In the music series, the male protagonist writes a self-help manual for the inner world

She has no right to care about Chen Xinghua's affairs.

But now she thinks this matter is closely related to herself.

Because he once said to her, "I would rather have Shiina Riki and I form a band than Shiina Maki."

"Of course... I'm willing to believe you."

Chen Xinghua took Ijichi Hongxia's arm and agreed to her request in front of Shiina Riki.

After all, he was the keyboardist who ended the band.

273

Chapter 273 Li Xi, are you okay?

Shiina Riki raised her eyebrows and closed her mouth tightly, but her tightly clenched teeth made faint trembling sounds.

…Should she tell him off, for making a similar promise to another drummer, as he had to her?

She had clearly told me, "I want Shiina Riki to form a band with me more than Shiina Maki." Shiina Riki recalled the sunset scene again, just like she used to do when she was lying in bed before falling asleep at night, in her free time after class.

But this time her memories were tinged with deep sadness... and anger.

...But now you're just like before, making promises to other girls so casually. Shiina Riki came to his senses and felt as if his heart had been torn apart. Blood, pain, strength, sadness, and anger all flowed out of this small hole.

"I think you need to rest."

Chen Xinghua said softly.

When Shiina Riki heard this voice, he subconsciously thought that Chen Xinghua was talking about himself.

Because he had seen through her disguise before, knew that she was working so hard to compose music, knew that she felt inferior to her sister, and then he gently went forward to comfort her heart and put a Band-Aid on the hole in her heart.

If only he could come and comfort me like before... This fervent thought suddenly appeared in Shiina Riki's heart, which was about to be filled with despair.

But even Chen Xinghua couldn't see clearly what was wrong with Shiina Riki when he focused his attention on the yellow-haired captain in front of him.

"Let me think about it...it seems like we haven't held a single group activity since we ended the band."

Chen Xinghua turned his palm over and knocked on the table with his upper knuckles to attract Ichichi Hongxia's attention.

Although his actions also attracted Shiina Riki, the latter put down the list that was covering his face and fixed his eyes on his face.

"Staying indoors doesn't count...only going out and having fun counts."

Chen Xinghua used the lightest possible tone to dispel the oppressive atmosphere.

"That's a bit bad."

Yes, it seems that Deng's band hasn't held a single group activity yet. Shiina Riki clenched her fists, her perfectly manicured nails digging deep into her palms, leaving streaks of red marks. And what Shiina Riki needed most was the pain to distract her.

...It's terrible.

On the other side, Yao Lenai looked at the place where the battle was about to break out, somewhat helplessly.

Her expression, which had been leisurely savoring the matcha parfait, suddenly became serious.

The home that I finally found seems to be turned into dust under the inevitable force.

So what if this home disbanded again? Kaname pondered this particular question while holding a spoon stained slightly with the bitter taste of matcha.

...Follow Xinghua. Let Lenai drop the spoon in her mouth into the empty glass.

After all, the bond formed by Deng's current band is not enough to make her stay in this band forever.

"So I was thinking about hanging out with everyone next week... Hongxia, what do you think? How about celebrating the success of the band's second live performance?"

As if fearing that Hong Xia would feel some psychological pressure, Chen Xinghua kept increasing the stakes on the option of "going out for fun and relaxing".

Next week? Hearing this key word, Shiina Riki chose to increase the pressure on his hands once again.

She clearly wanted to invite Chen Xinghua and Deng to go to the zoo together next week.

...But in this situation, even if I were to boldly express my feelings, I'm afraid he would reject it.

“It’s nice to think about everyone making memories together in the same place.”

Chen Xinghua leaned back, his black eyes half closed.

"Hmm... this has a very youthful feel, like a high school band."

Hong Xia followed Chen Xinghua's steps, leaning back with a relaxed body, and subconsciously lowering her hands to reach the obstacle, using the law of force and reaction to support the weight of the little man.

"When it comes to feeling youthful, hanging out with everyone is definitely essential."

"And I think holding regular in-band activities seems to help strengthen the band's cohesion."

At this moment, Hongxia opened her eyes and took in Shiina Riki's heavy, murderous face into her mind.

What's with that expression? It's like she's in pain, like someone's boyfriend has been snatched away by someone else. With this thought in mind, Ichichi Hongxia quickly straightened her body, which had been leaning backwards, and placed her hands neatly on her legs.

"Hongxia...what's wrong?"

Seeing the strange expression on Hong Xia's face, Chen Xinghua finally turned his gaze to meet Hong Xia's.

So at the end of this line of sight, he saw Miss Shiina Riki with a very unfriendly expression, although the latter was trying very hard to control her expression.

"Um... Li Xi, are you okay?"

"It's okay...it's okay, I'm fine."

Shiina Riki uttered these words with great difficulty, and the notebook in her hand suddenly fell to the ground because of the owner's weakness.

This doesn't look like everything is alright, Ijichi Hongxia complained in her mind to this black-haired stranger who looked very dangerous.

She was clearly just talking to Chen Xinghua, so why did this black-haired woman look as if something of hers had been taken away?

If she remembered correctly, Xinghua should be Pochi-chan's childhood sweetheart and a member of the Ending Band, not another woman's boyfriend.

Thinking of this, Ijichi Hongxia rolled up her sleeves slightly.

"Do you want to negotiate with the other employees in the store to change shifts?"

Chen Xinghua looked at Shiina Riki's increasingly unfriendly face and suggested.

He was a little bit unable to understand what was happening. He had only said a few words to Hongxia, so why did Shiina Riki show such a scary expression?

...It's just like a girl who gets jealous when she sees her boyfriend talking to another woman.

...No way...No way...No way...

As he thought about this, his heels subconsciously rubbed the metal seat he was sitting on, his two palms subconsciously clasped together, and the expression on his face immediately became serious.

This is one of the things humans do when they are under stress.

274

Chapter 274 Isn’t this a bit bad?

"Don't bother me, Senior. I can... and must complete the work I'm supposed to do."

Shiina Riki spoke word by word, she was still looking forward to something.

If this glimmer of expectation were to disappear, her heart might completely collapse... or perhaps go to the other extreme?

"Hongxia, I'm sorry... Can we talk about what we just talked about later?"

Chen Xinghua stood up from his seat and turned to look at Shiina Riki.

"It doesn't matter, just do what you want to do."

Ijichi Hongxia raised her head, staring intently at the man before her, a bright smile that had always appeared on her face. The dark cloud that had been lingering in her heart seemed to have been dispelled by the keyboard player who had ended the band.

Then she opened her mouth but didn't say anything, but Chen Xinghua read a message from her and her red pupils.

'I support you'.

So Chen Xinghua whispered to Shiina Riki.

"Thank you for your understanding."

Looking at the drummer and keyboardist in front of him who were working in perfect harmony, Shiina Riki's strength, which had already been lost a lot, almost disappeared completely into thin air.

...Why do you two have such good chemistry?

Can you have the same tacit understanding as me? For some reason, this thought occurred to Shiina Riki's mind.

They are all drummers, so why is there such a big difference in their treatment?

Looking at Shiina Riki who was standing there in a daze, Chen Xinghua felt that she was not just a little bit difficult to deal with now, but probably ten times more difficult to deal with than before.

If things were really as he thought, he thought it would be enough for him to just say to Shiina Riki, "I like you, can you be my girlfriend?"

But let's not talk about the possibility that if his guess was wrong, Shiina Riki's feelings for him didn't really change, causing him to become a clown.

Just say...what if she agrees. Although Shiina Riki's figure looks pretty good, it is one of the best girls he has seen.

But... he loved his childhood sweetheart, Goto Ichiri, not Shiina Riki. He couldn't sacrifice the rest of his life to solve another girl's psychological problems.

"Hello, my name is Ijichi Nijika... You can just call me Nijika."

Ijichi Hongxia spoke cheerfully, just as a girl of her age should be youthful and lively.

"Um, I'm the leader of the Ending Band... This is our keyboard player. You should know him, right?"

Ijichi Hongxia said with some uncertainty.

Her words pushed Shiina Riki, who was already feeling a little lost, a little further towards the abyss.

...So this is his real band? Shiina Riki recalled that Chen Xinghua seemed to have said that he had a formal band.

It turns out we are not special. Shiina Riki suddenly realized this.

The synonym of special is ordinary, and don’t expect people to spend time and effort to maintain ordinary and mediocre things.

It just so happens that the porcelain named Shiina Riki is particularly fragile.

"Can I call you Lixi like him?"

Hong Xia whispered.

But her voice did not trigger any reaction from Shiina Riki.

Seeing this scene, Chen Xinghua frowned and said tentatively.

"That Lixi, we are friends, right?"

The next moment, he met Shiina Riki's unfocused pupils, pupils with one tenth of the gravity of Takamatsu Touma.

"Just friends?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xinghua's heart skipped a beat, and the possibility of Shiina Riki's feelings for him changing increased by twenty percentage points.

"What else could we be if not friends? We've been together for so long."

Chen Xinghua said this in a casual manner.

"Or... don't you consider me a friend anymore?"

He raised his eyebrows and made his tone faster and lighter.

"Hey...what are you doing? Lixi."

His right hand subconsciously reached into his pocket, tightly gripping the telescopic electric baton inside, and his outstretched fingers touched the anti-wolf spray placed beside him... As long as he was still within the range of the carbon-based creature, he would definitely put down his palm after receiving a strong blow.

Because his left hand had been tightly grasped in Shiina Riki's palm, with great force, as if he was crushing it and kneading it into the palm of his hand.

"Just friends?"

Shiina Riki tightly grasped the only thing he could hold on to, and whispered a question to the man in front of him.

Although she was confused, she didn't know what the best relationship would be if she and Chen Xinghua were not friends.

But she knew one thing, that is, if they were just ordinary friends, it would definitely not work.

"only friends."

Chen Xinghua spoke in a very calm tone about the cruelest thing for Shiina Riki.

He was not planning on having anything more than a friendship with Shiina Riki, so it would be better to tell her about this as soon as possible.

"Could it be that... Li Xi, you want to break up your friendship with me?"

Chen Xinghua asked in feigned surprise.