HPDBC Chapter 33 Preparations
Chapter 33 Preparations
Johnny & Associates, senior management office.
Kanai Toshihiko paced back and forth on the carpet like a trapped beast, his tie askew.
"Executive Director, that bastard named Kitahara must be dealt with!"
Jin Jing gripped the bottle, his face covered in cold sweat. "The guys I called to teach him a lesson came back terrified, saying he's a lunatic... This guy's been hanging out with Akina every day lately, what if he gets her to say something inappropriate?"
The executive officer, sitting behind his desk, looked at him coldly.
"A lesson? You sent those low-life thugs to intimidate Fukasaku Kinji's favorite lieutenant? Foolish."
The executive director closed the folder. "Old man Fukasaku has already called the president, warning us not to touch his people. We can't touch Kitahara Shin before the movie is released."
"What should we do then? Just let him jump around like that?"
"Just a clown, he can't cause any real trouble."
The executive director said calmly, "As long as Akina doesn't cause any problems, there's nothing he can do. After all, he's an outsider; Akina is the key."
"How are the preparations for the press conference going?"
"The date is set for July 11th, at the Peacock Hall of the New Takanawa Prince Hotel."
The executive took out a gold-embossed order form from the drawer. "We have contacted the nursing home and Akina's school. If that woman dares to disobey, her grandmother's dialysis will be stopped, and her sister's school registration will be cancelled."
The executive officer gave a professional, cold laugh. "Once you find her weakness, she's like a dog, completely obedient. She can't turn the world upside down."
Kanai breathed a sigh of relief and downed the drink in his glass in one gulp.
Once you've won over that woman, nothing else matters.
……
Late that night.
Tokyo Bay, a secluded pier.
Black waves crashed against the rocks.
A white Toyota Crown was parked under a streetlamp with its windows closed.
The carriage was deathly silent.
Akina Nakamori huddled in the passenger seat, her hands clenched into fists.
Her face was deathly pale, and large tears streamed down her face.
"They...stopped my grandmother's medication."
Her voice was broken and fragmented. "The nursing home just called and said that without the firm's guarantee, I can't have dialysis tomorrow."
And then there's Chika... They said if I didn't go to that press conference, if I didn't admit that I was the one who created those rumors, Chika would be expelled.
She looked at Kitahara Shin beside her in despair.
"Kitahara-kun, I'm sorry... I can't fight them. They're my family... I can't watch Grandma die."
She lost.
It's not because I lack courage, but because I have a weakness.
Faced with the unscrupulous behemoth that is capital, individual resistance appears so futile.
She was prepared to compromise.
He was preparing to go to that damn press conference, to admit in front of all the Japanese media that he had spilled all the dirty water, in order to save his family's lives.
Kitahara Shin remained silent.
He simply watched the girl who was about to break down.
Jin Jing and his gang were indeed ruthless, striking right at their Achilles' heel. But this also shows that they were guilty.
"Hold out your hand," Kitahara Shin suddenly said.
Akina paused for a moment, then instinctively extended her trembling right hand.
"Smack."
A black cassette tape was placed in her palm.
Next came a folded copy of the paper.
"This is……"
"Listen to it."
Kitahara Shin pressed the play button in the car and inserted the cassette tape.
After a hissing sound of electricity, a familiar voice rang out in the cramped carriage.
That was Jin Jing's voice, with the background noise of mahjong tiles clattering.
"...Huh? Marriage? Don't be ridiculous! That's just a show for the media!"
"That woman is a spineless coward. All I have to do is mention her dying grandmother and scare her sister who wants to go to school, and she trembles with fear, doing whatever I tell her to do."
"This kind of woman was born to be my stepping stone! Once this debt is paid off, I'll just throw her away like trash! Hahahaha..."
The laughter in the recording was extremely grating.
Akina's body stiffened.
Tears were still streaming down her face, but her expression was frozen.
The tragic sense of "having to sacrifice for one's family" instantly becomes laughable in the face of this naked malice.
It turned out that the other party had already figured out her weakness, and even told it to others as a joke at the gambling table.
"Turn it off..." she squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth.
Kitahara Shin turned off the tape recorder.
He turned on the car's roof light and pointed to the paper: "This is a copy of the IOU for 80 million yuan he owes to underground banks. It has his signature and fingerprint on it. With this, the evidence of his collusion with the underworld and his involvement in huge gambling operations is confirmed."
Under the dim light of the car's roof lamp, Akina could see the piece of paper clearly.
The familiar signature above now looks like a hideous ghost face.
She suddenly raised her head and looked at Kitahara Shin.
"Kitahara-kun... how did you get all this?"
Her voice trembled. "Those people are gangsters...they'll kill. You...you're just an actress."
Where did he go for this piece of paper?
What did he face for this cassette tape?
"I'm an actor, so I played a villain who was even more ruthless than them."
Kitahara Shin said casually, "Don't worry, the transaction went smoothly."
Akina looked into his calm eyes.
Tears welled up again.
She always thought she was fighting alone, but little did she know that someone had walked into the wolf's den alone just to hand her this knife.
"Fool……"
She clutched the IOU tightly, wondering, "Was it worth it for me?"
"worth."
Kitahara Shin looked at her, "Because compromise won't save your grandmother, nor will it save you. Kin'i is a bottomless pit; only by destroying it can you and your family have a way to survive."
"This is a knife."
"The knife I traded for. Whether you use it or not, and how you use it, is up to you."
A long silence fell over the carriage.
Akina lowered her head, looking at the thin piece of paper in her hand.
Her body stopped trembling.
My breathing became steady, and I even felt... a little cold.
She remembered the sunrise at the beach, the Zippo lighter in Kitahara Shin's hand, and the unrestrained laughter in the recording.
When she looked up again, the tears in her eyes had dried up.
"That press conference..."
She carefully placed the IOU and tape into the innermost layer of her bag, as if they were the most precious treasures in the world.
Then, she took out her lipstick, looked in the rearview mirror, and slowly applied it to her lips.
That splash of red was as vivid as blood.
"I will go."
She looked at herself in the mirror with a cold gaze. "Since he has set the stage, then I will perform this last act."
"However, the script needs to be changed."
Kitahara Shin looked at her, and his tense shoulders finally relaxed.
He pulled a mint from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.
"Then let's begin the rehearsal."
Outside the window, the sea breeze howled.
A storm powerful enough to shake the entire Heisei entertainment industry is about to officially land in front of the Golden Screen in six days.