Chapter 172
Inside the stadium, during the men's 50m preliminaries, which had already begun some time ago, many fans in the inner court where Zhou Xiao was standing had already left their seats and were brazenly leaning over the railings, filming the artists competing with their cameras or cell phones. The security guards, standing by to enforce discipline, tried twice to intervene, but were quickly dismissed by the fans' snarky comments.
Each artist's event was displayed on a large screen as they entered the venue. Zhou Xiao immediately noted Ji Shao's events: archery and team relay. While everyone else around her excitedly joined in the fun, she, sitting quietly in her chair, stood out somewhat.
The opening ceremony of the "Star Sports Meet" took place around 10:00 AM, and it took nearly half an hour for the artists to enter. The first event of the meet, the men's and women's 50-meter preliminaries, lasted for a combined hour. After that, it was Ji Shao's turn in the Group B archery preliminaries.
Zhou Xiao glanced down at the screen as his phone vibrated, then turned to look at Qimiao, who was sitting behind him. The video request that popped up on his phone was from Qimiao. As Zhou Xiao turned around, he saw Qimiao puffing out his chest and giving him a slightly smug grin.
Zhou Xiao, seated, saw Qimiao pointing to the empty seat behind him. Qimiao grabbed her small bag and ran over to Zhou Xiao's side. Zhou Xiao was a bit surprised to see Qimiao before the show started. When she'd accompanied Qi Sisi to get her tickets, Qimiao had mentioned to them that she'd bought tickets for tomorrow.
When Qimiao had confidently taken his seat in the back, Zhou Xiao asked curiously, "By the way, why did you change your mind so suddenly? Do you recognize the owner of the seat you're sitting in now?"
Zhou Xiao and Qimiao had several offline interactions, and the other party gave him the impression that he was very sensible.
"Hahaha, I spent 380 yuan on a scalped ticket to get in," Qimiao said, practically brimming with joy. "I made a killing! I hadn't originally planned on getting in, but a scalper came to our support area and begged me to buy one!"
"besides……"
After a strange explanation, Zhou Xiao finally understood the reason. Besides the recognized Nine Stars, the "Star Sports Games" featured artists from third- and fourth-tier circles. While some actors have been trending lately, they haven't relied on popularity, and Blueberry Video isn't a pushover; once they've signed a contract, they're expected to attend.
Some scalpers, observing this star-studded event, immediately cornered a number of front-row tickets as soon as they became available, hoping to sell them at a high price. Unexpectedly, the artist fan clubs were using Blueberry Video's preferential channel – group tickets!
Scalpers, who had initially hoped to profit, were now devastated by the losses. As fans trickled in and no one took their tickets, the scalpers couldn't sit still and began selling off their tickets. As far as Zhou Xiao knew, the original price of 1,000+ yuan for the front-row tickets had once risen to 20,000 to 3,000 yuan.
As for the seat Qimiao was currently sitting in, it was snatched up by a friend from her former circle. Meeting a friend from her former circle in person was a pleasant surprise in itself, and since they were both climbers (likely referring to a specific type of climber), despite some initial awkwardness, they quickly became close friends. It was this lively conversation that allowed her to snag the last remaining inner-ground ticket from a scalper at a slightly higher price than a mountaintop ticket!
"Xindong, are you ready to edit the photo?" Qimiao leaned forward and put his head close to Zhou Xiao, and saw that the screen of her mobile phone was showing the picture of data transmission.
Zhou Xiao subconsciously leaned sideways when she heard this, so she could see Qimiao more clearly. She nodded, "Ji Shao will be on stage for a while, I'll edit a few pictures first~"
Qimiao rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Then I'll go look around first. I'll come back and tell you if there's any surprise!"
The most important reason why the inner field tickets are so expensive is that this location is very close to the artist rest area and the archery area! Qimiao is naturally thinking at this moment whether he can do bigger work with this limited space.
——【Entertainment Forum】——[December 8th morning]
[Topic] I think "Star Sports Games" should be renamed "NINE STAR Group Sports Games"
[Main Building] After watching the live broadcast, I really feel sorry for the Huhu artists... As soon as NINE STAR appeared, everyone else was just a foil [laughing and crying]
1L
If there is no NINE STAR, the organizers may only invite students near the stadium to watch it hhhh
47L
Conservatively estimated, the combined votes from Xiaojiu's individual fans and group fans should account for 80%-90% of the total votes.
103L
A friend sent me a video of Ji Shao's appearance at the scene, and my strong-loving DNA was really aroused!
169L
I got a piece of gossip from the real melon owner next door. NINE STAR originally didn't want to participate [laughing and crying], but the popularity of the sports meeting was too low, and because of cost issues, they were brought back by the top management overnight to save the situation.
243L
Reply to 169L: 200% believable. Off topic, who would have thought that so many fans gathered at the event, and they had all gathered since the official announcement day? A friend of mine is a Ji Shao fan, and their group ticket deadline is 2:00 AM today, 6 or 6~
…
"Ding!" Zhou Xiao's previously set alarm popped up on her phone. Time had already ticked by as she was editing the photo, and it was already half past eleven. After turning it off, she saved the edited photo and heard a burst of female cheers from the plastic track in the distance.
Zhou Xiao stood up and stretched herself. The area around her was now mostly empty, with only the coats and cheering items scattered haphazardly on the chairs as evidence that someone had been there before. Everyone in the backstage had run away, but the sounds could still be heard. Zhou Xiao looked closely and realized that everyone was crowded in the passage leading to the backstage.
Hearing the sound of the loudspeaker overhead, "The women's 50m preliminaries are over, congratulations to us..." Zhou Xiao walked towards the crowd curiously. When he was still some distance away, he heard loud "whispers" coming from the gathered crowd.
"Wow!" "So cute!" "So handsome!" "..." As they got closer, Zhou Xiao knew what they were looking at through the occasional gaps.
As she walked through the passageway into the backstage that morning, she noticed the dedicated VIP rooms, all with thick curtains drawn. At this moment, the curtains in many rooms were drawn. The actors, who had been traumatized by the opening performance, were now taking turns diligently interacting with fans outside the venue, their focus on flirting with every single one they could.
While the artists invited by Blueberry Video aren't mainstream, they're all from the entertainment industry and their looks are comparable. After the morning's offline support, they've become even more aware of the importance of fans, and each one has shed their aloof personas and actively engaged in the fun.
Zhou Xiao, knowing what they were looking at, turned around and was about to return to his seat when he saw two groups of athletes, one male and one female, coming out from the backstage. They were all wearing protective gear and carrying bows and arrows.
Before the fans could even exclaim in surprise, archery athletes appeared on the four large screens in the stadium. When the camera panned to the members of NINE STAR, cheers erupted from the stadium.
When the camera focused on Ji Shao, as if it had been rehearsed, the entire venue recreated the scene. Even more orderly than the first time, the "Ji Shao" cheers stopped automatically after three shouts. Of course, this also led to some amusement, as many people joined in the cheers even though they didn't realize the rest of the team had paused.
Although the company was a little slow, it didn't affect others like it did this morning. Zhou Xiao knew that this must have been temporarily organized by the fan club. Although the opening ceremony was grand, it also made the offline fans feel proud.
However, there were also some dissenting voices, who believed that Tiaosi's support affected others. The fact that they were able to organize most of the fans in such a short period of time was enough to show the ability of the fan club.
By the time the group reached the archery range, the fans who had been gathered in the aisle had come to their senses and, without hesitation, regrouped at the railing near the archery range. However, this time, they were mercilessly asked by several security guards to return to their seats.
Aside from Zhou Xiao, the entire field was filled with wailing. Zhou Xiao had originally considered using physical methods to film the scene (physical height increase), but now it seemed the organizers were reliable.
The men's archery preliminaries began. Zhou Xiao estimated there were about 20 participants, divided into two groups, A and B. Ji Shao, a member of Group B, was sitting in the waiting area with his teammates. Zhou Xiao also noticed that this archery group had a high concentration of Nine Stars! Ji Shao, Chu Cheng, Yan Shu, Xu Zhou, and Zheng Shulin—their participation was a coincidence, giving the impression that only the top five would compete.
In the archery preliminaries, each competitor shot three arrows, with a total score of 30 points. The top eight advance to the finals. Ties affecting the top eight will result in another round of competition. Group A's highest score was 27, which made many competitors in Group B nervous. Of course, even more nervous than them were the fans, who were staring intently at the big screen/in the stadium.
Ji Shao was the last contestant to appear after the draw. When he showed his numbered ball, his fans at the scene were afraid to speak, fearing he would be under too much pressure. In their panic, they had completely forgotten about Ji Shao's performance at the Xingtu 101 sports meet.
In the footage, the young man half-stood up and bumped fists with the others. As the other contestants cheered him on, Ji Shao fist-bumped each one, finally settling in front of the white line. At that point, the eighth-place score was 21, a mark Ji Shao needed to surpass to advance to the finals.
The air in the stadium seemed to stagnate. Under the big screen, Ji Shao drew his bow and arrow, and with lightning speed, before anyone could react, he released an arrow. The commentator, in charge of the event, didn't even have time to introduce Ji Shao to the audience with the host beside him, the words still on his lips.
The staff behind the scenes quickly switched the footage, revealing the arrow's tail, which had hit the bull's eye, trembling slightly, perhaps due to an illusion. Before anyone could exclaim in surprise, another arrow, with unstoppable force, soared through the air and landed firmly in the ten-ring.
Originally, no one knew how the arrow had hit the bull's eye, but now everyone in the room and on the screen knew. This was a clean and decisive move, far more effortless and elegant than the ten-ring strikes we'd seen before.
Amidst thunderous cheers, Ji Shao slowly nocked his arrow onto his bow, keenly aware of the camera's movement towards him. He raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, looking towards the camera. "How many rings do you want for the next target?"
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