Chapter 79
After returning to the hotel from Qi Sisi's house, Zhou Xiao first placed the horse cakes he'd been "forced" to pack in the refrigerator's fresh-keeping section. Qi Sisi's family had indeed made a large quantity at once, and coupled with her mother's warm hospitality, Zhou Xiao had to return to the hotel with a heavy burden of "love."
We had supper at Qi Sisi's house. It's not easy to do strenuous exercise after a meal, so Zhou Xiao thought about it and picked up the computer on the table. He leaned back on the sofa, ready to start his mental digestion - editing the video he shot that night.
Zhou Xiao quickly edited the famous scene of Ji Shao catching the pastry. The video was shot at the perfect angle, especially since she was the photographer. The image quality and clarity were excellent, and the angle of view was perfect for clearly capturing the content.
Zhou Xiao uploaded the video after editing it, but he didn't expect that the video would soon go viral in another wonderful way.
——Blog Post——
@FlippedPingran Heartbeat·Ji Shao: #Ji Shao Super Talk# Oops, the fact that he knows martial arts has been exposed @Xingtu101-Ji Shao V
[video]
The video is a simple edit, without any speed-up or slow-down, showing Ji Shao's skills to everyone in their original form.
【Chinese Kung Fu is awesome [funny]】
[What a fast speed! I'm dizzy with awesomeness! Wow!]
[How did Xindong sister capture this scene? You are so amazing! Oh my god]
[Young man, you have great skills! I reckon you can help me snatch tickets from the Star 101 mentors at this speed, hahahahaha]
[The moment I received it, I laughed so sweetly]
[Oh no, Ji Shao isn't going back to cultivate immortality, is he? Hahahahahahahaha]
[What did he catch? It feels quite heavy. Ji Shao is really good at this. Has he practiced before?]
【……】
Zhou Xiao's blog post was quickly reposted by Ning Jiayue and Ren Heqi using their own big accounts. The two are also quite popular in the marketing account circle. Soon, this blog post began to be spontaneously circulated by marketing accounts.
As the video gained popularity and was reposted by numerous marketing accounts, it was also noticed by an uploader on a certain website who had already used Ji Shao as material for a TV series. Thinking she had just gained more material about Ji Shao, she forwarded it to a small group she was using as a scissor hand. Unexpectedly, she accidentally forwarded it to a larger group...
As for what group it was sent to... let's see what collections of posts like "Shocking! A Chinese unexpectedly revealed his cultivation," "The Chinese can't justify their martial arts skills," and "Showdown, Agility is maxed out" appear on a certain website. Ji Shao is often used as a cover to attract people...
After the video racked up millions of views, it was even used as material by a popular foreign influencer who specialized in posting funny short videos about China. Ji Shao, with his handsome features and agile skills, unexpectedly opened up a foreign market, but that's a story for another time.
…
"Sister Xiao" Yu Du, who was standing in a corner of the square, immediately called out to Zhou Xiao when she saw her, and motioned Zhou Xiao to come to the area they occupied.
With Yu Du, there was also the Wu Yanyan fangirl whom Zhou Xiao had met at the airport last time, and another fangirl who was called by her that time. Last time, they were too busy to introduce each other, so this time Zhou Xiao was able to know the situation of both fangirls.
Although Wu Yanyan's fan page is called a fan page, since she's a member of their fan club, her fan page is also considered a fan club support page. Because her fan page is named @开心果‖言言言, Zhou Xiao follows Yu Du in calling her Guoguo. Another fan page is called @WYY·记事簿, and offline everyone just calls her "记事."
The number of offline fans has been increasing since the show became popular. Unless you arrive early to secure a spot at the iron gate of Huashang Times Square, it's difficult to squeeze in. Yu Du and the others had obviously arrived early, securing a good spot at the iron gate to the left of the three of them.
Zhou Xiao greeted them, squeezing in from the outside of the crowd. She was holding two insulated bags with the Huashang Hotel logo printed on them. One was filled with pastries, the other with canned fruit tea.
Before coming, Zhou Xiao specifically asked Yu Du when they would arrive. Considering that they had been offline for a while, Zhou Xiao specifically asked the hotel for some food to bring offline.
According to Yu Du, they stayed there from noon to night. They could order takeout, but since Huashang is still a newly developed area, there aren't many options. Especially soupy dishes are difficult to eat offline. They had originally planned to wait until they saw the trainees before going back to eat, but they waited a long time and still didn't see any of them.
"Delicious!" Yu Du finally relaxed as he grabbed a snack in one hand and a cup of fruit tea in the other. Seeing that Guo Guo and Ji Shi hadn't started yet, Zhou Xiao tilted the bag towards them and said, "Want some?"
The two then carefully pulled out disposable gloves from the side of the thermal bag, put them on, and began to eat the pastries with their fruit tea. The main reason they stayed so long was because Guoguo had heard a rumor from her fan club that the trainees might be recording their second elimination round in the next two days!
Several fans around Zhou Xiao smelled the aroma of pastries in the air and were tempted. After carefully checking that there was no movement or sound coming from behind the iron gate, they came over and asked Zhou Xiao if he had any extra food and if he could sell it to them.
Zhou Xiao glanced at the obviously extra pastries and handed a few to them while wearing disposable gloves. The girls who received the free food were clearly delighted and surprised. After thanking them, they even moved a little further out to give Zhou Xiao and his group more space.
After waiting a while, footsteps and low voices began to be heard from inside. Zhou Xiao could clearly sense that many trainees were heading this way. It seemed that they were all leaving work today. Soon, everyone saw the trainees walking from the practice room towards the iron gate, but their expressions did not look good.
This seemed to confirm what Guoguo had said, that the eliminations were imminent. The trainees all looked listless, some even looking rather dispirited. Seeing the crowds of fans huddled at the entrance, some trainees wearing hats even reached out to pull their brims down even lower.
Seeing the fans standing at the door, several bodyguards quickly emerged from behind the trainees. They escorted the trainees back to the dormitories, their bodies deliberately shielding them from the fans outside the iron gate, as if to prevent the trainees from having too much contact with the fans present.
The trainees who were closer to the iron gate covered their faces intentionally or unintentionally, and some even turned their faces inwards.
This attitude undoubtedly made the fans who had been waiting for a long time feel a little heartbroken. At this moment, "Yanyan, keep working hard!" Guoguo beside her suddenly shouted loudly to Wu Yanyan in the crowd. Following her voice, the people offline also began to shout the names of the trainees in the crowd and cheered for them.
The hurried trainees seemed to have paused, many stopping to look back. Seeing their current state, the fans were a little surprised. They were in such a mediocre state, looking quite tired.
Seeing everyone's state, Zhou Xiao put down her camera. Shortly after she put down her camera, the bodyguard accompanying the trainees spoke up, "I hope everyone will cooperate. The trainees are not in good condition, so please don't post photos today!"
Many people hesitantly lowered their cameras upon hearing this, though some still held onto them. Zhou Xiao searched for Ji Shao at the entrance and finally spotted him, at the tail end of the trainees, walking toward the gate. His face still wore a deep weariness, but he seemed to have noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd. The tired look quickly faded, and Ji Shao smiled faintly at the crowd at the entrance, a sudden thaw of ice and snow.
When they completely disappeared from his sight and he looked ahead at the empty space ahead, Zhou Xiao suddenly realized that a foreshadowed separation is often more sad than a sudden one.
…
——【Forum】——[July 26 evening]
[Topic] Among the trainees who have been eliminated so far, who do you think is the most upset?
[Main Post] I heard the second round of eliminations is about to begin. What are your thoughts? Do you hope anyone will be resurrected?
1L
It's hard to accept... I have to say that Wang Quan is a shame, but if you do something wrong, you have to bear the consequences! Forget about resurrection, and don't make a bunch of disgusting competition systems!
4L
Gongsun Wenzhuo is one of them. I only got him after he was eliminated. What a pity.
9L
I heard that Hazelnut APP is going to hold an audition. I hope these eliminated trainees can participate in the competition they hold! Dream of debuting! This way their looks and hard work won’t be wasted!
16L
It feels like it's pretty clear who's advancing and who's being eliminated now, with those in the lower bracket just missing out by a few votes. But the voting at that fan meeting was really fierce! I saw a lot of the usually more relaxed fans couldn't help but come out and vote!
25L
Fate was already signed before entering the industry, so there's no need to be self-indulgent. A trainee's ability to reach this point isn't solely due to fans. [Smoking]
37L
I hope the program team can give the eliminated trainees a complete story line. Many treasures are covered up before they can shine.
It seems that Ji Shao has fought his way out of this situation. If he hadn't relied on the heart-throbs to push him out of the circle in the early stage, he would have basically had no shots. This is all fate...
49L
A lot of people are guessing the second round of eliminations will be filmed over the next couple of days. Alas, I'm actually still not that familiar with some of the trainees. Time flies, doesn't it?!
…
The next night, Zhou Xiao casually packed a light jacket. Huashang Times Square was spacious and open, so the night wind was strong and fierce. This was also considered Zhou Xiao's experience. He folded the jacket and put it in a canvas bag. Zhou Xiao checked the time, confirmed the time he had agreed to meet Qi Sisi, and set off for Huashang Times Square early.
Considering the trainees' performance and the program's voting rules, Zhou Xiao was certain that tonight would be the second elimination round. She folded her arms and slowly made her way to the iron gates of Huashang Times Square. Based on previous experience, the elimination rounds should probably take longer.
When he arrived at the offline booth, there were quite a few people standing at the iron gate, probably having guessed what would happen tonight based on the program's voting mechanism. After greeting Yu Du and Wu Yanyan, who had arrived earlier, Zhou Xiao suddenly heard the sound of a bus horn coming from not far away.
This surprised Zhou Xiao. She looked down at her phone and checked the time. It was only a little after 9:00. Then she looked up at the purple bus approaching from a distance. It seemed the elimination process was much faster this time, which was quite unexpected.
"What's going on?" Qi Sisi, who had just arrived, looked at the bus slowly driving into the iron gate and asked Zhou Xiao beside her in surprise, "Is tonight's bus arriving so soon?"
Both of them had some impression of this purple bus, but hadn't it parked at the entrance before? Why did it drive straight in this time?
Two security guards separated the offline fans from the entrance, and only followed the bus inside after it drove in. The staff inside, who were working with the security to close the door, looked at the fans still standing outside and couldn't help but remind them, "Everyone, please go home tonight. We're so sorry!"
“Ah,” “What’s going on?”, “Why are they suddenly asking us to go back?”, “What’s going on?”, “…” Fans who had been waiting offline got furious when they suddenly heard the staff asking them to leave.
What the hell is Xingtu 101 doing? What's going on? They've been waiting offline for so long, and now they can't even see each other? And it's so cold tonight, and all of a sudden, anger boils over, and everyone's emotions explode offline without warning.
Watching the commotion outside, the staff member inside regretted his words. He'd just learned over the phone that the production team had specifically allowed all cars to enter to keep the elimination list secret. But the staff member guarding the gate, seeing the strong wind tonight, felt a pang of unease and urged everyone to leave.
Zhou Xiao and Qi Sisi exchanged bewilderment in the crowd, realizing that the bus had likely stopped at the entrance because they were the only two present. Looking at the number of fans around them, they realized there was no guarantee the elimination list wouldn't be leaked.
Yu Du, crouching on the ground, was utterly disappointed. She'd missed the first elimination, only to be told to leave the second time. That was fine. She'd been excited when she'd first seen the bus; she'd seen eliminated trainees get on it before. But before she could even get excited, the bus pulled right in. Well, those two days had been wasted.
There were many people who felt as disappointed as Yu Du. Seeing that the staff inside did not seem to be subdued by their attitude, everyone gradually dispersed.
Qi Sisi, who just arrived offline: ...
She took Zhou Xiao's hand, said goodbye to Yu Du, and followed the crowd out of the iron gate. The moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight. The two people who lived nearby took a different path, walking along the tree-lined path of Huashang, listening to the cicadas chirping and the frogs croaking, feeling the strong wind of the summer night.
Listening to the sound of branches and leaves blown by the wind, Zhou Xiao looked up at the bright moon hanging in the sky through the gaps in the treetops above his head, wondering who would be the frustrated person tonight.
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