Chapter 445: Even Eitaro has a new girlfriend!

The morning sunlight was the final stubbornness of summer, for when it shone upon one's face, it held only brightness but no heat.

The weather forecast had already stated that the temperature in Tokyo was about to drop to the low twenties; the summer heat that should have lingered had been completely washed away by the heavy rain yesterday evening.

Naoki Nagayama stretched in the courtyard, breathing deeply of the fresh air filled with a faint dampness. Beside him, Eitaro stretched his body in a similar fashion, let out a yawn, and then wagged his tail while carrying his leash in his mouth.

"So diligent today, do you have some ulterior motive in mind?!" Naoki Nagayama rubbed the dog's head vigorously. "Are you eager to go see your little girlfriend?"

Eitaro acted as if he didn't understand a word, nudging the leash against Naoki Nagayama's hand with his legs, while on the other side, Miutaro, lying on the cat tree, cast a look of disdain.

"Meow! (Simp!)"

Taking advantage of the sun not yet being intense, Naoki Nagayama walked past the small park nearby with his dog. However, the Shiba Inu he had seen last night was no longer there. Eitaro circled the vegetation several times before walking out with a look of disappointment.

As the owner of this fellow, Naoki Nagayama could only offer comfort:

"I told you, your little girlfriend is a dog that belongs to someone else; she won't just come out and be fooled by a dog! Yesterday was just a slip-up."

"Ying ying ying~" Eitaro rested his head on Naoki Nagayama's thigh and actually started acting spoiled.

What does it feel like when a fierce dog acts spoiled? Naoki Nagayama couldn't resist it either:

"Alright, alright, since we've confirmed she's in the neighborhood, we'll run into her sooner or later. I'll take you to the nearby dog park more often on weekends. We'll definitely find her!"

Having comforted the dog, Naoki Nagayama continued his morning run with him, greeting familiar neighbors along the way. A newsstand owner on the road greeted Naoki Nagayama upon seeing him:

"Nagayama-san, out walking Eitaro again~"

"Hi, just doing a morning run. Yokota-san, you're up very early today too!"

Everyone was just an acquaintance who nodded in passing, and they intended to leave after a casual greeting. In a social atmosphere like Japan's where one avoids troubling others, it is quite normal for people who dislike socializing to remain unfamiliar even after being neighbors for decades.

Naoki Nagayama's Shanyingyuan was a detached house, and there were no residents around it, so there were no neighbors coming over to deliver gifts upon moving in. The newsstand owner also didn't recognize that the handsome young man in front of him was a celebrity.

However, before leaving today, Naoki Nagayama glanced at the newspapers. One entertainment paper had a fairly large headline on the front page, and he saw the words "Playboy Naoki."

Naoki Nagayama felt a stir in his heart and took out the small change he had originally intended to use for buying water on the road from his pocket: "Yokota-san, please give me a copy of this newspaper."

"Ah, hi!" Kenta Yokota was a bit surprised, but he still enthusiastically handed over a copy of the newspaper.

In the middle of the front page was a report—"True Sighting: Playboy Naoki Meets New Love Again?"

Such a headline was accompanied by a photo of Naoki Nagayama holding Chikako Qingshan's arm. Although the woman's face was pixelated, those familiar with her could recognize her at a glance.

Moreover, the angle of the photo was well-chosen, highlighting Chikako's fine figure, and the positioning of Naoki Nagayama and her looked quite intimate.

"So it really was that guy named Shinnosuke Matsuzawa yesterday."

Naoki Nagayama had actually somewhat anticipated being photographed, but he hadn't expected it to be captured so perfectly. And since it had already been sold to one media outlet, other entertainment papers should receive it as well. Some tabloid rags chasing traffic wouldn't even bother with pixelation.

It looked like this scandal was unavoidable.

However, what worried him most was:

"But now, how am I supposed to explain this to Old Man Qingshan!!"

Although he was worried, Naoki Nagayama still took Eitaro past the Qingshan shop:

"Old Man Qingshan~"

"Naoki Nagayama!!" Sure enough, the old man had already seen the newspaper and spread it out on the counter. "Tell me, what is the meaning of this?!"

Sigh... there was no escaping it. Adopting a "dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water" mentality, Naoki Nagayama said helplessly:

"Well, I just got photographed!"

"Just got photographed??" Shin Qingshan's voice grew louder. "You fellow, do you know what a huge impact this has on Chikako-chan?!"

(At this moment, Chikako Qingshan was surrounded by a group of girls at school: "Chikako-chan, are you really dating Playboy Naoki?" "Is he really that handsome?" "Did he take you to see a movie?" "How far has it progressed? Did you kiss?" "Ah, I'm so envious of Chikako-chan!!!")

Naoki Nagayama scratched his face awkwardly: "I didn't expect it either. I was just picking up Chikako-chan, and I actually got snapped~"

"I told you to stay away from Chikako!" Shin Qingshan said angrily. "Now look, Chikako is going to be ostracized by her classmates!"

(At this moment, Chikako was politely declining the classmates crowding in front of her: "No, I can't introduce Naoki-san to you!" "There are no other handsome guys in show business either!" "There's no channel for celebrity autographs either!")

"Tell me what you're going to do about it!!"

Naoki Nagayama smiled helplessly, but a flash of inspiration struck. Since he couldn't explain it, why not just go along with the mistake?

"Old Man Qingshan, Chikako-chan is seventeen now, right? Since it's already come to this, why not take the opportunity to have her debut directly!"

Dayou Fangcun pushed his glasses, reflecting several flashes. For so long, he had never figured out how much stock Naoki Nagayama had in his small treasury.

"Take advantage of this wave of heat~" Naoki Nagayama's train of thought opened up, and ideas flowed continuously. "We can stir up some heat first, starting as an idol~"

Naoki Nagayama told Shin Qingshan about his rough plan. Anyway, she was about to graduate from high school, so let Chikako Qingshan try it for a year. If she didn't want to or wasn't suitable after that, she could go to university.

"This..."

After listening, Shin Qingshan was actually a bit moved, because Chikako had been handed postcards by talent scouts before, and she herself seemed to have thoughts about entering show business.

And now, if she were to go with an acquaintance like Naoki Nagayama, it seemed it would be very beneficial for his granddaughter's future.

"Haha, that's of course!"

"Haha, then I'll wait for the old man's good news~"

"..." Looking at Naoki Nagayama's handsome smile, Shin Qingshan inexplicably felt that his granddaughter was about to be snatched away by this person. "Alright, you fellow, get out of here quickly!"

Returning to Shanyingyuan, Naoki Nagayama put Eitaro in the courtyard, and after taking a shower, he drove his convertible to the studio.

Sure enough, the employees' gazes toward Naoki Nagayama today were a bit strange, and there were some odd smiles when they greeted him.

After walking into the office, Dayou Fangcun and Xiuyi Yin Tang were both inside, seemingly chatting about something.

"Ah, our Playboy Naoki has arrived!" Xiuyi Yin Tang laughed immediately upon seeing Naoki Nagayama. "Naoki-san, do you have to have a scandal before every movie is released?"

"..." Naoki Nagayama was speechless. It was clearly all stirred up by those media outlets; why did it seem like he had spent his own money to hype a scandal?

"Who knows what those reporters are thinking."

Xiuyi Yin Tang laughed: "Yeah, consider it free publicity~ By the way, who is your scandal target this time? She looks very familiar?"

"She's the granddaughter of a close friend... her name is Chikako Qingshan." Naoki Nagayama didn't hide it and said directly to Dayou Fangcun, "By the way, Dayou-san, Chikako-chan seems interested in show business, and her own conditions are excellent. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I plan to have her debut directly in our agency."

"You actually want to debut her while taking advantage of the scandal's heat?" Dayou Fangcun had originally been watching the joke, but he was surprised to hear this. "Naoki-san, you really have a way! You can even use a scandal to the extreme."

Naoki Nagayama didn't want to talk to the two in the office anymore: "In any case, I don't think there's any problem. Just get the advance training and such ready~"

"Hi~ I understand~" Jokes were jokes, but things still had to be done, and Dayou Fangcun agreed.

After explaining this matter, Naoki Nagayama asked: "What were you two chatting about just now?"

"About the movie promotion plan." Xiuyi Yin Tang excused himself. "We plan to carry out preview promotion in several major cities, from Tokyo to Yokohama, Izu, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto..."

Naoki Nagayama remembered the situation during the first movie promotion where he didn't sleep for days and nights, and immediately felt a chill, wanting to escape.

However, upon hearing Kyoto, he suddenly remembered that the construction of his courtyard in Kyoto seemed to be starting, and Takashi Honma had already asked about the groundbreaking ceremony several times.

"Xiuyi-san, I can participate in the Kyoto preview." Naoki Nagayama said.

"Eh? Naoki-san wants to participate in follow-up promotion?" Since the first movie, Xiuyi Yin Tang and Dayou Fangcun had tacitly assumed that Naoki Nagayama would only participate in the first preview promotion. "This is a big surprise."

"I just happen to have some business in Kyoto~" Naoki Nagayama smiled. "Just going there on the way."

"Oh?"

Seeing the expressions of Xiuyi Yin Tang and Dayou Fangcun, Naoki Nagayama had to come up with an excuse: "Didn't I show you before? There's a courtyard over there that is very suitable for the scenes in 'Ring', so I'll take the opportunity to finalize it this time."

"'Ring'?" Hearing this movie, Xiuyi Yin Tang became excited instantly. "Naoki-san has already started preparations? Has the lead been decided?"

"As for the lead, not yet..." He had originally sent an invitation to Yuko Tianzhong, but she didn't seem to have returned the call during this period. Naoki Nagayama decided to ask later.

"However, the real lead this time is actually Sadako... is there anyone who can play Sadako?" Naoki Nagayama thought for a moment; he didn't seem to have a suitable actor on his side.

However, although it was a horror character, in his future memories, the actresses who played Sadako in the past all seemed to be very beautiful actresses.

Some even commented that if Sadako played by these actresses crawled out of the TV after washing her face, they would definitely welcome her very warmly!

"Sadako, huh..." Dayou Fangcun and Xiuyi Yin Tang also started thinking. Due to the high requirements of the character, neither of them had any good candidates.

Naoki Nagayama interrupted the two for the time being: "Think about the candidates slowly. Anyway, there is still a long time before filming. At least after October."

Xiuyi Yin Tang was still very interested: "Then let's talk about other aspects first~"

He pulled Naoki Nagayama and started discussing the preparations for "Ring" and the future filming situation.

This chat lasted the whole morning.

At noon, Naoki Nagayama didn't stay at the studio for a free meal; he was afraid that Xiuyi Yin Tang would keep him chatting about movies.

After driving back to Shanyingyuan, he made himself a delicious lunch and then rested for a while.

When it was past two o'clock, Naoki Nagayama made a call to Akina's pager. After waiting for a few minutes, the phone beside the sofa rang.

"Moxi moxi, is this Shanyingyuan?"

"..." So playful? "Hi, this is Shanyingyuan. Who are you looking for?"

"Hi, I'm looking for Eitaro. Is he there?" The voice in the receiver said something strange.

Naoki Nagayama chuckled: "What a coincidence, Eitaro is playing with his girlfriend and isn't here for the moment!"

"Oh?"

In the apartment in Taito Ward, Akina suddenly shifted her perspective. The newspaper on the small tea table, with the words "Playboy Naoki," was clearly in sight. Akina didn't feel angry at all; instead, she found it very interesting.

"So Eitaro has a new girlfriend too! I didn't even know~"

"Yeah, yeah, I only found out yesterday too! But if Eitaro isn't here, is the young lady looking for someone else?"

"Then there's no help for it, I can only look for the person left at Shanyingyuan~" Saying this, Akina finally couldn't hold back. "Haha, Naoki-san really knows how to play dumb."

"Not at all, not at all, I just learned a little bit from someone."

Naoki Nagayama said modestly, and then truly began to ask,

"Has Akina arrived in Tokyo?"

"Naoki-san is really surprising." Yuko Tianzhong chuckled.

Already back at the apartment?

His girlfriend, whom he hadn't seen for over a week, was back. Hearing this news, the longing in Naoki Nagayama's heart surged out instantly. He felt as if Akina's shadow was before his eyes. The feeling of wanting to see Akina acted like an accelerator, making his blood active.

"I'll come see you, okay?"

The simple words made Akina Nakamori on the other end feel as if her heartbeat had paused for a second. It was suppressed and then suddenly burst out. A wave of heat spread from her chest to her head, and her cheeks were a bit red.

"Okay~"

"Wait for me!"

Akina Nakamori, who hung up the phone, stayed dazed for a while before remembering to tidy up the room a little.

However, when tidying up the newspaper on the low table, she smiled slyly, and then placed the newspaper in the most conspicuous position in a straightforward manner, even smoothing it out~

"Ha, let's see how Naoki-san explains this!" ===== CHAPTER 446 =====