In the afternoon, the fight for readers intensified.
Morning Star played a dirty trick by offering everyone in line a 3 RMB coupon for milk tea, so people could immediately get a cup of plain milk tea at the nearby milk tea shop.
Standing in line was already tiring enough in the cold winter, so a free milk tea was very enticing. Some girls who were hesitating at first naturally joined Morning Star's line when they saw the coupon.
The line on their side grew longer and longer, curving around the street corner.
The Golden Crow side didn't lack people either. Judging from the demographic makeup of the crowd, it spanned three generations from young to old, so its target audience was actually broader than Morning Star's.
But in the aerial photos taken by drones, it was Morning Star's densely packed crowds that looked slightly larger.
Mr. Tao was elated with the initial success. He came over to Golden Crow's venue to brag.
"My, the air is so nice here!" As soon as he came in, he exaggeratedly exclaimed, "There are too many people on our side, hot and stuffy. I came over to breathe some fresh air."
Resentful glares from all Golden Crow staff were focused on him.
Mr. Tao was even more smug. With mock concern, he said, "President Kang, you've spent a lot promoting this, haven't you? Tsk tsk, what a pity."
Kang Mu Cheng glanced at him. "What brings you here, Mr. Tao?"
"I came to see you guys! We're competitors but also friends. Literature connects us all in the end. If there's a chance, we ought to communicate more, right?" Mr. Tao's mouth kept blabbering.
Kang Mu Cheng: "Is that so?"
"Of course! Let's go for drinks tonight to celebrate. My treat," said Mr. Tao, smiling but stabbing ruthlessly with his words. "I booked a restaurant and prepared tens of thousands worth of alcohol. President Kang, do me the honor."
Kang Mu Cheng didn't reply, his gaze settling on the line in front of Jian Jing.
Mr. Tao peeked over. "Oh my, Little Jing Jing is here too. I wonder how Devil Doctor 2 turned out. After that big incident last time, I was worried sick. How awful, just awful. She can't end up in the hospital again. President Kang, you have to keep an eye on her. She's so young, what difficulties can she not overcome? Think positive, that's the way."
His words sounded sympathetic, but listening left a sharper sting than curses could.
Kang Mu Cheng turned his head and smiled coldly. "Spare me your concern."
Mr. Tao didn't get mad. In fact he looked even happier.
Of course, Jian Jing was oblivious to all this.
Today she was just a tool for attracting customers. Head down signing book after book, she eventually forgot what her own name looked like.
But even so, the show had to go on.
"Hello," she recited for the Nth time, asking the reader in front of her, "What would you like me to write?"
The person said, "Jiang Bai Yan."
Jian Jing: "?"
She looked up puzzled, seeing a gorgeous face hidden under a baseball cap and face mask.
He removed the mask. His beautiful visage seemed carved from ivory under the light. "Jiang for river, Bai for white, Yan from fireworks."
Jian Jing: "???" This was trouble.
Her first reaction was to lower her voice. "Did you sneak out?"
"I just came to buy books," Jiang Bai Yan said smiling. "Quick, sign for me."
Jian Jing frowned, signing swiftly.
But in order to arrange as many people inside the auditorium as possible, the lines were designed with little space between each person.
It didn't take long for others to notice something off about Jiang Bai Yan. By the time he removed his mask, no one could resist crowding over for a closer look.
Jiang Bai Yan desperately kept his head low.
The bystanders eagerly surrounded him, asking, "Are you Jiang Bai Yan?"
"Ah, it's Jiang Bai Yan!"
"Oh my God!"
"Jiang Bai Yan!!"
A few shouts were enough for the entire auditorium to stir excitedly.
Jiang Bai Yan was jostled back by the enthusiastic fans. His baseball cap fell off.
No doubt about it now.
"Can I get an autograph?"
"Sign for me please."
The smarter ones had already grabbed copies of Hide and Seek Child nearby and held them high. "Teacher Jian, Little Bai, sign for me please!"
Jiang Bai Yan said, "I only came for an autograph."
Crowd: "Sign for me!!!!"
He looked pleadingly to Jian Jing. She glanced at him, then the improbable number of Hide and Seek Child copies around them. She understood the situation well enough.
She handed Devil Doctor back to Jiang Bai Yan.
He held up the book in hand. "Everyone please don't crowd. I just came to buy books and will leave soon. Please don't disturb the authors."
Leave soon? Then they had to hurry.
The line instantly descended into chaos, and some tried cutting ahead.
Jiang Bai Yan gazed pitifully at Jian Jing.
She smiled.
Kang Mu Cheng came over and whispered something. His assistant brought a chair to place beside them.
Jiang Bai Yan sat next to Jian Jing and spoke into the mic, his voice clear and melodious. "Alright everyone, don't crowd. I'll sit for a bit. You should all line up properly."
Seeing him sit, the pushing stopped, though the crowd's excitement grew.
After all, he was a celebrity. A real, live celebrity.
Even non-fans who came just to see would surely ask for an autograph when such a handsome star was right before their eyes. Turning from passerby to fan on the spot was definitely possible.
Mr. Tao knew things had taken a bad turn and resentfully said, "President Kang, you're ruthless."
"Is the air too stifling here?" Kang Mu Cheng mildly replied. "If so, you should head back and rest."
Mr. Tao huffed angrily, "No need for you to say it, humph!"
He jogged away.
On the other side of the street in a different hotel, girls made up most of the crowd. Dressed up nicely, they held warm milk tea in hand, chatting and taking selfies to post on social media. Lively and bustling.
At one signing table, the newly debuted but already wildly popular Cinderella-like author smiled warmly, occasionally exchanging words in English or French with her accompanying husband.
The husband looked rather aloof, befitting an English gentleman's strictness, but now and then he revealed an indulgent, affectionate smile at his wife, softly calling her "Darling".
Amidst the crowd came occasional swoons of "How sweet!" "So loving!"
No one cared to question if it was staged. It didn't matter.
Just then however, someone suddenly yelled, "Jiang Bai Yan is across the street!"
A commotion swept through the room.
"He's signing across the street!" Another shout, spurring people to rush out. "Hurry, or we'll miss him!"
People tended to blindly follow others. Although they hadn't personally witnessed anything, with people leaving, those farther back in line hesitated, thinking it didn't hurt to go take a look since their turn wasn't up anyway. They headed out after the others.
About ten percent had left the line.
The remaining people stayed put, still skeptical in case it was a ruse.
But soon, crowds were visible gathering outside the hotel across the street. Very professional, they held banners, waved light sticks, and chanted fan chants.
If even the fans showed up, it must be real!
Hearts wavered. Girls whispered among themselves.
"Jiang Bai Yan, he's the one who acted in that drama XX right?"
"That's right, the Hide and Seek he starred in was written by Golden Crow's author."
"Ah, my friend posted a video on Moments. Look!"
Girls immediately flocked around that one holding up her phone.
On the tiny screen they saw a dazzling pretty boy sitting there, and next to him, a grey-haired young lady in a beret.
Honestly, this pairing seemed much more eye-catching than Morning Star's side.
"You can get Hide and Seek signed over there! Both the author and main actor!" said someone in the crowd, plucking the girls' heartstrings. "A chance like this is once in a blue moon! If you miss it, there definitely won't be a next time!"
"The line goes out the door already. Go quick or they'll leave!"
There was a celebrity!
Limited edition! One of a kind!
Almost sold out! Buy it quick or it'll be gone! You're already here!
Each line hit the mark perfectly.
Unable to restrain their enthused hearts, the girls decisively abandoned the questionable European aristocrat and ran into the arms of the trending hot star.
It had to be said, although Morning Star invited some girl groups to attract male fans, their biggest audience base overlapped completely with Jiang Bai Yan's fans - young girls.
And Kang Mu Cheng's consecutive maneuvers were just as ruthless as Mr. Tao's.
He directly poached the readers Morning Star had gathered.
Mr. Tao was hopping mad.
No shame! None at all!
Even if we at Morning Star invited entertainment circle celebrities, doesn't Golden Crow usually aim for class, never using stars? This is going too far!!
He sinisterly thought, no matter how much you profit, inviting such a big shot star will bleed you dry in the end.
Thinking so made him feel a bit better.
But Kang Mu Cheng immediately called him out for exploiting Jian Jing's suicide attempt.
Mr. Tao was furious. How dare he!
"Tao Zong, I'm really sorry, I can't make it to dinner tonight," said Kang Mu Cheng. "I didn't expect Jian Jing to have such a big fan who came over without a word. I'll have to take them out for a meal no matter what."
Tao Zong: "Damn you!"
Kang Mu Cheng: "Let's reschedule next time."
*
Jian Jing took off her coat and drank a cup of iced milk tea, but she was still dizzy and disoriented.
There were too many people.
She had thought that with the limited stock of Hide and Seek, she would at most sign a hundred or so copies with Jiang BaiYan, and that would be the end of it. But Kang Mu Cheng came prepared.
He brought over several boxes of Hide and Seek posters.
Buy Demon 2 and get a free Hide and Seek poster. Buy Demon 1+2 set and get signed photos of Hide and Seek and the TV drama version of Demon Doctor.
Jiang BaiYan said, "This is Jian Jing's signing event. I can only sign Hide and Seek for her."
He also said, "I only came to buy Demon Doctor 2. I read 1 and it was really good! So I came over today thinking I could read it today."
With words like that, people had to buy a copy to show support.
This momentum continued until 4pm in the afternoon.
Jiang BaiYan left after that. But he was very thoughtful - he immediately posted a signed photo on Weibo after leaving:
Jiang BaiYan V:
Got the new book! Hope I can finish reading it before bed tonight~
[book.JPG]
The first recommended book of the new year is available online and offline. With his promotion, online sales also went up.
What fan doesn't want the same item as their idol? Clothes may be expensive but books are definitely affordable.
Jian Jing kept signing and signing, relying solely on the milk tea to keep her going. By the time she came to her senses, it was already past 7pm.
"No more people?" She heaved a secret sigh of relief.
Kang Mu Cheng: "No more books."
Jian Jing: "!?"
He had an unconcealable smile between his brows: "10,000 new books, 3,000 sets, you've signed them all."
Jian Jing was stunned for a moment before letting out a wail: "No wonder my wrist feels like it's going to fall off, 10,000 plus... heavens!" For a signing event on-site, 3,000 copies was not considered little, and 5,000 could be considered a small explosion.
Signing over 10,000 copies, she could trend on hot search today.
"Apply this." Kang Mu Cheng had long prepared cooling pads and Yunnan Baiyao, "Let's go, time for dinner."
As Jian Jing sprayed medicine, she asked: "Did you plan all this today?"
Kang Mu Cheng gave a concise reply: "I met Qiu Lin earlier."
Jian Jing introduced him to build connections, but how could he use her favor for someone else? Of course it had to be returned to her.
So the two sides collaborated. Qiu Lin allowed Jiang BaiYan to come hype Jian Jing, and she got fans to fulfill her request that day.
And Kang Mu Cheng said that if Demon 2 were to be filmed, they would strongly recommend Jiang BaiYan for the role.
The "star goes out in disguise to buy books and is accidentally discovered by fans" was just like airport photos, staged behind the scenes.
Jian Jing sighed, but said: "There were more people, but the hype wasn't for me."
"Jiang BaiYan was just a gust of wind, only sending you part of the way. Whether this spark catches fire depends on you yourself," said Kang Mu Cheng. "But I have faith in you, Demon 2 will definitely be a hit."
