Chapter 148
Zhejiang Province was still quite bustling in October, and Zhou Xiao rushed to her pre-booked hotel as soon as she landed. The system had given her an early reminder; as far as she knew, after the various artist teams confirmed their participation, prices at hotels and B&Bs near the Luochen Charity Gala venue had increased.
By the time Zhou Xiao arrived at the hotel to check in, it was already past noon. Zhou Xiao, looking down, didn't notice that the receptionist checking her in, upon seeing her reserved room number, suddenly looked up at her with a hint of curiosity.
After successfully checking in, Zhou Xiao took the room card from the front desk. Following the receptionist's suggestion, she planned to go to the hotel's buffet restaurant for lunch after putting her luggage away. Just as Zhou Xiao was heading for the elevator, a surprised voice came from behind her, "Heartbeat!"
Zhou Xiao paused and turned to see Feiye, who was also carrying a bag, waving excitedly at her. Although they hadn't met in person since the Star 101 competition, they were in the same group and kept in touch. Meeting in person at this moment was naturally a joyous reunion.
"Go check in first," Zhou Xiao pointed toward the front desk and stood aside, waiting for Feiye. The front desk was quick, and before long, Zhou Xiao was sure Feiye was walking toward him, room card in hand.
The voice rang out before the cover page's people even arrived. Seeing Zhou Xiao, she couldn't help but smile. "Luckily, I snagged this hotel at a high price. Otherwise, we might have missed out on this offline meeting!"
The two of them walked towards the public lounge area in the hotel lobby while talking. Although they hadn't seen each other for many days, the previous offline communication in front of the "iron gate" was still fresh in their memory, as if the scene of waiting for the trainees to get off work together offline was just yesterday.
"Why haven't I seen you in person lately?" Zhou Xiao asked, looking at Feiye. She was the fangirl who took the photos herself, and Feiye's blog hadn't been updated since the competition. In the forum's inventory of fangirls who had shut down their sites or fled, Feiye's account was listed as suspected of running away. Everyone was quite attentive during the online chat, but now that they were in person, Zhou Xiao decided to ask directly.
Hearing Zhou Xiao's words, Feiye waved her hand helplessly and said, "Stop talking. It turns out that that camera has been retired. I'm waiting for my friend to carry back a new camera!" After saying that, she patted her backpack as if showing off a treasure, and her favorite camera was in it.
Zhou Xiao nodded, and the two chatted in the lobby for a while before preparing to go to the hotel to pack their things and set off together later.
Inside the elevator, just as Zhou Xiao was about to step out, someone inside, who had been looking at their phone, suddenly seemed to receive a notification and said hurriedly, "Hey, wait a minute, check your phone! I just found a way to shoot the red carpet!"
Rumors began circulating at the Luochen Charity Gala that the red carpet segment would not be open to the public, but would be available to the audience via livestream. However, when this rumor first surfaced, many netizens criticized it as false, suggesting it was simply a self-promotional exercise.
You know, why can the charity galas in the entertainment industry attract so many sponsors, why do so many big-name artists support, why...isn't it all because of the dazzling red carpet stage and the interaction between all the big and small stars in the gala?
Cutting out the red carpet, the most important part of the evening, would undoubtedly kill off a significant portion of the fun. However, in the past few days, both Huayao and the fan clubs of various celebrities have hinted to fans that there might not be a red carpet.
As soon as the news came out, some fans were unhappy. For this red carpet, the stylists of their own artists revealed how much high-end fashion and high-end jewelry they borrowed. Without the red carpet show, all the energy would be wasted, and the brands that lent the money to them would not achieve the expected results, which would bring inconvenience to future cooperation.
But until today, after the official announcement that Zhejiang Province would host an international media summit in the middle of this month, the conflicts and contradictions that had arisen from this event simply vanished. Everyone knew what this meant, and they also knew that Luochen LUO-C magazine, as the organizer, would definitely ensure that the evening party went on smoothly.
Therefore, the organizers took the red carpet, which would attract a large number of fans, into consideration and decided to hold the event inside the venue, since it would be live-streamed online. Furthermore, the impact on the group of people affected was actually not that large. It was just that fans might not be able to post beautiful photos of themselves in the subsequent beauty contests in the following comments.
Zhou Xiao returned to her room and had just put her things away when the person on the other end of the phone called her. "Hey, Xindong, do you want to join my group?" Zhou Xiao had just answered the call when the person on the other end of the phone directly sent her a group invitation link.
Zhou Xiao pressed the speakerphone button and looked at the group message the other party had sent him. The group's name was [Red Carpet Limited Time Group]. After reading the explanation on the cover page, Zhou Xiao realized it was a group of offline scalpers. After confirming that the offline event had been canceled a few days ago, the scalper said he would take them to a location where they could film the red carpet, guaranteeing the shot, but with a hefty deposit. This piqued Zhou Xiao's interest, having already taken a break from filming the red carpet.
However, Zhou Xiao looked at this group of over a hundred people and felt it wasn't very reliable. If it was a small group of just a few people, then they could pretend to be staff or unknown media going to film the event, but how would they arrange for so many people? It wasn't like they were going to a concert...
Wait, a concert! Zhou Xiao didn't know why, but as if on cue, she quickly ran to the balcony. Holding onto the railing, she looked down and saw little figures pacing back and forth in the open space below.
Zhou Xiao's room was on the eighth floor of the hotel. She returned to the room, took out her camera, adjusted it, and looked downstairs - there was a circular arch with six characters on it: "Luo Chen Charity Gala."
The door was beautifully decorated, with a red carpet stretching straight from the entrance to the inside. Many staff members were setting up various equipment and preparing for filming.
On the other end of the phone, the title page was still describing how the scalper had assured her that she could get red carpet photos. Zhou Xiao waited until she finished speaking before saying, "Title Page, first take a look at what's under the balcony of the room you booked."
The person on the other end of the line was a little confused as to why Zhou Xiao suddenly brought this up, but he still obediently walked to the balcony and looked down. "What's wrong with the fountain at the hotel entrance?"
"I should know where the scalper will take you. Why don't you come to my room first?" After briefly explaining to the title page, Zhou Xiao hung up the phone and stood on the balcony, watching the people busy below. The live broadcast was still about three hours away, but because of the preliminary test adjustments, the staff had obviously already started busying themselves.
"Knock knock" there was a knock on the hotel door, "I'm coming over!" The person on the door was obviously impatient.
As soon as Zhou Xiao opened the door, she saw the person at the door, laughing, holding a camera in one hand and something in the other, reaching out to Zhou Xiao. Zhou Xiao couldn't help but laugh as he took a Heart Sincerity chocolate from the person's hand and leaned over to invite her in.
Following Zhou Xiao, he walked back and forth on the balcony, holding the cover of his camera. After seeing the scene below through his own camera, he couldn't help but sigh, "This scalper is really smart!"
——【Entertainment Forum】——[October 10th afternoon]
[Topic] Some fans were persuaded to leave the party by the organizers
[Main Building] I heard that before the live broadcast started, the fans gathered at the entrance were allowed to leave... I was speechless. They also said that if they had been offline the whole time, they would have simply not held the red carpet live broadcast from the backstage.
1L
People have repeatedly told us not to gather together. If you are still squatting at the door, you are either stupid or evil.
24L
What are they doing at the entrance? Besides, this time they're just driving in. The scene where celebrities get out of their cars and walk the red carpet at the entrance is long gone. Can't these people just stay home and watch the live broadcast?
59L
I can already imagine how expensive the red carpet photos will be [laughing and crying] All the fans please help, can we go out and see who buys the photos first?
103L
Friendly reminder, the live broadcast of the red carpet has begun!
…
When the live broadcast begins, if someone is filming the hotel from the opposite side, they will be surprised to find that there are densely packed people standing on the balconies or in front of the windows on many floors of this side. If you look closely, you will see that all of them are holding a big gun in their hands.
Over here, on one of the few vacant balconies, Front Page set up his camera and, taking advantage of the break before NINE STAR appeared, turned to look at Zhou Xiao. "Speaking of which, does this remind you of filming the Star 101 Sports Meet at her cousin's house with Wenger and the others?"
Zhou Xiao naturally remembered, and hearing Feiye's words reminded her of the message she had just posted in the group chat. Although everyone had responded online, only she and Feiye had come to Zhejiang Province this time. Ever since the Star Path 101 competition ended, the "one call, a hundred responses" atmosphere of sharing intelligence had become rare.
"Oh my god, Lin Qian!" The exclamation from above interrupted Zhou Xiao's thoughts. She saw through the camera the female artist who was getting out of the car.
Those who came before were all internet celebrities or small artists. After Lin Qian got off the car and there was a wave of exclamations from the hotel, even the most obtuse staff would have noticed the pile of cameras crowded on the balcony.
However, this did not affect the subsequent red carpet. According to relevant staff, the red carpet arrangements this time were much simpler than those in previous years. Although some artist teams expressed dissatisfaction afterwards, they had already left and their seats were already confirmed, so they could only swallow this loss in silence.
The doors of two multi-passenger business-class cars, one in front and one behind, opened, and Ji Shao followed the members onto the red carpet, his finely tailored suit fitting perfectly. By this time, the sky was already gradually darkening, but the flashes from the media in front of the circular arch and the cameras on the hotel balconies briefly made the scene bright as day, and screams filled the entire venue.
Zhou Xiao had already figured it out when two cars entered the venue at once. She had been "hanging up" the whole time, but now she turned her camera lens on Ji Shao.
The shouts from the media across the street and the shouts from the balcony of the hotel next door kept the members busy. They waved and posed with the media in front of them, while also greeting the fans who were unable to enter the venue from the hotel.
The members, who were initially unused to the flashes, have now been trained to remain calm under the intense flashes. Zhou Xiao, watching Ji Shao's godlike expression management, considered using a small light sign as a trap to lure Ji Shao towards the camera.
This was the suggestion given by several people in her group chat who couldn't make it after she mentioned that the hotel could film the red carpet. It's said that this trick is very useful for artists with good eyesight, and it's also very useful for shooting eye contact photos at night.
While Zhou Xiao was thinking, someone beside him, who had already taken out Zheng Shulin's support sign to lure the wrong person, said in shock, "Wow, your Ji Shao looked at my camera!"
In Zhou Xiao's lens, the young man in the audience seemed to sense something and looked up, as if gazing at the moon hanging high in the sky. The next moment, their gaze shifted, and in that moment of mutual gaze, Zhou Xiao felt that his lens was like the moon captured by Ji Shao, its light being transmitted by him.
A smile appeared on his face after a moment. Ji Shao, who had been accurately greeting Zhou Xiao's camera, only averted his gaze when he heard the media offstage calling his name, cooperating with the media on both sides to facilitate their filming.
It was not until NINE STAR walked onto the red carpet and disappeared that Zhou Xiao finally came to his senses and looked at the camera in his hand. He could hardly conceal his shock and excitement.
Feiye, who had already put down her camera, called out to Zhou Xiao, "Quick, quick, I got a picture of Ji Shao and us looking at each other. Should I send it to you now?" Tickets to the charity gala were expensive, and Feiye was going to make money from the photo package. There were still more big names to come. But Feiye knew Zhou Xiao was different. She was basically the only one among the group who only took pictures of Ji Shao.
Zhou Xiao, who had regained his composure, smiled and said to her, "No need! I took a picture too! Thanks for the trap, too!"
Zhou Xiao didn't explain much. She was desperate to share the eye contact she'd just captured. She had a feeling this scene might be a classic.
Many people on the forum were discussing tonight's red carpet lineup. When newcomer Ji Shao appeared on the livestream, the fans watching the video were already considering him as a potential "prep" for the leading male roles for the actresses.
Although he was born in a boy band, his appearance and atmosphere are truly in line with everyone's ideal of a male protagonist. Among them, the one that many fans often reminisce about is Ji Shao under the fireworks. The scene is like an anime scene, which makes people regret that Ji Shao is a member of a boy band and not an actor.
What reignited netizens' hopes was a video from the red carpet that night. For a time, #JiShaoInvitedToShootAction# dominated the trending searches, among all the celebrity-related topics from that night!
Domestic netizens are basically accustomed to hot searches. When I saw a trending search among various outfit trends, I was a little interested. When I clicked in to take a look, I could only say that the trending search did not deceive me!
The focus of the discussion came from a blog post:
@FlippedBang Ran Xin Dong·Ji Shao: #Ji Shao Super Talk #See you @NINE STAR-Ji Shao V [Video] [Picture]
[This video is comparable to my top 1 fireworks video. Teacher, please accept my knees!!!]
[Oh my god, who wouldn’t be confused by this]
[I feel like this photo can be included in the 100 photos I will treasure in my life. This perspective is very good, and I feel like the heroine of a romance novel.]
[Are these videos and photos just for me, or are they available to everyone else? Damn, my mom fans are going bad.]
[Just film, this is my most sincere advice. I can even ignore tonight's performance @华耀星途V. If you're sensible, send my brother to the crew as soon as possible. I don't mind him being locked up for ten or eight years.]
【……】
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