Chapter 85

As September arrived, the autumn of Showa 57 was almost upon them.

The scorching heat of summer, which often soared above 30 degrees, was gradually fading away.

Occasional typhoons and the accompanying heavy rains were making the weather in Tokyo cooler day by day.

Although the ground was not yet covered with fallen leaves, the maple leaves were slowly turning red,

and the leaves of deciduous trees were beginning to wither.

However, this was the season of fruit abundance, and the prices of fruits in the stores had dropped significantly, allowing many families who had previously been reluctant to indulge to enjoy them to their heart's content.

...

The process of accepting the remaining members of the Neko Band went smoothly, and even the Neko Band brand was reclaimed without much cost. It seemed that the BURNING agency had completely lost faith in the girl group.

Fangcun Daoyou, who had been their former boss and the one who helped them gain fame, was now the only option for the three artists—Ohno Mihina, Akiyama Hisa, and Kiriya Aya—who had been abandoned by the BURNING agency.

During this period, they were constantly running errands with Fangcun Daoyou, re-connecting with their former underground concert fans. However, the results were average, as the previous management had abandoned these fans, and without a stroke of luck, it seemed difficult to return to their peak.

On the other hand, Ido Shuichi's filming was not going smoothly. He often came to drink with Nagayama Naoki, and while they were drinking, he would complain about the producer, calling him old-fashioned and out of touch with the times. It seemed there were many conflicts during the filming process.

Nagayama Naoki, on the other hand, finally waited for the release of "Natsu no Niwa" (Summer Garden).

He bought over ten copies as soon as it was released and sent one to everyone he knew.

Ido Shuichi and Fangcun Daoyou brought the books directly, and the group was about to go out for drinks.

"Naoki-san, is this really the story you wrote?" Fangcun Daoyou was surprised after browsing through some of the content. "You're not even 20, and you don't have kids yet. How can you observe the world so clearly?"

"Daoyou-san, age and insight are not the same thing," Nagayama Naoki countered. "Many people live for 70 or 80 years and are just as clueless as they were in their teens."

"Yoshi, that's a good point!" Ido Shuichi seemed to be struck by something. "Our producer is one of those clueless old men!"

"Ha ha ha, Shuichi-san, you're always talking about this producer these days."

"I didn't expect old-school producers to be so difficult to deal with..."

As a young director who had entered the TV drama industry halfway through his career, he was still not fully trusted by the old-school producers, given his lack of works and reputation in the TV drama industry.

"Shuichi-san, there's no way around it. It's like when new employees first join a company; they have to endure the 'care' of their seniors," Fangcun Daoyou said in a tone typical of a long-time employee.

"Do you think I started shooting GG just for the sake of it? I couldn't accept this damn corporate culture!"

"An industry that should be the most free and creative is filled with so many old-fashioned people who try to grind the life out of young people..."

Ido Shuichi took a sip of his drink; he had been feeling quite depressed lately.

"Shuichi-san, try to look at it from another angle. You're just there to learn the old-school techniques and build connections. Just follow the producer's instructions during filming," Nagayama Naoki tried to console him.

"Kekkoshii, even so, I want to make good works!"

For middle-aged men, the complaints at the dinner table were just a way to vent their daily frustrations. After sobering up, they would still do what they needed to do.

...

After a few drinks, the two older men, who were not very chivalrous, actually got the minor drunk!

If this happened in the future, this plot point would be enough for social media to write dozens of articles with over 100,000 views...

Fortunately, they hadn't driven before drinking. Nagayama Naoki took a taxi home,

applied a hot towel to his face, and drank a cup of tea, finally regaining some clarity.

"I can't keep drinking like this. It's a waste to ruin a young and healthy body with drinking."

He turned on the TV, and as usual, it was showing some strange variety shows and celebrity pranks. He couldn't help but marvel at the openness of Japanese variety shows; if this were in his home country, they would have been censored long ago...

Nagayama Naoki sipped his tea and watched the scary programs on TV with a critical eye, passing the time before bed.

"Ring ring~"

Suddenly, the phone rang!

Nagayama Naoki, who was watching a scary show, almost knocked over his teacup... No wonder so many people dislike phone calls!

Nagayama Naoki thought about whether he should produce "Ringu" and have the TV station call viewers during the broadcast.

"Moshi moshi, this is the Nagayama household."

"Onii-san~ It's Tsuruko!"

"Ah, it's Tsuruko. You scared me by calling so late..."

"Ha ha, I knew it would scare you! I picked this time on purpose!"

"...... Tsuruko..."

"Nani? Nani?" Nagayama Naoki could almost see Tsuruko shaking her head in triumph, which meant "What can you do about it?"

"Tsuruko, if you can't give me a good reason! This year's Christmas gift... hehehe"

"Tsk, you're just using gifts to threaten me~ I'm not afraid~" Her tone suddenly became weaker, "We received the novel 'Natsu no Niwa' that you sent. Okaasan asked me to find out what it's about~"

"What do you mean, 'what's it about?' Didn't I write it in the postcard?"

"Eh? The postcard says, 'Father and Mother, I published a novel and sent a few copies back. It's suitable for kids Tsuruko's age to read~' That's too vague to explain anything.

And what do you mean, 'suitable for kids Tsuruko's age to read?' I'm already a high school student, only three years younger than you, baka!"

"You're still a childish ghost who calls in the middle of the night to scare people..."

"Kekkoshii, baka!" Tsuruko, unable to find a counter-argument, grumbled in frustration.

"Alright, alright, Tsuruko. I've been working on a novel recently, and the publisher thought it was good enough to release it. So I bought a few copies to give to friends and family~"

"So, it's really your novel? Isn't the author 'Niwaki'?"

"Aru, that's a pen name!"

"Tsk~ Don't think you're something special just because you wrote a novel. I can write a dozen for you in no time!"

"Hehe~ Tsuruko is so smart~ Let me talk to Mother~"

Usually, when communicating with the family, he would talk to his mother. Unless it was a formal matter or something important, conversations between father and son were always brief.

He then talked to his mother for over half an hour. Nagayama Nanae's voice was filled with indescribable joy. Having a writer in the family was a matter of great pride in Japan, even more so than having a son become a millionaire.

Even though Tsuruko spoke with a tone of disdain, she brought the novel to school the next day to share with her classmates, looking proud.

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