Living in the bubble economy of Tokyo, I became a literary giant through lotteries.

She read it aloud to herself, her brow twitching slightly.

"What type of song is this?"

The chorus was circled by Guan Gufeng with a pen, and a beat mark was marked next to it.

Her lips moved silently, mimicking the rhythm of a lyric.

"Judging from the feeling of the lyrics, it's a bit like..." Sachiko Kamachi said hesitantly.

"Rock and roll, huh?" Guan Gufeng said.

"Yes, that's right."

Sachiko Kamachi placed the lyric sheet on her lap, looked up at Kaze Sekiya, and her expression swirled between "Are you kidding me?" and "I'm actually kind of looking forward to it."

In the end, she chose a more tactful way of putting it.

"This isn't written for K-On!, is it?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't it be a sweeter, cuter song?"

"Think about it." Guan Gufeng leaned against the piano, arms crossed. "Imagine you just finished watching an episode of K-On! For the first twenty minutes, four high school girls were eating snacks, drinking tea, and dozing off in the club room."

"Occasionally playing the guitar and then going to a music store together, a warm and cute daily life, so peaceful that it doesn't seem like an anime about a band."

"Yes." Sachiko Kamachi nodded.

"Then the end credits song intro starts, the drums come down, the electric guitar is full of distortion, the bass forms a wall, and the lead singer's voice is not the sweet idol type, but has a rebellious and untamed feel."

"Isn't this contrast cool?"

Pu Chixingzi looked at Guan Gufeng, who was gesturing wildly in front of her. His eyes were brighter than usual, and his voice was louder than usual.

But she still couldn't resist.

"Guan Gu-kun, have you been holding this in for a long time?"

"It's been a long time." Guan Gufeng nodded honestly. "I've been thinking about it ever since you said you wanted to sing a different kind of song."

Sachiko Kamachi lowered her head and turned to the next page of the lyric sheet in her hand.

The curves of the note tails are drawn particularly round, which is a habit he has when drawing comics; even the curves are drawn with pen pressure.

She read a few sections, her gaze finally settling on Guan Gufeng's face.

"What about the melody? If it's rock, it can't be heavy metal, right? Too much guitar and bass would create too much contrast."

"No, not at all." Guan Gufeng sat down on the piano bench, opened the piano lid, and said, "My idea is that the melody should be catchy, the rhythm should be regular, and the overall arrangement should not be too complicated. It should be the kind of music that is easy to become popular among young people."

"It's so catchy that you can remember the chorus melody after just one listen, and then unconsciously start humming it on your way home from school."

"Simple, yet powerful."

Sachiko Kamachi didn't say anything. She picked up the guitar again, placed it on her lap, and gently rested her right hand on the strings, gesturing for him to continue with her eyes.

Guan Gufeng's finger fell down.

As the piano music began, Sachiko Kamachi's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

After she finished playing, she stood up, walked to the piano, bent down, and placed her finger on a measure of the chorus on the sheet music.

"Here." She looked up, and because she was bending over, her ponytail slipped down her shoulders, the ends brushing against the edge of the sheet music.

"I think the melody of the chorus could be a little lower."

Guan Gufeng thought for a moment, then placed his fingers back on the piano keys and played it again as Sachiko Kamachi had instructed.

"Then it goes straight to the original key?"

"Yes, the original key."

And so the two began their musical creation...

"Guan Gu-kun, it would be best to use a brighter tone for the keyboard in this section and add a melody."

"Sachiko, your guitar playing is a bit too fast. Follow along with my bass."

"Sorry, Guan Gu-kun, the bass was a little too soft just now, I didn't hear it clearly."

"Guan Gu-kun, let the bass play the interlude before the last chorus, and add a few rests in the middle of the piano section. If there's a sense of pause, it will sound better. Also, the second verse."

"How about this? I'll leave a pause before the last three notes of each phrase, and then I'll rush the last note."

"Yes! That's it, Guan Gu-kun, you're amazing!"

……

The two worked until 6 p.m. before finishing composing the entire piece.

However, a minor problem arose while singing.

Looking at the dark expression on Guan Gufeng's face, Pu Chixingzi finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Hahahaha! Guan Gu-kun, you're clearly a genius at playing musical instruments, but how come you can sing... hahaha!"

Looking at Sachiko Kamachi, who was laughing so hard she was crying, Kaze Sekiya said irritably, "I already told you I can't sing, but you insisted on listening, and you promised you wouldn't laugh at me."

"But I didn't know you sounded like a... duck the moment you opened your mouth, hahaha!"

"Stop laughing!"

"I wasn't laughing!" Sachiko Kamachi quickly suppressed her smile, but the curve of her eyebrows betrayed her.

"Sigh." Guan Gufeng clutched his chest, feigning heartbreak, "In the end, I still misplaced my trust."

Sachiko Kamachi paused for a moment, then laughed even harder.

"Okay, okay." She finally calmed down and wiped away her tears with her fingertips. "I just wanted to hear it, and you could demonstrate first so I could see where to go in. I didn't expect... pfft, hahaha!"

"Stop laughing! If you laugh again, I won't feed you!"

"Okay, I'm not laughing anymore." Sachiko Kamachi sat up straight, tucked her chin in slightly, and straightened the corners of her mouth.

Guan Gu Feng turned his face away helplessly and sat down at the piano.

"I'll accompany you on the instrument, you sing."

"Um."

"3, 2, 1."

The prelude flowed from the piano, and a girl's youthful yet slightly rebellious voice rang out.

Please don't say "You are lazy".

「だって本道はcrazy」(Actually, I am really crazy)

「白鸟たちはそう」(The same goes for swans)

"见えないとこでバタ足するんです" (clear waves floating in invisible water)

……

In the evening, at the dinner table, Sachiko Kamachi happily ate the dumplings made by Kaze Sekiya.

"Guan Gu-kun, your pork and cabbage dumplings are delicious! Where did you learn to make them?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was self-taught?"

"I believe you." Sachiko Kamachi nodded, placed her chopsticks on the rim of her bowl, and looked at Kaze Sekiya with a serious expression.

"You can play the piano, electric guitar, bass, and drums, and you play them so well. I'll believe whatever you say now."

"Okay, then add some of my secret chili oil and soy sauce to your dipping sauce dish that only has vinegar, and the dumplings will taste even better."

"Okay." She added the seasoning as Guan Gufeng had suggested and took a bite.

"How is it? Delicious, isn't it?"

"It's so delicious! I usually eat fried food at the store, but I didn't know that boiled food is so good too."

"I'll make you sour soup dumplings next time, they're delicious too."

"It's a deal!"

8 PM.

After finishing their meal and washing the dishes, the two sat side by side on the sofa, turned on the TV, and chatted while watching the NHK Taiga drama "Kasuga no Tsubone".

Xiao Hua lay on the sofa armrest, her tail drooping down and gently brushing against Guan Gufeng's hand. Xiao Bai nestled in Pu Chixingzi's arms, curling herself into a ball.

On the table in front of me were soda water and egg pudding.

In Sachiko Kamachi's glass bowl, there were two puddings, with caramel syrup seeping out from the edges.

"Sekiya-kun, what are you planning to do with this song?" Sachiko Kamachi asked, her eyes fixed on Reiko Ohara, who was playing Kasuga no Tsubone on TV.

"Don't rush. I plan to have someone produce the content for one episode first, and then see if I can air one episode in the anime slot between 7 and 8 o'clock on TV Asahi."

Guan Gufeng took a sip of water. "Each episode is about twenty minutes long. With some connections, getting one episode should be no problem."

"The song will be the ending theme. Like I said before, if the response is good, we can continue making it."

He looked at Sachiko Kamachi and said, "Let's find a professional place someday and finish recording this song."

"Okay." After saying that, Sachiko Kamachi hesitated for a moment before asking, "And what about after that?"

"Um?"

She released her hand from Xiaobai's back and turned her head to look at him.

"Can I come to your house again and create music with you?" Sachiko's voice was a little soft. "I read the lyric book you gave me back, 'Don't Give Up,' and the lyrics are really good."

"Every word seemed to say everything I wanted to say."

"I know this request might be a bit much, but could we write that song as well?"

Looking into Sachiko Kamachi's eyes, Kaze Sekiya said, "Of course, but could you wait a while? It might be a bit long."

The circumstances surrounding the creation of "Don't Give Up" are closely related to the lives of the people after the bursting of the bubble economy.

It's not good to let it appear too early.

Guan Gufeng carefully considered his words before speaking, "The lyrics of this song..."

"No need to explain," Sachiko Kamachi interrupted him. "I told you, I believe you."

Guan Gu Feng looked into her eyes and remained silent for a long time.

"If it takes time, then wait. I'm not in a hurry."

She picked up the bowl and ate the last bite of pudding.

"Wind Lord".

"Thank you for writing the song for me."

On television, the story of Kasuga no Tsubone is coming to an end.

Guan Gufeng followed her to the entrance and watched her squat down to change her shoes. She stood up, put her violin case on her back, and turned to look at him.

"See you another day," she said. "Today was really delicious, the dumplings and the pudding were both wonderful. I'm free at the office tomorrow, so I'll play the sheet music you wrote in my apartment. Goodnight."

"Good night."