Chapter 796

PS：I fell asleep halfway through writing today, drool all over the keyboard, who knows where I dreamed off to—maybe Chéngdū?

August in Tokyo, hot as a steamer.

When 《Hand of God》 aired its fifth episode, ratings had already jumped to 39.1%‰.

All of Fuji was like a fire-lit firework tube, every day someone clutched the ratings report with tears in their eyes, Fuji Television President already drank champagne like water, people from the Production Bureau walked with wind, meeting anyone they'd ask "Did you watch the Monday 9 drama?" as if this show was filmed by their own family.

But what truly made industry insiders envious wasn't Uesugi Muneyuki's already-deified face, nor Shirakawa Mai sitting firmly on the throne of National Goddess, but two women originally unknown.

This year, 18-year-old Miyawaki Sakura, this idol-born little cherry blossom, her biggest resume before appearing in 《Hand of God》 was holding up signs in the variety show version. As Fujitō Sakura, the martial specialist of the Special Mission Division, she has few lines, little expression, each episode just wearing uniform standing behind Shirakawa Mai, occasionally rushing up to trade two blows with villains.

If replaced by a formally trained actor, this role wouldn't make a splash.

But she is the little cherry blossom, her face is her passport. That coolness with a hint of childishness, earnest yet heart-tugging, perfectly fits Fujitō Sakura, sticking together seamlessly.

National audience's evaluation of her is surprisingly tolerant:

"Not formally trained, being able to act this well is already good."

"Her gaze is very theatrical, she just hasn't learned to express it with words."

"Give her a bit more time, she'll be even better."

"For an idol to reach this point is already hard work."

What do idols fear most when transitioning? Audiences not buying in, but little cherry blossom's audience not only buys in, they actively find reasons for her.

The variety show comment section's style is: "Little cherry blossom standing beside Mai-sama doesn't lose at all", "The two standing together look like sisters", "The Special Mission Division's looks are too high, right?"

Some say it's audience affinity, some say it's luck, but true industry insiders all know one thing: those few fight scenes of hers, she did them all herself, no stunt double.

There was a scene requiring jumping down from two meters high to perform a "cherry blossom flying kick", the director said a stunt double could be used, she shook her head saying no need, jumped seven times, knees bruised black and blue, next day she was back at the theater as usual, smiling and greeting the audience.

Little cherry blossom's efforts, everyone saw them, in this situation even if she appropriately sold misery, everyone still bought in.

NHK anchor Eto Miyabi also became hot after playing the strangely deceased spy's widow wife in the first episode, she portrayed that contradictory feeling—grieving her husband's death, yet yearning to profit from this incident, yet resentful and disappointed with the whole system that drove her husband to death, yet tightly clinging to her "Martyr's Widow" identity to firmly bind herself to the benefits the system gave her.

That kind of wanting-and-wanting feeling, she performed it very well.

Dangerous, yet full of allure, earning unanimous praise from audiences.

"This is actually Eto-senpai!"

"Such a scary woman, but also feels so sexy!"

"If such a woman married into my home, I couldn't handle her, but doesn't this just prove Eto performed well?"

"Hey hey hey, you guys say Eto-san wouldn't be like this in real life?"

"Are you cursing Souda Sosuke to die early? Hey! You bastard!"

"Only widows have flavor, just like a treasury without guards has no challenge!"

"Hey, how exactly did she get this role? What about Sawajiri Erika?"

"Yeah, supposedly she had it before, now how is it gone? Could it be she had some dirty deal with Fuji?" Online discussions about Eto Miyabi erupted, making this NHK anchor blow up.

But this seems to have made her husband unhappy, in a recent post-match interview, someone brought this up to Souda Sosuke, Souda darkened his face and said he had nothing to do with this matter, he also wouldn't watch this drama.

"Then what do you want to say about Uesugi Muneyuki?" 《Weekly Bunshun》 reporter went crazy fanning the flames.

"I have nothing in common with someone who never watches baseball, and I also don't do autopsies." Souda replied helplessly and slightly contemptuously: "Our fields don't intersect, otherwise I think we could become friends, who knows? But for now, we can hardly sit together for a drink."

Everyone laughed, Uesugi Muneyuki indeed said in public and variety shows that he doesn't watch baseball, doesn't even understand the rules much, someone asked if he had any favorite games to watch, he said he prefers NBA, likes watching the old goat LeBron James and his arch-enemies, such as Howard, Garnett, JJ Barria, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Curry, Durant, Leonard, Jokić, Jamal Murray and new rival Edwards, etc.

He most likes watching LeBron and them play in the NBA Finals, he's a die-hard LeBron fan.

Unfortunately basketball is a niche hobby in Japan, interested people are indeed few.

And there is also someone who benefited from this matter, naturally it was Tei Reiji.

Tei Reiji is even more surprising than Miyawaki Sakura.

First, like little cherry blossom, Tei Reiji is not an actor, she is an anchor by background.

Fuji shoved her into the troupe to play the General Affairs Section policewoman, originally just a cherry-on-top matter—anchor acting, how well could she act? Nobody took it seriously.

But the role she played, the General Affairs Section policewoman appears less than eight minutes per episode, speaks no more than twenty lines, either delivering documents or serving tea.

Yet just these eight minutes, she firmly secured the position of "Fuji's house anchor".

Not because she acted exceptionally well, but because she standing there, is that very role.

Dignified and proper, neither competing nor rushing, like a cup of mineral water just right to the mouth—drinking it has no strong flavor, but without her, you'd feel something missing. She effortlessly displays her beauty and professional capability as an anchor, plus her easy interaction with Uesugi Muneyuki, various actions connecting Mai Xuejie and Metropolitan Police Department business, and when introducing case details she comes to read, audiences all remembered her.

Variety invitations poured in, advertising contracts piled up on the table, even Fuji insiders started calling her "Tei Reiji of the 5" and "Our Tei Reiji".

This "we" three words, weighty as a mountain.

And now, our house anchor sits on the green room sofa, heart pounding fast as if about to burst from her throat.

The green room is deep in Fuji Tower, at the end of a stairway hallway turn, a door without a sign, push open and enter, inside arranged like a high-end hotel room.

Sofa, coffee table, alcohol cabinet, a wide bed, bedsheet is deep gray, changed daily.

Here there is no surveillance, no windows, soundproofed so well that shouting till your throat breaks outside can't be heard.

Fuji uses this place for what, insiders know full well, but nobody has ever spoken of it.

Tei Reiji came after finishing recording the program in the afternoon.

She locked herself in the green room, began special preparation.

When she recorded the program today, the situation was somewhat special.

Summer season, though inside has air conditioning it's still quite stuffy, our house anchor confirmed Uesugi Muneyuki would come, so she came with a little bit of scheming.

Throughout the entire program recording process, she only had that quenched-fire silver diamond black egret lace summer party dress against her skin, and that pair of Wolford ultra-sheer flesh-toned opaque pantyhose wrapping her legs, plus a pair of simple white pointed-toe slim-heel high heels.

This secret hidden beneath her dignified appearance, hidden in the slight tightening of her breath when smiling at the camera, hidden in the moment when standing up her skirt hem lightly brushes her thigh.

Nobody knows, if Uesugi Muneyuki doesn't come, she naturally wouldn't do this.

But Uesugi Muneyuki will come.

She knows this, because every time he finishes recording, he stays in there a while, handles some miscellaneous matters, then comes to the green room, and of those at least eight out of ten times she is the one receiving him.

But this isn't enough, Tei Reiji hopes Uesugi comes here ten times, ten times all specifically requesting her!

The female anchors inside, all of whom have used Uesugi, say it's good!

The skirt was something she picked out over an entire week.

Quenched silver diamond black egret, the name is flowery and confusing, but once worn, you know why it's called that.

The fabric is an extremely fine velvet blend, looking deep black from afar, but up close you can see fine silver threads woven in, like starlight crushed in the night sky.

The hem is three finger-widths above the knee, neither long nor short, just enough to reveal a section of thigh.

The neckline is a V, neither deep nor shallow, exposing a small patch of skin below the collarbone, the waist is tightly cinched, squeezing her already slim waist into a graspable span. Overall style is dignified, proper, and within bounds—wear it to any formal occasion and no one will glance twice. But if someone knew she wore nothing under the skirt, then this dress wouldn't be dignified—it would be an invitation.

The stockings are Wolford's, a brand that needs no explanation—just the price is enough to make ordinary people gasp. She chose this pair: ultra-thin nude matte, so thin that when worn on the legs, unless you look closely, you can't tell she's wearing stockings at all.

But that faint sheen, that visual effect making legs look smoother, finer, and longer, plus the delicate wrinkle at the ankle—this is where the value of these stockings lies.

She stood up, looked at her legs in the full-length mirror—one by one, straight, long, under the light glowing with a soft matte sheen, beautiful. She nodded in satisfaction, bent over, and slipped on those Valentino high heels.

Nude, thin heel, no extra decoration on the upper, only an extremely fine metal clasp at the front.

The shoe opening is very shallow; once worn, the toes and top of the foot wrapped in stockings are almost entirely exposed, and the delicate curve at the ankle is pulled even more beautifully by the heel.

She finally checked her makeup once over—standard light makeup, very light.

Her makeup for today's recording is just like this—no deliberate heavying, no intentional changes.

What she wants is this effect: "I'm not dressing up specially for you, I just happen to look this good today"—hair down, draped over her shoulders, ends slightly curled, complementing her standard, dignified face that makes people think at first glance, "This is Fuji's main female anchor." She sat on the sofa, picked up her phone, glanced at it, then turned it off and placed it on the coffee table, took a deep breath, and then she heard footsteps in the hallway.

When Uesugi Muneyuki pushed the door open and entered, Tei Reiji was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine.

Not staged—she was genuinely reading it, so nervous she needed to do something to distract herself; the magazine was one she'd randomly picked up from the coffee table, and the page she turned to was a home advertisement—she hadn't absorbed a single word.

At the exact moment the door opened, she lifted her head, revealing a perfectly appropriate smile—not the kind practiced hundreds of times in front of the camera, but the kind that says, "Ah, you're here, I've been waiting a while," with a touch of laziness and a touch of delight.

"Teacher Uesugi, thank you for your hard work," she said, her voice somewhat lower than usual.

Uesugi Muneyuki closed the door, leaned against it, and looked at her.

Today, after finishing his recording, he wore his own clothes: a deep gray shirt, sleeves rolled to the forearms, revealing a solid wrist. He didn't speak immediately, just looked at her—from face to neck, from neck to collarbone, from collarbone to the section of calf wrapped in stockings below the hem, finally resting on the heel of those Valentino shoes.

Tei Reiji felt her heart race under his gaze, but her face still maintained that smile.

She put down the magazine, stood up, and walked two steps toward him. The high heels made no sound on the carpet, only the hem swaying slightly; she planted herself before him, tilted her head up, and looked at him.

"Uesugi-san," Tei Host said softly: "Today……thank you for your hard work? Would you like me to……"

Uesugi Muneyuki looked at her, his gaze moving from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes, then he reached out, his fingertips lightly touching her earlobe: "Are you helping me, or am I helping you? Our Tei Host?"

Tei Reiji's breathing instantly went awry.

His hand slid from her earlobe to behind her ear, following the curve of her neck downward, his fingertips brushing the edge of her neckline, his fingers stopping there, not going further, just lightly rubbing that small patch of skin with his finger pads.

Tei Reiji closed her eyes, feeling her rationality melt away bit by bit.

"Uesugi, our time is precious……" Tei Host said softly: "You're so busy……"

Uesugi Muneyuki's mouth corner lifted slightly.

His hand moved from her neckline to her chin, gently pinching it, lifting her face so it faced him directly.

"Tei Reiji," he called her full name, his voice not loud, but in the quiet room as clear as a water droplet falling on a lake.

Tei Reiji's eyelashes twitched once.

"You today," his thumb lightly brushed her lower lip: "Is there something you haven't told me?"

Tei Reiji's face instantly reddened.

She took a deep breath, buried her face in his chest. Her voice was muffled, as if coming from far away, she said shyly: "……During today's recording, I kept thinking of you, Muneyuki, so I heard you like……"

She couldn't go on, Uesugi Muneyuki said nothing, just reached out, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her gently into his embrace.

His hand rested on her waist, through the thin velvet fabric, he examined it thoroughly, then let out a soft breath—she could feel the warmth of his palm.

Then he lowered his head, lips touching her ear, and whispered softly: "So?"

Tei Reiji felt her whole body trembling with excitement, she lifted her head, looked into his eyes.

Don't you like it then?

Of course I do! My Tei Host~

You're so bad!

Naturally, I've got rave reviews for this aspect of Fuji! Especially with you, I'm very satisfied."

In their brief eye contact, Tei Reiji bit her lip, rose onto her toes, leaned to his ear, voice so soft it was like a mosquito's hum: "So……Teacher Uesugi, would you like to……personally check?"

Her face was already flushed completely.

Uesugi Muneyuki laughed—that laugh was so soft it was almost inaudible, but his chest vibrated once, pressed against his Tei Reiji, she felt it, his hand slid from her waist to her hips, tightened, and lifted her up.

Tei Reiji let out a delighted cry, happily wrapped her arms around his neck, his hand supported her knee bend, fingertips just touching the edge of those Wolford stockings, his thumb lightly rubbed a few times on the delicate skin wrapped in the stockings, Tei Reiji couldn't help but let out a delighted sigh: "My stockings, compared to Haeora's……how are they?"

"Reiji." He called her name again, this time without the surname, only the given name.

Tei Reiji's ears instantly turned red: "Being called like this, I like it~ Uesugi, you always dislike calling me by name in front of outsiders, but at least in the green room, call me like this? Last time in Sekizenkan, someone cut in……this time you'd better make it up to me double!"

"If you really want it that way."

I am the double compensation divider line one

Outside the window, August Tokyo was as hot as a steamer.

People came and went in the Scene Building, occasionally someone passed in the outside hallway, footsteps and voices barely transmitted through the thick walls, muffled like echoes from another world.

And on the deep gray bedsheet in the green room, Tei Reiji's quenched silver diamond black egret skirt hem was already crumpled into a ball, Wolford stockings wrapped legs entwined around Uesugi Muneyuki's waist, that pair of Valentino high heels had somehow lost one, lying lonely on the carpet, toe pointing up, like a drunkard holding an empty cup.

Tei Reiji closed her eyes, feeling herself like ice cream melting under summer sun, like ice cubes dropped into warm liquor, starting to blur at the edges, beginning to collapse at the surface, finally becoming a pool of sweet, scalding, shapeless liquid.

Her fingers clutched Uesugi Muneyuki's shirt collar, clenched until her knuckles whitened, the sound coming from her mouth no longer like her own. She wanted to say something, but every syllable reaching her lips was swallowed by his kiss.

The cicada cries outside the window were deafening, like the sound of the entire summer.

From happening to meet in the Scene Building during a lockdown and rising as a rookie anchor, to now being Fuji's main female lead.

Fuji gave Tei Host a score, Uesugi Muneyuki gave Tei Host a score, Tei Host gave herself a score and gave Uesugi Muneyuki a score.

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