Chapter 089 Chapter 89
The meet-and-greet didn't last long, only about half an hour. After the stage performance, the interactive activities, and the raffle for autographed photos, it was time to wrap up. Zhou Xiao watched the trainees being escorted offstage one by one by the host. He unhooked his camera from the tripod and pointed it at their backs.
The fans at the event dispersed as the trainees left the stage. By the time she put down her camera, Yu Du had already stood up, waiting for Zhou Xiao.
Zhou Xiao put down her camera and smiled at Yu Du. As she stuffed her camera into her bag, she slipped a signed photo of Ji Shao into it. It was a bonus for fans who had won the onstage game. Two pre-signed photos. When the staff handed the autographed photos to Ji Shao, who was squatting on the floor to rest, he curled his lips and reached out to Yu Du, who was standing at the edge of the stage, indicating that they should share them.
After leaving the studio with Yu Du, they were about to go their separate ways when Cheese, who had been squatting nearby, called out to them. Cheese looked at the two fans, his eyes sparkling. "I've been waiting for you guys. Let's film a support video together! For those who don't want to show their faces, I have masks!"
The most important factor in offline fan support is popularity. When faced with a popularity battle, there are all sorts of ways to save face. Of course, given the enthusiastic applause in the studio during this offline fan meeting, Ji Shaojia probably didn't need to save face much.
Zhou Xiao looked at Cheese, whose eyes were shining, and teased her, "Didn't you bring your camera?"
Cheese chuckled, her smile growing more pronounced, and pushed the two of them toward the location she'd just found for filming the support video. When they arrived, she saw Zhou Xiao looking at her with a hint of surprise, and Cheese couldn't help but smile. She hadn't expected so many fans to attend the meet-and-greet.
Zhou Xiao thought carefully about the cheers that would inevitably erupt when the big screen showed Ji Shao during the interactive segment. It was truly a roar that would blow the roof off the floor. Looking at the crowd that had already taken their positions, Zhou Xiao stood in front and gestured for the two to line up.
As Cheese shouted in the front row, "Four Seasons has you, let Ji Shao debut in the center position!" The meeting came to an end in the evening breeze.
Back at the hotel, Zhou Xiao turned off the airplane mode on her phone and was about to send the photos and videos she had taken earlier to Cheese when she discovered that her communication messages had reached 99+. She opened the app and clicked on a few messages, all of which contained the same content: her secondary account had been hacked.
The screen was showing her chat with Qin Shi——
XS-Qin Shi: Teacher Zhou, our Douyin operations girl just saw a lot of netizens speculating about your account in the comments section. If you mind, I'll let the operations girl handle it.
Zhou Xiao thought for a moment and replied to Qin Shi first, "Thank you Teacher Qin for your concern, it's okay~" This is also the origin of the picture posted in the previous forum post - XS's subcutaneous reply to netizens.
As Zhou Xiao leaned back on the sofa, replying to her friends' messages of concern, the trending search #站姐追星成功# quickly became a hot search topic. While there were plenty of marketing accounts intent on stirring up trouble and maliciously manipulating public opinion, the comments below were surprisingly positive.
——A certain blog——
@瓜田吃个瓜V: Some netizens have discovered that a photographer for Shang Ken magazine is suspected to be a fan of trainee Ji Shao. What are your thoughts on people who exploit their positions to chase idols?
[Picture][Picture][Picture]
The picture is a screenshot of netizens on the forum expressing their dissatisfaction with the behavior
What?! Is Flipped's main job actually a photographer? I told you she's very professional. @FlippedFlipped·Ji Shao, can you come out and take a photo of my sister? [Looking forward to it]
[I envy her. She is a wealthy sister who is rich, good at taking photos and generous.]
[No one who has seen the finished photos taken by Xindongjie can say anything as disgusting as the ones in the photos [Rose]]
[Excuse me, I want to ask if we can arrange a photo shoot? ]
[Out of curiosity, I searched for this fan page. Whether it's photos of the influencer Ster on Douyin or the finished photos for magazines, I love this style! Then I went to the fan page that the link above suggested, and it seems like the teacher really loves Ji Shao!]
[Hehe, she's just a fangirl. Who cares? Haha, it's actually nothing. I'm not jealous, I just don't care. She's just an awesome rich girl from another family. Haha, so jealous [tears]]
【……】
Halfway through replying, Zhou Xiao received a lot of new messages, most of which told her that she was on the trending search list. Zhou Xiao followed the link given by her friend, clicked on it and took a quick look. The comments were actually mostly positive.
Zhou Xiao pondered the message Song Xiao had just sent her, wondering if it had anything to do with Xincheng's marketing and maintenance. She glanced at the trending searches again and casually turned off her phone. Calmly, she returned to her study, placed her computer on the table, and prepared to edit the video and photos from today's meeting. Maintaining a positive attitude and a serious work ethic was the key.
Those still discussing the matter on the forums felt a pang of discontent as they watched the positive reviews for the show trending on the search results. Some agencies, in particular, had hired smear campaigns to fabricate a story about the show's alleged private contact. However, the show's fan club was incredibly supportive, and the show had carved a successful path forward thanks to its own strength.
…
Looking carefully at the entries on the hot search square, Chang Ping, the agent who had previously asked Zhou Xiao to take photos for his own artist, was thinking about whether to release the photos taken that day in advance?
But after thinking about it, she reluctantly gave up. After all, the variety show she had recorded would not be aired for about a month at the earliest, and she couldn't rush to reveal her look just for the sake of temporary popularity. Moreover, with Ji Shao's increasing priority within New Town, and the fan structure of male artists, she also had a strong following.
Although riding on the popularity of the show was somewhat helpful, it was not good for Xiao Chang and Xiao Zhou. However, just when she was thinking about asking Zhou Xiao to film the location for Wang Jiangchang's upcoming variety show, she found that she could no longer find a time.
While Chang Ping was fretting over exposure, Ster was already considering his next shoot with Zhou Xiao. Unlike Chang Ping, Ster and Zhou Xiao had already signed a contract. Seeing the trending search results, both her agency and she felt incredibly fortunate. Although the contract had been negotiated rather harshly by the lawyers hired by the other party, it had proven to be quite worthwhile.
You should know that besides Zhou Xiao's photography skills, the traffic this afternoon alone has already boosted Ster's Douyin followers by over 100,000 active followers. This is also because Xingtu 101 hasn't focused on collaborating with Douyin, so the traffic of trainees on Douyin is less weighted than that of regular artists. But even with this lower number, Ji Shao still has a lot of followers, which has attracted a lot of fans for her.
Ster already had a photoshoot scheduled with Zhou Xiao for the 11th. She'd been preparing to gather more creative ideas for the next collaboration with Zhou Xiao over the next few days. She's a big blogger on Douyin, but she needs to post videos there frequently. Therefore, she'd returned to her comfort zone, using a photographer she'd previously collaborated with.
But her recent video data has been mediocre, and Ster herself knows the reason. But who wants to be bombarded with comments criticizing their lack of ambition every time they open a Douyin post? While many fans still defend her, many Douyin front-row seats have asked her to switch back to Zhou Xiao for filming.
Ster was somewhat frustrated by this. She had originally intended to change photographers to regain some popularity, but unexpectedly, the change was too successful. As a result, when the photographer she had previously worked well with returned, the comments and likes she received were no match for the previous good numbers.
Zhou Xiao was unaware of these two people's thoughts. She was currently editing Ji Shao's photos from the fan meeting. The lighting at the event was actually a bit average today, and many of the trainees' faces were shadowed due to the off-center lighting. It didn't look like a big deal in person, but the photos weren't as good as they would have been under normal lighting.
Zhang Hongyu also complained to her about this issue after the show, saying that the lighting engineer seemed to be in a bad mood that day. This led to the lighting error. Of course, this is easy to fix for the photographer, but the photo editor is prone to getting angry.
Zhou Xiao quickly edited the video and images, and when she uploaded them to a certain blog, they were immediately flooded with reposts and comments from fans. Although some comments followed from people who had found Zhou Xiao's blog due to the trending search, everyone was surprisingly friendly.
Among the several videos she uploaded, one seemed to have aroused the interest of netizens and was forwarded by many people using marketing accounts.
——Blog Post——
@FlippedPounding Heart·Ji Shao: #Ji Shao Super Talk #Meet and Greet 3 cut @Star 101-Ji Shao V
[video]
The video content is that when the host asked the trainees if they had eaten any delicious food in Shanghai, Ji Shao said that he had eaten a kind of white rice cake with a strong toughness, which had a soft and chewy texture, but he was not sure where the delicacy came from.
The host, who was standing aside and reading the script, looked up at Ji Shao with surprise when he heard Ji Shao's description. He quickly took over the conversation and said to Ji Shao that it might be their Fujian snack "horse cake".
The host teacher's expression was suddenly pleasantly surprised, as if someone else had recognized something that belonged to him, hahahahaha.
I understand the host's surprise, but I almost burst out laughing when he kept talking about how delicious "horse cake" was. Did the director stop him? Hahahahahaha!
[The above comment made me laugh to death. The host's expression was really unsatisfied when he was called for a pause! But my little Shao is really well behaved and listened to him very attentively the whole time!]
Is it really that delicious? I really don't like sweet pastries!
The people from central Fujian are here! Honestly, when I saw the cut of Heart-Dancing Sister, I was really surprised that Xiao Shao would get to try a snack from my hometown! The horse cake isn't too sweet! This is the highest praise we at iDesserts can give to a pastry!
【……】
This video was also forwarded by the host of the meeting that day. He didn't care that his expression at the time was made into an emoticon by netizens. He even asked Zhou Xiao for permission to share the snacks mentioned at the meeting on his various social media accounts.
Surprisingly, the hashtag #Ji Shao likes the Fujian snack "Ma Gao"# spontaneously became a trending search on Douyin. Many Fujian shop explorers and food bloggers on short video platforms took advantage of the popularity and used the hashtag to "catch" this pastry across Fujian Province and review it.
What is even more surprising is that after seeing the popularity on the Internet, the local cultural propaganda department specially recorded a short video specifically explaining how to make #闽中美食——马糕# and posted it online.
Just how significant was the popularity? One day after this, Zhou Xiao suddenly received a message from her mother asking if she wanted some horse cake. Apparently, thanks to the cake's popularity and its inherent taste, the aunties and uncles who used to peddle it on their scooters have stopped driving to ensure supply. In addition to in-person purchases, they've even started courier delivery services.
The unexpected popularity of the video and the unexpected resurgence of the snack not only attracted locals to buy and outsiders to try it, but also allowed Zhou Xiao to receive his first job in his hometown.
At the same time, the Star 101 forum also welcomed the revelations and heated discussions about the third elimination of the show.
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