Mygo, you guys seem to be getting a bit heavy-hearted.

Chapter 166 Why play Kasuga Kage for no reason?

"Thump—" The next second after Ai-yin's guitar solo ended

Another melodious guitar sound rang out, far surpassing Ai Yin's clumsy guitar playing in terms of skill.

The rhythm of the pop-up... seems somewhat familiar.

It was a very old song; everyone present, except for Ai Yin, had heard it and had performed it live.

“Deng↑Deng→Deng↑Deng→DengDeng~DengDeng…”

aieeeeee——

Spring shadows? What are spring shadows?!

"Rakuna-chan?!" Shoko spotted Rakuna plucking the strings of her violin in the corner. "When did she sneak off over there?"

And why play Kasuga Kage?

It startled her.

There's one more thing... It wasn't just Xiangzi who thought of it; everyone else realized it too.

Aside from Aine, almost everyone's gaze simultaneously and uniformly fell upon the flaxen-haired girl standing to the side.

soyo: "?"

Look, look what I did?

...Wait, they don't think I...

Su Shi got annoyed: "Hey, you guys! That's all in the past! I won't run away crying again, so stop looking at me!"

It must be said that she does have some talent for comedic performance. A matter that is not very funny, or even a bit serious, can always be made more cheerful in Su Shi's mouth.

Just like Kong Yiji, who made a mistake and was hung up and beaten, this story will probably be talked about by others for a lifetime.

Lena was completely absorbed in playing the guitar, and it was difficult to interrupt her; you could only wait for her to stop on her own.

"What song is this..." Ai Yin, guitar slung over her shoulder, stood there listening to the soothing and melodious tune.

Even though she was just a beginner guitarist, she could tell that Lena's mastery of this song was already at an extraordinary level.

As the song ended, Lena opened her bright eyes again, eagerly took off her guitar, and quickly approached Aine.

"...Huh?" Aine hurriedly tried to step aside to let Ryuna pass, but she didn't expect that Ryuna was actually coming for her.

In just a moment, Aine's vision blurred, and before she could react, Lena's heterochromatic pupils were only an inch away from her eyes, and she could even faintly feel the gaze that had solidified into a tangible form.

"Stare—" When Lena first met everyone, she also looked at Deng and Xiangzi with that same gaze.

The final conclusion was "ordinary" and "complex." Although this conclusion changed somewhat as they spent more time together, the initial assessment was not wrong, as it reflected some of the characteristics of each of them.

Now, she scrutinized Chihaya Aine, who had just finished her performance, with the same gaze.

"*Sniff sniff*"

Aine's breathing became erratic due to Rakuna's sudden movement: 'So close! Our noses are almost touching!'

"Sure enough, your scent has changed."

She had mentioned it to Wakaba Mutsu before.

Each person's guitar has a different scent, and each person's scent is very unique, so she couldn't possibly mistake one for another.

Previously, when Aine was playing, Rakuna smelled a kind of stinky tofu from a roadside stall on her. She didn't like that smelly food, so she commented that Aine was "not very interesting."

While some of that pungent odor still remains, most of it has undergone a complete transformation.

There were several different scents on Aine that even Rakuna could detect.

Yanming's and Xiang's scents are subtly present on Aiyin, and if one is not careful, they can easily be confused with other unfamiliar scents.

And just after she finished playing a piece called "Spring Shadow," her scent appeared on the other person again.

Even though it was only a tiny bit that she almost overlooked.

"An interesting girl." Lena smiled kindly at the bewildered Aine. "How much of the song you just heard did you remember?"

Ai Yin was caught off guard: "Huh?"

Is this a test for her?

She's a beginner, how could she possibly memorize an entire song after only hearing it once?

but……

"I only remembered the first few notes, nothing else," Ai-yin said honestly.

"Hmm..." Le Nai withdrew her gaze from her and ran to Li Xi's side, taking the black-haired girl's hand in a coquettish manner, "Li Xi, can we let her join us?"

Lixi forcefully pulled her off him: "Hey, don't stick to me, it's hot!"

After Ai Yin's guitar solo ended, Li Xi also considered this issue.

Has Ai Yin's guitar technique reached a certain level?

No, compared to Lena, the other guitarist in the band, she's far inferior.

Lixi also didn't believe that with the rookie's current crude skills, they could support any of their band's performances.

Therefore, Li Xi frowned and asked Ai Yin bluntly, "Hey, you pink-haired girl over there, how long have you been learning guitar so far?"

Ai Yin thought for a moment and then answered truthfully: "I had some exposure to it before, but then I gave up. What I'm learning now is what Mr. Yanming started teaching me last week."

"One week..." Upon receiving this predictable answer, Lixi took a deep breath.

This seemingly unremarkable pink-haired girl, whose only redeeming quality is her face... is actually an exceptionally talented genius.

Given time, they will also be someone I can only look up to.

Thinking of this, Li Xi's tone immediately became even worse. With a long face, she bluntly said, "You play very poorly. You can't play a single one of the pieces we're going to perform, let alone perform them."

Upon hearing this, Ai Yin immediately deflated.

The feeling of giving your all but still not getting recognition is somewhat unacceptable to Aine.

This past week, she has practically squeezed her free time to the limit, even constantly calculating her sleep time in her mind.

Even so, is it still not enough...?

"I'll ask you one more time, what's your name?" Li Xi admitted that she hadn't been listening carefully when the other person greeted her.

“Chihaya Aine…” Aine didn’t understand why Ritsuki would ask her this question at this time, but she still responded listlessly.

"Chihaya Aine." Shiina Tatsuki repeated, nodding. "I got it. Come over later and add me on Line. I'll be responsible for notifying you of the band's meeting time. I'll also send you some other important notes then, so remember to read them. Don't be as careless as that stray cat, or I'll still kick you out! Got it?"

Chapter 167 Joining the Band

Ai Yin didn't react for a moment until Yan Ming came over and gently patted her shoulder. Only then did she come to her senses and understand the subtext of Li Xi's words.

That is to say...

Li Xi and Xiao Le Nai... does this mean they've accepted each other?

"Don't misunderstand, and don't get too excited yet." Li Xi looked at her joyful expression that turned from gloomy to cheerful in just a second and bluntly said, "You have to catch up with our pace before our next live performance, otherwise we won't be taking you with us."

If this pink-haired girl can make this kind of progress within a week, as long as she doesn't slack off, she should be able to catch up with their practice pace in a short time.

As for the performance... Lixi hasn't decided yet.

Compared to the songs she had played before, she was now more concerned about "Walking with the Blue Sky," a song that Deng had mentioned to her before.

The lyrics that Deng wrote for her... Do I really deserve Deng's feelings?

Lixi couldn't be sure, so after meeting Deng today, she didn't say anything else except to greet her.

The lamp seemed to be deep in thought, remaining silent and with its head down ever since it was time to greet the person and sit down.

“I’d like to say,” Su Shi interjected with a smile, “that I’m also a member of the band, right? Aren’t you going to ask my opinion?”

Su Shi was annoyed by this dismissive attitude. Although she would agree, she should at least ask first.

"...What a troublesome woman. What do you think of Su Shi?" Li Xi asked casually, going along with her thoughts.

However, everyone in her band knew that, given Nagasaki Motoyo's personality, she was completely incapable of making any choice of her own when it came to this decision.

She would only try to smooth things over when they disagreed, or chime in with a "I have no opinion" when everyone else was in agreement.

Lixi didn't really know how to deal with this extremely altruistic personality, so she could only refuse most of Su Shi's unconditional care in her own way in order to maintain an equal relationship between the two.

Su Shi gave a polite and appropriate smile: "I have no objection."

"Fine." Li Xi rolled her eyes at Su Shi, annoyed.

She knew it would be like this.

“In other words…” Aine cautiously raised her hand.

Li Xi glanced at her, and let out a muffled sound of impatience from her nose: "Hmm."

There's no need to ask Akari's opinion; Chihaya Aine was originally brought over by Akari.

"Two guitars... I'll revise the old arrangement again later. Practice with that until the new song comes out." Although she sounded impatient, those who knew Li Xi knew that this behavior actually showed she was serious.

For Riki, since Chihaya Aine's joining the group was partly her responsibility, she had to take on the responsibility of supervising her.

"Ugh... Whew—" The feeling of a sudden turn of events made Aine's heart almost leap out of her chest. "That's great..."

Finally, it was a success.

Although I can foresee that there will be an even tougher future ahead than this week, at least this week's efforts have not been in vain.

...A band, it feels like a dream. Something I thought I'd never encounter in my life is actually causing me so much trouble.

She'll have her day too.

"Aine-chan... Congratulations." Akari, who had been deep in thought, quickly sent a congratulatory message to Aine upon hearing the result: "You did it..."

Aine happily replied, "Yeah, now I can play in a band with Tou-chan!"

"Hmm..." Deng nodded, then lowered his head and returned to his previous state.

She's been thinking about the new song and Li Xi for the past few days, but she still hasn't come to a conclusion.

Whether it's the lyrics or Li Xi himself...

Many people present knew that the lamp was a single-threaded processor, but Aine was not among them, so she naturally felt puzzled.

"Huh? Why does it seem like Dengdeng isn't reacting much to me joining in?"

"Little Lamp? Little Lamp—" Ai Yin leaned close to Lamp's ear and whispered, "You seem a little distracted."

"Ah... oh wait... Aine-chan?" Akari snapped out of her reverie. "Sorry, I was daydreaming..."

"What's the lamp thinking? Tell me so I can help you out. After all, we'll be teammates in the same band soon."

In Ai Yin's view, joining a band is like joining a group of like-minded people. If anyone in the group is in trouble, he has an obligation to lend a helping hand.

"No...it's nothing..." As Deng said this, her eyes kept drifting unconsciously towards Lixi beside her.

It's so obvious, how could Aine not see it?

Based on Riki's current personality, Aine made a reasonable deduction:

"Let me guess... Did Lixi scold Xiaodeng for not practicing seriously?"

"What are you saying, you pink-haired idiot? Why would I spout nonsense at a light?" Because they weren't far apart, Li Xi overheard this.

Upon hearing that the two were talking about her, she immediately joined the conversation.

Lixi wanted to hear more about herself from Deng, any kind of story, as long as it was from Deng.

"It's... the lyrics to a new song."

"Oh!" Upon hearing the words "new song," Ai Yin immediately became excited. "It's a new song?"

She just joined, and she's already getting such good fortune?

That's a new song! Who wouldn't want a song they're truly involved in?

Ai Yin clasped her hands together and pleaded, "Hey, can I see Deng Deng?"

"Hey!" Li Xi stepped in front of Deng. "Why are you so agitated? You know you're putting Deng in a difficult position."