Band Girl Drink Mixing Action

So for the time being, only Qingchuan Xiang and Li Xi were left.

"Is Li Xi waiting for Hai Ling?"

"Yes." Li Xi originally wanted to take out his headphones and listen to music while waiting for Hai Ling, but since Qingchuan Xiang spoke, he put them back.

"Are you really not going to consider it?" Qingchuan Xiang shifted his gaze to Li Xi's hands, which looked slender but were actually quite strong. "I mentioned earlier about the work in my shop."

"...Why are you so persistent in wanting me to go?" Li Xi didn't expect Qingchuan Xiang to bring up this matter again. She had previously thought that Xiang was just saying it casually, but now it seemed that she was serious.

"I've already told you that Lixi is quite talented in mixing drinks. You could say this is a sign of excitement."

"I'm not prey."

"It's just a metaphor. Of course, if you, Lixi, really have no idea at all, just pretend I never said anything." If Lixi firmly refused, Xiang would feel sorry, but would not say much.

"Your shop..."

"VA-11."

"VA-11, what do we need to do?" It seemed that Li Xi was not completely uninterested.

"It's pretty much the same as what you do here, mixing drinks for customers, but I'll require a wider variety. I can guarantee you the salary will be much higher too."

Qingchuan Xiang tempted, "But Li Xi might not be used to facing customers behind the bar all the time. But with Li Xi's appearance and temperament, even if he just stands there shaking the shaker, it would be enough to feast the customers' eyes.

"And ah..."

Halfway through the conversation, Qingchuan Xiang suddenly stood up, walked to Lixi, and before Lixi could react, he took one of her hands with both of his.

Qingchuan Xiang rubbed Li Xi's hand quickly with his ten fingers, starting from the palm and going all the way to the fingertips, carefully feeling and feeling the veins in Li Xi's palm, as if he could feel out Li Xi's flexibility and other indicators just by doing this.

"Wait! What are you doing!?"

Li Xi quickly pulled his hand back, having completely failed to anticipate Qingchuan Xiang's actions.

"Just checking, Li Xi's hands are really good for mixing drinks."

Qingchuan Xiang, who was escaped by Li Xi, still moved his fingers flexibly in the air, like a creature still ready to move.

"How can you judge these things just by touching someone's hand?!"

"Of course you can. This is a skill that only comes from long-term cultivation in a field. It's like a bassist who can tell the level of another person's skill just by feeling the roughness of their fingers. I'm talking about the other person, Hailing?"

Hailing?

Li Xi turned around suddenly, but at the same time, the other hand that Qingchuan Xiang had just grabbed could not escape the fate of being caught.

Hailing grabbed Lixi's hand expressionlessly and rubbed it, imitating what Qingchuan Xiang had done before.

"That's right." Although her face was expressionless, it felt like Hailing was trying to hold back a smile. "Qingchuan-san is right."

"When did you come here?"

Chapter 170 Phantom

Li Xi suddenly pulled back his hand that was grabbed by Hai Ling, and immediately retracted his hands in front of himself to prevent the two guys from continuing to attack him.

"Hailing, long time no see." Qingchuan Xiang raised his glass to greet Hailing. Although he had met Hailing several times when he came to RiNG to drink drinks during the summer vacation, he had not met her again after the summer vacation.

"Well, long time no see, Kiyokawa-san."

Even after not seeing her for a few weeks, Hailing still looked calm and composed, giving people a very reliable feeling. Especially her leather jacket, which seemed a bit too mature for a girl who had just started high school. It was a bit unfair compared to the many young people who were still wearing school uniforms.

It’s no surprise that legends of highly skilled bass mercenaries have spread among various girl bands.

What is this handsome Bess mercenary doing at this moment?

After taking out a box of orange-flavored milk jelly from behind like a magic trick, he placed it on Lixi's head like a child playing Jenga. Lixi had his hands folded in front of him and was unable to stop him in time.

"Just call me Xiang or Qingchuan."

"Well, Qingchuan, do you want one too?" Hailing smiled and took out the second box of milk jelly, then temporarily put the instrument box containing the bass on the ground. Without waiting for Qingchuan Xiang to answer, she walked to her side and put the milk jelly on Xiang's head like she did just now.

"Thank you Hailing~" Qingchuan Xiang has always accepted these things.

"By the way, why did you change your hairstyle today?" Hailing took the opportunity to put the milk jelly on Qingchuanxiang's head to take a good look at the hair on both sides of Qingchuanxiang's hair. She was also quite curious and reached out to stroke the little gray hair.

"I agreed to it because someone asked me to."

"Yeah, Qingchuan is really easygoing. If it was Riki, he would probably get spanked if he touched your hair like he is doing now."

"And he reacts before his hand even touches you, and hits you directly."

"You two..." Seeing Qingchuan Xiang and Hailing singing in unison, Li Xi took off the milk jelly on his head and almost crushed it.

Qingchuan Xiang is okay. Although I always see him during the summer vacation, he usually just chats with me about some drink-mixing experiences after I order a drink obediently. Although he occasionally makes some confusing remarks and has all kinds of inexplicable obsessions when it comes to drinks, to be honest, the soothing pace of chatting with Qingchuan Xiang while mixing drinks is quite pleasant.

Hailing... this long-time friend, sort of. Just by looking at her attire and posture, you can tell she's pretty cool. Even Lixi, who rarely compliments others, has to admit that. But after getting to know her a little better, you'll realize that this seemingly cool girl is actually a pure, sultry person with all sorts of playful little antics.

And when these two guys got together, it seemed like some chemical reaction took place. They talked back and forth, just like a long-running talk show duo, which made Li Xi's blood pressure soar.

"Ha... sometimes I even wonder if you two have known each other for a long time." Li Xi looked at the two of them suspiciously. "How can you just touch someone else's hair so casually?"

"Qingchuan, did you hear that? Lixi said that as a girl, you can't be so casual." Hailing directly put the blame on Qingchuan Xiang.

"You're clearly saying that it's not good for Hailing to touch me casually—" Qingchuan Xiangya quickly fought back, accusing Hailing of indecent behavior.

Li Xi, who was completely annoyed by these two people, sighed and stood up: "Hailing, what do you want to drink? I agreed to treat you to a drink before. I'll go order it now."

"Any coffee will do."

"Could you please order one for me too? I'll pay you later."

"You've already had three drinks!" Li Xi refused sternly.

Li Xi went to order some drinks, and Hai Ling also pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

"Li Xi has been very happy recently." Hai Ling said to Qingchuan Xiang.

"Really?" Qingchuan Xiang looked up at Li Xi, "I can't really tell from Li Xi's face here."

"She even started playing air drums in the classroom. The last time I saw her like that was after your band's first live performance."

At this point, Hailing paused.

"After asking, it turned out that it was the reunion of the band that made her so happy."

"Do you regret not inviting her to form a band sooner?" Qingchuan Xiang knew Hailing wanted to form a band with Lixi. "I really want to ask you how you feel about it."

"I have no regrets. These are all my own choices. I don't think about what I could have done better."

"As expected of Hailing, not only is she cool on the outside, but she's also cool on the inside." Qingchuan Xiang nodded, and then asked directly without any pretense,

"Lixi, did she treat you to a drink to thank you? She doesn't usually treat others for no reason."

"She asked me about composing music, and I know a little bit about it."

"As expected, he's still pushing himself to keep working hard. Even at the band's first meeting today, he took on the entire composition task himself. I guess he's trying to prove himself."

Qingchuan Xiang drank the last bit of lemon tea and looked at Li Xi in the distance, with some emotions in his eyes that Hai Ling could not understand.

"That's not okay."

"What?" Hailing thought she had misheard Qingchuanxiang's last words.

"I just can't stand it." Qingchuan Xiang said lightly.

Even during the entire summer vacation, Qingchuan Xiang repeatedly hinted to Lixi in various places that she actually had good abilities. Even when she extended the job invitation to Lixi today, she hoped that she could notice her abilities.

But Lixi is still obsessed with a certain phantom - a phantom with strong composing ability, who can lead everyone forward and is gifted.

Moreover, this phantom is definitely not just Xiangzi, it also mixes the images of other people, and Qingchuan Xiang must be one of them.

No matter how hard Li Xi tried to hide his emotions, he could not escape the eyes of Qingchuan Xiang who was almost always "monitoring" him.

He subconsciously averted his gaze from time to time, and even the smallest movement was enough to say a lot.

Lixi wanted to surpass this phantom, but with the blessing of her own heart, this phantom had already expanded into an existence that could not be surpassed. Even if Lixi really achieved temporary success, she would immediately feel that that "person" must be able to do better.

There was no doubt that Li Xi's heart had reached a state of stagnation.

This won’t do… no… no.

Chapter 171 But I Refuse

"...Qingchuan?"

At that moment, Hai Ling seemed to have suddenly glimpsed the truth of the world. Qingchuan Xiang seemed to have become a completely different person. His casual temperament, which didn't care even when his hair was touched, suddenly disappeared, like a tide that suddenly rose rapidly, flooding the surrounding plains.

Hailing found it difficult to describe this feeling. Qingchuan Xiang's behavior was really disturbing. She didn't know what she wanted to do to Lixi.

"What's wrong?" Qingchuan Xiang, who was suddenly called, withdrew his gaze from Li Xi and looked at Hailing in confusion.

"..."

Just as abruptly as it appeared, the strange feeling also disappeared quickly, completely vanishing the moment Qingchuan Xiang turned around. Xiang still looked like the watery girl.

Hailing suddenly doubted whether what she felt just now was just an illusion.

"What did Qingchuan just mean by 'no'?"

"Hailing should know something about Lixi's inferiority complex."

Hailing nodded. She had always known that Lixi always had some inferiority complex towards her sister Zhenxi, who was always talked about by others. In the end, it developed to the point that she even disliked her own name.

Because when people talk about "Shiina", it only represents one person.

"It's a good thing to realize your own shortcomings because of the excellence of others. A healthy mind will turn this idea into motivation. But Li Xi has been completely constrained by the illusion of others in her mind.

“She will continue to work hard and make progress, but she will never catch up with that phantom and will only stay where she is spiritually.”

"Is it really that serious?"

Hearing Qingchuan Xiang's serious tone, Hailing couldn't help but think seriously.

"And with Li Xi's problem, it's useless to try to affirm her and build her confidence in a roundabout way."

Qingchuan Xiang has been experimenting with this for the entire summer vacation.

The key to breaking Lixi's current situation is also very clear, and that is the band.

"To expose Li Xi, one only needs to wait for an opportunity, and this opportunity can only appear in a band that is 'lacking a backbone' and will force Li Xi to worry more."

Now this band just meets this requirement perfectly.

Perhaps it was a perfectly performed live performance that gave Lixi an extra boost of confidence, or perhaps it was the need of the band members that slowly dissipated that illusion...

But Hailing thought of some other problems.

"Qingchuan...why are you so obsessed with Li Xi?"

"Because I'm sick," Qingchuan Xiang admitted openly. "You could think of it as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anyway, I have a so-called 'aesthetic pursuit,' and Li Xi's condition undoubtedly doesn't align with that, so I hope to help her change."

"Changing someone for aesthetics sounds like a special kind of dangerous person."

"Please rest assured, I will only do this if I think it will be good for others. I think Hailing should also think that Lixi deserves to face herself more confidently, right?"

This is... a really condescending view.

Hailing thought about it and couldn't help but ask another question:

"What if someone's actions go against what you're pursuing, but are good for them?"

"It's simple. In that case, I will simply choose to disappear from their sight."

"I see." Hai Ling looked at the girl she had just met. It was only now that she felt like she had truly gotten to know her, and perhaps even a side of her that even Li Xi had never seen. "Although Qingchuan said I was cool, I think you also have a unique kind of handsomeness, in your temperament."

"This is the first time someone has used the word 'handsome' to compliment me." Qingchuan Xiang laughed.

"What are you two talking about?"

At this time, Li Xi, who was discussing the topic between Qingchuan Xiang and Hailing, came with Hailing's coffee. After handing it to Hailing, he sat down and looked at the two people who were chatting happily with confusion.

"Nothing." ×2

Qingchuan Xiang and Hailing looked at each other and answered in unison.

Li Xi raised his eyebrows but didn't ask any more questions.

"Oh, but am I the only one drinking coffee alone?" At this time, Hailing noticed that Lixi only bought her portion.

"What a coincidence! We already drank some during our meeting. The guy next to you even drank three different drinks in a row."