Chapter 681: The number of times of silence today is a bit much!

Because the Qianniao Shrine in Kanagawa enshrines the god of literature, it is generally synonymous with tranquility except for the exam season, but recently, the originally quiet courtyard has suddenly become lively.

Small tents were set up in the open space in front of the main hall. Under the blue or red tents, there were stalls selling small ornaments, vendors playing shooting games, charcoal grills for barbecue, carts for *taiyaki* and *takoyaki*... and shaved ice, apple candy, chocolate banana, etc. ~

The tents were crowded on both sides of the shrine road, leaving only a not-so-wide aisle in the middle. Tourists, some in *yukata* and some in T-shirts, flowed slowly in the aisle at this moment, looking crowded and lively~

The wisps of blue smoke drifting from above and the incense in the shrine made the whole Qianniao Shrine filled with the atmosphere of human fireworks, as if wanting to attract the ethereal gods over as well.

When Naoki Nagayama brought the crew here, it was almost evening, just when the summer festival was at its most lively... Nearby residents came to the shrine with their families, and the laughter of children and the persuasion of adults were endless.

"What's going on..." Naoki Nagayama was a little puzzled, "Does Qianniao Shrine really have a summer festival activity today?"

Fangcun-kun on the side was also very surprised. He immediately found someone to call the prop team's Wu Jingjian over:

"Wu Jing-san, explain to Naoki-san quickly..."

"? Explain what?"

"Didn't I ask you to build a venue?" Fangcun-kun said, "How did it really become a summer festival activity?"

Wu Jingjian was a little confused: "Isn't it Naoki-san who said it must be exactly the same as a real summer festival? Except for the tents borrowed from the shrine, I also specially went to the market to buy lamps and signs for the summer festival..."

"Then someone came to ask where the venue is, how many stalls there are, whether there is a vacancy, whether it needs to be filled with popularity, etc..."

"I thought it was the same, after all, an empty summer festival must look unrealistic, so I agreed to let them find people to come..."

"After that, starting this afternoon, merchants came one after another..."

"In the end, I don't know when it started, guests came here to stroll... and I don't know what happened, there are more and more people..."

"However, this is becoming more and more like a real summer festival!"

"Isn't it, Naoki-san?!"

Naoki Nagayama looked at Wu Jingjian, who was looking for praise, and was silent...

He had focused his energy on writing the script these days, and only paid attention to it when filming, and didn't pay too much attention to other details, let alone the site construction far away in Kanagawa.

He was a little confused about whether this subordinate of his was overly serious, taking his words as the highest requirement, or too dull, turning a fake activity into a real summer festival...

"Hahaha, *omoshiroi*~ *omoshiroi*~"

Kitano Takeshi heard the whole process on the side and was very surprised by the result of such a mess. He looked at this scene that was exactly the same as other summer festivals and couldn't help applauding,

"Naoki-san, you are planning a summer festival in Kanagawa by the way!"

Tian Zhongyuzi was also laughing happily with Fujiki Naohito on the side. If it weren't for the requirements of filming, maybe she would have taken the little actor to stroll around the summer festival now.

Why would Fujiki Naohito follow Tian Zhongyuzi? Compared to a group of rough men, of course, he likes gentle and beautiful big sisters more!

Seeing that it had become a *fait accompli*, Naoki Nagayama couldn't say anything, so he could only pat Wu Jingjian on the shoulder:

"Wu Jing-san, you did a good job... don't do it again in the future~"

"???"

Then he asked Fangcun-kun again: "Fangcun-kun, didn't you say that reporters are coming today? Where are they?"

"In the main hall of the shrine, Wu Jing-san arranged them there."

"Good, let's go meet them first~"

Masayuki Matsuzawa and *Weekly Bunshun* editor Tomoya Shimoda were mixed in a group of reporters, visiting the main hall of Qianniao Shrine.

"I didn't expect that the filming site interview of Tree Friends would invite so many media." Tomoya Shimoda looked at the peers around him, a little surprised. There were several of his acquaintances here.

"After all, it's a well-known director." Masayuki Matsuzawa said casually while looking at the statue, "Didn't it say before that this movie is going to compete for the Palme d'Or and the Oscars at the same time, so everyone is curious."

"It's said to be a comedy... the difficulty of winning a comedy award is very high..."

Whether it is the Palme d'Or or the Oscars, such major movie awards, besides valuing box office performance, also need to pay attention to the influence and artistry of the movie.

For the box office, neither of them had any doubts. Naoki Nagayama has filmed movies until now, and there has been no movie that is not popular. This has almost become an industry consensus.

However, the social influence and artistic value of comedy... this is very difficult.

Unless it is a romantic comedy or black humor? Praising love and reflecting reality is indeed easy to win awards, but Naoki Nagayama seems to be a children's comedy this time...

The two discussed chattering, and suddenly Masayuki Matsuzawa asked a little strangely:

"Qianniao Shrine... actually has such a lively summer festival? I remember it was very quiet before?"

"Otherwise Naoki Nagayama wouldn't choose here as a filming site~" Tomoya Shimoda said with a smile, and then turned to ask the priest serving in the shrine next to him, "This summer festival should be specially planned by the shrine, right?"

The priest was blank:

"Eh? Isn't this organized by the crew with you?"

"??"

A group of reporters looked over, making the young priest a little nervous. Originally, this shrine was not big, and he was just a part-time worker caught to do hard labor, coming to be on duty at night...

"Isn't it said that a crew is coming to film a movie, so they gave the shrine a sum of money to be used as the venue rental fee?" The young priest said, "Isn't that summer festival set up by the crew? Aren't those people extras?"

"???!!!"

The reporters at the scene instantly smelled the news... everyone's eyes lit up and looked at the young priest.

Just at this time, Naoki Nagayama and his party were led by Wu Jingjian to the main hall of the shrine, and saw a group of reporters surrounding the priest and forcing him to ask something.

"..." This was the third time Naoki Nagayama was silent tonight.

"Are we not here at the right time?" However, as the biggest person in charge, he had to open his mouth to inquire, "Everyone seems to be busy..."

"No! You came at the right time!"

Masayuki Matsuzawa saw Naoki Nagayama and immediately threw away the young priest. This is the person who knows everything!

"Naoki-san, is today's summer festival specially planned by the *Kikujiro* crew?"

"Yes..." It's not now, but it is~

Masayuki Matsuzawa continued to ask: "You actually held a summer festival just to film a shot?"

And looking at the degree of liveliness, it is almost the same as the small and medium-sized summer festivals in Tokyo... This is in Hiratsuka City, a third or fourth-tier city in Kanagawa...

"Well... hmm, you can say that~" Naoki Nagayama answered a little hesitantly.

Other reporters asked: "Those tourists are ordinary people, not extras, right?"

"No..."

"Why are there so many people coming? Naoki-san, did you promote it nearby?"

"... I'm not too clear about this either..."

Generally speaking, summer festivals of a larger scale are only held once in small cities like Hiratsuka City, and they have already been held some time ago.

And this time, Naoki Nagayama's crew revealed the news in the market specializing in selling event supplies, and invited many local merchants to set up stalls... Where are there secrets in small cities?

This news of a secret summer festival made nearby residents very curious. Curiosity leads to concern, and concern leads to action, plus it was Saturday, so they all brought their families to explore, but unexpectedly it was really interesting, so they called more people...

In the main hall of the shrine, Naoki Nagayama's answer made the reporters very unsatisfied, but there was no way.

"Minna-san... we are going to start filming the movie in a while. Before that, everyone can interview our crew members... but once filming starts, you can't disturb it." Naoki Nagayama said to a group of reporters.

"Then can we take pictures?" A reporter responded.

"Yes~" Anyway, it's only a shot of one scene, and it won't matter if it's leaked.

So, while the crew started setting up the camera position, the reporters surrounded the main creative team and started harassment.

"Kitano Takeshi-san, how do you feel about working with director Naoki Nagayama?"

"Ah... very happy~" Kitano Takeshi laughed.

"Kitano Takeshi-san, can you talk about the situation during the filming process?"

"It was also very happy during filming..."

"..."

Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years, Kitano Takeshi was already familiar with the questions of reporters, but based on his somewhat black-bellied personality, he would tease reporters when answering...

And some reporters grabbed Tian Zhongyuzi who wanted to escape:

"Tian Zhongyuzi-san, don't you need to prepare?"

"No need, my scenes are already finished."

"Eh? Then why are you still in the crew?"

"... Because there is nothing to do, so I followed the crew to relax..."

"Relax?"

The reporter raised his voice. It was the first time he heard that an actor would relax in the crew. You know, the crew is a closed environment, everyone is here to work, and if you want to relax, shouldn't you leave more?

"Hai, the filming process of this movie is very interesting. I followed the crew to visit many places... A few days ago, we were camping by the Tianlong River!"

"There's even camping?!"

The reporter was even more surprised. Are you here to film, or to visit mountains and water?

"Yes..." Tian Zhongyuzi looked at the lively summer festival over there, a little anxious about Fujiki Naohito, and said to the reporter, "Sumimasen, I want to stroll around the market before filming... If there are any other questions, please ask others..."

Saying that, she took the little actor's hand and walked toward the crowd~

The reporter who was left behind was blank. It was the first time he had encountered an actor who dared to leave the media... I remember Tian Zhongyuzi wasn't like this before!

In other press conferences, facing the annoying questions of reporters, she was very gentle and replied with extreme patience...

How did she become so innocent and willful after filming a movie with Naoki Nagayama??!!

Damn flowery Naoki! Give me back the gentle Tian Zhong-san!

And on Naoki Nagayama's side, after arranging the tasks for others in the crew, he was entangled by Masayuki Matsuzawa.

"Naoki-san... we are so familiar, just tell me, what is your real relationship with Akina Nakamori! Are you dating? To what stage?"

Masayuki Matsuzawa took advantage of the

"I promise not to report it!"

Naoki Nagayama looked at this guy who had repeatedly caused him trouble during press conferences. Every time, he had been blocked by Naoki, yet he kept coming back for more, never giving up...

"Damn it! Turn off the voice recorder in your pocket first!!!"

Masanosuke Matsuzawa's body stiffened, and very reluctantly, he took the voice recorder out of his pants pocket:

"How did you know?!"

"You guy, when you hide things, you have to pick a good spot! Your thin pants are bulging with a long strip! Do you think you're carrying a short sword in your pants?!"

"Alright... I've taken it out... can't record anymore~" Masanosuke Matsuzawa took out the recorder and said with feigned helplessness, "Now can Naoki-san tell me? Just how far have things gone with Akina Nakamori?"

Naoki Nagayama shook his head, not thinking much of this guy's intelligence:

"And, take out the camera in your briefcase too! A hidden lens? A voice recorder? What are you trying to do?! Pretend to be 007?!"

"You didn't strap a wire to your body too, did you!"

"Damn it!"

Masanosuke Matsuzawa was truly shocked this time. The recorder in his pants was just an obvious decoy; how was the hidden camera in his briefcase discovered too?

And he really did have a wire strapped to his waist... Didn't the guy who sold it to me say it would absolutely never be discovered?!

"I say... Matsuzawa-san, why do you always insist on fixating on my private life?" Naoki Nagayama looked at Masanosuke Matsuzawa helplessly. It seemed that from the very first time, this guy had been prying into his privacy.

"Can't you be like the other reporters and ask me about the movie?"

"What's the fun in that!" Masanosuke Matsuzawa said with disdain. Since he had been discovered, he didn't want to pretend anymore, "I'm not the kind of kitten chasing after a cat teaser! What I'm looking for is what public figures hide in the sunlight."

"Then go find Seiko Matsuda and see when she and Hiromi Go are going to break up; or you could go find Masahiko Kondo and explore the untold stories between Johnny's and the young idols; if that doesn't work, you could even go explore whether Momoe Yamaguchi's married life is happy... Why are you looking for me?"

Masanosuke Matsuzawa said very seriously: "Because Naoki-san is the lifelong rival I have determined! I must find the true face that Naoki-san hides behind his back!"

"......"

Naoki Nagayama looked at the guy in front of him with a solemn face and fell silent again. The number of times he had been silent today was getting a bit high...

The key was that this guy actually said such a 'chuunibyou' line; it sounded incredibly awkward!

"Matsuzawa-san... do you think that by saying something like 'lifelong rival,' we would stage a scene of mutual appreciation, and then I would tell you all my privacy?!"

Hearing this, Masanosuke Matsuzawa's expression brightened, revealing a very expectant look.

"Hontou ni?" There's actually such a good thing?

"Get lost as far as you can, alright!" What kind of joke are you playing?!

"Hai..."

Having told someone directly that he wanted to find their privacy, Masanosuke Matsuzawa had already prepared to be kicked out, so he slipped away in a flash.

He was thinking of going to find other crew members to ask around, but suddenly he thought of what Naoki Nagayama had just said...

"Seiko Matsuda, going to break up with Hiromi Go?! Weren't they talking about marriage?!!"

"Masahiko Kondo and Johnny's have a story? Could the rumors in the industry be true?! Does Johnny's really... to young idols...?"

"And Momoe Yamaguchi... marriage is unhappy?! Does Naoki Nagayama actually have some connection with Momoe Yamaguchi?!!"

Only then did he realize that this interview had actually left him with three huge news leads! Each one could be a front-page headline!

This guy Naoki Nagayama... he's actually a pretty good person?!