People in Tokyo, the world is clear

Then, without waiting for the girl to answer, the young man suddenly sighed:

"Actually, it's more my fault for not being well prepared. During my first street performance, as well as during the occasional tours and private practice sessions, I performed songs one by one. In between, there were long breaks and interactions. As a result, this time, due to the tight schedule, I arranged all the songs together, leaving only a ten-minute interlude."

Taking the initiative to take responsibility is probably a way to relieve the other person's pressure.

Lin Sen continued:

"The songs we prepared this time were inherently difficult. Furthermore, the schedule was too tight, leaving no time for rest. Remember Nakajima's last concert in Sapporo? Between two or three consecutive difficult songs, there was a guest cover. That's a little trick to song scheduling."

"These are all very basic things, but I didn't consider them. If I have to say it, this time it's all my fault. It's all my fault."

This operation seemed to have some effect. At least, the girl's mind changed from self-blame and discomfort to trying to refute:

"No, it's also because my basic skills are not strong enough..."

"If you keep complaining about yourself like this, I'll feel even more guilty. Seriously, I want to slap myself."

"How could it be Xiaolin's problem...ah."

Finally, when Miss Qingshan saw Lin Sen raise his hand seriously, she immediately reached out and grabbed the wrist.

Suddenly I felt a bit awkward and sad. My sad mood suddenly subsided a little.

His expression turned into a wry smile.

Still a little down though.

But the look in his eyes was already flashing with clarity.

It seemed that he had successfully held back his tears.

The tone also carried a bit of anger:

"Xiao Lin, come on. Stop turning this into a bloody, heartbreaking drama."

The girl still hadn't gotten used to her hoarse voice. She hummed several times but couldn't get rid of the long-standing muffled feeling, and frowned in discomfort.

Lin Sen took her to a small intersection, found a vending machine, and picked out a bottle of grape juice.

"Looks like we have to switch from braised fish to steamed fish for dinner today."

Lin Sen has always been a person who firmly carries out what he says.

So, when I put away my wet umbrella and rushed back to the rental house, I went straight to the kitchen.

The sweet steamed fish came out quickly, served with Japanese homemade miso soup and a little rice, and paired with the leftover sushi rolls in the refrigerator.

It’s supper time, eat without talking.

But, during the process, thinking did not stop.

"It seems, Qingshan, that the song we chose does have the problem of being too difficult."

When recording songs after the 1920s of the 21st century, it is mostly controlled by the producer rather than the singer himself.

For difficult passages, I sometimes record them sentence by sentence.

A song is not considered complete until it has been tuned, mixed, and even occasionally pitched up, and finally remixed.

Songs recorded using this method tend to have a higher pitch, and even the singers themselves tend to lower the pitch when performing live.

When sharing these otherworldly tunes with Miss Qingshan, Lin Sen subconsciously ignored this point and preserved almost all of the original tones - this was probably attributed to the girl's vocal talent.

She really kept the pitch high throughout the entire song!

But even the strongest voice isn't made of iron. Ms. Aoyama, who appears strong and energetic, isn't truly an iron man.

What happened today is a big lesson.

When performing at a high intensity, you should mix in some lighthearted and cheerful music instead of constantly increasing the intensity.

Otherwise, at best, something might go wrong like today, or at worst, your voice might be ruined.

Lin Sen vaguely remembered that in his previous life, a band's lead singer had damaged his voice due to high-intensity performances, even to the point of needing surgery. After that, his singing performance plummeted.

Thinking of this, combined with what happened today, I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

"Qingshan, I'll find some relaxing music right away."

Once you talk about it, do it immediately.

Without stopping, Lin Sen found some manuscript paper and quickly began to search his memories for some songs with relatively low tunes and difficulty levels.

To facilitate screening, both meat and vegetables are accepted.

Soon, katakana, kanji, English letters and even Latin letters appeared on the paper at the same time, in a mess. Some of them were nameless, with only a few lyrics, and some were already wordless, with only one name.

It was a mess, but it successfully piqued the curiosity of another person in the room.

So, Lin Sen, who was working hard, suddenly felt a sense of pressure on his right shoulder.

It was like a head resting on his shoulder.

There was also a pair of small hands that seemed to be about to wrap around her body, but they were at a vague boundary. They didn't really hug her, just put them on her back.

Then, warm breath slowly caressed my neck.

Miss Aoyama really likes sweets.

After the midnight snack, I drank half a can of grape juice I brought back and took a piece of apple-flavored fructose.

Then the air around you is inexplicably filled with this faint sweet smell, which makes you feel subconsciously happy.

However, that was all. Lin Sen's heart did not fluctuate any further.

Instead, he shrugged his right shoulder slightly.

"You're forcing me to write!"

"Hmm~"

The girl Xiazhi hummed a "Dame" tone in her throat, as if to indicate that she had not finished reading the contents of the paper.

Helpless for a moment, he had to stop writing, move his hands away, and present the currently unfinished paper to her.

That's it, that's it.

Let her go. It's like giving her a way to let go of what happened today.

Lin Sen should have relaxed his body, tilted his shoulders, and let the girl's chin slowly become unstable.

But when he heard the next sentence, he tensed up again.

"Eyes as blue as the Atlantic Ocean make me addicted like the Titanic... What a beautiful sentence."

This was what the girl said. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary sentence.

Only the sweet fruity smell lingers at the tip of the nose with the breath, making the neck itch and subconsciously wanting to smile.

The focus is no longer on the strange and ambiguous atmosphere of the moment.

because--

The way that sentence was pronounced just now was not conventional Japanese.

Instead, it is the repetition of an English sentence written on paper.

What’s even more incredible is—

“Such a touching wording…”

At this moment, her voice was hoarse, but it could not conceal the charm of the words.

The pronunciation is not particularly standard, but it does not have the sticky and hesitant feeling of the Japanese English commonly used in this country.

Fresh, casual, and even a little playful.

To experience it specifically, it's like listening to a native speaker using playful pronunciation techniques.

Lin Sen's eyes widened.

Glancing sideways, I saw a face in profile, its curious and insightful eyes blinking.

"Qingshan's English seems to be very good?"

Somehow, Lin Sen suddenly felt it.

He seemed to have grasped something crucial.

Just like the last plank left after the ship shatters in the Odyssey.

After being stabbed in the back by fate, there is lingering affection.

Chapter 18 We Sing a Word Together

"Actually, I've never really studied English."

Lin Sen’s question was like an introduction.

So the girl moved a chair and sat next to him, but did not directly answer the question about English proficiency at the first time.

Instead, we talked about old things from our student days that we could talk about for a long time.

At that time, she was still a very introverted middle school student.

But no matter what, the child always had a heart to be a big star. At that time, he hoped to perform at the school festival.

To this end, the middle school girl hugged her guitar, which she was not yet proficient in at the time, and practiced a very simple classic folk song over and over again for more than a month.

But in the end, he backed down at the last minute. During the registration session of the class meeting, he lowered his head and didn't dare to raise his hand at all.

"You wouldn't have thought! Actually, I used to be a very introverted and shy kid."

At this time, Miss Qingshan, who was speaking in a casual tone, was smiling happily at Lin Sen.

Under the light, the flickering pupils reflected the shadow of the young man looking back.

Unfortunately, the person who was listening to the conversation remained calm.

When he spoke again, the point remained the same:

"So why does Aoyama's English pronunciation differ from most Japanese people's?"

"Xiao Lin, really! Don't you care about my school days at all?"

Miss Qingshan was anxious and slapped Lin Sen's arm. "Really? It's obviously this kind of exciting plot. A good friend who has reached the standard of favorability finally tells you a secret that he never tells anyone else..."

"It's not that I'm not interested. But there's a saying that goes, 'You eat your meal one bite at a time.' The same goes for stories."

"Um..."

Miss Qingshan put her hands on her hips.

Then he was directly broken by Lin Sen’s next sentence:

"Besides, do you want to use your hoarse voice to describe the story of picking flowers and evening flowers with me in vivid detail?"

"!"

This time he seemed to be really angry because of the blow. He turned his head away and snorted for a long time before turning back to glare at me.

However, in the end, he stared at the young man's usual expression, sighed with relief, and then suddenly laughed at his own anger.

Arguing with this guy who looks like a jerk but is actually serious and careful is definitely asking for trouble.

He shook his head and spoke, focusing on the key points:

"My English teacher in middle school had a very, very strong Kansai accent, the kind of dialect that was so unique that we Kansai students couldn't understand it."

"And her method of teaching spoken English is... well, very Japanese. She breaks down words into the 50-sounding pronunciations. Sometimes in class, my classmates can't tell whether she's speaking English or Japanese."

"As a result, after such teaching methods, no one in the class could speak English very well. But English... as long as you pass the test, that's all you need to do. So, although everyone complained, they didn't raise any objections."

Aoyama Xiazhi, who was still a middle school student at the time, had originally thought of getting through the language teaching in this way.

However, in one class before graduation, the teacher suddenly brought a tape recorder.

This was obviously a rare thing in rural middle schools at that time.

The whole class was intrigued and gathered around the podium, listening to the teacher press the play button and the music recorded on the tape began to play.

It's an English folk song that dates back to the Middle Ages.

The reason the foreign language teacher got it was that in the mid-1960s, the song was re-edited by a New Jersey singer as an insert song for a movie called "The Graduate."

"I still remember the teacher saying with great emotion that he fell in love with this song not only because it was the theme song of a romantic movie, but more importantly because of the spirit it was given after the adaptation."