Chapter 177
At the Star Track Extension Stage, Ji Shao led all the NINE STAR members in a jogging circle after their solo medley performance. Zhou Xiao looked up at the big screen, watching the members interact with the audience, and couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. It felt like some kind of childish, yet still playful, treat-the-guest moment.
At this point, it was impossible to tell who was whose fan. Seeing the members running towards them, everyone screamed wildly at the top of their lungs. As the members on stage maintained a steady jog, the various cheering signs in the audience gradually turned off.
Zhou Xiao freed one hand and turned off the cheering light board on his leg that was emitting a faint purple light, and then turned on the cheering stick given by the organizer.
From her position, she could clearly see the words appearing on the big screen, with the signatures of the nine members below: "Friends at the scene, please turn off your cheering signs and raise your cheering sticks to cheer for us!"
The light boards in the venue dimmed piece by piece, and the first to respond were the Tiaosi army, which occupied a quarter of the space. After seeing the large number of light boards across from and next to them dimmed, the other members' fans followed suit and responded to the members' joint request on the big screen.
Of course, there were other voices. Just then, Zhou Xiao heard a fan nearby cursing the organizers, "What the hell! This cheering stick is broken! It won't even work!"
Zhou Xiao turned around and saw the other person gritting his teeth at the plastic cheering stick in his hand. Zhou Xiao couldn't help but smile. He took a row of unopened batteries from his bag and handed them to the girl next to him.
"Let's see if it's out of battery." Zhou Xiao took a close look at the cheering stick at first and found that it used No. 7 batteries, which was exactly the same as the battery requirements for the light board he carried.
There were security checks at the NINE STAR concert, but perhaps because they knew that mandatory spot checks would only cause unnecessary harm to fans and wouldn't prevent the use of light sticks for support, the security was relatively lax except for the control of knives.
"Thank you, sisters! Thank you, sisters!" Seeing Ji Shao and the others approaching their own cheering area, the girl hurriedly thanked them and opened the lid to replace the batteries. When she opened the lid and found it was empty, she felt speechless.
This wasn't the only case of a cheering stick running out of batteries. Zhou Xiao, hearing someone behind him complaining about the lack of batteries in the organizers' cheering sticks, passed around a box of batteries he'd just received. The others seemed to catch on, too, and everyone started helping each other. If they saw someone missing a battery or two, they'd offer to help.
When Ji Shao and his team arrived at the sea of waving supporters, the Ji Shao fans in front of the screens couldn't help but feel proud of their own offline support capabilities. The chaotic mix of colorful signboards in other group ticket areas made this sea of blue even more pleasing to the eye.
After circling the stage, the members stood in the center and descended via an elevator. Zhou Xiao even caught a glimpse of the owner of the pink hair in the middle responding to the cheers as they gradually sank into the stage.
During the intermission, Zhou Xiao was looking down at the photos in her camera. Suddenly, exciting music started playing. When she looked up, she saw a cutscene of NINE STAR produced by Huayao Xingyu. Each chibi character had something next to them, marking the first time the members' iconic items were officially revealed.
Zhou Xiao glanced from left to right and spotted the artistically rendered chinaberry flowers in the center. After the cutscene ended, the large screen displayed various statistics from NINE STAR's formation to date.
The series of data on the big screen, including trending searches, influence, albums, variety shows, endorsements, etc., were dazzling to watch, and made the fans in the audience suddenly feel that this group, which had only been established for a few months, had such a great influence in the country.
Zhou Xiao and the fans around him watched quietly. The most excited crowd offstage was the group's fan base, which had taken up a large area. While the other single-fan groups were quiet, the cheers of the group's fans were heard by the online audience for the first time during the live broadcast.
Watching Ji Shao slowly ascend from the platform, Zhou Xiao's vision blurred for a moment. Silhouetted by the stage lights, he seemed to glimpse Ji Shao's future self. The stage's blue and purple lights intertwined, and as the fans watched, entranced, the familiar prelude to "Jiang" began, ushering in a chorus.
Fans who didn't make it to the live event sang this autumn's biggest hit across the screen. After enjoying the nine members' new solo performances, the lights suddenly flashed on the stage. When the camera turned to the big screen at the scene—
The next second, a figure slowly rose from the center of the stage. Relying on his good eyesight, Zhou Xiao easily spotted under the lights that it was none other than Zong Zhengqian, the director of Star 101. She was dressed in a striking royal blue suit, and she looked quite imposing from the big screen.
Seeing their big boss emerge, the young men on the side obediently split into two teams, leaving the middle spot for Zong Zhengqian. Zong Zhengqian then walked onto the Star Track extension platform and stood between the members. The PowerPoint presentation on the large screen shifted, dividing it into three main sections: music, variety shows, and film and television.
She looked at the group of young men around her with admiration, and then released an explosive piece of news for both the group fans and the fans of each individual singer.
"The young men around me formed NINE STAR and debuted on August 19th. Over the past four months, it is the support of the fans that has brought them to where they are today! Here, I would like to express my gratitude to the fans present at the event, in front of the screen, or who did not have time to watch the live broadcast!" Zong Zhengqian said and bowed to the audience first.
Seeing the sincere bows from the stage, the fans in the audience applauded and cheered. Some even waved their still-lit blue cheering sticks. If nothing else, at least they were doing it for the sake of appearances.
"Fans have always asked us," Zong Zhengqian paused, "when can we give the members better support?"
"After careful consideration over this period of time, Huayao Xingyu+ and the nine members' original economic companies have reached a high degree of consensus to jointly provide support for NINE STAR's development! In the new year, I wish the members and everyone a prosperous career and further success!"
"Next year we plan to start recording the first season of our big group variety show. We are also actively negotiating concerts and business opportunities. We are also working closely with Blueberry Video on film and television..."
——【Forum】——[December 24th evening]
[Topic] Oh my god! This is fully open to personal information!
[Main Post] Zong is truly a role model for our generation, the king of melons! Although I’m eating the cakes she painted, each one is so delicious!
1L
No wonder we saw so many assistants from their former agencies around the members. It turns out they had already discussed this privately.
34L
All the up masters I follow are coming out of hiding! When they heard that Ji Shao might be filming, they all came out to talk about it! By the way, I'm sure Sister Xindong will be able to take some makeup photos or Reuters, right? Woohoo, I'm already greedy
87L
Huayao is really smart. With Blueberry as his backer, he will take this opportunity to delegate power appropriately. From now on, his brother's future will really be in his own hands.
152L
Just finished watching the concert, and everyone is already planning routes for the members. Is this really exciting? This concert was so cool!
263L OP
Damn it! There are drones supporting us offline!
…
The concert ended, and I collected the flying colored pieces in my pocket. For those who had experienced it, this was the first time that an offline concert ended with such excitement rather than sadness.
Zhu Jian, who was expressing his feelings with Li Mo and Dong Xiaoyu, took Qi Sisi and squatted under Ji Shao's big screen outside the stadium, waiting for Zhou Xiao who had not come out yet.
"I see someone!" Qi Sisi shouted, then jumped up and waved to Zhou Xiao who was coming out. The crowd had shrunk a lot by now, and Zhou Xiao hugged his bag and quickly walked towards his friend at the exit.
"Let's go," Dong Xiaoyu stood up from the wall she was leaning against. "Cheese just came over to ask us to go shoot a support video."
Zhou Xiao nodded and followed the others forward. During this time, many people passed by them quickly, their faces filled with curiosity and surprise, pointing ahead as if to say something.
The others were a bit curious, but didn't take it seriously and continued walking towards the support area. As they walked, they noticed that more and more people were gathering in that direction. Zhou Xiao leaned against the wall, moving slowly, seemingly unaware of the crowd's movements.
When the five of them turned the corner and found the gathering place, their eyes were immediately drawn to the cluster of purple signboards, each gleaming white. They were probably the third or fourth generation, but the offline effect was impressive. However, the fans standing on the steps were looking away.
A large number of drones were neatly arranged in rows on the stadium's plaza, creating a breathtakingly beautiful image of technological wonder. A crowd had gathered near the plaza, and upon closer inspection, several bodyguards were patrolling the perimeter. The movement of these people dissuaded many who had been curious enough to try to pick up a drone.
As everyone at the scene was exclaiming in admiration for the drone, Li Mo, standing nearby, seemed to have thought of something, his eyes fixed on Zhou Xiao. Seeing Li Mo's sudden reaction, the others also noticed, their minds racing.
Zhou Xiao smiled as he pushed a few people toward the cheering line, exchanging a glance with the calm Cheese in the crowd. As everyone's emotions were mixed, they began filming the offline support video.
In the chilly wind, everyone chanted their now-familiar support slogans in unison. Under the flickering lights, some people had already vaguely connected the drones on the scene with the surprise their fangirls had mentioned.
But, this... this scene can be called a small surprise???
"Hello fellow fans, as requested by Teacher Pingran Xindong," Cheese in front of the crowd prepared a loud speaker at some point, "Please turn your attention to the square on the left and watch the drone support that Ji Shao has prepared for everyone offline!" As soon as the words fell, the scene suddenly became noisy, and one could even faintly hear someone sobbing with excitement.
Thousands of drones buzzed in unison, launching into the night's most spectacular show of support. The drones in the night sky formed a series of images, sometimes displaying a chibi version of Ji Shao, and sometimes revealing lines of supportive messages.
The patterns chosen by Zhou Xiao all have special meanings. From Ji Shao under the chinaberry tree to Ji Shao holding a longbow, one picture after another unfolds before the eyes of the audience.
When the line [TO: Ji Shao] disappeared and everyone thought it was about to end, a new line of text appeared -
TO: All shredded potato
12.25 [Love] See you at Huashang Times Square
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