should be no problem for you to be a support keyboard player!"

“Isn’t this amazing!” Aine excitedly said, “Senior kept saying that he played badly, and I was ready to comfort him, but in the end, didn’t he play really well?”

"... She's much more skilled than when we first met." Ryo nodded. "If that's really because of improvement, then Akie is too talented. Did she regain the abilities she lost before?"

"... Maybe. After all, it's been a long time since I was in junior high school?"

Qiu Hui felt a little bit unbelievable when she said this.

Why does everyone’s response seem so good?

Do I play it well?

The whole piece is quite stiff and rigid, and there are mistakes. I don’t know how to fool around…

Although her heart was filled with doubts, Akie still maintained her normal expression on her face.

"Excuse me," Suyo asked, "Akiei-senpai must have learned piano when she was young, right? I can sense the foundation laid in her childhood."

"It's not that exaggerated..." Qiu Hui shook her head a little embarrassedly, "At that time, I was basically pushed by my parents and followed behind my sister. I only practiced a little bit."

To be honest, I had no idea what was going on in my head when I was little, and I had no interest in music. Plus, I was rebellious against my parents, so it was impossible for me to learn anything under such circumstances.

"I had this feeling when I first saw you." Ryo nodded. "Although you played very unskillfully at the time, Akie, that was not the performance of a beginner. It was the performance of someone who had not played for a long time."

"If you say it has been abandoned for a long time...that's true." Akie nodded.

…I think it was when I was in the third grade. My sister and I went to participate in some competition for the youth group. My sister won the runner-up, but I didn’t even make it to the semi-finals. I was eliminated in the third round of the group stage.

It was at that time that my father said to me, "You won't make it in the piano world with your current skills...why don't you just switch to learning the electronic keyboard? Although it's a little low-brow, it's surprisingly more useful. At least you can use it when you perform on stage at cultural festivals or when you form a band with your classmates."

When I was in the third grade of elementary school, I had no idea what a band was. If I was really allowed to choose between the piano and the keyboard, I would definitely choose neither.

After entering junior high school, I didn’t find any classmates to form a band with, nor did I have any plans to perform at cultural festivals. So I almost forgot about learning to play the electronic keyboard…

…At that time, I certainly didn’t expect that I would end up like this today.

"To be honest, we were playing together before, and Akie was always playing supporting parts, so I didn't notice your level improving." Ryo commented, "In the future, maybe I can let you play more difficult music without worry."

"... Let's forget about it." Akie shook her head. "I think it's a good foil for everyone... It suits my current half-baked level."

I know how badly I play the piano.

Although I am happy that people give me good comments out of politeness, I cannot really believe all of them, as that would cause big problems.

"Really?" Liang glanced at Qiu Hui, "Then I'll respect your opinion."

"All in all, I have gained a preliminary understanding of Akie-senpai's performance level this time." Suyo smiled, "At least, I am quite satisfied with it, right?"

"Thank you very much..."

"Wait a moment."

Liang suddenly spoke righteously.

"Since you're going to borrow our band's keyboard player, shouldn't you offer some compensation?"

"Hey, Ryo!" Akie gently pulled the corner of Ryo's clothes, "It's rude to say this suddenly!"

Surprisingly, Su Shi did not show any dissatisfaction.

"That's true. Having to take care of both sides at the same time must be very stressful for Akie-senpai, right? For this reason, I will pay you according to the time you appear. I wonder what you think, Akie-senpai?"

"Ah? I, I decide? This..." Qiu Hui was a little at a loss, "It's inappropriate, right?"

What a joke! With my level of skill, how can I get paid?

No matter what the number is... as long as I dare to say a number, it will seem that I am too proud of myself!

Chapter 83 Economic Takeoff

"Reward...that's exactly what it is." Chihaya Aine suddenly realized.

She glanced at Qiu Hui and gave her a meaningful smile.

"I am also very grateful to you for coming to help me! As a thank you, I am also willing to pay you an appearance fee!"

“No, no, no, this is really inappropriate!” Qiu Hui shook her head anxiously, “If money is involved, I always feel that the nature of the matter is completely different…”

Although Akie was struggling with the money issue, Yamada Ryo had no such psychological burden at all.

"Akie is a member of our band that has just ended." Ryo analyzed with a serious face, "Since they are going to borrow our important members, I think they should also pay the corresponding licensing fees to the band... I will collect this part of the fee on their behalf..."

"Don't take this opportunity to think of weird things!" Qiu Hui yelled, "At worst I can give you some of the money after I get it!"

"Oh!" Liang's eyes lit up, "How generous! I'll remember this!"

“Hey, so, have you decided how much you want to charge, Senpai?” Aine asked with a sly smile.

“I… that…”

Qiu Hui sighed. Judging from the situation, there would be no end to this matter if she didn't come up with a number.

If you say too much, you are greedy. But if you say too little, you are pretending to be noble, and you may even be understood as deliberately singing a different tune...

"…Let's do it based on the standard for convenience store part-time jobs." Akie said unconvincingly, "For example, 1,000 yen an hour?"

If it really doesn't work...just think of it as finding a new part-time job?

"Isn't it too low?" Suyo smiled, "But if I give too much, I'm sure Akiie-senpai will be embarrassed to accept it... How about 3,000 yen?"

“Then I’ll give one thousand too!” Aine raised her hand enthusiastically.

"Four thousand yen an hour? This, this..."

Qiu Hui felt a little dizzy. It's hard for college graduates to find such an easy job, right?

"I just need two thousand..." She stammered, "The rest... can be given to the band as activity funds, so the pressure of performance quota will be less..."

"Is it settled then?" Su Shi said with a smile, "Please give me your guidance in the future, okay?"

"Yes, that, I cannot thank you enough for your kindness..." The unconscious Akie had already started saying some incomprehensible things.

"Oh! That's great, Akihime!" Liang patted Akihime's shoulder vigorously, "You are really the god of wealth for our band ending... If you have the chance in the future, you must come here more often to help Suyo-san. This is very important for the band ending!"

"Ah, ahahaha, but, maybe it's like this?" Qiu Hui laughed in a very tasteless and strange way. It seemed that her rationality had temporarily declared a strike in the face of the shock of surprise.

While hooking his arm around Akie's shoulders, Ryo winked at Chihaya Aine beside him.

Aine nodded slightly and smiled in understanding.

Immersed in unexpected surprise and shock, Togawa Aie was completely unaware of what was happening.

The only thought in her mind at this moment was to improve her keyboard skills as much as possible.

Now every weekend there is a training session arranged by Wenku, so we must seize this opportunity...

……

After returning to her residence, Qiu Hui was still immersed in the joy of her unexpected fortune.

I got a subsidy from the library... and then there was the payment from Suyo and Aine for supporting the keyboard player...

Are the days of tight finances coming to an end?

...No! Qiu Hui, wake up!

Togawa Akie shook her head vigorously, driving herself out of the fantasy of consumerism.

The subsidy from the library is based on my commercial value as a "band member and novelist."

As for supporting keyboard players, "the performance as a keyboard player can satisfy others" is always the biggest prerequisite.

Although my income seems to have increased now, the premise is that there should be no problems with my identity as a band member and novelist.

In other words, I have to keep honing my skills as a keyboard player and not let my performance on new novels get any worse.

If the new work does not perform well in the market, then the value of my library will decrease and my income will also decrease.

As for the market performance of the new work...it actually involves too many unstable factors that I cannot control.

Therefore, even if the current economic situation has temporarily improved, we must always maintain risk management awareness, save more and consume less, and pay attention to prudent investment and expenditure management...

...When she thought of this, Qiu Hui had almost calmed down from her surprise.