Chapter 197
"Welcome the New Year with joy..." The electronic screen in Huashang Times Square had been playing festive old songs for several days. Zhou Xiao half-crouched in front of a seat in the square, holding up his phone to show his parents a palm-sized snowman he had just made.
"Oh, it's snowing in Shanghai? This snowman is so cute! Xiao, you should wear more clothes! Keeping warm is the most important thing!" Zheng Jinghua looked at the snowman carefully, and kept expressing his concern.
Hearing his daughter's voice, Zhou Chengdong, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and sunglasses, suddenly popped up. "Hey, Dad just asked, and they say there's sea fishing here! Why don't you just wait until you finish watching that Spring Festival Gala and fly over here? It's warm here! Then we can enjoy the seafood we caught and have a seafood feast!"
Zheng Jinghua also assisted, holding up her phone so Zhou Xiao could also experience the local azure sea and sky. It was peak tourist season in Lucheng, and the camera showed many people enjoying themselves on the beach, a stark contrast to Zhou Xiao, who was standing in the snow.
"Haha, don't worry!" Zhou Xiao stamped his foot after standing there for a long time, then continued, "Enjoy your holiday! We'll have another chance for a seafood feast next time!"
His friends' circle had been flooded with posts from his parents the past couple of days, and seeing how happy they were, Zhou Xiao didn't want to bother them. Besides, he was still editing the film he was working on, so he couldn't spare the time to go over and play with them.
"Brother Zhou, Brother Zhou! Sister Zheng! Let's go!" A heroic voice came from the other side of the video. Zheng Jinghua turned around happily and included the newcomers in the camera.
A middle-aged man excitedly approached, carrying a bright yellow fishing rod. He was wearing sunglasses, and the sunlight made it difficult to see Zhou Xiao on the screen. But after Zhou's father introduced him, he praised Zhou Xiao and then told the two of them to head to the boat.
Zhou Xiao had already spotted Qi Sisi jogging towards them, so he urged his parents to join him in the sea fishing. "Then we'll see what our two future fishing masters will achieve! Be sure to stay safe!"
As soon as the video call ended, Qi Sisi arrived right in front of Zhou Xiao. "Ahhh, sorry! I'm late!" Qi Sisi stopped and gasped, the white air she exhaled almost covering her entire face.
Zhou Xiao couldn't help laughing at her funny scene and said, "It's okay, then I'll just take a taxi."
Their destination was Shanghai TV Station, where they were attending the "Shanghai TV Spring Festival Gala." Once they were in the car, they naturally began discussing recent happenings in the entertainment industry.
The most popular item is Spring Festival Gala tickets. This year's Shanghai Spring Festival Gala, thanks to NINE STAR's participation, has seen ticket prices skyrocket. And Huayao, perhaps thinking it was the end of the year and finally giving back to fans, generously gave each company ten tickets!
But fans all agreed that this was a benefit given by the organizers. After all, the positive impact that NINE STAR has brought to the ratings of Shanghai TV stations in the past six months cannot be underestimated.
However, Ji Shao's fan club received more than ten tickets. In addition to the ten tickets provided by Huayao, they also received five tickets provided by Ji Shao's former agency, New Town. Zhu Jian privately discussed this with several people in the group, and everyone assumed that this was because there were not many New Town artists participating in the Shanghai TV Spring Festival Gala, so the fan club was allocated so many tickets.
This wasn't the end of the matter. As the fan club prepared to distribute the tickets, someone from Shanghai TV secretly sent a private message to the fan club account, secretly handing out three tickets. Everyone wondered if other organizations had similar arrangements, but since no one had publicly announced them, they accepted them. With the tickets now in hand, and looking at the generous number of tickets in hand, the previously tight distribution plan suddenly became more generous.
Unlike other auctions where the highest bidder wins, the fan club uses a price far below the market price as the ticket price, while ensuring the fan base. A few places are drawn from the approved fan group as "fan benefits". This is how Qi Sisi got the ticket.
When talking about the draw, Qi Sisi's face in the car was full of excitement. She hugged Zhou Xiao's arm and shook him, saying, "Xiaoxiao, I was so unlucky when I was playing games and drawing cards a while ago. It must be because of today!"
"Yes, yes," Zhou Xiao echoed Qi Sisi's words. She hadn't heard them before since she'd won the lottery. Her gaze drifted out the window. The closer the taxi got to Shanghai TV Station, the calmer it became.
Many shops on both sides of the road are closed today, and only the red festive lanterns hanging on the roadside silently tell of the prosperity and bustle of the past.
A large number of reporters were already gathered outside the Shanghai TV station, waiting for the event. Even those in the inner circle had to present their press passes. Those further out were scattered fans and casual entertainment reporters. Because it was a Spring Festival filming and the TV station had strictly prohibited supporters, the crowds were naturally much smaller than at a normal event.
After Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi exited the car, their gaze was immediately drawn to the rather frighteningly ugly mascot of Shanghai TV Station. Its sheer size and ugliness made them both pause and quickly turn toward the entrance.
This year, security at the entrance was more stringent than usual. Many of the NINE STAR fans gathered at the entrance were familiar faces, mostly arriving in groups of two or three, many carrying merchandise. Among them, several familiar faces Zhou Xiao recognized offline seemed to be based in Shanghai.
Zhou Xiao was just contemplating how to hide her camera when she heard an excited scream from the front right. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw NINE STAR's captain, Wu Yanyan, stepping out of the nanny car. Zhou Xiao's actions were quicker than her mind. As the second car door opened and someone got out, her camera lens happened to focus on Ji Shao in the car.
Ji Shao, wearing a black down jacket, was aware of the number of reporters surrounding him. He even lowered his hat when the car door opened. Just as Ji Shao was about to get out of the car, a camera suddenly slammed in. If Ji Shao hadn't reacted quickly and leaned back, the camera would have almost made close contact with his face.
"Shaozi!" The speaker was Xu Zhou, who was sitting in the back seat. He felt something was wrong when he saw the camera pointed directly at Ji Shao. Fortunately, Ji Shao dodged it himself, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
In the car, Ji Shao glanced at the camera that was stretched too far, raised his hand, and gently pushed it back. The whole process happened so quickly that even the reporters gathered around him shuddered, looking at the "big, rough guy" with strange eyes.
The next second, the assistant standing in front hurriedly squeezed in and asked loudly, "How is it? Are you hurt?" Ji Shao shook his head, first glanced at the work badge hanging on the man's chest, and then found that the other party also looked frightened at the moment.
…
Zhou Xiao, on the other hand, felt something was amiss with the person in the camera, but from her angle, she could only see someone slumping into the car. Seeing the assistant squeeze into the car, Zhou Xiao's heart skipped a beat. But then she saw Ji Shaoli get out of the car and walk side by side with Xu Zhou, answering reporters' questions as they walked. She finally felt relieved.
Near the ticket gate, the fans waiting here were relatively restrained, having been specifically warned. They weren't as excited as the fans at the outermost edge, which was what distinguished them from the rest of the audience. Many had already arrived downstairs at the TV station, but they still lingered nearby, waiting for Ji Shao and his group.
The path from the drop-off point to the entrance proved incredibly difficult for Ji Shao and Xu Zhou, and the reporters on hand surrounded them relentlessly. The assistant leading the way realized they had lost contact with the artists. A large group of people struggled to move forward, but fortunately, the organizer's security arrived and rescued the two.
In addition to the "concern" about whether he was injured, Ji Shao was often asked about his works this year, whether he would have a personal stage at the Spring Festival Gala, and whether he had ever thought about going solo... Although the company had arranged media interviews after the party, Ji Shao tried his best to answer the questions he could answer on the spot, and pretended not to hear the questions he could not answer.
As he was surrounded by security, Ji Shao felt a sense of relief. As he prepared to greet the surrounding entertainment reporters, he suddenly spotted a small, half-lit sign in the distance. Hanging alone on the railing, it was dim in the whiteness, yet it persisted in glowing.
He stopped.
This pause instantly stirred up a thousand waves, and the fans who had been pretending to be calm suddenly became lively. This was the first artist to notice them! At this moment, whether they were fans of Ji Shao or not, everyone in the audience was excited by this gaze, especially since that person was Ji Shao.
As they approached, they saw Ji Shao, surrounded by security, standing on tiptoe and raising his right hand in a half-heart gesture. Already a towering figure of 5 feet 4 inches, he stood out even more. After hearing the cheers from the other side, Ji Shao and Xu Zhouyi entered the studio together and disappeared from view.
"Ahhh! Ji Shao actually saw us!" The person speaking in the crowd was someone Zhou Xiao didn't remember much. She was originally going through security, but when she heard someone backstage shout, "Ji Shao is here," she turned back from the security checkpoint she had already passed, bravely ignoring the security guard's anger.
As soon as the topic was brought up, the atmosphere became lively. "I should have put away my camera so quickly." "Oh my god, he gave me a half-hearted gesture!" "What? Ji Shao is here?" "I didn't even see clearly!" "..."
Qi Sisi, who was standing next to Zhou Xiao, was looking at her eagerly at the moment, "Xiaoxiao, did you take a picture?!" Her cell phone had been put in a plastic bag, and she didn't have time to take a picture of the scene.
"Snap" Zhou Xiao tapped the camera lightly, "It's all here!" After saying that, she was a little curious about how Ji Shao found them. Xu Zhou, who was traveling with him, had never looked in this direction.
Driven by curiosity, Zhou Xiao walked over to the separated iron railings and saw a small, palm-sized sign with the word "Shao" hanging on it, emitting a dim purple light. A little snow had already fallen above the sign, and some of the strokes of the "Shao" character were completely dim, as if frozen.
Zhou Xiao was silent for a moment. She reached out and picked up the small sign, wondering if it had been hung by one of the earlier arrivals. She swept the snow off the sign, thought for a moment, and then tied the sign she'd hung on her bag to the heat pack and re-hung it.
"Xiaoxiao, what are you doing?" Qi Sisi's voice sounded behind him, "Let's go line up!"
Zhou Xiao held the cold little sign, turned around and said with a smile, "Let's go!"
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