They all pushed me!

"Oh, right, Tokyo Dome. Come to think of it, my brother said he would come to watch our performance at Tokyo Dome, but now he's off to film in Miyazaki. I don't think he'll be able to come back in time."

"… Didn't Xiao Qian tell us when she left that she would only stay in Miyazaki for half a month? Ruby was there at the time, so she will definitely make it back in time. Ruby, don't worry at all."

"Right."

Looking at Kitagawa Rumi, whose mood was fluctuating and who looked worried and anxious, MEM啾 shook her head helplessly. It was obvious that Kitagawa Ryo had only been away from Tokyo for a few days, but Rumi seemed to be suffering from lovesickness. As long as her body was idle, she couldn't help but start talking about topics related to the other party. Even love did not have such obvious withdrawal reactions as hers.

However, for Kitagawa Rumi, who had been clinging to the Kitagawa family since that day and even said that she had no problem living in the same room with Hotaru, she had finally tasted some sweetness after all the hard work, and was at the stage where she was getting more and more addicted, but Kitagawa Ryo slipped away from her hands.

During this period of time, which was not very long, Kitagawa Rumi also understood why Hoshino Ai followed her brother to Miyazaki when she dragged him to shoot ACE's debut MV. Although she was kept in the dark at that time, she learned this fact and the details in it from some video clips played at their wedding later.

"A hot spring hotel for couples - I really want to lie on a lounge chair in the open-air courtyard with my brother after taking a hot spring bath, drinking sweet ice milk and chatting -"

Seeing Kitagawa Rumi, who had already entered into her fantasy time, MEM啾 chose to act decisively, shaking Rumi's shoulders while painting a rosy picture for her:

"Okay, okay, we will definitely have a holiday after the Tokyo Dome performance. Ruby can go with Ryo as many times as you want. Be good—"

"Besides, Ryo said he would come to watch Ruby's performance. Ruby wouldn't want to make any mistakes or errors in front of him. She must want to show her best side to him."

I have to say that MEM啾's words of comfort and provocation are quite effective. Kitagawa Rumi immediately came to her senses after hearing them and nodded seriously:

"really."

Then, she clasped her hands together in front of her chest, closed her eyes, and prayed devoutly:

"We hope that nothing will go wrong with the performance at Tokyo Dome this time, both our ACE and my brother."

Although Kitagawa Ryo did promise her that he would go to the ACE Tokyo Dome performance, he had also said the same thing to Ai ten years ago. As a result, this plan was eventually scrapped due to various unexpected events. From an objective point of view, it also dragged down Ai's plan to confess her love in public, which she had seriously considered.

If you think about it this way, it can be considered a change in the world line!

Moreover, no matter from the perspective of a sister, a lover or an idol, Kitagawa Rumi was eager for the other party to be able to come to the scene that day.

Because as long as she can see Kitagawa Ryo in the audience - the brother who has taken care of her for more than ten years, the lover who has only recently confirmed their relationship and is in the honeymoon stage, and the first fan who has said that he wants to promote her since his previous life, Kitagawa Rumi will fall into the most secure state.

In the more than five years since ACE debuted, Kitagawa Ryo naturally has not had the time to watch every one of their performances offline. If there is a live broadcast, he will watch it through the webcast. As for the lack of online channels, he has been forced to give up. It is precisely because he knows that he cannot guarantee which shows he can go to and which shows he is not free, Kitagawa Ryo rarely promises Rumi that he will definitely go to the next show.

From this perspective, for Kitagawa Rumi on stage, the experience of each performance is a bit like a blind box draw. From the beginning of the performance, she would secretly look for Kitagawa Ryo, and the same is true during the formal performance. She would seriously look for people in the front row of the audience. If she couldn't find him, she would involuntarily think that the other party might be late because of something and could only squeeze into the last row, and she would also give the most sincere smile to the other party. If she really saw the other party, Kitagawa Rumi's enthusiasm would be a little higher, because she knew that her every move was being taken into the other party's pupils and sealed in memory.

This is the fundamental reason why producer Katsuragi Kaburagi made that "a bit strange" comment about her two years ago, but what Kitagawa Rumi didn't know was that starting this year, in his eyes, the evaluation of her has actually been updated, because her style and emotions have finally begun to stabilize, and she is performing as an idol with all her strength in every show.

Kitagawa Rumi's visible progress is the most important reason why ACE's popularity and commercial value did not drop as drastically as expected by the industry after Samejima Abiko graduated. Just like Kaburagi Katsuya's new comments on her in the notebook, Kitagawa Rumi now has the qualities that Hoshino Ai had back then, or in other words, the ability to serve as the 'unchanging C position' of the team.

People grow up, and their thoughts and perceptions of things change as their bodies grow. Just like they both want to be idols, but for Tendoji Sarina and Kitagawa Rumi, these are two completely different concepts. Or, they no longer have the same reasons.

In fact, Tendoji Sarana's yearning for idols is more based on the fact that she herself is trapped in that hospital ward, unable to control her body freely, and the threat of death is always present, just like her favorite movie, which is also the one that started her acquaintance with Kitagawa Ryo, is "Home Alone", because they are all able to sing and dance freely on the stage, and can cleverly play pranks on thieves at home, and they are almost the same age as her.

In fact, Kitagawa Rumi has possessed everything that Tendoji Sarina dreamed of since she was born, whether it was a cute face or a healthy body. Under such circumstances, the reason why she became an idol naturally changed rapidly. It happened that period of time was also when the relationship between Hoshino Ai and Kitagawa Ryo was progressing by leaps and bounds. Kitagawa Rumi naturally began to hope that the person she liked could see her most shining and beautiful side.

After everything went as she wished, Kitagawa Rumi's heart, which had been restless for several years, finally settled down. Especially after having several frank chats with Ai in the past two days, she realized that Ai had also experienced such a spiritual journey. It was with her establishing her own inner feelings that B Komachi's popularity entered a period of rapid growth and finally she stepped onto the stage of Tokyo Dome.

As girl idols who also debuted at the age of twelve, their idol careers went around in circles for several years before ultimately ending up in the same place.

Because when they finally realize that, for them, compared to the thunderous cheers and applause from the 55,000 full seats and the light boards and cheering sticks that are brighter than the stars in the sky, their whole mind is actually more focused on paying attention to that one person's self-centered otaku fighting, then it is time for them to graduate from the idol job.

"By the way, MEM, what are your plans after the Tokyo Dome performance? It's almost time."

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Rumi tilted her head and asked MEM啾 next to her. Although she had told the other party before that she would try to shift more energy and focus to the actors after the performance, she seemed to have forgotten to ask the other party about her plans.

"As for me, I will probably focus on running my own personal channel like Ai-senpai. Ruby doesn't need to feel sorry for me. After all, we have been idols together for more than five years. I will be 23 soon. In the current idol world, anyone over 20 is considered old. If the final episode is held at Tokyo Dome... that was something I only dreamed of when I was a kid."

MEM Chu retracted her straightened legs little by little, hugged her knees and said contentedly:

"I was able to pursue my dreams at an age with the right environment to start, and in the end I succeeded in achieving my dream. I can say that I have no complaints about my life so far."

"Although there are some regrets, I don't have any reason to ask for more. After all, I'm lucky enough. I was lucky enough to win the first prize in the ice cream lottery when I was seven or eight years old!"

After saying all this, she turned her head to look at Kitagawa Rumi with a complicated expression. After a while, she suddenly smiled:

"Keep practicing, Ruby."

MEM啾 stood up and extended his hand to Kitagawa Rumi beside him.

Then, she pulled up the girl who had won the special prize.

-------------------------------------

After a whole day of hard practice, Kitagawa Rumi just returned home and received a courier package that was sent to her home. Because Kitagawa Ryo had messaged her about this in the afternoon, she knew that this was the "legacy" that belonged to Tendoji Sarina and was packed and mailed to her by Amemiya Goro.

It has to be said that she had bought quite a few peripheral products related to Kitagawa Ryo. This time, there were two large boxes packed and sent. After moving them to the living room one by one with some difficulty, Kitagawa Rumi found a paper cutter and opened the two packages with a bit of nostalgia.

With the rapid development of the Internet, each of the videotapes that are rarely seen now has a small note with the movie title written on it, out-of-print pendants and acrylic tags that are no longer available, and personal columns and photos related to Kitagawa Ryo that were carefully cut out from various entertainment magazines and newspapers... Each one is carefully sorted in cartons according to type, and even after so many years, they are basically intact, which shows the effort that Goro Amemiya has put in over the years.

Kitagawa Rumi first took out several larger peripheral toys, which seemed to have been changed and washed regularly. Although they were visibly old, they were still clean. She placed them on the sofa and prepared to move them upstairs later.

Then, she put the neatly coded videotapes one by one into the prepared storage box, intending to find a time in the future to try and see if they could still be played normally. If possible, she would invite MEM啾 and Samejima Abiko to come for a movie viewing party. After all, these were precious historical materials of Kitagawa Ryo's early performances, and it would always feel a little bit lacking if they were appreciated alone.

Actually, this is a rather tedious task, but Kitagawa Rumi does it very attentively and seriously, and even finds it a little novel. After all, she is counting "her own" belongings, and she is afraid that there is no other person in the world who has had such an experience.

As time went by, the two large cardboard boxes were gradually emptied, and all kinds of items were sorted out by Kitagawa Rumi.

Finally, she took out two poster tubes from under the box. Goro Amamiya had placed here all the promotional posters for dramas, movies, and TV series related to Kitagawa Ryo that Sarina Tendoji had collected. Now, after a long absence, they were finally presented in front of him again like a scroll of time.

Before Goro Amemiya packed these up, Ryo Kitagawa specifically asked for the top one and rewrote a paragraph on it with a pen.

So, this poster of "Hamlet" that was blown away by the wind from Sarina Tendoji's hands, picked up by Kitagawa Ryo, and finally presented in front of Kitagawa Rumi had new words on it. It was the same lines from the play, but with some slight changes.

Her long golden hair fell quietly, obscuring a little, so she reached out and gently pushed it aside, only then did she see the full text:

“The one who accepts all the cruelties and favors of fate calmly is happy.”

Then, here are Beichuan Liang’s own words:

"I hope to be that person with Ruby."

"Compared to when Ruby started liking me, it does feel a little too late now."

“But I still have to say it.”

"I like Ruby and I love you deeply."

Chapter 4: Kana, I seem to have run away (5k)

Miyazaki, in front of the Sheraton Grand Ocean Resort Hotel.

"Good morning, Taizhi. Didn't you sleep well last night? Why are you up so early?"

Because he went to bed early last night, and Kitagawa Ryo has always had the good habit of not recognizing his bed, after a night of fine and full sleep, Kitagawa Ryo got up early in the morning and prepared to go downstairs to the open space near the hotel for morning exercises. Unexpectedly, he ran into Gotanda Yasushi who was wandering downstairs like a ghost. He trotted over curiously and patted the other's shoulder from behind.

"Oh, it's Ryo."

Without any reaction of being frightened, Yasushi Gotanda turned his head slightly weakly, glanced at Kitagawa Ryo, then lowered his head again, and continued to circle around aimlessly with his legs swinging.

"What's wrong? Today is the first day of the official filming. If the director is in this state, the entire crew will be shut down. Dozens or even hundreds of people are looking at you. If there is anything, just tell me. Is it a problem with the script or the communication with so-and-so here? Anyway, cheer up!"

Seeing Gotanda Yasushi inexplicably falling into a low state, Kitagawa Ryo walked up to him, put his arm around his shoulders, and in a few steps pulled him to a more remote beach nearby. The hotel where they were staying was originally a seaside building.

"It has nothing to do with our crew of Pests, and it doesn't even have that much to do with me... Well, it's something related to the production team of the second season of Homeless Kids. Do you still remember it? Or have you finished watching it?"

"Besides remembering that the show was a constant flop and its reputation exploded, I don't seem to remember anything else. As for whether I finished watching it - to put it bluntly, we were already opening champagne after watching the first two episodes."

After hearing a name he hadn't heard for a long time from Gotanda Yasushi, Kitagawa Ryo was subconsciously stunned for a moment, and then he answered after a little thought. After all, last year's October TV series became dominated by "Tomorrow" as time entered November. Not only him, but in fact, many viewers who were either hoping for a reversal of events for the gimmick or could not stand the huge decline in quality in the second season had already begun to slowly give up chasing the second season of "Homeless" in the middle of the broadcast of the series. Even fewer viewers actually watched the ending, and the discussion on the Internet naturally fell again and again like a vicious cycle.

“In fact, I have finished watching it.”

Gotanda Yasushi didn't seem surprised by Kitagawa Ryo's answer. He smiled somewhat dejectedly, looking at the waves that kept coming to the shore and then retreating, splashing white foam on the rocks. Then he turned around and continued:

"Although I only had a nominal relationship with the second season of this TV series, and had basically no say in the cast, script creation, and final filming and production, and had no involvement at all, and occasionally when I went to the set I was just worshipped like a clay Buddha, but I still watched the show completely."

At this point, he shook his head in self-mockery:

“Even my mom hasn’t finished reading it.”

"Like Ryo said, this drama got worse and worse as it went on. In a sense, I should even thank Ryo for Tomorrow and the wonderful acting of Akane Kurokawa and Kana Arima. The audience went to watch Tomorrow, but at the end of the year, unless they occasionally remembered to whip up a corpse, the poor performance of Homeless was ignored."

"In fact, by that time, even most of the production team had given up. Many of them just wanted to come here to pick peaches. Since the peaches here were rotten and they couldn't pick them, they decided to go to another place. But unexpectedly, they met someone who was many times more proactive than them."

Perhaps he felt that it would make him feel better if he spoke out, so Yasushi Gotanda quickly opened up his conversation. Kitagawa Ryo stood beside him, listening quietly, nodding or shaking his head from time to time.

"Ryo, you know that one of the biggest problems with the second season of Homeless is that the lead actress has been replaced. After all, Arimaka herself has always refused to film a sequel, so the production team finally found another actress who is one or two years older than her and also debuted as a child star. Her name is Adachi Yumi. She is a relatively well-known actress in the industry, but she is always a little short of becoming a superstar."

"Her mother, to put it simply, is a stronger version of Maganai's mother. She also spent a lot of effort to get her daughter the starring role in the second season of "Homeless". She just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to give it one last try. After all, if it succeeds, Kanai will become a stepping stone for her."

"Ryou also knows what happened later. The second season of Homeless went all the way to the center of the earth. Especially compared with Tomorrow, it was almost a joke. From the production team to the actors, everyone was blamed. She, the heroine who replaced Arimaka, naturally couldn't escape. To put it bluntly, even Arimaka's fans would not let her go."

"So, the dream of another mother who was counting on the egg to fly has ended?"

Hearing Kitagawa Ryo's question, Gotanda Yasushi snorted twice in annoyance:

"It would be fine if it ended like this. Kana's mother just begged me to give Kana more scenes. But after the ratings plummeted, she even went straight to the production team and said that her daughter was willing to sacrifice herself for art. As long as the popularity could be raised again, it didn't matter if the scale was a little bolder."

"Although the production team had long since given up on this idea and dismissed her with a few words, she unexpectedly went to shoot a large-scale photo album under the name of 'Aizawa Suzu (the heroine of the homeless series)'. What's even more outrageous is that it was Adachi's mother who did it herself. She first lied to her daughter that it was just a normal photo shoot, and then explained the truth after they arrived at the location. She then said something like she had already signed the contract, and now if she refused, she would have to pay a high penalty. "

"Um……"

Beichuan Liang just nodded slightly when he heard this, but still asked with some doubt:

"But that was all last year, right?"

"I had nearly forgotten it myself."

Hearing Kitagawa Ryo's question, Gotanda Yasushi sighed in annoyance, and subconsciously reached into his pocket to feel for the cigarette case, but found nothing. He had no choice but to take it out again and shake it in the wind:

"The main reason is that I saw news about Adachi this morning. She is starring in Shima Masanori's new film."

"Masanori Shima? The director of 'Burning Fluids'?"

"Well, he's the most famous of the new generation of directors that have emerged in the past two years."

Over the past decade, Gotanda Yasushi, who has become a middle-aged director from a new generation director, said this while his mind was still filled with the image of the other person:

"How should I put it? He definitely has the ability, but even though he's married, he still flirts with the female stars during every shoot. This is no secret in the industry. He himself once said something like 'having sex is just a way to get to know others. If he's not interested in sex, he won't be able to work seriously together.'"

"To use a phrase that's been popular on the internet lately, he's a master at Pua. It's clearly hidden rules, but he always manages to justify it. Many actresses who sleep with him are quite willing, and they won't leave any excuses."

When Gotanda Yasushi said this, he stretched his body towards the sun that was beginning to rise above the clouds in the sky, and spoke in a somewhat indifferent tone:

"Speaking of which, I have been a director for so many years, and I have also encountered many situations like Adachi Yumi. Especially because I have been single until now, it has become a strong evidence in the eyes of many people. I have been harassed countless times."

After saying that, he kicked towards the beach, and like a little child, he watched the sand being kicked up into the air. He heaved a sigh of relief, and his face returned to its usual expression.

"I feel much better after talking it out. After all, it's not easy to tell my mom about this kind of thing. It's a relief for you to be my tree hole this morning. It's really ruining my mood to listen to an old man nagging about this kind of thing so early in the morning..."

"It's okay, get ready to go back, the shooting is about to start."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head and walked ahead. Their shooting location today was the Songquan Palace Hot Spring near the Sheraton Grand Ocean Resort Hotel. In fact, both places were properties of the local consortium Tendoji. Because they had cooperated happily and win-win several times before, the other party was also very generous in giving this place directly to their crew for the shooting invitation this time.

The hotel is quite far from Songquan Palace. Both are resorts far away from the city. They have good environment and few people. This is one of the reasons why their crew finally chose this place as the filming location.

Kitagawa Ryo has been in the industry for a long time, and frankly speaking, he is no stranger to the dirty tricks in the circle like what Gotanda Yasushi just mentioned. It is precisely because of this that there are only a few directors and screenwriters he is willing to take the initiative to get close to and make friends with over the years, and most of them are just work contacts.

Yasushi Gotanda was one of his few recognized friends. He had invited three best men at his wedding. Both Amamiya Goro and Izaki-san were very important relatives and friends in Kitagawa Ryo's heart. Gotanda was no exception. Both his personality and ability were quite to his liking. Just like he was willing to be depressed for a whole morning over something that was common in the industry and would only be mentioned as a topic of conversation at the dinner table after dinner.

Although the other person is two years older than him, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but sigh in his heart that maybe this is a good son raised by a good mother. He can still live with his mother in harmony in his thirties and forties. He has only played such a plot in "Tokyo Tower".

The more this happened, the more Kitagawa Ryo could sense something was wrong.

About the strangeness of the script of "Pest".

"Speaking of which, Taizhi, how much of this script was written by you? And how much was written by Chiyin?"

Gotanda Yasushi was startled by Kitagawa Ryo's sudden question. His expression froze, and he casually shook his long, messy hair, which was quite artistic.

"What's wrong? Akane did participate in the writing of the script this time, and after all, wasn't it Ryo who recommended her to me in the first place?"

"At that time, I just wanted Chiyin to help you check the script for me... In fact, I felt strange since the first stage of filming, because there are many lines and plots that are not your style at all, Taizhi. This time, the second stage of the plot is even more outrageous."

Beichuan Liang stopped and turned around, rubbing his brows with a headache:

"The plot of this section is that the relationship between father and daughter finally began to break the ice because of Sachiko's involvement. In order to make Natsuko lively again, Ogata Satoshi took his daughter out of the room under the pretext of going on a trip. Then, on the night of the hotel stay, Sachiko, who came from Tokyo, knocked on the door. The two officially confronted each other, and their different ideas began to clash. This is the core chapter."

"So, why is the setting a hot spring hotel? And why did they specifically say that Sachiko came in the rain overnight? Although there are no explicit scenes in the whole story, and it is also noted that it will be shot in sections, is this really a script that Yasushi would write?"

Just as Kitagawa Ryo finished his series of questions, before Gotanda Yasushi could answer, Kitagawa Ryo's own clothes were held by another small hand. Kurokawa Akane, who also had the habit of getting up early and going to the set to prepare, came out from behind him with a guilty conscience, biting his lips lightly with his pearly teeth, and said with his head down in frustration:

"Senior Liang, you don't have to say that, Director. These are all the content I added myself."

Because it was still early, Kurokawa Akane had not yet put on makeup and changed her clothes. She was wearing the pure white sleeveless dress that Kitagawa Rumi picked for her in Tokyo a few days ago. However, her other hand had already pinched the ruffles of the skirt into a mess. She looked nervous and pitiful as she observed Kitagawa Ryo's reaction.

"……it is as expected."

Beichuan Liang sighed helplessly, half-knelt down in front of Kurokawa Akane, looked at the girl who felt that if his next words were a little harsher, she would burst into tears in the next second, and reached out to touch her head:

"I remember that last time on the set of Tomorrow, I said that I hoped Xiao Qian would stop subconsciously imitating others off the stage. So this time on the set of Pests, can I express one more hope of my own?"

"Ah."

Kurokawa Akane pecked his head gently.