Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 397 Immortal Culture
"We are both rookie idols, but the difference between me, who debuted in a small talent show, and you, Xia Jun, who debuted in a highly competitive program like the "Idol Birth Festival", is like the difference between a god and a mortal."

Yukiko Kobayashi politely bowed to Xia Fan repeatedly. There was no flattery in her words, but more of sincere admiration.

"It's really amazing that Xia Jun can debut as the first place! It gives me, an idol from a small company, and many trainees who haven't debuted yet, more confidence in this industry!"

Everyone who aims to debut as an idol chooses to become a trainee at the beginning, with endless dreams and passion.

But after being in the industry for a while, they will realize that talent is not important for idols.

The bottom line of signing with a company, appearance, talent and even interpersonal relationships is like an insurmountable barrier, which determines everyone's path from the beginning...

Faced with a long training career, brutal competition in auditions and slim chances of debuting, most people choose to leave with regrets in despair and hopelessness.

Xia Fan, a "celestial dragon" and "burning trainee", was able to win the first place and debut in the annual large-scale talent show "Idol Birth Festival" by crushing all the seed trainees of the sponsoring capital with his strength, breaking many records such as the debut of a dragon in the eleventh district and the debut of a burning trainee in a program hosted by J Club...

For these idols, trainees and former trainees from small companies, what happened was simply a miracle.

Even in the idol circle outside of J, A, and S, many people began to call Xia Fan the "God of Talent Shows."

"Xia Fan, you are now a celebrity among artists."

The other two guests recognized Xia Fan immediately, which made Sakamoto Hide cover his face in jealousy.

"Speaking of famous people, Mr. Sakamoto is also a famous person. The movie "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" you starred in some time ago has made a great comeback in word of mouth, which is quite impressive."

"Especially in the last episode, the rivalry between you and Xia Jun was simply..."

"Speaking of which, if they knew that the two of you would reunite in this variety show, the CP fans of the original drama would be crazy happy, right?"

Her eyes swept back and forth between Sakamoto Hide and Xia Fan, and a gossipy gleam appeared in Kobayashi Yukiko's eyes.

"Ahem, let me introduce myself solemnly. I'm a new singer and part-time actor Sakamoto Shu..."

"I also sang the theme song of "The Withered Chrysanthemum and the Knife"."

Sakamoto Hide clenched his fist and coughed lightly, putting emphasis on the words "singer" and "part-time job" and introduced himself again.

"Ah? That drama, did it have a theme song? Or was it sung by you, Mr. Sakamoto?"

"Sorry, every time I watched it, the website's 'automatically skip the opening' function blocked it, so I have no memory of it at all. I will definitely listen to it again when I get back..."

But Yukiko Kobayashi covered her mouth lightly and asked three fatal questions, which were like sharp arrows, ruthlessly piercing Sakamoto Hide's body.

"I just feel like I'm not feeling well today... Is it too late to ask for leave now?"

Hide Sakamoto always felt that the recording, which he had not been looking forward to in the first place, became even more boring.

"Excuse me for waiting, everyone. I am the director of this season of The Secret of Immortals, Yasuzaburo Ozu."

At the same time, an old man wearing a floral short-sleeved shirt and shorts, a straw hat, and sunglasses walked into the waiting room leisurely, holding a rolled-up script. Compared to the variety show recording, his appearance and demeanor more like he was about to go on a trip to Hawaii.

"Although everyone should have known this beforehand, I will explain it again..."

"'The Secret of Immortals' is a long-lasting program with more than ten years of history."

"The content of the program is that the guests and the program team will personally visit the 'immortals' hidden among the people and experience the mysteries of their magical skills on behalf of the audience."

"The program is recorded in a completely outdoor reality show mode. There are no special rules and no scripts. Everyone just needs to participate and give their true reactions."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with a few people, Yasuzaburo Ozu went straight to the point and explained the program recording rules.

Due to factors such as defeat in war and loss of country, the industries that District 11 can undertake in the international community are limited, and the overall social development is also very rigid.

Ordinary people can hardly see the space to leap up, and most people may be forced to work in a certain professional job for their entire lives, or even for generations to come...

From an economics perspective, when a certain industry encounters a bottleneck in its technological progress, the industry as a whole will tend to become more complex internally, and develop inwardly towards strict standards and complicated processes.

Under this situation, the "craftsman spirit" that District 11 has always boasted about, combined with Internet-based marketing, has given birth to a new "immortal culture."

A large number of characters such as "Yakitori Immortal", "Cooking Immortal", "Pork Chop Immortal", "Sushi God", and "Pottery God" came into being and swept the entire Internet in a short time.

All of these "immortals" have white hair and wrinkled faces. With their immortal demeanor and complicated rituals, they demonstrate the "secret" of doing something small to the extreme.

For example, in the episode Xia Fan watched yesterday, he visited the "Rice Immortal"...

Because of the war and famine experiences in his youth, he developed a strong feeling for white rice and decided to only cook one bowl of white rice for his entire life.

The 84-year-old man, after warming up with morning exercises every morning, uses his unique technique "Flying Rice Technique" to skillfully use the strength of his fingertips to make each grain of rice collide with each other, maximizing the absorption of water and increasing sweetness...

Then, they cook rice using a red brick stove that they built half a century ago. The fire does not directly touch the rice pot, but transmits the heat evenly to every part of the rice pot through the red bricks...

Once the rice starts cooking, the shirtless rice fairy will never leave the stove, turning the lid and the rice pot every tens of seconds to prevent the rice from clumping, until the crystal clear, chewy and sweet rice is out of the pot.

"It's later than expected. Next, let's set off quickly to visit the first 'immortal' of today."

After finishing the explanation, Director Ozu glanced at his watch and hurried outside.

"Tsk, it's too late. It's all your own fault for being late..."

"Don't be fooled by Yasuzaburo Ozu's appearance of a retired civil servant. He is actually a well-known veteran in the circle."

"The recording of this program is not as simple, easy, fair and real as he said..."

The four of them followed behind and got on the program group's bus. Sakamoto Hide was still mumbling in Xia Fan's ear, ruthlessly exposing the "dark side" of this program...

(End of this chapter)