Chapter 60 Group Night (Part 1)
After eating barbecue, the four of them strolled in the park for a while, walked on the road for a while, and did not return to the hotel until 9 o'clock.
By this time, there were no more fans waiting in the hall. The four of them walked in without hesitation.
Until the elevator door opened, Zheng Xingye and Zhao Xi walked out yawning, and for a moment they faced each other.
"Are you guys coming down to buy snacks too?"
Zheng Xingye obviously didn't react and asked subconsciously.
The hotel the production team arranged for them to stay in had a convenience store on the first floor, selling everything from fast food to snacks. Zheng Xingye and his friends went downstairs just to buy oden.
However, the sharp-eyed Zhao Xi soon discovered something was wrong.
Whether it was the hats and masks on the four people, or the lingering barbecue smell on their bodies, they all indicated one thing -
They had sneaked out before.
"Did you guys go out for a barbecue?"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Xingye, who had been slow to react, also reacted. He hurriedly moved closer to sniff the scent of the four people, and then his eyes widened -
"Well, you guys went to have barbecue without even calling me. That's really disloyal!"
Lei Lie quickly raised his index finger and said "hush!", "Keep it down!"
Although the fans had already left, there was no guarantee that the production crew wouldn't suddenly come down. Bai Li had already removed the sleight of hand, and if they were discovered, it would be difficult for them to explain.
Hearing this, Zheng Xingye lowered his voice. However, he was still a little dissatisfied with the fact that they went out to eat alone.
"We wanted to call you too. But there were too many of us and we would be easily discovered."
Leaving aside the dinner invitation from Lei Lie's parents, Mo Bei half-truthfully recounted how they had sneaked out and were nearly caught. His narration added a touch of thrill to the originally easy task.
Seeing Mo Bei lie so calmly, a hint of surprise flashed in the eyes of Lei Lie and the other two. If it weren't for the fact that they were the ones who pulled the sleight of hand, even Bai Li himself would have believed it.
However, when the two who were unaware of the truth learned that the four of them had taken a huge risk to sneak out, and were even almost discovered by fans while eating barbecue and had to run three blocks for this, Zheng Xingye immediately stopped making a fuss.
It seems that it is not easy for the four of them to have a barbecue.
After finally fooling the two men, the four of them were about to return to their room when they happened to run into the program director Zhuo Yanbin who was smoking at the end of the corridor.
For a moment, Lei Lie, who had just relaxed, suddenly became nervous.
Just when he thought the other party would find out and question them about sneaking out, he saw the other party press the cigarette butt on the trash can lid, then turned and walked out of the corridor, as if he had never seen them from beginning to end.
After being stunned for a moment, Mo Bei subconsciously looked at Bai Li behind him. Seeing the other party's smile of success, he knew that this was probably his doing.
Not having been caught by the director, they heaved a sigh of relief and hurried back to their room to rest.
…
The day of the performance was a beautiful sunny day.
Not only was the sky cloudless, but the weather was not as hot as it had been in the past few days.
Although the final performance is tonight, fans of each contestant have arrived at the entrance of the performance venue in advance since yesterday to set up a circle and make arrangements.
Because it is the night of the group’s formation, fans from all groups have racked their brains to come up with support this time.
Jiang Mo Nan's fans, who were the most wealthy, not only booked the use of the large advertising screen in the shopping mall near the performance venue for two days, but also cast a text message on the tallest building in Yuehai City to congratulate him on his debut, and played it continuously for 24 hours.
Although the group formation night has not yet begun, Jiang Mo Nan's debut has become a foregone conclusion.
After all, up to now, Jiang Mo Nan is already far ahead in the number of votes on the official website, and those behind him will never be able to catch up even if they try their best.
However, even though the game was over, Sheng Yanyu's fans still refused to admit defeat.
But no matter how dissatisfied or how much they complain, they can't change the reality. Who made their family have fewer krypton gold fans than their own?
What's more, the gap has become so great that Jiang's fans no longer care.
After all, only those who were equally matched could be called rivals. As for those who insisted on challenging each other despite a huge gap, they were simply ignorant clowns.
Although Sheng Yanyu's fans no longer posed a threat to Jiang Mo'nan's fan circle, in order to avoid being caught by some idle passers-by, the fans were more restrained in their words and did not use words like "C position debut" or "first place debut".
Although it was a foregone conclusion that Mo Bei would win the final C position in this competition as long as there was no shady dealings, it was better to keep a low profile until the outcome was known.
Anyway, they have already prepared the celebratory promotional pictures for the C position debut, and are just waiting to release them directly after the competition results come out.
Of course, just the big screen advertisements and neon text support on high-rise buildings are not enough to show how much fans value this group formation night.
In addition to the above two points, Jiang Mo Nan’s fan club even prepared a dessert truck this time.
Any fan or Lu Hao who has voted for Jiang Mo Nan can receive a dessert gift box with a screenshot of their vote. The gift box includes sliced Swiss rolls, puffs, mochi and donuts.
Of course, to prevent duplicate fraud, the ID on file must be verified on the spot. Additionally, there is a threshold for the number of votes required, with a minimum of 100 votes.
Although 100 votes may seem like a lot, for passers-by who have become members, it is just 10 votes a day for 10 days.
For those fans who are in the voting data group, it is even easier. Each of them controls dozens of small accounts. It is not difficult to reach 100 votes.
Although it's not difficult, it's the most effective way to screen people. After all, if you can vote for Jiang Mo Nan for at least 10 days, even if you're not a die-hard fan, you can still be considered a good fan.
This can also largely prevent those haters who once scolded Jiang Mo Nan online from shamelessly taking advantage of him.
In addition to the dessert gift box, Jiang Mo Nan’s fans who come to watch the group’s performance can also receive an extra glass of freshly squeezed orange juice or iced American coffee with their performance tickets!
Fans who have reached LV10 in the super topic can also go to the scene to receive the latest version of cheering fans and cheering banners designed by the fan club!
Seeing Jiang Mo Nan's fans once again generously supporting them, other fans could only envy him. After all, the gap was so huge that even competing was meaningless.
Who can blame them for not having so many wealthy fans who spend money on the game?
In most cases, fan support is a form of fan fundraising. Unless you have wealthy fans, it's almost impossible to achieve this level of support with just casual fans if your fan base is small.
Because not everyone can spend money for love without feeling any pain.
Especially when other fans transfer the fundraising funds to the account of the fan club manager in the name of support, it is difficult for those managers not to be greedy in the face of such huge sums of money.
Spending so much money on useless support? It would be better to save it for yourself and buy a sea view apartment.
It is precisely because of this that there are always cases of fan club managers absconding with the money in the fan circle.
In contrast, Jiang Mo'nan's fans are not only willing to spend money but also put it into practice. Furthermore, their fans are highly motivated and willing to help offline. While such high fan loyalty is not completely uncommon in fan circles, it is not uncommon either.
Thinking of this, fans of other families couldn't help but feel a little jealous while being envious: Why isn't our family like this?
It was not until Jiang Mo Nan got off the bus that the crowd at the scene suddenly burst into shouts of "Jiang Mo Nan" one after another, and those people finally understood why.
The size of the fans is different, how can it be possible to compare?
Mo Bei wore a white T-shirt and a blue baseball cap again today. Although he was dressed simply, he still caused a lot of screams from his fans.
"Ahhhhhh Nannan is so handsome!"
"It's so hard to look here!"
"Wow, what kind of divine beauty is this!"
Just as the Jiang fans at the scene were either screaming excitedly or praising each other, a voice suddenly came from the crowd—
"Congratulations to Jiang Mo Nan on her C-position debut!"
Suddenly, they heard a voice with an unusual volume, and everyone turned around.
I saw a girl wearing a hat and a mask holding a big loudspeaker in the flower bed in the distance.
Obviously, she was the one who shouted that just now.
Although big fans have been reminding their fans to keep a low profile and not to be too ostentatious before the final results come out, some casual fans have already forgotten all this the moment they see the idol in person.
In the past, they had been bullied by Sheng Yanyu's fans many times, and the false rumors that Jiang Monan had spread on the Internet were all instigated by them.
Now that they have the votes in hand, how can they continue to be tolerant?
Since you are throwing dirty water on our idol, we don’t need to care about your idol’s feelings, just get close to him and start fighting!
"Jiang Monan, born to be the center of the field! He is invincible in his pursuit of the championship!"
Seeing so many people looking at her, the girl raised the loudspeaker and shouted again.
Seeing Jiang Mo Nan's fans being so arrogant, Sheng Yanyu's fans couldn't help but vomit blood in anger. As if to overshadow their opponent's momentum, they shouted Sheng Yanyu's name even more frantically.
However, because there were too many fans from various groups at the scene, shouting all kinds of things, a group of people gathered together and made as much noise as bees, making people's heads buzz.
Furthermore, the security personnel on the scene kept yelling at the crowd to disperse, so even if Sheng's fans wanted to redeem themselves for Zidan, they had no way to use a megaphone. In the end, they could only watch Zidan's back with resentment as they left.
Seeing that the contestants had entered the venue, some Sheng fans immediately wanted to settle the score with the Jiang fan who was shouting with a loudspeaker, but they never expected that the other party had disappeared long ago.
There were so many people at the scene that trying to find an ordinary person whose appearance you couldn't even see clearly was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
After walking around for several times without finding anyone, the group finally had to leave in anger.
The internal conflicts within the fan circle cannot affect other ordinary audiences who come to watch the performance offline.
At 7 o'clock in the evening, Lu Yu brought his grandmother and his father to the outside of the venue as agreed.
In fact, Lu Yu originally didn't want to tell his father about Brother Mo Nan giving him the tickets.
One reason is that his father has never been interested in this kind of performance, and the other is that the relationship between them has been a little delicate over the past period of time.
Although he has given up his dream of becoming a singer, he still feels a little bit resentful when he thinks of his father who always obstructed him in the past.
But he finally compromised.
After all, Brother Mo Nan invited their family, so he should at least let his father know. As for whether he goes or not, that is his own business.
To Lu Yu's surprise, his father actually accepted the invitation.
This eccentric uncle who loved to hang out in temples when he had nothing to do and disliked various entertainment activities but loved volunteering actually accepted Jiang Mo Nan's invitation this time. This surprised Lu Yu greatly.
"Didn't you say you weren't interested in the concert?"
"I'm not interested, but I also want to know more about the preferences of young people today."
Hearing Lu Shiqiang's answer, Lu Yu curled his lips and said nothing.
Lu Shiqiang, however, appeared to be accepting the event. He glanced around and, upon seeing the giant advertising wall outside the stadium with the athletes' photos printed on it, couldn't help but sigh, "This is truly a spectacular sight."
The boy who took center stage on the poster had long since lost the shabby look he had when they first met. If Lu Yu hadn't mentioned this to him before, he probably wouldn't have recognized him as the boy who had stayed at Yuanfa Temple that time.
Unlike her son who had a look of emotion on his face, Grandma Lu was taking out her cell phone and taking pictures of the surroundings frantically.
When she first sent Mo Nan to participate in the show, she said that he would definitely become famous. Now his words have come true. She was so happy.
What's more, this is the first time for the old lady to attend a concert where so many young people gather. It's a rare opportunity for her to come here, so she must take more photos so that she can have a good chat with the old sisters in the community after returning.
"Lu Yu!"
Hearing someone calling them from afar, the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren turned around and saw Lu Tingting, wearing a floral dress, trotting towards them, dragging a girl in a white dress with curly hair.
Looking closely, the other person turned out to be a familiar face - Fang Yiyao, the class's entertainment committee member.
She was the rich lady who had previously paid a high price to buy Brother Mo Nan's autograph.
After the college entrance exam, many of his classmates changed their appearance, either by dyeing or perming their hair or changing their outfits. It was because of this that he didn't recognize him at first.
But then he thought about it, Lu Tingting seemed to have the best relationship with her in the class. It was just that he hadn't come to his senses before.
"Have you been waiting for a long time?"
Lu Yu shook his head and was about to say no, but he saw Lu Tingting gasping for breath and pointing at her best friend beside her and said, "She's quite slow. She changed more than ten sets of clothes before she was willing to go out."
Hearing this, Lu Yu's eyes suddenly widened: "More than a dozen sets?"
Isn’t this too exaggerated?
"Don't you have to dress nicely when you go to meet your favorite idol?"
Fang Yiyao was about to say something to Lu Yu but suddenly saw the other party's parents behind him, so she quickly shut up.
Grandma Lu smiled and said, "You're right, little girl. You have to dress beautifully when you go to see someone you like."
Facing grandma's teasing smile, Lu Yu, who was always slow to react, suddenly seemed to understand something, and his ears suddenly turned red: "Grandma, it's not what you think."
"What's not what I thought?"
Seeing that the old man started to play dumb with him, Lu Yu didn't know what to say in front of his father.
Lu Tingting, on the other hand, introduced herself confidently: "Hello, uncle and aunt, we are classmates of Lu Yu. My name is Lu Tingting, and she is Fang Yiyao. We are both fans of Jiang Mo Nan."
Hearing this, Grandma Lu, who was originally smiling very happily, couldn't help but pause, and a trace of disappointment flashed through her heart.
It turns out they are all fans of Xiao Jiang.
I thought her grandson had made great progress.
The performance started at 7:30 and ticket checking had already begun at the entrance of the venue.
Seeing this, the group did not delay any longer and immediately lined up to check their tickets and enter.
Although he had participated in the auditions for this program before, this was Lu Yu's first time watching an idol group's performance as an audience member. Standing in the audience among the girls holding various cheering banners, he felt a little strange for a moment.
The feeling of being there was completely different from watching the video online. Looking at the many girls in the audience holding up cheering banners and light boards, Lu Yu had a practical and clear understanding of Mo Bei's popularity for the first time.
For a moment, a feeling of pride arose in his heart.
As expected, he is Brother Mo Nan.
As Lu Yu was thinking this, Lu Tingting beside him suddenly poked him quietly. Turning his head, he saw that she was handing him a cheering banner.
When I unfolded it, I saw Jiang Mo Nan’s face printed on it with the text - Happy debut, Jiang Mo Nan.
Seeing this, Lu Yu was startled: "This is..."
"A cheering banner."
"I know."
Even though he wasn't in the fan circle, Lu Yu had heard about these things from the star-chasing girls in school. What he was really curious about was——
"Where did you get it?"
"It's at the entrance of the venue. We just happened to see it when we went to buy milk tea. You can get it for free if you show your level on the super topic."
Lu Tingting sighed as she spoke, "It's a pity that we arrived too late. All the dessert gift boxes and juices have been delivered."
"There are desserts and juice?" Lu Yu was a little surprised.
"Yes, this is a support event organized by Jiang Mo Nan's fan club. As long as you cast 100 votes, you can get a dessert gift box. If you post your performance ticket, you can get a glass of juice or coffee."
Hearing this, Lu Yu couldn't help but be secretly shocked.
He had heard a bit about fans providing drinks and meals for offline support. He had the impression that only popular artists would have fans provide these, but he hadn't expected his brother Mo Nan to actually...
Noticing Lu Yu's incredulous look, Lu Tingting added, "There's more. Besides that, the fan club has also put up large screens and text ads at the nearby Guomao Shopping Mall and the Baomi Building in the city center. Many people have posted their verification photos online. Didn't you see any?"
Lu Yu shook his head.
He hadn't checked Weibo in a while. The scores had come out the other day, and he was busy choosing a school, so he hadn't had the energy to look at that stuff.
Thinking of this, Lu Yu felt a little melancholy in his heart.
It seemed that without him knowing, Brother Mo Nan had already come a long way. He seemed to have really entered the entertainment industry.
Although the two had previously agreed to keep in touch, he has not received a single call from the other party to date.
Although he knew that this might be related to the program team's regulations, he still felt a little lost.
Brother Mo Nan has now become the one that everyone looks up to. Will he still remember me in the future?
The lights on the stage came on, and the host Zeng Yu walked onto the stage, and the audience suddenly erupted in excited screams.
Amid the audience's thunderous cheers, Lu Yu collected his chaotic thoughts and refocused his attention on the stage.
At the same time, fans who failed to get tickets for the performance were squatting on the online live streaming platform and frantically posting comments.
The finals are finally about to begin!
…
Backstage.
Mo Bei sat in the chair and let the makeup artist make the final adjustments to her makeup.
The makeup for the theme song performance doesn't need to be too complicated, just fresh.
Plus, this face was already superior enough to attract attention without too much modification. So Su Xi simply applied a base to Mo Bei's makeup with loose powder, and then lightly added eyebrows and light lipstick.
Although Jiang Mo Nan looked almost identical to the former Mo Xiao Tian Wang, he possessed a calm and aloof aura. He was like a jade sculpture, every detail so perfect it seemed almost lifeless. It was precisely because of this refined and cool aura that he was able to pull off the silver-white hair color reminiscent of a cartoon character.
Looking at the face in front of her, Su Xi finally put down the makeup brush and nodded with satisfaction.
Perfect.
"Okay."
Hearing this, Mo Bei opened his eyes. Looking at himself in the mirror, he thanked Su Xi.
Su Xi waved her hand and then busied herself with retouching makeup for other contestants.
This is the first time that the contestants will perform in front of fans and audiences under live broadcast conditions. In addition, the final ranking of the debut group will be announced immediately after the performance, so the psychological pressure is greater than before.
In comparison, the contestants who were eliminated and returned to the competition seemed much more relaxed. Invited by the production team, they were now sitting in the audience near the mentors, eagerly anticipating tonight's performance.
Because the director team put the theme song at the beginning, the contestants will still appear on stage in their white stand-up collar uniforms. After that, the two groups of contestants will take turns to perform.
The group's costumes for the "Youth Wanderer" group were more complicated than the other groups because they performed a traditional Chinese style piece. Luckily, they were the second group to perform, so they had more time to change costumes.
After wearing these uniforms for the first time in a long time, the contestants have shed their youthfulness when they first joined the show. Now they look more like mature idol artists.
Especially Jiang Mo Nan, compared to others, he gives people a more experienced feeling.
While others were practicing the lyrics and movements over and over again, he was still leaning quietly against the wall with his eyes closed.
Focusing the camera on Jiang Monan's face, which seemed too delicate to be human, the cameraman couldn't help but think: They seemed to have never seen each other nervous. Even when an unexpected incident occurred during the first stage, the person in front of them remained calm.
This also made him curious about the circumstances under which this face would show a panic expression.
This thought only flashed through his mind, and soon the cameraman turned the camera from backstage to the venue.
Still wearing his familiar bald hairstyle and colorful sequined suit, Zeng Yu raised the microphone——
"Dear audience members, both in person and online, welcome to the group's debut night performance for 'Youth Project'. I'm your host, Zeng Yu!"
For a moment, there was warm cheers from the scene.
"After nearly three months of competition and selection, a total of 20 contestants successfully advanced and participated in tonight's performance."
Zeng Yu smiled at this point and said, "I believe everyone is looking forward to it. So am I."
At this time, fans who were watching the live broadcast online were flooding the screen with comments:
[Looking forward to Jiang Mo Nan!]
[Lei Lie, Lei Lie, Lei Lie, Lei Lie…]
[Sheng Yanyu ahhhhhhhh!]
[Bai Li’s wife!]
[Can't you just start faster? You always have to say a lot of opening remarks.]
[So nervous, Choi Jun Hee must debut!]
Fortunately, Zeng Yu did not delay for too long, and then announced the first program of this performance -
"Next, let us invite the 20 qualified contestants to perform the theme song of the program, 'Dream Chasing Youth'!"
As soon as the words fell, the lights on the stage dimmed instantly.
When the spotlights on the stage came on again, 20 contestants in white stand-up collar uniforms slowly ascended the stage on a lift.
The whole audience erupted in deafening screams.
Feeling the 360-degree surround screams and cheers of the audience, Mo Bei, standing at the center of the stage, suddenly felt the shackles that had bound his body disappear in an instant. At this moment, he felt like he was reborn.
The familiar prelude sounded, and the contestants on stage began to move. The big screen captured Mo Bei smiling and looking up. For a moment, the sound waves at the scene almost shook the stage down.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
"Jiang Mo Nan gives you my life!"
"I'm not going to be a girlfriend fan today, I'm going to be a mom fan!"
"Ooooooooo my baby!"
Listening to the fans around him calling "Nan Nan" and "Baby", Lu Yu, who was standing among the fans, felt confused for a moment.
Especially when the female classmate next to him shouted at the top of her lungs, "Nannan, mommy loves you," he felt terrible.
Jiang Mo Nan is his brother, but his classmates are all Mo Nan's mom fans. Doesn't that mean he has to call them mom or aunt? Wouldn't that mess up the generation structure?
Although Lu Yu knew that the female classmates around him were star-chasing, he had never seen them so crazy before.
This magical feeling became even stronger when I saw those skinny girls in the front row who were holding up Jiang Mo Nan's cheering signs and who looked like junior high school students suddenly said, "Come on, son!"
Just like at the performance, the fans online were also howling wildly.
[Ahhhhh, I want to keep the uniform version of Jiang Monan forever!]
[Oh my god, why is there such a good-looking person...]
[Theme song of Dream Back, I almost cried when I heard the prelude.]
I remember when the theme song was first announced, there was very little material available. That's why many people tirelessly watched the video over and over again, and played the song on loop on their music apps.
After nearly three months of following the show, the song has become part of the fans' daily lives. Hearing the song on the group's debut night, many were deeply moved.
Some of the audience subconsciously began singing along. Inspired by the atmosphere, more and more fans joined in. Eventually, the theme song resounded throughout the venue!
The contestants on the stage seemed a little surprised that they hadn't expected the audience to sing along.
But then came the touching moment. Suddenly, the smiles on their faces deepened, their dance moves became more powerful, and their singing became louder.
Seeing this, the fans could hardly hide their excitement and the sound of their singing became louder and louder.
At the end of the song, the contestants bowed to the audience in unison, breathing slightly.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Everyone looked around the stage while expressing their gratitude, trying to find their own cheering sign among the crowd below.
Mo Bei effortlessly spotted the many flashing signs with the words "Jiang Mo Nan" in the crowd, so he raised his hand and waved at the audience. This action once again caused screams from the audience.
Mo Bei took his hand back and was about to leave the stage when he saw Zheng Xingye not far away looking around, as if he was still looking for his fans.
Thinking of the name he had just seen in the crowd, he patted the other person's shoulder and pointed.
Looking in the direction he pointed, Zheng Xingye's eyes lit up instantly. He waved to the fans in the audience. The excited shouts of fans could be heard again from that area.
At the same time, various comments were posted on the barrage:
[I was deeply moved by this scene.]
[I clicked it, it makes my body feel warm.]
[Who said we were cold and indifferent? He just wasn't good at expressing himself.]
He's always been a warm person. Whether he's accompanying Bai Li in practice or offering to teach Xu Tingchuan how to play bass, it's clear he's a kind person.
[Wow, what a beautiful scene! Why can't everyone debut together? That's too cruel...]
Every time I attend a talent show, I fall in love with all the contestants, but the competition is cruel and those who fail to move up in the rankings will be eliminated.
This is very cruel to the audience and fans who have invested their emotions and energy.
But even if they know the fate of separation, they still can't help but fall into the trap.
Just like the moon has phases of waxing and waning.
Although the result is imperfect, the process is beautiful.
This is the charm of the talent show.
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