Chapter 49 Please support us (Bonus Chapter 1)

When Li Jinzhao watched the performance, he was only fully focused on the few minutes that Ling Wei's team performed; the rest of the time he was completely absorbed in chatting in the family group.

In his vivid description, Qu Chen was already his close confidant.

Li's parents were shocked. This good-for-nothing who only knew how to go to bars and play with cars had actually gotten in touch with the Qu family without anyone noticing, and they were even getting along so well!

They didn't expect their son to do anything earth-shattering, but this breakthrough in interpersonal skills alone was better than his previous cronies who only knew how to get lip piercings and had lispes.

As a result, a barrage of praise poured in from the family group chat, making Li Jinzhao quite arrogant.

Now that his good friend Qu Chen is chasing after celebrities with him, he has to perform well and satisfy all his friend's needs.

"Hey! It's out! It's out!"

A sudden commotion arose among the fans, with suppressed shouts of excitement rising and falling.

The members of Zoothys emerged from the end of the passageway, guided by staff.

They were all holding instant cameras with accelerated images. These cameras take extremely fast photos and are a great tool for idols to interact closely with fans. They can quickly take selfies, sign autographs, and then hand over unique commemorative photos directly to fans.

Instantly, the two sides of the passageway erupted in cheers.

With bright smiles on their faces, the girls skillfully accepted photos and pens from fans, quickly signed autographs, or leaned close to the camera for quick selfies with excited fans, handing out the freshly taken Polaroid photos. Occasionally, they would gently shake hands with outstretched hands, eliciting a small cheer.

Beside the passageway, Li Jinyue remained calmly holding her camera, while Li Jinchao beside her was so excited he almost jumped up, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Ahhhhh! Weiwei! Look here! Look here!!"

Ling Wei was indeed drawn to the powerful voice. She looked up and saw a familiar face standing there with a camera in hand: her biggest fan site admin, Li Jinyue.

It's only natural to give these core fans some special interactions and perks.

She lifted her foot and walked in that direction.

As she approached, the boy who was yelling wildly and who looked a little dim-witted naturally caught her eye.

She found it somewhat amusing and reached out her hand towards him and Li Jinyue, preparing for a friendly interaction.

When Li Jinzhao saw his idol actually reach out to him, his eyes lit up instantly. However, the next second, he did something that surprised everyone.

Qu Chen, who was feeling uncomfortable and backing away because of close contact with people, was pulled out by Li Jinzhao.

"Quick, brother, Weiwei is here!" Li Jinzhao said as if he were presenting a rare treasure, and without saying a word, he stuffed Qu Chen's hand into Ling Wei's palm.

"Ahhh, Weiwei! My brother! He really likes you!" Li Jinzhao excitedly added from the side, completing this divine assist.

Ling Wei made eye contact with this fan who "super likes her".

Qu Chen felt all his senses rush to his palm; the other person's temperature was hotter than his, making his fingertips numb.

"I just..." He instinctively tried to explain, but the expected mockery did not come.

The hand that was holding him pulled him harder, and his body lurched forward unexpectedly.

"Look at the camera." A cheerful voice rang in my ears.

He felt a head close to him, so close that he could feel warm breath gently brushing against his cheek.

"Crack".

The flash went off, and then the hand gently shook his before decisively letting go.

Please continue to support us!

Her tone was light and cheerful, just as she would with any other fan.

Then, she skillfully signed her name on a Polaroid photo and handed it to him, the whole process flowing smoothly and naturally.

Qu Chen was stunned.

Beside him, Li Jinzhao was still excitedly shouting "Ahhh!" when Ling Wei turned to him with a smile, teasingly asking, "Your brother likes me, so who do you like?"

"Ahhh, I like you too! I like you the most!"

"Haha, next time you'll have to fight for it yourself." She laughed, raising the Polaroid camera again. "Come on, look at the camera."

"!!!"

Ling Wei naturally stood between the Li siblings, and the three of them gathered together, capturing another moment in the photo.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Li Jinzhao contentedly put away his spoils, Li Jinyue checked the results in his camera, and Qu Chen remained frozen in place.

"Young Master Qu, aren't you leaving?"

Li Jinzhao's voice seemed to come from a very far place, but Qu Chen had no time to pay attention to it, his gaze falling on the photo in his hand.

In the photo, he stares blankly and helplessly at the camera, while Ling Wei is turned to the side with her face almost entirely facing him.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes smiling as she gazed at him clearly and intently.

He should have known this, since it was a situation where he was interacting with fans.

Qu Chen slowly closed his free hand at his side, as if he were trying to grab something.

My heart pounded in my chest, one beat after another, the clamor drowning out all the surrounding noise.

======

With the competition entering its third round of variety show week, the situation has become clear.

The ten teams that remained were all outstanding individuals with both popularity and talent, each possessing a solid fan base.

The production team subsequently issued a new rule: all filming in this round will be conducted entirely online, with all episodes pre-recorded.

The reason is to avoid a large number of fans flocking to the site based on live stream information, disrupting the recording order, and to ensure the quality of the content and the safety of the contestants.

The elimination of the unpredictability of live streaming means that the production team has absolute control over editing and can extract the full value from every frame.

At the same time, the number of staff accompanying each team has quadrupled.

Ten teams will be sent to ten more distinctive and remote recording locations.

It is no longer a simple collective action, but rather a series of smaller, independent expeditions deployed to specific scenarios, striving to present ten distinct styles of tracking in the final film.

"They're trying to squeeze every last drop of value out of us," one contestant quipped half-jokingly.

Ling Wei's team was sent to Maicaogou Village in "Jinsui Township", a village that had invested in tourism development but failed to make a splash.

The village has a brand-new visitor center, clean guesthouses and exhibition halls, but they are deserted and the business is dismal. Seeing no hope, some of the young and middle-aged people who returned to participate in tourism development had to pack their bags again and go out to work, and the village returned to silence.

The local villagers are skilled at using the local golden wheat straw to make exquisite wheat straw paintings and handicrafts, and their "golden wheat straw weaving technique" has been included in the intangible cultural heritage list.

The official purpose of sending Ling Wei's team here is to leverage their current surge in popularity and unique affability to inject a strong boost into the cultural tourism promotion of Jinsui Township and revitalize its tourism resources.