Abstract Art Award Winner

Kana Hanazawa is very popular in Japan and is hailed as one of the best voice actresses. She is also known by Japanese media as the busiest female voice actress in Japan.

I've done voice acting for all sorts of anime, but usually I voice characters who are "losers" (unhappy characters).

Zhou Le even knew the other person's inside jokes.

"They're persecuting Kana Hanazawa again."

"Ah, it's an honor. I also admire you very much, sir."

Kana Hanazawa immediately reached out and shook hands with Zhou Le.

"Ms. Cilantro, although I've always been in China, your song 'Renai Circulation' is really popular there. I wonder when I'll have time to go there to hold a concert or participate in some programs."

After Zhou Le finished speaking, the translator translated his words, and Kana Hanazawa nodded.

"I'm going there this year to record a New Year's Eve concert, it's at Beijing TV."

"You're going this year? That's such a coincidence! Ms. Cilantro, you can visit our area more often then, and I'll treat you to a meal."

"Sure, no problem. Actually, I really like China too. Chinese fans are very enthusiastic."

They chatted there, and thanks to Zhou Le's good looks and eloquence, Kana Hanazawa quickly exchanged contact information with him.

Although WeChat is not used here, you can still make phone calls to chat.

"Teacher Zhou Le, I'll call you then."

"Okay, contact me when the time comes, and I'll definitely treat you well."

Zhou Le is quite willing to interact with pro-China Japanese celebrities.

Many European and American directors and actors also attended the film festival that day, but Zhou Le didn't recognize any of them. Anyway, he probably wouldn't have any interaction with them in the future, and even if he did, he could get to know them then.

However, Dumpling still managed to meet some people, since the animation industry there was quite developed and there were things she could learn from them.

Even though Zhou Le didn't move around much, he still ended up with a bunch of business cards in his hand. Some were from investors, some from screenwriters, and some from unknown directors.

It wasn't until after the day's screenings ended that Zhou Le went back to find a restaurant with Guo Fan, Jiaozi, Zhao Jinmai, and others.

Finally, with the help of a local translator, they arrived at a well-known maid café in Japan.

As soon as they entered, the Japanese maids dressed in maid outfits bowed and shouted loudly to welcome their master home.

"what did they say?"

None of them could quite understand what they were hearing.

So the translator explained the local maid culture to Zhou Le.

"Oh, is that what you mean? I thought it was 'Welcome'."

When saying "Welcome," Zhou Le followed the first, fourth, third, and second tones.

"Haha, you're pretty professional now. If you really can't find work when you go back, you can still work as a waiter. At least you won't starve."

Guo Fan said with a smile, jokingly.

But apart from Zhou Le and Zhao Jinmai, the others didn't feel very comfortable sitting here.

Because Zhou Le was quite famous here, he was recognized as soon as he entered, especially by the maids, who all stared at him intently.

As Zhou Le entered, the translator turned on the camera because he wanted to film a video and upload it to his account later.

The translator also asked when we came in, and they said that taking photos here is allowed, as long as other guests aren't included in the photos.

After sitting for a while, a dozen or so girls dressed in various maid outfits came in. Some were tall and some were shorter, but without exception, they were all very pretty. Some were mature and older sister type, while others were cute type.

The translator told them they could choose a few maids to serve them.

In the end, Zhou Le chose the tall, mature type, Guo Fan and Jiaozi also chose the ones they found pleasing to the eye, but Zhao Jinmai chose the cute one.

Then the menu was placed back on the table.

"Next is ordering, but I recommend you order their signature omelet rice."

Zhou Le nodded and looked at the group again: "Then let's try it. It looks a bit pricey, but it doesn't matter. After all, we're on vacation, and Xiao Zhao will pay for today's expenses."

Zhao Jinmai: "???"

"Huh? You want me to pay the bill?"

Zhao Jinmai was stunned. Although she couldn't read Japanese, she could still recognize Arabic numerals. The fried rice with egg on the plate cost 1800 yen.

Just the egg fried rice for a few people would cost several thousand yuan.

"Brother, what's the exchange rate here?"

Zhao Jinmai asked somewhat guiltily.

"20?"

"20? Oh, that's better. I'll treat."

Dumpling laughed: "Teacher Zhou is indeed famous for his love of freeloading; he always tries to mooch off Xiao Zhao whenever he goes out."

"Absolutely, the persona can't be ruined."

Zhao Jinmai did the math in her head and figured that at this rate, the meal would easily cost over a thousand yuan.

"Okay, let's each have an omelet rice first, and then some snacks. Don't order too much, in case it's not good, we can go out and eat something else."

"Row."

Zhou Le thought about it after he finished speaking.

"Or you could give me a different bowl of udon noodles."

The translator repeated what Zhou Le had said, but soon the maid Zhou Le had chosen waved her hand and rattled off a few words.

"No, they have to order from the menu."

Zhou Le: "I don't recognize any of these either, how am I supposed to read them?"

The translator suppressed a laugh: "It's okay, they'll teach you."

"alright."

The maid looked at Zhou Le with shining eyes: "Then let's order coffee first."

Zhou Le repeated after the other person, "Waaah, kids can't order super bitter iced coffee that adults drink."

After Zhou Le calmly finished reading his name, it was Guo Fan and Jiaozi's turn. Their faces turned red without them even realizing it as they read their names.

But after hearing the maids keep saying "kawaii," the two of them finally read out the name.

"Okay, four iced coffees for the four hosts."

Even if Zhou Le didn't understand anything, he could tell from this that the other party had definitely simplified the form of address!

"Wait a minute, is this right? Don't you need to read it out completely?"

"We don't need it."

"Okay, then the host should also repeat the omelet rice for the main dish."

Zhou Le thought that if he didn't come along, the others definitely wouldn't either. Anyway, he didn't care about being shameless, so he calmly followed the other person and read out the name of the omelet rice.

"I want a smooth and delicious Longmen Udon."

Seeing this, Guo Fan could only continue, "I want a round, cute little panda omelet rice."

Her face turned even redder after she finished speaking.

After that, the others followed suit, and soon the maids brought up the food.

According to the procedure, they also have to perform a delicious magic on the udon noodles and omelet rice, which is another round of chatter.

It must be said, however, that the maids were incredibly energetic. They even managed to write on the omelet rice at the end.

The group discussed it together.

Finally, the words written on the omelet rice spelled out "The movie is a huge success," and the maid specially found a thin-sliced ​​ketchup and wrote four words on it: "Love China."

"Not bad."

Everyone was very satisfied.

There was also a feeding service available, but none of them chose it, as it felt strange to be fed in public.

So in the end, they only selected a few programs, some dancing and some singing.

They also unexpectedly discovered that there were even Chinese songs in the playlist.

"You even have these? It's become this comprehensive now?"

Guo Fan found it a bit outrageous, since these people clearly couldn't even speak Chinese.

“Hey, Fan, what are you saying? There are quite a few Chinese people in Japan, and most of them who can study here are not short of money. In order to retain this part of the customers, they naturally have to learn as well.”

"That seems to be true."

So they each chose a Chinese song, while Zhou Le chose a dance. They could choose their own song and the maid would dance to the music.

They ate their meal while watching the maids perform.

"How does the food taste?"

"To be honest, I think the taste is just average, and its emotional value outweighs its actual value."

"Yeah, let's just fill our stomachs. It's not too bad anyway, but the coffee is a bit bitter. I was just chatting away for a while, and the last thing that came out was an iced Americano."

Zhou Le laughed and said, "Adding milk and sugar is fine too, just tell them. But you'll have to chant some incantation to add those."

"Then I'd better not. I'm an old man, it would be too embarrassing to do these things."

"Haha, even Brother Fan has moments of embarrassment, you're not kidding, are you?"

"What? Who's joking with you? I'm easily embarrassed."

Zhou Le: "That's even funnier."

"Nonsense, what's so funny about that?"

"But what do you think of this maid cafe? Is it worthwhile? I'm actually thinking of doing some other business, and right now the food and beverage industry seems pretty good."

Zhou Le looked up at the maids performing in front of him again: "Quite a torture scene."

Guo Fan: "."

"Honestly, is this thing worthwhile? Especially in a big city."

"You could say there's potential, but Director Guo, you don't need to do this. Even if you just open a franchised hot pot restaurant like Chen He and Zheng Kai, at least you can make some money even if you get criticized."

You won't make much money this way, and think about it: in the end, you'll inevitably get involved in something bordering on illegality. You don't want people to use this against you when you haven't even gotten any leverage over you.

Finally, one more point: the new China had no slaves.

"Then forget it, let's go back to doing some legitimate business."

Although the food here is nothing special, it's still enough to fill your stomach.

After we had eaten almost all of it, it was time for the last dance.

Zhou Le could choose his own song. After thinking it over, he chose a song by Jay Chou and then asked the translator to ask if "Huo Yuanjia" was okay.

Their shop doesn't care.

Then the other person danced a very rhythmic street dance to the theme song of "Huo Yuanjia". It has to be said that this Japanese girl is full of energy and has shown a wide range of personal talents.

After they finished eating, they went out for a walk.

Tokyo's nightlife is still very vibrant, but they also discovered a problem.

Some parts of Tokyo aren't as clean as people say.

There are indeed clean places, but most of the places they went to were littered with trash.

Another issue is the significant proportion of blond-haired people on the streets.

After wandering around for a while, they felt it wasn't very interesting, so they bought some water at a convenience store and prepared to go back to rest, as they were going to attend the main section of the Tokyo International Film Festival the next day.

The next morning, after Zhou Le woke up and washed up, he was about to visit Guo Fan when the translator called.

This translator was also found by Guo Fan as a local tour operator, who was responsible for their various itineraries and business contacts.

I'll coordinate with the company again after the trip is over.

"Teacher Zhou, I wonder if you have time at noon? Kana Hanazawa would like to invite you to lunch."

Zhou Le: "???"

"She wants to treat me to dinner, why?"

"I mentioned it on the phone this morning. Last night, after she got home, she looked it up online and found out that you're into freeloading, so she thought we could have a meal together and get to know each other better."

"Oh, then I'll tell Director Guo and Jiaozi in a bit."

“Okay, she said on the phone that you can bring your friends over, because she will also be bringing a few friends who are eager to get to know you.”

"it is good."

Zhou Le then made a phone call to the group.

“Sure, let’s go to the dinner party. I’ll get ready right away.” Guo Fan agreed immediately.

"Brother Le, would it be inappropriate for me to go? After all, it's your invitation, and I'm not very good at speaking." Dumpling hesitated.

Although she is very outgoing in private, she immediately becomes introverted in front of strangers.

"It's okay, come on over. If you don't understand, there's always a translator."

"Won't that be awkward?"

"Don't worry, as long as you don't feel embarrassed, then it's others who are embarrassed. Don't think too much about it."

"Okay, I'll go too."

Finally, Zhou Le called Zhao Jinmai.

“Great! I’ve been wanting to have dinner with her for a while now. When you met yesterday, I was at the ‘The Wandering Earth’ theater and didn’t get an autograph. This time, I definitely want an autograph and a photo together.”

So that noon, the translator drove them to the restaurant.

Before even entering the private room, they heard a series of soft, melodious voices outside, and it sounded like there were three or four people on the other end.

Can you tell who it is?

"I can't recognize it at all. To be honest, I can't even recognize Kana Hanazawa's voice." Zhou Le shook his head.

As the door was pushed open, Zhou Le's eyes lit up.

"Wow, does Kana Hanazawa have such a wide network of connections?"

Although Zhou Le doesn't know much about Japanese entertainment, he can still name some of the more famous ones.

Besides Kana Hanazawa sitting in the very center, there are also Satomi Ishihara, Asuka Saito, and Nana Komatsu.

Although Kana Hanazawa and Satomi Ishihara are both older, they still look youthful at first glance, especially Satomi Ishihara. Among the remaining two, Nana Komatsu looks increasingly younger.

Zhou Le gasped.

This time it really paid off. (End of Chapter)