Chapter 1010

"One more bite! Just one!"

Akina looked at Naoki Nagayama with pleading eyes, a bit of white cream still on the corner of her mouth...

"No way!"

Naoki Nagayama refused righteously, then scooped a spoonful from the ice cream cup in his hand into his mouth and let out a satisfied hum~

Even if it's not summer or winter, eating ice cream is always a refreshing thing!

Naoki Nagayama, who had returned to Shanyingyuan today, discovered that Akina was actually sneaking ice cream at home while Mrs. Mari Nonaka was out buying groceries!

How could this be allowed?!

Naoki Nagayama naturally hijacked it halfway, saying:

"Akina, how can you eat cold things like this while pregnant?! What if you catch a cold? I'm doing this for your own good!"

"How could that happen! It's fine to eat it occasionally!"

Akina grabbed Naoki Nagayama's hand holding the spoon and tried to guide it to her own mouth...

There were too many things she couldn't eat during pregnancy: no alcohol, no soda, no spicy hot pot... In short, she had to eat less of anything highly oily, salty, or spicy that would be stimulating...

After a few months, Akina was dying of cravings!

"Ah-woo~"

In the end, Akina still managed to snatch a bite from Naoki Nagayama, and then began to prepare to fight for the rest of the food.

The two of them fought over the single serving of ice cream like this, one bite for him and two for her, actually acting like they were in the honeymoon phase, being sickeningly sweet~

Even the dog watching from the side felt full just from looking!

"Akina~" Finally, after finishing all the ice cream, Naoki Nagayama talked to Akina about company matters. "In a couple of days, I'm going abroad to Hong Kong~"

"Abroad?" Akina asked in surprise. "What are you going to Hong Kong for?"

"To look for actors in the Hong Kong entertainment industry and see if anyone is suitable to play the male lead in *Tiger of Ginza*."

Naoki Nagayama explained the next major film for Tree Friend Films.

"Masataka-kun and Shizhi-kun will be coming with me too."

"Eh..."

Hearing that it was for casting a movie, Akina had nothing to say, but since her husband was going abroad and she couldn't go, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Moreover, she knew the script for *Tiger of Ginza*, so she said directly:

"If you can't find a suitable one in the Japanese entertainment industry, why don't you just play it yourself, Naoki-san... Why do you have to go to Hong Kong!"

"......"

Naoki Nagayama shook his head upon hearing this. Although he was seen as a genius and all-rounder by others... acting was something that required talent, and directing others versus performing oneself were two very different things~

Simply put, his acting skills weren't that great!

Since he started filming so many movies, he had rarely participated as an actor, almost only in the commercials at the beginning and later in *Paranormal Activity*... and one movie with Akina, *Love Letter*.

And when he played the male lead in *Love Letter*, he mainly just needed to look cool, without needing much acting skill... but Akina was different; she was talented in acting, and *Love Letter* relied mainly on her performance.

"The male lead in *Tiger of Ginza* needs to carry the whole show, from the initial greenness to the subsequent high spirits and then to the unbridled arrogance, and finally the curtain call... it's a huge test of acting ability..."

Naoki Nagayama put his arm around Akina's shoulder, sighing quite a bit.

"My talent for acting... isn't enough..."

"Who says that!" Akina sat up straight and looked at her husband, saying seriously, "Naoki-san's talent is great! If you want to act, you can definitely do it!"

"Haha~"

Even though he knew it was comforting words, Naoki Nagayama was still very happy.

He turned his head and looked at Akina's serious and bright eyes, her delicate yet stubborn nose, and the rosy lips on her fair and smooth cheeks... Naoki Nagayama suddenly smiled mischievously:

"Akina, there's ice cream on the corner of your lip~"

"Eh?" Akina subconsciously licked the corner of her mouth...

Naoki Nagayama felt itchy inside watching her:

"Let me help you wipe it off!"

Then he pulled Akina into his arms and kissed her gently~

When Mari Nonaka returned to Shanyingyuan and opened the side door, she saw such a sticky scene in the living room and was stunned at the entrance, not knowing whether she should come in.

After thinking about it for a moment, she gently put down the shopping bag and silently backed out...

The cool breeze of early spring blew on Mari Nonaka's somewhat flushed cheeks, making her unable to help but fan herself with her hand:

"Really, young people these days..."

Because he was going abroad, Naoki Nagayama accelerated the filming schedule the next day.

At the filming base in Ota Ward, the crew of *Tokyo Love Story* all noticed that Naoki Nagayama seemed a bit serious today; his stern face and furrowed brows made the actors and staff subconsciously speed up their work efficiency.

When the break came, Kanako Higuchi hesitated for a moment before walking over to strike up a conversation.

"Naoki-san... are you in a bad mood today?"

"Hm?" Naoki Nagayama looked up from the director's monitor, a bit surprised. "In a bad mood? Why do you say that?"

"Because Naoki-san has been very serious since work started today..." Kanako Higuchi sat in the seat next to Naoki Nagayama, feeling relieved only when she sensed that Naoki Nagayama's tone wasn't bad. "Everyone is worried; it was clearly a day off the day before yesterday..."

As the most important person on set, almost everyone was watching Naoki Nagayama, and even the smallest movements would be noticed, let alone his serious attitude today.

It had put pressure on the entire crew...

"Ah, it's not that I'm in a bad mood or anything..." Naoki Nagayama realized and explained, "It's just that I need to catch up on the schedule these few days; I'm going abroad next week..."

"Is Naoki-san going to attend an event? Or going on a trip?"

Kanako Higuchi felt more relaxed. Logically speaking, if one were to travel during cherry blossom season, it should be within Japan.

"I'm going to Hong Kong... to look for actors..."

Naoki Nagayama didn't intend to hide the matter of finding actors for *Tiger of Ginza*. After all, the actions of Masataka Komori and Shizhi Araki had already let the entertainment industry know the news, and many agencies wanted to come and cooperate.

It was just that no one knew the specific content of *Tiger of Ginza*.

"What kind of actor is Naoki-san looking for?" Kanako Higuchi asked.

"First, they need to be young and handsome, in their early 20s... and then they need to have good acting skills..." Naoki Nagayama laughed. "Specifically, they need to be able to portray the transition from an ordinary person to a big shot and then falling back to an ordinary person..."

"That kind of male actor..."

Kanako Higuchi thought about it in her mind. In this era, for a Japanese male actor to become famous, they almost always had to be middle-aged... Youth and good acting skills were somewhat mutually exclusive, unless there was a particularly outstanding talent.

After thinking through everyone, she indeed couldn't find anyone she was familiar with, and Kanako Higuchi shook her head:

"Can Naoki-san find one in Hong Kong?"

"I'm not sure..."

In this era, Leon Lai hadn't debuted yet, and Takeshi Kaneshiro was still a teenager... Someone handsome and with acting skills...

After Naoki Nagayama explained, the entire set became relaxed. Everyone knew that Naoki-san was just rushing the schedule, so they worked even more diligently.

*Tokyo Love Story* was already halfway through filming, and the four-way relationship between the male lead Kanji Nagao, Kenichi Mikami, Satomi Sekiguchi, and Rika Akana was becoming increasingly complex.

Kanji Nagao and Rika were boyfriend and girlfriend, but in his heart, he still liked his "white moonlight" Satomi; Satomi was dating the scumbag Kenichi Mikami, but because Kenichi Mikami cheated frequently, she relied on Kanji Nagao emotionally; and Rika was wandering between liking him and feeling heartbroken because of Kanji Nagao's indecisiveness...

Actually, come to think of it, the character settings of Kanji Nagao and Satomi Sekiguchi were more like "sea kings" (players), while Rika Akana, who was originally set as a player, was more like a love-struck fool...

Three players against one love-struck fool?

Naoki Nagayama still remembered that when he watched it before, he only saw the passionate love between the male and female leads, but he didn't expect that after actually starting to film it, it was all so melodramatic...

"CUT!" Naoki Nagayama shouted, and said to Kanako Higuchi, "Kanako-san, when you ask Rika out alone to apologize, you need to be a little deliberate in showing your apology..."

"You need to show the apology, be very sincere in etiquette, but also make people feel it's a bit fake!"

Actually, it just meant being a bit of a "green tea" (manipulative)...

In fact, this wasn't a problem for Japanese people. They were taught from a young age to be polite, obedient, and to hide their inner emotions, so even if they had ten thousand thoughts in their hearts when they grew up, they could still perform very well on the surface.

"Hai~"

Kanako Higuchi nodded and continued to act with Honami Suzuki opposite her.

It had to be said that women were born actors; the scene the two actresses performed next could definitely be used in a palace intrigue drama.

The name of Tree Friend Films' next major movie was *Tiger of Ginza*, and this news was fermenting rapidly in the entertainment industry.

The *Hayato Chronicles* from the beginning of the year was already considered the pinnacle of gangster films, making everyone sigh that it was indeed worthy of Naoki Nagayama...

Not long ago, it was Director Shuichi Itou's *The Man with Zero Presence*. Although his presence was low, it was said that he had received constant praise in midnight screenings and among niche enthusiasts.

Even film critics in the industry had said in their columns that this was a very interesting movie.

They also said that Director Itou might have added some psychological or hypnotic techniques to it, making the specific plot very blurry for those who had seen it, and it was very worth trying out.

It was just that a bunch of directors hadn't analyzed how the movie hypnotized the audience~

And Tree Friend Films' other major work this year was naturally Naoki Nagayama's *Tokyo Love Story*, which had already become all the rage in Japan!

That song *Sudden Love* didn't know how many people were singing it; even taxi drivers liked to play it when picking up passengers...

Although it wasn't a movie, its popularity and influence were completely on par with a movie.

And next was Tree Friend Films' third major work of the year... *Tiger of Ginza*. Only the name had been revealed; even the director and lead actor of the movie hadn't been decided...

People were all saying that this movie, which was said to be based on Naoki Nagayama, had already caused a stir in the entertainment industry.

"What is Naoki Nagayama trying to do? After filming his grandfather, is he going to film himself now?"

"Shouldn't he be filming the previous generation first?"

"*Midnight Diner* isn't that about his previous generation! And his older brother too!"

"....... Naoki Nagayama is going to move the entire Nagayama family onto the screen!"

"......."

Similar discussions kept appearing, and some even said that Naoki Nagayama was building a history for his own family; maybe in the future, his children would also film movies like *Child of Nagayama* or *Baby Project*!

And more people in the industry understood it more deeply:

"Tree Friend Films doesn't seem to have taken a liking to Japanese actors in the entertainment industry?"

"After all, it's a movie based on Naoki Nagayama, so it's understandable that the requirements for the lead actor are a bit higher..."

"Is there news that Naoki Nagayama is going to take his director to Hong Kong, China to find actors?"

"How can this be... Isn't this clearly looking down on the Japanese entertainment industry?! What kind of good actors could there be in the Hong Kong entertainment industry?!"

"..... There's Jackie Chan....."

"...... Alright, count him as one...."

Speaking of Jackie Chan, everyone had nothing to say; after all, he was already considered an international star! However, Jackie Chan definitely wouldn't come to play in *Tiger of Ginza*; not to mention anything else, he definitely wouldn't pass the "handsome" requirement!

"No matter what, please let Tree Friend Films prioritize Japanese local actors..."

"Don't we have any young and good-acting male actors in Japan? Hurry up and send them to Tree Friend Films!"

"But... if you film Naoki Nagayama's movie, you will definitely become a big star overnight! Who should we choose?"

"........"

There was no internet or media like TikTok back then; all exposure came only from television stations, newspapers, magazines, and movie theaters, and these channels were strictly controlled...

Japan's social hierarchy was strict, and the acting circle was also strictly hierarchical. Most resources would be distributed to senior actors unless you had connections...

Even the idol circle, which was so young, was no exception. If the seniors' popularity hadn't declined too severely, they definitely wouldn't share resources with newcomers.

If Naoki Nagayama had been incorporated into the system of the entertainment industry, maybe he would just be a guy doing odd jobs on set right now.

For young people in Japan to get ahead, it was very, very difficult...

Shuichi Itou was pulled to a banquet by his seniors from Tokyo University of the Arts, and a group of people were communicating enthusiastically with each other.

"Itou..." a familiar senior raised his glass for a toast. "The box office for *The Man with Zero Presence* is okay, right?"

"It's very poor..." Shuichi Itou shook his head, a bitter look on his face. "It's ranked at the bottom among Tree Friend's movies!"

Everyone was surprised to hear this; they had stepped on a landmine:

"It's actually at the bottom..."

"Yeah, it's only over 500 million now, and it looks like it won't break 600 million..."

Shuichi Itou tilted his head and drank the sake, truly sighing for the box office of his own movie.

And other people in the industry nearby widened their eyes. A box office of 500 million is called bad?!

The box office for big-budget movies in the entire entertainment industry was only about 100 million; you, Shuichi Itou, are already five times higher than them!

And you're saying it's the bottom of Tree Friend Films' box office? What kind of bragging are you doing?!

"......."

Shuichi Itou saw that everyone had a constipated look on their faces and hurriedly explained:

"Don't disbelieve my words; most of Tree Friend's previous movies had box office results in the billions, and the highest could even reach 10 billion!"

"Now, the only two works of Tree Friend that are below 1 billion were both filmed by me!"

One was *Blue Sea*, and the other was this *The Man with Zero Presence*... In reality, these two should both be considered art films, so a lower box office is to be expected.

However, Tree Friend's other art films, such as *April Story* and *One Cut of the Dead* filmed by Naoki Nagayama, had box office results exceeding 1 billion! This suddenly made it seem like Shuichi Itou's level was not good...

Even Masataka Komori's *Crows Zero 2* and Shizhi Araki's *Ring 2* had decent results.

This was also the reason why Shuichi Itou had been a bit nervous during this period and had accepted an animated film project... If he didn't work hard, he would become the bottom-ranked director at Tree Friend!

"Shu-san's movies are all niche, so this is unavoidable..."

There was still a smooth-talking alumnus who smiled to ease the atmosphere.

"Isn't the next one a commercial film? *Tiger of Ginza*... Is the director Shu-san? Or is Naoki Nagayama going to direct it himself?"

Shuichi Itou knew that these classmates were here to probe for information, so he didn't hide it:

"The director isn't me, and Naoki-san doesn't want to direct it either..."

"Actually, this *Tiger of Ginza* is a script written by Tree Friend's creative center under Naoki-san's guidance. It's a project for us at Tree Friend to cultivate subsequent directors. The director will be one of Tree Friend's new generation of directors, Masataka Komori or Shizhi Araki... but it hasn't been decided yet!"

Hearing this, the alumni sitting with him buzzed with conversation, and then another classmate asked:

"Shu-san, I heard the male lead is going to be chosen from Hong Kong?"

"Oh, you already know about this~" Shuichi Itou smiled. "Naoki-san has looked at quite a few actors during this period, but unfortunately, none of them met the standard... so he has no choice but to look elsewhere..."

"Could it be that there isn't anyone in all of Japan who meets the standard?"

"Naoki-san said... Japanese young actors seem to be missing something... the temperament of a Showa man?"

Shuichi Itou had drunk quite a bit of alcohol and was already a bit muddled. He remembered his conversation with Naoki Nagayama and remembered Naoki Nagayama saying that young Japanese actors seemed to be missing a certain temperament...

The older generation of actors had it, but they were too old...

Actually, what Naoki Nagayama said wasn't the Showa spirit, but the temperament of the descendants of China in the future that could be recognized from among Asians at a glance... that feeling of being fearless, confident, and cool...

Everyone at the banquet was confused and continued to probe Shuichi Itou about what kind of temperament this was.

And Shuichi Itou didn't know how to describe it either; after all, Naoki Nagayama hadn't explained it in detail. However, there was an example:

"You just need to look at Naoki Nagayama... After all, he is the character the figure is based on..."

"When you see Naoki-san, you can actually discover that he is completely different from other young people..."

Everyone recalled Naoki Nagayama's appearance in public and indeed discovered that every time he talked to others, he was equal and gentle; even when bowing out of etiquette, his back seemed to always be straight...

In short, he was very different from other Japanese people.