Chapter 778

After dragging it out for a few days, the production announcement for "Love Generation" was officially held.

I don't know if it was because Naoki Nagayama didn't pay attention, but the employees reverted to their stingy habits. The result of the communication between Hideki Saijo's agency and Tree Friend was that the production announcement was actually held at the entrance of the other party's agency...

Hideki Saijo's status is many levels higher than Momoko Kikuchi's, so there was no problem with the agency arranging it this way.

"This has no presence at all!"

When Naoki Nagayama got the news, he could only say this helplessly; after all, they were already accepting media interviews.

He looked at Hiroshi Kijima beside him and said earnestly:

"Kijima-kun, something like a TV drama needs high-profile promotion! Even if it's filmed worse than shit, you have to blow it up as if it's a rare treasure in the human world!"

"Even for a production announcement, it should be held in the lobby of the Tokyo Prince Hotel; that's how you show style! That's a big production! That's how you show the dominance of 'who else but me'! Only then will you attract people to watch it!!"

"But... if it's too exaggerated, it might not be good..." Hiroshi Kijima replied in a low voice, "And the Prince Hotel or something, it's too expensive... the budget..."

"What are you afraid of? Anyway, after exceeding the budget, just kowtow to the investors to apologize and then ask for additional investment!" Naoki Nagayama told Hiroshi Kijima the secrets of the trade very casually, "Because of the sunk cost, as long as it's not too excessive, even if the investors beat you up severely, they will still give you the investment in the end!"

"Cough, cough, cough!" Tomo Yoshimura couldn't listen anymore, "Naoki-san, we... to be precise, you are the investor!"

"..."

Naoki Nagayama was stunned. That's right, it seems I am the producer... Thinking of this, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Hiroshi Kijima very threateningly:

"Kijima-kun, you didn't hear anything just now! Right?!"

"..." Hiroshi Kijima felt a chill down his back and immediately patted his chest to guarantee, "Hai, I didn't hear anything!"

Naoki Nagayama was still a bit worried:

"Kijima-kun, if you dare to come and kowtow to apologize... I will make you feel what it means to regret!"

"..." Hiroshi Kijima was trembling.

However, Shuichi Itou, who had been listening for a long time, was very curious: "Naoki-san, what do you plan to do? Put him in a sack and sink him into Tokyo Bay? Or three knives and nine holes, and cut off ten fingers?"

Naoki Nagayama sat up straight and smiled:

"Shuichi-san, how could you think of that... I'm not a devil; I wouldn't be so cruel..."

Kijima-kun was about to break into a sweat, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, but he only heard Naoki Nagayama continue with the handling method.

"I heard that sex reassignment surgery in Thailand is very advanced, plus breast augmentation and skin resurfacing surgery... it can make a man completely turn into a girl..."

Naoki Nagayama looked at Hiroshi Kijima with a smile,

"If Kijima-kun dares to waste my investment, I'll let him take a trip to Thailand and then come back to debut as a female idol... just earn back the money he wasted for me..."

"!!!"

Hiroshi Kijima shuddered all over and immediately said,

"Naoki-san! I will definitely be meticulous! I'm going to check the budget table again right now!"

Watching Hiroshi Kijima's hurriedly departing back, happy laughter rang out in the office, and Shuichi Itou even clapped his hands in praise:

"Naoki-san, this method is too good! I'll threaten my subordinates like this in the future..."

"Shuichi-san, Naoki-san is just talking nonsense, do you believe it?" Tomo Yoshimura laughed and asked Naoki Nagayama, "Naoki-san, such an outrageous surgery, how could it exist in a country like Thailand~"

"..." Naoki Nagayama remained silent.

And the other two also slowly stopped laughing. After a long time, Shuichi Itou asked in a low voice: "Does it really exist?"

"Hmm~" Although it's not advanced yet, this era does indeed have this kind of surgery.

"Really! " "That's too outrageous!" "A bit crazy!" "Can a woman turn into a man?"

The discussion atmosphere in the entire office changed all of a sudden, and they began to chat enthusiastically about gossip and trivia.

Actually, don't look at the senior management offices of those big companies as being very high-end; when the executives gather together, they don't always discuss work situations or financial trends~ Of course, political keyboard warriors are an exception~

At the production announcement for "Love Generation," with the gimmick of Hideki Saijo and Tree Friend, many media outlets gave face and came over.

Hideki Saijo and Momoko Kikuchi stood in front of the long guns and short cannons, one mature and one youthful; it was exactly the most popular combination image.

"Ms. Momoko Kikuchi, may I ask what your thoughts are on collaborating with Hideki Saijo this time?"

A shy expression appeared on Momoko Kikuchi's face:

"Saijo-san has always been my idol... I feel very honored to be able to collaborate with Saijo-san this time..."

"Did both parties know each other before the performance?"

"It's embarrassing to say... this is actually my first time interacting with Saijo-san..." Momoko Kikuchi laughed.

She debuted in the middle of last year, and although she participated in many announcements afterward, she unexpectedly had no contact with Hideki Saijo. During this period, Hideki Saijo was actively moving toward the international stage and spent a lot of time abroad~

"Mr. Hideki Saijo, what is your impression of Ms. Momoko Kikuchi?"

"Haha, Momoko-chan is a very cheerful and talented young artist..."

Hideki Saijo's words were very official, and the business smile on his face was also very proficient. As a senior who had been hustling in the entertainment industry for many years, he knew how to be steady.

"The 'Love Generation' collaborating with Momoko-chan this time is an urban romance film... Mr. Hideki Saijo, do you think there can be chemistry between you and such a young Momoko-chan?"

"Of course, Momoko-chan is so cute that people will feel happy when they see her!"

"..."

The whole session was standard Q&A, very much in line with the current media announcement, and it could be said that the guests were happy... However, the reporters who often interviewed Tree Friend always felt that something was missing.

In the past, when interviewing film releases, press conferences, media interviews, or even random interviews related to Tree Friend, there would always be unexpected news points!

Either it was a scandal, an emergency, or golden sentences... In short, the interview process would be full of surprises.

But this time... it seemed like a very ordinary production announcement... and the red envelopes given were also much smaller!!!

"What exactly was different?"

Some reporters reflected silently after the interview, always feeling that something was missing... After returning to the office, they were still struggling with today's news draft.

"How should I write today's interview draft?" Some reporters were a bit distressed.

"Let's focus on Hideki Saijo... after all, he was a top idol in the past, and has many fans..." a colleague suggested.

"Momoko Kikuchi also seems quite cute; focusing on her might attract more young people, right?" the editor-in-chief reminded, "After all, she is the heroine of 'April Story'..."

"'April Story'?"

"The art film directed by Naoki Nagayama..."

"So that's it!!" The reporter suddenly said loudly, "That's what was missing!"

"???" Everyone was watching him go crazy.

"So it was Naoki Nagayama who was missing!" The reporter felt enlightened, "I said what was missing from today's announcement!"

"Ha?" X5

The reporter had a flash of inspiration and began to conceive the news draft:

"The new romance of the girl who has a crush on Naoki Nagayama... it should also be broadcast in April... 'April New Story': The new romance of the girl who has a crush on Naoki Nagayama..."

The reporter, with a flow of literary thoughts, forcibly linked Naoki Nagayama to it. He wrote for a while and turned to ask his colleague:

"By the way, it seems like news about Naoki Nagayama has decreased a lot recently?"

"Uh... it seems so..." "Can't compare to the year before..." "Since the official announcement of the relationship at the end of last year, he hasn't shown his face~"

"Even the scandals are gone. Could it be that this guy Naoki Nagayama has really turned over a new leaf?"

In the past two years, Naoki Nagayama had been a big hotspot in the entertainment industry, basically having a news headline every few days... Now that he was suddenly silent, it really made people a bit unaccustomed.

Not to mention the industry's exploration of Naoki Nagayama, Naoki Nagayama himself also noticed something strange... He suddenly had nothing to do!

On the animated film side, ever since he knew the difficulty of producing an animated film, he no longer had the idea of leading the production himself.

Acquiring a mature animation studio and giving them the creativity and script for "My Neighbor Totoro" to produce, he only needed to check the final results... He had already let the strongest tool man, Tomo-san, scout for a suitable studio.

As for drawing, he could sketch a few himself, but more professional design, storyboarding, coloring... he wasn't professional at all.

In addition, in terms of music, he didn't seem to have anything to create, and there were no new idols under his banner who needed a debut song... The passive skill of memory recall hadn't been triggered recently either.

In terms of investment, the transaction process for Fujitsu General air conditioners was underway, just waiting for the money to arrive; even for real estate investment, Genta Nakai of Tree Friend Capital was acquiring properties step by step...

In terms of relationships... the relationship with Akina was developing steadily, waiting for the weather to get a bit warmer to meet the parents...

Naoki Nagayama, who returned to Sanyingyuan in the afternoon, suddenly found that he seemed to have nothing to do!

The cherry blossom trees in the courtyard still had residual snow, which, together with the dry landscape in the yard, built a lonely Zen atmosphere. The wind blew through the bamboo leaves outside the courtyard wall, making a rustling sound, as if it were dubbing for this scene.

Naoki Nagayama, wearing a thick coat, sat on the eaves corridor holding a cup of hot tea and sighed:

"Isn't this pretty good~"

"Wang wang wang!" Eitaro nodded admiringly.

"It's just that it feels a bit like an old man..."

"Wang wang!" Eitaro agreed even more!

Miaotaro in the room rolled over disdainfully, not knowing why the two guys in the family had to go to the corridor to blow cold wind... Isn't this sick!

"Ding ling ling!"

Just at this moment, the telephone in the living room suddenly rang. Naoki Nagayama didn't want to move, so he directed Eitaro to carry the phone over.

"Moshi moshi, this is Sanyingyuan..."

"Ah, Naoki-san, you're there!" A very familiar voice came from the receiver.

"Kuniharu-san?"

Naoki Nagayama recognized this Shogakukan editor, Kuniharu Morikawa—oh, now he should be the director.

"Hai, it's me~" Kuniharu Morikawa replied very enthusiastically, "Naoki-san, it's rare to have greetings for the New Year; it's really rude of me~"

"Haha, daijoubu~" Naoki Nagayama was very cheerful, "I also forgot to visit Shogakukan! We're even!"

"..."

Kuniharu Morikawa was speechless for a moment; that's not what he meant! Besides, aren't visits between companies all done by administration? Shogakukan also received a New Year's card... and he also received a New Year's gift!

"Kuniharu-san, you're actually calling in the afternoon... generally speaking, I might not be here~ Is there any urgent matter you want to tell me?" Naoki Nagayama asked.

"Ah, it's not a big deal..." Kuniharu Morikawa adjusted his emotions, "Regarding the publication status of Naoki-san's books, we want to make an appointment with Naoki-san to communicate... and the additional printing this year... does Naoki-san have time tomorrow?"

"Oh, so that's it!" Naoki Nagayama nodded, "Then no problem, I can go over tomorrow morning!"

"That's really great!"

Kuniharu Morikawa was very happy; well-known authors who can be made an appointment with so easily are very rare!

"By the way, Naoki-san... do you have any plans for a new book this year? We can also discuss it tomorrow~"

Here it comes, the urging from the editor!

"Ah, regarding this... I don't have any ideas for the time being~" Naoki Nagayama replied, "It's only the beginning of the year..."

"Haha, that's true, there's no need to be so anxious!"

The tone of Kuniharu Morikawa in the receiver was very gentle,

"Naoki-san usually publishes new books in the spring... there are still three months left~"

"..." You've set a deadline, haven't you!

"Haha, Kuniharu-san, this time it might be delayed..." Naoki Nagayama felt a bit guilty; he really hadn't recalled any novels, and he didn't know if he would have any in the future...

"Delayed..." Kuniharu Morikawa seemed to have something to say, "It will be made up, right?"

"It will~" Naoki Nagayama's tone was uncertain.

"Then work hard, Naoki-san... many readers are waiting for you!"

"..." Naoki Nagayama suddenly felt pressured, "Hai, I will work hard!"

After hanging up the phone, Naoki Nagayama sat in a daze for a while, then suddenly stood up and walked toward the study on the second floor.

"Can't keep being in a daze!"

He originally felt that he had nothing to do, but now that he was being urged, he had to work hard!

Even if he hadn't specifically recalled any novels... but even based on his memories from more than thirty years ahead, he always had a little impression of well-known novel tropes!

Whether it's the male-oriented 'Dragon Overlord,' leveling up and fighting monsters, infinite flow, or the female-oriented 'Domineering CEO falls in love with me,' 'Woman, you have caught my attention'...

Naoki Nagayama had studied them, and with so many films and TV dramas as a foundation, relying on himself to write a novel didn't seem that difficult!

"No matter what, now I have something to do!"

"What should I write for the next novel?!"