Girl idols are meant to be exploited!

Because... she had no investment at all. This was just an excuse to fool Hiroi Kikuri. Her money was still in the bank.

She was not worried that Hiroi would default on the debt, but she and Hoshikawa Taku had tacitly agreed that neither of them would lend money to Hiroi.

We need to let Hiroki experience the feeling of being at the end of her rope, and push her into a corner - only in this way can she re-evaluate her current life.

Hiroi said that she wanted to use good wine to raise her threshold. She might really be looking for a way to quit drinking, but it might also be an excuse for her to make herself drink.

Iwashita Shima doesn't want to put her hopes on Hiroi's "self-discipline". Her idea coincides with that of Hoshikawa Taku. They both feel that only by controlling Hiroi to the extreme will she be forced to change and get out of this vicious cycle.

"Anyway, the band doesn't have any offers right now, and I don't have any money to lend you, so you're on your own."

Iwashita Shima said with a stern face.

"How can this be! I don't even have money for food right now!"

Hiroi Kikuri held her head and wailed as if the end of the world had come.

"If you want to eat, I don't mind having an extra pair of chopsticks, but if you want to drink for free, then save your money. I don't have any free wine for you."

Seeing that Shima Iwashita was determined, she had no choice but to have lunch at Shima's place, left angrily, and then wandered to Elisa Shimizu's house at night.

Eliza's living room was filled with comic manuscripts and fan books, and there were half-finished color pages on the table. She was as gentle as ever, and without saying a word, she warmly invited Hiroi to have dinner with her.

While enjoying his free dinner, Hiroi tentatively talked about borrowing money.

Eliza was stunned for a moment, then shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, I used all my money to print the new issue of the doujinshi... I'm having a hard time cashing out now, and I can't recover until I sell out this batch of books."

Hiroi looked around her room in astonishment, and when she saw the boxes of unshipped doujinshi in the corner, she immediately felt deflated.

Just like that, she came back empty-handed at Eliza's house, and finally returned dejectedly to her own low-rent apartment in an old apartment building that didn't even have a bathroom.

The tattered sliding door rustled in the wind, a lot of dust accumulated on the tatami, and the air was mixed with the smell of stale wine and disinfectant.

Looking at the terrible condition of the low-rent apartment, Hiroi Kikuri felt a little regretful.

When I had more money, I should have moved to another place. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I can't keep using other people's bathrooms, right?

It's okay to go once a week, but you can't go there every day. No matter how enthusiastic they are at the beginning, you will get annoyed by them.

Hiroi Kikuri patted the tatami casually and lay down on it, looking at the old fan above her head that was squeaking and looked like it would fall at any time, feeling panic in her heart.

Her life, like this fan, is crumbling.

"We can't go on like this..."

She murmured, and the face of Taku Hoshikawa appeared in her mind, as well as his words - "As long as you can stop drinking, we can date."

This sentence was like the highest-grade beer, placed in a place where Hiroi Kiku could see but not touch, making her feel itchy.

Hiroi Kikuri stared at the ceiling for a long time, then suddenly sat up and slapped herself on the head.

"Starting tomorrow, I will change!"

She gritted her teeth and said, "I need to be self-disciplined, I need to be moderate, I need to work hard... push myself!"

While motivating herself in this way, she began to plan her self-discipline plan for tomorrow.

The plan was not even halfway done when she suddenly went limp again and collapsed onto the tatami, face down, with a muffled groan.

"Forget it, I'll work on tomorrow's things tomorrow... As for today, let's indulge ourselves one last time."

After much consideration, she took out the last change from her pocket, got up and went downstairs to buy some wine.

Chapter 223: Where are you making money recently, sisters?

Although she had made up her mind to start a self-disciplined life, when Hiroi Kikuri woke up, it was already three or four in the afternoon.

"Well……"

She groaned and sat up, cold sweat streaming down her forehead, her head swelling as if it had been hit by a hammer.

She slowly held her forehead and rubbed it for a long time before she felt a little better.

"Why did I wake up at this hour? I was planning to get up early and go for a run today... I'm so hungry."

She touched her hungry stomach and decided to get something to eat first.

But when he felt his pocket, he realized that he had spent the last of his money on alcohol last night, and the money he had on hand was not enough to buy even a decent box lunch.

She searched through all the boxes and cabinets in her rented apartment for a long time but couldn't find even a piece of candy. She collapsed back on the tatami in frustration, one hand on her forehead, like a down-and-out princess in a stage play.

"Alas...Is it all I can do to get a free meal?"

Eating for free may be a shameful thing for others, but for Hiroi Kikuri, it is a common daily practice.

I just went to Shima and Eliza's house yesterday, so going again today would seem too shameless.

As for Taku Hoshikawa, she was too guilty to face him because she had stayed drunk all night.

After thinking for a long time, she decided to try her luck at the [Stars] Exhibition Hall.

She used her remaining change to buy a ticket, dragged her hungry body, and came to the performance hall carrying her bass.

The performance hall wasn't officially open yet, the door ajar, and the rustling of brooms could be heard in the distance. The four young band members hadn't finished school yet, and in the vast space, only Ichichi Hoshika and the sound engineer, PA-san, were preparing to open the shop.

"Kiri? Why are you here?"

Xingge looked at the figure walking in from the door with some surprise.

"I haven't been here for a long time. I came here to see you and help you with something."

As Guang Jing spoke, he took the initiative to walk to Xingge's side, picked up the mop and began to mop the floor. His movements were quite smooth. But after a few minutes, she squatted down weakly, holding her stomach with a look of pain.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? If you're sick, go to the hospital. Don't be so stubborn."

Although Ijichi Hoshika usually treats Hiroi Kikuri very rudely, she still feels a little worried when she sees her in this state.

"I'm not sick, but I haven't eaten anything all day, and I'm a little dizzy from hunger."

Hiroi said weakly.

"Then you should eat."

"I've spent all the money I had, not even enough to buy some wine..."

She scratched her head and said with a wry smile.

It was indeed a bit strange that Hiroi Kikuri didn't have her signature "wine-killing" cheap wine in her hand today. Ijichi Seika originally thought that this guy had changed, but it turned out that she had no money.

"So you're here to eat for free, right?"

Xingge narrowed her eyes and looked at her with alertness.

"Hey, I've been discovered."

Hiroi stuck out his tongue, not feeling a trace of guilt at all.

Xingge glared at Guangjing angrily and shouted to PA-san: "PA-san, please make a bowl of noodles for Guangjing!"

The exhibition hall mainly relies on alcohol to make extra money. It doesn't sell much food, but it also provides some simple long-term fast food.

"Sister Xingge, you are such a good person!"

Hiroi's face was filled with gratitude, like a traveler who saw an oasis in the desert.

"Don't disgust me. I don't want you to starve to death here and ruin the feng shui of my shop."

Ichichi Xingge said unhappily.

This guy is lucky enough not to make things worse, let alone help. We shouldn't have too much expectation from her.

"Hey hey hey~"

After a while, a bowl of steaming udon noodles was brought out, and the fragrance immediately filled the entire exhibition hall.

Hiroi was so moved that he almost cried: "I'm starting!"

She had just picked up the chopsticks when she suddenly seemed to remember something. Her eyes wandered and a flattering smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "Um... can you give me a glass of wine? Even the cheapest kind -"

"what?"

Xingge's forehead twitched, and she almost threw the rag in her hand. "You're starving and still thinking about drinking? Dream on! Go drink some water!"

"Hey, Sister Xingge, you're too cold. Just give me a glass of wine, just a small one..."

Guangjing looked at Xingge pitifully.

"If you keep talking nonsense, you won't even be able to eat the noodles."

"Okay, okay, I'll shut up!"

Guangjing immediately shut up tactfully and quickly lowered her head to eat noodles. The hot soup flowed down her throat into her stomach, and she finally felt alive again.

"……tasty!"

Xingge sat beside her and looked at her. He didn't say anything, but his expression showed a hint of relief.

Even though this guy always pushes her too far, it still makes people feel a little sorry for her when they see her in such a miserable state.

Xingge pulled up a chair and sat next to Juli. His tone softened unusually, and he said earnestly, "Juli, you can't go on like this. You're not young anymore, you're 25. Can you still live like a street urchin, relying on free meals?"

Guangjing's movements froze, and the noodles in his mouth no longer tasted fragrant.

“I’m actually looking for an opportunity to change…”

She muttered softly, "I've been reflecting on this, but now I have no income. When I get a performance opportunity and receive the performance fee, I will definitely plan my spending wisely and not waste it!"

Yidizhi Xingge raised his eyebrows when he heard this.

"Who said there weren't any performance opportunities? I heard several livehouses invited you, but your responses all said you were busy creating and had no time for performances. I thought you all had plenty of money."

Hiroi Kikuri was stunned: "Huh? Who said that!? Where did this rumor come from? We haven't practiced together in the past two weeks, and there's been no progress in our creative work. Everyone is busy with their own things... How can we say we're creating something?"

"This is not a rumor. I heard it from Shima herself. I also invited you, but she declined."

For a moment, Hiroi Kikuri stopped eating her noodles. Her eyes were full of surprise as she murmured:

"How could this happen... Shima clearly told me that our band didn't have any performance invitations, at least not for the next month... Why would she lie to me?"

Xingge hadn't expected that a casual remark of his could cause conflict within the team, so he quickly said:

"Shima must have a reason for saying that. She definitely didn't mean to lie to you. Think about it carefully. Is she busy with something recently and doesn't have time to perform for the time being? Is that why she said that?"

Hiroi pinched his chin and thought seriously.

"Zhima said that she invested all her money in the stock market and had no money to lend me. Now she's still losing money and is still trying to recover her investment. Could it be that she cheated me..."

Suddenly, an idea struck Hiroi.

"I get it! Shima didn't lose money, she made a lot of money. She doesn't care about the small performance fee anymore, so she turned down all the performances!"

The more I thought about Hiroi's amazing wisdom, the more I felt that this was the real reason.

"Okay... Shima, you didn't tell me when you got rich, but you took me to drink soup when you ate meat!"

Here are the pictures, which can be viewed after the updated version.

Chapter 224 Did Eliza also "betray"?

Seeing his friends making money was more painful than losing money himself. The more Hiroi thought about it, the more sour he felt. He finished his noodles in a few mouthfuls, immediately stood up and prepared to go find Shima.

Xingge quickly held her down.

"Calm down, this isn't necessarily the reason. Maybe she's really been hurt... If you go and accuse her now, she might end up beating you up in anger."

Xingge paused and continued, "Besides, I think even if Shima makes money, she won't refuse to perform. After all, she loves music just like you, and she'd be happy to do it even if there's no money to be made..."

These words calmed Hiroi down.

"Why is that..."

Hiroi thought for a while and came up with another possibility.

"By the way, Shima told me that Hoshikawa once approached her privately, saying he wanted to invite her to go solo and join the agency. Shima also said that she's still considering it... Do you think it could be because of this reason?"

Ichichi Xingge was stunned for a moment.

"Xingchuan...invited her to go solo?"

"To be precise, he invited our entire Sick Hack team, but since I wasn't planning on joining, he invited Shima as a second choice."

Hiroi frowned as he spoke, "Look, could it be that Shima promised him but didn't tell me?"

"Is that so... Then let me ask for you."