Chapter 22: Fan Event (Part 1)

Inside and outside Chunming Pavilion were crowded with people, bustling with activity.

Jian Mingzhou walked into the venue wearing a mask.

The autograph session wouldn’t start until two o’clock, so he went to A Pavilion to browse fan merchandise first.

As soon as he entered the venue, he saw a variety of booths, and people dressed as anime characters were walking in between.

Jian Mingzhou’s eyes sparkled, looking around.

—Oh, oh, oh!!!

The person is cosplaying as “Director Zhe” from “Office XX”!

Over there, at the booth, there were also the work ID and school badge from “Teach Me, Teacher”!

…

He suddenly felt like a fish in water and began to sweep through the fan merchandise at various booths.

“How much is this?”

The young lady at the booth saw him and was first surprised, then stunned by his appearance. After a moment of hesitation, she cautiously asked, “Are you a little brother or a little sister?”

Jian Mingzhou didn’t want to call himself a “little brother.” “On the surface, I’m a little sister.”

“Wow~ I’m sorry, it’s rare. So, brother… um, brother, what do you want?”

…There was no need to be so formal.

Jian Mingzhou modestly said, “All.”

The other party immediately looked at him as “a person of taste” and wrapped up a bunch of fan merchandise for him, including some extra goodies.

“Good brother, take them all.”

After saying that, she patted him on the shoulder solemnly.

Jian Mingzhou inexplicably felt like he was about to set off on a journey. “…Thank you.”

He shook his head and turned away. He must have been overly suspicious. Blame it on Xia Ye for constantly poisoning him.

Probably thinking of something and making it happen.

Just as he walked out of the booth area, Jian Mingzhou’s phone vibrated. Surprisingly, Xia Ye called him. He hesitated between “answering the phone and being poisoned” and “not answering the phone and being stabbed” for a moment.

In the end, he chose the former, “Hello?”

Xia Ye’s voice came through, “How is it? Have you arrived at the venue?”

Jian Mingzhou, carrying a big bag of fan merchandise, said, “I’ve already eaten and am two-thirds full.”

“… Okay, have you paid attention to keeping a low profile?”

“Subjectively, yes.”

While talking, a group of cosplayers happened to pass by. One of them, who was dressed as a fallen angel, turned around, and Jian Mingzhou got a pair of wings slapped on his face. “Uh…!”

Feathers fluttered away.

He shook his head and reassured himself, “I got slapped in the face with wings, but objectively, there should be no sense of existence.”

Xia Ye found it incomprehensible, “How can there be wings in the teacher-student and office-themed special?”

“Have you forgotten about the novel ‘Heavenly Civil Servant’?”

“Dying and still having to go to work—”

The successful internal circling hit Xia Ye, who was steadfastly holding his position! He took a deep breath and angrily hung up the phone with a fierce expression.

…Harming the sensitive editor-in-chief again.

Jian Mingzhou helplessly put down his phone and continued his meal.

–

By the time he was 80% full, it was already two o’clock.

The signing event at the adjacent B Pavilion was about to begin.

When he passed by, he saw a long line in front of the signing booth, densely packed.

Jian Mingzhou’s priority was to get the signatures of Mao Wei and Xiao Ling. He decided to go to Mao Wei’s booth first.

The still queue was different from the lively merchandise area.

Jian Mingzhou stood in the crowd, taller than most of the girls around him, unintentionally attracting the attention of those nearby. He tried to maintain a calm mindset and finally reached the front of Mao Wei’s line.

Mao Wei, as her name suggested, was a cute girl wearing a black beret and sporting a pair of low twin tails.

Jian Mingzhou suppressed his excited emotions by saying, “Hello, Teacher Mao Wei.”

Since earlier, he has attracted the attention of the people around him. Now that he spoke, his voice was clear and gentle, like a mist under the mask, arousing the curiosity of those nearby.

A wave of excited voices erupted around him:

“Wow! His voice is so nice, and he looks like a handsome guy!”

Mao Wei also exclaimed, covering her mouth, looking even more excited than Jian Mingzhou. “I-I have male fans!?”

Jian Mingzhou’s face felt a bit warm. “Yes.”

Perhaps due to his frequent interactions with authors as an editor, when he spoke, there was a sincere and calming tone in his voice, “Teacher Mao Wei’s audience is not limited… because the content is excellent, not just because it’s BL.”

Mao Wei seemed to be touched suddenly, choked up, and quickly lowered her head. “Ah, thank… thank you. Let me sign for you. What’s your name?”

“Mingzhou. Bright ‘Ming’ and Boat ‘Zhou.'”

“Oh, Mingzhou…”

They weren’t from the same publishing company. Mao Wei wrote the signature, while Jian Mingzhou felt a bit familiar but couldn’t remember where he had heard it. He shrugged it off after the signing without thinking too much.

She handed over the signed items, her eyes shining. “Thank you for liking it!”

Jian Mingzhou also felt a slight flutter in his heart, “Teacher, good luck with your new work!”

After leaving the queue, he looked at the signature in his hand, calming his emotions. As expected, he had to personally attend the signing event.

He then turned and went to Xiao Ling’s booth.

–

At the entrance of Chunming Pavilion.

As soon as He Yi and the others entered the venue, they saw a huge crowd inside.

Banners hung on various booths:

[Booth Owner: Single, Product Must Marry!]

[Cold Pit for 30,000 Years, Living in the Arctic Circle, Pity]

Each banner was boldly displayed, and He Yi was caught off guard. Following the banners, he read aloud,

“What’s this? Younger man, good, younger man, marvelous, call brother during the day, brother at night… What the hell!”

He suddenly turned red and closed his eyes, muttering, “Broad daylight. The world’s going downhill.”

Zhou Xuyang also couldn’t stand it, giving him a punch on the forehead. “Stop babbling, let’s go!”

Xie Jing, scanning the area, calmly put his hands in his pockets.

Fortunately, there were many people with exaggerated costumes around them, so the three of them going together didn’t seem as eye-catching as they had imagined.

He Yi breathed a sigh of relief and looked around. “Where’s the signing event? Why are all these small booths here?”

Xie Jing spoke, “Chunming Pavilion is divided into AB zones. This is A Pavilion. If they don’t have what you want, try B Pavilion.”

“Oh…” He Yi took out his phone and looked at the list. “Then let’s buy some merchandise for Xiao Yu first.”

Zhou Xuyang glanced at him and asked, “More merchandise?”

“She came all the way here!”

“…”

Xie Jing casually raised his chin and said, “Let’s go.”

Following the list given by He Yu, they looked for each booth one by one. Just as they arrived at a booth, the booth owner suddenly became spirited, strategically tilting backward.

“What’s happening today? Why are there so many big brothers?”

He Yi was puzzled. “What big brothers?”

“Hey, I mean you guys! Just now, there was a really sophisticated brother who came, and he was very handsome.” The booth owner continued enthusiastically, “Wearing a mask and a beige…!”

Buzz… Xie Jing’s phone vibrated. It was a call. He walked a few steps away, lifted his hand, and answered the call.

During his call, the booth owner kept talking:

“…Of course, you guys are handsome too. So, how about some food, big brothers?”

“Ah, what… food?” He Yi was confused.

The booth owner, a supreme E-person, spread her arms indulgently and patiently opened up a pile of notebooks and merchandise.

“All of these are food.”

“…”

As they were talking, Xie Jing suddenly called He Yi and put away his phone. “You seem to be blending in well. You probably don’t need three people to act. Call me when you’re done with the signing event.”

He Yi said, “Eh! Where are you going?”

Xie Jing had already turned and headed towards B Pavilion, “Have some business to attend to.”

“What? Xie Jing—”

Crossing the venue was the entrance to the B Pavilion. On the west side of B Pavilion was a staff passage leading to the office area.

He raised his hand to adjust his hat, walking in that direction.

–

In front of Xiao Ling’s signing booth, there was also a long line.

Jian Mingzhou had just come down from Mao Wei’s booth, still a bit worried that the small commotion he had caused earlier might be too attention-grabbing.

He was thinking, and then the phone vibrated with a “buzz.”

【Editor-in-chief】: I found you, haha.

Jian Mingzhou’s heart suddenly tightened! It seems it’s still…

【Editor-in-chief】: [Image]

Opening it, the picture was a view of the entire venue from the second floor. Jian Mingzhou concentrated for two seconds, then vigorously swiped through the photos, finally finding his own head in the vast crowd.

“…”

He affectionately replied, “Are your eyes all blind?”

【Editor-in-chief】: …^▽^

After confirming that he was still concealed, he no longer paid attention to Xia Ye, who was looking for trouble. He calmly put away his phone.

After a long wait in the queue, it finally reached Jian Mingzhou.

This wasn’t his first time attending a signing event with Xiaoling.

In stark contrast to Mao Wie, Xiaoling, at the age of 35, was a male BL manga artist who looked chic and carefree. He behaved somewhat casually, with a husky voice.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Teacher Xiaoling.”

Jian Mingzhou’s breath was slightly held. As soon as he spoke, Xiaoling suddenly looked up at him.

“Oh~ I remember you; you’re here again.”

Jian Mingzhou was stunned, and unexpectedly, Xiaoling remembered him. His gaze above the mask brightened a bit.

“I really like Teacher Xiaoling.”

“Thank you, thank you~ I remember every bit of love.” Xiaoling pressed the signature pen against his chest and said melodiously, “I remember, your name is Qingzhou, right?”

“…”

Jian Mingzhou took a slow breath.

Mixing up the characters “Qing” and “Ming,” isn’t it a bit ominous?

He hesitated for a while, then corrected in a soft voice, “Mingzhou, teacher.”

Xiaoling paused for a moment, then made a flirtatious sound, “Sao Ao Rui~” and then handed him a golden pen, “Apologies, old fan service, let me give you the most dazzling To-sign!”

After finishing writing, he personally inserted it into the book, presenting an appearance that couldn’t be better: “Here you go, Mingzhou.”

Jian Mingzhou instantly forgave him, and his heart surged with excitement. “Hmm…!”

Receiving that dazzling to-sign, he turned and walked away from the queue.

Everyone who needed to be in the queue had gone; mission accomplished!

He just didn’t know if Xie Jing had returned home at this time…

There were too many ominous signs recently, coupled with Xia Ye’s demonic whispers that lingered in his mind. Jian Mingzhou sent a message while squeezing out of the crowd.

【Mingzhou】: Xiaojing, have you gone home?

The message came back in a second, but it was unclear what the other party was doing, and the reply was quite short.

【Jing】: Not yet.

Jian Mingzhou: Okay, that’s good.

【Mingzhou】: How long will it take for you to go back?

【Jing】: Not sure, what’s up?

While exchanging messages, he had just walked out of the queue.

The crowded crowd faded away from the surroundings, blurry in the peripheral vision.

Two figures walked through the crowd, heading towards each other.

Jian Mingzhou typed with his head down and casually found a reason: “Nothing; I brought something back for you. -^0^-

As soon as the message was sent, there was a sudden “buzz” from the front.

He raised his head and met eyes with Xie Jing, who was also looking up from his phone.

Both of them stopped at the same time: “!”