Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 172 A Birthday Display Unparalleled in the Chinese Entertainment Industry
After exchanging messages with Xiaotian, Gu Jingyi took a car to the location of the birthday party.

Today is Gu Jingyi's birthday, just an ordinary day for him. If he hadn't debuted, he would be eating at home and then going to an internet cafe with his friends to play CS:GO.

But he made his debut, and September 29th suddenly became the supreme celebration in the hearts of "Jingfei" fans.

As soon as Gu Jingyi got out of the van, he saw various life-size cardboard cutouts and support walls next to the birthday party.

Large, vibrant flowers have been arranged to create a sea of ​​blossoms.

Outside the venue, thousands of drones hovered in the air, changing formations and spelling out words.

Gu Jingyi looked up for a moment and deciphered the spelling: "Happy Birthday, Gu Jingyi" and "20 years old, embarking on a new journey."

Seeing that his gaze lingered for a little longer, Lin Ze smiled and said, "What's wrong, big star? This little show shouldn't be enough to scare you, right?"

"Not at all, it's just looking at the spelling."

Gu Jingyi chuckled softly, then turned to remind his manager.

"What are you standing there for? Take a picture of me. I won't post this fan verification photo. Ze-ge, you can upload it from your own account using a third-party perspective."

"Okay, I understand. Jingyi, you're really quick-witted. No matter what you do, you'll succeed."

Lin Ze realized what Gu Jingyi meant and took a picture of Gu Jingyi with his phone.

In the picture, a handsome young man wearing a casual denim jacket with an all-over print stands under a sea of ​​support flowers. He looks up at the massive drone formation.

A pair of signature affectionate eyes, filled with a myriad of emotions.

It's the kind of subtle emotion that anyone can see in his eyes.

"Let me see how it turned out," Gu Jingyi said, grabbing the phone to check the results.

"Not bad, this candid shot is really YYDS. It seems that even if Ze doesn't become a manager, he can still support himself as a fan site admin."

When Gu Jingyi gave his evaluation, he imitated the tone Lin Ze had used when evaluating him.

"You little rascal, haha."

Lin Ze smiled broadly, edited the Weibo post, and then published it.

[@IsLinzeNotLinzi: Flash in, sneaking a picture of a boss looking dazed.]
This Weibo post was discovered by countless fans as soon as it was published.

[@Gu Jingyi's face is worth a fortune: Ahhh, it's my husband. My fresh-faced husband, let me have a bite!]
[@Want to slide down Emperor Jing's nose: Emperor Jing! This is the first time I've seen Emperor Jing so obedient! Maybe it's because the stereotype of Gu Jingyi we have is that he's a strong person, I keep calling him "Emperor Jing." I completely forgot that he's still only a 20-year-old kid.]
[@Jingyi's runaway wife: Ahhh, praise to Brother Ze! I've already quickly saved the picture and made it my screensaver, so I won't curse you today. From now on, I'll curse Huace instead, haha.]
[……]
[@Jingyi's Girlfriend (outside the entertainment circle): Honestly, Ze Ge should have filmed more of Gu Jingyi a long time ago. Our Jingyi is a workaholic, always in the recording studio or filming on set since his debut on "Idol Producer." He's achieved such high popularity at such a young age, yet he still manages to focus on his career. His career-oriented fans are ecstatic! But, Ze Ge, could you please film more of Jingyi's daily life? Our brother, aside from the nine-grid selfie on his debut day, hasn't posted a selfie for months. His Weibo is full of reposts of various advertisements and official account videos. He's living like a robot! Hey, Gu Jingyi, you're only 20! With a face like yours, a figure like yours... shouldn't you be posting a few photos on Weibo every now and then, making your fans swoon?]
Lin Ze scrolled through his feed and read this post aloud.

The voice was like a human machine, devoid of any emotion.

"So, Ze Ge, you should listen to more of the fans' voices. In the future, this will become a major trend. The voices from agents will be more authentic and have a more down-to-earth feel."

Gu Jingyi said meaningfully, "Actually, the one who does this best is still the 'Crown Prince'."

The "Crown Prince" and his assistant "Little Fatty" operated this system in a very commercial way, giving Gu Jingyi a lot of room for thought.

If the Crown Prince, with his merely decent face, can attract countless female fans with this kind of look, then Gu Jingyi's top-tier face, which can be described as a "trump card," will only achieve an even higher level of success in this area.

After all, it's only 2018 now. Although otome games have existed for a long time, they are not as ubiquitous as they are in later years.

Celebrities use their agents' accounts to post these third-person perspective photos, giving fans the feeling of playing a "live-action otome game".

The details of daily life and the warmth of everyday life are so rich, it makes for a better dream.

"Okay, I understand. Jingyi, I'll be going now. A game IP wants to collaborate with us; I'll go and make the arrangements."

After Lin Ze finished speaking, he got back into the nanny car and drove away.

After watching Lin Ze leave, Gu Jingyi went directly to the backstage area through the side door.

This year is different from last year when he first returned to China. Back then, Gu Jingyi was just a pretty face with nothing else to offer.

As soon as he entered, Gu Jingyi received a warm welcome from the organizers.

"Jingyi, you're here. Our stylist team is all set and has been waiting in the airport lounge."

"Okay, I'll be right away."

Gu Jingyi nodded, smiling as he spoke.

The makeup was completed quickly; the makeup artist simply applied a light layer of powder to Gu Jingyi's face and then applied lip balm. Gu Jingyi was already strikingly handsome.

There wasn't much room for her to improvise, so she just trimmed Gu Jingyi's sideburns as well.

"Thank you, sister, your cooking is really good."

Today is Gu Jingyi's birthday, and the makeup artist who usually does his makeup isn't with him.

After all, movie promotions are really exhausting, with city locations changing constantly throughout the day.

She spent more than half her time on the road, and she didn't want to carry a big makeup case and run after Gu Jingyi.

Gu Jingyi didn't care; he didn't actually wear makeup much.

Aside from filming TV series or movies, where actors are required to change their appearance due to the characteristics of the character.

Gu Jingyi always wears very light makeup to any event; her striking features are visually impactful and require no further embellishment.

For his 20th birthday meet-and-greet, Huace specially rented a small exhibition hall in the IFC Mall in Sichuan and Chongqing.

Another 500 fans were selected to attend the event by drawing lots from high-level super topic fans.

Furthermore, Gu Jingyi and Huace also prepared gifts for these lucky fans.

Gu Jingyi endorses samples of the entire Laneige product line, Laiyifen gift sets, and Dior Sauvage fragrance, among others.

This type of action is also known as "reverse support," which is something idols prepare for their fans.

In addition, Huace has also prepared some Gu Jingyi merchandise, including autographed cards, which will be given away as a giveaway at the event.

This time, it angered those wealthy female fans, who directly spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy tickets for the meet-and-greet.

With such a generous reward, some fans couldn't resist the temptation and actually transferred their spots.

The selection process for these spots began a month before Gu Jingyi's birthday, and when Huace announced it, it immediately caused a huge stir among the "Jingfei" fans.

Fans who met the criteria for the Super Topic level signed up like crazy, causing the Weibo lottery mini-program to crash repeatedly.

If Huace was just trying to make money, they would have simply rented a venue that could accommodate tens of thousands of people for Gu Jingyi.

Anyway, I'll be singing at the birthday fan meeting, probably around three songs.

It doesn't matter if the concert doesn't meet the approval standards. "Rapper is here" is tone-deaf and has invited a bunch of friends to fill in the gaps.

Wearing sunglasses and exuding a cool and aloof air, his "devilish voice" lasted for less than two songs.

He kept playing "Fan Talk" with fans to fill up the time, and then played an entire episode of his new drama in front of all his fans.

This is supposed to be a concert? As soon as the news spread, fans with their own idol's picture on their profile pictures started flooding the comments section.

If Huace can be shameless, then Gu Jingyi can lower his personal standards.

Gu Jingyi could do that too.

However, Gu Jingyi strongly opposed this approach, feeling it was beneath him.

Therefore, this birthday fan meeting was even a loss-making event. The limited number of 500 spots also made the "Jingfei" fans very dissatisfied, as it was nothing compared to Gu Jingyi's unparalleled popularity.

Sold out in seconds; many users didn't even see the icon light up before they were told they had missed out.

Left with no other choice, they had to pay more to acquire it.

After all, among Gu Jingyi's die-hard fans, there are a large number of wealthy fans. They are all loyal fans who are willing to spend a fortune to support all of their idol's activities.

The series of celebratory events that fans funded to celebrate his coming-of-age birthday are the best proof of this.

Besides subway advertisements, "Jingfei" fans have many other forms of support.

These include bus body advertisements and donations made in Gu Jingyi's name to establish "Hope Primary Schools."

Of course, this also includes the birthday gifts that were sent from all over the world to Huace, filling several rooms to the brim.

Gu Jingyi didn't know what others thought, but his teammates reacted quickly.

The "Three Moonflowers," who were on good terms with him, all sent their blessings, but only one person came and started drinking tea.

"Jingyi, being a top influencer really makes a difference!"

An ordinary sentence, plus a wavy emoticon.

Although he hadn't met Chen Linong yet, Gu Jingyi could tell that the kid hadn't come up with anything good.

That one sentence alone is so sour.

He replied directly, "Yeah, it's definitely different. You can try it too, isn't your birthday coming up soon?"

Chen Linong's birthday is on October 4th, which is less than a week apart from Gu Jingyi's birthday.

Although the day of reckoning hasn't come yet, judging from the sheer number of oranges in his house, he's definitely not satisfied.

Just from the fraction of Gu Jingyi's "oranges," one could tell that Chen Linong's birthday celebration was destined to be unsuccessful.

Birthday treatment is the best indicator of the popularity differences among members of a group; those with higher popularity will naturally receive massive fan support for their birthday celebrations.

Their popularity is different, so their treatment is naturally quite different.

They're clearly from the same group...

This is the true and cruel reality of the entertainment industry. Don't be fooled by how glamorous each celebrity seems.

In truth, only each person knows the bitterness and hardship they experience.

If phenomenal groups like Milkball are like this, then other boy groups are even more so.

Sure enough, Chen Linong sent another message after only a short while.

"Your fans directly bought on-the-ground promotions, nationwide no less. Jingyi, your fans are so rich."

Gu Jingyi almost laughed when he saw the message.

You're such a sour grapes in the Milk Foam Forest, your words are full of sarcasm.

What he said was also an objective fact, in order to give Gu Jingyi a grand birthday celebration.

Gu Jingyi's die-hard fans, led by a few wealthy and influential fans, raised funds and managed to collect half of the money needed to buy Huace.

With so much funding from Orange, the fans of "Jingfei" have already made enough money from their nationwide support efforts.

"Work hard and hone your skills. When you become famous, you'll be able to enjoy the rewards."

"All right…"

Actually, we can't entirely blame Chen Linong. Let's take a look at the kind of support Gu Jingyi received on his 20th birthday.

Today, in all provincial capitals across the country.

Fans have booked out the entire row of street signs, stretching for one or two hundred meters, on both sides of the commercial street and subway passage.

No matter where you look, the streets are lined with high-definition posters of Gu Jingyi.

The news and photos taken on location immediately jumped into the top three of Weibo's trending topics after being posted by passersby.

The "Consort Jing" fans also bought prime advertising space in commercial centers of major first-tier cities and provincial capitals across the country for Gu Jingyi, showing off his status.

If ordinary people posting online are just sharing, then fans of other celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry are intimidated by the wealth and extravagance of the "Jingfei" fans.

They then marveled at Gu Jingyi's current popularity, followed by a few sarcastic remarks.

Although it was launched, it was immediately overwhelmed by the "Jingfei" fans.

But they still started playing with the sword.

Whether we can win or not doesn't matter; as long as we can annoy Gu Jingyi and his fans, that's enough.

The fans were filled with righteous indignation and wanted to fight back for Gu Jingyi.

However, Gu Jingyi didn't care about any of this.

He's a top-tier celebrity, so there's no need for him to bother with these people.

As 15 PM approached the fan meeting, Gu Jingyi could even hear some commotion.

"Teacher Gu, the stage is still being set up. There are still 20 minutes before you go on stage, please wait patiently."

The organizers also sent a staff member who has been liaising with Gu Jingyi.

"All of that is fine. What I want to ask is, who will be the host of my fan meeting? It's not one of those female idols from Wajijiwa Entertainment, is it...?"

Gu Jingyi was referring to Rocket Girls, a group currently managed by Wajijiwa Entertainment.

Backed by Tencent and Hunan TV, the resources are unimaginably good.

Releasing albums and appearing on variety shows, iQiyi's ability to create stars is far superior.

"No, don't worry, Teacher Gu. The host is from Hunan TV, so you can rest assured about his professional competence."

"Xenna?"

Gu Jingyi asked tentatively.

"It's Wu Xin."

The other person looked embarrassed for a moment, but still gave an answer.

"Okay, I'm determined."

Actually, whichever female host from Hunan TV is chosen to host the show, it will be sufficient.

Essentially, Gu Jingyi was just going on stage to play some games, interact with the fans, and sing a few songs.

The hosting was merely the icing on the cake, connecting Gu Jingyi's actions.

This is essentially a unique mini-concert that requires the performers to be both popular and talented.

Looking at the entire Chinese entertainment industry, only Gu Jingyi is qualified.

(End of this chapter)