Akina Nakamori came back from her business trip this time and had two days off. She will resume work on Sunday night, and there is a live broadcast waiting for her.
I am usually very busy at work, and I don’t have much time for rest throughout the year. I have just finished my long trip and the vacation has not even started yet, so I have already arranged my itinerary for these two days.
I have to clean, pack my luggage, and have a date with my boyfriend...
Before that, she went back to her hometown the next morning.
Nakamori Akina's hometown is Kiyose City in Tokyo. It is said to be a city, but it is actually a place about the same size as a small town. She drove back alone and passed Kiyose Station, not far from her home.
Kiyose City is at the very edge of Tokyo, next to Saitama Prefecture. It is a place where civilians gather. The shopping streets near the station and the buildings are not very eye-catching. Among them, there is a three-story building with a wide area and just
The commercial-residential mixed-use building with brightly colored exterior walls that was built not long ago looks particularly impressive.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the restaurant began to prepare for business.
Akina Nakamori turned her head and glanced outside, vaguely seeing the busy figures in the restaurant.
This building was built by Akina Nakamori for her family. It is a three-story building with a store on the first floor. Her father, brother and sister opened a restaurant here, and the second and third floors are used for living and renting.
The Nakamori family had always relied on their father, who owned a small shop, to make a living. His father was a small businessman. When he had children, it was natural for him to start a job that was no different from his father who had supported them.
However, Nakamori Akina's father had no business acumen since he was young, and when it came to his children, he was not outstanding in business. The father, brother and sister's respective restaurant businesses were not very good, and they were just barely running.
Akina Nakamori looked back, did not stop the car, but drove forward for a while.
…
The neighborhood where Nakamori Akina's hometown is located is simpler than the shopping street in front of the station. After becoming popular, she spent money to renovate her hometown. The house that she lived in in her childhood was spacious, bright and comfortable.
When she was a child, her family huddled in a small Japanese-style room and put their feet into the kotatsu to keep warm. Akina Nakamori made bold promises to give her family a good life, and her childhood words came true.
However, the warm family that lived foot to foot no longer exists now.
At this time, only my mother, Chieko, was home alone.
Nakamori Akina's father liked the new house over the station. On the grounds that it was convenient for taking care of his business, he lived in the apartment on the second floor there most of the time and rarely came back here.
Chieko's health has been in poor health in recent years. She just had an operation not long ago and needs to go to the hospital for regular check-ups.
My body has become weak, but my hearing and observation skills have become much sharper. Because they are too sharp, I am a little afraid of noise, so now I stay alone in my hometown to rest.
In this way, the relationship between husband and wife is almost like separation, but Chieko doesn't mind this kind of semi-separated life.
Nakamori Akina's father was a prostitute when he was young, and he had a submissive attitude toward outsiders, but he was not a nose or an eye toward his family members. Although the couple raised six children together, they had been quarreling for half their lives, and their relationship was
Can't be said to be good.
Normally when Chieko was feeling energetic, she would go to the shop run by her family at the station, but she no longer had the time to help.
In Nakamori Akina's view, compared to her father and brothers and sisters, who always wanted to start a business but never had any luck in business, the person in the family who really knows how to deal with customers is her mother, Chieko.
In the past, when she could still help in the store, the store was always busy with customers.
Chieko herself once lamented that if her physical condition were not so bad, she would seriously run a karaoke bar.
When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a singer. In the end, I failed to realize this dream, but put it on my daughter. Now, the idea of opening my own store can only be turned into a sigh.
Now, without the help of Chieko, the business of the restaurant independently run by her father, brother, sister-in-law, and sisters is deteriorating day by day. Even though the outside world knows that it is a restaurant run by Nakamori Akina's family, it is not managed well, and even fans are unwilling to patronize it.
.
…
Akina Nakamori has a very good relationship with her mother. After a trip abroad, the first thing she thinks about when she comes back is to come back and see her mother.
It had been a while since she had seen her daughter. Chieko was very happy to see Akina Nakamori come. She made tea and brought her favorite snacks.
It is obviously a big family, but when there are only two people at home, the atmosphere is particularly harmonious and warm.
It's a good thing not to think about it, and it's a little sad to think about it.
However, such thoughts only passed away for a moment. Akina Nakamori happily told her mother, "I brought a gift back from London."
As she spoke, she took out the box from the paper bag and handed it over.
The gift she brought to her mother was a very fashionable silk scarf. Chieko likes to dress up very much and will be very happy as long as she receives such a gift. Akina Nakamori knows her mother's preferences and carefully selects them for her every time she goes on a business trip.
"Thank you, Akina-chan, I like it very much."
Chieko happily wrapped the silk scarf around her neck and showed her daughter the effect.
Mother was happy, and Akina Nakamori also felt comfortable.
In addition to the gift for my mother, there are also several paper bags filled with souvenirs for my father and brothers and sisters.
Even if the relationship between her family members other than Chieko is not good because of money, they are still family members after all, and blood ties still tie Nakamori Akina into this web of family ties.
However, passing by my father, brothers and sisters' shop without stopping there already shows a certain attitude.
"When you came here, you also passed by the store, right?" Chieko asked her.
Akina Nakamori knew she was worried and told her, "I took a look from the car and everyone seemed to be preparing for the opening."
Chieko raised her head and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost time to serve customers in the restaurant.
Even so, Chieko looked worried and said, "Probably not many customers will come."
Nakamori Akina felt that her mother's words were expected, but she was a little surprised by her tone. Listening to Chieko's words, her father, brother and sister's business was almost unsustainable.
"Is business so bad?" she asked.
Chieko complained to her daughter, "I have told them a long time ago that if you don't have the talent for business, it is better to work as an office worker."
She was not worried for no reason, but was worried about Akina Nakamori.
If the restaurant fails to open, then the unemployed family will have to make plans for this daughter again.
Chieko thought of this, looked at the gifts her daughter brought to other people, and said, "Really, if I were you, I wouldn't bring them gifts."
After she became ill, her temper seemed to have changed and she became more willful and willful.
When Nakamori Akina heard her mother say such words, she was amused before she had any time to feel any emotions towards her family. She put her own feelings aside first and comforted her mother in turn.
Chieko quietly breathed a sigh of relief while talking to her daughter.
Although she was the first to express her dissatisfaction with her family, although she was speaking for Akina Nakamori, the other purpose was to ease the relationship between her and her family.
In her heart, Chieko always remembered the scene of her children wearing clothes cut from the same piece of fabric and following her in a row. For her mother, who was getting weaker day by day, it was still too cruel to see her children alienated or even turned against each other.
Such complicated emotions are rare when you are healthy.
…
At noon, Chieko went to the kitchen to cook, and Akina Nakamori helped her mother in the kitchen.
Chieko's cooking skills are very good, and in Nakamori Akina's mind, her mother is probably "all-powerful". While she was helping, she remembered that she had agreed with Iwahashi Shinichi last night that she would treat him to dinner tonight.
Nakamori Akina was very enthusiastic about cooking and entertaining him, but after all, it was her first time, so she always wanted to do her best.
Now I am preparing lunch with my mother who is "all-powerful" in her heart. When she thinks about it, she asks a few questions about how to process certain things and how to mix them to make them delicious.
Chieko answered all her daughter's questions and enthusiastically taught her her kitchen tricks. However, looking at her daughter's serious nodding and memorizing, she always felt as if she had something on her mind.
After getting sick, Chieko lost her appetite, so she just cooked something, which was too much for two people. After Akina Nakamori finished her own portion, she helped her mother take care of what she couldn't finish.
"So full." Akina Nakamori sighed, having accidentally eaten too much.
Chieko was laughing next to her. She looked at her daughter's cheerful face and asked, "Is your work going well recently?"
"It's pretty good, mom, don't worry."
"However, Akina-chan likes to force herself so much that people can't help but worry about you. It's okay if you don't worry." Chieko was obviously caring about her daughter, but when she spoke, it seemed a bit like she was deliberately going against her.
Akina Nakamori knew this was her mother's way of joking, and replied with a smile: "It's okay, Mom."
She looked at her mother with a gentle expression, dragged the cushion to move, sat next to Chieko, and told her coquettishly, "Everything went well."
Nakamori Akina stayed close to her mother and whispered to her, "The same goes for work, and so does love..."
She was a little embarrassed to say it, but also a little satisfied that she finally had someone to talk to.
I haven't mentioned my relationship with Shinichi Iwahashi to anyone around me yet.
Secret love sometimes brings fun. However, secret love also makes people unbearable. Nakamori Akina has talked to her mother about everything since she was a child. Facing Chieko, she couldn't hide things, so she wanted to hide them.
Speak out about it.
Hearing her daughter's confession, Chieko was not surprised at all. Instead, she replied: "I guessed it just now when I saw you asking questions in the kitchen."
Chieko, who knew Nakamori Akina's personality well, could guess where her daughter's worries came from just by looking at her expression. Especially after she fell ill, her powers of observation became even sharper, to the point where she was scolded by her son for being nosy.
"Really?" Akina Nakamori smiled, picked up her mother's hand, and put it against her face.
Chieko asked her, "What kind of person is he?"
"He is a very reliable person who treats others sincerely and gently, and is not frivolous at all." Nakamori Akina thought of Iwahashi Shinichi's face and added, "He also looks very dignified, like the male protagonist in the Ren Xia movie."
"Isn't he much older than you?"
When her daughter described her, Chieko subconsciously added ten years to this person's age to her daughter's.
As a result, this sentence made my daughter laugh.
Chieko's words reminded Nakamori Akina that she mistakenly thought Iwahashi Shinichi was several years older than her, and she laughed harder and harder. She laughed for a while and shook her head: "Actually, he is one year younger than me."
This time, Chieko smiled and realized the reason why her daughter was laughing just now.
I laughed, but I felt that although this man was under his age, he should be quite reliable. The reason why I thought this was because I heard the trust in his daughter in her words when she mentioned him.
"Are you working as an artist?" Chieko asked.
Akina Nakamori told her mother, "I am a music producer, but I have never produced music for me." After thinking about it, "I also produce variety shows."
And she also said that she would be invited to be a guest when a new show is launched...
"awesome."
Chieko thought that this man was one year younger than her daughter, but was already a producer, and she felt young and promising from the bottom of her heart.
"I don't know when I can see him." Chieko looked forward to it.
Nakamori Akina smiled and said, "If there is a chance next time..." As he said that, he thought of something, his smile gained a hint of shadow, and he discussed with his mother, "But, my father, brothers and sisters, and Akiho..."
"Don't tell them yet," Nakamori Akina said.
Chieko's heart moved, she nodded, her tone was relaxed, but her heart firmly agreed with her daughter, "Then this is a secret that only Akina-chan and I know."
secret.
Akina Nakamori laughed again, held Chieko's hand, and nodded, "Yeah."
Having agreed to keep it a secret, Chieko couldn't hold back her curiosity and began to ask her daughter about this person. After learning that his name was "Shinichi Iwahashi," she asked him what records and variety shows he had produced.
Chieko likes to listen to records and watch variety shows.
Akina Nakamori was chatting with her mother when she suddenly heard a voice coming from outside: "I'm back~".
The two of them looked at the door of the living room. Nakamori Akiho was standing outside. She looked at her mother and sister who were stuck together, and said hello to them, "Mom... I didn't expect Akina-san to be back too."
When Nakamori Akiho faced this sister, her words were full of thorns.
Akina Nakamori moved a little further away from Chieko and sat upright on her own cushion. Akina Nakamori also dragged a cushion and sat down next to Chieko, looking like she was thinking about what her mother and sister had just said.
It was Chieko who broke the delicate atmosphere and took the initiative to talk to Nakamori Akiho.
Akina Nakamori, who was sitting aside, began to think about leaving.
…
In the evening, Shinichi Iwahashi went to Nakamori Akina's appointment.
He had sent her back several times before and knew her address very well, but this was the first time he came to visit her. Before going there, he called to confirm that Akina Nakamori was at home.
"Welcome, we've already started preparations." She sounded energetic on the phone.
