My daily life with the original diva

"It's very likely related to the TV series. We need to pay attention to this aspect in the future. If possible, we can have our artists' singles associated with the TV series. If the TV series has high ratings, then it will have a very good promotional effect on the singles."

"That's part of the reason, but I think it's more related to Hiroshi Kimura himself. Don't forget, Hiroshi Kimura isn't just an idol who makes a living based on his looks. He's also a top-notch songwriter and singer. I think many fans and music lovers actually care more about his songs than whether he'll get married, right?"

After some discussion, everyone realized that this guy who could become a top star when female idols dominated the entertainment industry in the 1980s was truly terrifying. They had originally thought that they could steal his popularity after he got married, but now it seems that was wishful thinking. Even if he got married, his popularity would still follow him. This guy is not just someone who makes a living based on his looks.

Of course, the sales of "Sudden Love" were so good that other agencies were filled with envy and jealousy, but for Ken-On, it was pure suffering. If Kimura Hiroshi's single hadn't sold well, even if it was only slightly worse than his previous album, Ken-On might have felt a little better.

Unexpectedly, this single sold so well. At the current rate, it is very likely to break the record of 500,000 copies sold in the first week since Kimura Hiroshi's debut, and the total sales may exceed 1.5 million copies. It is conceivable how much revenue this single album can generate.

In other words, if Hiroshi Kimura were to operate normally, then neither Ken-On nor Warner would have to worry about their performance. As long as Hiroshi Kimura is there, there is no need to worry at all, and he can just focus on operating his business. But the problem is that Hiroshi Kimura is not going to be able to operate his business properly right now, because he is about to get married.

So when they learned that the album had achieved such high sales, the atmosphere at the meeting was very strange, especially for Hanami He. How to describe his expression? You would think he should be happy with such good sales, but he didn't look happy at all. You would also not be disappointed. He was just conflicted. No one knew what he was feeling at that moment.

When the meeting ended and only a few senior executives from Ken-On remained in the conference room, Hanami Kaku finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Mr. Tomioka, is it possible to let Kimura-san come back to work after getting married? I don't expect him to be like before, even if he only appears on a show every week and releases two singles and an album every year, that would be fine."

At this moment, Yukio Tomioka knew exactly what Kagami Hanami was thinking. Hiroshi Kimura was a gold mine; just dig a little and money would flow into Ken-On and Warner. Didn't he want that? Of course he did. He could get a commission on the sales generated by Hiroshi Kimura, and with that, his annual income would be considerable.

"President, I also hope that Kimura-san can come back to work, but as you know, Kimura-san's mind is not on his work as an artist at all right now. I told him before that my record sales have improved recently and I hoped that he would continue to sing, but he clearly refused. So even if the sales are good, I'm afraid there is no way to get him to come back," Yukio Tomioka said somewhat dejectedly.

Knowing it was impossible, Hua Jianhe still couldn't help asking. There was no way around it; the potential benefits were just too great. Even if it was impossible, he couldn't help but be tempted.

But it was ultimately impossible. Hanami Kaku could only sigh and say, "Why would a young man like Kimura-san think about marriage instead of his career? If he sang for two more years, how much more money would he have earned? He could probably live like a millionaire just from the royalties from record sales. Why won't he stay?"

Wanting to roll his eyes, Tomioka Yukio felt that Hanami Kagami was trapped in some kind of delusion and couldn't extricate himself. Did Kimura Hiroshi lack money? But just based on the records he had released over the years, the income was enough for him to live a wealthy life for the rest of his life. If he were to release some singles compilations or the like, he would be able to make a fortune.

Singing for two more years would just be icing on the cake. Not to mention, Hiroshi Kimura also owns two companies: a manga company and a film and television production company. With so many hit TV series, movies, and manga, he is a typical winner in life. He no longer needs to please fans or work hard for the sake of record sales.

"President, I think we shouldn't focus on Kimura-san or Akina-san anymore. We should look for new successors. Didn't Kimura-san give us some advice before? I've recently discovered a few new talents, and I believe they will help the agency recover quickly," Terabayashi Akira, who was also attending the meeting, couldn't help but advise.

Now, Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori are a thing of the past for the agency. They shouldn't dwell on the past, but look forward. No matter what glory these two brought to the agency in the past, Akira Terabayashi sees it all very clearly.

Just because he sees things clearly doesn't mean others do too. As if listening to his words, Hua Jianhe nodded and said, "Yes, that's certainly the case. I'll take a look at those promising newcomers I've recently discovered when I have time. If they're suitable, we won't hesitate to invest in them."

In reality, Hanami Kaku felt exhausted. When Kimura Hiroshi and Nakamori Akina were in the agency, although he lacked the authority of a president, he didn't have to worry about too many things. He watched Ken-on create brilliance one after another. But now, the brilliance is about to end, and he has to train new people. He really doesn't have the mind to do that anymore. He thinks he's getting old and should retire.

At this time, there was another person with similar thoughts, namely Yukio Tomioka. He didn't want to retire, but he was considering whether to have Hiroshi Kimura transfer his agency, leave Ken-On, and establish his own agency, just like Seiko Matsuda did last year. Ken-On is no longer able to provide Hiroshi Kimura with any more help, and instead, it wants to take away his profits.

Why not go independent? That way, he can reap more benefits. Of course, Yukio Tomioka will also get more, since he will lose Ken-On. Now, Ken-On has nothing left for Yukio Tomioka to keep. He plans to leave like Yoshizawa Akiyuki.

Chapter 632 Super Popularity

"Ms. Rika, oh, excuse me, Ms. Akina, may I take a picture with you?" A young female employee, presumably from a wedding planning company, asked Akina Nakamori, who was getting her makeup done, with a mix of excitement and shyness.

The makeup was now complete. Nakamori Akina turned around, looked at the girl, and said with a smile, "Sure, you must have watched the recent drama on Fuji TV. Thank you for liking it."

"Ah, yes, yes, Ms. Akina's portrayal of Reika is absolutely fantastic! I really love that kind of character. Now I think Ms. Akina really is a lot like Ms. Reika," the little girl exclaimed.

Faced with the praise, Akina Nakamori was naturally very modest and expressed her gratitude. Then she took a photo with her. The girl didn't linger. After the photo, she immediately grabbed her camera and ran away excitedly. Then she was caught by the store manager. They were company employees and could not disturb the store's customers at will.

After being reprimanded, Kimura Hiroshi, sitting not far away, watched all this unfold. This had happened many times in the past few days; whether they were employees of the company or customers, they all wanted to take photos or get autographs from Nakamori Akina. It was clear that the role of Akina Rika had boosted Nakamori Akina's popularity.

On the contrary, no one came to take photos with him while he was sitting on the side. However, some bold people came up to him and said that his song "Sudden Love" was very beautiful. Kimura Hiroshi naturally expressed his gratitude.

After Akina Nakamori finished her makeup and put on the headscarf she would wear for her wedding, Hiroshi Kimura walked over, looked at her, and said, "You look great, Akina, you look beautiful."

"Hehe, I'm glad you like it, then I'll use this makeup for the wedding." Nakamori Akina was also very happy. Makeup isn't just about looking good on herself; Kimura Hiro thinks it's also important that it looks good.

After her initial excitement subsided, Akina Nakamori said with a hint of worry, "Hiro-kun, Tokyo Love Story is getting so much attention lately. If we're going to the church for our wedding rehearsal later, I don't know if we'll run into anyone. It might not even go smoothly during the rehearsal."

With another surge in popularity, Akina Nakamori is now easily recognized, which is indeed a troublesome matter. Hiroshi Kimura frowned and said, "If it doesn't work, wear sunglasses. Anyway, we're just going through the motions, it's not a real wedding, so wearing sunglasses is fine."

That's definitely a solution. If we don't want to cause a commotion and affect the rehearsal, this is the only way. Nakamori Akina nodded and said, "Okay, then let's do as Hiro-kun says. Wear sunglasses during the rehearsal later."

The couple's wedding is now in its final three or four days, and they need to have a wedding rehearsal, which is to go through the wedding process. This way, on the wedding day, they won't be clueless about where to go or what to do, and they won't make any funny mistakes at the wedding. That would leave a little laugh on this beautiful moment.

Everything was ready. Kimura Hiroshi and Nakamori Akina were wearing large sunglasses in a rather strange way, which made the wedding planning company staff who came with them feel both amused and helpless. There was nothing they could do. As big celebrities, the male and female leads of a popular TV series, and top-tier artists, they needed to hide their identities well even during their wedding rehearsals.

The car first took us to the hotel where we would be getting married on the wedding day. The wedding planning company staff explained how to get out of there and how to get to the church on the wedding day.

Next comes going to the church. You need to familiarize yourself with the process of entering the church, reciting your wedding vows, exchanging rings, and receiving the priest's blessing.

Finally, it's time to go to the restaurant. At the restaurant, you need to express your gratitude to the wedding guests and those who helped prepare for the wedding. You'll need to rehearse in advance what to say and what to do.

Unlike the solemnity and seriousness of a real wedding, Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori treat this process as a fun performance, so it's not too uncomfortable. It feels somewhat special, and they are really looking forward to seeing what the real wedding day will be like.

After completing the formalities, the rehearsal was almost over. Since the two of them were wearing glasses, no one recognized them, so their rehearsal was not delayed. The rehearsal officially ended around five or six in the afternoon. After that, all they had to do was wait for their wedding day to go through the formalities again.

On the way back, driven by Kimura Hiroshi, Nakamori Akina seemed very happy and said, "Hehe, I didn't expect that weddings would require rehearsals. Going through this whole process felt like I was getting married myself. It was so special!"

"Hmm, of course, weddings need to be prepared in advance. Of course, if Akina wants to experience the novelty of a wedding, she can skip the rehearsal. But if something goes wrong and the wedding process is affected, that would be difficult to handle," Kimura Hiroshi replied.

"Of course I know this principle," Nakamori Akina said. "Yes, we must rehearse in order to avoid any problems. I don't really care, but I'm afraid that the reporters who are there will take pictures randomly. Who knows what they will say when they get back, that would be really annoying."

On their wedding day, it's no surprise that there will be quite a few reporters present. Besides the ones they've invited and are on good terms with, other reporters will likely be there as well. As a public event, they can't stop uninvited reporters from coming; if they want to take pictures and watch, there's simply no way to stop them.

Therefore, it's best if there are no problems at the wedding, otherwise it will become a hot topic. Any problems at the wedding are probably what countless media outlets are hoping for, as that would generate even more buzz and disgust the couple.

"Yes, but we won't be doing much entertainment activities anymore, so I think those reporters won't bother us anymore. But Akina, you're very popular right now, don't you really want to do any more activities? Even when Seiko was pregnant, she still participated in shows." Kimura Hiroshi said with a hint of teasing.

Back then, there were rumors that the Holy Son would become a full-time housewife after getting married, but in reality, she started to go back to work not long after her honeymoon. Even during her pregnancy, she did not slack off at all, participating in programs and promoting albums while pregnant. However, she did not appear in public for a long time after giving birth, presumably to recuperate.

Nakamori Akina quickly shook her head and said very firmly, "No way, Hiro-kun! After we get married, we'll go to places where we haven't taken wedding photos before to take them, which will be like our honeymoon. I don't want to participate in any shows, no matter how popular I am. I'm not like Seiko-chan, who's so career-minded."

It seems that even her immense popularity couldn't sway Akina Nakamori; she's determined not to continue her entertainment career and is only thinking about her married life.

"You're really determined, aren't you? Okay then, let's hurry back. Mom should be downstairs at our new house. There are still other wedding matters to discuss when we get back," Kimura Hiroshi said. Their wedding wasn't just a rehearsal; there were still many things they needed to decide.

They sped up a bit; it wasn't rush hour yet, so the roads weren't congested. When Kimura Hiroshi arrived at the new house, his mother, Akiko, was already waiting downstairs. Seeing them return, the three of them met up and went into their new house.

This was also the first time that Mingzi's mother had come to the young couple's new house. Naturally, she was very curious and wanted to take a look, but she didn't want to ask. So she could only sit on the sofa and look around the living room.

"Ah, Auntie, let me show you our new house, what do you think?" Nakamori Akina really wanted to call her mother, but she couldn't bring herself to say it and could only call her auntie. She understood what her mother Akiko was thinking and decided to show her the new house.

Unexpectedly, her thoughts had been seen through. Her mother, Akiko, didn't object and replied happily, "Great! The apartment's layout is very nice. Akina must have come up with that, right?"

"Hehe, no, it was Hiro-kun who arranged it. He even prepared a marriage proposal surprise for me. He put a lot of thought into it." Nakamori Akina didn't seem to care about Hiroki's contribution and told her mother Akiko quite frankly.

It was actually her own son who decorated the house. Akiko looked at Kimura Hiroshi, who was pouring water, in disbelief. She remembered that when Kimura Hiroshi was at home, he rarely decorated the house, let alone tidied his own room. She had to clean it from time to time. Now he was decorating the house. The change was really big. Could it be because he had grown up?

Feeling a little uneasy under his mother Akiko's gaze, Kimura Hiroshi quickly handed her a glass of water after pouring it, saying, "This was something I deliberately had someone find out about Akina's preferences, and then I even hired an interior design company to help me with the decorating. It wasn't something I did alone."

That makes sense, Mom Mingzi nodded slightly. But thinking about it, her son must have put a lot of thought into it, and even prepared a surprise. He really knows how to be romantic.

After putting down her water glass, Akiko said, "Well done, Hiro. Akina, show me how big this apartment is. Although it's a high-end apartment, it's not as convenient as living alone. If possible, it would be better to find a house to live in alone in the future."

Clearly, Akiko still prefers detached houses and doesn't like these so-called high-end apartments, which coincides with Kimura Hiroshi's thoughts. However, buying land at this time is not very cost-effective. They should wait two years until next year when real estate prices experience their final surge and then completely collapse before buying.

Then you can live in a villa in Tokyo, which is where real millionaires should live. After all, apartments don't offer as much privacy as you might imagine.

Akina showed her mother, Mori, around the apartment, including the four rooms, the kitchen, and two bathrooms. The entire apartment was spotless, which was expected of someone with a slight obsession with cleanliness and a love for housework.

This ability to organize housework clearly earned high praise from her mother, Mingzi. Although cleaning the room may seem simple, it is not easy to make the house look tidy and clean. It's not enough to just sweep the floor and throw out the trash; you also need to know how to organize and put things where they belong.

"That's great! The house is very clean and tidy. This must be thanks to you, Akina, right?" Akiko's mother asked with a smile.

This made Nakamori Akina feel embarrassed, and she smiled, unsure whether to answer. At this moment, Kimura Hiro said loudly, "Yes, Mom, Akina does all the housework. I don't know how to do housework; I just sit back and enjoy the benefits."

How could he say that so confidently? His mother, Mingzi, said, "You brat, don't you know how to help? You just want to reap the benefits without sowing. You need to help out more in the future, you know?"

“Ah, no, Hiroki helps out when I’m busy. He doesn’t just stand by and do nothing. Please don’t blame him, Auntie,” Nakamori Akina quickly said in support of Kimura Hiroki.

As it was a matter between the couple, Akiko, the mother, naturally wouldn't get too involved. She would just say a few words and that was enough. So she didn't continue talking about Kimura Hiroshi, but instead went back to the living room and started talking about other aspects of the wedding preparations.

The first thing to do was to determine how many guests would attend the wedding. It wasn't an overwhelming number, but there were close to three hundred people, which exceeded Kimura Hiroshi's expectations. There was no way around it; some of the guests that Kimura Hiroshi hadn't invited called on their own. Although they didn't directly say they wanted to attend the wedding, their words conveyed the same meaning, and Kimura Hiroshi, being quite shrewd, naturally agreed. As a result, the number of guests increased significantly.

But that's not a big problem. We can just add more seats. The entire restaurant was booked out for that day anyway. We just called the restaurant and asked for more seats. They knew immediately and agreed. There were still a few days left, so adding more seats was a simple matter.

Besides that, there's the matter of picking up guests. Some guests came from Saitama and Kiyose, and some didn't have cars and it was inconvenient for them to come, so they needed to be picked up. This was easy to arrange; Kimura Hiroshi simply requisitioned company employees to drive and pick them up. Of course, there were bonuses for doing personal errands.

There were also some other miscellaneous matters, but they were discussed until the evening. Kimura Hiroshi did not cook for himself because he was too exhausted. Discussing matters is also very energy-consuming, so he ordered takeout, which was delivered directly to his apartment.

Chapter 633 Before the Wedding

From announcing their engagement in the early hours of New Year's Day until now, after more than four months of preparations, the wedding is finally complete. In the sixth year of their relationship, Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori will hold their wedding in one day.

As the time drew closer, Akina Nakamori became more and more excited, her whole being in a state of high spirits. She even suffered from insomnia at night, and wouldn't let Hiro Kimura, who was sleeping so soundly, go without him, insisting that he stay with her. Or she would get up in the middle of the night to watch TV by herself, and the next morning she would have very obvious dark circles under her eyes.

To prevent her from having huge dark circles under her eyes on her wedding day, Kimura Hiroshi had to put a little pressure on Nakamori Akina, which was to exercise. He took Nakamori Akina to the gym to work up a sweat. When she was tired, she wouldn't have much energy and would only want to sleep and rest.

This tactic proved very effective. Nakamori Akina finally managed to get a good night's sleep that day. The next day was the day Nakamori Akina was to go to the hotel, and Kimura Hiroshi personally drove her there. Ms. Noriko and her staff were already waiting for her at the hotel.

On the way to the hotel, Akina Nakamori hummed a song the whole way. Seeing how happy she was, Hiroshi Kimura said, "If it's a wedding, why are you so happy, Akina? We've already registered our marriage and are legally married."

Clearly, Akina Nakamori disagreed with Hiroshi Kimura's idea. She looked at him and said, "Although we've registered our marriage, that's only a legal marriage. The real marriage happens at the wedding ceremony. The ceremony is very important, even if it's a simple one. Are you unhappy about having a wedding, Hiro-kun?"

This is a potentially fatal question. Kimura Hiroshi quickly replied, "No, I'm very happy too. But don't get too excited tonight. If you have dark circles under your eyes at the wedding tomorrow, it will ruin the atmosphere of the wedding."

Speaking of this, Nakamori Akina was also a little worried. After all, she had been too excited these past few days, which had prevented her from sleeping. She didn't want to have to cover up her dark circles at the wedding, so she said very carefully, "Don't worry, Hiro-kun, I'll try my best to sleep."

Seeing how serious she was, Kimura Hiroshi smiled and said, "The more you worry, the less likely you are to fall asleep. It's still early now. When you get to the hotel, Kayo-chan, Rie-chan, and Kyoko-chan should all be there. Just play with them, play those really energy-consuming games. That way, you'll feel sleepy at night and then fall fast asleep."

"Ah, as expected of the clever Hiro-kun, that's a good idea. When I get to the hotel later, I'll play with them. That way, I can get a good night's sleep. But I'm sorry to trouble you, Hiro-kun, you'll have to sleep alone tonight," Nakamori Akina said with a smile.

Since they're getting married tomorrow, they'll naturally be apart tonight. Tomorrow, Kimura Hiroshi will pick her up from the hotel in a wedding car, and then they'll complete the wedding ceremony, which will officially mark their marriage.

Separating for one night was nothing to Kimura Hiroshi, but he didn't dare show it. He had to appear very reluctant, but said things like he could hold on for their upcoming wedding.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Kimura Hiroshi noticed something amiss as soon as he parked. There seemed to be a large crowd, and through the car window, he could see that the people there were either carrying cameras or video cameras. Without a doubt, he knew these guys were reporters.

As for how the reporters knew they would be at this hotel, it must have been someone who deliberately leaked the information. It could have been a hotel staff member or another employee. It's impossible to keep such a thing a secret.

The reporters obviously saw Kimura Hiroshi's car, but he was driving a very ordinary Nissan sedan, a company car. The reporters didn't recognize him, but some of them noticed it.

"Akina, there are reporters everywhere outside. Should we go to the parking garage and drive to the hotel from there?" Kimura Hiroshi originally planned to drop Nakamori Akina off at the hotel and then go back, because he still had some things to prepare for the wedding. It wasn't like he didn't have to do anything afterward, so he didn't park in the garage but drove directly to the hotel entrance.

She also noticed the reporters outside. At this moment, Akina Nakamori didn't show any disgust. She was in a great mood and was much friendlier to the reporters. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's just go in like this. What do you think, Hiro-kun? They must have been waiting for a long time. Let them take some pictures and go back."

Wow, this was the first time Kimura Hiroshi had ever seen Nakamori Akina be so friendly to reporters. It's true that when you're in a good mood, nothing else matters. Since Nakamori Akina had made this decision, Kimura Hiroshi didn't object and replied, "Alright then, let's go in like this, as long as those reporters don't go too far."

Having made his decision, Kimura Hiroshi actually drove the car to the hotel entrance, opened the door, and a hotel staff member immediately came up. Seeing it was Kimura Hiroshi, the staff member was somewhat surprised. Kimura Hiroshi smiled and said to him, "Don't move the car, just leave it here. I'll take the person upstairs and then come down. Please keep an eye on it for me, thank you."

After saying that, he also gave a 5,000 yen tip. A month ago, he would have had to give a 10,000 yen tip, otherwise people wouldn't even look at him. But after just over a month, the tips started to drop significantly. There was no way around it; this month alone, the stock market fell by 8%, which dealt a heavy blow to many wealthy people and investors.

During the bubble era, investments in Japan were all leveraged, meaning they were financed through loans. Now that bank interest rates have risen, if stocks don't rise, they're practically doomed. An 8% drop in a month is a devastating blow.

Of course, this is just the beginning. These investors are stealing to make ends meet, and they can still manage. But when they can't even scrape together enough money in a few months, that's when the real crisis begins. They'll have to sell their assets, real estate, and everything else they can to fill the hole. When they can't fill it anymore, they'll either disappear or go bankrupt.

So now people still give tips, but in a few months, it will probably be very difficult to get tips. And that's not all; it's uncertain whether you'll even be able to find a job then.

After accepting Kimura Hiroshi's tip, the waiter assured him that he would definitely keep an eye on the car. Kimura Hiroshi thanked him, then opened the car door and let Nakamori Akina out as well.

As soon as she came down, the reporters not far away finally reacted and rushed over immediately. Kimura Hiroshi pulled Nakamori Akina along as if he didn't see the reporters and walked towards the hotel entrance.

They pretended not to see it, but the reporters wouldn't. They immediately surrounded them, snapping photos of them relentlessly with flashes.