Chapter 24: A swift response to Xu: "That fan site admin... is that you?"

Bai Wenning is a rising starlet, a former child star who starred in a hugely popular sitcom at the age of 12. She is extremely well-known and is 23 years old this year.

Like other child stars, Bai Wenning also faces the same awkward transition problem after growing up. She is old enough to take on idol dramas, but the audience can't accept it. Her childhood role that made her a huge hit has left too deep an impression on the audience. In the audience's mind, she is still the "good girl of the nation".

This is also why, despite taking on many leading roles in historical and modern dramas, she has not yet officially entered the ranks of top actresses.

In terms of die-hard fans, Bai Wenning isn't among the top of the popular young actresses. In terms of public appeal, Bai Wenning is arguably one of the best. However, public appeal doesn't translate into viewership ratings. Viewers may like her, but they just can't get into the show.

After three consecutive dramas flopped, Bai Wenning's position as a near-top-tier actress is no longer secure.

Previously, no matter what, the S+ or S-level cast could easily win over audiences. However, a recent drama, which aired on both TV and online platforms, had very low ratings and viewership during the summer season.

The TV series production team has officially labeled Bai Wenning as a ratings poison, and many people predict that her resources will definitely be downgraded in her next project.

Shi Yao only spent a dozen seconds searching her mind for relevant information about Bai Wenning, and even guessed the other party's purpose.

Bai Wenning's connection with the original owner also comes from a previous acting variety show. Bai Wenning was a senior student who was a supporting actress and partnered with the original owner. Although the original owner was completely clueless in the variety show, Bai Wenning was very patient. The episode where she partnered with Bai Wenning was the original owner's best performance. Bai Wenning even gave the original owner special encouragement after the show ended.

She is a very kind person.

[Shi Yao: Yes.]

[Shi Yao: What's wrong, Sister Xiaobai?]

After replying to those two messages, the chat window fell silent. Shi Yao looked at the flashing "The other party is typing" message at the top of the chat window, smiled knowingly, and tossed her phone aside.

Sure enough, it took a full five minutes for the phone to vibrate again.

[Bai Wenning: Well... I heard you recently opened a studio, and I was wondering how it's going?]

[Bai Wenning: If you have some free time, would you be willing to take my orders?]

A new boss has arrived.

Shi Yao's smile deepened, and she immediately replied to the other party.

[Shi Yao: Of course I'm available, I can take orders anytime]

[Shi Yao: What kind of service does Sister Xiaobai need?]

[Bai Wenning: I see that your business scope includes route customization and information. Does this route refer to career development routes?]

Shi Yao: Yes.

[Bai Wenning: I'd like to discuss the specifics in person, is that alright?]

Shi Yao raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised that the other party was so eager. However, she also felt that this type of business was more suitable to be discussed in person, so she readily sent the other party her current coordinates.

It just so happened that Bai Wenning was also in the capital recently, so in the end, they compromised and booked a Western restaurant that Bai Wenning often went to. It had excellent privacy and was not far from Shi Yao.

The meeting was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Actually, Bai Wenning originally wanted to meet today afternoon, but she was afraid that Shi Yao would think she was too eager, so she changed it to the next day.

After ending her conversation with Bai Wenning, Shi Yao got up and started packing her luggage. She didn't bring much luggage with her to Dachang, since she was there to cosplay as a fan site admin, and it wouldn't be appropriate to wear something too flashy.

The outfits I prepared for cosplaying my sister-in-law in Haishi were too distinctive and not suitable for me to wear anymore. I don't really have any suitable clothes for a date in my suitcase right now.

It just so happened that her room reservation was also expiring, so Shi Yao simply checked out and didn't renew it. She went back to her home in the city center to prepare some clothes for the meeting.

The second performance was in two days, and the tickets for the performance had been drawn up a week ago. Shi Yao originally thought that no matter how troublesome or expensive it was, she would try to get a ticket so that she could get in and take some stage photos for Ying Xu.

However, this year's competition was strictly managed in all aspects. All the tickets were drawn with a strict real-name system. Shi Yao heard that during the first performance, some fans tried to collect media tickets but were blocked by the strict real-name system, so she had to give up the idea of ​​collecting tickets.

It's better to go for the third performance. Anyway, given the current situation, the "Shining Idol" production team wouldn't dare to cut any more of Yingxu's scenes or suppress his votes. Let alone eliminating him in the second round, even if Yingxu just doesn't make it into the debut position in the second round, it would probably immediately become a trending topic.

After all, it's not just fans who are paying attention to the voting rankings; many casual viewers are also following along.

The third performance is a completely individual battle. Unlike the ticket lottery method used in the first two rounds of performances, tickets will be reserved specifically for each trainee's fan club to ensure that no one gets zero tickets. Each fan club will receive five fan tickets, and the rest will be drawn up by lottery.

Generally speaking, the five fan tickets allocated to the fan club will be reserved for the more famous fan site administrators, since output is very important, and a single amazing picture can attract countless fans.

Given the current status of Shi Yao's fan site account, she is 200% certain to get one of the fan votes.

Then she doesn't need to rush to the Second Duke's.

It's estimated that this kid didn't get a good part in the second performance, since he was just a nobody trainee who somehow climbed to 44th place when the song selection was being done.

But the third public performance is different. Now, Yingxu's data has soared in all aspects, and Ershun is sure to enter the debut position. Based on the experience of previous seasons of "Shining Idol", the third public performance is an original song, and the center position of each group is determined by fan votes.

In other words, if the fans' voting strategy is correct in the next performance, he has a high probability of winning the center position.

The exact probability depends on where Yingxu ranks in this round of voting. If he is in the top tier and his song selection for the third public performance doesn't clash with other popular contestants, then Yingxu is almost guaranteed to be in the center position.

The center position is the most important and eye-catching part of a song, which is why trainees are eager to compete for it, as it provides the most effective time to attract fans.

Of the three rounds of performances, the most prestigious is the center position in the third round, for no other reason than that this round features an original song.

In the first two rounds of performances, no matter how well they performed, it was still not their own song. Even if they were outstanding, there was a limit. But the third round was different. The trainees were the original singers and the first performers. If they could choose the right song and take the center position, they might be able to create a classic stage performance.

Pei Zixuan in the second season was like that. When he participated, he was in the center position only for the theme song. He didn't get the center position in the first and second performances. Pei's fans held their breath and voted hard in the third performance, winning the center position for the most favored song for Pei Zixuan.

Then, as expected, Pei Zixuan went wild during the performance, and her fancams became an absolute sensation. The fancams on KuYu reached an astonishing 20 million views, and on Bilibili, they also surpassed 10 million views.

Although the song wasn't very popular because Pei Zixuan's other teammates didn't perform as well as him, his individual fancam definitely went viral, which solidified Pei Zixuan's image as the "only choice for the center position" in everyone's mind.

Instead of paying a high price and risking getting caught to buy a ticket, and not even being able to get a valid shot after entering, it's better to just wait for the third performance. The center position has the longest part in the whole team, and maybe then we can get a direct shot of Yingxu.

Shi Yao readily changed her original plan, agreeing that the progress here was already going better than she had imagined, and that she could let go a little and give him a push for the center position once his debut position was secured.

After packing her suitcase and checking out, Shi Yao didn't forget to send a message to the shop owner who hadn't settled the bill yet when she got into the car.

[AAA is growing bigger and stronger: Boss, are you satisfied with the results?]

[AAA is growing stronger: If you're satisfied, you can settle the bill now. Based on our assessment, your service was classified as a "medium difficulty" single event, with a fee of 400,000, excluding follow-up services. Is this acceptable to you?]

Shi Yao originally thought she would have to wait until evening to receive a reply, but to her surprise, the other party replied instantly.

[Promise: No problem.]

[Promise: I... am very satisfied, thank you.]

[AAA is growing bigger and stronger: Okay boss, my card number is xxxxxx7396]

The next second, the phone rang with a text message alert:

[Dear customer, your bank savings card ending in 7396 received a remittance of 400,000 yuan at 12:11:37, leaving a balance of 1,909,762.46 yuan.]

Shi Yao's smile became even more genuine; a boss who readily transfers money is truly a pleasure to behold.

[AAA is growing bigger and stronger: Thank you for the order, boss. It's been a pleasure working with you.]

There was no further reply from the other end, so Shi Yao put away her phone and closed her eyes to rest.

Unbeknownst to her, Yingxu on the other side of the screen did not put down her phone. Instead, she stared at the screen with a complicated expression, her fingers hovering over the keyboard, her lower lip slightly pursed.

When he woke up in the morning, he felt that the atmosphere in the dormitory had become very strange. His three roommates treated him like air on the first day they moved into the dormitory, and their attitude has never changed over the past few days. He had gone from feeling uncomfortable to taking it for granted.

But when he woke up today, his roommate A actually greeted him, his roommate B even shared some face cream with him, and his most arrogant roommate C also nodded at him.

It was clear that if his expression hadn't been so stiff, his roommates would have dragged him out for breakfast.

Something unusual must be going on. Yingxu's first thought was, "Could something have happened online again?"

The first time he received attention from unfamiliar trainees on this show was when that strange post went viral, and his super topic gained 3,000 followers overnight, but it wasn't as exaggerated as this time.

Yingxu wanted to check his phone to see what was going on, but he was suddenly notified by the selection committee that he had to go to record commercials and spin-off variety shows in the morning, so he had to put it aside for the time being.

Mid-roll commercials and spin-off variety shows have never been areas he could touch; these are the exclusive domain of high-popularity trainees. Of course, Yingxu wouldn't be so naive as to think that he was suddenly favored by the production team or advertisers. There is only one reason for this change.

The internet has definitely sparked another discussion about him, and it's quite heated, which has boosted his popularity to the point where he can record commercials.

He went to film the commercial with a mess of hair. He thought there would only be one take, but the production team made him record four takes in one go!

Moreover, right after he finished recording the mid-roll commercial, they immediately sent him to Factory No. 3 to record the spin-off variety show, where he even had his own dressing room.

Yingxu sat blankly in front of the dressing table, listening to the makeup artist's gentle questions. The artist even asked for his opinion and let him choose the makeup he liked.

He randomly pointed to something fresh and simple, and his mind went completely blank.

What exactly happened? Did someone pay him? How did he suddenly become a player who only spends real money?

The trainees who recorded this spin-off variety show with him were all from the debut group, namely the first, second, fourth, sixth, and eighth place winners from Ilsoon.

All of them are positions that are beyond the reach of those who are promised.

When the five debut group members, plus him who ranked forty-fourth, were pushed to the center position, Yingxu felt that this world was particularly absurd.

Like her inexplicably enthusiastic roommates in the morning, these popular contestants from the debut group were not as difficult to get along with as Ying Xu had imagined. They were just as enthusiastic towards Ying Xu as they were, as if they were already very familiar with each other.

Especially the fourth-place finisher, Lin Chengxing, treated Xu as if they were old friends, bumping into his shoulder and patting his back.

Yingxu vaguely felt that this person looked familiar. He had mild prosopagnosia, and there were too many trainees in the factory, all of whom were quite good-looking. If he didn't see them every day, Yingxu would have a hard time remembering them.

Although she felt very uncomfortable, she was in front of the camera after all, and it was her first time recording a spin-off variety show. So, she suppressed her discomfort and forced a smile to respond to the enthusiasm of the other contestants.

Seeing that Ying Xu did not refuse, the others fawned over him even more enthusiastically, and by the end of the variety show recording, they had practically made Ying Xu their group's darling.

After it was over, Yingxu fled in a panic. He couldn't stand the insincere scene and politely declined their friend requests. He then ran away.

After recording commercials and variety shows, which took up the entire morning, Yingxu's morning practice time was long over. Her doubts were almost overflowing, so she simply ran back to her dormitory and couldn't wait to turn on her phone.

Could it be because of her?

When Yingxu met that fan that night, he felt that the fan looked somewhat familiar, but the distance was too far and it was nighttime. The other person was also holding up their phone, so even with his good eyesight, he could not see the other person's face clearly. He just felt that the voice seemed somewhat familiar.

He cried as he returned to his dorm that day. To prevent his roommates from noticing anything amiss, he even wore a hat and a mask before entering the dorm.

The other party's shout gave him great encouragement, and all the grievances and resentment in his heart vanished in an instant, and his fighting spirit was rekindled.

He guessed that the other person was probably recording a video by holding up their phone. He had also encountered other trainees' fans who would edit the videos and post them online, and these kinds of videos were very easy to gain fans.

So when he got back, he excitedly refreshed the super topic, but nothing was posted. He thought the other party hadn't finished editing yet, so he obediently went back to wash up and patiently waited until almost midnight.

In the end, nothing was displayed.

Yingxu thought he might be too anxious, so she turned off her phone and went to sleep. The first thing she did when she woke up the next day was to refresh the super topic.

Unfortunately, just like yesterday, there's still nothing in the super topic.

There are no new fan accounts, and no videos.

Yingxu put down her phone dejectedly; perhaps the other person never intended to send it out in the first place.

He remembered that the girl had a suitcase next to her last night, which meant she had come all the way from out of town. She had gone to such lengths to wait so long just to encourage him and wish him a happy birthday, and he was still so ungrateful.

Yingxu suddenly felt a little ashamed, so she quickly turned off her phone and went back to the practice room to concentrate on practicing.

His teammates' attitude remained the same as before, ignoring him. But Yingxu no longer felt upset because he knew that no matter how inconspicuous his position was or how little screen time he received, there would still be people who would stay for him and cheer him on.

That's enough.

For the next few days, Yingxu did not log on to Weibo, but would check WeChat for unread messages.

He seemed to be expecting a dialog box to light up with a red dot, but unfortunately, he didn't get to see it.

Up until today, this strange day.

Yingxu knew that last night was the day the rankings were announced, but he didn't care because he was only ranked forty-fourth. As expected, he would only get a shot of the rankings being announced and a simple statement about advancing.

Like other trainees with lower rankings, he remained unknown and unnoticed.

Oh no, he still has some fans, and some even follow him offline.

In the days following her birthday, Yingxu made a point of keeping an eye out for the locations where fan site admins would be waiting on her way to and from get off work, since people who follow offline events usually don't just do it once.

Unfortunately, the fan who sent him birthday encouragement only came that one time, and he never saw the fan again.

Just when Yingxu had gotten used to returning to this familiar life of being ignored, he suddenly became a celebrity among the trainees, or more accurately, a celebrity in the program.

Not only were the contestants exceptionally enthusiastic towards him, but the production crew was also exceptionally kind to him.

God knows that he hadn't even spoken to many of his staff before this.

Even if she were slow to realize, something unusual must have happened, especially after recording the spin-off variety show.

The relationships between trainees are actually very simple. Most of them are very opportunistic. Those who rank higher are popular, while those who rank lower are ignored.

There can only be one reason why everyone's attitudes have changed collectively: his popularity skyrocketed overnight, and by a huge margin.

Even though he had prepared himself mentally, he was still shocked for a long time when he opened Weibo.

After seeing the number of reposts for that Weibo post, he rubbed his eyes hard to confirm that it wasn't two thousand or twenty thousand, but two hundred thousand.

Two hundred thousand! He actually got a Weibo post that was forwarded two hundred thousand times, and the number of likes exceeded one million, and the data is still growing.

He clicked on the video and found it was a birthday greeting he had been waiting for. He was momentarily stunned.

It turns out the other party didn't not want to send it, but rather wanted to wait until now.

Yingxu watched the entire video quietly. If it weren't for the video recording, he wouldn't have known that he had cried so badly that day.

He rubbed his face and felt his cheeks getting hot.

Hearing the encouraging words in the video again still makes one's eyes well up with tears, and as I watch, my eyes start to redden again.

When the screen went dark, he couldn't wait to exit and like it, but the screen suddenly lit up again.

Yingxu stopped what he was doing, staring at the screen with some confusion. When he saw the unexpected image that appeared on it, a string in his mind suddenly snapped.

It's her?!

Of course, Yingxu remembered that he danced to the theme song for almost half an hour at the entrance of the convenience store while waiting for it to open. After the store opened, the clerk even praised his dance. When he got back, he found the magical Daqiang Studio business card, and from then on, his luck began to change.

The video is clearly taken from a convenience store window, and the convenience store clerk... was that the fan who was waiting for him to get off work that day?

A complex emotion welled up in Yingxu's heart. After that day, he went to the convenience store several more times, but he did not encounter that clerk. He even asked the clerk he used to see often, who said that the person he saw that day was just a temporary substitute.

He had thought he might never see them again...

He hadn't forgotten that when they parted that day, the shop assistant smiled and told him that if he ever debuted, she would be his first fan.

It turns out the other party did not break their promise.

Just then, Shi Yao sent a WeChat message. After reading the message, a somewhat unbelievable thought popped into Yingxu's mind.

Teacher Daqiang said this was her doing, and coincidentally, the day I received Teacher Daqiang's business card was the same day I met that shop assistant, who was also the one who filmed the video...

After hesitating for a long time, the promise finally appeared on the screen with a line of text:

[Promise: Is that you, the fan site admin?]

The other party replied very quickly.

[AAA's Growth and Strength: What is a "Fan Site Admin"?]

Yingxu suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Teacher Daqiang liked to talk nonsense, he would never lie to her. Judging from her tone, she definitely didn't know about the fan site admin.

The other party only said that she was behind this incident, and that it might just be related to the promotion of this video, since her major is marketing and operations.

He misunderstood.

[Promise: It's nothing. May I ask where you were on August 7th?]

[Promise: Is it at a large company?]

The moment he sent it, he regretted it. He couldn't resist his curiosity. Teacher Daqiang probably felt offended.

[AAA's Growth and Strength: Where Would You Like Me to Be?]

[AAA's Growth and Strength: I'm Everywhere [Sunglasses]]

Yingxu was suddenly amused; indeed, this was Teacher Daqiang for real.

His earlier impatience and excitement were dispelled by Shi Yao's witty remarks, and he regained his composure, no longer wanting to know the fan's identity.

Teacher Daqiang said that he should stay away from the lives of his fans.

Not only do fans have to protect their idols' privacy, but idols also have to protect their fans' privacy.

Although he is not an idol yet, it's best to respect others' wishes to keep their identities private.

After ending her conversation with Shi Yao, Yingxu unconsciously relaxed a little, no longer feeling the tension she had in the morning, nor the urgency she had just felt.

He glanced at the super topic again and found that it had gained over 300,000 followers. Every time he refreshed the page, many new posts would pop up, and he even saw his fan club.

Of course, he also didn't miss the apology post on the official Weibo page of Shining Idol that morning. All the doubts were resolved in an instant. Thinking about the sudden change in the attitude of the contestants and staff, he suddenly felt a little ironic.

-

Shi Yao changed into a casual outfit and took a taxi to the restaurant that Bai Wenning had booked.

As soon as she entered, a waiter greeted her as if he knew her and led her straight to the private room without asking her anything beforehand.

The Western restaurant's decor is simple yet sophisticated, and the dim lighting inside makes it a very private place.

The waiter led Shi Yao through several turns and finally stopped in front of a carved wooden door, bowing slightly to her: "Miss Shi, we've arrived."

Shi Yao pushed open the door and met a pair of beautiful eyes filled with sorrow.

Author's Note: I'm here! The truth won't be revealed so quickly, hehe, but I'm really looking forward to the showdown!

Thank you all for leaving comments and your support!

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-06-12 20:55:37 and 2024-06-13 20:55:22!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Weisheng's End (1);

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Weishengweisheng 57 bottles; 23379426 2 bottles; Yueyueyouqian, Yiyishijie, Atu, and Aqiongy 1 bottle each;

Thank you so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!