Chapter 78
——Star Path Production Team——
The recent downpours have finally stopped, and Shanghai has finally welcomed its long-awaited sunshine. A Monstera tree stretches its branches freely in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, as if lamenting the arrival of sunlight. Its broad leaves cast atmospheric shadows in the sunlight. Lin Qianxia sat on the sofa in the living room, one hand resting on her cheek, mesmerized by the vibrant greenery before her.
"Qianxia!" A voice brought her back to reality. She looked up and saw a colleague from the department. The man smiled and said to Lin Qianxia, "Mr. Zong's office is empty now. You can go in."
Lin Qianxia nodded in thanks, picked up the documents on the coffee table, and headed towards Zong Zhengqian's office. From a small, underling, often used as a scapegoat, to now a trusted confidant of Zong, she, like the show "Star Path 101," continued to grow...
There was a knock on the door, and soon, Zong Zhengqian's commanding voice echoed from the office. "Come in," Lin Qianxia said. She entered the room, closed the door, and handed the documents to Zong Zhengqian behind her desk.
"These are the names I mentioned to you on the phone this morning," Lin Qianxia gestured for Zong Zhengqian to look at. "From yesterday until this afternoon, there are people who are interested in shooting magazines with our show. Some brands have also offered titles like recommendation officer for our trainees."
Zong Zhengqian flipped through the documents with great interest. As she did so, she quickly shook her head, looking at Lin Qianxia, who seemed a little puzzled. A hint of a smile crossed her usually serious face. "These are just people who are jealous of the sales of Vogue magazine."
After she finished speaking, she leaned back slightly in the leather chair and continued, "I was able to discuss cooperation with Vogue because its inherent value is high enough. From now on, there's no need to worry too much about other magazines other than the first- and second-tier ones. As for brand partnerships, we can put more thought into it..."
…
Following the release of the record-breaking poster for Fashion, fans on the forums began pulling up charts showing sales records of various magazines to criticize celebrities. This, of course, also irritated fans of Cheng Mijia, whose magazine previously held the top spot in sales.
The value of a group cover is inherently lower than a single cover, not to mention that this is a combined sales record for ten companies. Originally, Cheng Mi's biggest fans didn't want to be associated with these trainees and even took the lead in appeasing fans to not give them any attention. However, they didn't expect the chart to be directly copied by marketing accounts on Weibo.
——Blog Post——
@瓜田吃个瓜V: The Star 101 magazine is now on sale, breaking the sales record of Fashion. Let's take a look at the magazine sales statistics compiled by netizens! Do the trainees look more capable than top star Cheng Mi?
[Image][Image]
The first picture is a sales chart pulled up by netizens in the forum, and the second picture is a screenshot of comments in the forum.
[Don't cue my top star, I'll really thank you, can you walk independently? ]
[The sales of ten companies combined can break the sales volume. I will just watch and not say anything.]
[We fans just have one copy each, so please stop making trouble, okay?]
[One against ten, who wouldn't say he's looking for cattle?]
[Please stop trying to scam me. Please, Star 101 trainees, please stop buying marketing accounts and bundling with them!]
【……】
The popularity generated by the magazine sales is still increasing, and the marketing accounts that have tasted the sweetness are even more creative and stirring up trouble, directly harvesting a large amount of traffic.
…
Zhou Xiao, who had just finished his daily one-hour training in the system training room, was leaning on the sofa and reading the message from Zhu Jian on the communication line.
Star 101 is planning to hold an offline meet-and-greet on August 8th, which will include a live interactive session. The meet-and-greet will be based on the top 9 trainees ranked on July 27th, and there will be a special front row for filming, with each fan club limited to three spots.
Each fan club will do their best to secure a spot in this fan meeting. Not only because this is the first fan meeting between the trainees and the national producers since they became famous, but also because they want to show their unwavering support.
"Xiaoxiao, I just want to tell you that I have signed up for you!!!" After sending the message, Zhu Jian directly called Zhou Xiao. It can be seen that she was more anxious than Zhou Xiao.
"Thank you, my friend~" Hearing Zhu Jian's urgent voice on the other end of the phone, Zhou Xiao raised the corners of his mouth and thanked Zhu Jian on the other end of the phone.
"Okay, let's stop talking for now! I'm busy with other things here, so I'll hang up first!" Zhu Jian said goodbye to Zhou Xiao immediately after hearing Zhou Xiao's confirmation reply, and prepared to start reading the announcement that Penguin was about to send in the fan club group.
The three spots this time will definitely need to be announced, as there are quite a few fan clubs involved. Ji Shao's family currently has over a dozen fan clubs. Unlike other fan clubs that make decisions privately, they plan to publicly announce the participating fan clubs and allow fans to vote. Of course, the vote count will be kept confidential and only visible to the initiator.
The fan club account will send private messages to the stations participating in the voting, and these people can also be added to the group to prepare in advance for more offline activities in the future.
At this time, Zhu Jian and others did not know that it was their action that prevented them from being criticized like other fan clubs.
…
Having just arrived offline, Zhou Xiao felt the atmosphere was a bit strange. But before she could dwell on it, Qi Sisi, who was rushing towards the iron gate of Huashang Times Square, called her name.
"Xiaoxiao" Qi Sisi panted and handed the big bag in her hand to Zhou Xiao as if showing off. Zhou Xiao followed Qi Sisi's silly and happy eyes and looked at the horse cake in her hand.
There is no doubt that this pastry must have been made by Qi Sisi's mother. The bag used to hold the horse cake is a household food-grade bag, and a plastic bag is placed on the outside for easy carrying.
During a previous conversation about local snacks, Zhou Xiao mentioned the steamed pastries that often appeared around her hometown hospital, carried on motorcycles. She'd been in Shanghai for a year and had never seen them sold anywhere.
Pulling a long, white, glutinous rice cake straight from the bag, Zhou Xiao snapped it in half. He stuffed one half into Qi Sisi's mouth and tasted the other half himself. It was indeed the taste of home! Seeing Zhou Xiao's eyes light up, Qi Sisi chewed the rice cake and began to feel happy too.
The two chatted for a long time at the iron gate, but Ji Shao still didn't show up. Some of the fans who had gathered at the gate also left as their trainees left work. Some others seemed to be struggling with something. Zhou Xiaoyou noticed that they had already picked up their trainees. She thought for a moment and simply asked them directly, "What's going on?"
From the moment she arrived offline, Zhou Xiao had a vague feeling someone was looking at her. Later, she confirmed that someone was indeed looking at her and Qi Sisi, muttering something under their breath.
After being asked this by Zhou Xiao, these people felt a little embarrassed. One of the girls seemed to have mustered up the courage and asked Zhou Xiao, "Miss, we just want to ask... should we return the umbrella that Ji Shao gave us last time?"
Zhou Xiao: ...
Qi Sisi, who was listening curiously, couldn't help but burst into laughter. She and Zhou Xiao had also been discussing what those people were up to while waiting. But she had never expected that after waiting all night, they were actually here for this reason.
——"There are so many umbrellas, I can't use them all, right?"
“Look” “I told you” “Oh, that’s what you want to ask” “I’ve already told you it’s okay” “…”
After hearing this reply, the crowd began to talk noisily, and the girl who spoke thanked Zhou Xiao rather embarrassedly.
Obviously, I am thanking Zhou Xiao for his reply, but Zhou Xiao said that he did not answer the question. As for the person who answered the question~
At this moment, someone finally realized that this reply didn't seem to come from Zhou Xiao in front of them. This was clearly a male voice. Then, a scream broke the awkward atmosphere.
"Ah!" A girl standing on the right side closest to the iron gate turned her head inadvertently to look inside, and saw the trainee standing behind the iron gate with a teasing look. She screamed and then quickly buried her red face in the shoulder of her friend next to her.
At this moment, the people frightened by the sound also turned their heads and looked towards the place where the scream came from. Soon, everyone saw the person inside the door - Ji Shao. The expression on his face changed from teasing to worry. "Sorry, did I scare you?"
The red face of the girl had spread to her neck. She buried her head and shook it rapidly, "No, no!"
Seeing that the girl really didn't seem to have any major problems, Ji Shao looked at the staff member who came to his side and took half a step back.
"I'm glad you're okay." He smiled and said hello to Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi on the other side of the iron gate, "I'm off work! You guys should go back quickly!"
Zhou Xiao realized it was Ji Shao's voice the moment he said that. She suppressed her laughter and pulled out her camera, capturing the moment his expression changed.
Qi Sisi, who was standing by, heard Ji Shao's greeting and waved excitedly at him. Unexpectedly, she exerted force and the bag of cakes in her hand flew out.
The bag of pastries flew in a high parabola, but just as it was about to pass the iron gate, it was dragged down by its own weight and collided with the iron gate. Just as it was about to fall freely, a hand reached out from the gap in the iron gate and firmly grasped the handle of the plastic bag.
Ji Shao, who was inside the door, tilted his head, held the bag in his hand and smiled at Qi Sisi, "Excuse me, is this for a snack for me?"
Qi Sisi, still in shock, quickly glanced back at Zhou Xiao after hearing Ji Shao's words. She decisively abandoned her friend and nodded solemnly. She then shouted at Ji Shao, "Ji Shao! There's glutinous rice flour in this, so don't eat too much at once! You can share it with others!"
The staff member behind Ji Shao had rushed to his side when he heard the fans screaming. When he saw someone throwing something at the trainee offline, he immediately stepped forward to protect Ji Shao and pushed him inside.
Even after Ji Shao explained that it was a fan's mistake, the staff member still pushed him straight inside. Ji Shao, who originally wanted to return the food to the fan, could only helplessly shout to Qi Sisi, "Then I'll take it, thank you!"
"Hey!" Zhou Xiao waited until Ji Shao and the staff were gone before putting away his camera. He squinted at Qi Sisi, who was now completely lost in Ji Shao's agile movements. Qi Sisi raised her head and smiled, then took Zhou Xiao's arm and said, "Let's go! Hey, there's something warm at home!"
Qi Sisi wasn't the only one captivated by Ji Shao's presence. A group of people who had been eager to try to get close to him were now standing there, already busy following him on their smurf accounts. As for the umbrella, honestly, it was just a target he'd used to strike up a conversation with Ji Shao's fans. He hadn't expected to run into him in person!
As for the other person she wanted to talk to… Lian Sheng, huddled in the crowd, watched Zhou Xiao leave, silently praying to herself, “I’ll definitely do it next time!” As a fangirl who wasn’t particularly influential, she could only wait until she felt a strong attraction to someone before approaching them.
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