lcionline Chapter 11 A Place to Settle Down
Chapter 11 A Place to Settle Down
Inside the selection hall, the interviews were nearing their end. As Li Ren pushed open the door and walked in, she saw the last candidate finish bowing and anxiously awaiting the judges' comments.
When Yoshio Konno saw him return, he immediately approached and asked in a low voice, "What did Nanase Nishino say?"
"What else can I say?" Rito sat down in her seat, picked up her water glass, took a sip, and said slowly, "Since she's someone I've chosen, so what if her singing isn't great? Of course she'll stay."
Upon hearing this, Konno's face showed an "I knew it" expression, but he still couldn't help but retort, "You really have a lot of faith in her. If it were me, I would never let her in."
"That's the difference between us, Konno-san." Rito waved his hand dismissively. "Let's not talk about her anymore. How was the overall day?"
Mentioning this, Konno's expression brightened considerably: "To be honest, it's much better than I expected. I originally thought that all those who came would be rejected and defective products, but I didn't expect there to be some good prospects."
He flipped through the list in his hand, pointed to a few names and said, "Especially Inoue and Nagahama Naru, they're so pretty they could debut directly in other agencies. I really don't know what kind of spell they took to come to our little temple to compete with these small fry. Kubo-san, you weren't there for the second half, so you didn't see what the other kids looked like. They were all so discouraged by those two that they tried to leave after saying a few words. It almost made me furious."
"Surely not? What about the people on my list? Are they like that too?" Rito raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, but not too surprised. He didn't care whether those small fry who were just trying to cover up the truth had a mental breakdown or not, but if the members he drew were like that, then he would be a little disappointed.
"No, not at all. I must say, Kubo-san, your eye for talent is really good. Those few performed very well." Konno nodded. "I've already had the staff make initial contact with them, and there are basically no problems. We're just waiting for the final list to be confirmed and the contracts to be signed."
Upon hearing this, Rito breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the candidates below the stage, who were packing up their things. On their young faces, some were beaming with joy, some were looking disappointed, and some were still chattering with friends they had just met. Sunlight streamed in through the huge French windows, casting a warm golden glow on them.
After more than 30 years, this barren land of idols is finally about to bloom its first flower.
Ah He, Shui Shui, Qiu Qiu, Elbow Bro...
Looking at the familiar faces, Rihime was filled with emotion, a smile playing on her lips. Suddenly, she turned her head and looked at Konno with an unprecedentedly serious expression:
"A new era is about to begin, Konno-san, can you feel it?"
Konno Yoshio was about to laugh at his childishness in his heart, but when he saw the light in his eyes, for some reason, the lingering doubts in his heart vanished. He choked for half a second, then turned his gaze to the crowd below the stage, stared for a few seconds, and nodded vigorously.
"As you say, we will do our utmost."
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As a newly formed group jointly operated by Dentsu and Sony, the newly formed Nogizaka46 naturally couldn't be like ordinary idols, hiding in some dark corner of the suburbs and starting to perform directly in a low-rent apartment. In fact, when the project was first proposed, Sony generously offered to let Nogizaka use one of their buildings as a place for daily activities and training, and as for the rent, they only needed to give a symbolic amount.
If it were an ordinary idol producer, even someone like Yasushi Akimoto, a top figure in the industry, they would definitely agree to such a condition without hesitation. However, Rito Kubo is a pure-blooded Dentsu man, so he doesn't take such things too seriously. More importantly, according to his memory, Sony seems to have a strong path dependency on selling buildings. The building promised to him would be sold in less than two years, and then he would have to move again. Just thinking about it was annoying. Therefore, Rito did not accept the other party's kindness. Instead, he used his connections at Dentsu to find a newer building in Chiyoda Ward as his office space.
"This will be our workplace from now on. How's it going? Not bad, right?"
The brand-new glass curtain wall building gleamed with a cold luster under the morning sun. Sunlight streamed into the top-floor office, and the gleaming marble floor reflected people's images. The newly appointed president turned his head to look at the country girl behind him, who was looking at everything with a sense of wonder, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"Kubo-san, watch your image. Saying things like that can easily be seen as showing off."
Holding a thick stack of folders in her arms, Shuishui pouted and reluctantly turned her gaze away from the surrounding decorations. Because of her promise to Rito on the day of the audition, she did not go downstairs to the practice room with the other successful candidates. Instead, she followed the president to tour the various departments of the company and took the opportunity to act as an assistant.
Rito smiled silently and walked to the window. Looking down from here, the crowd looked as tiny as ants, and the straight streets divided the space into squares of varying sizes, seemingly within reach.
"Nagahama, come here."
Seemingly feeling that enjoying the scenery alone was a bit monotonous, Rito waved to the girl, signaling her to come forward.
"They're here."
Shuishui placed the documents on the table, then ran quickly to his side.
"Look, that's the Budokan, and that round one over there is the Tokyo Dome. These are the stages you'll be performing on in the future. Say hello to them first."
Rito gazed into the distance, gesturing wildly at the sights outside the window, and suddenly started making grand promises, much like the passionate coach in a sports anime who shouts "Let's go to the national tournament!" as soon as he appears. Unfortunately, Sleepy isn't the kind of muscular guy who gets fired up easily, and she didn't cooperate at all with his sudden burst of enthusiasm.
"It's too early to talk big now. President, you should think about how to make the company's employees remember our group name first. I've already heard three different versions of the group name in just this short while."
Sleepy, oblivious to any romantic gestures, stood with her hands on her hips and poured a bucket of cold water over her head.
"Tsk, given your attitude today, I'm not taking you to the East Arena. You can buy your own ticket and go in."
Rito, whose interest had been interrupted, rolled her eyes at her and immediately retorted.
"Tch, let's get it done first."
Shuishui, who had already become familiar with him, was not to be outdone. At 17, JK was at the age where she was sharp-tongued and quick-witted. With just a few words, she made Liren furious and lose all interest in standing by the window and fantasizing about the future. She snorted coldly, took out a stack of documents that had just been faxed from the drawer, and threw them at Shuishui, who was celebrating her victory.
"What is this?"
Narrowly catching the document the president tossed to her, Shui Shui asked curiously.
"The schedule for your first season has been decided. Go and inform Sakurai Reika, then get to training. Don't pollute my view."
After a few impatient explanations, Rito waved his hand, giving her a disdainful gesture to shoo her away. Shui Shui rolled her eyes, gave a perfunctory "Hi," and then skipped away angrily.
"This guy."
Hearing the slamming sound of the door being deliberately closed by Shui Shui, Li Ren shook his head helplessly, turned on his computer, and got back to work.