"Wait, are you stupid?"
"……Eh?"
Gao Songdeng was stunned for a moment, looked at the phone with red eyes, and doubted his ears a little.
How come the gentle and intellectual voice just now suddenly became rude and impatient?
"Ahem... no, I mean."
For some reason, Ming Hai coughed twice in embarrassment, and his tone quickly returned to that of a caring older brother.
He said gently, "Takamatsu-san, haven't you noticed yet?"
"Discover?"
"You are different now than you were before."
Gao Songdeng was stunned for a moment, raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and suddenly seemed to understand something. He looked at Toyokawa Shoko, who was holding her mobile phone and looking at him with warm eyes.
"Xiao...Xiang?"
The elegant and dignified girl did not reply, but gently pressed down her long sky-blue hair that was blown by the wind and gave her a soft and warm smile.
And his smiling voice also penetrated the cold evening breeze and reached him directly.
"That's right, Toyokawa-san, and [CryCHIC]... Even if you didn't change yourself, didn't you meet new friends and a new sense of belonging?"
"But……"
"Or are they just like your past friends, who only bring you the kind of inconsolable loneliness?"
Toyokawa Shoko lowered her head at the right time and pretended to be disappointed and sad.
Gao Songdeng was a little flustered, trying to explain in a hurry: "No, no... I just feel..."
Ming Hai interrupted her.
"It doesn't really matter even if it is. After all, you've only known each other for a short time. Even if one day you find that you can't fit in with the band and can't chat with these people, it's only natural... Four people's happiness and one person's loneliness, tsk tsk, it makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it."
"Narumi-kun!"
Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but shout.
There was a look of reproach on her pretty face, as if she was very dissatisfied with him deliberately using such words to undermine Gao Songdeng's confidence.
——Look, classmate Deng, who was almost cheering up, has a sad expression again!
"Don't worry, I'm not finished yet."
Ming Hai didn't care. After all, he was not at the scene, so he wouldn't feel guilty about the pitiful appearance of the little animal.
"No matter what the future holds, that's a matter for the future. Isn't it just the beginning?"
He said in a relaxed tone, "Takamatsu-san, now that you have joined this band, try to trust them."
Gao Songdeng asked stupidly: "Believe, what?"
"Trusting those four people can make you a human being... a normal person who is unique and not surrounded by loneliness even if you don't make any changes."
It was like confidently writing down the answers on an answer sheet full of difficult questions.
It's like being in a maze full of forks in the road, but you can just hold up a dim oil lamp and walk towards the exit without hesitation.
That's how sure his voice is.
“What you need is not a voice that blends into the environment, but an environment that is willing to accept you after you make your voice heard.”
"--Now, I think you've found it."
Gao Songdeng's breathing stopped and he opened his eyes unconsciously.
"I found it..."
The hazy starlight fragmented in my eyes seemed to form a lake under the night sky, reflecting the scenery in front of me clearly.
——Those trivial anxieties and complicated thoughts are like the white mist wiped off the glass.
She suddenly saw clearly the smile on Toyokawa Shoko's face.
I also clearly saw the increasing call time on the mobile phone screen.
The flashing neon lights under the night sky, the mottled rust on the handrails of the overpass...
The hustle and bustle of traffic passing by, the clang of a tram in the distance passing by the rails, and the beating of my heart in my chest...
At this moment, the world became bright and open.
She heard Ming Hai say with interest:
"If you don't believe me, why don't you give it a try... Well, there shouldn't be anyone next to you, right? It sounds like we're on the overpass."
Toyokawa Shoko was a little surprised: "Mr. Ming Hai, you can hear that?"
"It's nothing." Ming Hai said perfunctorily, and then suggested, "Takamatsu-san, why don't you just shout something under the overpass? You can shout anything, preferably something you have never dared to say out loud."
"……Um."
Gao Songdeng pinched his collar and slowly turned to the handrail of the overpass, looking at the endless flow of cars coming and going below.
What I wanted to say came to my mind almost instantly.
She just stared straight ahead, then took a deep breath and exerted force with her fingers in vain.
"——I want to become a human!"
She was already trying to shout.
But the sound remained the same, like a fishbone stuck in the throat, and all that could come out was a weak and hoarse whine.
Before Takamatsu Deng could feel disappointed, Toyokawa Shoko stood beside her and also took a deep breath.
"I want to be a human and drop stockings!"
The no longer elegant shouting broke through the sound of the surrounding wind and rang clearly throughout the night sky.
Gao Songdeng looked at her in surprise as she turned to him with a bright smile.
"Teng, let's shout together, shall we? Let's shout out all the negative emotions now, and then we can happily greet every day in the future!"
"..."
Gao Songdeng was silent for a moment, and his lips seemed to be about to say something, but in the end they slowly pursed into a faint smile.
"Ok!"
She nodded solemnly, followed Toyokawa Shoko and faced the underpass, breathing in the air with all her strength until her lungs felt painful.
Then, recklessly venting it out to the vast night sky -
““I want to be a human!!!””
…It turns out that I really found it.
Even if I have to make my own voice heard, I am willing to accept my environment.
-
"Hu, hu, hu..."
The girls, who had shouted several times in succession and were breathing hoarsely, were resting on the handrails.
With red cheeks, Toyokawa Shoko raised her phone with a smile: "Mr. Ming Hai, can you also say something?"
Ming Hai was helpless: "Teacher Xiaoxiang, I'm in the apartment, do you want all the residents in the building to come and watch me?"
"I don't care~" Toyokawa Shoko snorted, smiling, her voice still carrying a sweet, coquettish tone, "We just threw aside our reserve and shouted so loudly that you heard us. You should at least shout once!"
Gao Songdeng looked at her in surprise.
Although Toyokawa Shoko was completely different from the one she had just now and from the ones she had with other people, she didn't give people the feeling that she was two-faced.
It’s as if… no matter what time she is, she is always her truest self.
It's just that it's particularly obvious now and there are no scruples about it.
"...Okay, you're Toyokawa Shoko after all."
After a moment's silence, Ming Hai sighed, and soon there was the sound of a window being opened and the wind whistling.
He seemed to be walking out onto the balcony.
"What do you want me to shout? Do you want to be a human, or do you want to be Miss Xiangzi's dog?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Toyokawa Shoko reflexively looked at Takamatsu Deng who was full of confusion, and inexplicably felt a sense of panic as if she was caught flirting.
She quickly shouted into the phone with a red face: "Well, don't tell that kind of joke, Deng is still here! And dogs and all, why do you belittle yourself like that!"
"No, I'm just joking... After all, I can't really say out loud what I want to be."
Toyokawa Shoko seemed to understand something and could not help but lower her eyes slightly to hide her smile that was both sweet and helpless.
"I know~ Then call humans."
Ming Hai let out a breath without motivation, and suddenly raised his voice and shouted:
“I want to be human!”
Toyokawa Shoko immediately followed up with praise: "Well, very energetic!"
“Pfft… hehe.”
Gao Songdeng couldn't help laughing out loud.
The short gray hair swayed in the evening breeze, creating a soft and light arc.
-
This chapter is two in one.
The New Year event has started, and this book is about to be put on the shelves. I hope to ask for some of the extra votes and rewards from the lucky bags drawn by everyone~
The newcomer doesn't dare to offer a reward, but the more tickets you get, the faster the protagonist will appear... The author can guarantee this.
Volume 43: Chapter I'm posting a single chapter to bother you
After careful consideration, I feel that my family members are right.
Just asking for votes without adding more chapters really doesn't show sincerity.
After asking the big authors in the group, I made the bold decision to update my blog desperately in exchange for votes and rewards from my family. This will live up to the support of my family who have been following my blog until now and waiting for my updates like a sea of water every day.
Well, if you really want to say it, this is a bounty, right?
(But I really don’t dare to say openly that I want to offer a reward, for fear that people will say that I am a newcomer and am too proud, or that I am cheating people out of money by offering a reward to put my book on the shelves… My dear friends, this book doesn’t have many readers, and the number of readers doesn’t even reach the standard for being included in the 10,000-collection book list. It’s just one step away from being a failure. There’s really no need for me to give up my dream of becoming a writer for this little money!)
In any case, let's turn your support into actual rewards, and make the data look better before it goes on sale!
-
Since I'm not competing for the monthly ticket list, I don't ask for too many monthly tickets. I'll add one more chapter for every 100 tickets.
A reward of 5,000 will add one chapter, a reward of 5000 will add one chapter, a reward of 10000 will add one chapter, a reward of 20000 will add one chapter, a reward of 1 ....
I don't know much about the exchange rate of Hedgehog Cat, but anyway, if I say that there will be 30 chapters for the treasure chest, you guys don't believe I can finish it, so let's just write 20 chapters. I should be able to finish it in a month...
There are fifty blades in one chapter. The more you update this thing, the more money you make. I made a fortune if I updated 200,000 words in February, haha.
As for the recommendation votes, it depends entirely on your willingness. I don't expect too much. If I can get 6,000 recommendation votes before it is put on the shelves, I will add another chapter.
Of course, my family members who gave me their assets yesterday don’t have to worry. The data from these two days will probably be enough to add two chapters, so I will owe them two chapters from now on.
All the above-mentioned overdue updates will be repaid after they are put on the shelves on Friday. I am not sure how much I can send in one day, but in short, I will do my best!
Strive to publish ten chapters, write 200,000 words in February, and top the update list!
Ask for your support, family members!
-
If you have any opinions about the reward standards, please go and ask the big guys in the group. I really don’t understand anything, and I’m afraid that once this chapter is posted, the comment section will be full of people scolding me the next moment.
That’s about it. I’ll talk about the plot-related things when the book is put on the shelves. I’ll go write first.
(Lao Hai, please hurry up and do it. If you don’t, readers will come through the Internet to beat me up!)
