"...Akimoto, Manatsu-san? Akimoto-san...is this person here?" Shitara said, looking around the entire studio.
"Right now, Qiu Yuan-san is training with the crew opposite." the female anchor replied.
The camera immediately moved to the outside of the court. Wearing a black-soled sleeveless plaid dress and a pair of thick-soled platform shoes, Akimoto Manatsu covered her mouth with her hand. At this moment, she was immersed in the shock and fear of the surprise announcement.
"Hi..." She agreed weakly.
"Come here quickly!" "Please come here!"
At the invitation of the two hosts and the applause of the staff outside the venue, Akimoto Manatsu walked into the center of the venue.
In just half a month, Nogizaka members experienced two roller coasters. If the first time I threw the confidence of many people to the ground, the second time not only stepped on their confidence, but also crushed it with force.
A member who has not participated in activities for a whole year, just came back and skipped under, skipped the ordinary selection, and went directly to the position of Lucky God. This made other members who had been in under for a whole year, let those who worked hard for the selection position , members who want to go further become very ridiculous.
"It's Akimoto-san, right?" Himura asked uncertainly. For him, this was the first time he knew that Nogizaka had such a number one member.
"Hi, please take care of me." Akimoto Manatsu bent down and responded.
"What a surprise, eh——, your surname is Akimoto, is she the daughter of Teacher Akimoto Yasushi?" Shitara joked to lighten the atmosphere.
"No, no -" Akimoto Manatsu waved his hands quickly.
The follow-up was a normal speech session, and Banana Man thoughtfully smoothed things over for her. Since she usually participates in training and can be a lucky god when she comes back, she must have worked very hard. I will work hard with everyone in the follow-up, and so on. They are just polite words. .
When they returned to the lounge after the recording, the members were no longer so polite, and the atmosphere was terrifyingly heavy.
Some members who have never participated in an audition have been under for a full year since their formation in Nogizaka. Now a newly returned member has immediately become one of the core eight members without doing anything.
Thinking of the hellish training some time ago and how hard your efforts were worthless in front of operations, have you given up? A mood of despair permeated the background.
Seeing this situation, the selected members couldn’t say much. People will always be partial to friends they know well, and they also have some small dissatisfaction in their hearts.
"Hmm..." Mai Shiraishi held her cheek and looked at the lines of code on Amamiya Shiori's laptop screen in a daze. She had just gone through the selection, and it was rare that she didn't treat Amamiya Shiori as rudely as usual.
"Do you know this Qiu Yuansang?" she asked softly.
"We have met a few times. Didn't she also come to participate in the training class some time ago? She also came during the rehearsal of the musical. Haven't you seen Mai yet?" Amamiya Sōri responded in the same low voice.
"I didn't notice it at all." Shiraishi Mai pursed her lips and shook her head, "By the way, could she really be Teacher Akimoto Yasu's biological daughter? Otherwise, how could it be..."
"If it were really Yasushi Akimoto's biological daughter, I would have written dozens of essays on Wen Chun," Amamiya Shiori said with a smile, "This is just a hype."
"Hype?"
"Use airdrops to ignite the topic. No matter whether the reviews are good or bad, as long as it attracts traffic, that's enough."
"Then what if I screw up and attract a lot of negative fans?" Shiraishi Mai was puzzled.
"Black is black, and black and red are red. It's better than being unknown." Amamiya Sōri felt that Shiraishi Mai was still too young. In her previous life, domestic traffic stars never cared about black fans. As long as they can make enough money, black fans All of them can be described as white by public relations.
She said in a tone that said her posture was not rich enough, "How can a member who has been on hiatus for a year leave an impression on her fans if she doesn't make some big news? It's trivial for her to have negative fans. If she had the ability, all the negative fans would be To become a true fan.”
"But -" Shiraishi Mai has already accepted this statement in her heart, but she still feels a little unworthy of being an under member.
"Just treat it as a one-time investment in operations. What if you create a topical figure and attract fans? The worst case scenario is——"
"Why! Why! I don't want it!!" Suddenly there was a cry, interrupting the conversation between the two.
Looking around, the person who made the sound was Nakata Hana.
"Uh..." The two of them were silent.
Nakata Hana's eyes were red and her emotions were a bit out of control. Ito Marika, Saito Yuri and others beside her looked distracted and did not react.
Fortunately, Akimoto Manatsu was called to talk by Konno Yoshio before, otherwise it would be embarrassing to stay in the lounge.
Nakata's sudden emotional outburst did not attract criticism, because at this moment, most people felt the same way. They want to cry and complain, and also want to ask the operation face to face what they did wrong. But in the end, he can only lick his wounds quietly in the corner like an injured animal.
"I think the current situation is quite bad." Mai Shiraishi said in a low voice, "I feel like the atmosphere in the group was very tense during the musical, and it's even more tense now."
"There is nothing we can do about it. Operations is the boss, and we are employees. The boss can promote whoever he wants to be a department manager, regardless of her work experience and personal abilities. We employees who covet good positions are not convinced. It's so normal." Amamiya Sori explained the relationship between operations and members from a different perspective to Shiraishi Mai, "As long as the company's overall operating conditions are good and everyone makes money, then everyone can live in peace. Wait until the company goes downhill. If you are dissatisfied with the company's personnel arrangements, it is not too late to consider changing jobs.
"Hiss~~This is too realistic." Mai Shiraishi couldn't help but sigh, Amamiya Sōri could always analyze problems from a perspective that no other member would consider.
"You need to be more realistic to gain a foothold in society!" Amamiya Soi disagreed.
After the announcement of the four single selections, there was some minor turmoil within Nogizaka.
One is Yumiko Iwase’s graduation decision. The eldest sister Iwase is twenty-two years old this year and has only entered the selection once. The factor of age, the dim future, and the return of Akimoto Manatsu made her think about her career plan for a long time. Finally, after discussing with several familiar members, she applied for graduation to the operation. The operation didn't do much to persuade her to stay, but promised to produce a graduation special for her, which was still a bit humane.
The second was Nishino Nanase's break. After the release of her fourth single, she didn't even pack her luggage, so she rushed back to her hometown of Osaka overnight and stayed there for a week. Although the operation did not explain the reason, it can be easily connected with the selection results. I didn't expect her defense to be broken so badly.
