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

"That Japanese restaurant is very authentic. The owner opened it after a Japanese immigrant came to England. The food is delicious," Kagura Hikaru told Aine.

“Alright, Hikaru, you’ll know once Aine tastes it,” said Nana Ohba.

——Girls Walk On——

"Manager, we're here again." Kagura Hikaru took the lead and pushed open the store door.

The boss, who was talking to other foreign customers, turned around after hearing Hikari's voice and greeted her in Japanese with practiced ease.

"Xiao Guang, you're here again!"

Aiyin looked at the boss and found that he was probably over fifty years old. His black hair was mixed with a lot of white hair. His face had clear lines, showing his determination and composure. His bright eyes were deep and wise, revealing his rich experience and wisdom. Hidden under his chef's uniform was a body full of muscles.

Ai Yin had assumed that the owner of this kind of Japanese restaurant would be a kind, traditional old man, but she never expected that he would be a muscular man similar to a governor.

"Manager, we brought a new friend over." Following closely behind Hikaru, Nana Ohba popped her head out and waved to greet the boss.

"Nana, you're here too! Is this your new friend?" The boss walked over and stood in front of Aine.

It was only then that Ai Yin truly realized how imposing her boss was; the man standing in front of her was actually two heads taller than her.

"Hello boss, I'm Chihaya Aine." Despite the boss's intimidating presence, Aine greeted him warmly, flashing her cute little tiger teeth with a smile.

"What adorable children! You can go to the back room to sit down first, and I'll serve you your food in a bit." After saying that, the owner turned around to greet the other customers.

Aine followed Hikari and Nana into the back private room.

Upon entering the private room at the back, the first thing that catches the eye is a mural of cherry blossoms in full bloom. Exquisite Japanese tapestries hang on the walls, and wooden tables and chairs are paired with traditional Japanese floor mats, exuding a natural and warm atmosphere.

"Don't we need to order food?" Aine asked Nana.

"No need, the boss has a secret menu for us fellow villagers, he'll arrange it for us. Let's talk about Aine-chan now," Nana Oba explained.

"Aine-chan, why are you skipping school? If you have any problems, tell us, and we might be able to help you." Nana Oba asked with concern.

"This..." Aine's mood became somewhat downcast after hearing Nana's question.

However, I'm going back to my country soon, and I probably won't be able to see Nana-senpai and Hikaru-senpai anymore.

There shouldn't be any problem talking to them... I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time.

Because of the language barrier, Chihaya Aine barely talked to her classmates during her studies in the UK, and her feelings of frustration and irritability remained bottled up inside.

Chihaya Aine slowly explained the reason, "Because I'm going back to Japan soon, I want to take the opportunity to explore London more."

"Eh? Is Aine-chan going back to her country? Is it convenient to ask why she's leaving? It's only been a short time since the start of the semester, right?" Nana asked.

Aion gripped the cup in her hand tightly, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "It's because of the language problem... My name is clearly Aion (Anon), but my classmates and teachers always call me Ann. Plus, my English isn't very good, and I always feel like my classmates are laughing at me when I talk to them, so I finally chose to go back."

“I see…” Nana Oba and Hikaru Kagura exchanged a glance and gave each other a wry smile.

She initially thought it was for some other reason, but she never expected it to be so real.

"Aine-chan is facing a really real problem. Would you mind saying a few words in English for me to hear?" Nana said.

“My name is Anon Chihaya, I was the student…” Aine recited her self-introduction, which she had memorized perfectly. It was originally meant for her to introduce herself to her classmates in class, but she ended up making a mess of it.

"Aine-chan's English is pretty good, much better than when I first arrived," Nana encouraged.

"Nana-senpai, you don't need to comfort me. Anyone who can study at the Royal Academy of Drama in England must have a better English than me." When Aine heard Nana's words, she just thought that Nana was trying to comfort her.

"Aine, Nana isn't comforting you. Her English really isn't very good." Kagura Hikaru suddenly laughed, as if she had thought of something happy.

"Hey, what is it? What is it? Hikaru-senpai, please tell me." Aine became interested when she heard Hikaru say that.

"Hikaru! Don't say it! Otherwise, your lunch will only consist of tofu from now on." Nana Oba covered Hikaru's mouth and threatened him.

After hearing Nana's threat, Kagura Hikaru obediently shut her mouth.

"Anyway, Aine is trying to be more confident in herself." Seeing Hikaru's obedient appearance, Oba Nana breathed a sigh of relief after making sure that the other party would not reveal her embarrassing secrets, and returned to her seat to continue speaking to Aine.

"Thank you for your encouragement, seniors, but I've decided to go back. I've already submitted my withdrawal application, and I expect to be able to go back in the next few days," Aine said.

“Since Aine-chan has already decided to do this, I won’t say anything more. But since we’re so destined to meet, let’s add each other’s contact information. If I go back to Japan in a while, I might be able to hang out with you again, Aine.” Seeing that the situation couldn’t be changed, Nana took out her phone and added Aine’s contact information.

“Okay!” Ai took out her phone, skillfully entered the password to unlock it, scanned Nana Oba’s QR code, and added her as a friend.

"Okay, Aine-chan, I've added you too. Remember to contact me if we do anything fun in the future, or when I go back to Japan," Nana said with a smile.

"Okay." Aine glanced at Nana Ohba's profile picture, which was a bunch of bananas, and asked, puzzled, "Does Nana-senpai really like bananas?"

“Because of Dai Banana,” Kagura Hikaru explained.

"Ah, it's banana. I just noticed. Nana-senpai is so cute."

“Yes, Nana is often called banana at school.” Hikaru said, while showing Chihaya Aine the QR code on his phone.

"Does Senior Hikaru want to add me as a friend too?" Aine asked.

"Mm." Guang nodded.

"That's just Hikari's personality, but she's a completely different person on stage, so dazzling! If Aine-chan is going home late, she can come to the Royal Palace to watch our performance in a couple of days," Nana said.

“Okay, I’m looking forward to it.” Chihaya Aine replied after adding Kagura Hikari’s name to the star hair accessory design.

"Although it's not what I expected, I still wish you, Aine-chan, that you can find the stage you want to perform on when you go back," Nana said.

"I can't act on stage, so I'm out of luck." Chihaya Aine was a little confused by Ohba Nana's words.

"Aine-chan, just pretend I'm talking nonsense. I have a feeling that you'll definitely be on stage, so remember to invite us to watch your performance!"

Nana Ohba's words left Aine a little confused, but she still agreed, "If I really do go on stage, I'll definitely invite you all, seniors. I'll even fly there if I have to!"

"I'll bring Hikaru with me to see it!" Nana Ohba promised Aine.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies." The manager also entered the private room at the right time, carrying a tray of food.

A plate of brightly colored sashimi is placed on the plate, with various raw fish slices neatly arranged and served with fresh wasabi and soy sauce.

Next came a bowl of fragrant Japanese clear soup, with carefully prepared fish balls and vegetables floating in it.

The meat dish is a teppanyaki grill, topped with tender, juicy Wagyu beef slices and fresh vegetables, steaming slightly and emitting an enticing aroma.

The final main course was fragrant white rice, a rarity in Britain, and the aroma alone whetted Ai Yin's appetite.

"The shop manager's skills are still so good," Nana praised.

"This is the best meal I've had since I came to England," Ai Yin exclaimed.

"Mmm, it's so delicious!" Kagura Hikaru, a foodie, had already buried her head in her food.

Before the Opening Ceremony: Chapter Thirty-Six - The Night Before the Opening

"Thank you for supporting our products. I will submit your feedback to my supervisor later." Xiang smiled and hung up the phone, then pressed the "Leave Office" button.

The moon was already hanging in the sky outside the window, and the night had soaked the entire sky.

This situation had persisted for the entire Golden Week holiday. Faced with the boss's offer of triple pay, Xiangzi completely gave up his holiday.

"Toyokawa-san, thank you for your hard work. This is your reward for working overtime these past few days." The department head handed Xiangzi an envelope containing her extra pay for working overtime during the Golden Week holiday.

"Thank you very much, Director." Xiangzi expressed his gratitude politely.

"There aren't many people like Toyokawa these days who have such a spirit of sacrifice and dedication. I've even offered triple overtime pay, and not many people are willing to come. Toyokawa has really been a great help," the director complained.

If it weren't for my jerk father, I wouldn't be working during Golden Week.

Although Xiangzi thought this to herself, she put on a formulaic smile and said, "Director, it's getting late, I'll head back now."

"Okay, Toyokawa, be careful on your way home." The director waved goodbye to Shoko.

As Xiangzi left the building where he worked, he headed towards the bus station. Passing a convenience store, he casually bought a few rice balls for his dinner.

As Xiangzi walked from the bustling center of Tokyo toward a less crowded area, she stopped in front of a dilapidated building. This was her home for the time being, the home she shared with her scoundrel father.

Taking a deep breath, Xiangzi took out the key, unlocked the door, and slowly pushed the door into the house. He then heard the sound of a metal can hitting the ground.

"You damned old man, how much have you drunk again?" Xiangzi's tone was extremely cold; although it was an insult, there wasn't a trace of anger in it.

Xiangzi's situation probably only arises when one is truly disappointed in someone to the extreme.

"Not much... I only drank two cases." The father's drunken voice came from the room.

Xiangzi's originally calm mood was ignited by his father's words. He worked hard as a customer service representative outside, while his father was drinking at home.

Xiangzi resisted the urge to argue with his father, stepped over the beer cans on the ground, walked into the house, and went to his small closet.

Before her father's misfortune, Xiangzi had only seen Doraemon sleeping in a closet in the Doraemon anime. At that time, she never imagined that one day she would sleep in a closet herself.

In her small space, Xiangzi packed out her change of clothes. Even though she was trying her best to save on unnecessary expenses, as a girl, appearance was a necessary expense.

And since the holiday ends tomorrow, she has to go back to school, so she needs to tidy herself up a bit.

"You damned old man, I'm going to the bathhouse," Xiangzi told his father as he opened the door.

"Be careful," the father mumbled, still half asleep.

The public bathhouse was a place Xiangzi had never been before. Although it was also a bathing experience, Xiangzi could only bathe with a group of strangers in a dilapidated public bathhouse in Tokyo.

But the girls can happily play with their best friends in the natural hot springs of Hokkaido.

After a quick wash, Xiangzi looked at the iced milk in the vending machine and really wanted to buy a can to drink, but then he thought that it was an unnecessary expense and could only give up reluctantly.

Leaving the bathhouse and walking home, Xiangzi unconsciously slowed her pace. If possible, she wanted to see her father as late as possible.

I looked up at the sky by chance and found a glimmer of starlight in Tokyo, a city filled with steel, concrete and neon lights.

"How beautiful!" Xiangzi sat down in a nearby park. How long had it been since she had seen such a starry sky?

Xiangzi didn't know the answer either. After her father's misfortune, she never looked up at the sky again.

Looking at the starry sky, Xiangzi's thoughts drifted back to his childhood, to that small island where he and Chuhua lay on a tree stump watching the stars.

Chu Hua seems to be doing quite well lately. Xiangzi looked at the nearby electronic screen, which was displaying an advertisement for Sumimi.

"Chu Hua will definitely succeed," Xiangzi thought, looking at the message he had sent to Chu Hua a year ago on his phone, before looking up at the starry sky again.

Can I go back to the past?

Xiangzi didn't know the answer to that question.

————Two flowers bloom, each telling a story————

Thank you everyone for supporting sumimi!

"Alright! That's all for today. Thank you both for your hard work."