Chapter 1173: The whole world knows, are you just keeping it from us?!

As the lights came on, most people had already finished work and gone home~

In the president's office of HORIPRO, under the soft light, President Shingo Oda was lying on the luxurious sofa in the office, closing his eyes to rest.

The recently busy HORIPRO artist selection competition had come to an end, and he had finally freed himself from being too busy to touch the ground. Plus, he had signed a contract with Shu-You the day before yesterday to lease Momoe Yamaguchi's IP for two years, earning another sum...

So now he could finally take a little rest in the office~

Of course, it was impossible to take a vacation; the entertainment industry is constantly operating, and the agency has countless affairs and emergencies to deal with...

He didn't want to go home either; at middle age, home is not a place to rest~

"Now, let me take a good rest first... No one is allowed to disturb me!"

Anyway, work had finished at the agency, and no one dared to break into the president's office at night... Thinking this, Shingo Oda's expression became even more relaxed, and soon there was even a faint snoring sound...

And just at this moment, the sound of *thump, thump, thump* footsteps came from outside, paused at the door of the president's office, and then pushed the door open...

Seeing Shingo Oda sleeping soundly on the sofa, the expression of Chairman Iwao Hori became even uglier!

He slammed the door shut with a *bang*, giving Shingo Oda a jolt, almost falling off the sofa~

"Who... who? Is there an earthquake?!"

"Still sleeping?!" Iwao Hori roared loudly, attracting Shingo Oda's attention, "The house has been stolen!!!"

"？？？！！"

Shingo Oda originally had an unnamed fire to vent, but after seeing the even greater anger on the chairman's face, he quickly suppressed it, shook his head, and quickly regained his sobriety,

"Chairman... what happened?!"

"Momoe Yamaguchi! She's making a comeback!!!"

Iwao Hori paced angrily in the office, making the wooden floor *thump* with every step,

"If I hadn't been eating with people from TBS tonight and they let it slip, I wouldn't even know yet!"

Iwao Hori still remembered the way the drunk guy opposite him smiled and complimented him, saying things like "Congratulations, congratulations, the cash cow is back!", "Momoe Yamaguchi's comeback this time, and collaborating with Shu-You, will definitely be able to reach a higher level...", "Don't forget us in the future"...

And then the surprise and intriguing look on his face when he saw his shocked expression...

"Comeback?" Shingo Oda felt he hadn't heard clearly, "Momoe Yamaguchi? How is that possible?!"

"What's impossible! Shu-You has already greeted all the media groups!!! It's going to be announced next month!!"

"？？？！！"

Shingo Oda even felt Iwao Hori was joking,

"Shu-You?!"

"When they came to buy the IP, we foolishly agreed! I didn't expect that they were already plotting Momoe Yamaguchi's comeback in private!"

Iwao Hori became angrier as he spoke, feeling like a clown,

"And that white-eyed wolf Momoe Yamaguchi! Such a big thing, and she didn't even tell us!!! I was the one who sent her out the door when she got married!!!"

Because Momoe Yamaguchi had severed ties with her biological father, when she married Tomokazu Miura, Iwao Hori acted as the father of the bride and personally sent Momoe Yamaguchi down the red carpet!

In this respect, Iwao Hori believed he had treated Momoe Yamaguchi as well as a daughter!

But now, for such a big thing as a comeback, Momoe Yamaguchi hadn't even communicated with him?! It was simply heartless, simply a white-eyed wolf!

Shingo Oda wasn't that angry; he was her manager at the time and understood Momoe Yamaguchi's situation.

Japanese agencies, well, their attitude toward artists is basically that of commodities, especially HORIPRO, whose level of exploitation of artists is famous in the industry; they basically treat artists like livestock that can automatically recover blood.

Agencies in this era were often controlled by the yakuza, and even for an agency like HORIPRO that wanted to wash itself clean, how could an artist retire without being skinned alive~

Especially a cash cow like Momoe Yamaguchi, a cash cow...

At this time, talking about feelings, kindness... treating her like a daughter... what a joke?!

If you treated her like a daughter, why didn't you give her a share of the hundreds of billions of yen Momoe Yamaguchi earned for you?

If you treated her like a daughter, why wasn't there a dowry when she got married, but instead, you demanded a large sum of liquidated damages and a share of the copyright?!

If you treated her like a daughter, why didn't you help give a warning when she was harassed by media paparazzi after marriage, making her retired life more stable?!

The so-called sending her out the door at the wedding was just a show for the media, managing a father persona; in the end, wasn't it just for his own reputation!

Shingo Oda shook his head, gathering his scattered thoughts that had just been awakened:

"Chairman, you just said, it's Shu-You behind this?"

"Yes! It's the female lead of *Departures*!" Iwao Hori panted, "No wonder they secretly leased Momoe Yamaguchi's IP... It turns out it was premeditated!!"

"......"

Shingo Oda regained his sharpness as president,

"If that's the case... is Momoe Yamaguchi going to sign with Shu-You's agency later?"

"Yes! They will definitely snatch her away!"

Seven or eight years have passed, and Momoe Yamaguchi's contract is no longer with HORIPRO. Previously, they could still use the IP copyright to hold some leverage, but they had signed the contract for that the day before yesterday!

After pondering for a while, Shingo Oda picked up the phone and called several media bigwigs in the entertainment industry. After probing, it turned out they already knew the news of Momoe Yamaguchi's comeback!

"Shu-You must have been planning this for a long time," Shingo Oda said, "Sure enough, they are old and cunning, and they act decisively and quickly!"

"By now, they should have already greeted other media!"

The whole world knows, and they actually kept it from us?!

"How can Shu-You do this!"

Shingo Oda was helpless; this behavior was completely breaking the unspoken rules of the industry!

And the key to the problem is that HORIPRO couldn't think of any good way to fight back, because Momoe Yamaguchi was clearly willing... Whether in the black or white world, Shu-You was above HORIPRO!

Chairman Iwao Hori could only pace back and forth in the office, unwilling and angry...

"Are we just going to watch Momoe Yamaguchi make a comeback at Shu-You?!"

This was a feeling like "one's lover being unceremoniously snatched away by a yellow-haired guy, yet the lover was willing"!

"What can we do..." Shingo Oda sighed, "Contracts, IP, media in the circle... Shu-You has prepared everything in advance!"

"But... but!!"

Shingo Oda suddenly thought of something at this time,

"Hori-san, actually it's not that bad! Momoe Yamaguchi has been retired for so many years; who knows what will happen once the heat of the comeback ends!"

"Besides, the lease contract for Momoe Yamaguchi's IP is only for two years... Time will pass quickly. Once the term expires, the IP will still be our agency's!"

"If these two years expand the popularity of Momoe Yamaguchi's IP, wouldn't that be making wedding clothes for us!"

It can only be said that the Ah Q spirit is everywhere. Under Shingo Oda's remarks, Chairman Iwao Hori slowly calmed down... and then began to imagine the future of Shu-You working for them for free:

"Haha, that's right... When the time comes to take the IP back, Shu-You won't be able to do anything!"

"......"

It was immediately going to be April, and the cherry blossoms in Tokyo were already in full bloom. Cherry blossom petals drifted from the treetops with the wind, falling on the ground and the water surface... It was as beautiful as pink snow~

However, for the people of Japan, this year's cherry blossom season seemed a bit dull.

The cherry blossom season planning, new TV dramas, and special programs that were common in previous years... all felt like a matter of course, just like the waves on the beach that never stop, still surging, but without the impact that makes people gasp~

Clearly, there were still celebrity scandals, international and domestic news exposés, and the latest program planning of major agencies and television stations in the media and newspapers...

I don't know why, but the public always felt that the entertainment industry seemed a bit dull during this period, as if the big shots had subconsciously loosened their wrists at the same time, waiting for something...

Like the calm and oppression before a storm~

Yuki Hayakawa, who had already started work, was watching the morning news with her mother while eating breakfast before work.

"Father got drunk yesterday and hasn't woken up yet, so you eat first, Yuki-chan!"

"Yes~" Yuki Hayakawa, holding her rice, watched the news out of the corner of her eye.

"*Long Vacation*, a collaboration between Shu-You Film and Fuji TV, is about to be released in April?" Yuki Hayakawa looked at the preview on the program in surprise, "The female lead is Chikako Aoyama, and the male lead is actually a newcomer?!"

"Yes..." Mrs. Hayakawa looked at the makeup photo on the screen with some emotion, "He looks like a handsome young man!"

"Mother... don't look at handsome guys!"

Yuki Hayakawa was helpless. How could her mother, who was already middle-aged, still be chasing stars, and chasing little fresh meat at that!

"What's wrong? Don't you also like looking at handsome guys!"

"But, we two generations are chasing the same handsome guy, Mother, don't you feel awkward?!"

"What's awkward about it! Handsome guys appear every year, and beauties are also new every year!" Mrs. Hayakawa shrugged; she was a full-time housewife with a young mindset, "Otherwise, what stars should I chase?"

"Like Tomokazu Miura, Hiromi Go, Hideki Saijo! Aren't they stars from your generation~"

"Tomokazu Miura... he is indeed very sunny and handsome!"

Mrs. Hayakawa also seemed to recall her youth and said with a smile,

"The golden boy and jade girl on the screen back then, how many people envied them~"

"Haha, now only Tomokazu Miura is left!" Yuki Hayakawa said with a smile, "By the way, wasn't it said that Tomokazu Miura was going to be the male lead of Naoki Nagayama's new movie? Why is there no news?!"

"Haven't the other actors been decided yet?" Mrs. Hayakawa sighed, "There are very few actors who can match Tomokazu Miura!"

"..... Then let Momoe Yamaguchi make a comeback!"

"Hahaha, how is that possible!"

The two chatted while finishing breakfast, and Yuki Hayakawa prepared to start her day's work.

"I'm off~"

Yuki Hayakawa shouted at the door, then put on her headphones and pressed the play button on the Walkman at her waist—starting to learn English...

In an era where foreign trade volume is increasing, knowing a foreign language is a powerful support for the promotion of working women!

"I'm fine, thank you, and you?"

"....."

Yuki Hayakawa, immersed in the sea of learning, did not notice the front page of the morning newspaper at the newsstand on the side of the road, that big extra edition; anyway, she didn't buy newspapers to read.

When she arrived at the subway station, she didn't notice the excited discussion of the people waiting on the side. What is more important than learning?!

In the crowded high-speed rail carriage, holding the handrail and silently reciting along with the headphones, she didn't notice the big brother next to her holding a mobile phone and talking to the opposite side, spitting everywhere... Yuki Hayakawa quietly moved away, focusing on herself; she didn't care about other people's business!

It wasn't until she arrived at her company all the way and entered the office that she took off her headphones to greet her colleagues:

"Good morning~~~"

Then she heard a group of ducks gathered together, chattering loudly, and even her usually serious superior, the section chief, participated in it!

She curiously leaned over, only to hear a chaotic sound...

"Really!" "Are you lying?!" "It's true!" "It's already reported, how can it be fake!" "Too surprising, right?!" "How is that possible!" "It's been almost 8 years, right!" "....."

Yuki Hayakawa pulled at a colleague who was usually friendly:

"What exactly happened?! What is everyone discussing?!"

"Yuki-chan, you don't know yet?!"

The colleague looked at Yuki Hayakawa with a surprised face; this was the entertainment bomb this morning! Almost all the newspapers reported it!

"What is it?"

"Momoe Yamaguchi has made a comeback!!!"

"Huh?"

The colleague brought over a newspaper, flipped to the entertainment section, and in it was a piece of news with the title:

"Latest news from Shu-You Film, the casting for *Departures* is officially announced!"

Then the report inside plainly wrote, "The candidate for the male lead is Tomokazu Miura, and the candidate for the female lead is Momoe Yamaguchi..."

Such important news as Momoe Yamaguchi's comeback was actually hidden so plainly in a piece of latest news!!

"How is that possible?!" Yuki Hayakawa exclaimed, "Didn't Momoe Yamaguchi retire?!"

"So she made a comeback!"

"Really? Are you lying?!"

"It's reported in the newspaper! How can it be fake?!"

Just like that, Yuki Hayakawa also became one of the chattering ducks in the office!

With the announcement of this news, the water surface of the entertainment industry suddenly boiled!

Countless calls were made to Shu-You's hotline, asking about the truth of the news in unison... Such frequent calls made the telephone lines heat up~

Then reporters and television stations were all ready to set out to interview Naoki Nagayama or Tomokazu Miura and Momoe Yamaguchi, but they were held back by the orders from above.

However, the subsequent call from Shu-You relieved the impatient reporters a little...

The production disclosure meeting for *Departures* is about to be held!!!

The director, male and female leads will all accept media interviews!!!

Any questions can be asked at the disclosure meeting!!!

So the reporters picked up their tools and started rushing toward the address of the disclosure meeting!

In the banquet hall of the Tokyo Prince Hotel, Shu-You's staff were busy... The eyes of the crowd occasionally glanced at the protagonists of today's disclosure meeting...

Naoki Nagayama was making final preparations with Tomokazu Miura and Momoe Yamaguchi... Momoe Yamaguchi was wearing a small blue suit, looking more mature and composed than before...

"Miura-san, Momoe-san, are you ready?!"

"Yes!" X2

"Are you ready to be surrounded by flashlights and shutter sounds again?"

Naoki Nagayama asked Momoe Yamaguchi,

"After today, you will live under the spotlight again!"

"Of course~"

Momoe Yamaguchi smiled, as if the big star who once stood at the top of the entertainment industry had returned:

"A little nervous, my palms are sweating. Come to think of it, I even miss this feeling a little!"

"Haha, nervousness is normal~ But don't worry!"

Naoki Nagayama said, then pointed to the many staff members in the banquet hall, as well as the burly bodyguards standing at the door, and said,

"Although only the three of us are accepting interviews... but everyone present here will be our guarantee!"

"Don't worry, those media reporters can't do anything to us!"

"Yes, thank you, Naoki-san..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1174 =====