Girls' Wishing Tree

Looking at the cute band-aids, she remembered that Takamatsu Touma hadn't been to the shrine in a while. But Touma had been like this before, only coming when she remembered.

Even though I sometimes give her some pointers on lyric writing, some of my fans don't have strong expectations for this kind of guidance.

Gao Mu focused his attention on his hands and quickly completed two amulets: "Eve, please give them to Cai and Qiansheng for me. Please tell them a message. I also hope that they can get better soon and give the audience a perfect performance."

"How much are these two amulets?" Eve was ready to take out her wallet.

Gao Mu stretched out a hand and placed it on Eve's wrist: "No need, this is a gift from me to my friend."

Eve thought for a moment, then reached out from her bag and took out a ticket and put it in Gao Mu's hand: "Then I'll buy a ticket for Ying. Whether she goes to our show or not, this is also a token of my appreciation for my friend."

Gao Mu nodded, watched Eve leave, took out his cell phone and sent a message to Goto Ichiri.

"I've got you a ticket to the idol festival. I asked you to help promote that event. Come get the ticket and go show your support."

Then she handed the ticket to the other party.

After returning home, Ichiri Goto didn't even check whether his parents and sister were all at home. He greeted them as quickly as possible, went back to his room, took the Gibson guitar borrowed from his father off the guitar stand, connected it to a home digital speaker with only 5W power, and then took out his mobile phone, ready to play the accompaniment through the speaker through AUXIN.

She saw someone sent her a message on Line.

Because she had almost no interaction with her classmates, she didn't add their contact information, and her family would not contact her in this way, so the only person she would send messages to was the shrine maiden Sakura Takagi, whom she knew.

Speaking of my acquaintance with Sakura Takagi, it was a complete accident.

When the weather was still very cold, her mother went to Toshima Ward to do some business. She was a little worried about her being alone at home, so she took her out with her.

When they arrived at the place of business, her mother asked her to take her dog Jimmyhen for a walk. The dog took her up a small hill. At the top of the hill, there was a shrine that looked very ancient.

What she didn't expect was that there was a particularly "evil-taste" monster living in the shrine, who asked her to perform an air guitar before letting her go.

Originally, Goto Ichiri thought that she would never have any connection with this shrine again, but she discovered that the bark she accidentally picked up from the shrine was particularly suitable for making guitar picks.

So after the bark was worn out, she prepared herself mentally for two days and still went to the shrine where the monster was.

The bad news is that she was caught by a monster while trying to steal the bark;

The good news is that the monster once again let her go and only asked her to teach guitar to the shrine maiden Takagi Sakura.

Ying has a certain foundation in guitar and is very understanding. She has a very pleasant communication with Ying - especially when Ying is willing to communicate with her online, which is her comfort zone.

But Ying hasn't asked her to learn guitar these days.

That’s right, how could there be someone like her who has nothing else to do after school except staying at home practicing guitar?

Goto Ichiri shook his head, threw away the frustrated thoughts, and clicked on the message sent by Gao Mu.

Her body became a little stiff.

If I go to a show...I can't do it.

She could still promote PasPale online, but going to the event and feeling a large group of people cheering at the stage together was still too much for her now.

But... it seems impossible to reject Sakura.

Goto Ichiri took out a piece of Sakura bark pick from the pick box and began to pluck the strings absentmindedly.

Chapter 36: Dryad, Live and Music Girl: 36. Please let me go to the shrine alone

Goto Ichiri hasn't come to Gao Mu to get tickets these days, so Gao Mu has kept them for her.

She knew that the other party was a bit socially anxious, so she planned to send another message the day before the performance. Now, the more important thing for her was to polish the song "Skylark" and send her support through music before Maruyama took the stage.

While Gao Mu was recording over and over again on his phone, the members of PasPale were sitting in the conference room, holding their final meeting for the next day's performance.

The staff presented a plan: "Everyone arrive two hours early tomorrow. The makeup artist will be waiting for you. During the performance, please have Ms. Bingchuan adjust the effects pedal board and take photos to record the parameters. Ms. Bailu will save the data adjusted by the multi-effects pedal as a preset..."

The work arrangement went very smoothly until... the part of arranging Maruyama Aya came.

"Ms. Maruyama's singing performance isn't particularly stable, and her on-the-spot reaction is also weak. This performance is PasPale's last chance. Out of caution, we've decided to use recording for Miss Maruyama this time. The microphone we prepared for Miss Maruyama won't be plugged into the mixing console, but we must do what needs to be done. The microphone must be turned on, and never hold it upside down—"

"Bang!" Maruyama Aya stood up suddenly, her eyes full of disbelief. She looked at the staff seriously and ran out without even picking up the stool she knocked over.

Bai Lu Qiansheng then stood up, his eyes becoming a little sharp: "Why are you doing this?"

The staff didn't expect PasPale's members to have such a big reaction. They stood there in shock with the manuscript in their hands: "We are doing this for the performance effect of PasPale——"

Bai Lu Qiansheng pressed his hands on the table, displaying a rare display of toughness. "The strategy you came up with to stabilize Xiao Cai is actually the most likely to cause her to waver. Is this some kind of joke?"

After saying this, she didn't wait for the staff's response and rushed out with Maruyama Aya.

She walked down the corridor and just as she was about to leave she suddenly stopped.

It's a practice room.

In the practice room, the sound of Maruyama Aya crying was heard.

Bailu Qiansheng pushed the door open, but Maruyama Cai didn't respond. She cried and muttered to herself: "I have tried so hard... I have done everything I should do..."

Bai Lu Qiansheng stopped at the door and turned on the lights in the practice room.

Maruyama Aya can no longer pretend to be an ostrich.

Even curled up, she with her pink hair was more conspicuous than the guitar amplifier in the practice room.

"...If it were Qiansheng, would she accept the suggestion of lip-syncing?" Maruyama Aya raised her head slightly, turned her face, which was originally covered by her knees, to the side to Qiansheng, and asked her a rather sharp question.

Qiansheng's mind raced but he didn't say anything.

She was thinking about how to respond to Maruyama Aya.

The staff at the agency have already said hurtful words to Maruyama Aya, and she is choosing her words carefully to minimize the impact on Maruyama.

Even though she thought she was good at getting along with people, she didn't know what to say at this moment.

Meanwhile, Sakura Shrine.

After Gao Mu finished a very satisfactory recording, he heard the system prompt sound.

"The host's violin playing skills have been upgraded to the intermediate level, earning 1500 Shining Points. Currently, the Shining Points are at 3380. Miyazono Kaoru's daily accumulated awake time has increased by 30 minutes, currently at 2 hours and 30 minutes."

Not only did she finish the performance for Maruyama Aya on time, but she also took a step towards the Great Tree Demon. As long as she could get another 4,000 points, she could leave this shrine.

Gao Mu put down the violin with a smile and sent the video to Maruyama Aya with a message attached.

[I can't be at tomorrow's performance. I've been practicing a song called "Skylark" for Xiao Cai these past few days. I hope you can sing like a skylark on your own stage.]

PasPale's studio practice room.

Maruyama Aya and Shirasagi Chisei were in an awkward silence when Maruyama Aya's phone suddenly lit up.

Sharp-eyed Qiansheng saw the notification on the screen of Maruyama Aya's phone beside her light up: "It's a message from Sakura."

Maruyama Aya raised her head completely and reached out to pick up her cell phone.

Yes, Sakura was not only a miko, but also someone who had accompanied her from her lowest point all the way to where she was today. At times like this, asking the gods might give her the right answer, or perhaps, give her the courage to choose the answer she wanted.

The video had not yet loaded, but she saw the text message sent by Gao Mu.

Cai, who was still sobbing, held her phone and waited patiently for a while for the video to load, while Qiansheng on the side was thinking about how to communicate with his teammates.

When I clicked on the video, I heard the high-pitched and light "bird singing" from my phone.

The bow dancing on the E string is like a skylark singing in the woods.

After listening to the first few bars, Qiansheng was worried that the song might be too lively for Maruyama Aya, but this worry was soon proved to be unnecessary.

Maruyama Aya's eyes gradually brightened, her expression became less solemn, and she even began to nod her head gently to the rhythm.

The sound quality of the music playing from the phone was not very good, but Maruyama Aya felt the emotions that Gao Mu wanted to convey to her.

Sing like a lark.

Singing towards the first rays of morning sun, it stubbornly engraves its clear chirping voice into the hearts of all listeners.

It may be hoarse or immature, but all efforts should be seen.

She thought of Gao Mu, who helped her rehearse with the bass over and over again.

The girl who wore a shrine maiden's costume and smiled happily most of the time gradually overlapped with another girl with blonde hair who had been a child star since childhood and had been practicing after her acting work for PasPale.

The two of them made a pinky promise that one would continue practicing with the band, while the other would stick to individual practice.

But it’s all to help PasPale show their best form and become a true idol band.

Her nose felt sore and tears flowed down her cheeks again.

I can't let Ying and Qiansheng down.

A warm feeling rose in Maruyama Aya's heart.

Not only Sakura and Chisei, but also Eve who has stood by me from the beginning, Maya who is determined to join PasPale, and Japanese girl who is a guitar genius but has always been tolerant of herself...

Seeing that Cai had remained silent, Qiansheng answered her earlier question: "If lip-syncing can make the performance a success, I am happy to accept the arrangement of lip-syncing."

Cai stopped crying and glanced at Qiansheng. When their eyes met briefly, she was a little evasive.

Qiansheng quickly continued, "But this is Shirae Qiansheng's choice, not Maruyama Aya's choice. No matter what happens, Maruyama Aya should maintain her own style."

"Please let me go to the shrine alone." Maruyama Aya stood up and walked out of the training room. "Qiansheng, please tell the staff that I will give them an answer before the performance tomorrow."

Chapter 37: Dryad, Live and Music Girl: 37, Compromise

Sakura Shrine is just a small shrine. You can reach the shrine by climbing dozens of steps.

The small square of the shrine is less than 300 square meters, and the total building area is about 200 square meters.

There is about one acre of unused land on the periphery, which according to documents belongs to the shrine, but if the shrine is to be built, an application needs to be submitted. Currently, it is a small forest.

Gao Muling was lying on the tatami in the training room, humming a little tune from her previous life, her toes swaying to the rhythm of the music.

I have completed the stage goal of practicing the violin. Next, as long as I can successfully perform PasPale and improve my guitar playing to the intermediate level, I will probably be able to leave this shrine.

I'll first check out the little street vendors that the old priest left for me, and then go hang out at some livehouses popular with girl bands...

"Bang——" Gao Mu was still thinking about the future when the door of the training room was suddenly pushed open.

Normally, only Lenai would suddenly enter the training room like this, but she wouldn't push the door so hard.

Gao Mu turned his head and saw that it was Aya Maruyama who came in, breathing heavily.

The inner layer of her hair was stuck to her skin due to sweat, and her floral dress was also sticking to her body due to sweat. Her knees were trembling slightly, and one hand was holding the door frame of the training room. It was obvious that she ran up dozens of steps in one breath and entered the shrine.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Maruyama Aya took a few breaths and said, "Huh-huh... Can you play "Skylark" for me?"

Gao Mu wasn't sure he could play "Skylark" live like the recording. But if Qia Yi Qi (Eight) Ba Ming's Wife Liu Yi Cai wanted to listen, there was no problem.

Gao Mu walked behind the speakers, using them to block Cai's view, took the violin out of the system space, and gave a Western-style salute to the still-breathing Maruyama Cai: "Now, please enjoy the "Skylark" played by Gao Muying."

Before Maruyama Aya could answer, the violin started playing music.

It's normal for the sound quality to be compromised when recording and playing back on a phone. The high frequencies I heard at the studio were a bit cut off, and the overall sound wasn't as mellow. Even the visuals, recorded via a phone camera, weren't as clear as the live performance.

Here, she watched Sakura sway gently to the rhythm of the music, her fingers dancing across the strings, imitating the chirping of a lark with her violin. As she played, Sakura's loose, cherry-colored hair swayed naturally, the rhythm of her hair tips bouncing like dancing notes.

Maruyama Aya is a very stubborn person, but that doesn't mean she's not vulnerable. She certainly doesn't just want to hear an authentic performance. She comes to the shrine to essentially get some kind of validation—or, in other words, support for her own ideas.

Gao Mu also saw her need, but he didn't expect her to run directly to the shrine.

Amidst the violin's simulated call of the skylark, Maruyama Aya's eyes met Gao Mu's. Gao Mu's eyes shone with a lively and clear light, as if he were there watching the skylarks singing and flying in the woods.

Maruyama Aya recalled the message the other person had sent her: [Like a lark, sing loudly on your own stage.]

Gao Mu's performance ended quickly. In order to enhance the effect, she said something more to Maruyama Aya through the dialog box.

"Aya, please believe in your own brilliance as an idol and shine on the stage."

After listening to a song, Maruyama Aya was no longer so out of breath. She bowed to Gao Mu and walked to the old bass hanging on the wall.

This bass guitar has some paint peeling off, and the fingerboard and frets show signs of heavy use. Only the strings seem to be new. This is the bass that Sakura used to accompany PasPale in rehearsals. Sakura used it to accompany the PasPale members to hone their proficiency in using the instrument, one afternoon after another.

"I will stand on the stage tomorrow and show everyone the best and most authentic Maruyama Aya." The corners of Maruyama Aya's mouth curled up.

Yes, the tear marks and red eyes showed that she had just cried, but now her smile seemed to be able to melt ice and snow.

At this time, the other four members of PasPale walked into the training room.

"Ah, I told you not to follow me..." Maruyama Aya was about to burst into tears when she saw several people coming in one after another.

"Xiao Cai, no matter what choice you make, we will support you." Qiansheng was the first to express his opinion.

Then Wakamiya Eve clenched her fists and said, "Xiao Cai, lip-syncing is not something a samurai would do. I support you in pursuing the samurai path. If the agency insists on having you lip-sync tomorrow, Xiao Cai, I won't go on stage."

Hikawa Hina also came over: "Xiao Cai, it's a great thing to shine together on the stage."

Finally, it was Yamato Maya: "We are all supporting Aya."