They all pushed me!

"That's pretty much what I fear the most."

Samejima Abiko didn't seem surprised by Kichijoji Raiko's answer. She lowered her eyes, looked at her right hand, slowed down her tone, and whispered her thoughts:

“I’m afraid that I’m the only one in the world who thinks my work is interesting. This is true for the manga of Tokyo BLADE and the script of this stage play.”

It is precisely because of this that she still maintains the habit of discussing the week's plot with Liang before work every week, and sending him a copy of the original draft before the weekly deadline.

Perhaps she had been addicted to this immediate feedback and sense of security since a long time ago, because this "big big star" who was six years older than her and also super famous was not like other adults. He was willing to patiently listen to the story she had imagined and even help complete the context.

For Samejima Abiko, every reply from the other party over the past decade or so seemed to be instilling in her a fact thousands of times, that is, in this entire world, even in the worst case scenario, there was at least one other person besides her who sincerely and truly loved this story.

If Kurokawa Akane's parents were the confidence that gave her the courage to embark on the path of becoming an actor, then Kitagawa Ryo was actually the confidence that helped Samejima Abiko transform this childhood fantasy step by step from a frozen picture into one fragment after another, and then connect them into a complete story.

Similarly, this was one of the reasons why Samejima Abiko dared to take on the job of scriptwriter for this stage play. It was as if she was certain that the other party would definitely help her.

In fact, to be honest, for a long time in the past, she had not and would never make such a bold move that was almost tentative, but it must be said that it was Rumi who gave her this extra confidence and courage.

Samejima Abiko has always remembered a little thing from her childhood. When she first became acquainted with Kitagawa Ryo, she also wanted to follow Rumi and call the other "brother". After all, at that time, they were almost each other's only friends and had a very close relationship.

But at that time, Kitagawa Rumi strongly expressed her opposition and insisted that she change to another name. It was from there that Samejima Abiko vaguely sensed the strangeness between the brother and sister, or in other words, the feelings that Rumi had for Kitagawa Ryo.

So when Kitagawa Rumi finally made up her mind, unlike MEM-chu who was also present at the scene, Samejima Abiko was not surprised at all, and she casually said that she wished her success.

She really did hope that Rumi could succeed.

But it is true that only half of it comes from the perspective of a friend.

"But now I'm not afraid anymore."

"That's right. After all, Abi is extremely popular right now. It's impossible for such a miserable situation to happen where you are the only one who finds it interesting—"

Kichijoji Raiko just thought Samejima Abiko was showing off her genius again, so she waved her hand casually and made a teasing remark.

Upon hearing this, Samejima Abiko just smiled and did not refute. She successfully found a seat for herself and Kichijoji Raiko in the back row of the seats reserved for insiders and sat down quietly, waiting for the stage play to officially begin in half an hour.

Although Samejima Abiko always joked that Kitagawa Rumi wanted the "Tokyo BLADE" IP to be more popular than she, the original author, from the beginning to the end, the person who most hoped that this work would be liked by more people must be herself.

In fact, Kitagawa Rumi herself is also aware of this, otherwise she wouldn't have tried to trick her into becoming an idol together a few years ago, and forced her to make two big promises to her: 'You can become famous after becoming an idol, and being famous will make it easier to promote the comics of "Tokyo BLADE"' and 'You can make a lot of money after becoming a famous idol, and you can afford to pay Kitagawa Ryo's salary. Then she can beg Kitagawa Ryo to reduce his price to play the leading role in comic-adapted movies and stage plays'.

In a sense, Kitagawa Rumi, who has been her good friend for so many years, really grasped her soft spot, because these are actually the two wishes that Samejima Abiko most wants to realize.

Let more people like your work, Tokyo BLADE.

Then, let Ryo Kitagawa play the male lead in all subsequent live-action projects.

From this perspective, Beichuan Liang is both the upper limit of her dream and the lower limit of reality.

He is standing on the clouds, throwing down the rope ladder for her to climb, her ultimate ideal, and he is also the last harbor on the ground, opening his arms to catch her when she falls after failure.

…She was finally reaching the top.

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

Just as Kindaichi Toshiro and Kaminari Sumiaki said, on the first day of the "Tokyo BLADE" stage play performance, as the directors and stage directors from other Tokyo troupes, front-line reporters from entertainment magazines, and relatives of the actors took their seats, the last few rows of seats reserved for insiders were packed. However, due to personal image management, it was not very noisy. Many people in the industry just whispered to each other, and occasionally waved and said hello to other colleagues they knew not far away.

However, when Ai sat here with Saito Kyoko, many people nearby also looked over here, and their voices became louder involuntarily. They sent friendly greetings over here, and some even left their seats and came over to exchange a few enthusiastic greetings.

After all, Mei Pro has been developing rapidly in recent years. As one of the earliest companies in China to develop the blue ocean of online live streaming and online anchors, they have already occupied a considerable market share in this field. They have also cultivated many well-known online artists, and their business can be said to be booming.

However, compared to their career success, what made the Saito couple more gratified was that their daughter was finally born safely a year ago. Although it was later than the Kitagawa couple who were a generation younger than them, they finally had a child and officially became parents.

After finishing the greetings with the others around her, Saito Kyoko also sat back in her seat and talked to Ai in private before the show started:

"Ichihu and I have already made up our minds. We will officially hand over the office to you and Liang next year."

"Eh? Where are you guys going, Kyoko?"

"I'll probably be away from Tokyo for a while. I bought a villa in Miyazaki. Didn't Ai always say the scenery there is great? We plan to take the kids there to have a good rest for two years."

Kyoko Saito smoothed her hair. In fact, she and Ichito Saito were no longer young. Especially after the birth of their children, their career ambitions had gradually faded.

As she spoke, she waved her hand casually, acting like a hands-off boss:

"Ai's contract has been with Berry Pro for so many years anyway, so it's normal for an artist under the agency to take over the position of president. If Ai doesn't want to be in charge, it would be a good idea to set up a joint company with Liang's agency, or even merge?"

"I, I, Ivy Pro has always been the hard work of Kyoko and the president..."

Ai still didn't react, and her confused look reminded Saito Kyoko of the first time she saw this child twenty years ago.

She reached out tenderly and held Ai's hand, shaking her head gently:

"It's fine."

"The wish I and I had has already been fulfilled in Ai."

Saito Kyoko curled her lips as well.

"Besides, let that guy go to the countryside and fish as much as he wants for two years!"

Chapter 27: Favorable Target

"...Well, I understand."

After looking at Saito Kyoko for a while, and after making sure that the other party was not joking, Ai Cai nodded and temporarily agreed to this matter.

In fact, she herself is not that career-oriented. When she married Kitagawa Ryo, she had already thought about retiring from the entertainment industry together. But as time went by, especially after learning about Kitagawa Ryo's wishes and plans in the past two years, her thinking about love slowly changed.

Liang wanted to build his agency to the same scale as Johnny's in the past, and in the past two years, he has indeed been working in this direction, shifting his work focus from actor to the position of president.

Although in the eyes of his personal fans, Kitagawa Ryo has produced almost no important works in the past two years, the business performance of the agency has indeed ushered in a blowout. As long as you pay attention, you will find that a group of very outstanding new generation actors who have emerged in the industry in recent years are almost all from Kitagawa Ryo's personal agency. Not only that, based on the experience of "Tomorrow" that year, the agency has also been trying hard to become the client and producer itself. The online TV station mentioned by Samejima Abiko before is one of those attempts.

Ai knows that Toshiro Kindaichi has begun to gradually transfer the duties of the LALALAI troupe to Kitagawa Ryo. This also means that the flow of talent between the troupe and the agency will be smoother than in previous years, and will eventually become a stable channel for providing outstanding newcomers, forming a virtuous circle of continuous blood-making. After all, the LALALAI brand has become quite solid with Toshiro Kindaichi's efforts over the past thirty years. In a sense, this is his gift to Ryo.

From this perspective, the Saito couple's Ichigo Pro, or the field in which Ichigo Pro is currently rooted and the online market it occupies, can also provide great help to Kitagawa Ryo and his firm, especially in the context of the firm gradually beginning to move towards the Internet market in the past two years.

Just like Toshiro Kindaichi's LALALAI Theater Company, the transformation of Berry Pro Agency actually began more than ten years ago, after B Komachi, led by Hoshino Ai, officially graduated. Hoshino Ai's management of her personal account, operation of her personal online store, and production of the online variety show "B Komachi×B Komachi" are also one of the products of Berry Pro's transformation to the online market.

Compared to Mei Pro, which entered the market at an earlier stage and whose operational concepts, personal connections and market share have tended to mature and expand, Kitagawa Ryo's agency is obviously slightly inferior in this regard. In the early years, it has always been operating in the traditional offline agency model.

This is also the reason why after ACE disbanded, Ryo Kitagawa chose to temporarily terminate the commercial contract with MEM啾, because in the field of live streaming, they really can't help much. Ryo Kitagawa himself also conceived a plan to let the other party join 梅Pro, which has more experience in this field, although this proposal was finally rejected by MEM啾 himself.

Ai leaned back slightly on the soft cushion, her thoughts in a trance. Her right hand was still warmly wrapped by Saito Kyoko. She looked forward and at a certain moment she saw Kindaichi Toshiro who seemed to be chatting with the guests. She pursed her lips and suddenly recalled the wedding in a trance.

Kindaichi Toshiro attended as Ryo's elder, while the Saito couple attended as her seniors.

When she was twelve years old, the love she pursued and understood was perhaps just a narrow sense of love. She just felt that as long as she was with Liang, they could form a happy family and live a happy life.

But until today, in addition to the love between her and Ryo, she has also experienced and gained more, whether it is the birth of her daughter, or from elders such as Kindaichi Toshiro and the Saito couple, who led her and Ryo to join the LALALAI Theater and Berry Pro, and now entrusted them to each other. Of course, there are also B Komachi's friends. After all, she can come to the theater to watch the stage play so lightly today, thanks to Gaofeng and Zai who helped take care of Yitianying. The other party also got married two years ago and became a mother last year.

The sudden vibration and buzzer indicating that the performance was about to begin interrupted her thoughts of love. She placed her free left hand on the armrest of the chair, slightly supporting her cheek, and cast her gaze towards the main stage which was slowly opening. The corners of her mouth naturally lifted up, and her eyes, as bright as the moon and stars, were filled with a gentle luster as she quietly waited for her lover to appear.

Frankly speaking, just like when she was an actor, her love as an audience member would only focus all her attention on one person. To her, no matter who played Shaoji and who played Jianyi, it was a matter of indifference.

On the biggest stage of life, she and Liang have been each other's hero and heroine for many years. It was so in the past, it is so now, and it will be so in the future.

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

For many weekly reporters sitting in the insider seats in the back row, Ai's appearance undoubtedly attracted a lot of their attention. After all, whether it was because of Ai's own traffic as an artist or because of her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo, her every move was undoubtedly a hot spot or even a hot spot.

However, just as his colleagues turned into masters of micro-expressions and began to guess the current marital status of the two from every degree of each other's mouth corners and eyebrows, Inoue Daichi, a rising star who has emerged in the "Weekly Entertainment Live" in recent years, focused all his attention on the stage that had already begun, waiting for MEM啾 to appear on stage with a little nervousness and anticipation.

Although she had previously sent a message in MEM啾's live broadcast room using the username 'I've always been a MEM啾 supporter' hoping that the anchor would also participate in this stage play, when MEM啾 actually announced to the audience in the live broadcast room that she would participate in the "Tokyo BLADE" stage play as an actor, Inoue Daichi was still very worried about her own push.

Frankly speaking, it's just that the role played by MEM啾 doesn't have many scenes, and there's also Kitagawa Rumi taking the heat in the front. Otherwise, since her debut, she has been an idol and a host, but never an actor. MEM啾, who has never acted in a serious drama, is too conspicuous among so many familiar names, and she definitely needs to be criticized for using backdoors.

Inoue Daichi has even thought about how to write the reports and articles to promote his own reputation. If it is too abstract, he will just brush it over in a simple way, praising Kitagawa Ryo's wonderful performance. There is nothing wrong with praising this. If it is barely acceptable, he will hide some personal opinions in it, and casually write that the "newcomer" actor MEM啾 has great potential to make people's eyes light up. And if MEME啾's performance really exceeds expectations...

Hehehe, then I have to let you see the cruelty of 'I have always been a MEM啾推啊'.

Just as Inoue Daichi, who was full of inner drama, was beginning to imagine the scene of his main talented actor's debut, Kaminari Sumiaki and Kaburagi Katsuya, who were sitting in the row behind him, were preparing for the performance with serious expressions. Although everyone knew that this performance would be a great success more than 99% of the time, when the final result was presented to them, the two men as the operator and producer were still a little worried.

But fortunately, Kitagawa Ryo's appearance fully met their expectations. With the stage effects and equipment running at full capacity, and Kitagawa, who had all the makeup, costumes and props, finally presented a performance that undoubtedly far surpassed any previous rehearsal. As he began to move gracefully through the prologue, the audience in the front row burst into trance and applause, and the girls' screams powerfully stimulated the eardrums of Kaburagi Katsuya and Kaminari Sumiaki, making both of them feel at ease.

"Speaking of which, if it wasn't for Samejima Abiko-sensei's ability to pull Kitagawa in as the male lead, many people in the production and operation departments probably wouldn't have given her so much say, far more than the original author should have."

Feeling the enthusiasm that seemed to be overflowing from the theater and attracting the attention of all the audience, Kitagawa Ryo, who was shining on the stage, and Kaminari Sumiaki, stroked his chin and spoke.

Immediately afterwards, the appearance and outstanding performance of Kenji played by Arimaka Kanae drew another round of applause. Although the performance had only been going on for five minutes, anyone could feel that the atmosphere here had been completely ignited.

"I heard that Kaburagi-chan is also very close to Kitagawa? It was a great help to introduce the actors from his personal agency, including Kana Arima, to us this time."

"It's just that we knew each other earlier, about twenty years ago."

Kaburagi Katsuya narrowed his eyes and replied, glancing at Ai behind him on the left:

"When Ai and Ryo were still children, Kindaichi asked me to take them shopping in the mall. After that, I collaborated with B Komachi and ACE a lot, and the relationship continued like this."

"After all, this industry is built on the debt of favor. Although it may sound like boasting, I did see the potential in Ai very early on, and of course, she did not disappoint me in the end."

Upon hearing this, Lei Tian Chengzhang also smiled in cooperation and casually said:

"That's why Kaburagi-chan has become a producer with a unique reputation in the industry. Everyone knows that you have a lot of connections and maintain good relationships with many agencies and artists."

But then, he showed a look of incomprehension, cast his eyes on MEM啾 who had just appeared on the stage, propped up his chin and asked in confusion:

"But she's the only one whose intentions are hard to understand."

"She's not particularly well-known, and her acting skills aren't comparable to those of veteran actors. She's more of a newcomer. And even if we don't mention that Kaburagi-chan supports her joining, MEM-chu doesn't have any reason to participate."

"After all, Beichuan had already informed our management in advance. From the beginning, they planned to let her take charge of some of the leaks and publicity work, from the cast to the audition to the rehearsal. In fact, no matter which part of these links is taken out, the traffic will be much higher than if she plays a supporting role with a small part in the play. What's more, there is the risk of being questioned and criticized by the audience, and the reputation will decline or even collapse."

At this point, Raita Sumiaki turned his head and smiled at Kaburagi Katsuya:

"Could it be that Kaburagi-chan also saw some potential or possibility in her?"

Facing Raita Sumiaki's question, Kaburagi Katsuya just shook his head, watching the MEM who had barely any outstanding performance in the first two minutes of his debut on stage and simply walked off the stage like a formality, and responded in a flat tone:

"Rather than saying she has potential, it's more like I saw something in her that Raida-san would like."

"Just like you said, she gave up a lot of things that were within her reach and chose to step onto this stage to face this new challenge. Didn't Lei Tian-san watch the troupe's rehearsals several times? Don't you have any impression of it?"

"I only watched the first formal rehearsal on the main stage. I didn't go to the troupe much afterwards because I had a lot of other things to do. If I were to say, I don't really have much impression of it... It's just a mediocre level, for a new actor."

Raida Sumiaki shook his head and explained.

"Is that so? Well, then please look forward to her performance in the final act, Raita-san. MEM-chu is indeed a newcomer, but she is also the kind of person that Raita-san admires the most - a talent who works so hard that she completely forgets herself."

Katsuya Kaburagi had a faint smile on his face. As early as a few years ago when he was working with ACE, he had spoken highly of MEM-Chu. Different from Kitagawa Rumi and Samejima Abiko who were considered "a bit weird" and "good at using and building their own personalities", MEM-Chu was the most standard in the industry from beginning to end, and was also the most favorite idol growth template of producers. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was a hexagonal warrior.

Her looks, singing and dancing skills are all above excellent. She is extremely good in front of the camera and has an outstanding sense of variety. As the oldest member of the group, she is tactful and friendly in her dealings with others, and is very comfortable to get along with.

The various characteristics and abilities of MEM啾, including high emotional intelligence, strong self-discipline and fearlessness of hardship, reflected in these traits, determine that she can be a good actor, at least there is no problem with her attitude.

"But, now..."

Kaburagi Katsuya raised his lips to reveal a playful smile, and sat up a little straighter:

"Let's see how Ruby performs first."

After all, this is the second child he really likes after Hoshino Ai, and he has the qualities of a superstar.

Chapter 4: Make Yourself a Genius (5k)

In fact, from the moment Kitagawa Rumi stepped onto the stage, the audience had already burst into warm cheers and applause. Even though everyone had seen her makeup photo over and over again, some fans still thought it was the result of beauty filters and photo retouching. Although Kitagawa Rumi's appearance is indeed obvious to all and not to the point of being ugly in the spotlight, these fans actually silently lowered their expectations.

However, their skeptical attitude was completely dispelled in an instant with the appearance of Kitagawa Rumi. The other party's appearance as a girl was actually the same as in the makeup photo, or even more stunning. This most direct and intuitive visual impact immediately aroused the audience's emotions, and everyone's eyes were focused on Kitagawa Rumi on the stage.

Kitagawa Rumi's performance also did not disappoint them. As a former super popular idol who had performed at a stage like Tokyo Dome, there was no need to worry about Rumi's psychological quality and mentality for big occasions. She even performed better than in any previous rehearsal, and her every move showed her extremely excited mental state. Especially after finishing the appearance scene with Himekawa Daiki and Kamoshida Sakuya, and officially starting to share the stage with BLADE played by Kitagawa Ryo, almost all the audience present could feel the surging emotions hidden in each other, just like a volcano about to erupt, brewing, and powerfully snatching the audience's attention from Kitagawa Ryo.

But Kitagawa Rumi didn't pay much attention to the feedback from the audience. As she said in one of the rehearsals, she was not the kind of actor who enjoyed the cheers and applause of the audience. During the years when she was an idol, she had seen much more enthusiastic scenes than this, including glow sticks drawing a rainbow-like light curtain, tens of thousands of people singing in harmony, and cinema signboards connecting one end of the venue to the other.

So she just stared intently at Kitagawa Ryo's expression and actions. This was her, Kitagawa Rumi's, channel for obtaining positive feedback.

It was visibly that Kitagawa Ryosho was in an excited state, a fact that Rumi could observe at a glance.

Over the past few years, Kitagawa Rumi, who had been with him day and night for a long time, had seen her brother's excitement countless times, emotionally, physically, or both, and she could even now easily provoke this emotion in him.

But I always feel that it is not complete enough, just like scratching an itch through a shoe, and I can never touch some more hidden corner.

Frankly speaking, when the character of Shoji was just designed a few years ago, what Kitagawa Rumi was pursuing at that time was exactly the same as what Arima Kana is pursuing now, that is, to express her attitude to Kitagawa Ryo through such events, including her dream at that time of playing these two CP roles with her brother in the subsequent live-action projects.

But if it was just for this reason, with the complete rewriting of the relationship between her and Kitagawa Ryo more than two years ago, after this long-cherished wish that had been entangled for many years was finally fulfilled, Kitagawa Rumi seemed to have lost the reason to stick to this role.

Just like Ai who is sitting calmly in the audience seats now, the relationship between them and Ryo no longer needs to be expressed and displayed with such false performances. What's more, for Rumi, who has just transformed into an actor not long ago, she already knew two years ago that her competitors would be talented actors like Arimaka and Akane Kurokawa. No matter from which perspective, it would be felt that it is a thankless job, and the efforts may not be rewarded, or it should be said to be a challenge.

However, Kitagawa Rumi still chose to move towards the path of an actor, and the role of Shoji is the role she is most confident in, as she has carefully understood and polished it for two years. During this somewhat long period of practice and learning, Kitagawa Rumi gradually understood more about her brother's thoughts and personality.

If in Kitagawa Ryo's eyes, Arimaka and Kurokawa Akane are born actors in their souls, then in Kitagawa Rumi's eyes, her brother is a thorough actor who has acting engraved in his soul for two lifetimes.

If we follow this line of thought, Kitagawa Rumi will recall the dreamlike first encounter with her when she was still Sarina Tendouji. In fact, the opportunity was that Kitagawa Ryo was frantically pursuing how to play a dying child patient at that time, and made adequate preparations for the filming of the movie "He Once Lived".

...This is really not the way to write a girls' comic.

Kitagawa Rumi sighed secretly in her heart, raised her head again and looked at her brother who had already drawn his sword towards her, her rosy red eyes becoming even clearer and brighter.

Until now, she could finally understand a little bit about her brother who was then, is now, and will probably never change in the future.

In fact, the answer to the question has been said countless times by the other party. The older brother, who debuted as a talented child star, has mentioned many times the audience and the industry's views on child stars. They either pursue the ultimate childlike side, or are keen to see the side of them that transcends being a child. Like Kana Arima later, the older brother fell into the latter category, so he was both regarded as a genius and a freak by the industry at the time.