People in Mygo are emotional firefighters.

Are there any principles that need to be considered when arranging music to avoid conflicting with the ranges of different instruments?

His questions always pinpointed the most common pain points in music arrangement practice, rather than being vague. This made Shiina Tatsuki, who had initially only been focused on "getting the task done quickly," glance at him with some surprise.

This guy... wasn't just passively listening, he was genuinely thinking and understanding.

The feeling of being taken seriously, of having one's knowledge truly absorbed by the other party and prompting deeper reflection, was like a faint warm current, quietly seeping into her heart, which had become somewhat cold due to years of self-doubt.

The sharp edges she had previously raised out of embarrassment and annoyance softened considerably as she focused on knowledge transfer and intellectual exchange. While her tone remained far from gentle, it lacked the deliberate impatience of her earlier commentary, replaced by a more confident and clear immersion in the realm of music.

"Hmph, looks like you're not entirely hopeless; at least you're asking the right questions." She snorted, her gaze returning to the screen as she moved the mouse to demonstrate the arrangement of a chord progression. "Regarding range conflicts, we usually adjust the equalizer to give different instruments more core frequencies, for example..."

As she spoke, she subconsciously leaned forward towards the screen to more clearly point out the adjustment of a certain parameter. To keep up with her demonstration, Ishikawa Mayu also involuntarily moved closer.

Without either of them noticing, as their owners focused on their shared goal, the two chairs silently and slowly returned to the initial distance that Lixi had kicked away because he thought they were "too close"...

Shiina Tatsuki was completely unaware of this.

Her entire focus was on organizing and transmitting knowledge, her fingertips moving rapidly between the mouse and keyboard, with notes and parameters changing accordingly on the screen.

“…Take the original score of ‘Spring Shadow’ for example,” Shiina Tatsuki’s voice unconsciously took on an almost devout focus. The audio file of the original score was opened, and a short, pure, and slightly melancholic piano prelude flowed out. “Listen to this, these few simple descending notes in the prelude, combined with this slightly suspended chord…”

She began to meticulously analyze Xiangzi's compositional ideas, from the direction of the melody to the use of harmony, and then to the way the emotions progressed layer by layer.

“Xiangzi… she’s really amazing.” Her tone was filled with undisguised admiration, and a hint of longing that she herself was unaware of. “The melody seems simple, but the position of every note, the choice of every chord, is just right, striking straight to the heart. She can always… so easily capture those indescribable emotions, and then express them in the most precise way.”

As her analysis deepened, her speech gradually slowed down, and the light that had been rekindled by teaching began to dim in her eyes.

In contrast, a familiar, heavy sense of powerlessness began to spread.

"Genius... that's probably what it's like." She murmured softly, as if speaking to Zhenyu, but more like speaking to herself, "Something she casually scribbled down is enough for others to ponder for a long time..."

And what about her?

Let alone creating a complete and moving piece like Xiangzi. Even now, simply standing on the shoulders of genius and adapting this ready-made, perfect work is so difficult for her, and she even gets completely stuck at a crucial point, caught in a dilemma.

This realization, like a cold tide, instantly drowned out the slight warmth that had just been generated by the transmission of knowledge.

“…So, my initial thought was, here,” her mouse hovered over the transition she was stuck on in the project file, her voice becoming dry, “I wanted to enhance the sense of progression by changing the rhythm and adding sustained strings, but…”

She tried to describe the predicament she was facing, but her words became fragmented and her logic began to falter.

"But... no matter how I adjust it, it just sounds... awkward. It either ruins the atmosphere of the original song or seems superfluous... It just doesn't achieve the desired effect... Why just won't it work..."

Her brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and her fingers unconsciously tapped the table hard, making a dull "knock-knock" sound. Her irritability emanated from her as if it were a tangible thing.

She was completely immersed in her own sense of defeat, forgetting her surroundings, forgetting the lesson she was teaching, and even... forgetting that there was someone sitting next to her.

The explanation abruptly stopped.

Shiina Riki stared at the segment on the screen that had caused her countless setbacks, her lips pressed into a tight line, her amber eyes filled only with anxiety and a barely perceptible hint of... self-loathing.

She felt trapped by an invisible barrier, wandering alone in the depths of the musical labyrinth, unable to find a way out.

The room fell silent, with only the computer fan still humming tirelessly.

In the suffocating silence, a gentle voice, cautious as if afraid of disturbing a fragile dream, sounded in her ear:

"Li hope."

Chapter 102 Li hope, you really are very gentle (3k)

Just as Shiina Riki's self-loathing was about to completely engulf her, and her fingers were unconsciously and increasingly forcefully tapping the table, a voice rang in her ear.

“That… Lixi.”

Ishikawa Mayu had moved closer without anyone noticing, his eyes fixed on the segment that was stuck on the screen.

He seemed completely unaware that the two of them were now too close, his entire attention focused on the problem at hand.

Warm breaths almost brushed against Lixi's earlobe.

"!"

Shiina Riki froze abruptly, like a startled cat, almost jumping off his chair. The barrier that had just been immersing him in shattered instantly, and all his senses returned, allowing him to clearly perceive the excessively close distance between them, as well as the oppressive feeling brought by his sudden approach, mixed with the clean scent of soap.

"Why are you standing so close!" She instinctively nudged to the side with her elbow, trying to create some distance, her voice filled with panic and embarrassment at being caught red-handed.

Ishikawa Mayu was pushed back by her, but he didn't move away too much. His attention seemed to still be focused on the stuck spot on the screen.

"Sorry...didn't you just say that we can adjust the position of the sounds to prevent different instruments from crowding together?" Ishikawa Mayu spoke slowly, her words carrying the marks of thought, clearly trying to apply the knowledge she had just learned. "And...we can cut off some interfering sound frequencies..."

He pointed at the screen, his tone hesitant and uncertain: "I'm thinking, this part sounds awkward, could it be because the sounds of all these instruments are crowded in the middle? Could we... try separating them a bit?"

His suggestion clearly shows signs of noviceism, using simple language and possibly even ignoring other more complex issues. But it is indeed a concrete and actionable approach.

Shiina Tatsuki froze. The turmoil of self-doubt churning in her chest seemed to have been paused.

She stared blankly at the paragraph on the screen that had troubled her for so long, then looked at the boy beside her who was looking at her with a questioning gaze.

All of Zhenyu's ideas were based on the knowledge points she had just explained to him in detail—he was even trying to use what he had just learned to solve the problems she was encountering.

In that instant, it was as if one could hear the subtle sound of something quietly shattering—not the roar of solid ice completely collapsing, but a tiny crack quietly appearing on the surface of the hard shell she used to isolate herself from the outside world, a shell formed from feelings of frustration and the belief that "I am inferior to others."

A faint warmth called "being needed," like the thinnest ray of light at dawn, unexpectedly seeped in through that crack.

She snapped back to reality, realizing how close they were, and cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly, leaning back slightly. But her gaze had already involuntarily begun to re-examine the proposal he had put forward.

"Hmph... Your thoughts are a bit..." She habitually tried to use criticism to cover up her inner turmoil, but the words just wouldn't come out.

She pursed her lips and began to operate the machine.

“The sound positioning is adjusted like this…” she demonstrated, subconsciously adding to and correcting his train of thought, “but saying ‘reduce interference’ is too general; it needs to be more precise…”

As she operated the device, the transition sequence played again in the player.

Although it's still far from perfect, the obvious "awkwardness" from before seems to have lessened a bit?

“See?” Shiina Tatsuki stared at the screen, a barely perceptible hint of relief in her voice, “It’s not as simple as you just said… It needs more precise adjustments.”

She began to analyze at length, pointing out the immaturity of his ideas and proposing further directions for modification.

However, this time, her tone no longer carried the previous anxiety and self-loathing. Instead, it conveyed a sense of regaining control of the situation, and... a faint, subtle satisfaction from being able to "correct" him.

Ishikawa Mayu listened quietly, watching her eyes brighten again and her profile focused on solving the problem, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards almost imperceptibly.

"I see... I underestimated things." He humbly accepted the suggestion, then followed up with, "So, according to your ideas, Professor Lixi, how should this be modified specifically for better results?"

Shiina Ritsuki glanced at him, and this time he just clicked his tongue softly when Shiina called him "teacher" again, but didn't object.

Her attention was completely drawn back to the music itself, and she began to demonstrate and explain it in more detail.

With the two working together, they found a preliminary direction for improvement in the stuck transition section. Shiina Tatsuki's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed a bit, and the low-key atmosphere around him noticeably improved.

Although the problem is not completely solved, at least it is no longer a dead end, which has given her a renewed sense of control and the strength to keep moving forward.

Ishikawa Mayu keenly noticed the subtle changes in her emotions. He patiently waited for her to roughly jot down the revision ideas they had just discussed. For the time being, only the sounds of mouse clicks and keyboard tapping filled the room, and the atmosphere was no longer as tense as before.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the time was almost right.

A question that I had vaguely sensed while listening to the demo of the arrangement, but had never found a suitable opportunity to ask, can finally be raised now.

“Lixi,” he said, pointing to a few bars on the guitar track, his tone as gentle as possible, with an air of inquiry rather than questioning, “the guitar part here… I feel it’s a little… disjointed? Is there some special consideration in the harmonic progression?”

Shiina Riki followed his gaze, and the expression on his face instantly stiffened. The light that had just shone brightly because of solving the transition problem visibly dimmed again.

“That…” she pursed her lips, her fingers unconsciously curling up, “It was… something I adjusted.”

"The guitar part of the original song... is too difficult for Aine now. I was thinking... at least I should make sure she can play it on stage..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, filled with deep self-blame and helplessness.

“But… I’ve tried so many simplification methods… no matter how I change them, they still sound… weird.” She scratched her hair in frustration. “They either lose the feel of the original song, or they sound weak and powerless…”

She abruptly raised her head, her amber eyes filled with self-reproach and disappointment, and her tone became urgent:

"It's my skill level that's lacking! If... if it were Xiangzi, he could definitely write a simple yet beautiful guitar part, right?! It wouldn't be like mine, where the changes made it sound like a hodgepodge... unable to even achieve the most basic harmony!"

Looking at her unwilling profile and furrowed brows, and her frustrated expression that blamed all the blame on her own incompetence, Ishikawa Mayu felt strangely not heavy-hearted. Instead, a strange smile welled up in his heart, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"puff……"

The laughter sounded particularly jarring in the quiet room that had just been filled with self-criticism.

Shiina Tatsuki was baffled by his laughter, and suddenly turned around to glare at him: "Hey! What are you laughing at?!"

She was consumed by anger at her own incompetence, and this guy was laughing?!

Ishikawa Mayu's smile faded slightly, but the gentleness and understanding in her eyes remained clear:

"It's nothing... it's just that, just as I thought."

"What's the same?" Li Xi frowned even more, completely unable to follow his train of thought.

Ishikawa Mayu stared at her, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate her feigned fierce exterior and see into the soft and clumsy heart within.

"Lixi, you... really are a very gentle person."

"——!!!"

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Shiina Riki froze completely. His usually sharp, piercing purple eyes widened instantly, filled with disbelief and astonishment, as if he had heard the most absurd and impossible words in the world.

Gentle, warm?

Who is he talking about?

Talking about her? Shiina Tatsuki?

Does this word have even the slightest connection to her?!

"What nonsense are you spouting?!" she almost cried out, her voice sharp with shock and embarrassment, even trembling slightly. "Who, who was gentle! Which eye of yours saw me being gentle?! I clearly—!"

She wanted to list all her "misdeeds"—yelling at him, being impatient, having a bad attitude… but when she looked into Ishikawa Mayu's smiling eyes, which seemed to know everything, the words of rebuttal were stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say a single one.

My mind went completely blank.

Ishikawa Mayu's gaze swept across the guitar track on the screen, which had been awkwardly modified for Ai-yin's sake, before returning to Riki's astonished face.

"He would say that Ai Yin's skills were poor and that she was holding him back, but in private, he would try to simplify the arrangement again and again so that she could keep up. Even if the effect was not satisfactory, he would still try to find a solution."

He paused, a hint of emotion in his voice that he himself didn't fully realize:

"Deng just had the beautiful wish that 'everyone can stay together forever,' while I... to be honest, I initially joined the band largely because Ai-yin dragged me in, plus I also thought... it was kind of interesting, but that's all. Most of the time, I'm probably still a lazy and easygoing person."

“But Lixi, you’re different.”

His voice became clearer, and his gaze fell gently on Lixi.

"I can feel that you truly... place the band and everyone's music in a very important position. You would repeatedly adjust a single detail, and you would put in so much effort behind the scenes to help the members overcome their difficulties..."

"Seeing how hard you're working... even a lazy guy like me seems... unable to continue slacking off with a clear conscience."

Shiina Tatsuki hurriedly avoided Ishikawa Mayu's gaze, her eyes darting to a spot on the corner of the table. Her voice was hoarse and soft, almost as if she were talking to herself:

"...Stop being so self-important..."

"...Who, who did it for you..."

Her rebuttal still carried the habitual barb, but that barb had become soft and weak, more like an unconscious muttering to maintain her last shred of dignity.

Ishikawa Mayu did not refute, but simply hummed softly, as if accepting her pale and powerless denial.

Then, looking at Lixi's slightly trembling eyelashes and still somewhat unfocused eyes, he said softly:

"Then...Teacher Lixi,"

"Shall we continue with the guitar part?"

Chapter 103 Sorry to bother you

In the time that followed, Shiina Tatsuki's explanation became exceptionally focused, even bordering on obsessive meticulousness. She poured out everything she knew about arrangement, techniques, and precautions with almost vengeful abandon.

She needed these notes, terms, even the waveforms and parameters on the screen, to fill her brain and occupy all her thinking space. Only in this way could she avoid recalling those previous scenes.

Ishikawa Mayu quickly got into the swing of things. He began to actively build a knowledge system, connecting the scattered points of knowledge that Riki had explained with his own understanding of the violin and music...

Both of them were completely immersed in this world built of musical notes and logic, forgetting time, their surroundings, and even themselves.

Midway through, Shiina Maki tiptoed in once, bringing chilled orange juice and a small plate of delicate cheesecake. Seeing the two of them practically huddled together, pointing at the screen and completely absorbed in their discussion, she simply smiled gently, placed the drinks and snacks lightly in an empty corner of the desk, and then quietly slipped away, not disturbing their focused world.

The sunlight outside the window gradually slanted westward, changing from a bright golden yellow to a warm orange-red, until finally only a faint blush remained on the horizon, silently tinging the room with twilight.