bookbashuk Page 97
Page 97
"What's wrong? You look terrible." Li Xi asked calmly.
Hai Ling slightly raised her eyelids, glanced wearily at the other person out of the corner of her eye, and realizing that the other person seemed to be only casually showing concern, she responded in her usual indifferent tone:
"Ah, I just asked Yao about some things with the band, but she refused." Hai Ling calmly inserted the straw into the milk pudding. "I'll check with Chihaya and Yutenji later."
Having said that, she continued to gently sip her milk pudding, remaining silent. However, upon hearing Hai Ling's words, Li Xi's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Although she hadn't spent much time with the pink-haired girl, there was no doubt that she was very outgoing and friendly. She couldn't help but ask, "Hailing, are you really a member of the band?"
Even when interacting with someone like Minato, you used honorifics to address him. It seems that Hai-Ling still considers herself an outsider, not a member of the band.
However, the moment the words left his mouth, Li Xi regretted it. After all, this was an internal matter of someone else's band, and even if Hai Ling was an acquaintance of his, it was still somewhat inappropriate for him to interfere.
Hai Ling tilted her head in confusion and asked, "What do you mean? I just wanted to ask if I could join the band's management. I didn't do anything strange. Although I was a little unhappy about being rejected..."
“Sigh…” Li Xi shook his head and said in a low voice, “That’s only natural. Hai Ling, you’re not trustworthy.”
After saying that, Li Xi shook his head and returned to his seat. But this Hai Ling is really brave; she actually wants to fight Momoi Taro for control.
Hai Ling silently watched Li Xi return to her seat, expressionless, and gently suck on the milk jelly with the tip of the straw in her mouth, but her mind was already racing.
What does Lixi mean by saying I'm not trustworthy? What did I do wrong? What's wrong with my thinking?
She racked her brains, and before she knew it, it was time for class. Suddenly, as if struck by a flash of inspiration—
[So that's what Lixi meant, she meant I lacked initiative!]
Without hesitation, Hailing stood up, used her knee to push the chair away, and the chair leg scraped against the floor with a sharp screech, drawing the attention of everyone in the classroom.
However, Hai Ling remained calm and said, "Teacher, I'm not feeling well, please excuse me." After saying that, she bowed slightly and left the classroom under everyone's surprised gaze.
However, the teacher didn't seem to notice her movements. After a moment of surprise, she calmly continued the lesson.
After all, that's always been the school spirit at Hanasakigawa.
Hailing went home first to change her clothes, putting on her usual rock-style leather jacket and skirt. Then she slung her guitar bag over her shoulder, hesitated for a moment on her phone, and sent a message to Taro: "Where are you now? Can we talk?"
Taro quickly replied, giving an address and saying he would arrive in about thirteen minutes, and told Hailing to wait there.
Hai Ling had no problem and went to the location, which seemed to be just an ordinary room. Shortly after Hai Ling arrived, a delivery truck drove towards her location.
Hai Ling waited quietly in place. Soon, the delivery truck stopped, and as Hai Ling expected, Momoi Taro got out of the delivery truck.
However, he didn't greet Hailing. Instead, he acted as if he hadn't seen her at all, casually taking the package out of the back of the delivery truck and checking it briefly.
After doing all this, Taro walked up to him, raised his head, and asked, "What is it that you want to talk to me about?"
After saying that, Taro continued walking forward, and Hailin followed closely behind with a blank expression: "Ah, it's nothing special. I mentioned it briefly last time, but now I want to talk to you about it formally."
"Huh? The band topic?" Taro straightened his back and calmly responded to Hailin, showing no intention of stopping.
“Yes, the management of the band is a problem. If I were to join—” Hai Ling was about to say something very seriously to Taro, but Taro waved his hand to signal her to stop.
Under Taro's imposing presence, Hailin stopped asking questions and silently watched Taro's actions.
Taro rang the doorbell, and the door opened quickly. Inside was a man in his forties. Taro didn't show any particular expression; he simply handed over the delivery box and said, "Mr. Himeno? Please sign or stamp."
The middle-aged man smiled, took the marker without saying anything, signed his name, and then handed the delivery slip to Taro: "Thank you."
“We’ve met.” Taro smiled, and the uncle was slightly taken aback. Then he gave Taro a polite smile and slammed the door shut.
Taro showed no surprise, simply calmly putting away the delivery slip in his hand.
"Continue with your story." He turned and walked towards the delivery truck, Hai Ling following closely behind, repeating what she had just said to Taro:
“I think it would be even better if I were to join the band’s management. I have the talent for it.” Hai Ling said what she hadn’t said before.
“You’re not up to the task right now—” She hadn’t expected Taro to be so critical, but he rejected her outright. Taro quickly got into the delivery truck and instructed, “Get in.”
Hai Ling was slightly taken aback, but readily sat in the passenger seat next to Taro, and asked in confusion, "Why! I'm also a member of the band, and so far, haven't I kept a good schedule?"
"If it were me, I would definitely be fine!" Hai Ling argued earnestly, trying to change Taro's mind. Taro remained very calm despite hearing Hai Ling's increasingly agitated words.
"No, Hailing in her current state will ruin everything!" he declared decisively.
Upon hearing Taro's words, Hailin's last shred of reason seemed to snap, and she loudly questioned Taro:
"Why! Why can't you trust me!? Is it because of the support from other bands! Then I can just cancel all the support from those bands—"
"What you said was absolutely awful!" Momoi Taro said, looking straight ahead and driving the car. "You're just talking to yourself and indulging your own self-satisfaction. You haven't cared about other people's feelings at all."
“I absolutely cannot accept your statement,” Hai Ling retorted righteously. She pressed her hand to her chest and earnestly argued, “I believe I am capable of managing the band.”
"No, I stand by my judgment; it's absolutely correct," Taro said calmly. "Right now, who in the band have you ever trusted?"
Hai Ling was slightly taken aback when she heard Taro's question. She looked away and said softly, "About that..."
“I understand what I’m saying! In the band, the only people you trust are me and yourself.” Taro bluntly pointed out Hailing’s true thoughts: “You don’t trust anyone else.”
Taro's words brought Hailing's thoughts back to five years ago—
The audience seats were packed, the stage was enormous. In front of the stage, all alone, was an empty space.
It was a performance, and if you played well enough, you could get a chance to make a professional debut.
However, her teammates at the time didn't even give a reason or discuss it with her before they were absent.
Leaving her to face it alone filled her with a profound sense of shame.
She believed that her desire to control them was too strong, which was why they were avoiding her. After that, Hailing decided on the following for all the bands—
After that, she decided she would never trust anyone again, nor would she put in any effort for any band. As long as there was no trust or effort invested, she wouldn't feel betrayed.
If there is anyone in this world you can trust, that person is only—"yourself".
She slowly pulled herself out of her reverie and her gaze fell on Momoi Taro's handsome profile.
However, this unreasonable man has broken down the deepest defenses in my heart. Anyone who spends more time with this man can trust him.
But what about the others...? How can Chihaya Aine, a guitar novice, Kaname Rakuna, who is free-spirited, and Nyanmu, who wants to leave at any time, be trusted?
“If you don’t trust others, you can’t gain their trust either.” Taro calmly stepped on the brakes and said with an equally calm expression, “That’s my judgment.”
Hai Ling stared blankly at his calm yet resolute face, unsure of what to say. He calmly said:
"We're near RiNG now, go to the practice room first. I'll arrive at the agreed time."
Upon hearing this, Hai Ling, like a puppet on a string, got off the delivery truck with a blank expression.
Then, watching Momoi Taro close the car door, he said to her, "Think it over carefully. If you still want to continue, then talk to me again." With that, Taro drove away.
She watched the delivery truck driven by Taro gradually disappear from sight, speechless for a moment...
Episode 49, I'm Momoi Taro's sister.
After school, Aine and Takamatsu Akari went to RiNG. After a brief greeting to Rinrinko, they went to the practice room.
Then the two naturally parted ways, each going into their own practice room, one on the left and one on the right.
Ai Yin pushed open the door to the practice room and immediately saw Miao Meng Qin directly opposite her. She waved and greeted her with a bright smile.
"Dear Miaomeng~ It feels like it's been so long since we last met." She strode into the practice room, looking very excited.
"Aiko~ You're exaggerating! We clearly met during the live performance." Seeing Aine's enthusiasm, Nyanko happily greeted her in return.
"Chihaya-kun can only see Yutenji-kun? That's really disappointing." Aine tilted her head, looked towards the source of the voice, and waved happily at the person who came:
"Ah, it's Hailing. In the past, you would have arrived later." Aine's expression was still that bright smile.
Hai Ling nodded calmly. That's right. In the past, she would indeed arrive later, since Momoi Taro would arrive on time, and there would be no benefit in arriving earlier.
A slight tremor ran through her; it seemed Aine understood everyone quite well. Initially, she was the one most comfortable with Momoi Taro arriving on time.
Furthermore, Momoi Taro himself seems to be very trusting. If I learn from her, can I gain her trust in return?
But at this moment, she still answered as if nothing had happened, "Well, something came up today, so I came early."
"Is that so? Do you need any help? If you need any help, you can let me know anytime," Ai Yin said enthusiastically, patting her chest loudly. "We're teammates after all, no need to be so polite."
*Thump thump thump*—Just as Hailing was about to say something, Miaomeng, standing to the side, started playing a drumbeat, attracting everyone's attention. Miaomeng then said, in a spoiled and disgruntled tone:
"Really! Aiko, don't forget about me when you start talking about Haizi! I'll get angry, you know."
"Huh? Did I do such a thing?" Aine smiled naturally, feigning ignorance to change the subject, and then praised Meow Dream:
"However, Miaomeng's drumming seems to have improved a lot, even more so than during the live performance a couple of days ago."
"Hmm~ Did you see through me?" Miao Meng smiled smugly, her wrists twitching slightly as she twirled the slightly cracked drumsticks between her hands. She said with a smile, "I've been practicing really hard for the live performance at the next summer festival."
"Speaking of live performances~" Aine shook her head slightly, sighed, and said to Meow Dream with regret, "Meow Dream left too early. We held a celebration party for everyone in the Toon Dragon Flame Group. Xiao Le Nai and Meow Dream didn't come."
"Eh~ that's really a pity, but Hai Ling is the same, right? When I left, Hai Ling was also about to leave." Miao Meng looked at Hai Ling with a questioning look.
Hai Ling shook her head slightly and said calmly, "It's a great pity that just as I was about to leave, Chihaya-san returned. So I was also invited."
"Hey? I didn't expect Hai Zi to accept the invitation too?" Miao Meng teased her with a smile. Hai Ling remained silent. She hadn't originally intended to participate, but she'd heard that Li Xi was going...
While the three were chatting in the practice room, Lena came over from the other side, dragging her guitar case, which was huge for her.
But unusually, she didn't go straight in; instead, she stood outside the door and did nothing.
Not far away, Taro and Wakaba Mutsumi walked over side by side. Although they came together, it wasn't by prior arrangement. They just happened to meet at the entrance of RiNG.
In the past, Wakaba Mutsu didn't know the reason for his actions, only that he was influenced by Momoi Taro himself and had come to like the act of reaching the target point.
But after she learned yesterday that she was Momoi Taro's sister, she understood that this was actually a coincidence bestowed by fate that she was attracted to Taro.
The two remained silent as they walked up to Rakuna. Wakaba Mutsu didn't greet them, but simply nodded slightly before returning to his band's practice room.
"Taro," Rakuna greeted him first, saying, "Saya said she wants to talk to you. Saturday. About the opening act for CiRCLE's live performance."
"I understand, I'll handle it." Taro nodded calmly, pushed open the door, and went into the practice room.
The three people who were chatting enthusiastically in the practice room fell silent for a moment when they heard the door open. The next moment, they saw Taro and Rakuna enter.
"Hey—servants—" Taro entered and was about to announce the start of practice when Aine quickly interrupted him, saying, "Wait, wait, I have something to say. Can we start practicing after I've finished speaking?"
"Huh? Do I have to say that before practice even starts?" Taro looked into Aine's eyes, his expression authoritative without being angry. Aine, however, just smiled and didn't seem to care, saying:
"Of course, it's pointless to talk about it at the end~" Aine said with a grin. Taro nodded and exclaimed, "Interesting! Tell me about it!"
"It's nothing important, but the practice of the Giant Dragon Flame Group next door ends at 7 o'clock. I have something I want to ask Taro, so—"
Aine playfully clung to Taro, pleading pitifully, "Could you let them into the practice room after they finish practicing? Please."