Chapter 773: The New Year starts with the Hula Queen!

The third day of the 60th year of Showa was a cloudy day, and it looked like it would snow~

Otomo Yoshimura came to the Tree Friends studio happily~

After returning to his hometown for the New Year after achieving success, he didn't know if he had a gathering with his childhood playmates or his white moonlight from puberty, but this middle-aged man must have had a very happy time and returned to Tokyo with a glowing face.

There were still employees on duty in the studio. Yukika Suzuki at the front desk had just graduated and chose to be on duty during the New Year for the generous overtime pay.

"Otomo-san, Happy New Year!"

Seeing one of the big bosses, the little girl said New Year blessings very happily.

"Happy New Year~"

Otomo Yoshimura walked in with a smile on his face, greeting some employees who were also on duty during the New Year along the way.

"Happy New Year~" "Thank you for your hard work~" "You can go on holiday soon, right!" "Ganbatte!" "....."

After opening the office door, Otomo Yoshimura didn't feel anything unusual until he sat in the chair...

"Hmm?"

Soft leather surface, just-right waist support, and comfortable and relaxed legs. This was something he had never felt from that solid wood chair before!

"This is... a new chair?"

Just at this time, Yukika Suzuki happened to bring in the brewed coffee.

"Yukika-chan, did we change to a new chair?" Otomo Yoshimura looked at his chair curiously, and then looked at the other two desks in the same office. They were all the original chairs. "How come only I changed?"

Yukika Suzuki laughed:

"Otomo-san, this seems to be a chair specially custom-made by Naoki-san, which was sent over at the end of the year... saying it was a New Year gift!"

"New Year gift?" Otomo Yoshimura leaned back, like a child who received a new toy. "Haha, this guy Naoki-san..."

He only remembered now that Naoki Nagayama had indeed said he would change him to some ergonomic chair before the year-end.

"Why didn't the other two change?"

"Naoki-san said they don't sit in the office often, so there's no need to change~" Yukika Suzuki answered.

"This..."

Otomo Yoshimura thought for a while. The time those two guys spent in this office might not even be a week in a whole year...

"Alright, wait until we move to a new place, then we'll change them uniformly!"

"Hai!"

"By the way, Yukika-chan, bring me the list of companies that sent flower baskets and New Year gifts at the end of the year." Otomo Yoshimura said to the little girl. "I'll see which ones to return visits to..."

"Hai!"

The New Year in Japan doesn't end after the New Year. Before the New Year, there is the "Bonenkai" (Year-End Party), which is the company celebrating and drinking at the end of the year; and after the New Year, there is the "Shinnenkai" (New Year Party), where companies visit each other, gather, and drink...

The more gatherings you attend and the more times you drink, the better your workplace connections are for individuals, and the greater your company's influence is for the company.

In short, the celebratory atmosphere will continue until the end of January, and then it will slowly end.

Japanese company financial reports all have to wait until April. There is a saying that it is because everyone is almost drunk in January, February is for sobering up, March is for seriously organizing data, and April is for reporting...

As the Tree Friends Group, which has increasing influence in the entertainment industry, has contact with agencies of all sizes. Although it is impossible to personally return visits to every company that visits, many large agencies with faces still need to maintain relationships.

"Besides TV stations, Hori Production, Johnny's, Yoshimoto Kogyo, Ken-on..."

Otomo Yoshimura silently outlined the companies that must be visited. TV stations naturally go without saying, all need to be visited, and other large agencies naturally need him, the headquarters manager, to visit personally.

"However... Watanabe Agency..."

Otomo Yoshimura was a bit curious. This agency, which was a few years earlier than Tree Friends, actually came to visit too?

I heard that they have opened branches in the United States, and it is a company with strong development momentum, but the main focus is on cultivating musicians and artists... and the Tree Friends Group, which focuses on cultivating idols, seems to have no connection...

Marking this company with a question mark, Otomo Yoshimura was temporarily unclear about their intentions and decided to wait until Naoki Nagayama and Shuichi Ido came to work.

"One, two, three... twelve..."

Counting the companies he had to go to, Otomo Yoshimura sighed. These were twelve meals of drinking! He was so old, he didn't know if he could handle it... No, he had to cultivate a strong daily management successor starting this year!!

Naoki Nagayama's personality definitely wouldn't be able to do the job of bragging and drinking with people every day, and Shuichi Ido... if his personality was good and he was good at socializing, he wouldn't have been filming adult magazines for so many years!

"By the way, Naoki-san wouldn't still be in his hometown, right?!"

Otomo Yoshimura silently complained. He himself had come to work!

At this very moment, Naoki Nagayama was naturally not in Shizuoka... he had come to the vacation house at Lake Toya.

When a group of people came here before, he never found a chance to enjoy the hot springs here properly. After all, a place like a vacation house should be enjoyed comfortably by oneself~

The sea of flowers outside the door was naturally gone, and now only the remaining stems and leaves were hiding under the snow to spend the winter.

Naoki Nagayama was soaking comfortably in the outdoor hot spring pool on the first floor. The steaming hot spring flowed from the faucet into the bamboo deer-scarer, then poured into the stone bowl with a *clack*, and finally overflowed into the hot spring pool.

Outside the bamboo wall was ice and snow, but inside the bamboo wall was a steaming pool... Soft music was playing in the house, fruits and sake were placed on the wooden tray on the side, and he would eat a bite from time to time...

Life was really comfortable!

Eitaro also came along, and was now playing with water in the low-temperature water area opposite. He didn't dare to go to the high-temperature area to steam in the sauna.

And Miaotaro was observing the snow scene in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass in the lobby~

About an hour later, the morning bath was over, and Naoki Nagayama, whose whole body was soft, came to the living room and lay down on the sofa without hesitation.

The collar of the loose yukata was wide open, revealing the flushed skin and the outline of the chest muscles. The hair that had been cut short again gave the handsome image a bit of freshness, just like a new beginning for the New Year.

He picked up the morning newspaper on the coffee table and read it. Besides some routine news for the New Year, there was also very surprising news...

"Best Movie, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor..."

Naoki Nagayama looked at the nominations on the newspaper and began to count the awards that "Kikujiro" was nominated for in the Mainichi Film Awards movie selection,

"Tsk tsk tsk, almost all of them!"

Naoki Nagayama sighed somewhat. Sure enough, the excellence of "Kikujiro" dominated the movies released last year, forcing movie critics to choose to vote!

And the subsequent Japan Academy Film Prize nomination list, the Blue Ribbon Awards nomination list, the Kinema Junpo Awards nomination list...

These Japanese movie awards were all going to come out one by one. This would be a very important time node for Tree Friends and Naoki Nagayama himself.

However...

"These awards are actually just average..."

Just like a scumbag who has no expectations after getting it, Naoki Nagayama had easily obtained these awards, and the motivation to collect them was gone. What he actually wanted was another award—the Palme d'Or.

"Must pay more attention to international movies this year..."

Continuing to flip through the newspaper, Naoki Nagayama originally thought there would be no news he was interested in, but he didn't expect to see his name again in the "Yomiuri Shimbun".

"New Year sell-off wave?"

The newspaper listed a batch of listed company shareholders who conducted share transfers after the New Year in the Japanese stock market.

As the largest M&A case in the financial circle last year, and also a demon stock, Fujitsu General, commentators and reporters naturally paid more attention. After Fujitsu General announced a 5% share transfer, well-informed financial reporters naturally found out the behind-the-scenes.

"The new upstart in the capital circle, the barbarian in the investment circle... Naoki Nagayama suddenly sold nearly half of his shares after making a big profit..."

"According to rumors in the streets, Naoki Nagayama keenly understood the upcoming M&A of Fujitsu and General Air Conditioning after hearing the taxi driver's discussion, and directly borrowed 5 billion from the bank, heavily holding the shares of General Air Conditioning at that time, and became one of the major shareholders of General by continuously acquiring scattered shares."

"Such brutal investment behavior is called a barbarian by investment managers... however, he relied on this hand, his assets soared, and he became a new upstart in the financial circle..."

Looking at the news in the report, Naoki Nagayama touched his face. Originally, he had talked to Haruki Kadokawa and the others, so he didn't think about hiding it forever...

Discovering the M&A information of the listed company from the taxi driver's mouth, such a bizarre experience, Haruki Kadokawa and the others present would definitely tell it.

Naoki Nagayama didn't worry that others wouldn't believe it... After all, the financial circle is stranger, and more unbelievable things have happened...

As for the police arresting him based on this?

Are you kidding, officer? You actually believe in this fairy tale? Don't you want the stars on your shoulders?!

"However, when the next money hits the account, according to the Plaza Accord... shorting the US dollar can begin!" Naoki Nagayama thought about whether to call Genta Nakai, but thought about it and decided to wait until the money hit the account.

At the current time, he should still enjoy the holiday properly!

Turn on the TV, put in the videotape, take out the snacks... First, let me catch up on the missed anime!

Xia Weiyi is in the UTC-10 time zone, and Tokyo is in the UTC+9 time zone, with a time difference of 19 hours.

When it was past 7 o'clock in the evening, Naoki Nagayama looked at the time and called Akina Nakamori's hotel. It should be early morning there...

"Moshi moshi, this is Ms. Nakamori~" A brisk voice came from the microphone, as if she were playing a prank. "Who are you looking for?"

"......" Although it was already agreed upon on the pager, Naoki Nagayama had to cooperate with her performance, acting as if he didn't know in advance. "May I ask which Ms. Nakamori this is? The one I'm looking for is named Akina Nakamori~"

"Ah, is that so? Consider yourself lucky, this young lady is Akina Nakamori! Haha!"

The girlfriend on the microphone sounded very happy. Presumably, the vacation these two days was also very happy~ This was a rare time without work, and with family accompanying.

"Akina had a very happy time these few days, right?" Naoki Nagayama didn't pretend anymore. "Sounds like you even drank alcohol!"

"Haha, just participated in a bonfire party, danced the hula!" Akina Nakamori laughed. "So I drank a little bit of cocktail... just a little bit!"

According to Akina's drinking capacity, this didn't sound like a little bit...

Come to think of it, Akina is already 20 years old this year. After the Coming of Age Day on January 15, she can be considered an adult in that year, but legal documents still have to wait until after July 13 to sign them herself...

Naoki Nagayama didn't dwell on the drinking.

"Is the bonfire party so late?"

"Yeah, just finished..." Akina Nakamori said with a smile. "Mother, Akiko, Akiho all danced the hula! Everyone sang songs..."

Naoki Nagayama listened to his girlfriend talking about her vacation life in Xia Weiyi and felt the happiness overflowing from her words. Sure enough, when there is no falling out, she is still very close to her family~

"Naoki-san, how was your New Year in Shizuoka? Have you returned to Tokyo now?"

"No... I'm currently in the vacation house at Lake Toya, enjoying the hot spring~" Naoki Nagayama said.

"Ah, that vacation house?" Akina Nakamori remembered. "Then isn't Naoki-san all alone?"

"No, Eitaro and Miaotaro are accompanying me~" Naoki Nagayama smiled. "I'll be back in Tokyo tomorrow~ Akina should be back on the 7th, right?"

"Hai~ three more days!" Akina Nakamori nodded, then acted like a spoiled child. "..... Seems like I haven't seen Naoki-san for a long time!"

Come to think of it, since they lived together, the two really hadn't been separated for more than a week...

"Very soon." Naoki Nagayama comforted. "I also really want to see Akina~"

Sweet couples, when they talk, make others get goosebumps when they hear it. After being sweet for a while, Akina Nakamori said:

"By the way, Naoki-san should be able to see me very soon!"

"?"

Akina Nakamori said happily:

"At two o'clock in the morning today... ah, it should be nine o'clock in the evening on Naoki-san's side, TBS TV will have a live broadcast of 'THE BEST TEN'..."

"Akina also has to do a live broadcast?" Naoki Nagayama was very surprised.

"Hai, although it's a holiday... but the agency said just connect for a little while... it was specially invited by the program team." Akina Nakamori was no longer surprised by this kind of sudden work. "Said the audience definitely wants to see what I look like on vacation in Xia Weiyi..."

"Really hard work..."

"Haha, it doesn't matter... anyway, I can't sleep now!" Akina Nakamori laughed. "Naoki-san, just watch what I look like on TV in a while!"

"Are you going to dance the hula?" Naoki Nagayama laughed.

"Haven't learned it yet!"

"Haha~"

After talking for a while, he hung up the phone. The international call across the ocean should have cost a lot of money this time... Lowering his head and patting the dog's head:

"Eitaro, cheer for Akina in a while!"

"Woof!"

The first "THE BEST TEN" of the New Year, almost all the popular idol artists on the list arrived at the studio during the live broadcast.

Sure enough, there is no holiday in the entertainment industry. These popular idol artists might all be working during the New Year.

The list data was actually from before the New Year, so the rankings didn't change much. Akina Nakamori's "Tears Are Not Decorations" was naturally still the first place, followed by Seiko Matsuda's "Heart no Earring" and Safety Zone's new song...

In short, it wasn't until the end that he saw Akina Nakamori's performance.

Host Hiroshi Kume said on TV: "Because Akina Nakamori is vacationing in Xia Weiyi, this time we are using the satellite relay broadcast mode to invite Akina-chan to sing..."

As a small screen lit up, Akina Nakamori, who was smiling brightly, only knew that the live broadcast had started under the prompt of the staff:

"Good evening~"

"Good evening~ Akina-chan, is it early morning on your side? It looks like the wind has picked up, will it be cold?"

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi said to the microphone, and the satellite relay screen showed exactly the hotel corridor. Except for the places with lights, others were a bit dark.

"Hai, it's two o'clock in the morning in Xia Weiyi now!" Akina Nakamori's face couldn't see the alcohol, but her whole person was clearly in an excited state. "But Xia Weiyi is very hot, and it's not cold at night!"

"Akina-chan, are you wearing a hula skirt now?" Hiroshi Kume asked on the side.

"Hai, just participated in a bonfire party tonight." Akina said with a smile.

"That must be very happy..."

"Yeah... danced the hula!"

Because of the satellite broadcast, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi didn't say too much to Akina. "It looks like we can see the hula queen version of 'Tears Are Not Decorations' tonight!"

"Hai~"

As the music sounded, Akina Nakamori, wearing a hula skirt, set up the opening pose of "Tears Are Not Decorations".

Originally, this song was full of queen style, but after putting on the unique hula outfit, every turn would bring up the flying of the skirt, bringing a charming feeling in maturity, as if seeing a passionate Hawaiian hula girl by the bonfire~

No, it should be the Hula Queen...

Although it was a satellite broadcast, it also made the audience at the scene cheer and applaud~ The studio was full of noisy atmosphere.

And at this time, Naoki Nagayama, who was far away at Lake Toya, couldn't help but laugh when he saw this scene:

"Really danced the hula~ She looks like a Hula Queen when singing!!"

Understanding that this was Akina specially wearing it for him to see, Naoki Nagayama thought in his heart:

"Will this singing costume be called Hula-Aki from now on?"

After the connection ended, Akina Nakamori breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed again.

Today's work was over, the staff around began to pack up the equipment, and Chieko, who had been accompanying Akina, also walked to the side to help Akina take off her earrings.

"Okasan, go to rest quickly!" Akina Nakamori urged. "It's already so late!"

"Akina hasn't rested yet~" Chieko didn't stop her hands, and by the way, took off the hula skirt. "What's the big deal about staying up late for one or two nights!"

"But I'm going to play surfing and beach volleyball tomorrow... it won't work without good energy!"

Akina Nakamori said, but she still enjoyed her mother helping on the side in her heart.

"I don't know how to surf..." Chieko shook her head. "At most, I'll soak in the seawater on the beach~"

"Okasan, I can teach you!" Akina Nakamori was full of confidence. Although she couldn't go to the big waves, there was no problem with this kind of small waves on the shore!

"You know how?" Chieko was stunned. "Akina, when did you learn it?"

"...... Ano...... it was taught to me by Naoki-san in Xia Weiyi before...." Akina suddenly became a bit weak.

"Naoki Nagayama?" Chieko paused. "Is it the time you went on a date in Xia Weiyi before?"

"It wasn't a date..." Akina explained. "Just bumped into each other..."

"Hmm hmm~~ It wasn't a date..." Chieko made a hum of unclear meaning, not knowing whether she was laughing at her daughter still being shy or laughing at Naoki Nagayama.

"Akina...."

On the way back to the room, Chieko suddenly called Akina,

"Sleep with me tonight!"

"Eh?"

"Tell me about your Naoki Nagayama....... haven't you been to his house?"

"When are you going to come to my house?" "When are you getting married?" "When are you going to give an explanation?"

"I raised my daughter with such difficulty, does he want to take her away without a word?!"

"........ This...... haven't I said it already?" Akina Nakamori didn't know what to say. "Naoki-san said he would come to the house in the spring!"

"Spring is so long, who knows which day it is!" Chieko pulled Akina back to the room together. "I want to ask properly, how did he charm my daughter!"

"......" ===== CHAPTER 774 =====