Sternstunde

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When they first met, Qin Yiyu saw Nan Yi holding a liquor bottle from the doorway, and thought he was there to collect debts.

But he actually said: “I’m forming a band, to participate in a competition. We’re missing a lead vocalist who can play guitar.”

Qin Yiyu: Oh, it would be better if he came to collect debts.

He agreed in the end, because he didn’t want to give up such a talented bassist.

— Later —

Nan Yi: Qin Yiyu is my target.

Qin Yiyu: (bulb lighting up) likes me.

Nan Yi: We can be friends.

Qin Yiyu: Understood, lip service friendship1. I don’t mind kissing you even though I’m a straight man.

Nan Yi: (inhale)

Qin Yiyu: He really loves me.

—-—

During the competition, no one had high hopes for this new band. Even the staff was talking about it backstage.

“The bassist sure is handsome, but you can’t rely on looks to eat. The drummer is said to have a temper so bad that he’s almost beaten people up. The keyboardist seems to be a bank employee who was fired. Coupled with a popular lead vocalist with a terrible personality who had been kicked out of his previous band, how can this kind of makeshift band win?”

Yet the four of them were right behind them.

Yan Ji: “Get it right, I wasn’t fired but resigned voluntarily, and it was an investment bank, not a bank.”

Chi Zhiyang: “What crap are you spewing! How is my temper bad!”

Qin Yiyu: “In such a long sentence, only the first four words are worth hearing. A person as perfect as myself, the only people who can insult me are either my close friends, or the reincarnation of the violin— a worthless thing.”

Staff: (embarrassed) (cold sweat) (speechless)

Nan Yi said coldly: “Excuse me, the grassroot band is about to go on stage.”

[Mental state appears unstable upon first glance • self guided • gong] [Appears to be stable but is actually quite crazy • falls in love without knowing it • shou]

Vocalist x Bassist and Vocalist

1 唇友誼 lit. “lip friendship”; it’s used to describe intimate friendships that involve services related to lips, such as communication or kissing.

Associated Names
One entry per line
heng xing shi ke
Sidereal Moments
Starlit Hours
Stellar Moments
ช่วงเวลาแห่งดวงดาว
恒星时刻
Related Series
Fanservice Paradox (Shared Universe)
Lovely Allergen (Shared Universe)
I Only Like Your Made-up Persona (Shared Universe)
BE Crazy Demon Survival System (Shared Universe)
Manhattanhenge (Shared Universe)
Recommendations
N/A
Recommendation Lists
  1. modern danmei that changed my life
  2. BL Idols + Showbiz
  3. MODERN (TBR)
  4. TBR danmei
  5. To be read

Latest Release

Date Group Release
07/19/25 Guozhir Translations c16
06/15/25 Guozhir Translations c15
05/18/25 Guozhir Translations c14
03/31/25 Guozhir Translations c13
01/26/25 Guozhir Translations c12
01/13/25 Guozhir Translations c11
12/30/24 Guozhir Translations c10
12/16/24 Guozhir Translations c9
11/15/24 Guozhir Translations c8
10/19/24 Guozhir Translations c7
08/24/24 Guozhir Translations c6
08/10/24 Guozhir Translations c5
07/28/24 Guozhir Translations c4
07/15/24 Guozhir Translations c3
05/19/24 Guozhir Translations c2
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Review
2 Reviews


damnmei
damnmei
Oct 21, 2024
Status: Completed
I had super high expectations when I started reading this novel, as I loved Fanservice Paradox and Zhichu's writing, and after finishing, I can safely say this is now my favorite Zhichu novel, from the songwriting, to the atmosphere, to the character development, to the romance (in a word, incredible). There's also a really interesting mix of genres in this, including showbiz, slice of life, coming of age, and thriller/suspense.

There are two main plot-lines in this novel, the first being the band competition, and the second being the MC Nan... more>> Yi's revenge plot. In the first half of the novel, the band competition is more center stage, with brief interludes as Nan Yi conspires against people behind the scenes, and then in the second half, the revenge plot really amps up and any questions I had about the backstory/Nan Yi's motivations were answered. Throughout the entire novel, the romance plot also plays a huge part in the storyline, and is a major driver of the plot.

The band competition scenes were very vivid and incredible to read- Zhichu's songwriting ability is just beautiful, and all the lyrics rang so true to the characters emotions. I felt like I was being taken on a journey through their lives with them, as they processed their traumas through song. Many bands in the competition had their own full songs and performances, but I didn't feel like it was overbearing to the plot as the scenes took up just the right amount of space.

The cast of characters is quite large, with many different bands competing in the competition, but the story mostly revolves around the main two characters Nan Yi and Qin Yiyu, along with their two other bandmates Chi Zhiyang and Yan Ji. I personally really enjoyed the other side characters and bands as well, and didn't find it too difficult to keep track of all of them. As some brief character introductions of the 4 main characters:

Spoiler

Nan Yi (MC, bass + vocals)

  • 17 (turns 18 near the start of the novel), 183cm
  • Light eyes, black hair, lots of piercings
  • Rides a motorcycle, is kind of an S hahah (he canonically likes to edge QYY...)

Qin Yiyu (ML, vocals + (formerly) guitar)

  • 22, 186cm
  • Slightly curly golden brown hair, dark eyes, lip piercing, tattoos
  • The biggest yapper (mostly around Nan Yi), lets Nan Yi do whatever to him in bed... read to find out...

Chi Zhiyang (drums)

  • 18, 179.6cm
  • Long, (bleached) white hair
  • Nan Yi's childhood friend from middle school

Yan Ji (keyboard)

  • ~26, 184cm
  • Former white collar worker at an investment bank, classically trained pianist
  • The "dad" of the group
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In Zhichu's words, Qin Yiyu and Nan Yi's relationship is defined by "a delicious CP of an extremely unreliable lunatic who wants nothing more than chaos in the world x a reliable, almost self-abusing, introverted lunatic" (A/N of chapter 94). They're both a little crazy, and are willing to do anything for one another, being fully devoted to one another's happiness. Though Qin Yiyu falls in love at first sight with Nan Yi's eyes, they do have quite a history with each other, and the relationship development is far more complex than just that.

The beginning of their romantic relationship is hilarious, with Qin Yiyu thinking that Nan Yi is in love with him (which to be fair, all the signs do point to that) and believing their physical relationship to just be part of them dating, while Nan Yi thinks they're s*x friends and Qin Yiyu is just into his body. Surprisingly, despite this misunderstanding, they coexist peacefully with no dogblood between them, and the confession scene once everything was revealed actually had me tearing up, and is one of the reasons I fell so in love with these two.

The smut is also top tier, incredible, life-changing. When I started reading, I really thought Nan Yi was going to be the gong (until I saw their height difference haha), and let it be known that I was somewhat right lol... but really, expect for some great scenes between them. They aren't a reversible couple, but they do switch up dynamics from the norm! The extra with the 100 questions with the last 50 questions being about their s*x life was such fun, and I just have to say I have never seen a couple as consensually adventurous as these two.

Took me a week to finish reading this as I really didn't want it to end. As a side note, the R-18 scenes are censored in the jjwxc raws, but you can find the fully uncensored chapters on AO3. If you want a better idea of the couple dynamic, these scenes really were it for me (spoilers separated by chapter) :

Spoiler

Chapter 14:

Spoiler

The all-black motorcycle carried Nan Yi, who was also dressed in black, and Qin Yiyu, who was wearing a floral shirt and big yellow duck slippers. One was calm and composed, while the other was screaming.

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Chapter 15:

Spoiler

He only had two earlobes, and he left them both to Qin Yiyu. One was used to record the day he met him, and the other was to commemorate his successful recruitment and willingness to become his teammate.

[collapse]

Chapter 55:

Spoiler

In the past, he had to rely on listening to Qin Yiyu's songs to move on, but now, he seemed to be able to survive just by listening to this man's breathing.

[collapse]

Chapter 77:

Spoiler

"It's too late, Nan Yi. You can't tell someone who already loves you, don't love me. I can't do it.

"You can put me away, lock me up, put me anywhere that makes you feel at ease, and confirm again and again that I will not disappear, but you can't ask me not to love you." (Qin Yiyu)

[collapse]

Chapter 85:

Spoiler

At this moment, Qin Yiyu finally saw clearly the kind of person he had fallen in love with.

A hunter disguised as prey, a strategizing chess player, a madman jumping into the game.

An avenger who pushes himself repeatedly to the brink of despair.

Truly worthy of him.

Qin Yiyu's heart raced strongly in his chest.

It was almost inevitable that he, being naturally strong-willed and treating everyone and everything as fun, would fall in love with this person.

[collapse]

Chapter 87:

Spoiler

"Sometimes... I really want to tie you up, handcuff you, chain you, and lock you up somewhere where no one can find you." (Nan Yi)

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qijingnus
qijingnus
Oct 27, 2024
Status: Completed
i mtl-ed this one since the translations only have a few chapters out but I just couldn't wait. It was readable and I loved the novel but I will definitely reread it when there's a complete translation.

actually I knew I was going to love it, zhichu has never let me down, but I'm still GAGGED at how good it was. I could talk about it for days but i'll only list a few of my favorite things about it.

1. The WRITING. Like. Again, it's zhichu, can't expect anything but greatness,... more>> HOWEVER. The writing in this one is just insane, from the characters to the romance to the plot to the songs. The songs and performances sold me. I adore music and I know a lot of stuff about genres and instruments but I'm no expert, nor musically trained. But the way she wrote the songs and the performances, I didn't feel like I was reading a book, it was like I was watching a performance on my phone and hearing the music. It was so vivid and so good, so natural. CRAZY.

2. The characters. And I don't mean only the MC and ml, or even the 4 members of the band, I mean all the characters that appear. Everyone had such a distinct personality and they were all so loveable. Zhichu has said a few times in the author's notes that she almost gave up on this novel and that such a big scale was daunting but, in my very humble opinion, she couldn't have done a better job. I can't even choose a favorite character because they're all so great and interesting and memorable.

3. Intimacy and romance!! I'm sorry but I think zhichu writes the best s*x scenes ever and not just in danmei, just in general. Maybe I'm biased, I admit that I'm very subjective in all my opinions, but the tension and intimacy she conveys are unmatched. There's always something new, always something interesting, and there's always the realness and vividness that makes ur heart clench.

something that I adore with all my heart is little gestures of intimacy, whether conscious or not, they make the romance so much more real and sweet. They may not be important to the plot but they are the driving force of the romance.

speaking of, the progression of the romance is exquisite, not just for the main couple but also for the second one. Focusing on the main couple though, I ADORED the journey they both went through until they discovered and accepted their feelings. They're both insane in their own ways and it's their first time falling in love, plus they have their own issues, so it was absolutely delicious reading their story.

4. The balance of plot and romance was so well done, and even more so since there were two plot lines, both the competition and the revenge. It was a perfect combination, neither part was overshadowed or outshined the others.

i'll stop here because this review is getting too long but yeah, the bottom line is this is peak literature and I love zhichu. <<less
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