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

Then there is no more.

"Huh?" Aine was dumbfounded.

I just used this trick at school a few days ago, and it worked really well. Why is it not working here?

Yanming smiled and shook his head, not pointing it out.

Since they're all kids around the same age, with Ai-yin's emotional intelligence, she'll figure it out herself in a few days at most.

Ai Yin sat down dejectedly.

Yanming said, "Alright, stop worrying about it. It's time to start practicing. Let me see how good your foundation is."

"Oh."

Ai Yin immediately regained her confidence and proudly accepted the Magic King from Yan Ming's hands.

"Ah, so...light?"

Compared to Ai Yin's own guitar, this one feels rather unpredictable in terms of playability.

"I modified it myself once, so it's a bit lighter than a regular guitar, but it won't affect normal use," Yanming explained. "I'll give you a few rhythms, try playing them one by one."

Ai Yin nodded: "Okay."

……

Half an hour later.

Yanming rubbed his temples, sitting in a chair and questioning his existence.

"Aiyin, is this the person you mentioned who has stage performance experience?"

Won't the audience get diarrhea from eating so well?

“Uh…” Aine awkwardly looked away. “I haven’t practiced in so long… and I really only know how to play that one piece.”

Yanming sighed: "Then I'll just say what I have to say."

Aine's heart tightened.

Does this mean he's giving up on her?

as expected

“Your foundation is very poor, and your fingering is quite wrong. Even a layman would find it awkward. If I want to train you to be a guitarist who can stand on his own, it will be much more difficult than if I directly find a complete beginner to teach you.”

Yanming's criticism was incisive, without any exaggeration or omission, and fully described Aiyin's current situation through language.

"Well……"

Ai-yin lowered her head in shame.

Yanming paused for a moment, then continued, "In other words..."

So you've really decided to give up on her.

Well, it was ultimately her own fault for being lazy...

“You really need to step up your game now, Miss Aine.” Yanming had encountered so many frustrating situations like this that he had become accustomed to them. “I’ve heard Xiaodeng’s band play. If you’re at your current level and want to catch up with them, you’ll have to work your butt off with me. Sigh, looks like I’ll have to stay up all night tonight to work out a practice plan for you.”

"...Aren't you going to give up on me?"

"?" Yanming pulled his attention away from making the plan and looked up at the pink-haired girl in front of him. "When did I say that? Or is it that Aine lacks confidence in herself and wants to quit?"

Yanming believed he couldn't misjudge people.

An engine fueled by vanity, if resilient enough, is no less powerful than ties and dreams in his eyes.

"That's not what I meant... I just..."

From childhood to adulthood, Chihaya Aine has never experienced any major setbacks; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a flower in a greenhouse.

This flower was so beautiful that it attracted many other flowers to its side, all admiring its beauty and charm.

She grew up in an environment where she was constantly admired and pampered.

Amidst those praises, she gradually pieced together her confidence and self-esteem, acknowledging her beauty and extraordinary nature, and resolved to go and see the vast lands where none of her companions had ever been.

Chapter 145 British Deserter Chihaya Aine

The final outcome was unsatisfactory.

It wasn't until she truly experienced that unfamiliar storm that Aine began to reflect on her past naivety. But some things were already beyond regret, some words were already spoken and could not be taken back. The things she had willingly given up had also given up on her. She could no longer return to that peaceful, beloved garden.

The excuse of not being able to adapt to the new environment was just cowardly. She herself lost her courage and confidence, and returned to where she started, pretentiously facing the greenhouse she once knew. She was too proud to step back in, having lost all face.

Chihaya Aine

He's not the student council president, not the guitarist or lead singer, and not some overseas returnee who's just had a prestigious degree.

She was just a coward who ran away.

Having fled back from England, yet unable to confront her past, she could only flee once more, finding this school where she knew no one and tried to start over.

She can start over, but can her life?

The answer is no.

The things she's done, the nightmares she's experienced, will one day catch up with her, twisting into a chain that will tighten around her neck, suffocating her until she can no longer breathe, and before killing her, it will take away her last shred of dignity.

To prevent such a thing from happening

Chihaya Aine needs to find a suitable "excuse" for herself as soon as possible.

For example, joining a sufficiently good band.

She thought a lot during these past few days.

Therefore, for Ai Yin, "joining the band" is no longer just a tool to satisfy her vanity, but more like a ticket to start anew.

This allows her to hold her head high and bid farewell to her past misfortunes, so that when someone asks, she can put on a dignified air and speak condescendingly to the questioner:

"Hmm... studying in the UK... I've thought about it, but supporting my friends' band back home is still more important. After all, that's easy for me, but friends are different."

She desperately needed to be able to say something like that in order to deal with a crisis that could come at any moment.

“Aiyin, unless you choose to give up, I will not give up on you.” Yanming said calmly. “Of course, for me, not working hard enough and not taking things seriously will also be considered as giving up.”

Yanming has his own principles, but when principles are not involved, he is willing to treat everyone gently.

"What you want to do and what you don't want to do is up to you. If you feel you can't keep going and want to quit, I won't say anything. So don't put too much pressure on yourself and forget your original intention of playing in a band."

Original intention?

"We talked about 'vanity,' right?" Yanming asked her again to confirm.

Aine readily admitted this without much embarrassment: "Yes."

"Since you've decided to use 'becoming famous' as the impetus for playing in a band, don't waver or change your mind easily. Believing in yourself is a very important thing. Or... Ai-yin, are you already feeling 'lost'?"

"Is your motivation for joining the band really still 'vanity'?"

Under Yanming's gaze, Aine always felt as if she had nowhere to hide.

She recalled the scene when Xiangzi and she chatted together during lunch.

"Don't even think about fighting Yanming in any form or by any means... Those who haven't faced him directly have no idea how terrifying he is!"

"Yanming is invincible."

Aine could now clearly sense Xiangzi's feelings when he said those words.

Having your inner thoughts exposed... anyone would feel terrified in that situation.

Despite this fear, Aine no longer had the idea of ​​running away again.

Because in front of someone who completely understands you, along with the fear comes a unique and special sense of security.

No matter what you're thinking, the other person can quickly sense it and give feedback, and they are also a gentle and warm person.

What could be more reassuring than this?

When Yanming saw Aiyin bend over dejectedly, he knew he had guessed right again:

"Tell me about it, and I'll give you some advice."

He's not very good at comforting people; all he can do is "empathize."

In other words, he might not actually be able to help Aine.

But how will you know if you don't try?

“We’re not friends, not even acquaintances, so if you tell me things that are hard to say to others, I’ll probably forget them as soon as I hear them.”

Yanming untied the guitar strap from her, placed the Magic King guitar on the table, and then handed her a bottle of chilled water.

"Try to calm down and slow down your thoughts. There's nothing chasing you here."

He wasn't a psychologist, so he could only use this clumsy method to comfort the child.

Fortunately, it seems to have worked.

“…Hmm.” Ai Yin took a deep breath and straightened up. “…A friend of mine has been having some troubles lately.”

“I understand.” Yanming didn’t expose him. “Then let’s talk about that friend.”

"My friend, according to the original plan, should actually be studying in the UK now, but... for some reason, I ran away, disregarding the boast I had made, and ran back to China..."

He's already giving himself away in just the second sentence...

Yanming pretended not to understand: "What's the reason?"

“There are many…” Facing Yanming, a 'friend' she wasn’t very close to, Ai Yin felt a long-lost sense of liberation from the constraints of propriety, and her breathing became much easier. “The food in the cafeteria there is terrible… and the variety of food has basically never changed.”

British food...

Yanming nodded and agreed, "That's true."

"And another thing is... I don't know a single familiar face, and everyone is speaking a language I'm not familiar with, chatting about things I can't understand..."

Yanming put himself in Yanming's shoes and said with certainty, "That must be very lonely."

"...Yeah, it's so lonely. Even when my roommate asked me to go out, it took me several minutes to understand what she meant, and we didn't even get to say a few words before we left." Ai Yin spoke softly, her eyes not on Yan Ming, but lost in her memories.

Yanming asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, there's so much more... I thought living in that kind of environment for a few years would be pretty easy, but..." Aine hugged herself in frustration, "I never imagined it would be this difficult..."

"So I ran back. It was embarrassing, but at least here... I don't feel suffocated like I do now."

Chapter 146 What a wonderful child!

Only when they leave their familiar, moist environment will the delicate flowers gradually transform their longing for the wilderness into fear.

Unable to speak out, all alone.

Helplessness is like a collapsing snow mountain; with no room for resistance, it can shatter even the most proud self-confidence in one fell swoop.

But this doesn't mean that Aine is a cowardly child.

On the contrary, the courage she showed to actually take action for that little bit of face that is insignificant to adults far surpasses that of her peers.

"Now that you're back, what makes you feel embarrassed?" Yanming asked, then continued, "Let me guess... it's your old friends, right? You feel that since you ran away back, you have no face to see them again, is that right?"

"..."

No reply means it's accepted.

Yanming sighed: "But you didn't promise them anything, so why are you forcing yourself like this?"

This tendency to dwell on minute details and to engage in self-doubt and questioning is generally referred to as "internal friction."

Perhaps none of her friends cared about these things as much as she did; on the contrary, they might even be happy that Ai-yin was returning home.

Compared to respectable friends who are far away, ordinary friends who can chat and go shopping with them are perhaps more important to young people.

Ai Yin's fingers squeezed the mineral water bottle in her hand, making a cracking sound: "Because I feel... embarrassed."

“That makes sense, it is true.” Yanming unscrewed a bottle of water and sat down opposite her. “If this happened to me, I would probably punch myself twice if I suddenly thought about it in the middle of the night.”

It’s just human nature.

The boasts made were not fulfilled. Both parties knew it wasn't a big deal, but they couldn't get past the issue of "saving face," which caused the two sides, who were originally on good terms, to gradually drift apart.