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

Deng asked Lixi the same question again.

Although she was prepared, Lixi still didn't know how to answer the question when asked again.

After a long silence, she finally spoke: "The lyrics of 'The Lamp' express my feelings. I feel an emotional resonance with the lyrics of 'The Lamp.' The song is just like me."

----------

Aiyin and Yue walked down the street, surrounded by a bustling crowd of people and a constant flow of traffic. Various characters, from ordinary people to ordinary folks, hurried along, their busy figures weaving through the throng.

Yue didn't intend to take the initiative to talk to Aine. After all, if the person involved didn't want to talk about something, there was no point in asking.

The two walked aimlessly forward, creating a unique contrast with the bustling crowds around them who were busy with their own goals.

As darkness gradually fell, the moon quietly hung in the sky, its faint light spilling onto the streets. The streetlights along the street began to light up, casting a soft glow that illuminated the path for people to walk on, making the streets suddenly feel warmer and more peaceful.

The buildings along the street appeared exceptionally quiet and peaceful under the dim streetlights, while neon lights highlighted the outlines of the skyscrapers. The trees on both sides of the street swayed gently in the breeze, making a rustling sound.

The streets were sparsely populated, and the city gradually quieted down at night. The distant roar of vehicles and the faint sounds of people talking seemed to add a touch of life and vitality to the night.

Ai Yin sighed deeply, her gaze falling on the moon that had always been with her. The street scene under the night sky gave off a sense of tranquility and peace, and her mood seemed to lighten a little.

"Moon, don't you want to ask anything?"

Yue shook her head, then turned her head slightly to look at Aine: "If Aine wants to tell me, you would tell me even if I don't ask her, right?"

Aine looked at the understanding look in Tsuki's eyes, a warm smile appearing on her face, her voice tinged with curiosity and teasing: "That's really unfair dialogue, Tsuki-chan, are you some novel protagonist from somewhere?"

"Well, I probably learned it from a script that Peach wrote before."

Tsuki had no idea where she, who wasn't from the world of anime, had come into contact with these things. In the end, she could only attribute everything to Momoko Kurosawa, who had written many strange scripts before.

Ai-yin and Yue, understanding each other perfectly, let bygones be bygones: "Has Momoko ever written anything like this? I always thought that what you perform at Seisho is the kind of very serious stage plays. You actually have this kind of two-dimensional stage play?"

Hearing Ai Yin mention this, Yue's face showed a helpless expression: "Normally, they are all very orthodox stage plays, but who can blame us when our class's principal often writes some weird scripts and drags us to rehearse for fun?"

"That sounds interesting! Next time you see Momoko, could you ask her to take a look at it for me?"

"I'll tell her next time I see her."

After Yue finished speaking, the two fell silent. Night deepened on the street, the surroundings quiet and peaceful. Both Aine and Yue were lost in thought, trying to find a new topic to break the silence.

"Moon..." "Aiyin..."

They called out each other's names at the same time.

"You go first, Yue." "No, no, no... QU(N|溜球迩陾衫（四）爸罒... Aine, you go first."

The two were very polite to each other.

"Pfft... Hahaha" x2

Aine and Yue exchanged a glance, then looked at each other and laughed.

Ai Yin said, "It feels a bit strange for us to keep carrying our instruments around on the street like this. My house is nearby, would you like to come over for a bit, Yue?"

Yue, who was suddenly invited to someone else's house, was surprised and asked, "Huh? Is it okay?"

If Lixi knew about Yue and Aine's conversation, she would definitely complain, since Yue had suddenly invited her to her home.

"It's okay, my mom will definitely welcome Yue-chan over."

--------

"Sorry to bother you~"

Hinasaki followed carefully behind Aine and cautiously entered her house.

"Tsuki-chan, there's no need to be so nervous," Aine comforted Tsuki.

Upon hearing Aine's words, Yue gave an awkward smile.

"That's what we say, but we still need to be polite."

Aine's mother looked at Yue and Aine standing at the door and said, "Oh dear, did Aine bring her classmate back?"

"Auntie, I'm Aine's classmate. My name is Hinasaki. I'm here tonight to bother you. Please take care of me."

Yue greeted Aine's mother very politely.

"No need to be so polite. I should thank you for being friends with my Aiyin. I was worried that Aiyin might not be able to make any friends after returning from England."

“There, Ai-yin took good care of me at school; it must be all thanks to Auntie’s excellent teaching.”

Seeing that Yue and her mother were about to start their usual friendly, flattering conversation, Aine quickly interrupted them: "Okay, Mom, let's go upstairs and play~"

--------

"Phew—" Aine put down the guitar she had been carrying and looked at Tsuki with a strange expression: "I didn't expect Tsuki-chan to be able to chat with Mom."

Yue casually placed the electronic keyboard behind her against the wall and said helplessly, "I practiced these with my colleagues when I was an idol, and I haven't used them in a long time."

"Speaking of which, it seems that Yue-chan still has quite a few connections in the idol industry."

Aine remembered that she had asked someone else to investigate the relationship between Riki and Yuuki Setsuna at the karaoke bar.

"Well, I'm still keeping in touch with some close colleagues and my former agent for now, but it's more like we exchange a few text messages during the holidays than keeping in touch."

When Tsuki heard Aine mention this, she seemed to recall that when she had asked her former manager to investigate Yuki Setsuna, she had said that she would treat Yuki Setsuna to dinner.

"I'll invite her out for a meal sometime."

"Hey! Does Nagatsuki know Sumi?"

Aine took out a poster of Sumimi and asked Tsuki about it.

"Hatsuka... I actually know her." Yue looked at the two Sumimi members on the poster and nodded with a somewhat complicated expression.

After receiving Yue's affirmative answer, Aine's eyes lit up instantly, and Yue even vaguely sensed that Aine's eyes were sparkling with the exaggerated starlight seen in anime.

"Really! How does Yue know them?"

"Well... Sumi is now managed by my former manager, and she even brought Hatsuka to ask me for an autograph before."

Speaking of this, Yue actually felt a little embarrassed, since she had already left the idol circle and it didn't seem right to go back to Chu Hua for an autograph.

"Could you please get me Chu Hua's autograph? Please."

Looking into Aine's sincere eyes, Yue finally couldn't refuse her. She took a deep breath and nodded gently: "If you have the chance to see Hatsuka again, I can get you an autograph for Aine."

Aine hugged Tsuki happily, "Really! That's great! Tsuki-chan, I love you!"

When the Stage Opens: Chapter Twenty-Three - If only a girl's heart were as easy to understand as a script.

"Alright, I'll bring you the autograph next time I see Chuhua."

Yue pushed Aine away, her face slightly flushed. She still couldn't quite handle Aine's overly assertive personality.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just too excited to get Chu Hua's autograph."

Aine clasped her hands together and apologized to the moon.

"There's no need to apologize. It was just something I did on the spur of the moment. But I'm really upset, Aine-chan. You never even asked for my autograph."

As Yue spoke, she put on a wronged and tearful expression.

"Ah, that's because I already have Yue's signature."

Aine opened the drawer next to her and took out a CD with Yue's name written on it.

"I bought your autographed CD back then, but unfortunately I didn't win the handshake ticket, otherwise I should have been able to meet you sooner."

When Aine said this, a look of regret appeared on her face.

"This CD... I remember this was the first CD I released. I didn't expect you to have it, Aine."

Yue looked at the CD in Aine's hand with a nostalgic expression. Actually, not many copies of her first CD were made, and even fewer were the ones with her signature. She remembered that there were only about a hundred copies.

I never expected that Aine would happen to have such a precious first edition CD.

Moreover, given Aine's personality, the other party hasn't shown off this yet, so it seems that Aine probably really likes her when she was an idol.

"It was quite a coincidence. When I joined a band in junior high school, none of us knew which song to cover, so we decided to go to a record store together to buy some CDs."

"I happened to see your CD being released back then. Seeing that you were a junior high school idol, I thought it would be easier for you to cover songs since we're about the same age, so I bought it. But when I went to pay, I found out that it was a limited signed edition, and I was too embarrassed to put it back."

As Ai Yin spoke, she suddenly became a little embarrassed. The difference between her attitude towards Yue and her attitude towards Chu Hua was still too obvious.

"However, I bought your CD, and after listening to it, I fell in love with you. You're the one I recommend in Sweet Pleas."

This is a lie. When Aine transferred schools, she didn't recognize Yue at all.

In fact, Aine only learned about Light after discovering that she was an idol, and then she remembered that she had bought a CD with Light's signature by chance.

"Really... Then thank you for your kind words, Aine-chan."

Unfortunately, Yue didn't know the truth, and she couldn't see any clues from Aine's face, genuinely believing that Aine was her fan.

Hearing Aine mention again about forming a band in junior high school, Yue asked, "By the way, speaking of Aine's junior high school band, do you have any videos you can show me?"

Aine was overjoyed to be able to show Yue her cool performance from junior high school (in her own opinion). "Yes, yes, of course I have a copy. Yue, just wait a moment, I'll find it for you right away!"

She picked up her tablet from the sofa and pulled up a video of her junior high school performance. In the video, Ai Yin was indeed the lead guitarist and singer. Her singing sounded even better than it did a few days ago, and her guitar skills were much better than they are now.

But even at that time, Ai Yin's guitar skills were not yet at the level required to perform in live houses with a band.

However, to be fair, Aine's technique is not a big problem if she is only performing rhythm guitar at a junior high school festival.

After the video finished playing, Ai Yin stared intently at Yue, grinning as she awaited his praise: "How was it? How was it? I'm super handsome, right!"

"Like a big dog...seriously, just like Momo..."

Yue couldn't very well admit that her attention was entirely focused on Ai Yin's guitar playing technique in the video, and that she hadn't paid much attention to other aspects, so she could only give a perfunctory answer using standard phrases.

"Yes, Ai Yin sang very well."

After receiving Yue's praise, Aine smiled shyly and then said to Yue, "Right, right, so my guitar skills are actually just average."

"Ah... well..." Yue paused for a moment, unsure whether to tell Aine the cruel truth.

"Actually, if we're talking about junior high school, Aine-chan, your guitar skills are pretty good for a beginner."

Yue tried to tell Aine the truth indirectly, without hurting her too much.

In junior high school, Ai Yin's guitar skills were considered pretty good among beginners, which means that Ai Yin's current skills are not even as good as those of a beginner.

Aine could immediately tell from Tsukishiro's clumsy explanation that he was just trying to comfort her: "So, does that mean my skills aren't very good right now..."