Chapter 38: The Final Metamorphosis (Part 1)

  Back at the hotel, Li Qiu's heart was still racing fast, with a strange sense of sadness welling up in his chest, an indistinct premonition slowly eroding his heart...

  "What happened? Let's just rest well and return to Tokyo as early as possible tomorrow."

  After taking a hot bath, Li Qiu sat blankly on the bed, watching TV, with a hollow feeling in her heart. In this room with only the sound of the TV, it felt extremely heavy.

  The TV finally caught his attention with a piece of news - 2005 Kangta's Beijing charity concert.

  "There's also a concert." Li Qiu took a look at the date, but found that it conflicted with his booked flight. The concert was on the 30th, while his flight was on the 29th, which meant... tomorrow.

  The next day, Li Qiu returned to Tokyo, but it was not Fujiki Makoto who came to pick him up, but rather Fujiki Naoto.

  Tōgi Naoto is considered a relatively outstanding actor in Japan, and this is all his own hard work, without relying on the influence of Yamaguchi Mirei. This is also one of the reasons why Rika Aki admires and likes him. After getting into Tōgi Makoto's car, Rika only then discovered that they were not heading back to Kurashiki, but rather to Tōgi Naoto's home in Tokyo. Although this left Rika somewhat perplexed, she still didn't ask anything.

  "How is it, is it okay?" The tone of Naoto Fujiki, who was driving the car, was very calm, but there seemed to be a hidden sorrow, which he concealed very well, and Li Qiu did not notice or hear.

  "Alright."

  "It's strange why I'm the one picking you up?"

  "Hmm, it's strange, shouldn't it be Uncle Zhen?"

  "My brother has completed his task, there are more important things that he must do, so next, your training will be with me." Fujiwara Naohito, who had just finished filming "1 Litre of Tears", still looked a bit tired, but for him, Li Qiu's current training was even more important...

  "A new training?" This seems to be a bit too early, although he says his voice is getting better and better, and he's starting to feel more comfortable with it, but he feels that there are still many things that haven't been practiced yet.

  "Uh-huh, when I get home, I'll tell you in detail."

  "A new training..."

  Tōgi Naoto is good at enjoying life, and the house he lives in is not in a bustling area of Tokyo. Perhaps it's because he inherited the habits of Tōgi Katsu and Yamaguchi Mirei, or maybe it's due to his own personality, but the place he lives is also on a quiet street in the suburbs of Tokyo. The cherry blossom trees along the street have already grown several withered yellow leaves on their branches, and the autumn wind that urges people to hurry is constantly blowing...

  Back home, Fujiki Naoto poured two glasses of water and the two sat on the living room sofa, staring at each other for a long time before Fujiki finally downed the cool water in one gulp and said, "Koaki, because of your unique vocal cords, Mother asked me to teach you how to act."

  "Is he an actor?" His voice is unique, and now he has two extremely contrasting voices when singing. One is beautifully euphoric, called "Angel's Voice", the other is dull and forgettable; his singing method is also special, mainly using nasal cavity to sing, which makes him unable to dance while singing, even fast-paced rap or hip-hop songs, he can't handle them, breath control is out of control. In other words, he can only conquer the stage and fans with his voice...

  "No, you have to remember, singer, that's your main job! Don't give up on singing after learning acting skills!" Fujiwara Naoto's emotions seemed a bit out of control. He had also received training from Fujiwara Katsu since he was young, and his tone of voice was very warm. However, his vocal cords were different from Fujiwara Katsu's, not suitable for singing, very flat, very ordinary, without any luxurious sound or singing style, most importantly, he didn't have talent. In the end, Fujiwara Katsu gave up on him too. Fujiwara Naoto was a descendant of the Fujiwara family, which had been a family of performers since ancient times. He and Fujiwara Makoto couldn't inherit this glory, which was originally their greatest regret...

  "Yes, Uncle Naoto, I will remember."

  "Sorry, I got a bit emotional earlier." Tohno Naoto poured himself another glass of water and downed it in one gulp. "I'm not a professional actor by training, my acting skills were honed through role after role as an extra or minor character, so what I'll do is take you to various film sets, ask them to give you a minor extra role, and then you can practice gradually. At night, I'll go over the day's gains with you."

  "Yes, I understand." Does practice make perfect?

  "Let's take a rest today, and we'll start tomorrow..."

  ……

  After that, Li Qiu followed Tōnoki Naoto and began to linger around the crew all the time. Time passed quietly, two months went by, during which Li Qiu also returned to Kim Min-young's home in Japan. However, the originally crowded house was now empty. Kim Min-hee had already returned to Korea after sending Li Qiu to Kurashiki. This is why he didn't visit for more than two years; Kim Min-young had also returned to Korea, seemingly with Soo-young together. BoA occasionally came back to stay for a while when she wasn't busy, but her tight schedule always clashed with Li Qiu's return time. Li Qiu called and met BoA several times, having dinner together, each time BoA was in a hurry, chatting halfway through before Park Si-yeon would rush her to leave. Each time, Li Qiu could only smile and see her off. When BoA had time, Li Qiu was either rushing to another crew or was in the studio...

  December 5th, Japan's first snow began to fall...

  "Xiao Qiu, today's role of a hoodlum, what do you think?" Every night after dinner, it was Li Qiu and Fujiki Naoto who started discussing acting skills. Fujiki Naoto's acting was introverted yet full of tension, in the words of his fans, he acted out the inner heart of a character, not just its appearance.

  Fujiki Naoto debuted in 1995 with the movie version of "Hana Yori Dango" as the first supporting actor Hanae Kazuki. Until now, he has been through ten years, playing main characters, supporting roles, extras, and even just a blurry shot of soy sauce. His acting skills were accumulated slowly over these ten years.

  Although he didn't win many awards during this time, no one could ignore his acting skills. It's just that his acting was too profound, making it hard for some people who don't understand to see...

  An attitude towards life, an attitude of having no goals in life, so people will become muddled and confused, drifting through life aimlessly. I want to grasp this sense of confusion and drift, and basically be able to portray the inner world of a muddle-headed person.

  These past few days, Li Qiu has been very proud, from just one shot as a soy sauce bottle, he's risen to having several lines as an extra, his first role is... a muddle-headed person.

  "Not bad, but you forgot one thing. A hoodlum also has many things that he cares about. If he encounters something he cares about, how will he express it? I said, when playing a role, don't just limit yourself to the content of the script, use your imagination more. If in the future you play this kind of role again, are you going to use the same acting skills to play different roles?"

  "Yes, Uncle Naoto, I will try..."

  "Tomorrow I'll be back in Kurashiki. During the time I'm away, you're on your own with the film crew..." Fujiwara Naoto said as he walked out of the study.

  "I also want to go back... Kurashiki..."

  ……

  Seven days, the first snow of '05, just like that, seven days, it snowed for seven days, as if carrying a hint of sadness...

  Another half month later, it's almost Japan's Spring Festival, and Tōnori Naotora has just returned, along with Miyo Yamaguchi. At this time, Miyo Yamaguchi's expression is quite different from her usual one at home - stern, thin, elegant, but in that black kimono of hers, these auras have already disappeared, replaced by a kind of desolation...

  "Don't look for the crew anymore. For the next half month, Xia Qiu, you're going with me to record a song. This is a new course and also your last course as a singer..."

  This was Li Qiu's first meeting with the godfather of Japan's music industry, Matsushita Katsunori. The music godfather who had squeezed down Ai Yu's chairman from his position as a music producer last year, however, was humble in front of Yamaguchi Mireiko, like a little child.

  "Winning, can I borrow your recording studio for half a month?"

  "Yes, teacher."

  Like this, with just a simple sentence, Yamaguchi Mirei borrowed Aikawa's best recording studio, and at that time, the Asian pop diva and fashion icon, Hamasaki Ayumi, who was preparing for her year-end concert, was using the recording studio. Matsumura Katsuhito's one sentence made Hamasaki Ayumi move to another recording studio...

  Yamaguchi Mireko held in her hand only two songs, no, it should be said that one and a half songs, one complete with lyrics and melody, the other only had lyrics but no melody. The song with melody was called "Seven Nights Snow", the other was "When I Sing This Song".

  In three days, Li Qiu became familiar with the song's score and lyrics. The recording studio also made the necessary preparations for dubbing. This was Li Qiu's first time recording in her life, and it had begun.

  The first song, with lyrics and music, Li Qiu quickly entered the state. The lyrics of "Seven Nights Snow" are very beautiful, and the music is very melancholic. For three days, he was pondering, two months of practicing the role finally came in handy. However, when starting to record the song, every time Li Qiu sang the first word, Yamaguchi Mirei would shout stop. This situation continued for three days. Yamaguchi Mirei's aged body accompanied Li Qiu in this dimly lit recording studio, practicing again and again...

  "Stop!!!!!!" Yamaguchi Mireiko had really gone mad, her voice was hoarse, and her originally jade-like hands were now a dark yellow. The aura emanating from her entire body was even more desolate than before...

  "Come back with me to Kurashiki tomorrow and record again after we get back!"

  ……()