Chapter 20: 020

Chapter 20

They had seen frosted card faces before, and they had seen heat-sensitive card faces too, but frosted heat-sensitive cards truly opened a new world for them.

There weren't many idols in the domestic entertainment industry who released selfie photo cards, and even fewer who made them themselves. Some people in the group who only followed domestic celebrities found it impressive but didn't fully understand, while those deeply involved in the photo card circle knew just how enticing this card was.

Even if they didn't recognize who was on the card, they wanted to collect one just for this technology, to enrich their card collection.

"They say it's their company's proprietary technology."

"But I'm not familiar with the photo card circle, is this technology really impressive?"

"Sister, it's absolutely amazing! Because I've never seen anything like it before!"

"How does it work?! What's the principle behind it?!"

"College student: Let me just tell you there's magic in this world!"

"No joke, I've already left home, wait, I'll be there soon!"

"I forwarded it to our carpool group, they're all asking whose card this is. I'm dying of laughter, they're blindly rushing to get it."

"It's really tempting, and the card face is quite handsome."

"This card flipper is ready to make a move."

"One set per person?"

"I asked, they said one set per person, and the rest will be sold on the APP."

Jiang Juyou was leading her sister backstage, planning to get something to eat first. She brought her to the dining area where some self-serve food was laid out. "Eat something first and wait here for a bit, don't wander off. I'm going to a meeting, I'll be back soon. Message me if you need anything!"

Jiang Liuxing gave an OK gesture, still holding her sister's work badge. "Go ahead, don't worry about me, I won't move around."

It was still early, and the catering had just been delivered. The staff involved in this month-end evaluation backstage work were just arriving, checking the sound and lighting at the front, while there weren't many people backstage.

Jiang Liuxing took some milk and bread and sat down at a table, eating while playing with her phone.

Jiang Juyou, who had returned upstairs, strode into the conference room. This meeting was one she had just scheduled, and the employees had probably received the notice while commuting.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she rushed in. "The catering downstairs has arrived, it's available until 6 PM. If you get hungry today, you can go down anytime, there are also plenty of snacks."

After taking her seat, she got to the point, "The APP development is complete, but using concert ticket sales as the main feature is still insufficient. The marketing department should go back and study the APP, see how to promote it, and give a proposal before the end of the day."

"Understood," the marketing department staff replied.

She flipped through her phone, glancing at the company group chat. "I see the performance department mentioned they've taken on a show..." Jiang Juyou turned her gaze to Ge Mu.

Ge Mu was about to report on this matter, "Iron Skin Entertainment is planning to organize a tour for Li Nayou. They've officially announced shows in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen. They originally had one planned for Beijing too, but it fell through in the end. I've connected with them through a friend, and we're currently in negotiations."

Jiang Juyou paused, realizing that Iron Skin Entertainment might be her sister's management company.

"The question is, can Li Nayou fill the venue?" Not being very familiar with these matters, she added a question, "Does she have any data from previous commercial performances or tours?"

"Yes, this is Li Nayou's second tour. During her first tour, they used flat venues that could accommodate about a thousand people, with an occupancy rate of 70-80%," Ge Mu glanced at the iPad in his hand and continued, "That tour was three years ago. Since then, Li Nayou's popularity has increased quite a bit, and she has a drama series airing soon, so her fan activity is sufficient."

"Alright, go ahead with the negotiations then," Jiang Juyou nodded.

After finishing, Ge Mu hesitated for a moment, but finally raised his hand to indicate he had more to say: "Li Nayou's event is pretty much confirmed. There's another one, a birthday fan meeting for actor Cheng Zexin. He holds a fan meeting every year, but previously they were for dozens or hundreds of people..."

"What's the concern?" Jiang Juyou put away her phone and looked at him, noticing his hesitation.

Ge Mu, sitting on the right, rubbed his head, "It's not exactly a concern, it's more like we might need to take a big gamble. Cheng Zexin's new drama started airing yesterday, and today the platform data has already broken 6,000. He's the male lead, with potential for a small breakout."

"If we're willing to take the gamble, we could extend an invitation," Ge Mu still felt a bit uneasy, mainly because the company was too new, and he was afraid of overreaching and potentially jeopardizing the company.

After he finished speaking, it was Jiang Juyou's turn to fall silent. She realized that the catch-up studying she had done was still insufficient; she had no idea who Cheng Zexin was.

Jiang Juyou scanned the room and asked, "Raise your hand if you know who Cheng Zexin is."

As soon as she said this, the expressions of those present varied. The boss didn't know who Cheng Zexin was?

Sitting in the main seat, Jiang Juyou raised her chin and looked around, seeing that everyone had raised their hands. She then said to Ge Mu, "Let's take the gamble."

After the meeting ended, Jiang Juyou returned downstairs to find Jiang Liuxing sitting there, head down, playing with her phone. There were food packaging bags in front of her, suggesting she had eaten.

As she approached, Jiang Liuxing looked up, and immediately Jiang Juyou heard the familiar system broadcast in her mind:

"Ding――"

"Task completed."

Jiang Juyou's eyebrows had just risen, and before she could reach for her phone to check, she heard her sister say, "I posted the video of that photo card on Douyin, and it's gone a bit viral."

She turned her phone around to show her sister.

The video in question was the one Jiang Liuxing had just filmed, with voiceover done by the app's built-in voice changer.

"Unbelievable, has the photo card circle become this competitive now? Usually, photo cards look like this, with a frosted surface where you can't see the face clearly, but if you hold it in your hand for a while, ta-da―― it becomes clear!"

"It's magic, right? This must be magic! No joke, I suggest mass production! Don't worry about my wallet, it will grow on its own!"

"Also, can someone tell me whose card this is?"

The video had only been up for about ten minutes, but it already had nearly two thousand likes, and the comment section was bustling with activity.

"Holy crap, is it really magic?!"

"First, let's rule out the company I support, they have no internet, no aesthetics, no innovation, and no brains."

"I must have it."

"Expensive card, here I come."

"Give Yiwu three days, please Yiwu, I really need this!"

"Come on, it's been ten minutes, hasn't anyone decoded it yet?"

"My card album is screaming at me: I want it! I want it! I want it!"

"So amazing, how does it work?"

"Which group is it?"

The pinned comment was one Jiang Liuxing had just added herself.

"Sisters, it's been decoded, it's from the domestic entertainment industry. Bad news: they haven't debuted yet, this is a photo card given out at their performance. Good news: the performance is this afternoon in Beijing, sisters in Beijing can go! They're given out to attendees, and extras will be sold on the platform."

There were many replies to this comment.

"Hahaha, it's the video from my friend circle!"

"It's the video that was shared in our group, hahaha, everyone was shocked when they saw it."

"Sisters in Beijing can go see the performance, it's this afternoon. If you want to buy the photo card or see the performance, you can download the Galexy World APP."

"Where?! Where is it, you should say it clearly!"

"Beijing!!! I'm right here!!! Where do we go to get it?!"

"Download Galexy World, you can get tickets there, it's a free performance."

After reading the comments, Jiang Juyou's eyes lit up, realizing the power of marketing.

Standing there, Jiang Liuxing wore the smile of a confident woman and nudged her sister with her arm, "How about that, am I good or what!"

Jiang Juyou nodded repeatedly, even wanting to hug her, "You really are my good sister!"

"This one's a gift for your company, next time I'll charge," Jiang Liuxing immediately dropped her smile and put on a businesslike manner.

Jiang Juyou's smile also came to an abrupt halt, "...Alright."

"Buzz――"

Both of their phones vibrated at the same time.

Jiang Liuxing picked hers up and glanced at it, "Wow, someone really showed up."

On Jiang Juyou's side, it was a message from the system, several of them. She didn't have time to look as her attention was drawn to her sister's words, "Someone showed up?"

"Hmm, a few have already arrived, they're at the entrance," Jiang Liuxing put away her phone, preparing to head out.

Jiang Juyou held her sister's arm, "Let's go, you go find your friends, I'll go to work." After taking a couple of steps, she suddenly paused, "Should we bring them something to eat?"

Jiang Liuxing shook her head, "No need, we're not that close, and it would be hard to explain how I got into the backstage area." Her closer friends were still on their way.

"..."

When Jiang Liuxing came out, those few people had already entered and were looking around the square. She put on her mask and slowly walked down the steps. As the group noticed someone approaching, they instinctively stopped what they were doing and looked over.

"I think that's Liuxing."

"It is her."

Jiang Liuxing approached and waved, "I thought I'd be the only one here this early."

These girls had met Jiang Liuxing before. Like her, they were multi-fans who often ran into each other at events and became familiar. Sometimes when they went abroad for concerts and couldn't make it back in time for domestic events, they'd buy photos from Jiang Liuxing.

The tall girl, hearing her comment, said directly: "Your video was too tempting, we couldn't just sit around in the hotel."

"I was originally still sleeping when she suddenly started shouting, it scared me awake," the girl next to her said.

Four people had come together. After chatting casually for a bit, they brought the topic back to that beautiful little card.

Jiang Liuxing explained on their behalf: "Ah, that? It's in the locker. Each seat has a corresponding locker. When you open it, there's an envelope with the card inside."

The next second, she heard exclamations from the group, as if reliving the moment. Their focus was all on the first part of what she'd said.

"Every seat has a locker?"

While waiting earlier, they had looked around and even taken videos to post in their group chat. They had noticed the lockers on site, but didn't expect there to be so many.

The square was as large as six basketball courts, with benches inside for spectators to rest. The arrangement of the benches was quite novel. The venue was divided in half with the main entrance as the central axis, with a wide aisle in the middle. The benches on either side were arranged like booths, joined together.

This was actually discovered by accident by Jiang Juyou. She found that the layout of the square could be freely moved around like in a little game, though when operating via phone, you had to ensure no one was on site.

That night, lying in bed, she struggled with it like some interior design mini-game, staring at the blank blueprint of the square for a long time. She even took out her iPad to design it.

The seating arrangement redesigned by Jiang Juyou looked like this today: three benches forming a U-shape, with the opening facing the central axis. Three more benches were placed along the outer ring of the U-shape, with the chair backs serving as the dividing line between inside and outside. This way, people could sit in a circle both inside and outside.

Sun umbrellas stood like guardian spirits, and because their canopies were large, they could cover all the seats when opened.

Money-guzzling built-in air conditioners were arranged with three for each booth, but since the weather wasn't very hot today, Jiang Juyou hadn't turned them on.

The group walked past several booths to the lockers in the inner area. After scanning their codes one by one, they finally saw the little cards they'd been thinking about the whole way.

"Oh my god -- it really is heat-sensitive!"

"So amazing, how does this work?"

"This one looks good, who is this?"

The card that was pulled out was the same one Jiang Liuxing had just posted in the WeChat group.

They gathered around, examining each card face and flipping them over to check the names on the back.

"It says Chi Qiao!"

While downstairs was bustling with preparations for the performance five hours later, Jiang Juyou was lying in her chair playing a decorating mini-game.

Unlocking the fifth floor also cost 120,000, while unlocking other floors only cost 60,000. With enough money in hand, Jiang Juyou unlocked them all at once.

She also clearly divided the purpose of each floor. The first floor was only used for photo-taking and check-ins, with no places left for resting. The second, third, and fourth floors were for selling various merchandise and albums, not only for their own company but also for other artists' merchandise in the future. The fifth floor and the rooftop were for the cafe.

Using the system's built-in facilities for decoration didn't require extra money. Jiang Juyou went for a budget-friendly industrial style. The floor and walls of the cafe were cement-colored, while the tables and chairs were wooden. To avoid looking too poor, Jiang Juyou added green plants throughout the space, and even changed some areas of the floor to gravel. The rooftop was furnished with various waterproof and sun-resistant tables and chairs, and also added sun umbrellas and air conditioning.

What elevated this decoration to a high-end feel were the various LED strips, but Jiang Juyou didn't add too many, just using them to outline the logo. Because the fifth floor had floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, it didn't need much lighting.

After adding sun-resistant frosted curtains to the cafe, the decoration of the top two floors was complete.

"Look at these facilities, the air conditioning vents are even under the umbrellas. Can I take these umbrellas out after installing them? How nice, and they're free!" Jiang Juyou looked at these free facilities with great desire.

The system didn't respond to her, expressing its attitude through silence.

Since it was a cafe, there certainly needed to be someone to make coffee. Jiang Juyou was thinking of having HR recruit some people in a few days, but then she discovered that the system's marketplace actually had fully automated beverage facilities. Not only were there machines for making coffee, but also for various fruit drinks and milk teas, and even intelligent food delivery robots.

The only catch was the cost - 300,000 yuan.

After comparing with labor costs, Jiang Juyou steeled herself once again and bought the facilities.

For such a large cafe, just the staff alone would require more than a dozen people, costing nearly 100,000 yuan in wages per month. It was better to use machines directly.

After purchasing fully automated equipment, a QR code for ordering was automatically generated on the table, and even the drinks were automatically generated. If Jiang Juyou wanted to create some special or limited-edition drinks, she would need to pay for them.

The check-in area on the first floor had already exceeded her "playing house" range. She would need to find professionals to design it later, so currently, the first to fourth floors were closed areas.

Jiang Juyou checked her arrangements on the upper floors one last time. After confirming there was nothing to add, she clicked "complete," and a line of small text immediately appeared below.

[Generating... Estimated time: 5 minutes...]

If Jiang Juyou were standing in front of the surrounding buildings at this moment, she would see the green netting being slowly dismantled, revealing the building's true form.

A pure white five-story building gradually appeared. Except for the fifth floor, which had floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, the windows on the other floors seemed deliberately placed at odd angles, with varying orientations and shapes.

At the top of the building's facade was a square, pure black board. In one corner, LED lights outlined the building's name - Galaxy.

This was also Jiang Juyou's design. The black board at the entrance actually depicted a cosmic starscape, but it wasn't visible during the day. Just like stars can only be seen at night, this black board would light up with a galaxy when darkness fell.

In front of the main entrance was a floor indicator board, showing that floors one to four were closed, while only the fifth floor and the rooftop were lit up, indicating [Galaxy Café] was open for business.

Jiang Juyou saw the completion status on her phone and couldn't wait to go out and take a look.

However, the first to notice this building wasn't Jiang Juyou, but Jiang Liuxing's group coming out of the venue square. Their group had grown from one person at the start to now more than a dozen.

They had originally been hanging out in the square, with over a dozen of them sitting together chatting idly, continuously increasing the popularity of that TikTok video. Other marketing accounts had even started posting related videos.

After sitting for nearly an hour, they got hungry and discussed going to eat at Haidilao Hot Pot.

The group walked out of the square in a straggling line. After just a few steps, they noticed something odd in their line of sight. The first few people who came out stared blankly at the building on their right.

"Wasn't this covered in green netting when we came earlier?"

"I think so..."

"...It's finished already?"

"It's not my field, I don't understand."

When Jiang Liuxing came out, she also noticed the building and was similarly stunned, beginning to doubt her memory.

This was clearly not the main entrance. A few of the more curious individuals looked at each other and suggested, "Let's go to the front and take a look. It seems like it's also in the direction of Haidilao."

"When did they take this down? Were we too engrossed in our chat?"

"Let's go see. I want to know what this is for."

"Alright, let's go."

They gathered together and walked towards the front. When they reached the main entrance, all dozen or so of them looked up at the signboard.

Jiang Liuxing tilted her head back, murmuring what everyone was thinking, "This couldn't be the Galaxy I'm thinking of, right?"

The only Galaxy they knew was the concert venue. It couldn't be such a coincidence to have the same name, so it must be a product of the same company.

Someone noticed the lit-up floor indicator board and pointed, "The café on the fifth floor is open."

"No way, it was surrounded by green netting until I arrived!"

"It might have been for building maintenance. Some places use netting to prevent dust from spreading but still operate normally."

"Oh, I didn't know that was possible."

"So, shall we go up?"

"...I'm too curious."

"We still have an hour before the student discount at Haidilao."

"Let's go!"

The group entered the building and found that floors one to four were still surrounded by plastic sheets. The entire building was quiet, feeling as if they were the only ones who had entered.

After getting on the escalator, Jiang Liuxing sent a message to her sister, asking about the situation with this building. Jiang Juyou, who was just on her way, immediately stopped when she saw her sister's message.

"Juyou grocery store: Oh, that? They were just repainting the walls earlier."

"Liuxing is the Purple Wei Star: I see."

Since her sister and her group were there, Jiang Juyou couldn't go anymore, as it would be difficult to explain their relationship.

Meanwhile, the group reached the fifth floor. The first thing that caught their eyes was the café's logo, which was the same as the one at the building's entrance, except for an additional line of small text labeling it as a café.

After getting off the escalator and turning right, they walked a few more steps before officially entering the café.

Upon entering, they found no one there and paused. The people in front quietly asked, "Is anyone here?"

"Excuse me, are you open?"

"Can we come in?"

"There's no one here."

"But the sign downstairs said it was open."

"Let's go in and take a look."

They crowded in like thieves, choosing the nearest table and sitting down while exchanging glances.

The entire café had a post-apocalyptic feel, as if after doomsday, people could only survive by breathing through plants. The abundance of greenery, enough to serve as an oxygen bar, further emphasized this point.

The dozen or so of them squeezed around a large table, looking around for a while but still finding no one. There wasn't even a counter for ordering.

Suddenly, someone spoke up, "I think we order by phone."

"Let's scan the code."

"What do you want to drink?"

"We're going to eat at Haidilao later, why drink anything!"

"Then let's just look at the menu."

When the page loaded, the person who scanned the menu code was stunned, "Holy crap, an Americano is only 8 yuan!"

"That's so cheap!"

"Let me see..."

"Lemon water is 2 yuan!"

"Taro ball milk tea is 5 yuan a cup!"

After hearing this, Jiang Liuxing also scanned the QR code. She found that it first required confirmation of a Galaxy account before showing the menu. Above the menu was a notice board.

[Dear customers, to avoid prolonged table occupancy, you can rest for free for two hours after being seated. If the café is not busy, you can continue to rest for free. If the café is full and you exceed the free rest time, a fee of 100 yuan per hour will be charged. Note: If the café becomes full, you will be notified. If you leave within 30 minutes of notification, no fee will be charged.]

"There's a notice above. They charge if it's full," Jiang Liuxing said.

The others saw it too, but they were far from full capacity, as the page showed 221 seats still available.

The quick-acting ones had already taken photos of the café and posted them in their group chat.

"Sisters, there's a café on the fifth floor of that white building next to the concert venue. Nothing costs more than 10 yuan. The most expensive item is freshly squeezed juice, and it's only 10 yuan a cup."

"Damn, iced Americano for 8 yuan! Wait, I'm going to get my thermos now!"

"I just left home, probably an hour before I arrive. Are there still small cards available?"

"Plenty of small cards, as long as you choose a seat."

"I see almost 200 seats have been selected in the inner area already."

"Don't know who leaked Liuxing's video, but now I keep getting recommended videos when I open TikTok. I've seen several already."

"Can we enter now?"

"You can enter the square, but not the venue yet. You can leave the square after entering. There are staff at the entrance now, just tell them you want to leave."

"OK, I'm heading out now."

"Weren't you guys going to eat at Haidilao?"

"In a bit, let us experience the joy of being trendy first."

"That TikTok video has over 30,000 likes already, everyone's tagging Yiwu."

"I won't say who's already got the small cards."

"They must become famous! I just heard the staff say they didn't print many of these cards, just as a memento for the first performance. They only printed about 500 sets. If they become famous, my set of cards could sell for a fortune."

"Praying they definitely become famous. It's my first time speculating on cards, please give me a chance."

The group chat was bustling with activity. The dozen or so people in the café ended up not ordering anything and left after sitting for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, inside the venue, the rehearsal had just ended, and the staff members were taking a brief breather. Quite a few audience members had already entered the square outside the entrance, and the performance department had dispatched some staff to maintain order outside.

Sitting in her office, Jiang Juyou kept refreshing the concert seating selection interface.

Her emotions fluctuated like watching stock market trends, up and down. Some people confirmed their seats after selection, while others canceled their selections at the last moment. The number of attendees kept hovering around 190.

So far, including the staff's reserved seats, there were a total of 197 seats taken.

If she was this nervous, one could only imagine how anxious the young performers about to go on stage must be feeling.

At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.

"Knock knock--"

"Director, the audience has started to enter. We can go down in twenty minutes."

Jiang Juyou suppressed her nervousness, took a deep breath, and replied, "Alright, I understand."

Jiang Juyou thought to herself: Thankfully, I'm not the one going on stage.