Chapter 457

Tokyo, about to enter October, didn't know if the Indian summer had come early, but the temperature began to become stuffy and hot.

Naoki Nagayama, who got up in the morning, thought it was still summer and even had auditory hallucinations of cicadas chirping.

However, he still followed the usual practice and took Eitaro for a morning run. However, in the Qingshan shop he passed by, there was only one old geezer left~

After returning to Shanying Yuan and finishing his shower, he started his new day's work refreshed.

"Naoki-san, morning!"

Xing Jiahua, who was the receptionist, had already arrived at the studio early. After seeing Naoki Nagayama, she immediately greeted him.

For some reason, Naoki Nagayama, who came to the studio this morning, always looked a bit sneaky...

"Ah, Hua-chan~ morning~" Naoki Nagayama seemed even more enthusiastic than before, "By the way, have Otomo-san and Xiu-yi-san arrived?"

"Hai, they've already arrived!" Xing Jiahua said, "But Otomo-san went to the training classroom, and Xiu-yi-san is in the equipment room now, seemingly taking stock of the equipment. Do you need me to go notify Xiu-yi-san?"

"Ha, no need, no need. Actually, the one I want to find is Masataka Komori." Naoki Nagayama hurriedly shook his head.

"Ano, Masataka-san is also in the equipment room..."

"Is that so~ Then it doesn't matter. Let's talk after they finish~" Naoki Nagayama hurriedly said a word or two and walked into the lobby. Perhaps this was a guilty conscience?

"Masataka Komori is Yin Tangxiu's capable assistant. He definitely can't be missing for this 'Ringu'! It looks like I can't press-gang him!"

Naoki Nagayama calculated as he walked,

"However, the filming of 'Love Letter' doesn't seem to need that many people. A filming crew of 3-5 people is about enough."

"Then, who is someone who especially won't be noticed? I remember there should be such a person. Why do I feel like I can't remember?"

Naoki Nagayama strode toward the office, when suddenly a familiar yet unfamiliar figure walked past him with a tripod...

"Chotto matte!

!"

"?!" The figure was startled, "Naoki-san?"

"Xu Mudao!" Upon seeing this face, the name was finally remembered!

"Hai!" Xu Mudao was made a bit strange by Naoki Nagayama's sudden exclamation, "Does Naoki-san have any instructions?"

"Hahaha~ come, come, come~" Naoki Nagayama smiled, put his arm around Xu Mudao's shoulder, and pushed him into the office door, "I have a good thing to tell you!"

"??"

Xu Mudao was very panicked now, because the superior of the superior of his direct superior had pulled him into an empty office, closed the office door, and most importantly, he actually showed him a strange smile...

"Naoki-san... you... what do you want?"

Xu Mudao took small steps backward, the tripod in his hand held horizontally in front of his chest. This was his last line of defense!

If Naoki Nagayama wanted to use force, he would use this weapon to tell him that he wasn't into this!

"Kijima-kun, it's been a long time since I chatted with you!" Naoki Nagayama smiled and said to him, "What is your main work lately? Are there any difficulties?"

"Eh? Why are you still holding this tripod? Put it down quickly.

Come! Sit down first!"

Xu Mudao sat on the chair somewhat tremblingly, then deliberated and answered:

"Lately, I've been preparing for the filming of 'Ringu'. After all, the filming time is very tight... Difficulties and such, it's the same as usual. It's just that Xiu-yi-san always calls my name wrong."

"So that's it~ So that's it... I will talk to Xiu-yi-san about it.

I'll also talk to Otomo-san later to make name tags for all our employees so it's easy to identify them."

Xu Mudao nodded timidly. Naoki Nagayama being so amiable meant that the next request would definitely be very difficult to deal with~

"Ahem, Kijima-kun, I won't beat around the bush with you." After Naoki Nagayama exchanged pleasantries for a while, he cleared his throat and began to speak, "Kijima-kun, I have a private matter here that I want you to help with!"

"Naoki-san, what is it?"

"Ah, actually it's nothing. I have a small script here and want to film a small piece, so I need a small group to help out a little bit~"

Although every sentence was "small", if it were really small, why wouldn't Naoki Nagayama just go directly to Masataka Komori?

After all, he was the one managing the filming crew now!

"Naoki-san, is there any special requirement?" Xu Mudao asked very intelligently.

"Ha, as expected of Kijima-kun." Naoki Nagayama smiled embarrassedly, "There is indeed~"

"This requirement is that you can't let Masataka-kun and Xiu-yi-san know what we are filming!"

As soon as Xu Mudao heard this requirement, he widened his eyes. These two people—one was his direct superior, and one managed the entire film production team. To do this under their noses...

"Naoki-san... this?"

"Rest assured, rest assured, I will provide cover for you!" Naoki Nagayama said, "Our filming process has long intervals. You just need to bring your filming team and prepare the machines!"

"... Hai!"

What else could he do? Could he refuse? This was the final Boss~

However, when Xu Mudao walked out of the office, he still let out a long sigh of relief...

Fortunately, it wasn't a request for other aspects; it was really great!

In fact, Naoki Nagayama thought for a long time and finally decided that it would be better not to let Yin Tangxiu know about the filming of "Love Letter".

Anyway, from now until the end of the year, Yin Tangxiu would be busy with the filming of "Ringu". As the producer, he only needed to go and check occasionally, and he still had plenty of free time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, filming "Love Letter" with a low budget was completely fine.

Even if it were discovered...

At worst, he would just bow and admit his mistake! It wasn't like he, Naoki Nagayama, hadn't practiced this traditional art!

Settling his heart, Naoki Nagayama continued to look at the application letters. This time, maybe he could even find a few actors for "Love Letter".

Not long after, when Yin Tangxiu opened the door and entered the office, he brought Masataka Komori in with him:

"Naoki-san, I heard from Hua-chan that you were looking for me earlier, and Masataka Komori?"

"Ah, yes." Naoki Nagayama wasn't panicked at all, looking at Masataka Komori, "Because you were in the equipment room, I wanted to find Masataka-kun to talk about something."

"My courtyard in Kyoto is under construction. I want to make a commemorative video of the construction process for the future."

"So I want to borrow a filming crew to go over and film occasionally."

In a short time, Naoki Nagayama thought of a perfect excuse. Courtyard renovation took a long time!

The time to go filming was also up to him. It wouldn't matter if he didn't appear on the set of "Ringu" at that time!

Neither Yin Tangxiu nor Masataka Komori said much. How could they disagree with such a small request from the president? And he didn't ask for many people!

"Hai, I will arrange it!" Masataka Komori nodded immediately, such a small matter, "Naoki-san, just tell me when you need to film!"

"Ha, that's really a big help." Naoki Nagayama smiled, "I happen to be more familiar with Xu Mudao, so let's use his group!"

"Hai!"

Seeing that there was nothing else, Masataka Komori turned and exited the office.

"Xiu-yi-san, is the equipment ready?" When only two people were left, Naoki Nagayama chatted with Yin Tangxiu.

Yin Tangxiu was full of confidence; he had also been looking forward to "Ringu" for a long time: "Of course, we can prepare for filming at any time!"

"Haha, then all that's left is the actors~ Let's take a look together!"

"Mm!"

The ticking of the clock was also the footsteps of time gently moving away.

Without paying attention, an hour or two slipped away from his side.

Before lunch, Otomo Yoshimura finally returned, but he didn't come back alone; he also picked up Chikako Qingshan from the vocal teacher Sachiko Tokunaga.

"Naoki-san!"

Walking into the office, Chikako Qingshan saw Naoki Nagayama's figure at a glance.

"Chikako-chan!" Naoki Nagayama, seeing Chikako Qingshan again, was also very happy, "I passed by the Qingshan shop this morning. Are you adapting well?"

"Hai! The current music learning is completely fine, and Teacher Sachiko is also very kind!"

Chikako Qingshan nodded energetically. Currently, she was just trying her best to learn one song, so of course, it would be a bit easier.

"That's good~ How is the practice for the debut song going?"

At this moment, Otomo Yoshimura, who had just sat down, interjected: "Naoki-san, I asked Teacher Sachiko about this question. Chikako-chan has currently reached the level where she can perform on stage!"

"Honto?" Naoki Nagayama looked at Chikako Qingshan approvingly, "Then Chikako-chan is going to prepare to go on TV shows!"

"Mm~" There was also a smile on the girl's face.

"Ahem!" Otomo Yoshimura attracted attention, looked at Naoki Nagayama, and said, "So, that's why I picked up Chikako-chan today! Naoki-san, it's up to you next!"

Naoki Nagayama was a bit confused. This... does it have anything to do with me? Just go on the show? Do you want me to send her?

Looking at his friend who was sometimes smart and sometimes naturally silly, Otomo Yoshimura sighed:

"Go to the recording studio to record the record! Aren't these Naoki-san's songs?!"

Ah, right, the songs created by Naoki Nagayama were all handled by himself!

"Hahaha, almost forgot~" Naoki Nagayama smiled embarrassedly, "Then, is the recording studio booked?"

"Mm, the time has already been arranged. Shin Onodera has already cleared the Shin On Studio." Otomo Yoshimura arranged the schedule clearly, "Eat lunch first, and in the afternoon, Takeharu Kawahara will drive you and Chikako-chan there together!"

He even left time for Naoki Nagayama to mooch a work bento. Otomo-san, who did things thoroughly, was truly worthy of the name!

"Hai!" X2

The recording studio in Shin-Okachimachi, Taito Ward—Shin On Studio.

Naoki Nagayama and Chikako Qingshan, sitting in the car driven by Takeharu Kawahara, arrived at this recording studio that hadn't been bought long ago. Looking at this place, such a thought inadvertently popped into Naoki Nagayama's mind.

Speaking of which, this location wasn't far from Akina's new home. In the future, when there was nothing to do, maybe he could let Akina come here to record~

Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts:

"Chikako-chan, have you ever been to a professional recording studio before?"

"No..."

Chikako Qingshan's voice was a bit small, and she looked a bit nervous. This wasn't a good state.

From this moment on, Naoki Nagayama decided to tell a lie to let the new idol completely let go of her nervous emotions.

"Actually, we are here to scout the location first today~"

"Scout the location?"

"Yeah, recording a record isn't something that can be finished in one day~" Naoki Nagayama took advantage of Chikako Qingshan's half-understanding and talked nonsense to her, "First, get familiar with the venue, because we have to record sentence by sentence later. Depending on the recording effect and the vocal situation, we might record dozens of times."

"Is it that complicated?"

"Yeah, so today I'll bring Chikako-chan to get familiar with the equipment and environment first, so you won't be too nervous when recording later."

With a serious look, Chikako Qingshan didn't see at all that he was lying.

And as the driver, Takeharu Kawahara, although he had a certain understanding of record production, wisely didn't make a sound at this time.

"Naoki-san, you've come!"

Although they hadn't seen each other for a few months, Shin Onodera's impression of Naoki Nagayama became more vivid with the passage of time.

"Onodera-kun, thank you for your hard work!"

Naoki Nagayama patted this guy who was guarding the recording studio alone. Currently, the GG agency had fewer businesses, and many times this Shin On Studio was still empty.

Wanting to earn extra money or something was also very difficult~

"This is Chikako Qingshan, our new idol artist; and this is Takeharu Kawahara, the new manager." Naoki Nagayama introduced the two newcomers to Shin Onodera, "We will see each other often in the future. Tell them about the recording studio today first!"

After the cumbersome meeting ceremony, several people went up to the second floor from the narrow stairs. The four simple rooms were arranged in a grid, and the recording studio was in the two inner rooms.

Shin Onodera introduced the layout inside the recording studio familiarly, of course, mainly introducing it to Chikako Qingshan, who was a blank slate.

After getting familiar with it, Naoki Nagayama said to Chikako Qingshan: "Chikako-chan, after listening for so long, it's still better to try it out first!"

"Can I?"

"Haha, you can go in and sing once to try it out. Let's use a cappella first~"

"Hai!"

After Chikako Qingshan went in, Shin Onodera glanced at Naoki Nagayama. You, Naoki Nagayama, had never spoken so gently to the two artists who came before!

At that time, coming into the recording studio was like a king, with a serious face and not smiling.

Chikako Qingshan in front of the microphone was a little shy, but soon calmed down. Both the music teacher and the dance teacher had trained her to sing in front of others, because this was the work of an idol in the future.

"Heavenly Days" was the theme song of "Koizora", but it told of a morning, inadvertently opening the memories sealed in the bottom of his heart.

Mezameshi ga naru mae ni okite toki o tomeru (Waking up before the alarm rings and stopping time)

Omoidaseru no wa mou nantoka dakedo (What I can remember is already just about you)

Ichioku bun no kimi ni aeta kiseki nanka mo (The miracle of meeting you, one in a hundred million)

Itsu no ma ni ka wasurechau kana (Will I forget it before I know it?)

Listening to Chikako's slightly nervous but clear and sweet voice, Naoki Nagayama nodded unconsciously. Sure enough, Chikako Qingshan's compatibility with this song was very good.

The lyrical and soothing style was also very suitable for a newcomer who had just entered the industry to sing.

After Chikako Qingshan finished singing, Naoki Nagayama asked through the microphone: "Chikako-chan, how is it? Is the equipment convenient? Does the height need to be adjusted?"

"Hai, it's all very convenient." Chikako Qingshan replied in the other room, "It's just that the soundproofing effect is too good, there's no echo at all, and I'm a bit unaccustomed to it."

"Haha, this is for the recording effect. But it doesn't matter, because it was a cappella before. This time, wear headphones. It will be fine with the accompaniment." Naoki Nagayama explained patiently to Chikako Qingshan.

"Hai!"

"Chikako-chan, we are here to get familiar with the equipment and environment today. If there is anything inconvenient, just bring it up, it can be changed!" Naoki Nagayama continued.

"Okay!"

Such an amiable tone and expression from Naoki Nagayama was something Shin Onodera hadn't seen, which made him even more curious about who this Chikako Qingshan was!

Could she be the daughter of some big shot in the entertainment industry, making Naoki-san so attentive...

With the addition of the accompaniment, Chikako Qingshan sang more smoothly, and even the sweet trailing notes were handled very well.

Some parts of this song needed to be sung in high pitch. Although Chikako Qingshan didn't have the level of dolphin sounds, the sweet voice of a young girl was no problem!

After the song was finished, Naoki Nagayama directly asked her to do it again, calling it getting more familiar with the equipment.

After singing a few times, Naoki Nagayama handed her a cup of warm water: "Chikako-chan, how is it?"

"It's still pretty good to sing! But, it's already been four times, right?"

"Haha, how is it? It might take a whole day or an afternoon to record." Naoki Nagayama said with a smile, "Don't call it hard work then!"

"I definitely won't!" A smile appeared on Chikako Qingshan's face, "Naoki-san, is recording a record like this, singing it over and over again?"

"Of course not. There will be sentence-by-sentence recording later! Let's try it again for Chikako-chan in a while."

Naoki Nagayama patted Chikako Qingshan's shoulder and comforted her,

"However, when officially recording, it will be fine-tuned over and over again according to the producer's opinion, which is relatively hard for the singer. Chikako-chan doesn't have to try it today."

However, after Chikako Qingshan heard this, a stubborn expression appeared on her face: "Naoki-san, let me try it too! I'll be mentally prepared next time!"

"... This, it's very hard!"

"Daijobu! I definitely won't lose face for Naoki-san!"

After resting for a while, Naoki Nagayama began the process of detailed recording for Chikako Qingshan, letting Chikako Qingshan's general direction always move toward the correct direction according to the finished product in his mind.

"Chikako-chan, it would be slightly better if you bring a nasal sound when you need to pause in this sentence!"

"Chikako-chan, this sentence needs to be connected to the next sentence directly when you are at a high pitch. Come, try it!"

"Chikako-chan, imagine you just woke up, and you suddenly thought of the beautiful memories of the past when you were lazy..."

"Chikako-chan, have you seen the blue sky? That kind of azure sky, white clouds, the warmth and lingering love of the sunlight shining on your face... try to see if you can express it with your voice~"

"........"

Instructions came out of Naoki Nagayama's mouth as if they were endless. Shin Onodera finally felt relieved. Sure enough, the Naoki Nagayama of the past had returned!

Chikako Qingshan in the recording studio felt some pressure, but thinking of what she had said to Naoki Nagayama before, in order not to lose face for Naoki-san, she persisted.

This recording lasted for 4 hours. When Chikako Qingshan walked out of the recording studio, her throat was a bit hoarse!

"Chikako-chan, you are really amazing! You actually persisted to the end the first time!"

"Ahem..."

Coughing twice gently, the somewhat tired Chikako Qingshan asked:

"Naoki-san, for the next recording, can it be separated by a few days? I feel my throat is a bit hoarse... The effect might not be good next time when we officially record."

"Next time? There is no next time!" Naoki Nagayama said with a smile, "Because Chikako-chan's performance was very good, the materials recorded this time can all be used! In other words, the recording is finished!"

"???" Chikako Qingshan was full of confusion, "Didn't you say that today was to get familiar with the equipment, environment, and process?"

"Yeah, but Chikako-chan sang very well just now, so I let Onodera-kun record it directly!"

Naoki Nagayama fooled the girl in front of him who looked a bit silly,

"I didn't expect the effect to be very good, so you don't have to come next time!"

"Eh??"

Chikako Qingshan always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't say it.

And Takeharu Kawahara, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but give Naoki Nagayama a thumbs up. No wonder others called him "Playboy Naoki". This skill of deceiving young girls, without decades of effort, absolutely couldn't be practiced!