Chapter 090 Chapter 90
——【Forum】——[August 8 evening]
[Main Post] By the way, are we going to record the elimination show tonight?
[Topic] Considering the voting time of the program team, it suddenly occurred to me that if the votes are cleared today, it should mean that the elimination will be recorded, right?
1L
The original poster is out. In the afternoon, a certain blog started to circulate the list of eliminated trainees! I also posted a ranking [picture]
4L OP
Reply to 1L: Thank you!
9L
Honestly, I think the elimination list is fake. How could Xiang Rui be eliminated? I felt like his performance with Ji Shao during the third public performance was really good. And didn't his fan club reunite?
13L
It's hard to tell whether this is true or not, but after looking at the ranking chart posted above, it actually fits my guess about the members of the group. Okay, let's debut the top nine!
26L
Hehe I disagree. My family spent more money than the eighth-place Wu Yanyan's family in the picture. Why should I worry about being eliminated? [Laughing]
39L
I actually think this is all about the management behind the scenes. Just think about it, no matter how much money fans have, they can't beat the management behind the scenes, right? Even though Star 101 doesn't have a management company or production team pre-signing contracts, honestly, netizens' financial power still can't beat the management behind the scenes. To put it bluntly, this is still a game of capital...
53L
Reply to 39L: Hey, why don't you check out the statistics someone in the group has compiled... You're really underestimating the popularity of Star 101. I'm not exaggerating about the cash flow. Basically, at this stage, the amount of money fans spend on each trainee is way higher than the cash flow of smaller companies!
And isn't Star 101 a good thing? No matter how much money I spend on talent shows abroad, I still can't get a fair outcome. But on Star 101, I can decide the fate of the trainees just by paying. It's so satisfying just thinking about it. Talent shows abroad are always controlled by management companies, but in China, we fans can control it ourselves!
67L
You can find out by counting the offline trainees the next day [snickering]
…
By the next day, netizens on the forums and in the online chatrooms were preoccupied with discussing the elimination list. However, several of the nine fan clubs participating in the meeting were particularly dissatisfied with the photos produced by the fan clubs' chosen fan clubs.
Especially after the Ji Shao family's heart-throb fangirl's exposure incident yesterday, they unknowingly raised their expectations for their own fangirls.
Seeing that the fan club members continued to upload fan meeting videos and photos even when they were caught in the storm, many people envied the quality of "Pan Ren Xin Dong" before, but they suppressed their negative emotions for the sake of face.
But this sentiment reached a peak after their own fan club released the edited photos. Looking at the fan club's fan page photos, many people swallowed their curse words, thought for a moment, and then headed straight to their own fan club accounts.
"Looks like the fan clubs being criticized this time are Liang Wendao and Lin Nan's," Zhu Jian said, sharing what he had just seen on the forum with Zhou Xiao. The screenshots were from a popular Weibo account, and the posts, with their likes and comments, had already reached the standard for reposting, so one could predict how harshly the two fan clubs were being criticized.
Zhu Jian, chatting with Zhou Xiao, was also feeling very fortunate. Because Ji Shao's fan club didn't have a site manager, they had originally planned to directly designate a site before allocating votes. However, considering the club's recent establishment, they decided to let the fans make the decision, thus avoiding accusations of shady dealings. Fortunately, the fan-selected sites, "Pianran Xindong" and "Four Seasons," were both recognized as reputable within the fan community.
This behavior was also used by big fans of Liang Wendao and Lin Nan to compare with their own fan clubs. Many passers-by, after eating this melon, also developed a good impression of Ji Shao's fan club. After all, such an honest fan club is really rare in the fan circle.
After chatting with Zhu Jian, Zhou Xiao also felt somewhat emotional. No wonder he hadn't encountered many familiar faces at the meetups before; it turned out these people had little offline experience. After hearing some of Zhu Jian's insider information, Zhou Xiao realized that the fans at the meetups who had never attended offline events before had always relied on their financial resources to buy photos from proxy photographers and then edit them.
Although I have the basic skills to edit photos, and I can always pay someone to do it if I’m not good enough, I lack the experience of offline shooting. And the people around the scene are all fans from other fan clubs, so I can’t buy proxy photographers with good positions. I can only use the pictures I took myself to make changes. Now that I have been scolded like a sieve, these fans don’t dare to speak out. After all, the reason I was able to come to the fan meeting this time was because of the relationship between the fan club and myself, right?
Seeing the screenshots of the comments section in the text message, Zhou Xiao thought about it and couldn't help but use his secondary account to click on the two fan club accounts that were being criticized by fans. The comments under the latest blog post were all highly praised, citing examples of the fan club's negligence. Zhou Xiao checked the time and saw that most of them were being picked up from the back row.
It seems quite a few fans are dissatisfied with the fan club's shady practices. As the competition progresses, the fans' intolerance of the fan club's embezzlement grows. However, at this stage, the fans are ultimately making such a fuss in the hope of getting some members of the fan club to behave more conscientiously.
…
Yesterday's #fangirls'ssuccessfulstarchasing# controversy has drawn many people's attention to the previewed content of the upcoming issue of "Shang Ken." Fans will find it both novel and satisfying: the novelty lies in Ji Shao's look in the magazine, and the satisfaction lies in his work with Ji Shao and photographer Zhou Xiao. This is also a key focus for those in the industry.
At 12 noon, Shang Ken magazine released its second round of previews. The two photos released this time were taken by Zhou Xiao of Ji Shao outdoors, and the contrast between the two photos is so striking that you can't help but take a second look.
One of the photos shows the boy beneath lush trees, his profile as vibrant as the light filtering through the trees. Another shows him elegantly sipping coffee in a cafe wearing glasses. As Ji Shao's first time sporting glasses, this photo captivated many fans, who immediately set it as their screensaver.
In the magazine's preview blog post, it's clear that the previous trending search didn't affect Zhou Xiao at all. Her name remains firmly on the post, a gesture that conveys a silent and unwavering approval and support.
…
Huashang Times Square looked particularly beautiful at dusk, the golden sunlight seeming to coat it with a layer of orange light. Of course, it would be even more beautiful if it were quieter. Today, Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi were waiting at the iron gate of Huashang Times Square early. Listening to the noisy sounds around them, Zhou Xiao looked at the scenery in the sky and couldn't help but raise his camera to take a few photos.
She has also taken pictures of the beautiful scenery bestowed by nature in the system training room, but the scenery she feels in real life is far more delicate and warm than the virtual one.
Qi Sisi seemed particularly excited today. After the host's expression at yesterday's meeting went viral, she also saw another protagonist in the video, the horse cake that she accidentally threw out last time and was caught by Ji Shao.
Although she was later taught by Zhu Jian that she should not give food to trainees when she showed off in the group, Qi Sisi humbly accepted Zhu Jian's criticism, but she was still very happy!
Although Ji Shao didn't mention the origin of the food at the meeting, there were still many fans offline that day, and perhaps they also realized what Ji Shao received. After all, Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi even tasted a piece of it when they were offline.
Today, the two of them noticed quite a few fans carrying small bags, presumably filled with food. When footsteps sounded from behind the iron gate, Zhou Xiao, occupying a corner, watched as several people nearby eagerly waved their bags, as if preparing to imitate Qi Sisi's performance that day, throwing them through the gap in the railings into the hands of the trainees.
Zhou Xiao turned to look at Qi Sisi, her face now completely red. But because of the offline situation, she was too embarrassed to stop everyone from imitating her throwing things, even if Qi Sisi had done it unintentionally. And if she spoke up now, she probably wouldn't pay any attention, and would even think she was being pretentious.
When the trainees finally appeared before everyone, Zhou Xiao finally realized they had been eliminated. A closer look behind the iron gate revealed a different mood from the trainees' previous two eliminations. If the first elimination was filled with sadness, the second with reluctance, the third with relief.
Although the trainees' eyes are a little red, their spirits are much better now than when they first met. Many netizens on the forum call this state "redness nourishes people".
Although not all trainees who made it to the top 22 are very popular, the trainees who have been under the spotlight will subconsciously show their best side to their offline fans.
"Ji Shao", "Xiao Shao!", "Chu Cheng", "Zhou Zhou", "..." When the trainees came into the fans' sight from the direction of the practice room, the fans at the iron gate immediately burst into warm cheers.
The bodyguards accompanying the trainees, watching the trainees frantically pass bags to the trainees, quickly stepped forward to intervene. One bodyguard, wearing a Star 101 logo, repeatedly cut off the hands of trainees and fans before they touched, even violently dragging one trainee inside.
The offline fans who were annoyed by this action immediately exploded, "Don't pull my kid!" "Why are you so rude?" "What's so arrogant about the bodyguards of Xingtu 101?" "..."
It's not the first time that bodyguards have been rude to trainees and fans, but usually everyone swallows it. As long as the bodyguards aren't too extreme, everyone just assumes they're protecting someone they love, but this time, the behavior clearly had some deliberate elements.
Zhou Xiao, who was holding a camera, stopped filming when he saw the situation in front of him. Yan Shu, who was standing next to Ji Shao, had his arm pulled forward by the bodyguard. Fortunately, Ji Shao, who was next to him, supported Yan Shu in time and helped him stand and avoid falling.
"Why are you pulling so hard?" Qi Sisi said unhappily. Although it wasn't Ji Shao who was being pulled, for a trainee to have such a bodyguard with no quality around him, who knows who will be the one being pulled next time.
Furthermore, offline, there's a metal gate between fans and trainees. Even if the bodyguards don't want the trainees to accept fans' belongings, there's no need to do so. While there are many fans offline, everyone consciously avoids leaning over the gate. Firstly, it's uncomfortable, and secondly, it's a safety hazard.
Soon this incident was posted on a certain blog by offline fans that day. There were different opinions on this behavior on the Internet. The comments on the official Weibo of Xingtu 101 were directly dominated by Yan Shujia's fans.
The marketing accounts on a certain blog naturally took advantage of this wave of excitement and quickly copied the relevant comments. Soon after, some fans noticed that these marketing accounts subsequently edited their blog posts and brought the trending topics to the hot search square.
【Ji Shao debuts as the center】
Zhu Jian (Using Softness to Overcome Hardness): Oh my god, I just saw the marketing account just finished editing and brought up the topic, and the next second it was directly searched 666
Qi Sisi (Sisi): Shocked!!! It really is! And it's climbing up the trending searches so fast, basically every time I refresh it, it moves up a rank!
Dong Xiaoyu (crackling rain): Is someone planning to do Star Path 101? I just saw someone post a screenshot of the red envelope group under the marketing account comments, and it was deleted by the marketing account in seconds.
Qi Sisi (Sisi): Why did the marketing account delete this screenshot?
Li Mo (Little Tail): Oh, it's actually a water army group. I saw it too, and you can earn 2 or 3 yuan by posting a blog post with a topic! Xingtu 101 is really [holding his forehead and smiling bitterly.jpg]
Zhu Jian (Using Softness to Overcome Hardness): I feel like Yan Shujia has been used as a pawn. It is obvious that this trending search is deliberately aimed at vilifying fans and targeting the program crew.
…
Back at the hotel, Zhou Xiao watched the discussion in the group chat, then checked Weibo, noting that the situation was escalating. She thought for a moment and sent Lin Qianxia the video she'd filmed at the scene. While there was a camera at the gate, the angle captured from outside was incomparable to surveillance cameras.
After reading the trending searches, Zhou Xiao and Zhu Jian had similar thoughts: it was obvious someone was trying to discredit the fans and the production team. The comments in the trending searches, whether blaming the bodyguards or criticizing the fans for being overly aggressive, clearly had a "troll army" vibe, their primary goal being to provoke a fight between those who expressed conflicting opinions on both sides.
But the production team itself also has issues. The bodyguards hired by "Star Path 101" were clearly ill-tempered, but this doesn't necessarily imply that the show itself is flawed. While the fans were excited, the metal gates separating them from the trainees prevented crowding or other unhealthy fan behavior. Anyone with even a little thought could sense someone was secretly fanning the flames.
Lin Qianxia was surprised and grateful when she received the video from Zhou Xiao. She quickly expressed her gratitude to him. Since the memory card theft incident, the production team had installed several cameras in Huashang Times Square, but the video Zhou Xiao provided was a perfect complement to their lack of a fan perspective.
At the same time, influencers began posting invitations to his role on the Hazelnut app's talent show, "Dream Come True." Under the trending hashtag #StarPath101BodyguardTugTrainer#, some people also started mentioning the new talent show, "Dream Come True."
Although the talent show, hosted by the Hazelnut app, hasn't been officially announced, Zhou Xiao's fan page has already received offers from it and numerous agencies involved in the show. It's possible that Dreams Come True is a competitor to Star 101, and perhaps even more companies than Star 101 has managed to reach out to than have sent Zhou Xiao private messages.
Speaking of this, we have to say that the background of Pinrenxindong receives a lot of private messages every day, and Zhou Xiao will take a day off every once in a while to read these contents.
Ever since someone on the forum broke the news that she would send swag via private messages, the backstage messages have been flooded with people eager to show off their cuteness and check in. Of course, some people also use her account as a "save point," frequently sending Zhou Xiao information/data. In such cases, Zhou Xiao would always click on it and then quietly exit. Fortunately, a certain blog has disabled the read status feature on private messages, thus avoiding any awkwardness on both sides.
As she scrolled down, she came across a private message from a talent agency with a blue V, and her lips trembled violently. These agencies were preparing to participate in the Hazelnut app's talent show, but it seemed that Chunchun wanted to use her as free labor, actually offering her a price for the signature of their company's pre-debut trainees.
Some even offered to pay her directly, offering her a 1,000 yuan cash reward for every amazing photo she took. Zhou Xiao declined, as she knew the price for a Star 101 offline photo shoot was much higher than that.
It's clear these agencies treat her like a fan, not a photographer. Hence the mentality of using fans as cheap labor, seeking both low investment and high-quality results. The agencies that previously invested in trainees at Star 101 offered Zhou Xiao a higher price, but not significantly so.
The salary Hazelnut App offered Zhou Xiao is roughly equivalent to Zhang Hongyu's previous salary on Star Path 101, though not quite as high. However, Zhang Hongyu was introduced by someone, and participating in this kind of variety show is an investment in itself, as evidenced by his new contract with Star Path. Furthermore, Zhang Hongyu is a well-known photographer in the industry, so Hazelnut App considers this salary a good one for a photographer with a relatively new reputation.
However, Zhou Xiao had no intention of accepting the invitation. She tapped the phone case with the fingernails of her left index and middle fingers. She turned to look at the slightly tilted photo frame perched on a high cabinet. Inside were the autographed photos of Ji Shao she had collected along the way.
She had already found the brightest star in the talent show, so what was the point of the rest of the talent show to her? Besides, she was still waiting for Ji Shao to become a superstar.
After quickly reading through the private messages he'd previously accumulated and replying to a few, Zhou Xiao restored the account's permissions to the system. The system, when not issuing tasks, now served as Zhou Xiao's "tool system," responsible for sending the gift packages Zhou Xiao had previously left behind to fans who had replied to the address.
When she thought that her replies for today were over, a fan who had just replied to her address suddenly sent a blog link to Zhou Xiao and told her that she could start watching from the 36th minute of the video. The tone of the person replying to Zhou Xiao seemed quite excited and happy.
Zhou Xiao looked at the link sent to her. It was a freshly released video posted by Ji Shao's resource website. The title seemed to be a solo cut of Ji Shao from the day of the fan meeting. She followed the fan's suggestion, opened the link, and skipped to the 36-minute mark.
The backstage of the Star 101 dressing room is brightly lit. The nine trainees participating in the meet-and-greet stand behind a long, joined table, upon which are placed nine large cardboard boxes bearing the Star 101 logo. A photographer carefully explains the situation to the trainees, who then open the gifts their fans have prepared for them.
Zhou Xiao paused, thinking back to the cheese she'd encountered at the previous meetup. Suddenly, a sudden realization struck him. No wonder she'd brought a large bag of things before entering the venue. Could it be that she was going to use them here?
Ji Shao stood at the far left of the crowd, and was the first to open the box. As he was about to open it, several other trainees came over. "Wow!" When they saw Ji Shao opening his box, the trainees who hadn't seen the contents yet all started to cheer. The photographer's lens nimbly moved towards the box, revealing the neatly stacked gifts. At the very edge was a stack of banners. Ji Shao carefully pulled out a banner, starting with the one for the Heartbeat Station. There were a lot of banners, and Ji Shao gently flipped through them...
Whenever Ji Shao picked up a peripheral and held it up to the camera, the trainees nearby would enthusiastically cheer him on. Especially when he pulled out something that looked exquisite, their envy couldn't be concealed amidst the cheers.
Zhou Xiao, looking at the peripherals in Ji Shao's box, which were mostly hers, pondered for a moment. She figured neither Zhu Jian nor Cheese had asked her for them. She guessed someone in the fan club had gathered them themselves. This box contained high-quality peripherals from all of Ji Shao's fan clubs, with the largest percentage being the "Pan Ren Xin Dong" peripherals.
After thinking about it, Zhou Xiao privately chatted with Cheese to get her address, and prepared to send her a few more peripherals. Zhou Xiao carefully looked at the peripherals in the box, scrolling down the progress bar. There were all the peripherals from the first time she sent peripherals to the present. The fan club was really thoughtful.
—* —【Forum】——[August 9th evening]
[Topic] Did you watch the gift-opening part of the fan meeting? It was hilarious.
[Main Post] When I first saw that huge box, I thought it was some luxury item. I saw many trainees were looking forward to it, but in the end, they only took out some small gadgets hahahahahahaha
1L
Is the OP not involved in fan circles? I really envy the merch they got, especially the heart-pounding ones! It's really enviable!
6L
I heard that this was a gift from the fan clubs at the request of the production team. Giving away luxury goods is strictly prohibited! And someone even slipped in luxury goods and had them returned. It seems like giving away food and stuffed toys is also not allowed. It seems like some of the fan clubs here are quite thoughtful in their gifts.
12L
Reply to 6L: Could it be that the fan club of Yan Shujia was the one that sent luxury goods and got them returned? I was wondering why his fans only sent banners.
19L
Ji Shao's family put so much thought into this gift [laughing and crying] A friend of mine who collects merchandise said the fan club gave Ji Shao a whole set of heart-pounding merchandise, which is worth a lot of money!
24L
Help! My sister Xindong's merchandise is really worth the money in the fan circle. It's pure hard goods! I saw many people exchange N+1 for her merchandise, but the key is that there is still no demand!
…
The variety show "Dream Come True" has also generated considerable buzz on the Xingtu 101 forum, but the reaction has been noticeably muted. Many people feel that if Hazelnut Video were smarter, it would have offered a female version, rather than following Xingtu 101's lead with a male version.
While this can attract fans to watch the show, the most important thing for a talent show is the die-hard fans who spend a lot of money. These fans are unlikely to leave easily. As for whether the production team behind the Hazelnut app has seen this discussion, it is unknown.
That evening, Zhou Xiao also received the complete filming script from Ster. They had previously discussed the details over the phone, and tonight was the final confirmation.
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