After being elected as the governor of Tokyo, he will debut as a band!

"But I voted for your opponent because your campaign manifesto felt a bit empty... Well, sorry, please forget what I said."

"..."

The atmosphere became incredibly awkward.

Aoyama felt the corners of his mouth trembling wildly.

...Is this how you play it?

But it's alright...it's nothing. How could I hold a grudge against a rash young girl like you who just graduated and entered politics, simply because you spoke honestly?

But Mr. Haruhisa Yukinoshita, you shouldn't be a member of parliament next term. You should focus more on family education.

Qingshan composed himself, maintaining his composed smile.

"It's alright. Those who support me are certainly discerning, but those who don't are also urging me to do better. So, could you give me a chance to see how I can gain a new supporter?"

Since the conversation had progressed to this point, even Yukino Yukinoshita felt embarrassed to refuse any longer. Besides, she was genuinely confused, so she spoke frankly about it.

She reported her work experiences over the past few days and what happened in Takuya Utsunomiya's office to Aoyama, who listened attentively and then smiled.

“What Secretary Utsunomiya said wasn’t entirely wrong, but there were indeed some instances of misinterpretation in his statements.”

"What do you mean?"

Yukinoshita's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly asked.

She is very proactive in exploring questions she doesn't understand.

"Let's not talk about anything else, just take the paperwork you often do. You'll find that many documents are destined to be useless from the very beginning when the project is initiated. You may spend a lot of time conducting research, obtaining data and professional opinions from other departments, social organizations, businesses, or the public, but when they are submitted to me or the parliament, no one will look at anything other than the title. Not only that, but we will also send these documents back without hesitation, asking the person in charge to make revisions, but without giving any clear suggestions for revision. And no matter how the document is finally revised, when it is submitted again, no one will really care about its content."

These words weren't exactly "high-level secrets," but rather an unspoken truth that everyone knew, except for newcomers like Yukino Yukinoshita who were unaware of them.

But considering her bright future, sooner or later someone would tell her these things, and it would be more convincing if Qingshan told her, so she would know sooner.

"Isn't that just doing useless work?"

Yukino Yukinoshita said in disappointment.

"No, no, no, you have to consider the decisions made by the Metropolitan Government and the Metropolitan Assembly. These are major issues that affect 1500 million people in Tokyo. Therefore, you can't expect them to be completed in a short time. Often, the idea is..."

"Yes, it exists, but the conditions for implementation haven't been met. Since implementation is impossible, there's no need to review the submitted documents."

"Then why not wait until the conditions for implementation are met before starting the relevant paperwork? The documents produced then will be more effective."

"Even General MacArthur probably couldn't be sure when the conditions would be met. Moreover, even if it's the same document, if the second submission is too far in sync with the first, it will be considered as two different documents. To avoid situations where some members of Congress agree with the first document but oppose the second, it is necessary to submit documents continuously over a long period of time."

Was what Aoyama told the truth? Part of it.

In reality, if the Tokyo Metropolitan Government doesn't present the members of parliament with cumbersome, difficult-to-understand documents that are generally error-free, the members will cause trouble for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Only by overwhelming them with these documents can the vast majority of them comfortably fulfill their role as "mascots," while a small number of members who hold important positions in the major parties can grasp the direction of the entire institution's opinions, making the parliament a tool that reflects their will rather than the will of the people.

Correspondingly, the Metropolitan Government only needs to meet the needs of a few or a dozen high-ranking members of parliament to gain the strong support of the Metropolitan Assembly.

Incidentally, Yukino Yukinoshita, who is not exactly a seasoned politician, is also one of the "mascot" members of parliament.

As for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's internal structure... how many employees does the entire Tokyo Metropolitan Government employ? These people have to do their jobs, right? If they do less work, wouldn't that mean there's an overstaffed workforce that should be reduced? Now, both the Diet and the Cabinet are calling for budget cuts every year. If they or those unfortunate media outlets were to find such a handle, wouldn't they immediately come knocking on the door and force the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to streamline its organization?

From Aoyama's perspective, the power to appoint personnel in the Metropolitan Government should be entirely in his hands; how could he give others the opportunity to interfere?

Aoyama's explanation made Yukino Yukinoshita look thoughtful. She wasn't completely convinced, but she accepted part of it. Seeing this, Aoyama asked another question.

"Miss Yukinoshita, did you ever argue with your classmates when you were in school? Oh, I mean before you entered Tokyo University."

"……should not."

“Okay,” Aoyama clapped his hands, “You must have had a lot of friends in junior high or high school, right?”

"………………?"

Make way for me: 056 (knocking)

Yukino Yukinoshita never argued with anyone during her high school years, because it was always her who unilaterally delivered the verbal output, leaving the other party speechless without even saying a word—this certainly didn't count as an argument, it was just Yukino Yukinoshita, the embodiment of truth, advising her younger brothers and sisters who listened to advice.

But friends... well, that's a slippery slope you absolutely can't touch! At least in her eyes, that was blatant revenge!

Yukino Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow, about to retort.

But Aoyama immediately cut her off, saying, "Anyway, even if you haven't argued with anyone, you must have seen other people argue, right?"

Yukinoshita thought for a moment and a few blurry figures did appear in her mind... There was a blonde with a perm, and a girl with a bun and a very prominent figure, but she couldn't remember their names for the time being. Maybe she didn't have much contact with them when she was in school. Putting aside the girl with the bun, the blonde with a perm was someone who often appeared to be arguing with others in Yukinoshita's memory.

"That's it."

she replied.

"So how do their arguments usually end? Do they end with one person completely refuting the other?"

“…Probably not.”

Most people's debating skills are just so-so in high school. The result of an argument is usually that whoever has the most momentum and the loudest voice is right. There is no such thing as one side refuting the other.

Of course, more often than not, the argument would end halfway through, when class time was up, and both sides would return to their seats, and the argument would fizzle out.

"Since most arguments don't end with a clear winner or loser in terms of reasoning, are all those eloquent arguments that both sides rack their brains to come up with during the argument meaningless?"

"This……"

Yukino hesitated for a moment, because she knew clearly that when someone faces verbal attacks, even the worst counterattack is more powerful than silence.

The premise of "silence is golden" is that you have other, more powerful means of self-justification; otherwise, words are your only way to protect yourself.

Her past memories have repeatedly confirmed the correctness of this statement.

“It seems you know what I’m trying to say,” Aoyama said with a smile. “From the perspective of the outcome, those words that cannot refute the opponent, cannot resonate with others, and may even be forgotten by the speaker himself as soon as he turns his head are worthless, but they are meaningful to the people in the argument.”

"The same goes for democracy; it's just that a quarrel between two people has turned into a quarrel between many people. So think about it, aren't those documents that no one cares about really meaningless?"

……

Although lying is one of the essential skills for politicians, when facing those who take things seriously, one lie may require ten more to cover it up, so Aoyama will not lie unless absolutely necessary.

So what's the best way to deceive people? Tell the truth, but only the truth that's in your favor. Explain the favorable aspects in detail, and gloss over the unfavorable ones. This way, your words will be both persuasive and achieve your goal.

In any case, it's always good to reduce Yukino Yukinoshita's self-doubt a little.

As for the matter that she was suspected of being targeted by Utsunomiya Taku...

Aoyama also wanted to give Utsunomiya a proper warning, since this guy had indeed been getting a bit too cocky lately, starting to make all sorts of small moves in his schedule and meeting arrangements. Although the impact wasn't too great at the moment, if left unchecked, the other party might take advantage of the situation.

Japan doesn't have the English name, and the concept of hierarchical order is deeply ingrained in people's minds, so there's unlikely to be a situation where the chief secretary tries to control the governor... but deception and cover-ups are still common.

However, he certainly wouldn't directly punish Utsunomiya, as the reason wouldn't be sufficient and it would be too deliberate. Moreover, the discord between the governor and the chief secretary could easily attract the attention of the Cabinet Secretariat. Therefore, he simply gave Yukinoshita a suggestion.

“Utsunomiya requires you to submit a daily report on the public and private documents you handle… He certainly has the right to make such a work arrangement, but he is not the only one who can evaluate your work performance.”

"You mean... I should submit the report directly to you?"

A look of doubt appeared beneath the snow.

The information compiled in the report itself is a brief description of the documents and verbal instructions issued by Aoyama. Now, it is redundant to hand it back to Aoyama.

"Of course not me. What I mean is, you can give the report to Secretary Arima Hikaru."

Arima Yo is the secretary of the administrative committee, mainly responsible for assisting Aoyama Mukodo in completing the work related to the various administrative committees. His rank is equivalent to that of Utsunomiya Takuya, but his actual power is much lower than that of Utsunomiya, the chief secretary. The staff quota of the gubernatorial department under Utsunomiya's responsibility usually exceeds 25000 people, while the staff quota of the administrative committee is only about 1000 people.

However, the amount of power a secretary typically wields is...

This is closely related to the level of trust their direct superiors have in them.

In other words, if Arima Yo could gain Aoyama's support, he could, to some extent, usurp Utsunomiya Takuya's power.

Having Yukino submit a report to Arima Hikaru was an opportunity given to him by Aoyama.

Arima Yo has gained the qualification to evaluate Yukinoshita's work, so he has a reason to intervene when it comes to rewarding or promoting Yukinoshita. As long as he offers the right opinion at the right time, and Aoyama Mukai no Kami does not need to support him openly, but only needs to express his approval in a go-with-the-flow manner, the matter can proceed.

Once something like this is successfully done once, it will happen again and again, because who wouldn't want another way to improve themselves?

Yukino Yukinoshita didn't think that much about it. She was just happy that she didn't have to go to Utsunomiya Takuya's place every day before leaving get off work. So she readily accepted Aoyama's suggestion and handed the report to Arima Yo when she left work that afternoon.

The latter had obviously learned of this news from Aoyama beforehand, and accepted Yukinoshita's report without asking any questions.

As for Utsunomiya Takuya, although he noticed that Yukinoshita had not submitted her report on time that evening, he did not take it to heart, thinking it was just a common mistake by a new employee. It was not until the next day at the secretaries' meeting that Arima Yo handed him a briefing containing all the documents and verbal instructions issued by Governor Aoyama the previous day, and he suddenly realized what had happened.

He wanted to talk to Aoyama about this directly, but Aoyama spent the whole day in Chiba City attending the Boso Peninsula Development Strategy Meeting, so he couldn't find a suitable opportunity.

Make way for me! 057 Hee hee! Great! I'm rich!

Shoko Toyokawa held a cardboard box with the words "Perfectly Ripe Mango" printed on it, and seemed a little dazed.

This was the third time that a drunken Kikuri Hiroi had taken her to the "Starry Night" performance hall.

When she first came, she met the other three members of the Bond Band and watched their rehearsal.

how to say……

It gives the impression that there's no future in it...

Goto's guitar playing skills are excellent; her solo performances are almost on par with her friend, Misumi Hatsuka. However, Hatsuka is a professionally debuted guitarist who has undoubtedly reached a professional level in terms of guitar skills, having sacrificed most of her school life for them. For an amateur guitarist to hone their skills to this extent is not even worthy of being described as "rare"; it is simply amazing.

...However, Goto was extremely immature in coordinating with other band members. In this respect, even the other guitarist, Kita, who had only been learning guitar for a few months, was better than her.

During the performance, he barely made eye contact with the other band members, even during the climax of the song when all four musicians were going all out...

I always feel that musicians like this are more suited to recording albums or uploading videos to video websites so that people can listen with their eyes closed and through the screen, rather than to live performances where the effect of the performance is greatly affected by the atmosphere of the venue.

As for the other three members of the band, Ryo Yamada's bass playing is quite commendable, Nijika Ijichi is at the level of a normal instrument enthusiast, and Kita-san—for some reason, she seems reluctant to say her full name—if it weren't for the fact that she is the lead singer, Shoko would even think that she is just someone watching the performance on stage.

In short, the musicians in this band are of varying skill levels and their teamwork is questionable, so there seems to be no future for them... And yet, this band, which is named "Boundary," is considered "extremely promising" by the highly popular indie musician next to them.

Xiangzi glanced at Hiroi Kikuri, who was dozing off on the sofa next to him, and thought that she must have drunk too much every few days and ruined her brain.

Is this person really the leader and lead singer of the band Sickhack, whose performance video has over 100 million views?

Could it be that they just look alike and are actually two completely unrelated people?

"Om-"

The sudden ringing of a cell phone from Hiroi's pocket woke her up. She wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and answered it groggily.

Then I instantly regained consciousness.

"Moshi moshi? Shima, what's up?... Hmm? Copyright fees? How much? 400 million?"

"You're asking me if I'll sell it or not? Of course I will! I'll argue with anyone who says no! First, tell me which song it is. I need to recall my state of mind when I wrote it! That way, I'll have something to say during the interview!"

"...Hmm? Is it that song we performed in Yokohama the week before last? The one written by Yoshishin-san, 'Yellow'?! Because someone recorded an audio clip and uploaded it to Spotify, the number of plays quickly exceeded 1000 million... And in the past few days, several music companies have approached us, wanting to buy the copyright to the song... Um, Shima, besides 'Yellow,' have they mentioned wanting to buy the copyright to other songs? Hmm, if we package and sell all ten of Sickhack's songs since their debut, including 'Yellow,' we can get 500 million yen in copyright fees... In addition to buying out the copyright, two other companies have proposed to develop the copyright through a revenue-sharing model. If we choose them, we can get higher priority distribution resources?"

"As expected of Shima, did you negotiate all of these things? What? You're asking about Yoshima-nii? Don't worry! As long as it doesn't require showing your face or revealing your identity, he definitely won't object."

Hiroi Kikuri paced excitedly around the lounge, muttering strange things like "Kuniichi," "Our family is rich now," "We won't have to run up the bill for drinks anymore," and "We won't have to count the plates every ten minutes when eating conveyor belt sushi anymore."

The unexpected good news made her forget about the other person in the room, Toyokawa Shoko.

Otherwise, she would have immediately noticed the raging fire burning in Xiangzi's eyes.

If a single song can fetch 400 million in copyright fees, then ten songs would be worth 4000 million. If I could lead my band to create more songs like that, the copyright fees plus the earnings from various commercial performances would accumulate into a huge sum over time. With that money, maybe I could get my bastard father back on his feet, and my grandfather would have a reason to silence those voices in the family who are constantly clamoring for my father to take responsibility and apologize.

Life might just get a little closer to what it used to be...

Toyokawa Shoko clenched her fists, her nails digging unconsciously into her flesh, but she felt no pain... because a plan was beginning to take shape in her mind—

She knows the best female high school vocalist, and has been friends with the best female high school guitarist A since childhood. She has just met the super-talented female high school guitarist B. If she can find the best female high school bassist and drummer, she can form the best female high school band in Japan! Debut, attract attention, dominate all venues, and then make a fortune in royalties and commercial performance fees!

(Wakaba Mutsumi: I'm not in this? I understand.)

Right, right, and there's also Mutsu. Without Mutsu, relying solely on Hatsuka won't generate enough buzz... What to do?! Should we go for a lineup of three guitarists?! Wouldn't that be too bloated? Damn it, if only Goto-kun were a celebrity with his own built-in fanbase and buzz!

In short, try communicating with her first...

As a woman of action, Toyokawa Shoko is adept at handling difficult situations and making decisions.

In such situations, one would choose to solve the immediate problem first.

Just then, the performance of the Bond Band came to an end, and the four members wiped their sweat and came to the dressing room. Without saying a word, Toyokawa Shoko rushed to Goto Doku, grabbed her hand, and was about to say something like "Do you want to become a real rock musician who is the focus of everyone's attention?", but was suddenly choked back by Hiroi Kikuri's "Fan Jin passed the imperial examination" style howl.

Hiroi suddenly grabbed the "amateur" drummer, Nijika Ijichi, and at the same time, his legs gave way, and he clung to Nijika like a koala.

"Eek! All done! I've got it! Little sister! We're rich now! Let's buy some alcohol! Let's go buy some alcohol right now, and call up senior and Miss PA. We're going to drink until we drop!"

As she spoke, she reached for her money, but the hand clinging to Hongxia loosened, and she fell to the ground. She tried to stand up but couldn't, so she simply sat cross-legged, clapped her hands, and laughed loudly, "Hee! Great! I'm rich!"

Make way for me: 058 won't make you rich anymore.