Chapter Seventy-Five: The Great Event That Is About To Happen

  "Hmm... Tamori's laughter is also fine, I guess... It's definitely not okay, right?" The first half of the sentence was said by Zhou Xiao while looking at Watanabe Keiko. As soon as he finished saying the program name, he saw Watanabe frowning and quickly changed his words.

  "That Akashi family's autumn knife fish... probably won't work either!" said Zhou Xiao.

  "As for Takeshi Kitano... he only likes doing shows with AV actresses, so that's that."

  Watanabe Keiko nodded, you're sensible.

  "The program itself is fine, but my key concern is that it may be difficult to control the timing." said Zhou Xiaodao.

  "What are you going to do next?" asked Watanabe Keiko.

  "Next I plan to invest in a movie," said Zhou Xiaodao.

  "Movies?" Watanabe Keiko's reaction was similar to that of Uncle Inoue, both were very puzzled as to why Zhou Xiao suddenly wanted to make movies.

  "It can't be said that I did it, I just provided the script and funding, the crew still needs to be led by Uncle Jie, the director and cameraman were also found by Uncle Jie, my main purpose is to learn about filmmaking through this movie." Zhou Xiao said.

  "So you're saying that after this movie, you'll start directing your own films?"

  "That's right."

  "If I had to say so, it's still somewhat normal, at least she doesn't really think that just picking up a camera makes her a great director..." Watanabe Keiko murmured.

  "That's for sure, even if I'm talented, I wouldn't do something like that casually," said Zhou Xiao.

  "I heard you also want to sign a Chinese folk music group?"

  "Oh, that can actually be run with the lowest funds, you can just take it as a try, and before going to China, I will also get the song out and have it appraised by professional musicians." Zhou Xiao said.

  "It seems your idea is quite perfect."

  "That's for sure, they will be the first batch of artists signed by our company, and I have been thinking of making them overnight sensations!" said Zhou Xiao.

  "So there is one last question, I hope you can give me an answer."

  "What?"

  "Why is your second single's release date not set for the latter half of the year?" Kawabe Keiko asked.

  Zhou Xiao hesitated, he couldn't let Watanabe Keiko think that he knew what would happen in the future, so regarding the second half of 2000, he vaguely said: "I currently only have four songs in hand. One song is scheduled to be given to **AP, but I don't think my style suits this song, so I'll give it to them. The other two songs will be used as the theme song and insert song for a movie, so they're only suitable for release during the movie's airing period. As for the last song, it's a cherry blossom song. You know that the best time to release a cherry blossom song is around March every year. So my idea is, if the movie is released first, I'll release the two songs from the movie soundtrack first. If the movie is released after March, I'll release the cherry blossom single first."

  "It's only July now, actually it would be fine if you send another one in October." said Watanabe Keiko.

  "No, at that time... it won't be sent." Zhou Xiao shook his head and said.

  Watanabe Keiko didn't disappoint, having been in the industry for many years. Her conditioned reflex was to ask why, but she forcefully held back because she found that Zhou Xiao's expression at this moment seemed a bit strange. This kind of expression Watanabe Keiko wasn't unfamiliar with, she had seen it many times before. Generally speaking, when someone in the industry has some inside information, their face would often be like Zhou Xiao's now - not crying but also not smiling.

  What can a newcomer to the industry know? Natsumi Watanabe naturally had such thoughts in her mind, but she still didn't say it out loud. There was one thing she was very clear about: Zhou Xiao was her superior, and even if her superior was wrong, questioning her superior was also not allowed.

  Watanabe Keiko finished talking and said goodbye to Zhou Xiao before leaving the room. After seeing Watanabe off, Zhou Xiao sat down on the sofa, lost in thought as he recalled something that had happened in the second half of 2000.

  In June, Zhou Xiao's single "Small Love" was at its peak, with sales of 15 million that couldn't be stopped. Professional musicians predicted that the song might have the potential to break 20 million, but this number would require another week or two to achieve. Within these one or two weeks, Zhou Xiao could not release any news about a new single, otherwise it would easily dampen fans' desire to buy.

  After the best-selling period of singles, the whole world will enter the preparation period for the Olympic Games. This is a big deal for China and also for Japan. The entire Japan will revolve around this event from mid-September to October, even the music industry, which has little relation to it, will be affected more or less.

  But after the Olympic fever in October passed, it seemed that Zhou Xiao could release a single, but at this time, it was even more impossible to issue.

  In 2000, the sales cycle of a single was very long. To reach millions, as Zhou Xiao's reputation was still relatively low at that time, while having good song quality, he must have better promotion to create a bigger social phenomenon, so the operation time would necessarily exceed two months, such as brewing in October, releasing the single in November, reaching its peak by the end of November and digesting it throughout December.

  But by the end of November 2000, no one in Japan's entertainment circle would have cared about Zhou Xiao.

  At this time, something happened that even affected later generations.

  That's Takuya Kimura of SMAP... He got married.

  Some popular science is very narrative and fun, and the plot is also very good-looking. The marriage of Takuya Kimura is one such example.

  Takuya Kimura met a woman named Kaori Ito when he was 20 years old, and they were together for ten years. Takuya is actually quite flirtatious, and it's said that he had relationships with many female co-stars, such as Yumi Adachi who made Takuya infatuated (she later married Tsutomu Tsuchida), and also allegedly used his connections to the acting world to get close to Ryoko Shinohara, with whom he starred in "Long Vacation", "Love Generation" and "HERO". During an episode of a variety show hosted by Masahiro Nakai, Takuya and Ryoko's expressions and reactions were very subtle, making people suspect that there was something going on between them.

  Takuya Kimura is truly a great god, with over 60 million women in Japan, it's estimated that Takuya Kimura can take away 30 million with just one wave of his hand (the other 30 million are taken away by Masaharu Fukuyama), but he has always loved only Kaori Ito, no matter how much he likes Tomoko Yamaguchi or Ryoko Hirosue, it cannot hinder the relationship between Takuya Kimura and Kaori Ito.

  An idol's romance, the pressure is imaginable. During that passionate period, when Arashi's manager said in public that Kimura was single, Kimura dared to say he had a girlfriend! No one from Johnny's would have the guts to do that! It can be said that just this point alone shows how responsible a man Kimura is.

  But the problem with Ito Karari is that although she was just a small model before, she has a strong personality and hates being treated as Kimura's girlfriend, wanting to be recognized as Ito Karari herself. If you were Yamaguchi Momoe, no one would question this kind of talk, but you're just Ito Karari after all.

  So by '99, Kaori Ito and Kimura had finally broken up.

  Due to heartbreak, Kimura stayed in hospital for a period of time after the breakup, which proved how much he paid for this broken relationship.

  Kaori Ito broke up with someone she had been dating for a year, only to find out after the breakup that Takuya Kimura was also married.

  On November 24, 2000, at the Arashi concert, Takuya Kimura announced his decision to all the fans before the concert even started, fearing that Johnny's staff would stop him.

  "Kimura Takuya is getting married!"

  As for the object of marriage, it was this year that gave him great tenderness and tolerance, comforted his emotional wounds, and after marriage, he could really be a good husband and father, giving up his promising career, which was actually a super beautiful girl (at that time, as for now...), former member of the Kitten Club, and the only superstar who came out of the Kitten Club, Kudō Shizuka!