My daily life with the original diva

During dinner, she still looked unwell. Her family knew what was wrong and thought she was too obsessed with her idol. Her father had scolded her twice, but it didn't work, so they could only let her be.

She usually fights to watch all sorts of entertainment variety shows, but these days she hasn't. The TV is showing her father's favorite news program, which is quite boring for her.

Just as she finished eating and was about to go straight back to her room, she suddenly heard the news anchor on TV mention Kimura Hiroshi's name.

She quickly turned around to look at the news: "The action blockbuster Léon: The Professional, directed by newcomer Takeshi Kitano and starring popular male and female idols Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori, is a hit in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia in September. It has already grossed HK$6 million in Hong Kong this week and has also set a new record for Japanese films in Southeast Asia."

The announcer gave a brief report, followed by interviews conducted by reporters in various locations. It was observed that many young men and women expressed their fervent admiration for Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori, especially in Hong Kong, where both Kimura and Nakamori enjoy immense popularity, and young people recognized them during street interviews.

The news report ended with an interview with Hiroshi Kimura. Kimura was not as arrogant as usual, but rather very humble, saying that he is still young and that this success does not guarantee future success. He said he would learn humbly and that he is already preparing to shoot a new movie, and that he will be quite busy for the next two years.

"Ah, this must be the young and handsome idol that Yumi likes. He's really talented. It's been many years since we Japanese films have been so popular overseas," Yumi's father said with some emotion.

Hearing praise for her idol from her father's mouth instantly dispelled Maeda Yumi's gloomy mood. She excitedly said, "Yes, Dad, the idol I can follow must be extraordinary. Look how amazing he is! He's even popular overseas. It's been a long time since we've had such a great movie star."

“Yes, she’s really amazing, and so young,” Yumi’s father said, echoing her words.

"Okay, then please give me another two thousand yen for pocket money, Father, so I can buy his records." Taking advantage of her father's good mood, Maeda Yumi immediately began to climb up the ladder.

Her face darkened instantly. She had only casually complimented him a couple of times, and he was already asking for pocket money. What a darling of hers! Why wasn't he as considerate and gentle as other people's daughters? But Yumi's father still took out two thousand yen for her, as a way of supporting this boy who was quite famous abroad.

That day, the top three TV stations in terms of viewership, including NHK, broadcast the news during prime time, which immediately caused a huge sensation. A movie starring a young idol was actually a hit overseas and was going to be released in Europe and America. This was something that hadn't been seen for many years.

The next morning, this was the headline news in many major media outlets. Even current affairs newspapers, which rarely publish entertainment news, were talking about it. After all, this was the first time that Japanese films, which had been stagnant for a long time, had broken out of the domestic market and become a hit.

Of course, Toho also played a part in this, aiming to attract more people to pay attention to the film and Toho, thereby accelerating the revival of the local film market.

They were saying bad things about Hiroshi Kimura, that he was busy flirting with so many female idols, leaving many media outlets whose talents were fading and who hadn't even figured out what was going on. But overnight, things took a dramatic turn, with all the major media outlets and even current affairs newspapers praising Hiroshi Kimura as a young genius and hoping he would continue to make more good movies.

All the bad things they had said a few days ago were instantly turned on them. They were only happy for a few days before they were hit hard by a heavy punch, turning all their previous words into a joke. They were once again slapped in the face by that Kimura kid.

The effect of such news reports was that Léon: The Professional, which was already in the later stages of its run, saw its box office rise again, exceeding 100 million yuan on the same day, and it experienced a revival.

Incidentally, the sales of Hiroshi Kimura's new single and his previously released movie theme song album both surged, surpassing 100,000 copies on the same day, creating a super loop.

And this was only the sales figures for the first day. The sales on the second day were even more impressive. "Love Will Conquer All" sold over 120,000 copies, becoming Hiroshi Kimura's highest-selling album in a single day.

The terrifying surge in record sales slammed down Kondo Masahiko's new single "Taishō". There was no way around it, the sales were just too rapid, and people simply couldn't react. Moreover, Johnny's hadn't released that many records on the market, and they couldn't even keep up with the reprints.

By the third day, which was the last day of the week, Hiroshi Kimura's new single was still selling over 100,000 copies, while Masahiko Kondo's new single was selling over 80,000 copies, seemingly bucking the trend. Unfortunately, it was too late.

In the end, Kimura Hiroshi's total sales for this week reached an astonishing 580,000 copies. Kondo Masahiko was not bad either, with sales exceeding 520,000 copies. For the first four days, he had been suppressing Kimura Hiroshi, but in the last three days, he was completely crushed by Kimura Hiroshi. Especially in the two days before the news broadcast, his sales were about 30,000 to 40,000 copies more than Kondo Masahiko's every day.

This battle brought a huge shockwave; Kondo Masahiko's defeat was completely unexpected, something no one had anticipated.

Chapter 211 My Girlfriend is Back

"Bang!" Mary slammed the record sales report on the ground, her face flushed with anger, veins bulging on her wrinkled skin. Her plan had failed once again, and she had been caught off guard in the last three days.

She suddenly felt her legs give way and bumped into the chair behind her with a clattering sound. Fortunately, although she was old, she was still in good physical condition and reacted quickly. She grabbed the chair behind her and then slumped down on it.

This time, she not only lost, but she lost badly, because she had paid for most of those records herself. The sales figures for records are based on sales from nearly 3,000 record stores and other sales channels across the country, so she could only get her records counted on the sales charts if she bought them from record stores.

To avoid being easily identified as inflating sales figures, aside from some bribed record stores where records were simply passed through a store, counted as sales, and then taken away, the others were genuinely purchased, amounting to approximately tens of thousands of copies, with the cost exceeding 300 million yen.

Not to mention the media resources and personal connections invested, which are not free and must be repaid. So much was invested, yet the result was a complete failure.

"We lost! We lost again! Those damn brats! Damn Dongbao! I'm going to kill you all!" Mary shouted maniacally in the office, then grabbed things from her desk and started smashing them. The employees outside, hearing the commotion, didn't dare go in to see what was happening; no one wanted to get caught in the crossfire.

She smashed things up, but unfortunately, it was just impotent rage. She knew that she had no power to cool down Kimura Hiroshi, who was under Toho's protection. Toho's influence in the entertainment industry was far beyond what Johnny's could match.

"There's still a chance, there's still a chance. Even if the sales fail, it's still a record award. I'll show you what I'm capable of then." Mary had fallen into a kind of obsession. In short, she was determined to suppress Kimura Hiroshi at all costs. She couldn't accept that a young boy could live so comfortably under her continuous attacks.

In the Yanyin conference room, it was another summary meeting. Seeing Hiroshi Kimura's record sales for the week, Hanami Hele was overjoyed. His new single "Love Will Conquer All" had sold over 560,000 copies, and the record sales of the theme song for the movie "Léon: The Professional" had exceeded 270,000 copies, showing a sales rebound.

In other words, Hiroshi Kimura sold over 830,000 records this week, which is an astonishing figure. No one has ever achieved such sales in a single week. This means that Hiroshi Kimura has successfully set a new record for record sales, a personal record for weekly record sales.

But then I thought of how Kimura Hiroshi was so frighteningly calm when facing such a dangerous situation before. He was completely unmoved by the opponent's attacks, waiting for the best opportunity, and then suddenly struck when the opponent was about to win, successfully sending the opponent into the abyss.

That composure, that ruthlessness, sent chills down his spine. This young man's methods were more ruthless and cunning than many middle-aged people who had been in the underworld for years. Although he had felt this way before, he felt it even more deeply this time. It was best not to provoke him.

"I've clashed with him several times. Could he be harboring some schemes to deal with me, just waiting for an opportunity to deliver a heavy blow?" Hanamiko looked at Kimura Hiroshi, who was sitting not far away, smiling as he flipped through real estate information. Suddenly, she felt that smile was a little scary and shivered. Hanamiko wondered if the air conditioning in the conference room was a little too cold.

"Ahem, President, the meeting has started, it's your turn to speak." Seeing Hanami Kagami sitting there without saying a word, Terahina Akira whispered a reminder to him.

Hanami Kaku finally snapped out of his daze, composed himself, glanced at the sales report, and said, "This week, Kimura-san has once again set a new record, with the new single selling over 560,000 copies in a single week. Let's congratulate Kimura-san."

"Clap, clap, clap." Applause rang out in the conference room, and Kimura Hiroshi put down the real estate newspaper in his hand, smiling as he accepted everyone's congratulations.

"This is the result of everyone's hard work. Thank you all." Hiroya Kimura expressed his gratitude to everyone present.

"Yes, everyone has worked very hard this month, so this month's bonus will be increased by about 20%. This is my reward to everyone as the president." Hanami He was not stingy and directly increased the bonus for everyone, which made everyone present even happier.

"Then the next issue is the album sales for Kimura-san and Akina-san. With the singles selling so well right now, should the album sales be postponed?" Hanami Kyū raised another question.

With the singles selling so well right now, releasing an album might negatively impact single sales, which would be counterproductive.

Unexpectedly, Hiroshi Kimura immediately spoke up, saying, "President, this kind of popularity is rare and hard to come by. If we postpone it until the hype dies down, it will be difficult to achieve the same sales figures. Why not release the album while the hype is still there? That way, the sales should be even better than previously predicted. The single's sales have already exceeded expectations, so it will probably be difficult to do even better."

"Yes, President, I also think we should release an album immediately. Besides, both of Kimura-san's and Akina-san's albums are of good quality. If we release them while they're still popular, the sales will definitely be better." Terabayashi Akira agreed with Kimura Hiroshi, because once the hype dies down, people's desire to buy will dissipate.

Since both Hiroshi Kimura and Akira Terabayashi agreed to release it as soon as possible, Hanami Kaku nodded and said, "Alright then, let's release the album as soon as possible."

Then he talked about the work arrangements for the next step, and the meeting ended. However, it was agreed that everyone would go out for a celebratory dinner that evening, and Kimura Hiroshi would naturally be there.

After leaving the conference room and returning to his office, Yukio Tomioka dismissed the other employees, closed the door, and took out a stack of photos and a recording device from his drawer, placing them in front of Hiroshi Kimura.

Yukio Tomioka said, "Kimura-san's guess was indeed correct. Johnny's really was inflating sales figures in private, and in very large quantities. These were all captured by Mr. Kobayashi, who interviewed Kimura-san last time, and his paparazzi. They even recorded conversations with those employees."

Looking through the photos, Kimura Hiroshi found pictures of records being transported to the store during the day, but at night, these records were loaded onto trucks and sent away in large quantities. Moreover, they were all records by Kondo Masahiko. This was obviously to inflate sales figures; otherwise, there would be no reason for them to be transported back and forth.

After listening to the recording again, I found that a paparazzi was pretending to want to work there, and then deliberately trying to get information out of them about what they were doing. The employees were not wary and complained that it was pointless to transport these records here and then back to Johnny's warehouse, and that it made them work overtime at night.

Looking at the evidence, Kimura Hiroshi smiled. "Ha, I've finally caught you red-handed."

"Kimura-san, should we leak this to the media now? I think it would be big news, guaranteed to make Johnny's lose face, and Kimura-san could also redeem himself," Yukio Tomioka asked excitedly.

But Kimura Hiroshi shook his head and said, "No rush, Mr. Tomioka. You said Johnny's inflated sales figures, is it just to suppress me in sales and create a buzz to make Kondo Masahiko popular again? I don't think it's that simple. With their shrewdness, they definitely want more, otherwise how could they justify such a huge investment?"

“That’s true, Johnny’s has really invested a lot this time, but what else is there besides this? I really can’t think of anything. Does Kimura-san have any ideas?” Tomioka Yukio was also puzzled, wondering what the purpose of this was.

At this point, Hiroshi Kimura had a rough idea in his mind: that old woman Mary was planning to buy an award, and it was the most authoritative record award in the Japanese music industry, unlike the crude one in 1987, where she used connections and money to buy it directly, regardless of the fact that Masahiko Kondo's song was already outside the top 30 in sales.

The current strategy is to boost sales first, and then secretly use connections and money to achieve the goal. If this succeeds, then Masahiko Kondo will become an idol singer who wins the Grand Prix of Recordings. If he gets this title, it will be an explosive boost in popularity for both Johnny's and Masahiko Kondo.

However, if you want to buy a prize now, the investment will probably be much greater than it will be a few years later, because the bubble era has not yet arrived. Many people still have some conscience and have not been blinded by money. If you want to bribe them, you will probably need more money to cloud their minds. Kimura Hiroshi thinks that after they have put all their chips in, he will overturn the table. That would be the most painful thing for them.

So he said, "I have a clue, but I can't tell Mr. Tomioka now. Keep this evidence for now. Mr. Tomioka, give Mr. Kobayashi three million yen for me and tell him to keep it a secret. Oh, and bring the negatives over too."

They're keeping it a secret, but Yukio Tomioka didn't ask any further questions. "Alright, I'll get on it now."

After saying that, he went to talk to Mr. Kobayashi, while Kimura Hiroshi put all the evidence into his bag. This was the evidence he was waiting for Johnny's to fall into the trap, so he had to keep it safe and put it in the bank vault tomorrow.

In the evening, Kimura Hiroshi attended the celebration party organized by Ken-On on time. He sat with Ken-On executives such as Hanami Kaku and had a couple of drinks before being driven home by Michiko.

When he reached the apartment door, Kimura Hiroshi was startled to find that his apartment light was on, because he roughly knew who was inside.

He took out his key and opened the door, and sure enough, he saw his girlfriend, Akina Nakamori, in the living room, mopping the floor. When she saw him come home, she smiled sweetly and said, "Welcome home, Hiro-kun."

However, upon hearing these words, Kimura Hiroshi sensed a terrible crisis.

Chapter 212 The Cunning Girlfriend

Having known Akina Nakamori for over a year and officially being a couple for almost half a year, Hiroshi Kimura could easily tell from the expression on her face whether she was truly happy or not.

When she's genuinely happy, Akina Nakamori's lips automatically curve upwards and her eyes narrow slightly. But when she's putting on a professional fake smile, her face is forced into a tighter shape, and her eyes are narrowed even more intensely. Only in this way can she feel like she's smiling, and that's how she is right now.

Normally, Akina Nakamori would never fake her emotions in front of him unless she wanted to do something. Recalling certain scenes from before, Hiroshi Kimura began to feel a chill.

"Oh, it's Akina. What brings you here? Aren't you busy today?" Kimura Hiroshi asked cautiously as he changed into slippers, wanting to ascertain whether Nakamori Akina knew anything about it.

"Ah, I don't have any work tonight, so I'll just clean up a bit." As she spoke, Nakamori Akina put down the mop in her hand, quickly ran to the door, took Kimura Hiroshi's bag while he was still changing into slippers, and also took his coat and hung it up. She looked every bit the virtuous and gentle wife welcoming her husband home.

However, Kimura Hiroshi, who was enjoying Nakamori Akina's attentive service, felt a chill run down his spine. This was too abnormal. She must have seen those media reports. He was hesitating whether to turn himself in and see if that would reduce his punishment. But he was clearly a victim in this matter as well.

Sitting nervously on the sofa, Nakamori Akina put down her bag, then went to the kitchen to make him a cup of weak tea. She placed it on the table in front of him and said with a smile, "Hiro-kun, you must be working very hard. Have some tea to relieve your fatigue. Have you resolved your work problems lately, like the sales issue we discussed on the phone? Do you need my help?"

"Ah, no need, no need, it's all resolved, we've already won. We just had a celebration party with the president and the others and had a couple of drinks." Kimura Hiro told her not to worry, and then added, "Akina, we haven't seen each other for days, I've missed you so much, come here and let me hug you."

It's highly likely that Akina Nakamori already knows what happened on the Night HIT program, and Hiro Kimura decides to take matters into his own hands, launching a gentle offensive.

But it was obviously too late at this point. When Akina Nakamori heard that Hiroshi Kimura's troubles had been resolved, a relaxed expression appeared on her face. She had obviously been a little worried about this matter before, but at the same time, her fake smile disappeared. Instead of going over to let Hiroshi Kimura hug her, she murmured, "The troubles at work are resolved, so now it's time to resolve the troubles between us, right, Hiro-kun?"

Kimura Hiroshi naturally heard this as well. Sure enough, he had been discovered. At this point, it was best to confess. There was no point in hiding it anymore. He explained in a flustered manner, "Akina-san, please listen to my explanation. During the rehearsal, there was no requirement to hold each other while singing. During the actual performance, they suddenly grabbed my arm. I am innocent. I was ambushed."

"Is that so? Hiro-kun is really innocent." Nakamori Akina clearly didn't believe Kimura Hiro's explanation, and her tone was somewhat sarcastic. She walked to her bag, rummaged through it, found a few entertainment newspapers, and then threw them directly onto the table in front of Kimura Hiro.

"Then please explain, Hiro-kun, why do you have such an enjoyable smile on your face when you're being ambushed? Ah, you really seem to be enjoying yourself. On your left is the huge Naoko-chan, and on your right is the top sweet idol Seiko-chan. You're enjoying yourself so much, aren't you?" Nakamori Akina continued sarcastically.

Looking down at the photos in the newspaper, Hiroshi Kimura had to admit that the staff at HIT that night were really good at taking pictures. They did a great job, capturing his flustered expression when he was suddenly hugged, but they did capture his blissful smile when he felt something soft. They were really something else.

"But there's still a chance to salvage this," Kimura Hiroshi said with a serious expression. "I was singing a wedding blessing song for someone, I can't have a long face, Akina. This is my boyfriend working, you're criticizing me."

Sitting down next to Hiroshi Kimura, Akina Nakamori lowered her head, pretending to be very sad, and whispered, "Yes, my boyfriend works so hard outside, I really shouldn't have blamed him for such a small thing. It's all my fault."

Sigh, let him off the hook. Seeing Akina Nakamori's heartbroken look, Hiroshi Kimura felt bad too. He quickly leaned over and hugged her, whispering, "Um, it wasn't Akina's fault, it was just a misunderstanding. Let's just let it go, okay?"

"Well, let's just let it go. So, what does Hiro-kun think of Naoko-chan?"

"Very..." Kimura Hiroshi suddenly realized what was happening and saw Nakamori Akina looking at him slyly. He had fallen for her trap. She was deliberately feigning weakness to lower his guard, and then suddenly asked him a question. Caught off guard, he blurted it out without thinking. Now he was doomed. He couldn't clear his name anymore. Nakamori Akina was too cunning.

"You call it work? You're such a pervert, Hiro-kun, huh." Nakamori Akina lightly punched Kimura Hiro's chest, but now that she had solid evidence, she didn't seem so angry.

This only made Kimura Hiroshi even more confused; when his girlfriend was being silly, her thoughts were truly unpredictable.

Leaning against Hiro Kimura's chest, Akina Nakamori murmured to herself, "Hiro-kun is so talented and handsome, there must be a lot of girls who like you. I know there will always be people who want to get close to Hiro-kun, it's unavoidable, but the thought that they might take Hiro-kun away makes me feel very sad and my heart aches."

Especially since Hongjun looked like he was enjoying it, which made me really angry. I wanted to tease him. It was just a normal performance, but I acted unreasonably because I was uncomfortable. I'm really not a good girlfriend. But it's all Hongjun's fault. Why are you always so gentle with me? So gentle that it makes me want to act unreasonably, because I know Hongjun won't blame me.

Listening to Akina Nakamori's rambling, Hiroshi Kimura could sense her feelings—a sense of insecurity. This was related to Akina Nakamori's personality; she lacked self-confidence and always felt she wasn't good enough, fearing that the person she loved would be taken away. Under his gentle advances, these feelings improved somewhat, but only to a limited extent, and it also made her more self-conscious.

In this situation, Hiroshi Kimura didn't have any good solutions and could only rely on time to adjust. However, he did have some ways to eliminate this insecurity. Touching Akina Nakamori's head, Hiroshi Kimura said, "Akina, why don't we go public with our relationship and tell everyone that we're a couple?"

Suddenly sitting up from Kimura Hiro's embrace, Nakamori Akina quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, even if we go public with our relationship, the number of girls who admire Kimura-san won't decrease. On the contrary, it might allow more people to observe us, and then the secret and private happiness that Hiro-kun and I have will probably be gone."

It's clear that Akina Nakamori is very afraid of this. It's not that she doesn't want outsiders to know about her relationship with Hiro Kimura, but rather that she doesn't want others to gossip about their relationship. Such external influences are not necessarily a good thing for a relationship, and Akina Nakamori knows this very well.

"Okay, let's keep it private for now. But my sister is coming over the day after tomorrow. Let's set aside some time in the evening for dinner, and I'll formally introduce you to her as her girlfriend." If going public isn't an option, then introducing you to family is the only option.

In Japan, introducing your boyfriend or girlfriend to your family is a very serious matter. It indicates that you want a long-term relationship and are planning to get married in the future. Otherwise, it would not be done easily.

"Oh, really? What should I say when I see my sister? Should I prepare a gift? Oh, right, I haven't introduced Hiro-kun to my family yet. How about Hiro-kun and I go meet Mom sometime?" Nakamori Akina was clearly excited about introducing him to her family, and she started to ramble on.

Pressing down on Akina Nakamori's shoulder to calm her down, Hiroshi Kimura said, "My sister isn't difficult to get along with, you'll see when the time comes. As for the gift, just prepare something simple. As for Akina's family, I'd really like to meet them, but I'll have to finish this busy period. The company setup will be very busy right now."