On New Year's Day, Chu Li got up early in the morning before dawn. Chu Chuan was still yelling in the room. Chu Li pushed open the door and said, "Teacher, I'm going out. Remember to come to the exhibition when you wake up? Just come before the official opening of the store in the afternoon. I've put the staff pass on the dining table for you. You can come in with it and you don't have to queue up."
The person on the bed turned over, lifted the quilt to cover his head, and waved his hand towards the door to signal the person standing at the door: I heard you, get out of here and stop making noise.
Chu Li: "You didn't have this attitude when you said something like 'I'm here' with a sly look on your face a few days ago."
Zhuchuan stretched out a hand from outside the quilt, fumbled to grab a pillow and threw it towards the door - Chuli rolled her eyes, slammed the door shut, packed her bag and hurried out.
It was only seven in the morning when Chu Li arrived at the book fair by taxi. People had already started lining up outside the book fair. Silently guessing how many of those in the long queue were there to donate money to her husband Zhe Chuan, Chu Li took out her work badge and slipped in through the back door. When she arrived, Yu Yao was already there, directing Xiao Niao to hang posters of "The Divine Book of Luo River" on the booth. Ah Xiang and Lao Li were studying the stacking positions. After Chu Li arrived, she greeted everyone and joined in arranging the lineup.
At eight o'clock, the person from the marketing department, Lao Miao Shanshan, arrived late.
Liang Chonglang smiled and said to Chu Li, "Don't be nervous, Xiaochu. Those cosplayers will also be potential buyers of "The Divine Book of Luo River" after they enter the market. Maybe we can still win-win."
Chu Li: "Okay, I believe it."
At 8:30, the book fair officially began. The national statutory holiday meant that this day was packed with people. There were people everywhere, and even the riot police were alarmed, fearing that the large crowds would cause trouble. From the early morning entrance, long queues formed in front of the booths of Xindun Society and Yuanyue Society. Due to the popularity of the two cosplayers, Zhaochuan and others, the length of the queue at Yuanyue Society was barely comparable to the queue next door at Xindun Society who were queuing to buy "The Magpie on the Other Branch" for a book signing.
Chu Li watched from the side and discovered that Xindun and his team were all signing events where customers had to purchase the book on-site and collect the ticket with the invoice, which was valid on the same day - anyone who bought the book somewhere else and brought it to the signing event would not be allowed entry.
At nine o'clock, the two cosers arrived at their locations under the guidance of the staff. Today's "book-buying photo session" only takes place at four o'clock: nine-thirty, ten-thirty, eleven-thirty and twelve-thirty, so the first few hours were basically occupied by people who wanted to see the cosers... These people are very easy to identify, because they basically gather in groups of three or five, excitedly discussing their idols, and in a group there will always be one or two fans carrying their idols' iconic items, such as Xiaorui's fans who will wear conspicuous cat ears or something - and Zhuchuan's book fans, except for those who especially want to get the books in advance and join the queue, the others basically confirm with the staff that the afternoon coser activity will end after twelve-thirty and leave directly.
Too many people asked.
From the beginning of the book fair to 9:30, Chu Li received at least a hundred people who came to confirm the time. In addition, there were countless people who walked to the booth to check the promotional posters to confirm the time. The time planning form announced on the official Weibo of "Moonlight" has been forwarded 4,000 to 5,000 times, and the content is the same, all saying "I'll come back after one o'clock"...
"I felt as if I was watching a group of 'sales' walking past me," Chu Li said, "my heart ached."
"Since these people have entered, they will definitely come back at a certain time. Don't worry..." Ah Xiang patted Chu Li's shoulder, "You just need to pray that they don't cause any trouble. Every time there is a book fair, I have to get up early as if it's going to kill me. It's worthy of being the Holy War Day."
Chu Li: "...Don't set a flag for me."
Time passes by.
Chu Li stood outside and observed for a while, and found that just as Liang Chonglang said, there were indeed some fans of cosplayers who would take Zhao Chuan's book to pay the bill when they entered the venue. After all, this was one of the few books in the venue that they might be interested in. However, most of them would just pick a cheap book at random and get the numbered coupon to participate in the event. After all, "The Divine Book of Luo River" was more than 50 yuan, which was not "affordable" for them.
Liang Chonglang's so-called "win-win" situation does not exist.
…
Chu Li stood outside the booth for more than three hours. During this time, in order to avoid the readers who came to check the time, she took a few sips of the water that Ah Xiang handed to her.
She worked so hard that even Yu Yao teased her, asking if Zhe Chuan would give her a share of the profits if "Luohe Divine Book" sold well.
"The contract for Huangquan Inn is still in the study of Zhuchuan's family and has not been signed. I snatched it back from Xindunshou that day. Before Zhuchuan signed the contract, he was a god." Chu Li waved his hands, "I can't afford to offend him, I can't afford to offend him."
Chu Li's voice was neither too high nor too low, but at this time, Gu Baizhi, who was standing next to the Xindun Society booth and watching, heard it clearly. Gu Baizhi was also one of the people involved in the "book snatching" incident. He chuckled, cleared his throat, and turned his head away.
Chu Li's face turned slightly red.
It was already 11:55, and fans carrying cosplayers' fan club items were still pouring in. Chu Li stood on tiptoe and looked at the crowded team, which was so dense that there was no end in sight...
"Boss, can we start notifying Lao Liang and the others to limit the flow of people?" Chu Li retracted his gaze and at the same time sent a text message to ask if Zhuo Chuan had woken up and come over.
When Yu Yao walked away to ask Liang Chonglang when the traffic restriction would be implemented, Zhechuan also replied with a text message, saying that he was on the way and there was a traffic jam. To increase credibility, he cutely posted a photo of a traffic jam with his hand out of the window showing a long line of cars in front.
Chu Li smiled foolishly at the photo of the traffic jam.
It was not until a minute later that Yu Yao came back and told her that the flow had been restricted.
When she said this, two little girls wearing cat ears were walking towards the end of the line, chatting and laughing. When they passed by, the sound of slapping someone in the face echoed in the air.
Chu Li: "..."
Yu Yao: “…”
Chu Li and Yu Yao went to ask Liang Chonglang, who said confidently, "As for the so-called flow limit, I can only tell them that the event is about to end, and that only readers who have purchased the "Luo River Divine Book" will be given priority entry. They said that I bought the "Luo River Divine Book", so what else can I say?"
Chu Li covered his chest, and was starting to get a little angry. He went to the back workshop, found a piece of oversized white paper and a black marker, wrote the end time of "Book Shopping and Photo" in bold letters, and placed it in the middle of the Yuanyue Society booth...
Around half past twelve, fans of Chu Chuan's book began to gather one after another. I walked over and took a look at the team. My first reaction was: Oh my god, why are there still so many people!
Some of them reluctantly began to queue up obediently, while others walked away to have lunch.
As a representative, Chu Li found Liang Chonglang for the third time and asked Liang Chonglang to make it clear that the event would end at 12:30 and there were still a few minutes left. If you came for the cosplayers, you don’t have to queue up to enter. Liang Chonglang’s attitude was vague. He didn’t answer Chu Li directly, but asked, “Is Teacher Chu Chuan here?”
Chu Li glanced at his phone and saw the conversation record from two minutes ago. Today was a holiday and there were many people, so Zhuchuan was still stuck in traffic... Chu Li didn't think much about it at this time, but just reported to Liang Chonglang truthfully: "About another fifty minutes..."
The latter said "Oh", nodded and sent her away.
At this time, behind Chu Li, the little girl with cat ears who had brushed past her and Yu Yao before came in. Chu Li watched with envy as the two people who claimed they were “here to buy the Luo River Divine Book” quickly walked to the bookshelf closest to the cashier, casually picked up a thin book, and rushed to the cashier to pay with excitement. After getting the promotional coupon, she jumped up and down with excitement!
Chu Li: "..."
Chu Li frowned, and the idea of taking advantage of Liang Chongliang's big dick began to take shape.
Seeing that she looked unhappy, Ah Xiang tugged at her sleeve to signal her to eat her lunch first, as she was tired after working all morning... Chu Li was furious at this moment, but there was nothing she could do. When Ah Xiang dragged her into the workroom at the back, she took a last look and didn't know what was going on. It was already 12:28, and the marketing department was still putting a lot of messy people in.
...an unforeseen premonition.
After entering the workshop, Chu Li felt uneasy and vaguely felt that something was going to happen. He picked up a lunch box and opened it absentmindedly. Before he even started to eat, Yu Yao pushed open the door and walked in with a serious face. His tone was also a little angry: "Everyone in the marketing department has gone crazy. They just suddenly notified us that the book purchase photo event will be extended to 1:30 p.m., and we have already asked the leadership for approval!"
Everyone: “…”
Chu Li threw away her chopsticks and stood up to walk out. Ah Xiang yelled "Ah" and jumped up to hold Chu Li. Chu Li was hugged by Ah Xiang and she almost jumped up. Her eyes were red with anger and she roared -
"No wonder they asked me when Chu Chuan will come!!! If Chu Chuan doesn't come, they can just bully us and do whatever they want, right? The show was extended at the agreed time, how long have Chu Chuan's readers been waiting outside? They're just bullying people because they've bought tickets and will come to buy books no matter what, and they won't leave no matter what, so it doesn't matter how long they have to wait, right? Ahhhhhhh fuck your mother, who gave you the right to tease Chu Chuan's fans like this!!! Who!!!!!!!!! You're crazy about money, aren't you? Have you ever thought about respecting the author and the readers? ! ! Besides money, have you ever thought about whether there is such a thing in the world?! Let me go, I'm going to kill those psychopaths in the marketing department even if I quit!!!!"