novelraw Chapter 109: The Nohara family goes back to lay out plans! Nohara Hiroshi is also laying out plans!
Chapter 109: The Nohara family goes back to lay out plans! Nohara Hiroshi is also laying out plans!
At the end of July, Tokyo's summer heat was like an invisible giant beast, swallowing the entire city into its belly, making even the asphalt roads seem slightly soft from roasting.
Four or five days had passed since the Nohara family's sudden "Tokyo Great Adventure". That noise and warmth belonging to family receded quietly like waves after a tide, leaving only circles of warm ripples in Nohara Hiroshi's heart lake.
In front of that cold ATM machine, Nohara Hiroshi wore a low-pulled cap and a pair of sunglasses. On that small electronic screen, he unhurriedly inputted a string of numbers long enough to make any salaryman feel suffocated.
Twenty million yen.
This huge sum of money, enough to buy hectares of fertile farmland in Omagari City, Akita Prefecture, was transferred by him to his big brother Nohara Semashi's account, calmly and indifferently.
The convenience of mobile phones was demonstrated perfectly at this moment. Almost exactly a second after the transfer was complete, that brand new Panasonic P100 vibrated.
On the screen, four characters were displayed: "Aniki (Big Brother) Semashi".
"Hello, Hiroshi? The money... I received the money!" From the other end of the phone, Big Brother Nohara Semashi's voice came through, so shocked that he was somewhat stammering: "You... you kid, you're playing way too big! With so much money, what if... what if we lose it?"
"We won't lose." Nohara Hiroshi's voice was calm, carrying a power that could stabilize people's minds: "Big Brother, you only need to remember, right now, we are using the bank's money to generate our own money. This is a merchant's mindset, you have to slowly learn it."
The other end of the phone fell silent for a moment, followed by Nohara Semashi's helpless, bitter laugh: "Merchant... I'm just a farmer. But, I must say, those guys from the Agricultural Cooperative look at me differently recently. At the meeting yesterday, they even treated me as a 'Model of Returning Home to Start a Business' and praised me heavily in front of the whole village. Calling me a model farmer who 'doesn't forget his roots' and 'has a sense of responsibility'. My face turned red listening to it, isn't this all thanks to you?""Then just keep acting as this 'model'." Nohara Hiroshi chuckled softly: "How is the land buying going?"
"Very fast! Now many young people in the village run to the city, leaving the family land deserted. Hearing that someone wants to buy, they are all rushing to sell it to me one by one. The price is also cheap. Hearing that a Kabushiki Gaisha (Corporation) is going to be set up, the government side is also giving green lights all the way. They even said they could approve a low-interest loan for me. I... I didn't dare to take it."
"Take it! Why not take it?" Nohara Hiroshi's tone allowed no room for interference: "Remember, Big Brother, being able to use other people's money to make money is the most brilliant business. The interest on the loan is a drop in the bucket compared to our future profits."
Hanging up the phone, Nohara Hiroshi looked at the still-astoundingly long account balance on the ATM screen, the corners of his mouth curling up even more.
The advertising revenue shares from "Tales of the Unusual" and "Yamishibai: True Third Season", like two never-drying golden rivers, were continuously flowing into his wealth territory.
He roughly estimated that once "Kasou Taishou" officially aired, the income from naming rights and various product placements alone would be enough for his monthly income to easily break through the five million yen mark.
Five million yen.
In this era, it was equivalent to being able to easily buy a brand new mid-range Toyota sedan every month.
Converted to the purchasing power of later generations, it was also enough for any urban white-collar worker to achieve financial freedom.
But this was far from enough.
Nohara Hiroshi's ambition had long crossed this small pond, casting towards that vaster sea of stars named capital.
What he wanted was ten million a month, even... one hundred million!
After all, in his past life in Hua Xia, those famous film and television investors, or even movie stars, or the companies and studios they owned, whether investing in films or creating variety shows, the money flowed into their pockets like running water.
Of course, there was a lot of shady business involved.
But who says...
There was no shady business in Neon?
Anyway, earning money is earning money no matter how you do it.
And that about-to-be-born "Kasou Taishou" would be his first fulcrum to pry the lever of this era.
...
TV Tokyo, Studio 3.
Rather than calling this place a studio, it was more like an abandoned giant warehouse.
That was a massive auditorium capable of holding thousands of audience members. The dome was so high it seemed to touch the clouds. Rows of audience seats covered with white dust cloths stood silently in the dim lighting, like silent tombstones.
The air was permeated with a unique scent mixing old wood, dust, and metal. With every breath, one could almost smell the forgotten glory belonging to the previous era.
Here was once an exclusive venue where TV Tokyo held large-scale galas and singing competitions, but with the completion of newer, more modernized broadcasting buildings, it gradually became abandoned, turning into a forgotten corner only occasionally used in certain variety show projects.
And now, this forgotten corner, due to the arrival of one person, rejuvenated with vitality.
"Section Chief!"
When Nohara Hiroshi's figure appeared at the auditorium entrance, Tanaka Kei, who had been waiting here for a long time, briskly walked up like a soldier seeing his backbone. On that face which had long washed away all decadence, an unsuppressable excitement and fanaticism was written.
Behind him, that previously disbanded variety show team, together with those twenty-plus Kanto Faction actors personally selected by Nohara Hiroshi, were currently like a fully assembled army, lined up neatly, staring fixedly with burning gazes at their overly young new commander in chief.
"Good afternoon, Section Chief Nohara!"
The uniform greeting echoed within this empty auditorium.
Nohara Hiroshi nodded calmly. His gaze swept over this group of people whose mental outlook had entirely renewed, that look like an experienced general inspecting his troops.
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes! All props, lighting, and camera positions have been fully set up according to your manuscript!" Tanaka Kei's voice was full of booming vigor.
"Very good." Nohara Hiroshi didn't spout extra nonsense. He patted Tanaka Kei's shoulder, that voice carrying an unquestionable power: "Then let's begin. Let everyone see exactly what level our Kanto Faction's variety show is at."
With an order given, the entire dead auditorium instantly came alive.
The huge stage background board was slowly raised, revealing the pure black curtain beneath it, capable of swallowing all light.
Dozens of high-power stage spotlights, like sleeping giant eyes, lit up one by one, casting beams of light, bright or dim, full of dramatic tension.
The actors quickly got into position. On their faces, there was not the slightest nervousness or unease, only a kind of confident calmness unique to being guided by an absolutely clear script.
They were too familiar with this feeling.
On the set of "Tales of the Unusual", they had already experienced it once.
They knew, what they had to do was not improvise or adapt on the spot.
Instead, they had to perfectly replicate every single punchline and every single gag already designed in that young man's mind, without the slightest deviation.
"First scene! 'Playing Bowling'! Action!"
Following Tanaka Kei's command, that variety show debut which, in the eyes of outsiders, was filled with unknowns and challenges, officially kicked off in an almost industrialized, assembly-line-like precision operation.
...
An hour later, when the filming of the last creative shot "Human Typewriter" was completed, the entire crew was still immersed in that floating-clouds-and-flowing-water-like smoothness and efficiency, unable to extricate themselves for a long time.
"Too... too fast..." A young script supervisor, looking at the timer in his hand, muttered to himself, his look as if watching a miracle that just happened right before his eyes: "One hour... we actually finished filming a full ten creative short videos?"
"More than just fast!" An old fellow in charge of lighting nearby was also flushed with excitement: "You guys didn't see! Just now, the 'pouring beer' segment, the lighting hitting from bottom to top, combined with the dry ice effect, that visual was simply unparalleled! I've done lighting for twenty years, and I've never seen it played like this!"
"This is all thanks to Section Chief Nohara Hiroshi! We all strictly followed the manuscript he provided for filming! I didn't expect the results to be so good!" The others were also sighing endlessly with emotion.
Including Tanaka Kei.
At this moment, Tanaka Kei was looking at the playback on the monitor, his face written full of undisguised ecstasy and excitement.
He quickly walked up to Nohara Hiroshi, that posture like a student eager to show off his perfect-score test paper to his teacher.
"Section Chief! Look! This effect... is simply... simply ten times better than we imagined!"
Nohara Hiroshi merely watched calmly, the corner of his mouth curling up into a satisfied arc.
"Very good." Nohara Hiroshi praised.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
But these were also within his expectations. After all, the manuscript itself was drawn according to the "Kasou Taishou" from his past life. The variety show over there itself already consisted of perfectly edited shots.
Copied over once by him, this copycat.
Could the effect shown now possibly be bad?
However, amidst this atmosphere filled with the joy of victory, two figures full of discordant notes arrived uninvited, like two flies smelling blood.
"Yo, isn't this our Kanto Faction's variety show genius, Great Director Tanaka?"
A voice full of contempt and disdainful ridicule came from the entrance of the auditorium.
Yasui Takashi and Ito Choan, these two variety show aces of the Tokyo Faction, were walking unhurriedly with their hands behind their backs, pacing in like two kings inspecting their territory.
Their gazes contemptuously swept over this slightly old venue, swept over those defeated soldiers whose faces still carried the flush of excitement, and finally landed on Tanaka Kei, who was enthusiastically reporting his work to Nohara Hiroshi.
That look was like watching a ridiculous child who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, trying to play house in front of adults.
"What? Finished filming so quickly?" Yasui Takashi shook the glittering gold Rolex on his wrist. On his handsome and unrestrained face hung an amused smile: "I thought you'd at least dilly-dally here for a week. It seems this kindergarten-level playing house game truly... doesn't have much technical content ah."
"Yasui! You—!"
Tanaka Kei's face instantly flushed to the color of pork liver. He sharply turned his body, those eyes that were just burning with the flame of hope instantly spewing monstrous anger from being publicly humiliated by his nemesis!
He would never forget, back then, it was exactly these two guys who joined forces to belittle his painstakingly created project "Saturday! Let's Rush Rush Rush!" in front of the higher-ups until it was worthless!
It was exactly these two guys who used their connections in the Variety Show Department to trip him up everywhere, dealing devastating blows to his program's promotion and scheduling!
This hatred, this resentment, had long penetrated his bones!
However, before his about-to-erupt anger could fully detonate, a hand gently pressed onto his shoulder.
Unknowingly, Nohara Hiroshi was already standing beside him.
He didn't even look at those two jumping clowns, but calmly said to Tanaka Kei: "Let's go, Director Tanaka. We'll go back and edit the footage."
He paused, a trace of icy, god-looking-down-on-ants-like indifference flashing in those clear eyes.
"After all, it will officially air next month. At that time, let's use the viewership ratings to have a real showdown with some self-righteous fellows."
These words were spoken calmly and indifferently, yet they felt like an invisible slap, fiercely slapping the faces of Yasui Takashi and Ito Choan.
The smiles on the two men's faces instantly stiffened.
They looked at that young man who didn't even bother to look them in the eye, looked at his upright and calm back. That absolute confidence belonging to an ace actually uncontrollably showed a slight waver.
"Hmph, deliberately making things look mysterious." Yasui Takashi coldly snorted, but his voice carried a few traces of weak-centered bravado that even he himself didn't realize.
Ito Choan just pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose bridge. Those sharp eyes stared deadly in the direction Nohara Hiroshi had left, an elusive, fierce look flashing behind the lenses.
He always felt that things seemed to be crazily sliding in a direction they completely couldn't predict.
"Let's go." He said in a deep voice to Yasui Takashi beside him: "We need to go see Deputy Bureau Chief Takada. This Nohara Hiroshi... perhaps, is even harder to deal with than we imagined."
...
When those two figures full of wariness disappeared at the auditorium door, the corner of Nohara Hiroshi's mouth finally curved into a cold arc.
Of course he knew that old fox Takada Toshihide had already begun his 'kill with praise' plan.
Recently, in major media outlets, those cloying articles praising him to the skies as the "Savior of Variety Shows" and the "God of Cross-border" were coming one after another, as if they cost nothing.
That posture was as if wanting to immediately push him onto a guillotine named 'Myth'.
Unfortunately, they miscalculated.
They thought what they were facing was just a fledgling, arrogant young man.
They didn't know at all, their true opponent was a dimensional-striker possessing an entire thirty-year history of another world's variety show development.
Kill with praise?
Nohara Hiroshi let out a disdainful cold sneer in his heart.
Just relying on these unpresentable little tricks of theirs, how are they fit to 'kill with praise'?
It's a bit funny.
Wait until next month, wait until that nationwide carnival personally directed by him, named "Kasou Taishou", officially raises its curtain.
They will know what is called true despair.