Chapter 971: The grandfather was left with nothing but gratification!!

The interval since the last return to Shizuoka was relatively short; it felt as if the wedding day had only just passed.

Shimizu is a small city, and rumors of a grandson of the Nagayama Group holding a lavish wedding banquet at a luxury hotel some time ago were still circulating between izakayas and the afternoon tea gatherings of housewives.

Some even swore that a monk who had originally taken vows was so attracted by such a luxurious scene that he couldn't help but break his vows and leave the temple, only to be caught and dragged back by the head abbot and the temple's guardian monks...

In any case, Naoki Nagayama's story would likely be one of the biggest topics among the townsfolk during the New Year period~

When Naoki Nagayama arrived at the ancestral home again, he felt that the popularity here had diminished significantly; even the subordinates standing guard had been replaced by older men.

"Grandfather, why does it feel like there are so many fewer people?"

While chatting with his grandfather, he directed Masataka Komori and the others to calibrate the projector in the living room. Such wooden old houses from the Taisho era have large eaves, making the rooms quite dark; once the lights were turned off, one could see clearly without even needing to close the doors and windows.

"It's the end of the year; Xiong Yuan has to collect debts over there~"

Grandfather Hayato Nagayama said it nonchalantly, as if it were a very ordinary matter.

The Nagayama Group is the largest organization in Shizuoka, but it is impossible to manage the entire prefecture comprehensively, so naturally, there are lower-level organizations... However, the annual debt collection by the yakuza has always been turbulent, and one never knows how many conflicts and bloodshed will occur...

Otherwise, why would they need to shrink their manpower~

"Sigh~~~"

Naoki Nagayama let out a sigh and didn't continue speaking. His uncle, Xiong Yuan Nagayama, was determined to inherit the yakuza business, and even his grandfather couldn't persuade him... Perhaps deep down, his grandfather also wanted to pass on the Nagayama Group he had operated for a lifetime... Who knows~

Thinking of this, he didn't dwell on it too much and instead brought up the reason for his visit this time:

"Grandfather, please take a look at the edited sample film this time. If you have any objections, you can tell me..."

"And at the very end, I still need to film a short clip of you, Grandfather, to place at the tail end... to reflect a sense of reality..."

After hearing this, his grandfather was somewhat surprised. Watching the movie in advance was one thing, but filming a clip at the end?

"Naoki, are you saying I have to act too?"

"No, Grandfather, you don't need to act..." Naoki Nagayama said, "I just need to capture your image..."

"Then... that... do I need to say any lines?" At this moment, his grandfather actually seemed like a child encountering something new, excited and somewhat curious.

"Haha, originally there was no need... but if you think of anything, Grandfather, you can say it too~"

"I understand~"

Understanding this, Hayato Nagayama became quiet, staring at the set-up screen, not knowing whether he was thinking about the movie or the lines for later.

For the movie *Hayato's Tale: New World*, when Naoki Nagayama wrote the script, he referenced many films from later generations. During filming, he even used his cousin Feng Nagayama, who looked somewhat like his grandfather, and for the fight scenes, he invited the martial arts instructors from the Jackie Chan Stunt Team...

It can be said that the entire movie had plot where plot was needed, conflict where conflict was needed, smooth narrative, distinct rhythm, and satisfying fight scenes. During editing, he poured his heart and soul into it, ensuring there was a small climax every so often...

This was a masterpiece that combined American splatter films, Korean gangster films, Hong Kong spy films, and finally returned to Japanese drama!

For a full hour and a half, there was absolutely not a single moment where one would need a bathroom break!

*Cough cough cough*, if he kept bragging, Naoki Nagayama would feel embarrassed~

After Masataka Komori finished the final calibration, as the projector began to run, a beam of light containing countless colors brought the scene back to the early Showa era in an instant...

In the steam-filled train station, the noise was deafening, and a young policeman was anxiously waiting for something, until...

"Yo~ Baka Aibo!!!"

A call, half-Japanese and half-English, unconventional yet highly infectious, and filled with a unique charm amidst the nonchalance, came from the steam mist~

"Doing pretty well, huh, wearing a police uniform!"

"..."

When Hayato Nagayama saw Feng Nagayama appear, he felt as if his younger self had appeared on the screen...

Besides the fact that Feng Nagayama himself resembled him somewhat, the semi-old kimono he wore was exactly the one Hayato Nagayama had described—the best piece of clothing his simple and early-deceased mother had sewn for him with her own hands...

For a moment, his grandfather's eyes even felt a bit sore...

Youth in its prime passes like smoke in the wind, yet it always leaves behind unforgettable longing~

Although it was slightly different from his own experience, Hayato Nagayama still felt as if he saw his younger self, rushing excitedly to the unfamiliar Tokyo, full of curiosity about everything.

The bustling city, the dazzling array of goods, the complex streets, the fashionable urban girls... everything was so fresh and so yearning...

At that time, he was full of ambition, fearing neither heaven nor earth, wanting only to carve out a place for himself in Tokyo!

Thus, starting from the streets, joining an organization, making friends with subordinates, expanding territory, annexing rivals... relying on a strong physique and a brain slightly more flexible than other yakuza, he soon achieved significant results.

"I've finished speaking. Who agrees? Who opposes?!"

When Feng Nagayama in the movie said such domineering lines with imposing momentum toward the heads of various gangs, Hayato Nagayama, watching from below, muttered in his mouth:

"There's no way I said it like that, and there was no time for that... At that time, I was anxious and excited; clearly, I just rushed in and took everyone else out..."

However, his eyes were fixed on the screen, looking at his grandson's domineering image, yet his eyes were full of envy~

"Kuso..."

He really wished he hadn't taken out his enemies so quickly back then, so he could have said that line to their faces too!

Why did young people become yakuza?! On one hand, it was to make a living; on the other, it was naturally for the prestige!

Now that Hayato Nagayama had achieved success, his mindset was actually getting younger as he got older~

As the movie played, and the story narrated the falling out between the policeman friend and the yakuza informant, and Hayato Nagayama, played by Feng Nagayama, was besieged by enemies, his grandfather's hands gradually clenched.

The moderately famous organization he had built back then was also jointly strangled by Tokyo's rival organizations and the black gloves of the upper echelons... He also experienced a bloody battle... It was also for this reason that he realized he didn't have the ability to play such power games in Tokyo, and in the end, he left Tokyo in a dejected manner...

If it could be said that his grandfather returned to Shizuoka only after being struck down, then the Hayato Nagayama in the movie was a completely beautified version of the story!

Fighting a bloody path out of an underground parking garage, and in a cramped elevator, fighting for his life against ten enemies...

"Kill!" "Come on!" "You bastards!" "Cowards!" "Roar!!"

Amidst the roars, every blade drew blood, every sound was a fight for life!

A one-versus-ten resistance, an elevator covered in blood, corpses lying in disarray, and a Hayato Nagayama whose consciousness was already blurring but who still hadn't admitted defeat...

Left the police who rushed over to clean up the scene in utter amazement, and Tomokazu Miura, who played the policeman friend, couldn't believe his eyes!

The subsequent revenge was even more like a satisfying novel; Hayato Nagayama, having recovered from his injuries, personally killed his enemies, handed the evidence in his hands to his policeman friend, and toppled the politicians in the upper echelons...

But in the end, he still chose to return to his hometown in Shizuoka... His actions had offended both the upper echelons and the yakuza; Tokyo could no longer contain him!

"I've been here, and I'm leaving! Haha~ Tokyo is still quite fun~"

"..."

At the end of the film, there was a figure gradually disappearing into the mist...

When the light of the projector vanished, the entire living room fell into darkness, silent for a long time...

Not until Naoki Nagayama turned on the lights did the ancestral home come alive again... even producing noisy applause...

I don't know when, but the subordinates left behind at the ancestral home had also gathered around, silently watching the movie!

"Sugoi!" "So Boss Hayato was so fierce when he was young!" "Too cool!" "Tokyo's organizations are too hateful!" "We should go take revenge!" "They are all gone..." "..."

All kinds of discussions erupted, making the originally quiet large living room feel like a movie theater.

Finally, his grandfather couldn't listen anymore:

"What's going on... you all actually ran over to watch a movie!"

"You bunch of guys, get out of here!"

"Hai! Boss Hayato!!!" X8

His grandfather shook his head seemingly in complaint, but he wasn't truly angry... these people left behind were all old members of the organization, almost all of whom had followed him for over a decade, as close as family.

It was just that they had seen a movie based on him, and he was slightly embarrassed!

After driving the people away, Grandfather Hayato Nagayama looked at Naoki Nagayama with a face full of gratification, praising him repeatedly:

"Naoki... the movie was filmed very well!"

"Although that kid Feng only has a fraction of my style, the whole movie is excellent!"

"Sure enough, I knew it, Naoki would definitely be able to do it!"

Naoki Nagayama responded with a smile:

"Grandfather's story was legendary to begin with; I just filmed it!"

"But then again... Grandfather, do you think there is anything that needs adjusting?!"

"No, absolutely not!" His grandfather shook his head; he was just a rude, reckless man, and he felt that such a movie was already the ceiling, "Naoki, the movie you filmed is already perfect!"

"Hahaha, Grandfather, don't praise me anymore..." Naoki Nagayama signaled for Masataka Komori and the others to put away the projection equipment and took out the filming gear, "Then let's prepare to film a short clip!"

"This... do we really have to film it?"

After watching the movie, Grandfather Hayato even felt that his appearance on screen would lower the quality of the movie!

"This is to connect the movie with reality, making the audience's sense of reality go up another level..."

Naoki Nagayama said as he helped his grandfather to the study, where the light was more sufficient,

"And incidentally, I want to capture the feeling of the first time I saw you, Grandfather..."

"Uh, what was the feeling when you first saw me?" Hayato Nagayama asked curiously.

"Just an ordinary old man~" Feeling it was too simple, Naoki Nagayama added, "That feeling of having experienced so much, yet returning to simplicity in the end..."

"What kind of feeling is that?"

"Hmm... I can't explain it clearly; wait until I film it!" Naoki Nagayama had already decided to film the scene of his first time seeing his grandfather in the study, "Grandfather, hold that book *Summer Garden* well, and pretend to read it just like the first time we met!"

"... I was clearly reading it for real..." his grandfather retorted weakly.

"The book was upside down!"

Naoki Nagayama exposed him without ceremony; he wasn't as reserved as when he first came to see his grandfather... that time was nervousness... after all, it was his first time seeing a yakuza boss.

"..." Hayato Nagayama stopped talking~

A yakuza boss wanting to pretend to be a cultured man when meeting his grandson—that's not hard to understand, right?!

This filming was directed directly by Naoki Nagayama... directly showing the real first-person perspective based on his first movements entering the study!

In the camera frame, as he crossed the partition door of the study, an old man wearing a black kimono was sitting on a cushion next to the coffee table, holding *Summer Garden* as if reading.

Sunlight shone in from the study window, illuminating the coffee table and the book in the old man's hands, yet making it hard for one to see the old man's face clearly for a moment...

"Ojisan, Naoki is here..."

The voice-over sounded, and the old man raised his head, the image gradually becoming clear...

Beneath the graying hair was a face that had wiped away its sharpness, leaving only a kind expression; only the contours of the brows and eyes could vaguely connect to the dashing and unrestrained Hayato Nagayama of his youth in the film...

This was the "Falcon"—Hayato Nagayama—who had caused a scene in Tokyo and returned to his hometown in Shizuoka to establish the Nagayama Group!

"So you are Naoki..."

"Naoki-san has returned~"

In the Mountain Cherry Garden, Akina Nakamori was entertaining Hezi, who had come to visit,

"It's estimated he won't be back until tomorrow~"

"Eh~~~ what did Nii-chan go back for?!"

Hezi tugged on Eitaro's ears, making the guy yelp, seeking help from the hostess.

But Akina remained unmoved... she had tugged on them many times herself and didn't think it was a big deal!

"Naoki-san went back to show his grandfather the sample film... it seems he also wants to film some things incidentally... after that, he should go home to see his father and mother..."

Akina poured tea for her sister-in-law, then sat on the sofa, picking up Ye Zi to stroke.

It is said that holding a cat is similar to holding a child; as her pregnancy progressed, she liked holding the cat more and more~

"I originally wanted to ask when Nii-chan was going back this year..." Hezi said, somewhat helplessly, "I was thinking of going back together~"

"This year, Naoki-san and I will spend the New Year in Tokyo and won't go back until after the New Year..." Akina talked about their New Year plans, "And because I have to participate in the Red and White Song Battle, I might not go back until the second day of the New Year..."

"?? Not going back for the New Year?!" Hezi said in surprise.

"Because... we have already started a family!" Akina explained with a smile, "We have our own little family!"

"..."

Hezi only then realized that she was the only one left in the Nagayama family who hadn't gotten married!

"How is Hezi doing with her boyfriend?" Akina shifted the topic to Hezi herself, "Getting married after graduation?"

Hezi was already a junior and would graduate next year!

"Hmm..."

However, regarding marriage, Hezi hadn't thought it through yet... she always felt that getting married so early was a bit rash...

After all, she was born in a small city, and her thinking was still somewhat traditional; marriage meant serving the husband and teaching the children... but if she got married without even entering society, she felt that all those years of studying would be a waste!

"I still want to play for a few more years~"

Hezi used the universal excuse...

"That's true..."

Akina wasn't in a hurry; after all, although her sister-in-law was about the same age as her, she had already been struggling in society for four or five years, and her thinking and experience were already much higher than Hezi's,

"Then what kind of work do you want to do in the future?"

"I was thinking... of trying to be a screenwriter..." Hezi said; after all, her brother was already a role model!

"I see!"

Akina nodded in agreement; with Naoki Nagayama's connections, doing this line of work would definitely be much easier!

"Has Hezi tried writing?"

"I've written quite a bit..." Hezi said, full of confidence, "I feel it's even better than what Nii-chan writes! Hahaha~"

"..."

Speaking of writing better than her own husband, even if it was his own sister, Akina felt slightly unhappy!

"Come to think of it, Naoki-san doesn't seem to have written much during this period, only some fragmented drafts from before..."

"Eh? Nii-chan wrote something new?"

"It seems so... it's all in the study~"

"..." Hezi started to get curious, "Akina-chan, can I take a look?"

So, led by Akina, Hezi went to the study and saw many stacks of manuscript paper on the desk... these were all fragmented thoughts...

Hezi saw the scripts for *The Pianist* and *The Reader*, as well as prototype drawings for anime like *The Garden of Words*, *My Neighbor Totoro*, and *Slam Dunk*...

Until Akina took out a complete manuscript from the drawer:

"This should be the story Naoki-san has recently completed... it seems Shogakukan kept urging him for a manuscript, so he changed the original script into a novel..."

"Changing a script into a novel?!" Hezi was surprised; usually, it was the other way around!

"When Naoki-san writes things, it seems he starts from the visuals... as if scenes from TV and movies appear in his mind, so what he writes first tends to be more like a script..."

Akina's understanding of Naoki Nagayama was already very deep, and she had even glimpsed many of his biggest secrets...

"But this time, it was because Shogakukan kept begging him, but he had too many things to do in the second half of the year and really didn't have the energy or mind to create a new story, so he changed the script back..."

Akina handed the manuscript to Hezi:

"This is just something Naoki-san used to deal with the editors at Shogakukan... Hezi, just take a look casually~"

"..."

Hezi took the manuscript, and the bold, thickened title on the cover read clearly—*Tokyo Love Story*...

Opening the first page of the cover, Hezi became immersed in it! ===== CHAPTER 972 =====