After dropping out of school, I chose to join a girls' band.

This feeling of warmth gradually relaxed Yue. She closed her eyes, immersed herself in Taozi's warm embrace, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Before the stage opens: Chapter Seventeen - The reason for Crychic's disbandment?

After a good night's sleep, Yue Mei felt exceptionally refreshed the next morning. When she went to thank Taozi, she found the bedside empty; Taozi was nowhere to be seen.

She picked up her phone, opened the message page, and saw Peach's message.

"Moon, I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't want to disturb you. I'm going back to school now. Remember to give me the answer to that question next time!"

Yue quietly read Taozi's message. Taozi's care and thoughtfulness were evident between the lines, and it was as if Yue could hear her lively and energetic voice echoing in her ears.

Yue sighed softly and put her phone back on the bedside table.

"Looks like I'd better avoid peaches for a while."

Although Peach left her with a difficult problem before she left, she didn't feel too troubled.

After all, their stage should come to a proper close.

Only in this way can they move forward, truly reach the next stage, and embrace new challenges.

"I will definitely give you an answer next time we meet," she silently said to Peach.

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Although the morning was lovely, it wasn't the weekend, so after enjoying the perfect moment, Yue still had to put on her school uniform and get up to go to school at the Balin Kelou (Nine) in the Balin Kelou area.

After finishing her morning classes in a normal way, Yue borrowed the microwave in the teacher's office to quickly heat up the lunchbox she had bought yesterday but hadn't eaten, and then went to the Astronomy Department with Deng to enjoy her lunch.

"Yue, Lixi said today that she has something she wants me to come over for."

The lamp showed the moon the chat history on its phone.

Yue took the phone and looked at Lixi's cute panda avatar on the screen, along with the message: "Deng, do you have time tonight? Can you come to Ring for a bit? There's a troublesome guy who wants to talk to us about something."

"What's going on? Why are you being so mysterious?" Yue looked up and asked Deng in a puzzled tone, feeling somewhat confused about Li Xi's news.

"Hmm...it's probably Su Shi?" After thinking for a while, Deng tried to give a guess.

"Su Shi?"

Yue thought for a moment and felt that she must have heard this name somewhere before.

After thinking about it carefully, I finally remembered that I had seen it in a video of Crychic's rehearsal before. It was the young lady from Tsuki no Mori who was playing bass.

"Hmm... Su Shi, it seems she wants to rebuild Crychic."

As Deng spoke, the mention of Crychic made her expression somewhat somber.

"Rebuilding Crychic... Before knowing about Xiangzi's problems, I think there was still some possibility, but now the problems Xiangzi is facing are probably beyond the capabilities of an ordinary aristocratic high school girl."

"So, what are you thinking? Do you want to go see Su Shi?" Yue asked after thinking for a while.

"I...I don't know either, but...I still want to see Su Shi." Deng's words were filled with hesitation.

Looking at the hesitant Deng, Yue gently took her hand, revealing a determined smile, "Deng, I'll go with you."

--------------

After class in the afternoon, Yue and Deng briefly recorded the daily activities of the Astronomy Department, and then went to Ring together.

As they entered Ring, a familiar atmosphere enveloped them. Lamp seemed to become somewhat nervous, while Moon took her hand to calm her down.

Lixi stood behind the counter and, after seeing Deng and Yue walk in, took the menu and went to the seats they had chosen.

"It's a bit busy up front right now, and Su Shi hasn't arrived yet. Yue and Deng, why don't you order some things and wait a bit?"

After noting down the drinks the two ordered, Lixi hurriedly returned to the bar to help.

Feeling a bit bored, Yue lay on the table, her eyes following the girls carrying various musical instruments as they moved through the Ring. Suddenly, a question popped into her head, and she asked Deng.

"Deng, what were your thoughts when you joined Crychic?"

Her tone carried a hint of curiosity, as if she wanted to know more about Lamp's motivations and feelings about joining Crychic.

"Huh? It was Xiangzi who invited me, so I joined."

The lamp's answer sounded rather simple, which made Yue frown.

She had originally thought that Deng would offer some more unique reasons, deeper stories, or motivations, but she never expected that Deng would only join because of Xiangzi's invitation.

This led her to speculate about Crychic's potential disbandment, but just to be on the safe side, Yue decided to ask again.

"Lamp, do you know why the others joined?"

"Mu is Xiangzi's childhood sweetheart, and she was probably invited by Xiangzi to join. I don't know much about the others."

The lamp seemed unaware of the other members' situation, and after thinking for a while, it gave a reply.

"Now I have a clearer understanding of Crychic's disbandment."

After hearing Deng's answer, Yue sighed deeply and then slumped onto the table.

She had previously wondered why, without Xiangzi, the band simply disbanded.

Now that she had gotten part of the answer from the lamp, she understood.

At the same time, they were extremely pessimistic about Su Shi's attempt to rebuild Crychic.

"Huh? Yue, why would you say that?" Deng was a little confused by Yue's words. She didn't know how Yue knew the reason for Crychic's disbandment just by asking such a question.

When Yue heard Deng's question, she looked up and stared at her thoughtfully.

"Deng, I'm not saying I know all the reasons why Crychic disbanded, but I feel that the reasons why everyone joined the band seem to be related to Xiangzi."

Looking at the lamp's bewildered expression, Yue sighed, thought for a moment, and organized her thoughts.

“Crychic was formed entirely on Xiangzi’s personal foundation. You, Deng, decided to join after being invited by Xiangzi. The lady called Mu was probably invited by Xiangzi as his childhood friend.”

"Others are unaware of the situation at the moment, but it is now known that the two of you joined the band only because you were invited by Xiangzi. In other words, without Xiangzi, neither of you would have joined Crychic."

“I think you guys followed Xiangzi’s rhythm during the Crychic era. Once Xiangzi stopped participating in Crychic, the remaining four of you didn’t have a clear goal, and you couldn’t even form a practice group.”

Before the stage opening: Chapter 18: Qi Qiu Xia secretly keeps Ni Nagasaki Motoyo

Deng looked at Yue with admiration and exclaimed, "Wow, Yue is amazing! You can analyze things so thoroughly!"

Even though she only explained why she joined Crychic, Yue was able to analyze so much.

There was still something Yuexin hadn't said.

"To achieve this, one must possess extremely strong personal charisma, serving as a bond that connects others. Just how strong does Toyokawa-kun's personal charisma need to form a band like Crychic?"

"Furthermore, Toyokawa-kun hasn't just formed a band; Crychic's stage performances are also dazzling. If Toyokawa-kun were to participate in a stage play, he would probably be the kind of lead actor who can energize the entire audience."

"But in the end it was my fault... Xiangzi composed such a good song for Kasuga Kage, but I couldn't sing it well. It's all my fault... that led to Crychic's disbandment."

In the end, Deng blamed himself for all the mistakes, his expression filled with self-reproach and regret.

"No, that's not true!"

"Deng, you've always sung wonderfully! Xiangzi praised you after the performance, didn't he?"

Li hope arrived nearby with a brown-haired girl at some point.

"That's right, Light, the disbandment of Crychic wasn't any of our faults, so please stop wallowing in self-pity."

The one speaking was the brown-haired girl, who sat beside the lamp and comforted it in a gentle tone.

Once the lamp had calmed down, Su Shi turned to look at Yue and introduced herself with a smile.

"Hello, I'm Nagasaki Souyo, a friend of Akari and Riki, and also the bassist for Crychic. Just call me Souyo."

Su Shi's voice is very gentle, giving people a warm and comforting feeling.

Yue looked Su Shi up and down.

Nagasaki Motoyo wore the school uniform of Tsukimori Girls' Academy. The blue uniform contrasted sharply with her long brown hair, which fell naturally over her shoulders, slightly curled, and radiated a deep brown sheen.

Her face displayed a friendly smile, her eyes revealed warmth and inclusiveness, and she exuded a maternal charm.

Yue replied, "Hello, I'm Hinasaki Yue, and I'm also Akari's friend. You can just call me Yue, Suze-kun."

Su Shi gazed at the moon, her brows furrowed slightly, as if trying to recall something.

"Excuse me, Miss Yue, where have we met before?" Her voice revealed a hint of confusion and curiosity.

"I don't remember knowing that student from Tsukimori, so it's probably just your imagination, Suze-kun."

Although Yue responded to Su Shi with a smile, she was still a little nervous inside.

The moment Yue saw Su Shi, she recognized her as the girl Xiangzi had been hiding in the Moon Forest.

So when Su Shi asked her if they had met somewhere before, she decisively chose to lie.

Su Shi looked at Yue. The only student related to Yuqiu that she had seen recently was the girl she saw at the entrance during the freshman welcome party that day.

However, since she hadn't seen her face clearly, and the other person probably hadn't seen her either, Su Shi remained skeptical but didn't pursue the matter further.

"Alright, Su Shi, you said you had something to tell us today. What is it?"

Lixi noticed that there seemed to be an unusual atmosphere between the two, so he decided to take the initiative to change the subject.

Su Shi raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly sensing Li Xi's intention, and nodded with a smile, saying, "What I'm here to talk about today is about Xiao Xiang."

"Xiangzi? Didn't you say you couldn't find her?"

She rested her cheek on her hand, turned her gaze to Su Shi with a bored expression, as if asking a question.

Su Shi glanced at Li Xi, smiled slightly, and explained, "I haven't found any clues about Xiangzi, but recently at the welcome party in the Moon Forest, I saw someone who looks a lot like Xiangzi walking with someone wearing a Yuqiu school uniform."

Her voice carried a hint of uncertainty. After listening, Li hope frowned slightly, revealing a puzzled expression. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure it's Xiangzi?"

Su Shi shook her head. "I'm not sure, because there's also a performance by the wind band at the welcome party, so I can't confirm it myself. After asking Mu to check, Mu couldn't find the other party either."

“So, I’d like to ask Deng to look for Xiangzi in Yuqiu.” Su Shi turned to look at Deng beside her.

A hint of expectation flickered in her eyes, hoping the lamp would help her find Xiangzi.

"...Xiangzi (Six) Another Two Sansi Dam Dad's Affairs"

Deng lowered her head, her expression becoming hesitant and heavy. She knew perfectly well that Xiangzi was in Yuqiu, but she had never told anyone else about it.

"Okay, Su Shi, we will keep an eye out for Xiangzi's whereabouts at school."