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

Everyone in the fan club was in high spirits because Toyokawa Shoko was unusually "friendly" today. Nagasaki Motoyo, in particular, seemed to have turned on a switch. She took on all the troublesome tasks, such as grilling meat, pouring drinks, cracking jokes to liven up the atmosphere, and taking care of Takamatsu Akari and Kaname Rakuna, the two grown-up children. She was completely enjoying herself.

"Xiao Xiang, this piece of beef tongue is grilled just right. Here you go. These past few days, you've been contacting people to help compose music, communicating with the performance hall to arrange live performances, and designing costumes and stage lighting. You've really worked hard."

Nagasaki Motoyo's relaxed state allowed her to focus more attention on Toyokawa Shoko, not only picking out the best-grilled meat for her but also personally helping her wrap the meat in lettuce.

"Hey, Xiaoxiang, the lettuce at this shop is very fresh. If I let go, the lettuce will immediately open up and the meat will easily fall out. So, Xiaoxiang, you can just open your mouth, just like Xiaodeng and Lenai-chan do."

She mimed feeding "Xiangzi," her eyes brimming with anticipation.

What appeared to be a harmonious scene to outsiders was, for Toyokawa Shoko, akin to the most agonizing tortures of hell. She constantly longed to overturn Nagasaki Motoyo and storm out the door.

But when she looked at Aoyama, who was sitting at another table, slowly eating grilled pork belly while drinking oolong tea, she could only suppress the crazy thoughts in her heart.

I feel so hypocritical...

Shoko Toyokawa cried out in inner anguish as she strained to tilt her neck back to keep her lips away from the lettuce-wrapped meat that Motoyo Nagasaki had shoved into her mouth.

She didn't dislike eating lettuce wraps with meat; she just found the act of eating what Nagasaki Motoyo was feeding her disgusting, before she decided to resume her friendship with her...

Someone save me! If I keep leaning back like this, I'm going to fall flat on my back on the tatami mat.

Toyokawa Shoko's lumbar spine was bent into a "V" shape, which amazed the old man from Guangdong.

"A young girl's body is so flexible. We adults, ravaged by time, could never do such a thing."

She took a sip of the plum sake that the barbecue restaurant served with them. The sweet and sour, refreshing taste was especially good at cutting through the greasiness. Eating barbecue with this was much more enjoyable than eating it with ordinary beer. And this was a combination that the owner of the barbecue restaurant would only recommend to a drinker and gourmand like her.

"Don't compare me to someone like you who doesn't take care of his health," Iwashita Shima glanced at Hiroi with a look of disdain. "As a drummer, I get a lot of exercise every day. Plus, on days when I don't have performances, I go to bed early and get up early, and I have a regular lifestyle. All my joints should be very flexible."

"Shima, someone with such a disciplined lifestyle is a disgrace to the band!"

"What kind of stereotypical statement is this? Apologize to me!"

"Leaving aside an oddball like Shima, on this matter, you're definitely on my side, right? You're the oldest here, and a muscular man, so you're definitely stiffer than me."

"...I have a nutritionist and a fitness coach at home, so even when I'm fifty, I don't have to worry about losing my flexibility."

Aoyama said dismissively.

He had actually seen middle-aged men in their fifties who were as agile and spirited as monkeys, as well as street fighting masters who combined strength and physique.

That's right, I'm talking about Goro Majima and Kazuma Kiryu.

They can not only twist their lumbar spine into a "V" shape, but also perform incredible feats such as dodging bullets with their bare hands.

"No, impossible! How could I, an old man, be the only one sitting at this table?!"

"If you don't believe me, I can show you some difficult moves when we get back tonight."

"puff!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Eliza Shimizu, who had just taken a sip of wine, suddenly spat it out.

Fortunately, she sprayed it in the direction where no one was around, so at least she didn't make a mess of the table.

"Cough cough cough."

This isn't the bus to kindergarten!

She roared inwardly.

"Are you okay?"

Iwashita asked with concern, then walked to the door of the private room and asked the waiter to come and wipe the tatami mats.

"Shima, don't you want to say something?" Eliza pointed at Hiroi Kikuri and Aoyama Muto. "The relationship between these two is clearly not right!"

"What's the big deal?" Shima seemed quite calm. "At their age, isn't it normal for them to do 'that' kind of thing when they get home at night?"

“No, no, it’s okay for band members to do this kind of thing with outsiders! But it’s not okay for band members to do this kind of thing among themselves!” Eliza said, her face showing concern. “Don’t you know that a male singer from a popular band was killed because of a romantic dispute with the band manager? His death was horribly gruesome.”

"...You're talking about the story in 'Detective Conan,' right? Please distinguish between anime and reality!"

"No matter what, band members doing this kind of thing is similar to an office romance, and it can be very destructive!"

While the waiter at the barbecue restaurant was cleaning up the spilled wine next to her seat, Shimizu Eliza got up and sat down between Aoyama and Hiroi.

And he solemnly said it to the two of them.

"Hakusan and Kikuri-chan should take this as a warning! Romantic relationships between band members can seriously threaten the band's lifespan."

"Hahaha, you misunderstood, Eliza. What I meant was that after I got back to my own home, I would send Hiroi, who was also back at his own home, a high-intensity martial arts video... just like in 'Jackie Chan Adventures'."

Aoyama explained without batting an eye.

"Jackie Chan Adventures" is a famous work by Dragon Report Studio and is also very well-known in the UK. Eliza had certainly seen it, but after thinking about it for a while, she felt that Hackson was just fooling her.

Igomachi Music Awards: Episode 054 - Motoyo Decides to Press Her Attack

Eliza Shimizu stared at Aoyama with suspicion, because the latter was wearing...

Because of the mask, she couldn't tell from his micro-expressions whether he was lying.

Unable to find any flaws, she reluctantly retreated, picked up her chopsticks, and continued to indulge in the barbecue and beer.

To be fair, Aoyama wasn't lying to Eliza. He hadn't really had any in-depth conversations with Hiroi Kikuri, but it wasn't far off. Hiroi Kikuri had no privacy left with him.

That being said, if Aoyama Mukama wanted to have a deeper relationship with Hiroi Kikuri, he wouldn't have brought her home.

Is it that the sunny beaches and hotels in Hawaii aren't beautiful enough? Or that the snow-capped mountains and hot spring resorts in Hokkaido lack ambiance? Not to mention the annual government-funded visits to Moscow, Paris, Shanghai, and Sydney.

If you really want to go on a date, any of these places are more suitable than Tokyo, especially abroad. Aoyama receives far less attention than he does in China. As long as he wears sunglasses on the street, almost no one will recognize him.

The discussion among the adults has temporarily ended, but the situation among the high school girls has also changed—

Just as Toyokawa Shoko was about to lose her sitting posture due to the meat and lettuce in Nagasaki Motoyo's hands, Chihaya Aine suddenly came up from behind her and ate the perfect lettuce-wrapped meat that Motoyo had specially chosen in one bite.

"The grilling temperature, the amount of sauce, and even the shape and size of the lettuce leaves were all perfectly matched. No wonder it's Su Shishi!"

She cupped her cheeks in her hands, chewing happily as she uttered words of praise, which greatly dispelled Su Shi's displeasure at not being able to feed Xiangzi.

"Chihaya-kun, don't lean on Sho. Sitting properly is basic etiquette when dining."

Su Shi smiled and reminded him.

She was in a very good mood because she could once again have a warm and intimate meal with Xiangzi at the same table.

The only regret is that Xiao Mu isn't here... But looking at Xiangzi's serene smile so close by, the feeling of regret doesn't seem so strong anymore.

(Xiao Mu sheds tears)

Nagasaki Motoyo had never seen what Shoko looked like when she was working as a customer service representative. Back then, Shoko had this expression when she sat in front of the computer; it was a fake smile that was completely in "forced business" mode.

"Feel sorry."

Upon hearing Su Shi's words, Aine immediately sat up straight.

"It's alright, Chihaya-san... She's a hero of this performance, so I don't mind what happened earlier at all."

That's what Xiangzi said.

She didn't just not mind; she was extremely grateful to Aine for saving her.

"Huh? Xiaoxiang, do you think I'm the hero of this performance?" Ai Yin scratched her head sheepishly. "I thought I almost ruined the performance."

"But you successfully completed the performance in the end and reversed the situation on stage. Such a program effect is not something that can be achieved in just any performance."

As Xiangzi spoke, he suddenly thought of a good way to get rid of Nagasaki Motoyo's excessive concern for him.

"Since Chihaya really likes the lettuce wraps that Sosei made, why don't we switch places so that Chihaya can enjoy her food more easily?"

"Haha, no need."

Ai Yin isn't stupid. Su Shi's attitude was clearly aimed at Toyokawa Shoko. She had already gotten away with it by seizing the opportunity to eat a lettuce-wrapped meat dish. If she really switched seats with Toyokawa Shoko, Su Shi would definitely get angry with her.

Of course, a well-bred young lady like Su Shi, educated in a prestigious school, wouldn't actually show her displeasure on her face. But if a few super spicy chili rings were added when she was making new lettuce wraps with meat, it would be enough to make her suffer.

"Speaking of which, Su Shishi, you heard what Shimizu-nee said earlier, right? In order for 'Mizuki' to continue, please don't have excessive feelings for the band members."

When Ai-yin said this, Su-shi simply said "Eh?" without reacting too strongly. However, Shiina Riki, who was next to her, lost her grip on her chopsticks and dropped a piece of scalding hot meat that had just been picked up from the grill onto her thigh. She was so burned that she immediately covered her mouth and jumped up.

Upon seeing this, Takamatsu Akari seemed to have a switch flipped, turning around and crawling to where they had put their bags. She pulled out two band-aids, then gently lifted Riki's skirt and earnestly applied the band-aids to her...

Lixi's face flushed red instantly. After Gaosong Deng finished treating her burns, she didn't sit down. Instead, she stood there for a while, then said, "I'm going to the restroom first," and ran away as fast as she could.

The others present didn't react much, except for Kita Ikuyo, who stared thoughtfully at Riki's departing figure before her eyes hardened and she revealed an "I see" expression.

……

After the celebration party ended, Hiroi Kikuri, still feeling the excitement, dragged Iwashita Shima and Shimizu Eliza to the second half of the event.

The underage members of the bands Misty and Bond were disbanded and went home.

"I'll take Xiao Xiang home."

Nagasaki Motoyo was probably charmed by Shoko's soft and sweet performance tonight, and decided to press her advantage by making this suggestion.

Although Li Xi had some doubts about whether Su Shi was being too optimistic, she also had a bit of wishful thinking that Su Shi would persuade Xiao Xiang to return to the team, so she did not try to dissuade him.

Only the lamp seemed to sense something, and as it left with Lixi, it kept turning back to look at Xiangzi, who had started his race walking mode, and Su Shi, who was behind Xiangzi calling "Wait" while taking messy little steps, and it showed a worried expression.

Aoyama had no intention of going drinking with the three Sickhacks, nor did he intend to act as their protector and escort the girls home. After all, a 188cm tall, muscular man wearing a mask was enough to attract police attention just by walking down the street at night. If he were to "escort" two girls with him... if he didn't encounter ten patrol officers questioning him within a kilometer, it would be considered a serious security loophole in the neighborhood, the kind of loophole where reporters could swear at the local police station in the newspaper and the police wouldn't dare to retaliate.

After the girls said goodbye and left, Ryoumiya Takumi drove over from the underground parking garage of a nearby hotel. After getting in the car, Aoyama asked Ryoumiya Takumi for a PAD and began to look at the land information for the Chiba Prefecture seaside park that Yukino Yukinoshita had sent him.

There was a reason why Toyokawa Sadaharu was interested in that piece of land. It was only 4.9 kilometers away from Chiba Port, Japan's largest industrial port, and was adjacent to Edogawa Ward and Koto Ward of Tokyo to the north. There were also two large population centers to the east. It was very suitable as an office area for industrial enterprises or a commercial area that could serve the surrounding residential areas.

The ownership of the park is held by three companies: Maruyama Petrochemical, Goi Chemical, and Furuya Kogyo. In recent years, as the Japanese industry has shown signs of fatigue in international competition, these three companies have also considered participating in commercial real estate development due to their operational difficulties.

Isogachi Music Awards: 055 The Collaboration Opportunity Between Aoyama and Toyokawa

Because Goi Chemical is the primary holder of the assets in the industrial park, the park is also known as the Goi Industrial Park.

As one of the earliest companies to be spun off from the Mitsui zaibatsu by President Mai in the early 1950s, Goi Chemical made quite a splash in the 1960s and 70s. Its president, Yasuo Goi, was a well-known entrepreneur in Chiba City. During the bubble economy, Goi Chemical used its accumulated wealth to buy a lot of land, which remained in Goi Chemical's hands after the bubble burst.

Later, with the successive successions of the two generations of presidents of the Goi family...

After his death, the Goi family gradually stepped back from the company's decision-making circle and became limited partners who only received dividends. In order to buy back the shares from the Goi family, the board of directors gave them all the land that they had been holding onto but couldn't sell for a good price.

In recent years, due to international competition and the implementation of domestic environmental policies, especially the series of very strict regulations on the rectification of polluting enterprises passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly by former Tokyo Governor Aoyama in order to improve Tokyo's competitiveness in bidding for the Olympics, many local chemical companies in Tokyo, including Goi Chemical and Maruyama Petrochemical, have seen their production costs rise sharply and have launched relocation plans.

As a result, the land will soon be vacant and will be included in the asset list of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Boso Peninsula Development Plan White Paper".

Such a large piece of land is not something the Toyokawa Group cannot afford to take, but as mentioned earlier, due to the losses caused to the group by Toyokawa Seikaku, Toyokawa Sadaharu encountered great resistance when he promoted high-investment projects.

There are essentially two ways to overcome the resistance: either obtain the support of a large bank to ease the loan difficulties, as a large amount of working capital can be easily used to suppress opposition within the group, whether to buy off other board members or to hold a shareholders' meeting under the guise of dividends; or bring in another powerful consortium to jointly acquire the entire park project and surrounding scattered projects, which can both share the risks and enhance the board's confidence in the project.

However, both methods present difficulties in practical implementation.

The former is riskier, requires more favors, and has a higher loan interest rate, which will compress the profit margin of the entire project. Moreover, once there is a loss, Toyokawa Sadaharu will inevitably bear full responsibility and may even be dismissed by the board of directors. Considering the reality that the Toyokawa family has "no successor," in two more generations, they may become marginalized like the Goi family, who can only participate in profit sharing but have no right to participate in decision-making.

The latter presents a dilemma: powerful partners are difficult to deal with, while easy partners are unreliable. Conglomerates of similar size to the Toyokawa Group already possess the strength to independently acquire the Goi Industrial Complex; bringing them into this project would be tantamount to inviting trouble, as they might abandon the Toyokawa Group and operate independently. On the other hand, companies lacking sufficient strength could potentially withdraw their investment halfway through the project due to cash flow problems, leading to its abandonment. This would cause the board to doubt the project's prospects and refuse further investment, banks to delay lending, and Tokyo and Chiba to pursue legal action, resulting in a significant drop in the Toyokawa Group's stock price.

Aoyama Mukaya roughly understood Toyokawa Sadaharu's predicament. If he could not overcome the resistance within the Toyokawa Group and could not find a suitable partner, he would be more likely to give up the Goi Park. After all, there were still quite a few peripheral projects in the "Boso Peninsula Development Plan," which would be enough for the Toyokawa Group to make some "small money" and recuperate.

But if that were the case, Aoyama would feel it would be a great pity.

He also plans to make a profit from this development project, and the Wujing Industrial Park project is very much to his liking.

Of course, as the Governor of Tokyo, he couldn't get involved personally, and it would be difficult for his father, Aoyama Yukio's "Higashiyama Holdings," to take over the entire project on his own. It wasn't that Higashiyama Holdings couldn't afford it, but rather that Higashiyama Holdings and the Suzuki Group had cross-shareholdings. Once Higashiyama Holdings showed interest in the Goi Industrial Park, the Suzuki Group would definitely get involved, and Higashiyama Holdings would probably only be left with the scraps.

However, if the Toyokawa Group is in charge, there is no need to worry about this. On the one hand, the combined strength of Higashiyama Holdings and the Toyokawa Group is enough to ensure the stable operation of the project. At the same time, with both parties sharing the project investment, Higashiyama Holdings will not face a tight cash flow situation. The Suzuki Group has no reason to interfere, nor would it risk offending Aoyama by forcibly intervening. On the other hand, the Toyokawa Group and the Suzuki Group also have many cooperative projects. They would not use underhanded tactics to force the Toyokawa Group to abandon this project. After all, these established Japanese conglomerates are all related to each other to some extent, and there is no need to break ties unless absolutely necessary.

Moreover, given Dongshan Holdings' current size, it should just meet the conditions for a partner that Toyokawa Sadaharu envisioned. It's not too big or too small, just right. With the endorsement of the Governor of Tokyo and the sixth-ranking figure in the Shigure Party, there's no need to worry about them sabotaging them behind their backs.

Since Aoyama was keen to facilitate this collaboration, he instructed Suzumiya Takumi not to go to the manor in Toshima Ward, but instead to go directly back to the Aoyama family's old house in Chiyoda Ward.

He planned to discuss this matter with his father and his father's brothers.

“Young Master, if you plan to go back to the Chairman’s place today, I suggest you take the back road.”

After hearing his request, Ryoumiya Takumi gave this suggestion.

After thinking about it for a moment, Aoyama agreed to the suggestion, since he had just attended a cabinet meeting today, a time when the media was paying close attention. If he were to just walk home on the main road and then call back several company executives with yakuza backgrounds, such as Dojima Daigo, Saejima Taiga, and Kashiwagi Osamu, for a meeting that very night, tomorrow's newspapers probably wouldn't have any good words for him.

Taking the back road would be fine. After all, the car he was in was just an old Ford with simple anti-explosion modifications. It wasn't as famous as the Lexus that was listed in major media outlets and police stations. As long as he didn't drive in through the main gate, the journalists stationed near the Aoyama family's old house and the police officers in the police station who were responsible for watching the public cameras wouldn't suspect the person sitting in this car.

Liang Gongjiang is a veteran driver with decades of experience. He knows the road conditions to the old residence of the Qingshan family like the back of his hand, and he can navigate the narrow streets of the residential area with ease.

Until... when the headlights shone on a girl sitting next to a garbage collection point, lost in thought, Takumi Ryouji suddenly slowed down and cast an inquiring glance at Aoyama through the rearview mirror.

Igomachi Music Awards: 056 Mutsu, the Autistic Girl