Chapter 635 – Singing

After dinner, Masayoshi Kishimoto took the initiative to approach Rie Sakai and ask her to teach him how to sing. He showed her the repertoire of the Hard Gold Group of Companies’ songs.

Rie Sakai had originally graduated as an undergraduate from the Western flute program at Tokyo University of the Arts, so naturally she was perfectly capable of reading it.

“How rare. You’re a tone-deaf person who can’t pronounce a single note, why are you thinking of learning to sing?” Rie Sakai asked with a sudden playful smile.

“As the boss, I need to take a lead. This one track you have in your hand is our future company song for the Hard Gold Group.” Masayoshi Kishimoto said bluntly.

“I wondered how the lyrics could be so cheesy and straightforward. So it’s your group’s company song! It’s true that with any kind of boss, there’s a kind of song.” Sakai Rie said with an unchanging smile.

“Don’t you throw your hat in the ring. I’m an unapologetic literary youth inside. Not only that, I also love watching realistic literary movies.

If I really chose to go into pure literature in the first place, not only would I very likely starve to death, but it would also easily lead to depression.

The reason I dabbled in the business and financial world of investment was also a desperate attempt to survive. My heart will always be that of literature.” Masayoshi Kishimoto placed the palm of his right hand over his heart and said.

He paused here and then continued, “A company song is meant to be straightforward and cheesy, so that people can understand and comprehend it upon hearing it, and it is meant to be that kind of high-pitched and passionate, completely capable of evoking the surging emotions within a person’s heart.”

It was true that Rie Sakai did not deny that her husband had the heart of a literary youth. However, in her opinion, that could only be his hobby, not his true colors. Her own man’s true colors were in the investment field.

“Be painfully honest, are you going to teach or not? If you’re not happy to teach me to sing, then I’ll go outside and find someone to teach me to sing.” Justice Kishimoto said bluntly.

“Really, is there a student like you?” Rie Sakai asked rhetorically.

“Yes, there is, I’m that kind of student.” Masayoshi Kishimoto replied succinctly.

Rie Sakai knew that he was just trying to learn to sing this one song for the sake of wanting to learn to sing it, rather than striving towards a specialized career path as a singer.

Singing was not an easy thing to do. If everyone knew how to sing, then professional singers would be out of a job. Vocal music as a specialty would also cease to exist.

“Then let’s start with the most basic vocal practice.” Rie Sakai began to say seriously.

“There’s no need for you to be so troublesome, you just need to teach me to sing one line at a time. As for how well I sing, it doesn’t matter.” Masayoshi Kishimoto calmly said.

“How would that work? If someone asks you who taught you this song, and you say it was me, aren’t you asking me to take the blame for you? I at least have some professional background in music.”

Sakai Rie immediately objected. She couldn’t let others mistake her for just mixing up a diploma path from her undergraduate degree from Tokyo University of the Arts.

“I don’t rely on this one for a living, and neither do you, so there’s no need to go through too much trouble. This is enough to cope with.

The purpose of me wanting you to teach me to sing this one song is to make sure that the employees of the Hard Gold Group up and down the land all have to know the same song, so that their sense of identity, belonging, and cohesion can be gradually strengthened.

From a management point of view, this is also one of the manifestations of a corporate culture. Besides, if I sing well and win the first prize, it’s totally useless. It’s not like I’m going out on the road to become a professional singer.

Not to mention that it would be botched. My aim is to inspire my employees to be motivated and enterprising, not to make some of them mistakenly think that I’m imposing my own personal hobbies on them.” Masayoshi Kishimoto confided plainly.

“After all that, you turned out not to be genuinely wanting me to teach you how to sing, but rather it was all a strategy and tactic to run the company well.” Sakai Rie immediately showed some unhappiness and said.

“What are you so excited about?” Masayoshi Kishimoto asked without understanding.

“Can I not be agitated? You’re clearly disrespecting me and the profession I’m studying.” Rie Sakai huffed.

“It’s not as serious as you make it out to be. I think you’re just making a big deal out of it.” Masayoshi Kishimoto said bluntly.

Sakai Rie’s pair of eyes were half-open, half-closed, and her right palm was raised in a particularly exaggerated manner as if it was falling with particular force, but it only gently slapped on the top of her slightly bulging abdomen and said, “Who are you saying is making a big deal out of it?”

“I made a big deal out of it. I didn’t respect you or the profession you were studying. To be precise, I’m a layman and don’t know anything about vocal music.

You are completely and utterly right, I am a pentatonic tone deaf.” Masayoshi Kishimoto cried and laughed as he watched her use the baby in her belly as a bargaining chip to make a threat against herself.

“And?” Sakai Rie once again raised her right palm high in the air in a particularly exaggerated manner.

“What else?” Masayoshi Kishimoto said as he ran out of words.

For the second time, Rie Sakai gently placed her palm on her slightly elevated abdomen and said, “I’m the one asking you, not you me. Think about it yourself.”

“I really can’t think about it. If you slap your stomach like that, I won’t be responsible if you give the child a concussion.

The baby! The baby. If you’re born stupid and unreasonable like your mom, instead of smart and reasonable like your dad, it’s a tragedy caused by your mom’s hands.

Blame your mom if you want, but don’t ever blame your father me.” Masayoshi Kishimoto took the initiative to reach out his right palm to touch her slightly bulging abdomen and said.

Sakai Rie didn’t get angry, instead she argued. She placed her own left palm on top of that one slightly bulging abdomen of hers, and said in an unhurried manner, following the example of her mother, “A child! Child.

If you grow up to be as ugly and heartless as your father, instead of as beautiful and loved as your mother, it will be a tragedy caused by your father’s hands.

If you want to blame your dad, blame him, but don’t blame your mom. Who made you so unlucky to inherit his mediocre looking genes?”

“It’s still your fault! Who made you choose me to be your husband in the first place? Why don’t you go choose a big handsome guy?” Justice Kishimoto retorted.

“That’s because I’m blind, have soft ears and an even softer heart, that’s why I was compelled by your flowery words and fell for your tricks.” Sakai Rie said with a heavy nasal “hmph”.

“My child! You must remember father’s bloody lesson that women are the best at telling lies. The prettier a woman is, the more likely she is to tell lies.” Masayoshi Kishimoto held back his laughter and feigned a serious look as he said.