Why don't you all become idols?

After a bit of commotion between Hua Hua and Fei Niao, it was lunchtime. Lunch was udon noodles made by Hua Hua's mother.

The noodles were translucent white, thick and slippery, lying in a clear, light soy sauce-colored broth.

The soup noodles are topped with scattered scallions and a small handful of finely chopped seaweed, and come with a small dish of tempura crumbs. You can sprinkle them in yourself when you want to eat it. It smells delicious.

Hua Hua paused as she picked up her chopsticks to add the seven-spice powder to her bowl—she glanced at Fei Niao, then at Xia Mo, and suddenly seemed to remember something, pushing the bright red jar of seasoning to the corner of the table.

"No spicy food today," Hua Hua announced. "My mom says eating too much spicy food in the summer is bad for your skin."

Feiniao blinked. She was actually quite afraid of spicy food, but too embarrassed to say it. This was the first time she'd known that Huahua didn't eat spicy food—

Perhaps she was more restrained at home? Feiniao didn't think much of it; anyway, it was best if it wasn't spicy.

Xia Mo didn't say anything, silently picking up a mouthful of udon noodles with his chopsticks. He actually couldn't handle spicy food very well.

Several times when he came to her house for dinner, he secretly drank several glasses of water because the chili peppers were so spicy, and Hua Hua teased him about it. Now that Hua Hua had taken the chili peppers away, he silently breathed a sigh of relief.

The udon noodles were delicious. The noodles were smooth and slippery, and the broth was clear, sweet, and flavorful. All three of us were completely absorbed in eating.

Hua Hua's mother peeked out from the kitchen and nodded in satisfaction—all three children had eaten their fill, leaving hardly any soup behind.

After cleaning up the dishes, Hua Hua took out the box of jasmine tea jelly that Fei Niao had brought from the refrigerator.

"I almost forgot! It was made by Asuka-chan's mom! It's super delicious!" Hua Hua held the food container as if it were some amazing treasure as she walked to the coffee table.

Xia Mo glanced at the tea jelly in the box—a light amber color, as transparent as a piece of frozen autumn, with a few tiny jasmine flowers unfurling their petals and floating quietly inside.

Hua Hua found three small bowls and three small spoons, and carefully divided the tea jelly into three portions. Each portion contained one or two jasmine flowers, which lay trembling in the crystal-clear tea jelly, like tiny jellyfish.

"Give me more!" Hua Hua said, scooping an extra spoonful into her own bowl as she served the portions.

"You've already done so much," Xia Mo said.

"I'm growing!"

Everyone is growing.

Asuka watched the two bickering again and sighed. She took her bowl, scooped up a small piece of tea jelly with a spoon, and put it in her mouth.

Cool and smooth, the delicate fragrance of jasmine slowly unfolded on her tongue, the sweetness just right, neither too strong nor too weak. She squinted her eyes—

She always has that happy little expression on her face when she eats something delicious, without even realizing it herself.

Hua Hua had already scooped up a large spoonful and stuffed it into her mouth, then froze as if she had been struck by a magic acupuncture point. After two seconds, she let out a long, satisfied sigh.

"It's so delicious—the tea jelly your mom made is the best I've ever eaten."

"You've never tried tea jelly made by anyone else," Xia Mo said. He ate very slowly, taking small bites as if savoring it.

"No need! This is the best-tasting!" Hua Hua said firmly.

Feiniao didn't reply. She scooped up the last jasmine flower from her bowl, put it in her mouth, and chewed it slowly. The floral fragrance spread between her teeth, with a slightly astringent taste, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the sweetness of the tea jelly.

The three bowls of tea jelly were eaten clean. Not a drop of juice remained in Hua Hua's bowl. She scraped and scooped it with a spoon, and finally simply picked up the bowl and licked it. Xia Mo gave her a look that said, "How old are you?"

"What are you looking at! You should eat the good stuff clean!" Hua Hua said righteously.

Summer ended and she looked away.

You're right because your voice is loud.

As the bird looked at its empty bowl, it suddenly realized that the fact that its mother's tea jelly made everyone so happy was better than anything else.

After dinner, the three of them collapsed on the sofa, none of them wanting to move.

The sunlight outside the window was dazzling, making the leaves on the leaves in the yard shine. The air conditioner whirred, blowing cool air and keeping the summer heat out of the glass. Three empty bowls and three small spoons remained on the coffee table, and a faint scent of jasmine wafted in the air.

Hua Hua randomly pressed buttons with the remote control, and the TV screen jumped from news to variety shows to dramas, finally stopping on a music program.

The moment the screen switched, the bird's eyes lit up.

It was a large group of girls in beautiful uniforms standing on a huge stage, the lights shining as if the Milky Way had fallen to earth. Their dresses were studded with sequins and lace, sparkling under the lights.

Their hair was styled in an exquisite way, every strand of hair seemed to have been carefully arranged; their dance was so synchronized that it looked like one person was dancing, with clean, crisp movements and full of energy.

The music is upbeat and smooth, and the melody makes you want to sway along as soon as it starts.

The bird sat up straight.

The shrimp crackers in her hand froze in mid-air, her eyes fixed on the screen, as if she were being sucked in by something.

She didn't hear what Hua Hua said; she didn't notice when Xia Mo took a sip of water. Her world consisted only of those glittering girls on TV.

The camera gave a close-up of the girl standing in the center—a round face, big eyes, a sweet smile at the camera, and then she stretched out her hand to make a small heart shape.

The bird's beak was slightly open, its eyes were as bright as if they contained two small light bulbs, and it leaned forward, almost sliding off the sofa.

Hana glanced at the TV, then at Asuka's expression, and suddenly realized, "Ah—Asuka-chan, you're an AKB fan?"

Asuka then came to her senses, as if she had been caught red-handed, and immediately shrank back into the sofa, hugging her knees with both hands, resting her chin on her knees, and said in a tone that said, "...I'm not that interested."

"Then why were your eyes glued to the screen just now!" Hua Hua bluntly exposed her.

"I didn't!" Asuka buried her face in her knees, her voice muffled, but the part of her ear that was sticking out gave her away—it was covered with a faint pink hue, like cherry blossom petals that had just opened in spring.

"When did it start?" Hua Hua pressed on relentlessly.

Asuka lifted her face slightly from her knees, revealing only her eyes. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, "...Third grade."

"Third grade? Wasn't that last year?!"

"I'm a second-year student..." Asuka's voice was even softer, as if she were revealing some unspeakable secret.

"When I was in second grade, I happened to see their performance on TV and I thought... I thought they were so beautiful." Her gaze involuntarily drifted back to the screen.

The shimmering dresses and synchronized dances continued, "Wearing those clothes, standing on that stage, being watched by so many people..."

Her voice gradually softened, as if she were talking to herself, "I want to... I want to be like that too."

By the time she finished speaking, her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. She immediately buried her face in her knees, curling up into a ball, as if trying to take back her words.

The living room was quiet for a second or two.

Xia Mo glanced at the bird curled up in a ball and sighed.

"Then why don't you just go and audition for AKB in two years?" He said in a half-joking tone, as if he were talking about something trivial.

The bird abruptly lifted its head from its knees, its eyes wide: "What?"

"It's an idol audition." Xia Mo pointed at the TV, a smile playing on her lips. "Didn't you film 'GG'? You have experience in the entertainment industry. And you're good-looking—"

"Shut up!" Asuka finally couldn't take it anymore.

She grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it at Xia Mo with significantly more force than usual. Xia Mo dodged to the side at the right moment, and the cushion bounced off the sofa armrest.

The bird wasn't finished yet; it grabbed another cushion, held it high, pouted, and its eyes gleamed with fire.

"Who told you to talk nonsense!" Her voice rose half an octave, but the "I'm angry" expression on her face looked more like she was trying to hide her "I'm embarrassed."

"I'm stating the truth."

Xia Mo shrank into the corner of the sofa and picked up the water glass next to her to use as a shield.

"Facts my foot!" Asuka threw the second cushion out as well.

The aim was still a little off; it flew over Xia Mo's head and hit the wall behind her.

Hua Hua was watching from the side and couldn't stop laughing. She clutched her stomach and collapsed onto the sofa laughing.

Feiniao glared at her, and Huahua immediately stopped smiling, making a gesture that said "I didn't see anything," but the smile in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Asuka turned her face away, looking at the TV, but she was no longer paying attention to what was on. After a long silence, she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth:

"...I can't sing or dance. Going there would only make me look bad."

"How did you know?" Xia Mo's voice came from the corner of the sofa, not loud, but very steady.

Asuka didn't reply. She slightly raised her chin and pursed her lips, looking like she was "too lazy to argue with you."

But if you look closely at her eyes, you'll notice a small cluster of light flickering within them—

It seemed like it was thinking about something, or perhaps hiding something.

At this moment, Hua Hua, who had been sitting on the side watching the excitement, suddenly sat up straight and clapped her hands, startling both of them.

"Okay! I've made up my mind!" Her eyes shone like two searchlights, and she sprang up from the sofa, squatted down in front of Fei Niao, and took her hands in hers.

"Asuka-chan, if you go to the audition, I'll go too! We'll be in the same group! We'll be idols together!"

"Huh?" Asuka was a little dizzy from the enthusiasm of the flower, and her hand was held by her and she couldn't pull it back.

"Just imagine! The two of us are wearing pretty little dresses, singing and dancing on a big stage, with tens of thousands of people below holding up glow sticks and chanting our names—"

Hana loosened Asuka's hand, opened her arms, looked up at the ceiling, her expression one of rapture, as if she were already standing in the center of the Tokyo Dome. "I'm the center, you're the second center, and Natsu-kun is playing the piano for us from below the stage—"

"But idols don't have a secondary center, they only have two centers." Asuka was a little embarrassed.

"Aren't you thinking too far ahead?" Xia Mo's voice drifted from the corner of the sofa, carrying a sense of helplessness that said, "I'm used to it, but I'm still shocked."

"People should have dreams!!" Hua Hua declared emphatically.

As the bird looked at the flower's serious expression, the light in its eyes brightened for a moment, but it quickly suppressed it again, pretending that it hadn't thought about anything.

"Can you two stop acting on a whim?" Xia Mo leaned back on the sofa, propping her head up with one hand.

"Shut up and play your piano," Hana retorted without turning around, then continued to stare expectantly at Asuka. "What do you think, Asuka-chan?"

Feiniao lowered her head, looking at her hand being held by Huahua, and remained silent for a long while.

"Well..." Her voice was small and soft, as if squeezed out from her throat, "If you're the center, I'll just stand next to you."

After saying that, she immediately pursed her lips into a thin line, her gaze drifting to the corner of the ceiling, as if to say, "I didn't say anything."

But she quietly withdrew her fingers from Hua Hua's palm, crossed her hands on her knees, and sat up straight, like a little rabbit pretending to be calm but whose heart was pounding.

Hua Hua paused for a moment, then let out a scream loud enough to scare away all the cicadas in the trees outside the window.

"Asuka-chan, you agreed!!!"

"I didn't say I agreed! I said 'if'—" Asuka quickly corrected herself, raising her voice eight octaves.

"Xia-kun, did you hear that?!" Hua-hua turned to Xia-mo, waving her hands in the air. "Asuka-chan said she wants to be an idol with me! You need to write a song! A song for the two of us! It has to have piano accompaniment!"

"I'm not Akimoto Yasushi, how could I possibly write any songs?" Xia Mo closed her eyes and leaned back into the sofa.

The AKB48 performance on TV ended, and the screen switched to the opening sequence of a variety show. But Asuka didn't watch TV anymore. Her gaze fell on the cover of the Chinese textbook on the coffee table, where a chubby panda was smiling at her.

Do you really want to try it? To become an idol or something...

The bird pondered this in its heart, feeling conflicted.