"My package has arrived! Is anyone near the courier station? Help me pick it up!"
"Is it those bricks again?"
"Please, sisters, I'm still outside and won't be back until tonight. The dorm courier service will be closed by then!"
"I'll bring you midnight snacks! Please help me pick it up!"
"Send the code."
"Ahhh, thank you, sisters!!"
Because her album had arrived, Xie Yun was a bit distracted during her part-time job, just wanting to rush back to the dormitory to open it.
She heard that this time, Random Entertainment's album came with new merchandise, and Pei Zhiping and the others had only hinted at it, with a question mark in the album configuration, leaving everyone in the dark about what the new merchandise looked like.
When she hurried back on the subway that evening, she was a bit impatient, frequently checking her phone to see how much time was left until she could reach the dormitory.
With the dormitory closing soon, the campus grounds and paths were filled with couples heading back to their dorms, while she was the only one rushing along the path with her backpack.
The dormitory supervisor was already standing at the entrance, urging the chatting couples to return to their rooms. Xie Yun barely made it back in time, not even catching her breath before rushing up the stairs to the fourth floor.
"…I'm back, I'm back!" Xie Yun panted heavily, leaning against the door.
Her roommates, who were soaking their feet and applying face masks, all paused and looked over. The dormitory leader, holding a basin, nodded and said, "Alright, next time during the 800-meter physical test, I'll stand at the finish line with the album. If you don't finish in under four and a half minutes, I'll open it for you."
Xie Yun took a deep breath and stood up straight, saying, "I think that idea works."
After catching her breath, she moved like a zombie to her desk. Seeing her about to open the album, the girl from the next bed also leaned over.
Only the two of them in the dormitory were fans of idols, though the girl from the next bed didn't follow Domestic Entertainment Industry.
"Open it quickly and see if there's new merchandise," she urged.
The news that Random Entertainment was releasing new merchandise with their albums had spread, and many fans were eagerly anticipating it, especially those who followed foreign idols, who were even more curious.
Random Entertainment handled the production and sale of albums in the Domestic Entertainment Industry, and this merchandise would not only be used for Random Entertainment's artists but also for other singers.
They didn't have much chance to get it, as they didn't follow Domestic Entertainment Industry. Unless they had a favorite artist, they wouldn't spend the money.
Xie Yun rummaged through her desk for her craft knife. Before opening the package, she sincerely bowed in prayer, and her roommate, knowing what to do, picked up her phone to film the unboxing video.
"…Where's my luck charm?" Xie Yun opened the courier box and then frantically searched for her luck charm, trying to use some superstition.
Her roommate even borrowed a phone from someone else to quietly play "Good Luck Comes" for her.
The two of them acted so neurotically while opening the box that it was already a common sight for the others.
Although they were busy with their own things, they were also curious if Xie Yun could get a complete set of Pei Zhiping's cards in one go.
The summer single album only had one version, but the inner pages were thick, which stabbed the heart of the roommate who followed foreign groups.
"Isn't your inner pages too thick?" She measured it with her fingers, about the thickness of a finger joint.
Xie Yun proudly shook her head, "That's why it's called a brick."
Her roommate: "…Your brick and my brick seem to mean different things."
Xie Yun casually flipped through the inner pages, half with summer scenery and half with real photos. A few flips were enough to show how eye-catching Pei Zhiping was, even with others around and even with sunset photos on the other page, Pei Zhiping's face could immediately grab their attention.
"Pei Zhiping is strikingly beautiful."
"My baby is just consistently good."
Flipping a few more pages, they found some cards and notes inside. Seeing the cards, the two of them instantly got excited. Xie Yun quickly grabbed her luck charm and sincerely bowed again, chanting, "Pei Zhiping, Pei Zhiping, Pei Zhiping!"
She closed her eyes and chanted for a long time, as if doing so would make Pei Zhiping appear when she opened the card.
After preparing herself mentally, Xie Yun flipped the card—
"Ahhhhhhh—" The two idol fans both screamed in surprise.
"You scared me!"
"Keep it down, you'll attract the neighbors!"
"Did you get it?"
Because it was a summer single, their MV and makeup had a sweet summer vibe.
In the selfie card, Pei Zhiping was in the sea, as it was a shallow beach, the water wasn't deep.
She knelt on the sand, not wearing goggles or an oxygen tank, dressed in a pink top and a shiny short skirt like pink seaweed, trying to keep her eyes open and looking at the camera.
Like a pink fish that had discovered the camera and curiously swam over.
"It's the mermaid Zhi Zhi! Ahhhh! Wow!" Xie Yun had seen this selfie card on Weibo earlier today. As soon as the card was released, it was dubbed a valuable card, and its price on the secondary market had been frequently adjusted.
Her roommate was amazed, "Wow… such amazing selfie skills, such a great idea for a selfie. If this was my idol, I'd be laughing in my sleep… my idol always looks like a boiled egg no matter how he takes a photo."
Xie Yun opened the remaining albums, but it seemed all her luck had been used up on the first one, as the cards she got from the others weren't Pei Zhiping's.
"I knew it… my bad luck!" Xie Yun sorted the cards while thinking about how many she would need to buy tomorrow at the mobile album cart.
She put the cards back into her card album, while the roommate sitting next to her looked at her album with envy, "…Should I start following Domestic Entertainment Industry?"
"Sure!" Xie Yun looked at her and asked, "Who do you like?"
Unlike Xie Yun, who mainly followed female idols, her roommate followed mostly male idols. Among male idols, there were very few who could take good selfies.
Usually, she mainly collected cards of her own idol but would also buy cards of other idols she liked.
Except for Random Entertainment's.
They were too expensive, with their cards never costing less than two hundred yuan. This price made it difficult for casual fans like her to collect them unless she bought the first batch of albums, otherwise it wouldn't be cost-effective.
"…I quite like Jiang Wangran," she thought for a moment and mentioned a male idol she liked from Domestic Entertainment Industry.
She had recently been able to see Jiang Wangran's videos on Letterbox Station, and after watching, she finished watching their group's variety show and then became a fan of Jiang Wangran.
Xie Yun casually picked up an object from her desk and played with it, then recalled her impression of Jiang Wangran, "Oh… I think I know your type."
"You like idols with a strong boyfriend vibe, preferably those who are a bit dominant."
"You figured that out."
"Hahahahahaha!"
The two of them laughed together, while the other two in the dormitory glanced at the two crazies.
"What's this? It's poking me," her laughing roommate quickly moved away from her, looking at the object in Xie Yun's hand.
Xie Yun also looked down, "…What is this?"
Although she was holding it, she didn't know what it was.
Xie Yun turned back to look at her desk, didn't find anything missing, and then asked the other two roommates, "Is this yours?"
The roommate who had just finished soaking her feet and was drying them looked up and said, "Isn't that something you just opened?"
"Ah?"
Xie Yun looked down again at the palm-sized acrylic square, which was only a bit thicker than a card, with sharp edges and a very square shape.
There were some patterns on it, but they were like filtered by water, very faint, and could only be seen under the light.
"Could this be the new merchandise?"
She flipped over the other albums and found a few more acrylic squares from her desk.
The acrylic squares that were close to each other stuck together, and Xie Yun seemed to understand how to use them.
At this moment, she remembered seeing a related Weibo post today, but she was working part-time at the time, and the boss had just walked in, so she quickly glanced at it and put her phone back in her pocket.
The roommate sitting next to her had already searched for this new merchandise.
"It's this!" She finished reading and handed the phone to Xie Yun.
Xie Yun leaned in to watch the video. The person in the video had pulled out dozens of albums, with acrylic pieces scattered all over the floor. Only a few specific pieces were attracted to each other, and the ones that stuck together happened to be six in total.
Just as the person in the video was about to pick it up, the acrylic pieces collided with each other, and a cube began to take shape. The video blogger assisted with their hands to complete the cube.
At the moment when the six pieces were attracted to each other, it lit up inside—
A miniature world appeared, with Pei Zhiping's scene from the MV inside the cube, as if that moment's scene had been encapsulated along with the sky and earth. The clouds above seemed like fine sand scattered on a blue cloth, the wind gently lifting her hair. Pei Zhiping sat on the edge of a cliff, looking into the distance, with waves washing up below.
Time seemed to have paused, not just within the cube's world, but also for the video blogger and the two of them watching the video.
"…………"
They were so stunned that they couldn't even utter the usual expletive "holy shit."
Xie Yun glanced at the few acrylic pieces on the table, including the one in her hand, which happened to be six in total, and the five on the table were already stuck together.
"……"
At that moment, her roommate came to her senses, "Holy shit! Wait! I remember Jiang Wangran's group is also making a comeback. Let me go check out how to buy their albums!"
"Holy shit! No! I—" She was at a loss, feeling like her worldview had suddenly collapsed. While their circle was still arguing over carpooling and pricing, others had already moved on to this level.
It was like a country bumpkin arriving at the Shanghai CBD, completely refreshing her understanding.
Xie Yun's hands trembled as she realized something from the video. This acrylic piece, like a trading card, was included with each album and was random.
Six acrylic pieces could be assembled into a palm-sized collectible figurine, which offered a God's-eye view of a miniature world.
She shook her hand as she placed the acrylic piece in her hand onto the table and pushed it over.
With a crisp "click," the six acrylic pieces were all attracted to each other.
Xie Yun quickly covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out loud.
Her roommate also knew what to do and immediately covered her head with her arm.
Random Entertainment, number one in the Domestic Entertainment Industry!
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