Chapter 178
The performance concluded, with thousands of drones hovering in the sky, one by one, descending to their designated positions within the venue. The lights on their bodies instantly transformed into a uniform purple as they descended. From a distance, it looked as if the stars in the sky had transformed into raindrops, slowly falling to the ground and converging into a flowing river.
For the fans standing in the audience, this scene of returning to their seats was even more shocking. Qi Sisi, standing next to Zhou Xiao, stared at the dazzling purple lights in the sky, her eyes becoming hazy. She turned to Zhou Xiao and asked, "Xiaoxiao, I feel like this is a dream..."
The entire performance was like a carefully woven dream scene, especially before the drone support ended, when the drones in the sky suddenly scattered and disappeared, and then suddenly lit up and gathered together again, just like the fans in the audience who gathered from all corners of the world to support Ji Shao.
Aside from the circling drone, the scene was completely silent. As the last ray of light landed steadily on the ground, a scream pierced the stillness of the night. "Xindong, you're so awesome!"
The crowd, stunned by the technological beauty, suddenly woke up from a dream. Looking at the drones neatly parked on the field, they finally couldn't help themselves. For a moment, Zhou Xiao felt like her ears weren't her own. Not to mention her body. Yes, she was already being tightly embraced by several people nearby.
"Damn, Sister Xiao, you are so unkind!" This was Dong Xiaoyu who hugged several people together. Under the purple cheering lights in the venue, her eyes were unusually bright.
Li Mo, burying his head in Zhou Xiao's arms, shouted, "Sister Xiao, your support is always the best!"
"Okay, you tell Cheese and the other two, and don't tell me." Feeling the atmosphere at the moment, Zhu Jian's mouth was grinning almost to his ears.
--【forum】--
【Subject】Oh my god, I can’t even think about the photo exhibition anymore…
[Main building] Thousands of drones cheering for you are all little surprises in this sister’s eyes [Smoking] Is this the joy of getting a big top and a rich fangirl?
[Link]
The link is a drone support video uploaded by Zhou Xiao, which is edited from the aerial footage of two drones she specially redeemed.
1L
Let me just say this, drone support is very expensive, and drone support in the Shanghai Stadium is even more expensive.
42L
Although the forums have been flooded with comments tonight, I still want to say that they are truly powerful! Watching the layers of drones take off at the scene was so spectacular and shocking!
88L
Huayao officials do not allow offline support, so Xindong teacher organized an air support. Well, all the fans of other companies have really become NPCs who envy Tiaosi.
146L
I would really feel it’s a pity if this support is not as popular as the first one! Who supports it, who opposes it! Speaking of which, just these ten minutes of support will get millions, right?
…
Shortly after an offline fan uploaded the drone video to a super topic, Zhou Xiao received an inquiry from Song Xiao. After confirming that it was Zhou Xiao's support, the other party sent a series of thank-you emojis and then disappeared.
Inside the Huashang Times Hotel, several people watched the trending search list for #PangranxindongDroneSupport#, which was rising rapidly with every passing minute. Now, they had firmly locked onto the third ring, eyeing the first and second hot spots eagerly.
"Guess who pushed this trending search?" Zhu Jian sat on the carpet, staring at the screen and forwarding, liking and commenting. As he watched more and more passers-by gathered in the square to discuss and support, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotions.
Drone cheering is actually more of a fandom phenomenon, and for passersby, it's not as appealing as something as obvious and beautiful as a flower wall. The reason for the overwhelming positive reviews from passersby is thanks to the stunning full-screen footage of the drone cheering, captured by Zhou Xiao.
"Xincheng!" Zhou Xiao pondered the message Song Xiao had just sent, wondering if there was a connection between the two. Furthermore, as Ji Shao's original company, Xincheng had always held him in high regard, even before Zong Zhengqian's remarks at the concert.
Zhu Jian shook his head, looked at the other people's expressions, and explained, "The marketing accounts pinned to the top are all those with close ties to Huayao. Look at the content inside, there are quite a lot of NINE STAR red articles!"
Everyone suddenly realized what was going on. Li Mo seemed to remember something and turned to look at Zhou Xiao and said, "Xiao Xiao, then we should go directly to the venue to meet you for the book signing tomorrow, right?"
The autograph session was incredibly fast-selling, so fast that the Blueberry Music app crashed instantly when the tickets went on sale. Besides Zhou Xiao, only Zhu Jian managed to get them in seconds thanks to his usual speed.
The book signing event required real-name registration and was non-transferable, so the number of fans for each group, with the exception of Ji Shao's, was similar. Zhou Xiao learned from Cheese that there were over 200 fans who had joined the offline book signing group, and some, like her, hadn't joined the group.
"Yes, thank you all for your help!" Zhou Xiao looked at the others and said solemnly. She had already ordered a batch of desserts from the coffee shop owner Li Ruoshi, and it was just right that a few friends could go over and help receive them.
…
The next day at noon, it was a truly summery scene outside. It was clearly the end of the year, but the temperature was comparable to summer. Zhou Xiao and Zhu Jian walked past the towering Christmas tree in the hotel lobby and headed towards Huashang Times Square.
Today's Chinese businesses are no longer what they used to be. The Christmas atmosphere, coupled with the location of NINE STAR's fan signing event, made the streets bustling with activity. As usual, due to concerns about overcrowding, fan clubs were prohibited from holding offline support events (except for large-screen displays).
But this obviously didn't faze the clever fans. Every shop along the street had posters of NINE STAR members plastered on their windows. Standees were even placed inside, highlighting the fact that offline support wasn't considered if it wasn't displayed outdoors.
"Is that the iron gate from the past?" Zhu Jian and Zhou Xiao followed the sign posted on the ground by Huayao and discovered remaining traces on both sides of the wall when they passed by it.
"That's right!" Zhou Xiao hadn't been here for a while, and the offline squatting trips she had been on a few months earlier had suddenly brought back a wave of nostalgia. Although the iron gate had been removed, many fans who missed the past still took photos here.
Just as he was getting distracted, he heard footsteps from inside. The sound was very familiar. Zhou Xiao and Zhu Jian exchanged glances. Seeing the suspicion in Zhu Jian's eyes, Zhou Xiao felt something was amiss. But the footsteps were so familiar, he must have heard them often before...
The footsteps were getting closer, and the next second, Mr. Zheng, dressed in a security uniform, appeared in front of them. He looked ruddy, and when he saw his acquaintance Zhou Xiao, the old man was even more cheerful.
Zhou Xiao suppressed a laugh and graciously greeted Uncle Zheng. Upon learning they were also attending the book signing, he pointed them to a faster, smaller route. Zhu Jian set foot on that path, this time with a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. Ahem, his emotions were almost boiling over.
Who said that familiar voice belonged to an artist? It could be the security guard he often saw while scouting the streets. Of course, there was one thing Zhu Jian didn't know. It was something Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi had agreed not to reveal: their speculation about the location of NINE STAR's villa.
Zhou Xiao thought about it and decided that if it was a normal day off, she might actually run into the members. Of course, she had heard some rumors, such as that NINE STAR rarely had time to get together due to their busy schedules.
After passing through security, we entered the signing venue. The venue was already quite crowded, and fans found their seats and sat quietly, awaiting the members' arrival. Because of the potential for in-person interaction, numerous security personnel were stationed near the front desk, preparing for the upcoming signing.
Separated from Zhu Jian, Zhou Xiao found a spot in the center of the first row, deftly pulled a tripod from his bag, and set it up before him. Cameras and tripods were allowed at the book signing, as long as they didn't disturb others.
Zhou Xiao looked around. The venue had clearly been rearranged for the book signing. The first row of seats was very close to the stools in front of the long table, estimated to be about five or six meters away. Of course, a railing had been specially installed in the middle to separate the space.
As time went by, more and more people gathered at the scene, many of them carrying their own small signboards. Zhou Xiao also saw some familiar faces in the crowd.
When the seats at the book signing were almost full, the staff spoke to the fans through a loud speaker, "Please check if you have brought your albums. Please read the instructions for this book signing carefully again..."
After repeating this several times, Zhou Xiao, sitting in the audience, saw several staff members carrying a cardboard box and placing it next to each member's seat. Zhou Xiao was still a little confused, wondering what was inside. Then, turning his head, he saw the curtain backstage being lifted, revealing a pair of peach-shaped eyes peering around.
"Backstage, after Ji Shao lost the nine-person rock-paper-scissors free-for-all, the members assigned him to check if the fans had arrived. It was a strange feeling. The concert for 10,000 people had already taken place the previous night, but the thought of being up close and personal with the fans suddenly made the members nervous.
Seeing two cameras pointed at them, saying they were filming a behind-the-scenes documentary, Wu Yanyan, the captain of NINE STAR, couldn't help but ask Ji Shao to check if everyone was there. Somehow, the backstage wait was particularly heart-pounding.
Ji Shao, who had consulted the teacher backstage, secretly lifted a corner and took in the entire scene. When he was about to look away, he met a few suspicious eyes cast at him. Ji Shao immediately retracted his head and turned around to see his teammates who were eagerly waiting for his response.
"The venue is full!" Ji Shao paused for a moment, "Everyone, cheer up! We worked hard to get this book signing event!"
Unbeknownst to fans, the autograph session was originally scheduled to be cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. However, upon learning of this, Zong Zhengqian, at the insistence of all Nine Star members, decided to postpone the planned commercial shoot by one day.
The original sales method for the autograph session was not the 1 yuan flash sale. According to the original plan, the company intended to give tickets to the top 111 fans of each album. However, because this autograph session was a strong request from the members, this purchase method was adopted.
At the front desk, Zhou Xiao watched as nine burly bodyguards were led into the backstage by staff. Seeing this number of people, the fans in the audience began to whisper, and many of them had an idea in their minds -
No way! Huayao! You think too highly of us!
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