Girls' Wishing Tree

As evening approached, the number of people visiting the shrine gradually decreased. Sayu was so tired that she leaned against the shrine pillar. At this rate, Sakura really needed to consider hiring two more people to help out during the cherry blossom season.

"Let's call it a day for now. I'll ask the Hanasakigawa Miko Club if anyone wants to come in and work part-time. It's a bit too crowded after class. If someone can help us out for two hours, that'll be a lot better." Sakura took out her phone and sent a message to Wakamiya Ifu: "Let's go, put up a sign and go out for something delicious."

However, before Sakura left the shrine, she saw an acquaintance walking into the shrine.

It's Takamatsu Tomori.

She had a Band-Aid on her knee and was holding a green-covered notebook in her hand, looking worried.

"Deng, we are preparing to eat something together. Do you want to come with us?" Ying took the initiative to invite.

"No... no need, I want to ask the Lord God...ah...you and this shrine maiden can leave first, I'll stand under the tree for a while and then leave..." Deng put the notebook on the outside of her skirt with one hand, and her eyes seemed to be looking for a perspective to see the shrine beyond Sakura.

Sakura had no choice but to stuff two banknotes into Sayu's pocket and asked her to find something to eat first. She herself was prepared to give up this meal - as a tree, she ate like humans purely out of greed, and skipping a meal would have no effect at all.

She currently has no way to balance her consciousness on both the cherry tree and her transformed body. If she suddenly "falls asleep" while eating in a restaurant, it will be difficult to explain.

Sakura followed Deng to the tree and heard Deng say in a low voice, "Today... someone invited me to join a band. She said the notes I wrote were like a cry from my heart and should be sung for everyone to hear. And the band only needs a lead singer."

I have persuaded Deng several times, but Deng had no intention of playing music. So, someone suddenly persuaded him and he was moved?

Ying felt like a cabbage being eaten by a pig, but she still listened patiently.

Deng continued, "I saw the falling cherry blossoms and wondered if they were drifting over from the Sakura Shrine, but she was worried that I was giving up on my life. I... don't hate that feeling."

"My Lord God, is the band...ok?" Deng finally asked his question.

She still has a fondness for the lights that she loved coming to the shrine since she was a tree. At least whenever the lights speak, she usually communicates with them through dialog boxes.

[When it comes to your own affairs, the most important thing is your inner conviction.]

"Inner...certainty?" Deng blinked twice, looking a little confused.

"There's a performance at the Sakura Festival at Jinja Shrine. Come and see it; it might help you decide." After typing this into the dialog box, Sakura added, "Deng, you could get the band members over so we can experience a more authentic live performance up close. The audience will be by invitation only. If you're moved by the music, I suggest you give it a try yourself."

Hearing Sakura's words, Deng turned his gaze to Sakura: "When is the Sakura Festival...?"

"It's Sunday afternoon. The weather is nice, so we're going to have a performance by inviting the audience and streaming it online. There are a total of seven bands participating," Ying explained briefly.

Deng nodded, "I'll be there—Sakura, can I sing?"

Ying thought about the options the system had given the light when she first activated it, and chose the more resolute encouragement: "Of course, just listen to what the light says and you'll know it's very good."

Deng's face turned slightly red: "I... am not as good as you say. Sakura, I will try my best."

Under the cherry tree, the girl in the shrine maiden's costume put her hand on the shoulder of the girl in the school uniform. Neither of them spoke, but looked up at the cherry blossoms on the tree in the already dim sky.

Suddenly, a few petals fell. Deng reached out and carefully caught one of them: "The petals by the overpass... didn't float over here..."

Ying frowned, feeling a little overwhelmed - she herself could hardly tell which cherry blossom fell from her own branch, and didn't know why the lamp could be so sure.

The lamp holding the petals in her palm did not make any explanation. She looked at the petals in her palm carefully, seeming to be lost in thought.

Ying was still wondering what Deng was thinking when she received a prompt from the system.

[There is a quest about Takamatsu Touma that can be posted.]

"Didn't she already have a mission? Why did another one pop up?" Sakura asked, her voice suppressed in her throat.

The system directly issued the task: [Please strengthen Takamatsu Tomo's determination to join the band at the Sakura Festival. Depending on the Sakura Festival's impact on Takamatsu Tomo, the host will receive rewards such as skills and shining points. If the Sakura Festival fails to impress Takamatsu Tomo, the host's transformed form will uncontrollably erupt for 48 hours.]

Can tree demons also spray?

Ying complained in her heart and had an urge to hang the amulet back.

At this time, Deng's thoughts finally came to an end. She took the initiative to talk to Ying: "Today, she took me to her house. It's a big villa. She simply composed a song based on my notes."

Sakura paused for a moment - she could hear the expectation in Deng's tone, and it was really hard to understand why Sakura would change her mind so quickly.

However, Ying felt a little better when she thought about the option that Deng's first band would fail. She just didn't know who Deng's first group of teammates would be, and how the band would explode into "fireworks."

Chapter 131 Spring, Sakura and Crychic:33, First and Last Rehearsal

There are still three days until the Sakura Festival begins.

In the past few days, Sakura has invited the bands participating in the Sakura Festival to come one after another to let them rehearse. The ones invited today are Xun, Miaomeng and Su Shi.

Xun's awake time is limited every day, so Sakura asked her to come for an hour to meet with her teammates. The other two temporary teammates arrived at the shrine an hour and a half earlier to do some "warm-up" first.

Meng Meng and Su Shi arrived at almost the same time - they both had to go to school and had to wait until school was over before they could come to the shrine.

As soon as Suye arrived at the shrine, she started talking to Sakura: "Sakura, Xiangzi's band has found a lead singer. She plans to invite you again after the Sakura Festival is over."

"For now, I'm only thinking about the Sakura Festival. The performance is in three days." Ying continued to use the "dragging" tactic, still facing the other party's invitation with an attitude of neither agreeing nor rejecting. Then she changed the subject: "How are you practicing for the thing I told you last time? Although there will only be a hundred people in the venue, there may be quite a few people in the live broadcast room."

Su Shi maintained a businesslike smile and said, "I will try my best in front of the audience."

"There's no need to be so formal... You can ask Miao Meng for advice. She's quite experienced in live streaming."

"Hmm! Miao Meng is a super popular anchor!" Miao Meng popped out from behind Ying at the right moment. "If that doesn't work, let the bassist stand behind the drummer! That way everyone's attention will be on the drummer!"

"Then Xun and I will stand in the middle, and you two will stand on either side." Ying glared at Miao Meng and said, "You will definitely get the attention you deserve."

Miao Meng smiled a little embarrassedly: "After leaving Taoxiang's band, I still want to put more effort into the band... After all, only female audiences will pay attention to my beauty work, but male audiences will also pay attention to my musicians, so this way I can double the audience!"

"That makes perfect sense. I can't even argue with that." Sakura pointed to the training room and said, "Then let's get started. Xun can come a little later."

Miao Meng said in a half-joking tone: "Even though Xun has a few awards, she doesn't have to act like such a big shot, right? I haven't seen Xun in such a long time of training. Today is the first time for her to come to practice with us, are you still going to drag it out?"

Ying paused. "Meowen, Sushi, I haven't explained Xun's condition to you clearly before. I used the excuse that she's not in Japan. She underwent a major surgery and is now only awake for a little over two hours a day. She spends most of the time in bed, so she can't rehearse with us. You two, especially Meowen, please don't mention this on social media."

"Ah...Xun..." Miao Meng was speechless.

"She's in recovery, and things should be getting better." Ying pushed open the door to the training room. "She told me she was very happy to be able to play with us. Even though she has to fight the disease every day, she still managed to practice the violin part well."

"I'm sorry." Miao Meng knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he apologized proactively and sat quietly on the drum stool of the drum set.

Influenced by this atmosphere, Su Shi silently took out his bass, connected the tuner and started tuning without saying a word.

Ying felt the atmosphere in the training room was a bit oppressive. "Let's be a little happier during rehearsal. This song doesn't try to stir up negative emotions in the audience."

The song she chose was "Night, Fireflies and You". The original melody of this song made extensive use of the thumb piano to create a feeling of ethereal tranquility on a summer night, but Ying made some changes in the arrangement, turning the main melody into a "dialogue" between the violin and the pipa, and using a more complex rhythm group than the original song, giving the whole song a sense of heaviness.

The other song's style and artistic conception can to some extent echo "Summer Love". This Otokaze song has a strong Japanese style, and there is no sense of incongruity when playing it in a shrine. It gives people a feeling of summer fireworks blooming, and combined with the not-so-long cherry blossom season, it can just stir up ripples in the hearts of the audience.

The difficulty of the two songs is not very high. Given Xun's current physical condition, she doesn't dare to sing too difficult songs.

The three of them practiced together several times, and Ying pointed out some key points that needed attention during the performance. Training alone could only address certain issues, but the effectiveness of the ensemble depended on working together to nail down every detail.

At present, there is no problem with the overall performance effect. As long as the details on the scene are better, it will become a very good performance.

Several people practiced together, chatting and laughing. Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, Xun entered the training room.

Xun put on some blush, but you can still see that her complexion is not very good, and her withered hair color has not fully recovered. At first glance, she looks sick, but compared to the first time I saw Xun at the shrine, she is now much better.

Her voice was still very weak. “I’m sorry, I’m a few minutes late. Mom is waiting for me downstairs at the shrine. If I faint, please call this number.”

When Sakura heard what Xun said, her nose felt a little sour.

Seeing Xun in the tree demon's spiritual world is completely different from seeing Xun in reality.

Xun in the spiritual world has almost fully recovered, but she can only wake up for more than two hours a day. It is impossible for her body to really adjust to the best condition - Xun's limbs are abnormally thin. Sakura is worried that she will not have enough strength to play. She can even see the outline of some joints through her skin.

"I'm already very proficient in both songs." Xun nodded to Miao Meng and Su Shi. "I'm sorry, I could only communicate with you two online before."

Sakura had no doubt about Xun's proficiency in the music - during this period, as long as she was in the dryad's space, she could hear Xun playing these two songs most of the time. She had put a lot of effort into the details of the songs and added a lot of her own understanding.

"Then... let's practice together. Xun only has a limited amount of time to wake up every day." Ying held the pipa and gave Xun a look.

Xun opened her violin case, took out her beloved violin, and quickly assumed a playing position. Even though she was thin, she immediately exuded a sense of professionalism when she held the violin.

"Meow Meng, you can start." Ying snapped her fingers.

With three taps of the drumsticks, the makeshift band began their first real rehearsal. Without a vocal part, the audience would pay more attention to the instrumental music, but Xun and Sakura's performance was almost impeccable.

The sounds of violin and pipa intertwined, bringing about a collision of East and West, and coupled with the well-arranged music, this collision undoubtedly created amazing sparks.

After the two songs were played, the only sound in the training room was Xun's breathing.

Her physical strength did not support her playing continuously like she did in the tree demon space. In fact, after playing two songs, Xun had to rest for a few minutes.

Ying walked over to her and looked at her seriously. "I've prepared a lot of programs for this Sakura Festival. There's a band with a strong violin element, and there's also a super strong girl band like R Liuwu Bashi Mio Qia Oseliya. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It might even be good for your rehabilitation training."

"Thank you for your good wishes." Xun was still very polite, but from her expression, it seemed that she was no longer as optimistic about her condition as she was a few months ago.

Chapter 132 Spring, Sakura and Crychic: 34. You should have some experience, right?

The night before the Sakura Festival, Sakura was at the shrine, working with the equipment rental staff to debug the equipment for a whole day.

Yes, she mainly uses equipment dragged out of the training room, but in order to ensure the live broadcast effect and the performance needs of various bands, she still needs to rent some equipment.

The equipment already on site is only part of it. In addition, she also needs to rent microphones for acoustic instruments and vocals, mixing consoles and audio streaming equipment, and also hire a photographer for the live broadcast.

Even a domestic video website flew two people over to guide Ying on the settings related to the live broadcast, and rented a computer room to ensure the smooth live broadcast.

The reason for this is that online ticket sales for the Sakura Festival are so popular.

Before the performance even started, more than 50,000 online tickets had already been sold. That is to say, the ticket sales for this online Sakura Festival totaled several million RMB, which is almost hundreds of millions yen when converted into Japanese yen. Although after deducting the share of the video website and taxes, only tens of millions of yen remained in Sakura's hands, but such a sum of money was enough for the video website to pay attention.

A business worth millions of RMB will attract the attention of video websites, but more importantly, video websites are optimistic about Sakura's future.

As a Tokyo shrine maiden, Sakura Takagi can communicate in Chinese fluently and respects the Chinese-speaking audience. She is also very good-looking, and her music composition and performance abilities are widely recognized.

As long as we can seize this opportunity to show our favor to her, she will definitely bring a lot of revenue and traffic to the website.

At the request of the video website, Ying started a Chinese live broadcast to test the live broadcast line and promote the performance the next day.

The live broadcast content is the preparation and setup of the equipment.

"For guitars and bass, live performances are based on listening to the speakers. For streaming, two microphones are placed next to the speakers to pick up the sound and then feed it into the mixer. Another solution in LiveHouse is to connect all the electric instruments to the mixer via a speaker module. With IR technology, this can be used for small to medium-sized performances, and the results are quite good."

Ying walked over to the mixing console. "The acoustic instruments here are also recorded before being brought in. There are less than 200 people in the audience, so we just need to adjust the volume of the electric instruments to find a balance. No additional amplification is needed. However, if everyone wants to hear it, the sound will also be recorded. Multiple microphones need to be carefully tuned, otherwise there will be howling, a chaotic sound field, etc...."

The comments were all saying that Ying was being too professional, so Ying had no choice but to show everyone around the equipment, and then respond to the SC and comments and chat with everyone.

"Ah... When will you come to China? Maybe in a few years, but I'll definitely go if I have the chance. If I go there now, there's no one to take care of the shrine... Um... there will be Chinese songs. With all your support, I'll sing two Chinese songs for you tomorrow... Yeah, they're original works."

Ying used her hands to straighten her bangs, which were a bit messy from bending over so often to look at her device. "SC said I looked like a cherry blossom fairy... Thank you, but I'm not a cherry blossom fairy, I'm a shrine maiden. Um... school? I didn't go after graduating from junior high. The conditions didn't allow it. Everyone should study hard if you have the chance..."

She has a good grasp of the rhythm of her conversation. It doesn't seem to have any explosive points, but people are still willing to listen.

In the words of the audience, there is a kind of illusory yet real beauty with the power to heal people's hearts.

After two hours of live broadcast, the equipment was almost debugged. Ying was sitting on a temporary plastic stool and browsing her phone when she suddenly heard a system prompt.

The more audience members the host can satisfy at the Sakura Festival, the more Shining Points they can earn. For every 30 online viewers they can touch, they can earn 1 Shining Point. If they earn over 1000 Shining Points, they can receive a Skill Extraction Reward.

For this Sakura Festival, the system has already issued several tasks in succession.

I don’t know if the system is trying to please me, or if the Sakura Festival can really gain a lot of wishes.

Sakura continued to scroll through her phone and noticed that both CHU^2 and Momoka had sent her messages.

CHU^2's message reads: "I heard you're going to livestream your show online? RAS challenges you! Whether it's Sakura or Roselia, RAS will defeat you! This is a Duel between girl bands!"

Momoka's message was: "I won't be coming to the Sakura Festival tomorrow. CHU^2 said they want to do a live stream, so I'll be their support guitarist one more time."

Ying shook her head, thinking that CHU^2 was really childish.

Tokyo is big enough to accommodate many girl bands, so there's no need to forcefully rank them. CHU^2 is certainly a talented music producer, but just because you're talented doesn't mean everyone else is mediocre.

So, she replied to CHU^2 with a somewhat veiled response: [The Sakura Festival is a scheduled shrine festival, not a venue for competition. If your music is truly so compelling, why haven't you found a suitable guitarist yet?]

As for Taoxiang, she just replied with a smiley face.

Miao Meng also sent a message. She hadn't found a costume sponsor, but she asked Su Shi to go to the shopping street and buy clothes suitable for the performance. She also sent a photo to Ying. The photo was taken by Miao Meng in the mirror of the clothing store. Su Shi and Miao Meng were both wearing Japanese-style dresses with mainly warm colors, which really looked good with the shrine maiden costume.

From Sakura's perspective, there was nothing wrong with it.

Miao Meng's fashion sense is indeed good. She and Su Shi both have relatively mature figures, but the dress dilutes the sense of maturity and highlights the youthfulness unique to girls. The warm color tone is cozy but not eye-catching. When paired with the shrine maiden costume, the overall stage feeling is also fine.

Moreover, in addition to this, Miao Meng has another little idea that highlights herself - the pattern of this Japanese-style dress has a certain continuity when sitting down, and the hanging flowers on the shoulders will become very conspicuous when making big movements, which is especially suitable for drummers to wear on stage.

"Tomorrow will be the second Sakura Festival I will hold." Sakura suddenly thought of the old priest and said to herself.

The old priest himself should have no regrets that someone can continue to run this shrine, but the sakura who are still in the world, or the old guys who want to spend their whole life in the shrine can take a look at the shrine today.

When Sayu heard Sakura's words, she didn't understand what she meant.

"Sakura... you should have more experience the second time, right?" Sayu responded tentatively.

Sayu said this, and Sakura smiled with some relief.

"Yes, the first time was when we borrowed the equipment from Ichigaya Yusaki's house - she's the keyboard player of PoppinParty. We moved all the equipment from her basement. The audience then was similar to this time, except there was no live broadcast..." Sakura put her hands behind her back, looked up at the treetops, and for some reason she told Sayu about what happened a year ago.

Chapter 133 Spring, Sakura and Crychic:35, The Band with a Dead Face

Sakura Festival, that day.