Crossing over, and then being blocked by a rich JK.

Chapter 559 No need to worry about him
Pushing open the door to the private room, everyone filed in, found a comfortable spot to sit down, and then started ordering songs.

Of course, some people also rush to the fruit plate to consume vitamin C.

"That one?"

"Ah."

After exchanging a few words in hushed tones, Aragaki Yumezuki then requested a song called "Calendula" for her husband.

"They should at least have tried to cover it up."

Watanabe Yu glanced at the two people standing in front of the karaoke machine and made a comment.

He didn't know what to say to them anymore, even though they'd already completely fallen out. Shouldn't they at least maintain a semblance of politeness at a time like this? Everyone was still there; wasn't this just a blatant conspiracy?
"For Aragaki Yumezuki, the fact that she and Risa don't get along is already a fait accompli, and everyone in the class knows it, so she doesn't even think about hiding it."

Orihime Asada answered his question with a calm expression, and then added her analysis.

"Moreover, in her view, she has already lost face, so she certainly won't consider other people's feelings now; she must be thinking about how to quickly regain her face."

In previous years, Aragaki Yumezuki relied heavily on her husband, Onizuka Risa.

Her husband, whom she was so proud of, was suddenly overshadowed by Watanabe, which must have made her feel quite disappointed.

And when this disparity manifests itself, it's what we feel right now.

Anyone could see the anxiety and urgency, and the overflowing jealousy that the person involved might not have realized.

"Should I go along with them and request a song too?"

Watanabe Yu turned his head and asked with a smile.

Since Risa and Aragaki Yumezuki have already clashed, and the latter has issued a challenge, it's not surprising that he's going up to request a song now.

"It's possible, and it makes sense from both a moral and logical standpoint, but are you sure you want to do it?"

Although she is indeed closer to Risa, it doesn't mean she will unconditionally side with Risa, especially when Risa's choices would cause trouble for those who help her. In that case, she would be even more likely to 'side outsiders'.

"We're already here, aren't we?"

Watanabe Yu shrugged and gave a lighthearted reply.

If he hadn't been mentally prepared for this, he wouldn't have come with Risa.

"What you said..."

Orihime Asada fell silent, then sighed.

“In other people’s eyes, you’re standing up for love, but you’ll have a lot of ‘trouble’ afterward, like having to accompany Risa to every class reunion.”

After saying that, she turned to look at her friend who had been silent all along, giving the latter a look that said, "You really know how to find someone."

Risa was indeed lucky; she actually found someone willing to gossip with her.

Even if it's not out of love.

"We'll talk about the future later."

Watanabe Yu shook his head indifferently.

He doesn't care about these things.

To put it bluntly, even if he has to be there every time Risa goes on a date, it will only be once or twice a year, which is not a big problem at all.

"And I don't care at all what other people think of me."

He chuckled and then added this sentence.

If you want to be seen as 'good' in the eyes of others, you will inevitably have to endure a lot of 'bad' things in private.

People who know where they want to go and what they are willing to pay for it will not care about the opinions and views of others.

Moreover, when you move forward with a clear goal, the way others perceive you will naturally change.

Even if you don't care about their opinions, and you don't deliberately try to make them think that you are that kind of person.

But this is actually a double-edged sword. People who have a clear goal from the beginning often find it difficult to achieve their goal, especially when the goal itself is difficult to achieve.

But this isn't some grand theory; it's just his personal experience before he traveled through time.

Goals are important, but not that important. At least when you're on your way to a goal, don't think about how long it will take to achieve it.

The more precise the date is, the greater the probability of failure.

"Ok."

Upon hearing this, Orihime Asada said nothing more, raised her chin, and gestured for him to go and select a song.

Watanabe has already said so much; if she tries to stop him, wouldn't she just be the kind of person who scolds their own child first after the child is bullied at school?
She would never say anything like, "Why do other people bully you instead of others?" and she would never do anything like that.

Just as Watanabe Yu had said earlier, after Aragaki Yumezuki finished selecting the song, the former turned around and looked in their direction.

The implication couldn't be clearer.

However, after Watanabe Yuu requested a song and placed it on the Marigold menu they had ordered, the provocative look on Aragaki Yumezuki's face disappeared, replaced by her signature fake smile.

"No, you're really going to let Watanabe go like that? You're that confident? Aren't you afraid he'll lose face???"

Seeing Watanabe Yu's relaxed and carefree expression, Asada Orihime took the initiative to start a conversation.

Although she didn't particularly like Aragaki Yumezuki, her husband's singing skills were indeed quite good. She had studied vocal music for a period of time in high school and knew that he must have received systematic training.

Without going into too much detail, judging from his performance, he must be at the level of a karaoke star, and he could even have won first prize on stage during his student days.

Under this premise, if Watanabe Yu is merely a fan, he will suffer a great loss.

Even after acting out of spite, he took the initiative to greet her and ended up losing face.

To make a simple analogy, this is equivalent to making a bold statement in advance, and then being easily manipulated by others.

From any perspective, this is not a wise move.

"Didn't I tell you? You don't need to worry about him. You just need to remember one thing: anyone can make mistakes when it comes to music, but he won't."

Risa Yasuhara shook her head, signaling her friend not to be nervous, and then confidently uttered those words.

It's just that the occasion and time didn't allow it; otherwise, she really would have asked Watanabe for 'authorization' and then had a proper chat with Orihime about Jay.

Do you even understand the talent of a new singer whose popularity has skyrocketed?
"Really?"

Orihime Asada was a little suspicious, because Risa hadn't answered when they had talked about this before.

Well, to be precise, it was because other people joined the conversation that Risa didn't have a suitable opportunity to answer.

However, judging from Risa's answer now, she was somewhat skeptical.

This is no less than someone telling you that their relative is a big shot who's always on the news.

Isn't this just pure nonsense?

"real."

Risa Yasuhara nodded, giving an affirmative answer.

"……Fine."

Seeing how serious her expression was, Asada Orihime nodded. She knew that Risa wouldn't joke about something like this.

So, just trust her.

*
At the same time, in the president's office of Qiuye Bookstore.

Before leaving get off work, Kitashin Ichiro rubbed his swollen nose and suddenly realized that he was working too hard as the company president.

In other companies, this kind of thing is handled by the author's editor, not by the company president personally selecting it.

However, Watanabe is not just any author, nor is he just any publisher. He has to take care of the film and television copyright licensing contract for his niece's boyfriend, and at the very least, he has to choose one that offers the most money and has relatively few requirements.

However, he never expected that the directors in the industry would fight so fiercely over the copyright of "White Night Walking," with each one offering a higher price than the last.

But now they've all calmed down and haven't rashly raised the price again, choosing to let the bookstore make the decision.

However, he felt that the price they offered was already their limit. No matter how promising and commercially valuable a subject is, the company's funding is not unlimited.

For most large companies, no matter how commercially valuable the adapted material is, or how well the analysis report is written, they will still consider it carefully.

The results achieved after the adaptation are yet to be realized, so even with the opinions of professionals as a reference, they will be extremely cautious when giving a price that exceeds the budget.

"In terms of money, they're all offering about the same amount. Which one do you think you should choose, boss?"

Thus, Akie Kuriyama's words interrupted Kitashin Ichiro's thoughts.

As Watanabe Yu's editor, she felt that these contracts were all pretty much the same, and the required terms were also similar, with only some discrepancies in the details.

Some wanted Watanabe Yu to appear on camera for promotional purposes, while others felt that online promotion was sufficient.

"Put the highest bidder first."

Despite his thoughts being disrupted, Kitashin Ichiro wasn't angry. He put down the contract in his hand and looked up at the unattended light shining white light above him.

The bright white light calmed his thoughts, but also brought on a wave of drowsiness.

"If we filter them this way, then only five companies will remain."

As she spoke, Akie Kuriyama looked down and sifted out the five contracts from the pile in front of her.

"Secondly, we choose those with relatively lenient conditions, which means that Watanabe himself does not need to appear on camera."

Kita Shinichiro then stated his requirements.

However, it was less of his request and more of his niece's request.

Heaven knows what kind of spell that kid cast on Ayana; whatever he says, his niece does.

You should know that Ayana wasn't like this before; her highest priority was always herself.

That's why he repeatedly ran into obstacles when he tried to get to know Ayana.

Because this girl and her mother have exactly the same temperament, so stubborn that there's nothing you can do about it.

"Then there are three left. If we only prioritize online promotion without the person appearing on camera, then there are eight left."

Kuriyama Akie raised her eyebrows and met her boss's gaze.

She didn't really understand what he meant; they had been having this conversation for several days.

Every time we come here, the selection criteria mentioned by the president become more and more outrageous as we go further in the journey.

To be honest, judging from the president's point of view, such a lenient contract is unlikely to appear. Furthermore, even if it did appear, it probably wouldn't reach Watanabe-sensei.

Although Watanabe-sensei won an award last year, his work was recognized, and he entered the public eye, the company doesn't just look at these things.

They will also look at the performance of adapted works by the author, and then make further selections based on the performance of the works and the qualifications of the director.

In other words, everyone is smart; they all want to get high returns with the lowest possible investment.

"Excuse my bluntness, President, if you continue to use the same criteria you mentioned before for screening, I think we will still return empty-handed today."

So she added this sentence.

She thought she had been very patient, but unfortunately, after several days of this, even the most patient person would eventually lose all patience.

"If you had to choose, which one would you pick?"

Kitashin Ichiro sat up straight and stared intently at Kuriyama Akie.

The latter's statement was actually quite in line with his expectations.

As far as he knew, only Kuriyama Akie would say that within the entire Akiha Publishing House.
—Because she is a witness to and a participant in Qiuye Bookstore's further progress.

She is considered a senior member of the company, and her business skills are very strong. Since Watanabe joined the company, her progress and achievements in this area have been remarkable.

According to several veteran editors at the publishing house, Kuriyama is already showing signs of becoming a chief editor.

That was indeed what he was thinking. He planned to give Kuriyama another three or four years of experience before promoting her to editor-in-chief.

By then, she will be old enough, and no one else will have much of an opinion.

But all of that is for later; right now, the most important thing is that he wants to know her opinion.

"Given Watanabe's current financial situation, he is not short of money. What I mean is that the fixed price they offered is not attractive enough to Watanabe."

Kuriyama Akie wasn't intimidated and went on to share her thoughts.

"So instead of blindly going all in on high prices and not having to show up, it's better to be realistic and find suitable conditions first. For Mr. Watanabe, the highest priority condition should not be the largest fixed amount of money, but rather a contract with a relatively smaller fixed amount of money, but with box office revenue sharing."

Once this is clear, the selection process becomes much easier.

It's no exaggeration to say that the effect is immediate.

"what do you mean?"

Kita Shinichiro did seem to grasp the unspoken meaning behind her words.

“What I mean is prioritizing box office revenue sharing, non-public appearances, and relatively lenient terms regarding copyright.” Kuriyama Akihisa paused. “In fact, I’ve already found a contract I like.”

In a sense, the president was blinded by his own involvement.

"Bring me that contract and let me see it. How did you come up with these conditions?"

Kita Shinichiro looked at her with great curiosity.

"Because I asked the person involved."

Akie Kuriyama handed him the contract.

"That's what Mr. Watanabe said."

That's why she felt that the president was being a bit stubborn. He pondered things for so long, why didn't he ask the person involved what they thought?
The same situation has happened before, hasn't it?
Didn't he realize it back then? Why is he so confused now?

"..."

Upon hearing this, Kitashin Ichiro fell silent.

He suddenly realized that what Akie Kuriyama said made a lot of sense.

That's exactly what made him a little unable to hold back.

(End of this chapter)