Chapter 109
The arrival of Qixi Festival makes Shanghai, already a city of night, even more lively. Amidst the hustle and bustle of traffic, a yellow taxi is parked steadily at the taxi stand at the entrance of Shanghai East Railway Station.
Zhu Jian, who was sitting in the front row, unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look at Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi in the back. He smiled and said, "Okay, just take me here! You two should go back and get some rest too."
During the bustling Qixi Festival, the Shanghai high-speed rail system had added an early-night service to cope with peak passenger traffic. After the three of them had a late-night snack at a restaurant, Zhu Jian casually checked and discovered that the nearby high-speed train was still running at that time, so he decided to head home.
"Let's make an appointment to play together next time." Zhou Xiao handed the bag of bread he had been carrying to Zhu Jian who was about to get off the bus, and asked her to take it with her on the way. This was the bag of bread Zhou Xiao bought at a 24-hour bakery on the roadside before getting on the bus.
Zhu Jian, realizing only then why Zhou Xiao had suddenly gone to the store to buy bread, chuckled and took the bread without hesitation. Before getting out of the car and closing the door, she said to the two of them, "No problem. We had a great time this time. Come over to my house next time. I'll treat you!"
When she was about to close the car door, Zhu Jian poked his head in again, "Xiaoxiao! Remember to send me the souvenirs!" She didn't bring the big bag of souvenirs with her when she went out, so now she could only ask Zhou Xiao to send them to her home.
"Then you might as well stay one more night," Qi Sisi said with a smile.
"No, I have to obey the command of the emperor and go home early!" After receiving Zhou Xiao's affirmative reply, Zhu Jian closed the car door with satisfaction and walked towards the door.
After she waved and disappeared into the crowd, the middle-aged woman driving the taxi finally started the car. While looking at the road in the rearview mirror, she asked, "Where are you going back, little girl?"
Zhou Xiao had a good impression of this driver. Not only did he drive smoothly, the car was clean, and he was very considerate of his passengers. During the three of them's conversation, he hadn't been in a rush to urge them to leave. He was a good driver with excellent driving skills.
"Just take us to Huashang Times Square," Zhou responded to the driver with a smile.
The driver was clearly familiar with the place, saying "Hey!" before simply driving off. She wasn't the only one; drivers from Shanghai and surrounding areas had been picking up passengers there in recent months, and business was booming.
"Oh, is that Bus 101?" As if realizing something, she asked while slowly driving the car into the avenue and waiting for the red light.
"Yes, yes! It's the hottest variety show recently!" Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi were both a little excited when they heard the driver mention 101, as if they suddenly felt a little "proud" that even passers-by knew about the show?
Qi Sisi quickly answered the driver's question and even started promoting her product, "Their group even became the image ambassadors for the Shanghai Huashang District yesterday!"
"Wow, that's amazing!" She steered the car and followed the green light. Whenever she had to wait for a red light, she would chat with Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi in the back seat. Although the topic was always about Xingtu 101, it was rare that both of them found the conversation quite enjoyable.
When they arrived at Huashang Times Square, everyone was still a little reluctant to leave. Qi Sisi, who had gotten out of the car and was watching it get farther and farther away from them, immediately turned to Zhou Xiao and said, "No, I'm going to give this sister a big thumbs up right now! You have to help me figure out how to praise her!"
After writing the comment, the two of them walked on the road for a while. Just as they were about to separate and go back, a purple tourist bus slowly drove into the Huashang Times Community.
Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi paused for a moment as they exchanged glances, confirming their shared vision. The purple bus was familiar to both of them, and it was the bus that carried the fate of the trainees.
The bus has picked up eliminated trainees and also transported trainees to the airport or to other locations for magazine shoots. The fact that this familiar bus appeared again at Huashang Times Square at this time suggests that it is very likely the residence of the NINE STAR members.
Why this speculation? It all started when the three of them were strolling through the square that morning, passing by a familiar spot: the "iron gate" at Huashang Times Square. The reason for the quotes is that the gate has been removed. The removal of the gate signifies the true end of the Star Path 101 program, and at least a few of them were quite moved by it.
Of course, they weren't the only ones lamenting this. Several nearby vendors, who had been setting up shop there for over two months, shared the same sentiment. After learning from Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi, two of their regular acquaintances who frequented the iron gate, that the Star Path 101 competition had concluded, they all lamented the loss of their valuable customers.
You have to know that most of the people who come to offline star-chasing are girls. For the vendors attracted by the crowd, these star-chasing girls are simply polite and easy to do business with. Although there are occasional other problems, it is a huge difference from the feeling of setting up stalls in other places.
When their thoughts came back to themselves, neither of them had expected that their feelings in the morning would turn into surprise. But after thinking about it, it was not impossible that the members really lived there.
There is a residential complex near Huashang Times Square, but further inside the complex is a large villa complex. Given the partnership between Huashang Times and Xingtu 101, they should be able to reserve a place specifically for the members to live in.
…
Zhou Xiao woke up early today. The culprit was the now-excited Zhu Jian. She called Zhou Xiao several times early in the morning, asking him to look at the link in the group chat. Reluctantly, Zhou Xiao clicked on the link, and his eyes widened in a half-asleep state.
Clicking on the link leads to a video on a certain blog, featuring a fan-recorded segment from the Shanghai TV morning news. Inside is a pre-recorded segment about the Nine Stars group's reflections on being named the ambassadors for the Shanghai Huashang District and Shanghai's achievement of civilized city status.
Zhou Xiao suddenly remembered why the bus he had encountered so late in the morning had returned so late. If it was really carrying Ji Shao and the others, then they had given a lot of interviews after the party. For example, in this one, the members' suits were still exactly the same as on stage.
When Zhou Xiao left the group, Zhu Jian had sent another blog post. She didn't rush to open it, but paused for a moment and typed to Zhu Jian, "Don't tell me you haven't slept yet?"
"Hehe!" Zhu Jian on the other end immediately sent a silly smiley emoji, "I'll go to sleep with Teacher Zhou right now!"
After seeing Zhu Jian post an emoji in the group saying he was offline, Zhou Xiao finally clicked on the blog post. It was from the official Shanghai Stock Exchange account, and it tagged a member's account, which had already been renamed. The accompanying image was a handshake photo of the Shanghai mayor and Ji Shao.
This blog post, published today in conjunction with NINE STAR's name change, quickly flooded with comments from fans of the various members. This official announcement was a stark rebuke to those who, last night, were fuming on trending topics and forums, implying that NINE STAR was merely a figurehead. They've already become deeply withdrawn.
…
That night, Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi sat on the sofa in the screening room, waiting for NINE STAR's first live broadcast. As the clock struck 7 p.m., the live broadcast room opened.
——Live broadcast mode——
The members were divided into two rows, with Ji Shao sitting in the first row, but he formed an awkward "concave" shape with the people around him. Of course, this was because Ji Shao's legs were longer than those of the members in the same row, resulting in a shorter upper body, which made him look "concave" compared to the others.
[Who knows, Ji Shao really looks like an elementary school student, hahahahaha I immediately stuffed candy into his mouth!]
How did Xiao Shao dye his hair back to purple? Don't dye it too much, it's bad for your hair!
[Everyone feels so serious tonight]
"Good evening, everyone! We are NINE STAR!" Everyone looked directly at the camera, and after Ji Shao's quiet countdown, everyone greeted the audience in front of the live broadcast in unison.
Self-introductions were from left to right. After Xu Zhou's introduction, it was Ji Shao's turn. He waved his hands at the camera and then said, "Good evening, everyone! I'm Ji Shao!"
Liang Wendao, who was sitting behind him, heard his soft voice and his expression changed. He immediately threw an iron fist, landing playfully on Ji Shao's shoulder. Then the others began introducing themselves, each one more adorable than the last. By the time it was Liang Wendao's turn, his introduction had already reached the level of a spoiled child.
After all the members finished introducing themselves, Liang Wendao, whose face was already red, was questioned by the host, "Are there any secret deals going on between us trainees that we're not aware of?"
"Ah," Ji Shao chuckled as he took the microphone from the staff. Looking at Xu Zhou on his left, who was already laughing uncontrollably, he said, "We made a little bet earlier. Whoever starts acting cute with everyone in front of the screen first will have to follow suit."
"I don't know if you're tired of me," Ji Shao said, looking at the camera with a slightly cunning look, "but I think I'm relatively refreshed!"
[Help! No wonder Liang Wendao wants to criticize Xiao Shao! The fox Xiao Shao is so adorable! It’s okay for male idols to be a little scheming!]
[I've been listening to the whole thing until the end and my scalp is tingling. Is this the strength of the top boy band in the country? More of this, I love it!]
[Isn't the ghost zone material now available? Let us thank the kind-hearted Ji who first dragged everyone into the abyss kkk]
The host smiled and continued, "Everyone, the live broadcast room instantly became lively. As this is our first live broadcast for NINE STAR, the audience can press the questions they want to ask the members on the public screen. Then, our nine members will randomly draw and answer your questions! Of course, the questions will be reviewed by our staff~"
While the host was introducing tonight's live broadcast room, the members on the screen turned their heads to look at the extra-large display screen on the side that was playing barrages.
Realizing that the screen was refreshing too quickly, the host reminded, "Everyone, please post slower." Looking at the refreshing speed of the barrage, the members didn't know what to look at and could only see the afterimages of the barrage that disappeared quickly.
There is no way, there are simply too many viewers participating. As soon as the show started, hundreds of thousands of viewers flocked to the live broadcast room of Weibo alone, and the number is still skyrocketing.
Ji Shao, tired of watching, simply withdrew his gaze and greeted the camera in front of him and the audience in the live broadcast room.
The screen is scrolling so fast! I feel like the members were trying to see what we posted, but now they can’t see anything.
[Wow wow wow mommy's Ji Shao is so good, he even said hello to me!]
The host received a reminder from the staff in the background and quickly spoke, "NINE STAR is incredibly popular. We've already had 200,000 viewers right after the show started. With everyone so supportive, how could we miss out on some benefits? Next, please let our season... Teacher Xu Zhou call a pause to draw the first question from the comment section!"
After Xu Zhou called a halt, all the members turned sideways to look at the bullet screen on the right, which had just stopped scrolling.
[Subjunctive Particle: Have NINE STAR assigned dormitories yet? I'd like to know how you assign dormitories!]
A staff member nearby nodded, indicating that the question was fine. The trainees paused for a moment, then Xu Zhou looked at Ji Shao. Ji Shao looked at his manager behind the camera and made a big X sign to them. After some thought, he said, "That's a good question. Everyone, take a guess."
Xu Zhou opened his hands helplessly and continued Ji Shao's words, "This virtual classmate is really good at asking questions. I know what will happen next. Please look forward to our next group show~"
Zhou Xiao, who was sitting in the middle of the screen, saw Ji Shao suddenly stand up and walk off-camera. Not long after, he sat back down and waited for Wu Yanyan to finish speaking before speaking. "The NINE STAR official Weibo account will post a hint later, and there will be a lucky draw when the group variety show airs. The first nine fans who guess correctly will receive autographed photos of all nine of us. By using the hint, you can indirectly participate in the dormitory selection process with us!"
[The host just wanted Ji Shao to go first, but he gestured to Xu Zhou first. That was really great!]
[There's actually a group variety show! I'm alive! I'm alive! Hurry up and bring it up!]
"Did Ji Shao talk to his agent about giving us fan benefits? I don't need an autographed photo, just let me join you when you're assigned to dorms!"
"What is the first thing you want to do after your debut?" the host asked the members.
“Take back your phone and play some games!” “Sleep for three days and three nights” “Contact your parents” “…” The conventional questions and answers made the agent who had been standing behind the camera make up his mind. He quickly asked the staff member who was responsible for temporarily becoming the host to leave, and decided to give the prepared topics to the members and let them express themselves freely.
After receiving instructions from his colleagues, the host stood up and left the stage, breathing a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, however, he accidentally lifted up the camera he was filming, causing the footage to blur and leaving the audience in complete darkness.
Zheng Shulin, who hadn't realized the camera had fallen, turned his head to see a flash of light on the screen and muttered, "You guys are screwed!"
So in the pitch-black picture, the audience in front of the screen seemed to hear several clapping sounds, and then the chattering of the teenagers rang out, "Pooh, pooh, pooh, Zheng Shulin, pooh!" "Ah? This is not good, right? How come we are already obscure after just debuting!" "Hurry up and find a piece of wood to knock on it!" "Ah! Our camera seems to have fallen over!" "..."
After a moment of chaos, the pitch-black camera was lifted up. Zhou Xiao looked at Zheng Shulin, who was sitting in the back row. He seemed to have been beaten during the chaos. His once neat hair was now extremely messy.
[Aaaaaah, such an exciting 30 seconds and the screen went black. Damn it!]
[Help me, I'm dying of laughter. I'm waiting for a post-production audio analysis hahahaha]
[Zheng Shulin: It's blurry! The lens is blurry!]
At this moment, Ji Shao, looking seriously at the question posed by his agent behind the camera, turned back and carefully examined Zheng Shulin for a moment before saying, "Some fans are curious about our respective lock screens. Let's start with Shulin, is that okay?"
"No problem," everyone except Zheng Shulin said in unison. Forced to moderate the atmosphere, Zheng Shulin took his phone from his agent and showed it to the audience.
"Why are you so narcissistic?" Xu Zhou asked, craning his neck to look at Zheng Shulin's lock screen. Apparently, the lock screen Zheng Shulin was displaying was a fan photo of his own. Of course, Xu Zhou didn't realize that the others were looking at him as he said this.
[Male idols are really narcissistic. Help me hhhh. There are magazines, selfies, and fan pages.]
[I'm so envious of the sites that got flipped, sob sob sob]
【It became lively unexpectedly, not bad, not bad】
From the initial stiff response of their manager's prompts, to the final moment when Lin Nan, standing close to the scrolling screen, took over, the discussion was quick. Although the comments scrolled quickly, pressing the confirm button allowed for a clear reading of the content. Aside from the meaningless, name-spam comments, the members were quite compliant with the requests.
"Brother Shao, there's a kid who keeps telling you not to dye your hair too often because it's bad for your health." Lin Nan saw an ID that was already familiar to him. Although he didn't take a screenshot, he had already memorized the content.
Before Ji Shao could speak, Lin Nan explained, "Don't worry, fans of Brother Shao and the other members, their black hair last night was sprayed because the Shanghai TV station requires black hair color, so there's no need to worry about that."
…
"It's getting late, and we should get ready to end the show! Let's see who's the last lucky goose~" Yan Shu looked at his agent's reminder and said to the camera. He wasn't feeling well tonight and wasn't very active, so he was given the last chance to read the audience comments before the show started.
[Crazy Thursday V Me 50: What would you do if you weren’t an artist?]
Just as Yan Shu read out the words "Crazy Thursday", Ji Shao realized something and looked at his agent. He quickly spoke to make amends and used his own voice to drown out Yan Shu's somewhat weak voice, "Let's end the live broadcast first--"
Before he finished speaking, the screen in the live broadcast room displayed "The host has temporarily left." A short while later, the previous replay could be viewed.
——【Forum】——[August 23 evening]
【Topic】woc! The live broadcast was interrupted!
[Main Building] I don’t know if it’s what I thought.
1L
What? What? What's the matter?
7L
Judging from Ji Shao's reaction and the staff's reaction to the live broadcast being interrupted so quickly, it should be fine! It's just a bit too hasty. Logically speaking, it should be fine even if it hasn't been officially announced.
16L
It's really hilarious. Who knows? At the last minute, they read out the fan's ID... If it's true, they almost read out the competitor's joke.
29L
I also read everyone's explanation, and then I understood what it meant. But if it is true, I don't know if Yan Shu will be criticized, alas!
45L
Honestly, someone could poach Ji Shao [winking.jpg]
62L
Reply to 29L: Yan Shu was clearly unwell tonight. Apart from his self-introduction and the final segment, he didn't perform much! What is Huayao doing?! The kid just debuted and he's already exhausted. This fan is really tired and uncomfortable...
81L
The suggestion above is good, I agree!
…
Tonight's live broadcast quickly became a trending topic, with its popularity being quite astonishing. The number of views on Weibo and Blueberry Video both exceeded one million, and the popularity is still increasing.
Amidst this excitement, a forum user started spreading rumors that Yan Shu was being hospitalized. Upon hearing this rumor, Yan Shu's fans immediately contacted Huayao Xingyu+ to inquire about it. However, the response they received was simply, "Waiting for synchronization, no such news has been received yet."
The long night, waiting and waiting.
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