Married in a Daze - Chapter 134
Chapter 134
In its seventy years of existence, Perfect Star Magazine (SP) had never once experienced its official website crashing. Compared to other websites that were always suffering outages, they had always been the ones laughing on the sidelines, watching the commotion. They never imagined that this time, they would be the ones their peers watched with amusement.
Yet, even being the subject of their peers' amusement, they were overjoyed. Ninety thousand copies sold in nine seconds didn't just shatter SP's records; it broke the record for the entire magazine market.
This instantly propelled SP from third place to the leading position in the magazine world.
"Is it back up?"
"It's fixed."
Voices came from within SP. After a brief website crash, SP finally returned to normal. Assistant Li looked at the pre-order count, still frozen at eight hundred thousand. But as soon as the news came from the technical department that it was fixed, the number started moving again.
She glanced in the direction of the chief editor's office, stared at the data on her screen, and finally couldn't help but pick up the phone to call the chief editor's office.
"It's still climbing."
"It's almost a million."
The chief editor glanced at the team leader standing before him, thought for a moment, and said, "Shut down the pre-orders. Contact Qin Zhenzhen and Lu Ruyun's managers."
Assistant Li was momentarily stunned, then replied, "Okay."
After hanging up, her colleagues immediately crowded around her. "What did the chief editor say?"
Assistant Li looked at everyone while dialing the sales department and answered, "The chief editor said to shut down the pre-orders."
Their reactions mirrored hers moments ago; they were all stunned.
Following Qin Zhenzhen breaking SP's sales record, she had broken another one. Since SP's founding, this was the first time pre-orders had been shut down.
"This is terrifying," the man sitting next to Assistant Li clicked his tongue. Others who heard him nodded involuntarily, their eyes fixed on the official website page.
Ninety thousand copies in nine seconds, sales revenue reaching six point eight million. Pre-orders tripling that... this was almost half a year's sales revenue for SP. It wasn't just terrifying; it was downright horrifying.
After calling the sales department, Assistant Li quickly contacted Qin Zhenzhen and Lu Ruyun's managers. Simultaneously, she kept an eye on the online buzz.
Even after pre-orders were shut down, fans who hadn't managed to snag a magazine were still causing an uproar on the official website and Weibo.
—Shut down pre-orders? Is SP sick? They won't even let people buy magazines now?
—Did you guys get one? Damn my alarm, I set it too late!
—Didn't get one! Sitting here waiting for SP to reopen pre-orders.
—Secret manipulation? Shutting down pre-orders to stop people from buying??
—Don't wait. I have insider info. SP internally shut down pre-orders. They won't reopen this month.
—What does that mean??? So I can't buy the collector's edition wedding photos of Zhenzhen and Goddess Yun anymore? Damn you, SP!!!!
The noise on Weibo grew louder. The names Qin Zhenzhen and Lu Ruyun were plastered all over the hot search list, refusing to budge. Even more fans who hadn't managed to buy crowded under their Weibo accounts and SP's official Weibo, demanding the pre-orders be reopened.
SP always released one issue per month and never shut down pre-orders. But once the window closed, it was closed; there was no next-month issue. That was why countless fans were clamoring for the pre-orders to be reopened—because next month, there wouldn't be one.
The commotion under the official Weibo grew fiercer. Finally, SP had to issue a placating statement. They posted a picture—a screenshot of the pre-order figures—and expressed deep apologies for shutting down pre-orders, hoping fans could understand their decision.
Once this pre-order figure was revealed, it immediately caused an uproar online.
The confirmed sales were ninety thousand, solid, sold out in nine seconds.
The pre-order volume had actually tripled that, in just two hours.
Even the fans who had been cursing SP couldn't continue. Everyone knew what this represented: an immense workload. They probably couldn't handle reopening pre-orders this entire month.
So the hot search topics shifted direction again.
#SP Pre-orders Reach One Million Copies, Sales Revenue Breaks Ten Million#
#Qin Zhenzhen, Lu Ruyun Break Records Consecutively#
#SP Forced to Shut Down Pre-orders for the First Time#
After this series of Weibo posts and topics emerged, the fans were placated and stopped causing a fuss. More than that, they were happy for Qin Zhenzhen. Initially, they had worried that since this was Qin Zhenzhen's first collaboration with SP, and many anti-fans were saying she wasn't qualified, both her and Lu Ruyun's fans had planned to buy extra magazines to make the sales figures look good. When pre-orders were shut down, they even wondered if it was secret manipulation, intentionally closed to stop people from buying, so they could later claim Qin Zhenzhen and Lu Ruyun lacked influence.
Holding this belief, they had started a fight with SP. Who would have thought that wasn't the case at all? Their idols were plenty capable on their own. Without needing their extra effort, they had already crushed those anti-fans and even broken SP's records and rules one after another.
From the bottom of their hearts, they were happy, delighted, and spontaneously organized under Qin Zhenzhen's Weibo to offer congratulations. Of course, aside from Qin Zhenzhen's fans, many loyal SP readers also expressed their congratulations. They witnessed the success of this SP reform. Many veteran readers said Qin Zhenzhen and SP were about to usher in a new SP era. This comment became a top-rated hot comment under the official Weibo, and even the official account liked it.
Instantly, topics about "Qin Zhenzhen's New Era" swept across the internet.
By the time Qin Zhenzhen logged onto Weibo, the heat was already immense. She had just been in contact with Meng Xin. Because the pre-orders far exceeded the expected numbers in their contract, the magazine was doubling the payment for her and Lu Ruyun. Qin Zhenzhen naturally had no objections and let Meng Xin and He Shuangshuang handle it.
Lu Ruyun walked over to the sofa carrying a fruit plate and saw Qin Zhenzhen hugging her phone, scrolling. She smiled and asked, "Did you just talk with Sister Meng?"
Qin Zhenzhen nodded. "Yeah."
Aside from SP, there were also countless other magazines sending invitations. After the boost from Jian Mu's MV, Qin Zhenzhen's market value had risen yet another notch. Her current asking price had fully entered the top tier, ranking among the very best.
The more this happened, the more cautious Meng Xin became. She treated every single contract with extreme care, not daring to casually promise any invitation.
Compared to Meng Xin's frantic busyness, Qin Zhenzhen was quite leisurely, leaning against Lu Ruyun, scrolling through Weibo, eating fruit, sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a smile on her face.
Ever since her audition for The Means to Survive was canceled, Lu Ruyun hadn't seen her look this completely relaxed. On one hand, the failed audition, on the other, the uncertain situation with SP, so even when happy, she carried a hint of worry. Now, the SP situation was settled. Even though the audition failed, opportunities still existed, so Qin Zhenzhen's mood had turned cheerful again.
Coupled with SP's excellent performance, she couldn't help but be even happier.
"Did Meng Xin mention the upcoming schedule?"
Lu Ruyun sat down beside her and asked. Qin Zhenzhen thought for a moment and shook her head. "Not yet. Sister Meng needs to think it over carefully."
"Does Teacher Lu have any good suggestions?" she asked, her bright eyes fixed on Lu Ruyun, a smile in their depths. Lu Ruyun met her gaze, her red lips parting. "I think—"
Before she could finish, the doorbell rang. Qin Zhenzhen frowned, then realized it must be Ji Lu.
She clapped her hands and stood up. "I'll get the door."
Lu Ruyun watched her gracefully rise, swallowing the words at the tip of her tongue.
Standing at the door was indeed Ji Lu, holding several bags of groceries. Since Qin Zhenzhen couldn't go out conveniently while staying at the apartment, but learning to cook required fresh ingredients, she had Ji Lu deliver groceries every noon.
Ji Lu stood at the doorway with the groceries, smiling brightly. "Zhenzhen!"
Qin Zhenzhen smiled and handed her a pair of slippers. After changing, Ji Lu walked in, chattering away. "Zhenzhen, did you see the news about SP's website crashing? Weibo is going crazy right now. I wanted to buy a copy earlier, but there was no way to get one—"
Her voice cut off abruptly as she came face-to-face with Lu Ruyun approaching from inside. She froze for a second before calling out, "Oh, Teacher Lu... you're home too."
Qin Zhenzhen stood behind her, taking the grocery bags from her hands and responding, "Yeah, Ruyun has the morning off today."
Ji Lu instantly felt awkward.
Originally, these past few days, because Lu Ruyun wasn't around, Qin Zhenzhen felt bored and had been pulling Ji Lu to have lunch together. Since she was coming to deliver groceries anyway, they just ate together.
She hadn't expected Lu Ruyun to be home today. Now, as Qin Zhenzhen carried the groceries into the kitchen, Ji Lu and Lu Ruyun were left staring at each other outside. She awkwardly greeted, "Hello, Teacher Lu."
Lu Ruyun smiled at her. "Have a seat."
Ji Lu sat down on the sofa with a stiff demeanor. The TV was on, playing a movie, but she couldn't focus at all. Seizing the moment when Lu Ruyun went into the kitchen, she secretly texted her best friend.
—Call me in a bit! You must call!
After receiving the message, He Shuangshuang stared at her phone. This was their first contact since returning from SP. The experience on the day they went to SP hadn't been pleasant, to say the least; she had been in a foul mood for several days afterwards.
However, thinking about it later, what Ji Lu said wasn't actually wrong.
They were originally sworn enemies. Even though Zhenzhen and Ruyun had cleared up their misunderstandings and developed feelings, that had nothing to do with her and Ji Lu. At most, it meant they didn't argue when they met, which was already exercising great restraint.
So Ji Lu saying she didn't like her wasn't wrong at all. She thought understanding this point would make her feel better, but instead, it made her more irritable. She sighed, still staring at the message on her phone.
Now that Ji Lu had initiated contact, should she take the offered olive branch?
She thought for a long while, finding it quite a headache. Her phone screen turned black, then lit up, then turned black again. An hour later, she finally decided to call Ji Lu.
The line was busy.
After finishing lunch, Ji Lu walked out of Lu Ruyun's apartment. Having been a third wheel for an hour, she hardly even knew what she had eaten. Finally managing to extricate herself after lunch, she left Lu Ruyun's home and let out a long, heavy sigh. She called her best friend.
The ringtone had just sounded when it was picked up. Her friend's voice came through the line. "Ji Lu?"
Ji Lu casually broke off a twig from a roadside tree. "What were you doing just now?"
Her friend was a bit confused. "Watching TV."
"Phone never left your side?" Ji Lu asked again. Her friend made an affirmative noise. "Never left."
Ji Lu bit her lip. "Then you didn't see the message I sent you?!"
Her friend was even more bewildered. "No, I didn't."
Ji Lu took a deep breath. "Hold on."
She was just about to take a screenshot of the message she had sent, but as soon as she hung up, she saw a missed call—from He Shuangshuang.
He Shuangshuang?
Seeing this caller ID, her brows furrowed tightly. Her right eyelid twitched, a sense of foreboding washing over her. She quickly opened WeChat. Sure enough, she saw that the message she intended for her best friend had been sent to He Shuangshuang.
Standing on the main road, a gust of wind blew past, sending a chill down her spine.
She coughed lightly a few times, patted her cheeks, and sent a message to He Shuangshuang: Sorry, my last WeChat message was sent to the wrong person.
He Shuangshuang, who had been about to call Ji Lu a second time, received the message. She opened WeChat, read the content, let out a soft snort, and tossed her phone onto her office desk.
Comments
Post a Comment