Chapter 232
"Aurora!" Li Mo, who was standing nearby, leaned over in surprise, looking at the postcard and saying, "Xiao Shao opened seven boxes of merchandise to get this last one! You're off to a great start!"
If there's one postcard in fan circles today that's already commanding a high price based solely on Ji Shao's unboxing vlog, it's undoubtedly the Aurora that Zhou Xiao found. While the drop rate remains unknown, thanks to Ji Shao's luck, this postcard has already soared to the top of the #Shaosiwanttogetalities# list.
Zhou Xiao raised an eyebrow, suddenly remembering the signature Ji Shao had written for her. After a moment's hesitation, she carefully opened the second postcard. Two identical postcards lay face-up in the gift box.
A touch of aurora green is printed on pearlescent paper using a unique technique, creating a postcard. The postcard comes alive under the sunlight, emitting a subtle shimmer.
Zhu Jian, who had already found his own box of merchandise, was stunned when he glanced over. He then handed the box, still wrapped in clear plastic, to Zhou Xiao and said earnestly, "My dearest Sister Xiao, could you open it for me? Please!"
Huayao included two sets of photo cards and postcards in its merchandise gift boxes, promoting the idea as a way to give fans an extra set of photos. However, the practice of only randomly giving out three photos per box has fans calling it a rip-off, and collecting them all is a daunting task.
"No problem!" Zhou Xiao casually placed the box Zhu Jian had handed him into an empty bag. With a flick of his finger, he flipped open the third postcard. However, this time it wasn't Ji Shao, but a picture of Chu Cheng laughing in the snow.
"That's enough, that's enough," Li Mo, who was watching nearby, couldn't help but say, "Your luck is incredible! Chu Cheng's market value is also very high!"
While waiting in line to redeem their gift boxes, the two of them had already taken in all the gossip about prices. They knew exactly which card was more expensive.
Zhou Xiao nodded. The final pieces she unpacked from her box of merchandise were Ji Shao's personal badge, a poster, and two Aurora postcards. The remaining three small cards were for Wu Yanyan, Yan Shu, and Zheng Shulin.
Li Mo carefully kept the Ji Shao card she had drawn, and together with Zhu Jian, she signaled to Zhou Xiao with her eyes that she could open the peripheral box she had put in the bag.
Taking the box out, Zhou Xiaogang tore open the plastic film covering it. Seeing Li Mo, who was even more nervous than the real owner, she couldn't help but laugh and said, "Let me be clear, this is all based on luck!"
"It's okay, go ahead!" Zhu Jian seemed quite calm. For someone like her, who always had a bad luck, anyone else might be luckier than her. But even so, she stared at the box intently.
"Well, let me see... the small card is Xu Zhou, Chu Cheng, and Lin Nan." Zhou Xiao flipped through the small card and handed it to Zhu Jian. Then he quickly flipped open the postcard and said, "Postcard, eh, Chu Cheng, Lin Nan..."
The hand that opened the picture paused slightly, Zhou Xiao inexplicably feeling that this one would be a critical hit. He flipped it over and saw a snowy scene, and a picture of Ji Shao looking at the camera with a breath of cold air.
"Ahhhhh!" Zhu Jian couldn't help but scream softly. She covered her mouth in embarrassment as she saw the people in the queue next to her. This was the picture she wanted most!
She looked at Zhou Xiao with increasingly intense eyes, and her hand could not help but touch the phone in her pocket. If she could let Zhou Xiao shoot a few times for her... Zhu Jian couldn't believe how happy she would be then!
"Hey! Hey!" Zhou Xiao looked at Zhu Jian who was inexplicably laughing in front of her, and couldn't help but stretched out her hand and waved it in front of her eyes a few times to interrupt his expression.
Li Mo, who was watching from the side, already understood what Zhu Jian was up to and couldn't help but laugh, "Hurry up and pack your things! We need to go to the square to trade!"
"Oh, Xiaoxiao, this is for you." Li Mo pulled out a storage book from her small bag. She had prepared it specifically after hearing about the offline peripheral exchange. Each of the three of them had a book, so they could easily store the small cards and postcards they had just collected.
Before heading to the square, the three of them returned to their fan club's venue. They placed the gift boxes they had brought for Qi Sisi and Dong Xiaoyu into a box. Zhu Jian then scrawled his ID nickname, "@以柔克刚," on the box in a vibrant marker. Then, carrying the small cards and postcards already in their storage books, they headed to the exchange square.
It was already a bit late when the three of them arrived. Why did they say that? All the Ji Shao merchandise had already been exchanged/traded, and now it was time to trade merchandise for the other members.
Zhou Xiao surveyed the square with some curiosity. It had been roughly divided into nine sections. The roll-up banners displayed clearly showed that this was a makeshift operation, as they were marked with the IDs of the various fan clubs.
The atmosphere at the scene was quite harmonious, though. Regardless of which fan group they were dealing with, they all addressed each other as "sisters" or "babies." Zhou Xiao's quick glance revealed that many people had piles of gift boxes half a person's height stacked around them.
"These are professional resellers of peripheral products. They specifically take advantage of this time to buy them at low prices!" Zhu Jian, who was about to take the initiative, saw Zhou Xiao's gaze and whispered an explanation in her ear.
The excitement of bartering in the square had long since faded. Zhou Xiao noticed that many people had already started spending money. After a few glances, she lost interest. Li Mo and Zhu Jian, however, were already carrying their merchandise and chatting with fans.
Over here, Zhou Xiao was thinking about the remaining peripherals she had. She didn't need them, but she could ask the fans in the fan group if they needed any. Suddenly, a voice sounded from the side.
The person who came looked a little embarrassed. Although the mask she wore obscured her expression, Zhou Xiao could see her nervousness from her eyes.
"Excuse me, young lady, are you a fan of Ji Shao?" The girl's voice was not loud, and her face had turned red unconsciously. The mask at this moment actually played the role of "covering one's ears and stealing the bell".
Zhou Xiao nodded, unsurprised. She was probably one of the few fans present who wore Ji Shao's badge. Her tone softened, "What do you want to trade with me?" She mentioned the small cards and postcards she had, and her partner's eyes lit up.
"I have Ji Shao from the Snowland. Can I exchange him for Chu Cheng from you?" the girl continued in a low voice.
Zhou Xiao didn't hesitate, pulling out the carefully kept postcard and handing it over, taking Ji Shao's postcard along with her. Seeing the other person's obvious excitement, she felt curious. So she asked directly, "There are so many Ji Shao fans here, it should be easy to switch to Chu Cheng. Why didn't you switch?"
The girl shook her head and whispered, "Other people are here for the appreciation, I just want to have a real exchange with fans. This is quite interesting, much more interesting than collecting merchandise online!"
After several thank yous, the other party left contentedly with the postcard from Chu Cheng. Zhou Xiao looked at the Snowy Ji Shao in her hand, and before she could put it away, someone came over and asked, "Sister, are you willing to pay? How much? The badge you're wearing is worth a bit of money, but once you open it, you'll have to pay for it."
She picked up the postcard and placed it in her storage folder. Zhou Xiao shook her head and walked towards Zhu Jian, who was approaching. The middleman behind her raised the price again, and when Zhou Xiao didn't turn around, he skillfully started looking for his next target.
"How is it? Did you get it changed?" Zhou Xiao asked Zhu Jian.
The other person shrugged and spread his hands. "No, but that's normal. After all, there are so many people at home this time. Although I didn't get the exchange, thinking about the reason, I'm still quite happy, hahaha!"
Li Mo, who was not far away, also rushed over. Judging from his expression, he must have encountered the same situation as Zhu Jian. Zhou Xiao opened the storage book, took out two Aurora photos, handed one to each person, and said with a smile, "Here, share the good luck!"
…
The stadium was abuzz with chatter. The time on the phone showed 3:00 PM, several hours earlier than the scheduled admission time.
While waiting for the temperature inside the venue to drop, everyone sighed in unison, as if feeling deeply moved. This synchronised action actually created an unusually positive atmosphere for the fans. Later, during the members' group dance performance on stage, they actually witnessed a genuine moment of team spirit.
"Anyway, I've followed so many groups, but I've never seen such a good group! I didn't expect to run into it in the domestic entertainment industry." Zhu Jian was still a little emotional. She was explaining to Zhou Xiao and Li Mo why they were able to enter early this time.
Concerts usually let people in about an hour in advance, but this time, they were let in several hours early. Zhu Jian couldn't believe it when he received the message from the president of his fan club in the group chat.
During their final rehearsal, the members of Nine Star, upon learning of the scorching heat outside, petitioned the company to allow fans to enter the venue early. Perhaps due to the members' request or perhaps due to satisfactory merchandise sales, everyone was finally able to enter the venue early.
"There will be extra fees for early admission, right?" Li Mo said silently as he looked at the air conditioner that was turned on in the venue.
"Then I don't know." Zhu Jian seemed to be enjoying the wind (in fact, the air conditioner was still on at that moment).
Zhou Xiao was looking down at her phone. Several fans who had received tickets to her concert had sent her videos. She clicked on one of the videos and heard the excited shout of a girl with long hair and glasses.
"Teacher Xindong! I've arrived at the concert! Wuhu! I don't know if you've made it in yet. If not, please wait a little longer. It's still pretty hot in here! Thank you for picking me. I also brought my friend to support Xiao Shao, but she's in the back. Hehe~ Bye~"
Zhou Xiao looked carefully at the direction of the girl's finger. Although it was a bit blurry, she still saw that in that direction, there was a person holding a purple light stick and waving it desperately towards the screen. It seemed that they were greeting each other in advance before the recording.
Zhou Xiao could probably identify the specific locations of the four tickets he'd been given. Looking back, he naturally saw his fellow passengers sitting in the packed seats at the back. It was then that Zhou Xiao fully grasped the sheer magnitude of the crowds filling up the halls.
The stadium lights were always on, and purple was a disadvantage offline. Someone once considered changing the color, but it was opposed by most fans. While the color was a bit weaker, they could still improve the technology and create more advanced light signs.
Moreover, once weak colors converge into rivers and seas, they become infinitely powerful. At this moment, occupying half of the stadium, the sporadic purple light sticks seemed to be extremely numerous.
"It would be great if there were fans of ours on the other side." This was said by Li Mo who was looking back at Zhou Xiao.
Zhou Xiao understood Li Mo's intention. That way, he could capture the entire sea of purple lights, making the offline support event even more successful. However, the feeling of being in Cao's camp was unpleasant. He might even be asked by kind-hearted people if he was feeling unwell, which would be extremely socially depressing.
"Ahem, why not?" Zhu Jian said smugly, hooking his arms around the two people beside him. Motioning for them to come closer, he whispered, "Our Digital Sister sacrificed herself to buy the house on the top of the mountain opposite! I can only tell you now, don't blame me!"
Zhou Xiao and Li Mo slowly raised their heads and exchanged glances. "Wow, is this the fan club president going deep into the "enemy camp" alone?" A feeling of admiration suddenly welled up in their hearts.
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