Chapter 72
The night was still a bit hot, but the air conditioning inside made it feel extra comfortable. Zhu Jian yawned as he walked into the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of a video playing in the living room.
The sound was made by her parents. The couple was in the living room, one lying on the sofa watching Douyin, while the other was concentrating on watching a slightly melodramatic TV series.
Zhu Jian took out a small portion of the duck snacks and drinks she had prepared earlier from the refrigerator and brought them into her room. She then placed the remaining duck on the dining table in the living room. After receiving an appreciative look from her mother, she returned to her room.
Zhu Jian returned to his room and, as eight o'clock approached, quickly refreshed the Blueberry app's homepage. Since partnering with the Blueberry app, Xingtu 101 had been treated like a daughter, with the app being the most prominent feature on both the column and the homepage.
And there was a funny thing during the whole process. A few days ago, fans of an actor in a TV series were making sarcastic remarks in the public group of "Star Path 101". Then they were dragged into the "Star Path 101" special group, and everyone was in a good mood the whole day.
By the 59th minute, Zhu Jian looked at the freshly refreshed, still-hot episode of Star Path 101, and his brows relaxed. He'd heard from fans in the voting group that this app often aired episodes early, and he hadn't expected it to be true. Even though it was only a minute earlier, it was better than being delayed, and Zhu Jian had something on his mind right now.
After clicking into the program, Zhu Jian quickly scrolled to the end. She refreshed the page so urgently because she wanted to be the first to see Ji Shao's ranking in this episode.
Zhu Jian, the new fan club's voting leader, had been actively involved since Star 101 announced the new voting method. Especially on the 10th, after everyone's concerted efforts, they secured first place in the limited-time voting, which ignited everyone's enthusiasm.
Voting for this round ran from 8:00 PM on July 10th to 8:00 PM on July 13th. The Blueberry app didn't display the total number of votes, but it automatically updated the rankings every morning. During these early morning hours, Ji Shao consistently held the top spot.
Zhu Jian was filled with excitement as she watched the rankings posted on the screen. Her hands were shaking with excitement, but she didn't dare drag the progress bar, simply speeding up the video's zoom. When the rankings moved from the last page to the second, she quickly returned the zoom to normal and placed her finger on the virtual screenshot button on the right side of the screen, ready to take a screenshot.
As the screen played to the first page, Zhu Jian quickly took several screenshots. But when she calmed down and saw the rankings displayed, surprise and despair crept over her face. The page showed Ji Shao ranked third, not first.
Several fan club members shared her reaction. They had previously predicted a relatively stable performance, only to see their ranking drop ten places in a single day. While some believed their voting was stable, some raised doubts on the forum.
——【July 15th evening】——
[Topic] Um...did the program team make a mistake in the ranking?
[Main Post] This doesn't make sense. My ranking is always the same number every time it's updated. How come the published rankings are so different? I want to ask if the production team is cheating or not?
1L
It is indeed difficult to check if the update is once a day. Is the OP's family considered in the upper circle? If it is in the lower circle, it is normal for the ranking to drop.
5L
Yes, could you please tell me your ranking and how many places you dropped? The top circles have a lot of votes, so it won't change much.
12L
Reply to 5L: Middle circle, dropped 11 rankings...
29L
Is there anyone who doesn’t know that this is a good place to visit?
45L
Reply to 29L: Please answer, what does this mean? I have not joined the official voting group
56L
As the name suggests, "scout" means voting on time. A monthly membership card on the Blueberry APP can directly cast 181 votes at a time. Some people can vote directly on the last day before refreshing. Anyway, these votes are accumulated before the elimination recording.
…
Meanwhile, Zhu Jian finally found out why his family, despite having maintained an advantage, only managed to secure third place. He learned from the fan club that Yan Shu and Chu Cheng's families had bought a significant number of monthly passes on the final day.
As for Yan Shu, who was originally ranked third, he lost some fans due to the negative trending searches on the 13th. However, he also suffered a lot of damage to his fans. In order to support Yan Shu, his fan club made a pre-investment bet on the day the voting ended, and he won the first place.
Voting used to be done on the website, with each account limited to a fixed number of votes. To vote again, a new account had to be registered, so changes were relatively predictable and didn't vary significantly. Now, with a monthly membership (also known as a custom membership card), anyone with money can cast as many votes as they want, regardless of account number. And you can instantly cast 181+18 votes at once, turning the show into a pay-to-win game.
As more and more people went to the forum to report this situation, many people started to post messages to criticize the Star 101 production team for their ugly behavior, and some even wanted to report and complain.
For the production team, it was somewhat unexpected that the trainee fans could unlock this krypton gold gameplay so quickly.
——Xingtu 101 production team——
Zong Zhengqian looked at the membership growth in just the past few days, which exceeded their and Blueberry APP executives' estimates, and a smile appeared on her face.
This is all thanks to Hazelnut Video's initial report. Without their support, the Star 101 production team wouldn't have known they could generate such huge commercial benefits.
Xingtu 101 was able to sign a mutually satisfactory contract with Blueberry App thanks to its connections with New Town. Thinking of New Town, Zong Zhengqian was intrigued. She hadn't expected that New Town, a company not involved in the idol industry, could nurture a talent like Ji Shao. She was confident that Ji Shao's future was limitless, even within the entertainment industry.
Thinking of this, she called the legal department and prepared to reconsider the details of the contract. Xincheng had given Ji Shao enough preferential treatment, so she naturally couldn't give him the same treatment as before, but other companies were different.
However, what Zong Zhengqian didn't expect was that although her idea was useful, the subsequent development of events was not as she wished.
…
When Zhou Xiao sent Qi Sisi, who came to watch the show with him that night, downstairs to the hotel and returned to his room, a system notification sound suddenly rang in his head:
[Ding! Ranking changes caused by changes in the voting system have been detected. The host will now be given a voting fund of 100,000 yuan per week. This fund can only be used for voting-related purposes!]
When I was watching the game with Qi Sisi that night, we started talking about other teams' fans' spending money in the group chat. Many people knew about this, but we didn't expect that some people would start using it before the elimination stage.
Zhou Xiao looked at the 100,000 yuan that had just arrived in his bank account and had some thoughts. However, Zhou Xiao had always avoided fundraising within the industry, even with the presence of his good friend Zhu Jian in the fan club. Looking at the current atmosphere within the industry, the negative effects of fundraising far outweighed the positive ones.
So Zhou Xiao chose the most direct way - buying a customized membership card to vote. The price of a customized membership card is 18 yuan. If you buy ten or more, you can get a 10% discount, and the discount can be stacked.
Zhou Xiao calculated the price and figured she could probably afford to contract five years of Blueberry App membership for around 100 people. Thinking of it, she immediately sent a private message to Zhu Jian, asking him to take some time to calculate the price and send her the list of the top 100 votes in the voting group this week.
The fan club's voting group also has an internal ranking system. To attract fans to join the group and vote, Zhu Jian and his team offer related benefits. For example, each group member can upload a screenshot of the voting, and the top ten votes each week can receive free customized peripherals from the fan club.
Zhu Jian on the other side of the screen was a little confused as to why Zhou Xiao suddenly asked for the list, but she seemed to have thought of something and called Zhou Xiao directly, "Xiaoxiao, do you want to give away peripherals? No need, we spent money to make them for fans -"
Zhou Xiao chuckled softly, interrupting Zhu Jian's chatter. "There will be peripherals, but I'm planning to give away memberships first."
"Okay, I'll come and calculate it properly tonight," Zhu Jian said with a cheerful tone. "Thank you, Sister Xiao! By the way, are you planning to give me a free month as a member?"
After Zhou Xiao said the word "five years," he quickly moved the phone, which was close to his ear, farther away when he heard the swishing sound of something falling. But even from that distance, he could still hear the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
——
[Discussion Group‖No Tanking]
Reject Ji Shao’s pursuit: Five years???
Teacher Muzi: Oh my god, where is Teacher Xindong now? Can I just go and curry favor with her?
Yirou Kegang: Yes, and from now on, we will give five years of membership to the first 100 people who vote in our voting group every week! [Laughs]
Qiqimiao has no head: every week? [Pig Man's jaw drops.jpg]
9645317:[pushed his glasses] Can I exchange the peripherals?
Teacher Muzi: Sister Digital, have you made it to the top 100? Don’t be delusional! (Pink eye attack
Thick Cheese Egg Roll: Don't roll the first 100 rolls! This is very important to me!
Zhongbao Ledaokouer: I'm already caught up in a beautiful dream. Can the administrator join in? T^T
Yirou Kegang: My heart is beating, so all of them are included~ [hands on hips] That means we now have a minimum of 6,000 customized membership cards every week!!!
Reject Ji Shao's pursuit: Oh my god! Oh my god! Teacher Xindong is so handsome!
Flying Penguin: That’s awesome too! I’ll go edit the announcement now!
9645317: I am not very talented, but I am ranked 16th in the second voting group. I should have a chance, right?
…
As soon as the fan club posted the exciting benefits on a certain blog, it triggered an explosion of information within the super topic. Many fans who had just joined the club were a little bit unbelieving and asked around whether it was true or not.
As for Ji Shao's fans who already knew their own legendary station, their blood was boiling. The potential for explosion was so great that even Zhu Jian, who had already accepted and digested it, was shocked.
Let's put it this way, if we assume their average voting efficiency, which has been ranked first among the trainees in the past few days, is 100, then their current efficiency is over 400 and is still increasing...
Although this data has a temporary surge and will fall back, Zhu Jian estimates that the efficiency will be above 200! After all, this is a weekly benefit!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
