Chapter 277

Her thoughts can only be glimpsed in the lyrics that convey the deepest emotions, and in her performances.

Ishikawa Hayato remembers that the lyrics for this song were submitted during the make-up exam period, but the idea for it must have been conceived even earlier, before the start of the semester.

She changed herself at that time, but in the lyrics she said that she was bowing her head and hunching her back, just as she wished.

He glanced at Hitori, who was sitting quietly resting in a chair, and realized that the girl had already decided on her future path and way of moving forward.

While Ishikawa Hayato was thinking, Nijika, who was sitting in a chair wiping her sweat, glanced at him. Only after Ishikawa Hayato noticed her gaze did she cheerfully look around at the others and say...

"Everyone did a fantastic job with today's performance. The audience was very excited. Thank you all for your hard work."

That's such a rigid statement.

And this person seems to be hiding something too.

While thinking to himself, Ishikawa Hayato noticed that Ikuyo was also about to speak. He guessed that she was just as rigid, so he temporarily put Hitori what he was doing and said with disdain.

"What do you mean 'you've worked hard'? Isn't this something we all want to do?"

Despite being in a great mood due to the successful performance, Nijika puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction after being rejected by Ishikawa Hayato.

"Let me say something nice, really..."

Ikuyo chuckled softly as she watched Nijika being bullied by Ishikawa Hayato, and then excitedly said...

"But Senior Nijika is right, tonight's performance was so enjoyable, it was the first time I'd ever heard such applause and cheers at Fanxing."

Her words immediately reminded them of the praise and gratitude they had received after the performance.

Hitori agreed, "Yeah, the whole venue is buzzing with excitement."

Jun Ishikawa Hayato wholeheartedly agreed, saying that tonight's performance was truly excellent, and aside from their new piece, their other performances also received enthusiastic responses from fans.

With this kind of effect, they seem to have secured their popularity and are poised to continue growing.

Nijika had just finished complaining when she heard what Ikuyo said, and the look of dissatisfaction on her face quickly disappeared, turning into a satisfied and joyful smile.

"Oh, that's not all! Tonight is the first time we've earned money from a performance! We can go to my sister's to collect the money later, just like the bands that performed before!"

She had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

Although I received money for the last substitute performance, it felt just like receiving pocket money—completely informal.

"Give me some."

When she was happy, what poured cold water on her was naturally cold.

Even if this person has food, lodging, and Bessler at his house, it's still the same.

Ishikawa Hayato chuckled inwardly, while Nijika, interrupted again, had veins bulging on her forehead.

She clenched her fists and silently watched Liang.

Liang glanced at her small but surprisingly strong hands and quieted down.

Ishikawa Hayato glanced at the others and noticed that they were also incredibly excited.

Seeing this, he added some pressure on them.

"However, starting next month, we won't just be performing here anymore. If all goes well, we'll be able to collect money everywhere."

Nijika blinked her ruby-like eyes and began to imagine the scene in a daze.

She seemed to be envisioning them performing everywhere, becoming a hit wherever they went.

Ikuyo lowered her head in thought, seemingly contemplating the idea of traveling and having fun.

Liang looked at the band's money pouch in Nijika's hand, imagining what each pouch would look like.

Ishikawa Hayato glanced at Hitori last time and was surprised to see that Hitori wasn't afraid, but rather looked like she wanted to complain. He guessed...

"Hitori think I just made us sound like robbers, right?"

She froze Hitori a moment, then realized everyone was looking at her. After hesitating for a second, she nodded with a mournful expression.

"Um..."

After regaining her senses, Nijika smiled and denied it.

"Bocchi-chan! We only received our money after putting on a really good performance."

"How much did you earn tonight?"

Liang asked curiously.

Seika doesn't usually settle ticket revenue sharing this early; she usually starts calculating the metrics for each band near the end of the final show.

But today is different. Her sister's band is the main performer tonight, and she could foresee the show's huge success even before it started.

But she still underestimated their strength.

The Starry Night venue isn't large, and it's been packed quite a few times, but even for a well-known band, it's not easy to attract hundreds of people to perform.

Holding a slightly thick envelope, Seika suppressed her joy at her sister's success and walked calmly backstage.

As she passed PA-san's tuning area, PA-san peeked at this hopeless siscon and gave her a sly smile.

Eager to congratulate his younger sister but not wanting to show his tsundere sister complex, he naturally didn't notice PA-san's expression.

When she pushed open the backstage door, the five members of the Kessoku Band inside were having a very realistic discussion about money.

"It should reach 50,000... no, 60,000."

Nijika felt that her expectations were a little low, so she mustered up her courage and raised them a bit, tentatively looking at Ishikawa Hayato.

She clearly felt that Ishikawa Hayato could give a fairly accurate figure.

Ishikawa Hayato saw clearly in the darkness how many people came to their performance that night, and from that, he estimated the number of people who bought tickets for their show.

But he didn't speak. He heard Seika's footsteps outside the door and looked towards the doorway.

The four of them followed his gaze and looked towards the doorway.

Seika walked in calmly from the doorway, but noticed that all five people were already looking at her. She was slightly startled, but still spoke.

"The Kessoku Band, and your share of the profits for tonight has been calculated."

She spoke calmly, as if addressing an unfamiliar band, and produced a slightly thicker envelope.

"Very good!"

Upon seeing the envelope, Nijika's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran over.

Not only her, but Ikuyo, Hitori, and Ryo all got up from where they were sitting and ran to her side to see how much money was in the envelope.

Only Ishikawa Hayato and Seika were present; one feigned calmness, while the other watched them open the envelopes with a knowing smile.

"They're all... all worth tens of thousands of yuan..." Hitori was stunned with shock.

Nijika's eyes widened as she carefully counted the cards one by one.

"Ten thousand yuan, twenty thousand yuan, three, four..."

The three people next to them were also staring intently at the stack of banknotes.

"13, 14, 15! 150,000 yuan?!"

Nijika exclaimed in disbelief, then hugged the money to her chest and jumped up excitedly.

"What should we do? What should we do? So much money! How are we going to spend it?"

"Buy musical instruments? No, an amusement park? No, not at all! Let's just have a celebration party first, forget about everything else!"

Seeing how much money they had made, Ikuyo and Hitori jumped for joy with Nijika.

However, among the three seemingly lively and innocent girls, one of them had a strangely large swaying of her chest.

Although it was only a small sum compared to the substantial funds the band received after selling their mini-album, the huge amount they earned from the successful performance brought them immense satisfaction and made them overjoyed.

After a moment of Nijika realized what was happening and pounced on Seika.

"Thank you, sister!"

Seeing Nijika's expression, Seika couldn't help but smile, but she still spoke in a lukewarm tone.

"This has nothing to do with me; it's the result of your own hard work."

"Hey... it's okay to be even happier!"

Nijika complained with a smile on her face.

After Seika, who had ruined the atmosphere, left, Nijika began to tally up their earnings for the day.

Their income today comes not only from performances, but also from selling merchandise.

However, compared to those ten-thousand-yuan bills, this lacks the aura of large sums of money, but has more of an impact from the sheer quantity of paper currency.

After Nijika counted the bills, one by one, stack by stack, she put them into the band's fund bag.

After everything was accounted for, she wrote down the numbers in her notebook and looked around at everyone present.

"I said those things in a moment of excitement, but now that we have so much money, it's time to spend a little. Does anyone have any good ideas?"

Nijika is indeed frugal, but she's not a miser. In the beginning, the band relied on the five of them working to make ends meet, but now that they have income, she wants to give back a little.

Her idea was to use a portion of the performance fee as her salary, since she already had enough money to produce the album.

Ishikawa Hayato knew what she was up to, but for him, it was a great opportunity.

An opportunity to enjoy benefits.

"Oh, we went to the beach in the summer, we should go somewhere else in the winter too."

When Ishikawa Hayato spoke, the girls, each still pondering how to spend their money, all looked at him.

The group was very familiar with Ishikawa Hayato's various tones and expressions, knowing that he was holding back something, but they couldn't help but continue listening, wanting to know what he was planning to do.

Ishikawa Hayato glanced at Ikuyo and said with a troubled expression.

"Although my family has a bathhouse, it's definitely better to soak in a real hot spring and stroll around the hot spring town in winter."

Kitan!

Inside the room, a young girl clasped her hands together, a bright smile appearing on her face, which had already been wiped dry from sweat.

"I want to go!"

Nijika, Woody.

But Ishikawa Hayato didn't stop; he continued talking.

"Don't I remember that many composers are supposed to be leisurely composing music in privately rented hot spring inns?"

"I agree." Liang nodded coolly, arms crossed.

Nijika didn't need Ishikawa Hayato to continue; she knew that the last person would agree no matter what Ishikawa Hayato said.

It's more accurate to say that Ishikawa Hayato's willingness to feign democracy and garner votes is already a great favor.

Even if he directly said he wanted to go to a hot spring inn, no one would refuse, right?

"Yes, yes, let's go to a hot spring inn, but it's only mid-September, why think so far ahead..."

As Nijika was earnestly reminding her, she paused, looking towards Hitori.

Hitori noticed Nijika's gaze and pondered its meaning.

She shook her head.

Nijika sighed helplessly.

"Let's leave it at that for now."

Ishikawa Hayato looked at the two of them suspiciously, then glanced at the other two, and after thinking for a moment, decided not to expose them.

197. In pairs

After a celebratory party that was disrupted by Hiroi Kikuri as usual, the group prepared to go home.

As they left the izakaya, several adults walked in front, and five people followed behind.

Hiroi, standing in front, was swaying unsteadily while holding a bottle of wine.