Volume 4 Chapter 59: Has Yi Xiao Lost Her Mind?
Yi Xiao felt a little embarrassed.
In her imagination, even if she covered herself very tightly, careful fans would still recognize her. Then a small group would gather around her first.
After that, when Lin Lin started her performance, Yi Xiao would appear not far from the stage. Naturally, Lin Lin’s show would become completely full, with no empty seats.
But…
Reality seemed a little different from what she imagined.
Looking at the huge crowd under Lin Lin’s booth, Yi Xiao felt confused.
Virtual streamers… are they really this popular?
“Hey? You’re also a fan of Sister Yi Xiao, right?”
“Yes, yes, sis. Um, can I ask, is this the place for Sister Yi Xiao’s fan meeting today?”
“Ah, I’m not sure. I just saw a lot of people coming this way, so I followed. It should be, right? Hehe, I’m really looking forward to meeting Sister Yi Xiao!”
Under the booth of the Demi-Human Girl Trio, a group of fans was talking like this.
This was the reason why there were so many people there.
First, there were the real fans of the Demi-Human Girl Trio. They were very passionate. They came from online to the comic convention and gathered early to wait for the performance. At this convention, there was only one performance stage, so their gathering attracted even more attention.
Then, there were passersby who were drawn over by the crowd holding support signs. Most of them were also fans of anime and related culture. They felt that an offline performance by a virtual streamer sounded interesting, so they stayed to watch for fun.
Finally, there were Yi Xiao’s fans who didn’t know the full story. They saw a big crowd and noticed the support signs from the back, but couldn’t see what was written on them. So they naturally thought this must be Yi Xiao’s stage and came over as well.
Because the first group arrived early and stood very close to the front, they blocked the view of the later fans. Even though the people at the back tried hard to squeeze forward, there were simply too many people. From so far away, they couldn’t clearly see what was happening on the stage.
And just like that, the Demi-Human Girl Trio’s booth, which didn’t even do much promotion, became the brightest spot at the convention.
The line stretched all the way to the wall at the other end. There were no seats at all. The place was very noisy. Except for fans who were standing very close to each other, most people couldn’t clearly hear what was going on. It was impossible to tell whether Yi Xiao was really appearing there.
Yi Xiao watched this scene awkwardly.
She felt like… somehow… she had already lost.
Beside her, her blond assistant was still shouting excitedly,
“Look, Xiao Xiao! So many of your fans are at that booth! I told you your career is still going strong, but you didn’t believe me! Haha!”
Yi Xiao’s eyebrow twitched. She glared at Luo Shangrong next to her. Her face became serious and tense as she looked at the stage.
Before, she had thought that just showing up would draw all the attention to herself.
But as an idol, Yi Xiao understood that once a crowd reached this size…
It could become troublesome.
Feeling worried, the girl took off her mask and sunglasses and showed her face directly.
Some passersby walked past her from time to time, but…
It seemed that none of them recognized her. Or maybe they simply didn’t notice who she was.
Yi Xiao’s fans had all gone to the booth area because someone had posted the location in the fan forum.
After waiting for a long time and seeing that no one came to find her, Yi Xiao finally started to panic.
What… what is going on?
If no one comes now, then when the performance starts and the music gets loud, how can she call people over?
In a hurry, Yi Xiao no longer cared about creating a “good show effect.” She quickly turned to her assistant, Luo Shangrong, and shouted,
“Go over there right now and call my fans here! Tell them I’m holding a short fan signing event here today!”
“O-Okay! I’ll go right now!”
But before Luo Shangrong could move, they suddenly heard the sound of a camera shutter.
Click.
Both of them were stunned.
Yi Xiao turned her head and saw Gao Liang standing nearby with a calm face, holding up his phone.
She froze for a moment, then quickly reached out to grab his phone.
But Gao Liang reacted fast. He quickly put the phone back into his pocket and gave Yi Xiao a cold smile.
“What did you take a picture of? A-Liang, stop messing around, okay?”
Yi Xiao frowned. As an idol, she was very sensitive about being secretly filmed. But strangely, she couldn’t really get angry at Gao Liang.
Gao Liang didn’t say much. He answered calmly.
“I just recorded a short video comparing your side and the popularity of that booth. A former national idol standing in an empty place, and a virtual streamer with a huge crowd. Sounds like a good topic, doesn’t it?”
Seeing her childhood friend wave his hand casually, Yi Xiao’s face suddenly became serious.
She knew very well that if he paid media accounts to push this kind of story, then for the next period of time, her haters and people who didn’t know the truth would have a field day.
Public opinion would not be good for her. And for an idol, having a good public image is very important.
“A-Liang, do you think this can defeat me? Hah, that’s too naive. I can just call my fans over later and record another video. Isn’t that easy to explain everything clearly?”
“And won’t your haters say those people were hired actors? Who came first and who came later, what do you think?”
Gao Liang waved his hand and said this lightly.
Yi Xiao immediately felt a lot of pressure. Even so, she kept her voice steady and tried not to start a fight.
“Don’t make this so ugly, A-Liang. I never wanted to harm you!”
“Neither did I!”
Gao Liang replied firmly. Then he pointed at the crowd in the distance.
“I saw the post you made, and I guessed what you were planning. You know very well why you came to this comic convention. I… I only have one condition. If you agree, I’ll delete that video right away. It won’t hurt you at all. And…”
He sighed and continued,
“Didn’t you say you wanted to talk to me? If you agree, I’ll talk with you. Just stop causing trouble for other people. And… what I really don’t understand is this, why are you going after a virtual streamer?”
This was what Gao Liang doubted the most.
At first, he thought that maybe Yi Xiao had found his social media account and discovered that he had donated a lot of money to a streamer named “Ari-chan.”
So, according to her way of thinking, she not only wanted to target Lin Lin, but also this Ari-chan, whom he had never even met in real life.
But…
Is that really reasonable?
Had Yi Xiao’s “witch hunt” gone a bit too far… almost like she was becoming obsessed?