Chapter 925: The main wife is helping the master take in a concubine?!

At night, at Sanying-in.

Eitaro and Nyotaro were lying on the living room floor stretching, while Naoki Nagayama and Akina Nakamori were sitting on the sofa chatting.

"Fortunately, it was just fainting from extreme fatigue and low blood sugar..." Akina Nakamori drank some beverage with lingering fear. "I was right next to Yukiko-chan when she fell, and when I saw her collapse on the floor, my mind went blank..."

"Afterward, the program staff rushed over with a first-aid kit to help, and finally, an ambulance came, and it was confirmed there was no major issue... but she still needs to be hospitalized for rest..."

Akina Nakamori was telling Naoki Nagayama about the emergency at TV Asahi; presumably, tomorrow there would be headlines about Yukiko Okada fainting from fatigue.

"Extreme fatigue... fainting..."

In his previous life, it seemed Yukiko Okada chose suicide while physically and mentally exhausted... But this time, Naoki Nagayama had even written an inspirational song for her; could it be that the butterfly effect hadn't reached her?

Naoki Nagayama touched his own chest; although he couldn't remember it anymore, in his previous life, he had died of sudden cardiac death due to extreme fatigue while working 007.

His mind kept avoiding a detailed recall of the specific circumstances at the time; he only vaguely remembered his chest feeling tight, then his whole body feeling weak, feeling his vision go black, and then when he opened his eyes, he was in a Showa-era hospital room...

Speaking of which, regarding death, as the person involved, he actually had no real sense of it~

"Naoki-san?" Akina Nakamori saw Naoki Nagayama touching his heart and felt it was strange. "What's wrong with you?"

"I was just feeling sentimental... Generally speaking, sudden cardiac death caused by overwork... is very fast and cannot be saved..." Naoki Nagayama let out a sigh and looked at his fiancée. "Akina, remember, you must not be too exhausted... Your health is the most important thing!"

"......"

Akina Nakamori's bright eyes flashed with confusion.

"Why does it feel like Naoki-san is speaking from experience..."

"Because I died of sudden cardiac death in my previous life~" Naoki Nagayama said with a smile, revealing the biggest secret hidden within himself.

"Pui pui pui!"

Akina Nakamori quickly spat a few times, then covered Naoki Nagayama's mouth, angry.

"Naoki-san, you are not allowed to say such unlucky things! This is creating bad karma!"

"Alright, alright, I won't say it!"

Seeing Akina was a bit angry, Naoki Nagayama reached out and pulled her into his arms, patting her gently to soothe her~

The two snuggled together in silence for a while before Akina Nakamori whispered:

"But after this time, Yukiko-chan should be able to rest well for a while..."

"According to Sunny Agency's style, probably not..." Naoki Nagayama curled his lips. "Maybe they'll make her leave the hospital today, and after resting at home for one night, she'll have to continue working... Didn't you say she's still filming a drama!"

Akina Nakamori wanted to refute but couldn't speak, so she could only sigh...

"Sigh... if this continues, Yukiko-chan... won't be able to bear it..."

"In the end, she might be forced to retire..."

Akina Nakamori thought of Yukiko Okada's weak face and her personality that was prone to extremes... When she was under too much pressure and had no way out, "Then Yukiko-chan, will she do something foolish..."

Naoki Nagayama shook his head:

"Agencies will let unpopular artists retire, but if someone like Yukiko wants to retire on her own, the agency will demand a breach of contract penalty!"

"I hope not..."

"......"

Speaking of which, the entertainment industry is such a cold place; it seems only under Naoki-san's command is there a bit more human touch...

Thinking of this, Akina Nakamori suddenly raised her head, her eyes shining:

"Naoki-san, why don't you sign Yukiko-chan to Tree Friends!"

"???"

Naoki Nagayama looked at his fiancée; why did it feel like the main wife was helping the master take in a concubine?!

Was Akina not afraid of finding a competitor for herself? Whether in career or personally?! Was she that confident in Naoki Nagayama?!

However, let's be realistic; given Tree Friends' current size, if they wanted to snatch Yukiko Okada, Sunny would definitely ask for an exorbitant price... If the old agency didn't agree to peace, and Tree Friends and Yukiko Okada wanted to force a breakup...

Being frozen, lawsuits, and joint boycotts by other agencies—all these messy things would come out!!!

Tree Friends already had Shizuka Kudo as a main force, as well as numerous other idol artists; these were all cultivated by Tree Friends themselves, so others had nothing to say...

But what would it mean if you wanted to sign another Yukiko Okada who had already made a name for herself?

Are you trying to monopolize the idol world?

Even other agencies in the industry, like the Burning group, would definitely stand on a unified front; they wouldn't want Tree Friends to get both the big and small kings~

"How about it? Naoki-san?" Akina Nakamori was still encouraging him. "Yukiko-chan has a lot of potential!"

"......"

Naoki Nagayama was helpless and explained to her the situation Tree Friends was currently facing, explaining why they couldn't snatch people...

"Why doesn't Akina sign her to Ken-On?"

"Ken-On?"

"Yes... Akina, you are also a shareholder of Ken-On now..." Naoki Nagayama said. "Ken-On isn't short of money... And isn't Akina planning to transform? The idol world always needs a successor... Ken-On can't just rely on Akina alone to hold the stage..."

"This..."

Akina Nakamori only then started thinking from this perspective, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was very possible...

"According to standard contracts, Yukiko should be at the point of signing a new contract, so Ken-On can indeed make contact." Naoki Nagayama helped his fiancée analyze. "And with the background of the Sasakawa Foundation, there's no need to worry about Sunny Agency playing any tricks..."

After all, it's an old-fashioned zaibatsu; both connections and capital are very powerful! There's no need to worry about being boycotted by the entire industry...

"Mm..."

Akina Nakamori was thinking from the perspective of an agency manager for the first time. Once upon a time, she had also encountered the problem of transferring agencies; it was also a powerful capital representative who wanted to dig her and her team over, and even the publicity manager was persuaded... However, her mother trusted Akira Terabayashi, which was why it didn't succeed.

"I will try to talk to Hanami-san tomorrow..."

The night passed without incident~

A cool autumn morning is perfect for a nap!

In the morning, Akina got up early to participate in a magazine's year-end special planning, going somewhere to play with other idols, taking a group photo, and so on...

In short, it was a pretty easy job~

And the remaining Naoki Nagayama, after waking up a bit, was captured by the soft bed again and slept comfortably until nine o'clock.

Unable to stay in bed any longer, Naoki Nagayama got up to wash and ate breakfast on the veranda in the warm sunshine.

"The cherry blossoms are about to bloom~"

Naoki Nagayama looked at the cherry tree in the courtyard. The originally dense green branches were already interspersed with many pink-white flower buds, becoming a bit incongruous. Autumn cherry blossoms were not as numerous or gorgeous as spring ones, and the flowers couldn't overwhelm the branches and leaves~

However, autumn cherry blossoms, once they bloom, are more agile than spring ones~

"The blooming of these cherry blossoms..." Naoki Nagayama patted Eitaro's dog head next to him. "Eitaro also contributed!"

"Woof woof!"

The dog laughed happily, and its tail wagged... Just fertilizing, a small matter!

In this morning's newspaper, there was indeed news about Yukiko Okada fainting from fatigue during filming, but the newspaper was mostly promoting her professionalism and hard work, with no intention of blaming the agency at all; Sunny Agency must have exerted some effort~

"Yukiko... after jumping to her death, it caused a wave of suicides..."

Naoki Nagayama shook his head; in any case, he hoped it wouldn't come to that step later.

"Ding-a-ling~"

Just then, the phone at Sanying-in rang~

"Moshi Moshi Moshi Moshi, this is Sanying-in~"

Naoki Nagayama picked up the phone. He knew that those who called Sanying-in at this time were none other than those few people. Sure enough, Ito Shuichi Ido's voice came from the receiver.

"Naoki-san, do you have time to come to the company now? Shohei Imamura is here and wants to communicate about the winners of the main competition section of the film festival."

"Communicate with me?" Naoki Nagayama was surprised. "Isn't this fully entrusted to him? This was agreed upon when he was invited~"

"Haha, it's not a bad thing." Ito Shuichi Ido said. "In short, if you have nothing to do, come to the building; it's better to talk in person!"

Naoki Nagayama looked left and right; there was indeed nothing to do:

"Alright~"

Driving a convertible to Ikebukuro took less than half an hour, shorter than most people's commute.

This is the advantage of buying a house in the core area of the main city~

Walking into the main entrance of the Tree Friends building, Naoki Nagayama greeted the receptionist, Yukika Suzuki, directly:

"Yukika-chan, good morning~"

"Ah, Naoki-san, you're here!"

"Mm... where are Ito Shuichi-san and the others?"

"Ito Shuichi-san is entertaining guests in his office..." Yukika Suzuki answered immediately.

"In his office~" Naoki Nagayama nodded. "Then I'll go there first... By the way, help me brew a pot of good tea, use the tea leaves from my office~"

"Hai!"

Ito Shuichi Ido's office was on the same floor as Naoki Nagayama and Otomo, but Naoki Nagayama didn't go there often... Usually, they gathered in Otomo's office~

After Naoki Nagayama knocked and opened the door, he saw Ito Shuichi Ido and Shohei Imamura sitting on the sofa chatting.

"Ito Shuichi-san, Shohei-san!"

"Naoki-san has arrived~" Ito Shuichi Ido smiled and let Naoki Nagayama sit down, not hiding anything, and went straight to the topic. "Met Shohei-san at the venue and happened to talk about the final awards ceremony..."

Shohei Imamura took over: "Naoki-san... the winners of the main competition section have been decided!"

"Haha, that's much earlier than expected!"

The deadline was one hour before the awards ceremony, but it was clear that things had already been settled.

Sure enough, all the awards had been decided before the announcement!

"Because there were no surprises..." Shohei Imamura said. "There weren't many films participating this time..."

Because it was the first edition, no company had lobbied long in advance, and it was aimed at films by young directors, without the various influences of old directors, so the jury members didn't have so many trade-offs to make, and it was very efficient~

"Then, who won the Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix (the film festival's grand prize)?"

Naoki Nagayama's tone was a bit frivolous, but Shohei Imamura wasn't too serious either.

"The winner of the first Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix is *Typhoon Club*!" Shohei Imamura said. "The arrival of the typhoon let the teenagers release the shackles in their hearts and show their wild side... The exploration of adolescent psychology in this is very novel... It gives people a very special feeling..."

"Mm..."

Naoki Nagayama was noncommittal; he hadn't seen it... Speaking of which, as the initiator of the film festival, he hadn't even watched all the participating films; that was really inexcusable!

"What about the other awards?" Ito Shuichi Ido was also a bit excited.

"For the Jury Grand Prize, we chose *Kiss of the Spider Woman*. The multi-layered narrative of this film also involves homosexuality and politics, etc... It criticizes reality and shows humanitarianism..."

"Mm..." Another one he hadn't seen...

Shohei Imamura didn't pause and continued to list the other awards:

"The Best Director Award goes to Peter Gothár—*Stop Time*..."

"Best Actor is..."

"Best Actress is..."

"Best Screenplay Award..." Shohei Imamura glanced at Naoki Nagayama. "We chose Naoki Nagayama—*One Cut of the Dead*!"

"This narrative structure is very novel, a play within a play... very bold and very new..."

"Eh?!" Naoki Nagayama was surprised. "Me? Did I participate too?!"

Ito Shuichi Ido explained from the side: "Of course, as the organizer, how could Tree Friends not participate?! We naturally submitted it!"

"Naoki-san, according to age, you are also a young director!" Shohei Imamura laughed. "Speaking of which, if it weren't limited to this year, Naoki-san's *Kikujiro* would have swept many awards!!"

"........ Hahaha~"

Naoki Nagayama scratched his head; he really hadn't thought he would win an award, and he wasn't prepared.

"But as the organizer, if I win an award, won't people think there's a dark curtain?!"

Shohei Imamura's expression became serious:

"This selection result can be said to be the fairest film selection I have ever participated in! If anyone has any objections to the selection results, let them come to me!!!"

Because Naoki Nagayama had fully entrusted the judging power to Shohei Imamura, the jury was completely unaffected by the film-related parties. This selection was made entirely based on the judges' own judgment of the films themselves... It was fairer and more just than other film award selections!

Ito Shuichi Ido soothed Shohei Imamura:

"Shohei-san, no one will have any objections! We all believe in you!"

Then he glanced at Naoki Nagayama: "Naoki-san, isn't it just winning a Best Screenplay award? You've even won the Palme d'Or; what are you worried about!"

"Haha, that's true!"

Naoki Nagayama laughed.

"However, I have to think about my acceptance speech again... It's really a headache!"

Shohei Imamura rolled his eyes!

"This is a trouble that many people would kill for!"

There was less than a week left until the end of the Tokyo International Film Festival. With the full support of all parties in the committee, the entire film festival was progressing very steadily.

Many premiere films had made a name for themselves at the film festival, attracting distributors to purchase them, and the transaction volume reached almost the annual performance of some film studios!

The final awards ceremony was an important conclusion to the film festival~

Naoki Nagayama also had to take it a little seriously! ===== CHAPTER 926 =====