Chapter 976: Today, your good luck has come!!

Sanma Akashiya finally made a promise to offer a New Year's gift amidst the double act of the couple, and then fled the lounge in a dejected manner.

And after the little surprise episode ended, Akina shared her joy with Naoki Nagayama even more happily...

"They actually invited Mom and my brother over during the awards ceremony!" Sitting on the sofa, the excited Akina hugged her husband's arm and rested her head on his shoulder, "Mom and the others didn't tell me at all... they just appeared so suddenly!"

Although the winners of the Record Awards are revealed in advance, small things like preparing "unexpected surprises" for the winners naturally won't be notified in advance, so as not to destroy the atmosphere.

So when Akina's mother and brother walked onto the stage, it was indeed a surprise for Akina, and she almost broke down...

"So..." Naoki Nagayama smiled and leaned over to examine Akina's eyes, "Did you cry like a child out of excitement?"

"..."

"That was all acting! Facial art!!"

Akina hammered her husband in shame. Isn't it normal to shed tears when winning an award?! Or should I say it's a necessary process!

How is it that in Naoki-san's mouth, I'm a child!

"Then what about Chieko-san and Akihiro-san later? Are they at the Budokan?" Naoki Nagayama asked.

"Originally, I wanted to invite Mom to spend the New Year at the Mountain Cherry Garden, but after the awards ceremony, they hurried back to Kiyosato~" Akina was somewhat helpless. After all, there's a whole family over in Kiyosato... since they live close, they all went to their hometown to spend the New Year~

After all, it's both easy and lively... Chieko is Akina's mother, that's true, but she is also the mother of five other children~

The two talked in the lounge for a while, until Maki Ueda knocked and walked in:

"Akina-chan, time to change into the performance outfit... get ready to go on stage~"

"Ah~" It's still the Red and White Song Battle now, Akina Nakamori heard this and started to prepare in a hurry, and then she had to go backstage to wait, "Naoki-san, are you going to wait for me in the lounge?"

"No... after Akina goes out, I'll go to the front... to watch Akina's performance on stage~"

Naoki Nagayama said so,

"And then after the bell ringing ends, we'll meet up!"

"Hai~"

Originally, she thought she wouldn't be able to meet until after midnight, but seeing Naoki Nagayama again before going on stage at the Red and White Song Battle, Akina was already very satisfied... and in a few hours, they could be together again. This New Year was just going to be incredibly happy!

In the light of the stage spotlights, Naoki Nagayama bent over again and returned to his seat, hoping his actions hadn't been broadcast live via satellite relay.

He nodded to the unfamiliar people beside him, and Naoki Nagayama shifted his attention back to the performance of the Red and White Song Battle.

After entering the second half, the artists and stars who came out were all famous... Naoki Nagayama happened to see an acquaintance, Hibari Misora, go on stage, singing *Kawa no Nagare no You ni*, which he wrote~

Although it seemed a bit out of place with the festive atmosphere of the New Year, the original intention of this song wasn't sad, but rather a kind of openness after seeing through the world... Listening to it at the New Year, there was a kind of emotion of having experienced many things this year~

After the Red Group was the White Group, and the powerful singers of the White Group appeared solemnly.

Shinichi Mori sang the famous *Erimo Misaki*. This enduring classic made people seem to see the engraved love that happened in Hokkaido again...

The music on stage didn't stop, and the performances of the singers didn't stop, from enka to rock, and then to the popular music that is popular now...

The white stage, under the illumination of the lights, revealed all kinds of different colors, and coupled with the gorgeous performance costumes of the actors... it was colorful, as if in an illusion~

The lively confrontation made the New Year atmosphere increasingly lively, and the entire audience was immersed in a joyful atmosphere~

This year-end big show, which has been popular for decades, is still at its peak, attracting the attention of all of Japan on this night.

Finally, it was Akina Nakamori's performance. Although it wasn't the finale, it wasn't far off.

Wearing a black gauze dress full of exotic style and a round high hat, Akina sang *Meuamoré* again on stage. The lyrics full of exotic style, like a passionate carnival dancer, wandered around the front row, and finally found her lover~

"On the carnival street of Rio de Janeiro..."

"A dancer with black pupils, shedding sweat"

"Temptation, being tempted to revel~"

"My lover..."

The passionate singing made the whole audience sway with the beat, as if they had been immersed in the illusion created by the singing, enjoying this carnival atmosphere together.

It's just that everyone didn't notice that when Akina was singing, the direction she was looking at and the direction her fingers were pointing at the end were both in the first row of the audience...

There, Naoki Nagayama was holding a small flag he had found, waving it to the rhythm, cheering for his wife...

The joyful time passed in a flash, and this year's Red and White battle finally ended with the victory of the Red Group...

After all, in today's entertainment industry, female idols and female singers are at their peak, while male artists are in a state of connecting the old with the new, and few can be found to fight alone.

In the end, a group of star artists and idol singers gathered on the big stage, and for a while, the entire stage was like a microcosm of the entertainment industry, which could be called a gathering of stars.

"Minasan, Showa 60 has reached the final moment... Next, let us witness the arrival of the New Year together!"

Under the steady voice of host Kenji Suzuki, the TV screen turned to the bell tower of Senso-ji Temple... Here, the 108 bell rings were about to take place!

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

With the countdown, temples all over Tokyo began their annual bell-ringing moment... Even in the NHK Hall, it seemed one could hear the faint sound of bells.

"Dang, dang, dang..."

The distant bell rang at fixed intervals, ringing non-stop... It seemed to be celebrating the arrival of the New Year~

When the bell ringing officially ended, the scene of the Red and White Song Battle erupted with continuous applause and cheers, and fireworks and colored ribbons fell from the roof, and the festive atmosphere reached its peak...

Showa 61, finally officially arrived!

It was already winter, and the cold wind at night felt like ice cubes sliding across the face.

So when Naoki Nagayama and Akina went to the temple fair together, they wore bulky cotton-padded clothes and wore a tengu mask that covered half of their faces, and Naoki Nagayama was the same. The two looked as childish as children~

The two came out alone, letting the hard-working managers go to spend the New Year early~

The hood and mask hid Akina completely, and she wasn't worried about being recognized by the shoulder-to-shoulder people at the temple fair, so she let herself go a bit now...

"Naoki-san..." Akina changed her voice to a child's tone, pointing at the roasted sweet potato in the cold wind and acting like a spoiled child, "I want to eat that! Buy it for me!"

"..."

Naoki Nagayama naturally could only pay for it, and then watched Akina struggle to hold it with cotton gloves, taking a bite with satisfaction...

"Akina... eating sweet potato is no problem..." Naoki Nagayama took the opportunity to make a request, "But can you not speak in this strange tone..."

"Why? Isn't it cute?"

Akina asked with a smile, and then took another bite of the hot sweet potato, exhaling white gas in the cold wind.

"But if people hear it, they will think I'm some kind of hentai..."

Naoki Nagayama sighed. The pedestrians passing by him had already cast strange looks, perhaps thinking he was some kind of lolicon or weird uncle.

That's true, Akina is small and wearing so much, and leaning against him, she really looks like a student who isn't very old...

"Haha, then what should we do?" Akina laughed, and then smoothed the clothes on her belly, revealing the arc of her waist and abdomen... "How about showing the belly, so people know I'm pregnant, and then they know I'm not a student..."

"... Others will think I'm a hentai who got someone pregnant..."

"Hahaha~"

Akina laughed until she was trembling, but she just wouldn't change her voice...

And there's also the roasted sweet potato that was dripping with oil—she took three bites, and then threw it to Naoki Nagayama... saying things like "It's delicious, Naoki-san can't miss it"... and then excitedly went to buy taiyaki...

The New Year temple fair at Senso-ji Temple was lively and extraordinary. The lanterns at Kaminarimon extended all the way to the main hall. The people who came for the earliest New Year worship, those who came to visit the temple fair, those who came to watch performances, those who came to eat snacks... the bustling crowd made one feel that this wasn't midnight.

On the stage of the temple fair, there were even god-pleasing performances. Actors wearing shrine maiden clothes performed in the temple, which still gave people a feeling of time and space crossing...

Naoki Nagayama and Akina walked together in Senso-ji Temple, then walked out from the Nitenmon Gate, and strolled around the shopping street, buying many New Year gifts, before setting off for home.

Taxis are hard to catch at this time. They usually wait in places like Roppongi or Shinjuku for young men and women coming out of nightclubs...

However, relying on the ten-thousand-yen bill in his hand, Naoki Nagayama still grabbed a taxi. But even after getting in the car, Akina didn't take off her mask, and Naoki Nagayama wore a mask.

The taxi driver was a chatterbox. Seeing that the passengers were young and not short of money, he started chatting:

"Young people like the guests don't usually spend the New Year in nightclubs? You actually come to Senso-ji Temple?"

"Haha, are there many people in nightclubs?" Naoki Nagayama shifted the topic without a trace.

"Yeah, bars, KTVs, dance halls... there are young people playing everywhere... like in Roppongi, I heard there are guys who get drunk and throw money..."

The driver was already middle-aged, clearly a man of the Showa era who relied on diligence and hard work to support his family... When they were young, it was a time of hardship, and they weren't as dashing as the young people now,

"That original disco in Takadanobaba, the long queue at the door every day has to line up until three in the morning... I don't know how they can have so much money and leisure..."

"..."

Suddenly hearing the disco under his name, Naoki Nagayama was a bit novel, and Akina Nakamori beside him pinched his arm... Turning her head, she saw the curved eyes under the mask.

The disco was the place where the two first met~

"Maybe it's because the economy is developing well now..." Naoki Nagayama echoed, "Making money is easier~"

"Yeah, the stock market is rising too fiercely now... I couldn't help but invest a little in it..."

The driver seemed to be provoked to talk, and talked about the stories he had heard before,

"Speaking of which, there is a story circulating in the taxi company, I don't know if you have heard it..."

"? What?"

"Do you know that Naoki Nagayama?" The driver said, "The one who married Akina Nakamori..."

"Cough cough, know a little..."

"Hmm hmm, there is a story about him circulating in our taxi company..."

The driver's tone was a bit ethereal,

"I heard that guy actually discovered the news of the merger between two big companies, General and Fujitsu, based on the frequency of travel between the two companies when taking a taxi..."

"And then relying on this point, he made a lot of money in the stock market!"

"It's truly enviable... I've been driving a taxi for so many years, why didn't I discover it... maybe I could have made a lot of money too!"

"..."

Naoki Nagayama felt his arm was going to be pinched swollen by Akina... She didn't speak in order not to be recognized, but her excited mood made her use all her strength on her hands...

"That guy Naoki Nagayama, he should also be lucky..."

"Yeah yeah... I don't know when I can be a little luckier..."

"..." Naoki Nagayama heard the sound of Akina holding back laughter...

Fortunately, Chiyoda and Asakusa are not far, and they soon arrived. After stopping in front of the Mountain Cherry Garden, the taxi driver was still surprised:

"Stopping here? There is actually a residence nearby? I thought it was all a park..."

"Dormitory changed from a studio."

Naoki Nagayama perfunctorily brushed it off, got out of the car first, then went to the other side to open the door for Akina to get off... and then went to pay the fare~

"What a good husband!" The driver sighed, and then put away the fare, "Passenger-san, I wish you a Happy New Year~"

"Hahaha, Happy New Year~"

Naoki Nagayama had already walked to Akina's side, but looking at the taxi that was about to start, he suddenly had an impulse to walk to the car window, knock on the car window,

"???" The driver looked at the passenger outside the car window, very confused.

"Driver-san... didn't you say you hoped for good luck?!"

"???"

"Today, your good luck has come!!!" Naoki Nagayama wore a mask, but his eyes seemed to be shining, "Starting from this year, the stock market and the property market will have great luck in the next five years!!"

"If you have the courage, invest all your money in it! Buy it casually, it doesn't matter if you add leverage, but remember to take it out after five years!!!"

After saying this, Naoki Nagayama turned around, took Akina's arm, and walked slowly toward the Mountain Cherry Garden surrounded by dwarf bamboo...

"???!!!"

The taxi driver was stunned... silently shifted gears and started...

Being told strange things by a strange person on the New Year, it really makes people want to laugh...

The property market and the stock market are indeed rising, and it's not impossible to invest money... But... take it out after five years? Is he a god? And take it out after making money?

However... the eyes of that person just now were very bright, not like a liar...

"... I did make a profit at the end of this year... maybe I can try?"

"At worst, I'll just take it back~" ===== CHAPTER 977 =====