Chapter 1311: Can one still be bullied by others when it comes to money?!

Shibuya, Burning Productions headquarters.

Akina, who had returned to Tokyo, came to the agency after resting at home.

On one hand, she needed to communicate about the preliminary selection of the Record Awards, and on the other, she had bought some local specialties from Kyoto and brought them to give to her colleagues at the agency.

In Neon, this kind of human interaction is very important; if one doesn't know how to do it, it will be considered rude... Even when Naoki Nagayama goes out to play, he brings back some specialties to give to people.

"Where did Akina-chan go in Kyoto this time?"

Tanaka Yoshiaki asked curiously,

"Was it following the autumn leaf hunting route?"

"Not too many places..." Akina shook her head. "Mainly in the Red Fish Courtyard; at most, I would go to Rurikoin for a turn..."

"Places with too many people aren't suitable for bringing Hua-chan along..."

With Akina's current popularity, if she were recognized in a crowd, it might cause a commotion... If her daughter little Xia Hua were recognized, then all the paparazzi in Kyoto would come running!

Naoki Nagayama indeed had influence over the big media in Tokyo, but the local snake media in Kyoto didn't care about that; popularity and exposure were what they pursued, and if they said they would publish, they would publish!

"That's true... this is a problem that only famous people will encounter!"

Tanaka Yoshiaki sighed; if it were his son, no one might even take a second look if he danced on the street.

"Returning to Tokyo this time is to prepare for the Record Awards performance, right?"

"Mm..."

Akina nodded. Returning this time, she also had to alter her past performance costumes; in another month or so, her belly would be visibly growing!

As for next year's song albums and such, Tanaka Yoshiaki didn't ask much... It was very clear that Akina, who now had a pair of children, would definitely spend more energy on her family; if she wanted to release a new album, she would have to wait until the child was born!

And just as Akina was exchanging pleasantries with her colleagues, Huajian He returned in a hurry from outside, and then immediately called Akina into the conference room.

"What's wrong, Huajian-san?"

Akina was a bit puzzled,

"Your expression seems very ugly..."

"It's about the Record Awards!" Huajian He didn't hide it and said directly, "An acquaintance tipped me off last night, saying that someone has been secretly making moves for a long time..."

"Today I visited several members of the jury; they were fine just a while ago, full of support for 'Shipwreck', but now they are saying things like it leans toward Enka, it's an old song being sung again, it can't represent the trend, and so on..."

At this point, Akina also understood:

"In other words, someone lobbied the jury to change the award originally for 'Shipwreck' to another song?"

Thinking this through, Akina was a bit curious:

"Whose song is it?"

If it were Yoshi Ikuzo's 'Snow Country' or Segawa Eiko's 'Inochi Kurenai', Akina would also be a bit convinced; after all, these two Enka songs indeed had very high sales and great influence.

And veteran singers indeed still have very great influence in the music circle~

"It's Johnny's Hikaru Genji..." Huajian He said.

"?"

Akina was even more surprised,

"But... didn't Hikaru Genji only debut in August this year?!"

"Yes..." Huajian He nodded with some difficulty. "They want their debut song 'STARLIGHT' to win the Record Awards!"

"!!!"

Hearing this, even the good-tempered Akina couldn't help but feel a sense of anger.

If it were for the Newcomer Award, Akina wouldn't say anything... But a male group that had just debuted actually wanted the most authoritative music award?!

"But... Hikaru Genji just debuted!!!"

This is to step on all the Neon singers to get ahead!

If a newcomer were to win the Grand Prize, then what would the singers who had worked so hard to win the Grand Prize before count for?!

"Reaching the top of idols in three months! Peak upon debut!"

Huajian He nodded to confirm,

"Such a headline will explode in the entertainment industry!! How much attention can it attract, how much exposure can it bring..."

"This will also bring a lot of bad names!"

Akina could imagine how indignant her fans would be; if there were the Internet at this time, they would definitely rush Johnny's official website!

"And the authority of the Japan Record Awards will also be destroyed!"

"After I die, who cares about the flood! It's very likely that the judges have received considerable bribes..."

Huajian He looked at Akina, who hadn't yet been disillusioned with the Record Awards, and shook his head.

"After so many years, the Record Awards have long since become a business... Akina, the charts in the entertainment industry are all business; you should have understood this point long ago!"

Charts are exposure, are sales, are money!

However, when everyone was making money before, they at least wore a mask to maintain a reputation for fairness... But just like the theater effect, as long as someone takes the lead in lowering the bottom line, then what follows is the bottomless competition of the entire entertainment industry!

Just like future Internet movie rating rankings, which one can still be trusted?!

"..."

Akina was stunned. Yes, the entertainment industry is a vanity fair, and everything is interest... She actually knew this point not long after her debut.

It's just that under Naoki Nagayama's protection in the past few years, these things hadn't affected her.

"Then... should we just leave this Record Award to Johnny's?"

Huajian He looked at the agency's pillar with some speechlessness, sighing that she had truly been spoiled into a little white flower by someone... He then asked:

"Does Akina-chan not want the Record Awards anymore? Don't want to pursue the triple crown?"

"Of course I want to!"

Akina curled her lips and retorted. In the next year or two, she would likely have no energy to appear in front of the public. Before semi-retiring, she still wanted a perfect curtain call.

Winning the triple crown of the Record Awards could be said to be a milestone in her music career.

"But... Burning Productions can't afford to bribe all the judges, right?"

It's true that Nakamori Akina and Okada Yukiko of Burning Productions are very profitable, but Johnny's almost monopolizes male idol artists, constantly launching one generation of male groups after another to harvest fans, and desperately squeezing artists—that counts as the industry's true money-making machine...

If Burning Productions earns at most over a billion yen a year, Johnny's, relying on its monopoly of male groups, can now earn almost over five billion every year.

This is still the 80s; by the late 90s, when Johnny's truly reached its peak, it could even reach 100 billion yen a year!

This is the power of monopoly!

The male groups of the entire Neon are Johnny's money-printing machines!

"Our public relations fees naturally aren't as much as Johnny's..."

Huajian He looked at Akina with a feeling of "hate that iron doesn't become steel."

"But Akina... your husband is a super rich man!!

Can he still let Johnny's bully you when it comes to money?!"

"Uh..."

Akina was speechless for a moment. She had no concept of exactly how rich her husband was now... She only vaguely remembered that a few years ago, his annual income already exceeded 10 billion yen!

Now it seems he has so much money that Nakai Genta is restricted from leaving the country in the United States!

"But..." Akina was still a bit embarrassed. "Is it too much to ask Naoki-san to spend money... He clearly isn't from Burning Productions..."

Huajian He saw Akina's hesitant look and shook his head:

"Even if Akina-chan doesn't say it, Naoki-san, as the president of the Tree Friend Group, will know very soon..."

"The artists under Tree Friend are also eyeing this Record Award!"

Not to mention Kudo Shizuka, the hottest idol under Tree Friend, Ozaki Yutaka, Oda Kazumasa, Sakai Izumi, etc., all take music as their career direction and all value this kind of Record Award selection very much.

"Yes..." Akina pouted. "Asking the president of Tree Friend to support an artist from Burning Productions at this time... isn't that a bit strange?"

"Oh my!"

Huajian He almost wanted to knock on Nakamori Akina's head.

"Don't you know that husband and wife are one?!

With Naoki-san's current status, if you, Akina, are bullied, he will also lose face!

How does that saying go, a wife is the face of her husband!"

This saying has always been regarded as a golden rule in Neon. Under the powerful influence of traditional customs like "the husband sings and the wife follows," it is only natural for a husband to spend money for his wife.

"..."

Akina was still a bit hesitant. Naoki-san is so busy now; she was slightly reluctant to trouble him with her own affairs.

Actually, perhaps she was still a bit sensitive inside; she herself belonged to marrying up and didn't want to add trouble to Naoki-san...

"In short..."

Huajian He finally said,

"Even if Akina-chan doesn't want to, Naoki-san should still take action!"

"Rather than letting him know from the company and thinking you are distant from him, it's better to tell him directly!"

"Akina, I tell you from the experience of being married for more than ten years... sometimes acting like a spoiled child and letting your husband help you will give a man a sense of accomplishment and help with harmony between husband and wife..."

"..."

Akina looked up at the president who was originally not prone to smiling, her eyes revealing teasing.

"Huajian-san's experience is a bit too rich!"

"Go, go, go... I gave you good advice and you still complain about me?"

Huajian He waved his hand angrily.

"I don't want to see you!"

"Haha~"

Akina, whose mood had inexplicably improved, went to the clothing design room downstairs immediately after walking out of the president's office to communicate with Ochi Hiroyo about the improvements to her performance costume!

On Jurassic Island, Naoki Nagayama, who was preparing to film, suddenly sneezed uncontrollably.

"Naoki-san..."

Komori Masataka asked with concern,

"Did you catch a cold from the temperature drop? The temperature today has indeed dropped quite a bit..."

"No, no..."

Naoki Nagayama touched his nose, feeling a bit confused. He shook his head and said,

"Maybe someone is scolding me... ah no... someone is thinking of me!"

"??"

"Anyway, it's nothing major."

Naoki Nagayama didn't continue to say anything, but instead looked at the preparations on the set...

This was an exhibition hall, inside of which were displays of numerous dinosaur skeletons, the largest of which was clearly the fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex... of course, it was a plaster replica.

The scene to be filmed today was actually the Tyrannosaurus Rex hunting in the exhibition hall and then smashing the fossils!

Because there were no human scenes, Tanaka Yuko and the others were all resting on the side.

Now on the scene, the Tyrannosaurus Rex model was in place; thanks to the ingenuity of the prop team, it could open its mouth to bite things and then throw them away...

The leather Velociraptor model was also ready to be used as a sandbag, to be bitten and smashed against the fossils!

"Naoki-san!"

Takehiko Takei of the prop team rushed over excitedly and said,

"Naoki-san, the Velociraptor has been set with an automatic twisting program, and it will still struggle when thrown out... but the motor circuits inside are very fragile; it should break after being smashed once!"

"Just right... it will die after hitting the Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil..."

Naoki Nagayama nodded and then asked the prop master of the other group, Matsuura Ryohei,

"Matsuura-san, is the operation on the fossil side ready?"

"Hai, it's ready!" Matsuura Ryohei, who was using a ladder to check the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, nodded. "The material of the joints guarantees that it will shatter as soon as it's hit! And there can be smoke..."

"Mm-mm..."

After waiting for a while, seeing that the Velociraptor had been hung up by the wire, let the Tyrannosaurus Rex bite it in its mouth, and the others from the prop team had also exited the stage, Naoki Nagayama finally prepared to start filming.

"Minna-san, this prop is very troublesome to set up, so let's try to film the best shot in one go... otherwise it will trouble the prop team again!

Everyone to your positions... ready..."

"Action!!!"

Just as Naoki Nagayama gave the order, the Tyrannosaurus Rex model immediately began to move, shaking its huge head from side to side, with a twisting Velociraptor in its mouth!

Then, with a force of its thick neck, the little Velociraptor's body was thrown directly onto the fossil skeleton on the side, smashing the skeleton to pieces, with bones scattered everywhere and dust flying in the sky!

And the Velociraptor lay motionless in the dust, with only the roar of the Tyrannosaurus Rex remaining in the room~

It seemed to be feeling that this little dragon that provoked it was overestimating its own strength!

Just at this moment, the Velociraptor model in the dust suddenly twitched, instantly attracting everyone's attention... and then it didn't move again~

"Cut!!!"

Seeing the Velociraptor fall into the dust, Naoki Nagayama decisively called cut.

"Very good, it's really like it!!"

The first half of the shot of biting the Velociraptor needed computer synthesis, but this shot of throwing the Velociraptor out was better filmed live to be realistic!

If they were to use a computer to render the scene of the skeleton shattering, who knows how many resources that would consume!

Komori Masataka was also watching from the director's monitor and similarly felt the shot was quite good:

"Naoki-san, this shot..."

"Of course it passed!!!"

Naoki Nagayama smiled and patted Komori Masataka.

"There's no need to repeat the filming... we don't have a second active model!"

"Haha, that's great!"

At night, in the Mountain Cherry Courtyard.

Naoki Nagayama was originally holding little Xia Hua and playing, but suddenly heard Akina's words...

"Nani? Someone bribed the Record Awards jury?"

"Mm... heard it's Johnny's people..." Akina nodded, looking like she was angered. "Actually want their newcomer to win the Grand Prize!"

"A newcomer, winning the Grand Prize?"

He originally thought that since Akina didn't withdraw from the competition, and that Kondo had no competitiveness, the triple crown should have been a matter of course.

He didn't expect Johnny's to still be making trouble this time...

"Mm, said it's to show that Hikaru Genji is a male group that 'reaches the peak upon debut'!"

Akina was like reporting a small secret.

"Want to fiercely stir up a wave of popularity!"

"??" Naoki Nagayama asked in surprise, "Aren't they afraid of being sprayed?"

With the memories of his past life, Naoki Nagayama had no confidence in the integrity of the Record Awards jury; it was very likely they took bribes.

But a newcomer winning the Grand Prize directly, an agency like Johnny's—don't they worry about it being counterproductive?!

"For artists, popularity, exposure, and attention are the most important! Everything else can be put aside..."

Akina glanced at her husband and complained in a low voice,

"Even said it was learned from Tree Friend!"

"..."

Naoki Nagayama was speechless for a moment; it was indeed him who brought the future concept of publicity to the entertainment industry in advance... Is this cause and effect cycling?!

Turning his head to look at Akina's puffed-up look, Naoki Nagayama asked:

"Did Burning Productions say what to do?"

"Huajian-san said he would continue to lobby... but Burning Productions' influence is not as good as Johnny's... it's very likely to fail..."

Akina's expression turned pitiful, wanting to speak but stopping.

"Naoki-san~~"

"!!!"

Naoki Nagayama was ignited instantly. His own wife can be bullied by others?!

Then didn't I earn so much money for nothing?!

"Alright, alright, bribery, right?! Playing like this, right?!"

"Then let Johnny's wait and see!!!"

"I'll contact Otomo-san immediately; I must make these guys look good!!"

Akina looked at Naoki Nagayama, who was full of fighting spirit, and secretly sighed in her heart that President Huajian's marriage experience was indeed very useful!!!

Must communicate and learn more in the future!

Thinking of this, Akina continued to persuade:

"Naoki-san... but you aren't from Burning Productions; isn't this not very good~"

Naoki Nagayama shook his head directly:

"Akina, you are my wife; how can I watch you be bullied by others!! Leave this matter to me!!"

"Don't worry... this Grand Prize will definitely be yours!!!"

"I said it! Even Jesus can't take it away!"

"..." ===== CHAPTER 1312 =====