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A brief silence fell over the living room.

Lixi glanced at the farce unfolding around them, said nothing, and silently picked up an orange and began peeling it. Metis maintained his smile, like a true statue.

"Pfft."

Nanami Natsuki suddenly laughed. She walked barefoot to Ruomai, stretched out her finger, and gently poked Ruomai's tense forehead.

"Sister Meow Dream, are you sure you're not mistaken about something?"

Natsuki's voice was soft and teasing, "Do you think these are supermarket goods? You can buy them whenever you want and return them whenever you want?"

"Besides... who told you that was 'talent'?"

"W-What do you mean?" Ruomai was taken aback.

“That’s a ‘curse,’” Natsuki whispered in Ruomai’s ear. “Once you accept it, it will seep into your bones and blood like a virus, transforming your brain. You are no longer the original Ruomai Yutenji. Your neural circuits and muscle memory have all been transformed into the shape of a ‘genius actor.’”

"If I forcibly peel it off now... what will become of you?"

"I guess... I'll become a useless person who can't even speak or make any expressions?"

"!!!"

Ruomai's pupils suddenly contracted, and her face instantly turned ashen white.

"It's a lie, a lie, right..."

"Of course I was lying to you." Natsuki smiled, a smile that was rather smug. "But it depends on how you interpret it. Are you willing to believe that what I just said was a lie, or that what I just said was actually the truth?"

Ruomai opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

A cripple? Lost everything? From now on, can only live like a fool?

No… she doesn’t want to! She still wants to become a top internet celebrity, make a lot of money, and give her family a good life!

"It seems you've made your choice."

Natsuki nodded in satisfaction, put her arm around Ruomai's stiff shoulder, and led her into the living room like a good sister.

"Since you don't want to be a useless person, then you can only continue to be our partner. Don't worry, Sister Miaomeng, although our place may seem a bit abnormal, the benefits are still very good."

"Look how happy Lixi is now? And how... how happy Sister Chuhua is?"

Ruomai mechanically turned his neck to look at the other people in the room.

Lixi was stuffing a peeled orange into Natsuki's mouth with a look of disgust but helplessness; Hatsune was staring at Natsuki's profile with fascination, as if it were her whole world.

This isn't happiness; it's clearly a mental asylum!

But... does she have any other options?

"Alright, since everyone's here, let's have a quick family meeting."

Nanami Natsuki clapped her hands, plopped down in the center of the sofa, with Lixi on her left and Hatsune on her right, and Metis squatting at her feet. She looked every bit the winner in life.

"Regarding that Ave Mujica, and that nameless band cobbled together by Su Shi, I think it's time to put an end to it."

"A clean break?" Li hope frowned. "What do you want to do? Disband the band?"

“Of course not.” Natsuki shook her finger. “Am I that bad?”

"What I mean is, Xiao Xiang is already preparing a new song, and he plans to have Xiao Mu... oh no, I mean he plans to have Xiao Mu as the lead singer, and together with me, we'll create a secret online-only group."

"With the addition of Metis, ah, that is, Lin Guzi, and with Ai Yin's shamelessness and Xiao Deng's awakening, Su Shi should be able to barely get going."

"As for us... Sister Chuhua can return to the stage."

Natsuki paused, her gaze falling on Ruomai, who was trembling in the corner.

"Sister Miaomeng, as a woman with top-notch acting skills, don't you think the current situation is perfect?"

Natsuki's eyes gleamed with fanaticism.

"..."

"Tsk tsk, look at yourself now, ah... how pathetic! What? Are you angry? Because we lied to you together, and then..."

"Enough! Don't... don't say that anymore..."

Yutenji Wakana forced herself to stand up from the sofa, then looked down at the broken little girl in front of her with an absolute height difference.

She truly hadn't considered this possibility; today, thanks to Chu Hua's introduction, she would learn Xiao Yue's true colors.

She had even decided that as long as she could find peace of mind and stop being forced by Chu Hua to do immoral things, she would definitely give up everything she had, leave the band with Xiao Yue, and seek other opportunities.

But now it seems that she has never truly integrated into the band.

She thought she was standing with Nanami Natsuki against evil, but she found out that it was all wishful thinking on her part.

"If taking away my talent will turn me into a cripple... then take it. I feel disgusted just looking at you now..."

This statement was somewhat insincere, because Xiaoyue had left such a good impression on her that Yutenji Wakame still fantasizes about her to this day.

She fantasized that... Xiaoyue wanted to sacrifice herself to let her go, so she cooperated with the wicked Chuhua to put on this show.

The problem is, she knew about Xiaoyue's previous acting skills.

In other words... this was all a lie from beginning to end, except for today... which doesn't seem like a lie.

"uh-huh?"

"I know that in your eyes I am a puppet that can be manipulated at will, a very vulgar person who likes traffic and money. As long as you can give me what I want, you can order me around at will."

“But you’re wrong, Nanami Natsuki. What I like isn’t just these things. What I like even more is getting everything I want with a clear conscience, not like this…”

"Are you saying that you want to have a clear conscience, but you also want to get things that you couldn't get in the first place?"

"Why can't I have it?!"

Yutenji Wakana ignored the strange looks from the girls around her, who seemed to think, "This girl is still in the formula rebuttal stage." She raised one hand to her chest, looking passionate and magnanimous.

"Is that really what you think?" Nanami Natsuki smiled. "If that's really what you think, why did you agree to the deal in the first place?"

"...That's just because..."

"Sister Meow Dream, can I ask you a question?"

"..."

Seeing that Yutenji Wakana didn't speak but just looked at her warily, Nanami Natsuki didn't care. "If you found a 10,000 yen note on the street one day, would you take it?"

"I……"

"Don't rush." ​​Ignoring the look of "this girl is starting to argue again" from the three women around them, "What if I said that this money wasn't accidentally lost by someone, but that they deliberately abandoned it, treating it like trash on the roadside, and then you picked it up?"

"How is that possible!"

"Don't ask if it's possible. Just tell me if you would find it and use it yourself, even if you know that the money is unwanted by someone else."

"I...I will."

Saying something like "give this money to the police station" is one thing, but there's no need to tell such a ridiculous lie at a time like this.

"Then why don't you want the talent I gave you? It's something that others didn't want anymore and gave up, so it ended up here with me. I just gave you such a wonderful gift, and then, to test whether you deserve this gift, I gave you a test to examine your character."

"Even if I didn't tell you beforehand that you were angry, you shouldn't attack me like this just because I gave you this gift!"

"...Huh?"

With three sharp slaps, the three women watching the scene raised their hands and slapped their foreheads.

All I can say is that she truly lives up to her reputation as the little vixen Nanami Natsuki; she manages to portray this with unparalleled righteousness and even turn black into white.

“Sister Miaomeng, you’re absolutely right. I’m also very happy that you’re standing here to find me, because I think it was a good decision for me to share these talents with you. You are indeed someone who deserves them.”

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“You have a bottom line. Although you were forced to do some bad things under extreme circumstances, you eventually pulled back from the brink. Do you ask others if they have this awareness? No!”

"Um...is that so?" Yutenji Wakana was a little confused.

"Besides, you cherish this talent because you genuinely need, crave, and love acting. I saw your dedication when you were teaching me. Did you think I was just playing around with you those few days?! You've gone too far! You only care about yourself, don't you?!

"no……"

"But what disappointed me the most was that after you saw me, you scolded me without even asking what happened..." At this point, Nanami Natsuki shed a few tears. "I admit that I lied to you and even used that 'useless' rhetoric to test whether you would give up everything for your bottom line, but... but you can't portray me as an irredeemable villain, can you?"

"You actually said... that you found me disgusting... Waaah... My dad died young, and my mom ran away because she thought I was a burden, but even so, she never said I was disgusting before she left!"

"I'm sorry...it was my fault..."

Yutenji Wakana panicked completely and immediately hugged Nanami Natsuki's petite body, "I...I..."

"I understand, Sister Miaomeng, you don't need to say anything."

"Huh?"

"I just feel upset. I was also wrong in this matter. I will never test others with lies again because it is really dangerous. What if you... what if you are not as kind as I thought?"

"I……"

"Sister Miaomeng, there's something I didn't lie to you about: I like you."

"Huh?"

Not only was Yutenji Wakana stunned, but the three women who had been silent beside her were also stunned.

Wait... is this process really that fast?

"Um, this... can I calm down, Xiaoyue? I'm so confused today."

call……

The three women breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the little vixen wouldn't have to complete all the procedures in one day.

What followed was simple. Since Yutenji Wakana needed to calm down and left early, the remaining four began to seriously discuss matters unrelated to romance.

"Speaking of which..." Lixi looked at Xiaoyue, who was talking fluently and not ashamed of what she had just said, and said with some emotion, "Crychic has really left completely, ever since the day that lantern took the stage to perform... The last person who would miss it no longer misses it."

It's not that I no longer miss it, but that I've simply placed it where it belongs.

"……Too."

……

As Nanami Natsuki had predicted, things developed in the days that followed, becoming both chaotic and orderly.

On Nagasaki's side, although she still had doubts about "Lin Guzi's" identity, she chose to turn a blind eye to Metis's flawless drumming skills (after all, it was Riki's ability, so the cooperation was naturally seamless) and his friendly attitude of cooperating with his teammates.