Chapter 116: The Cattle Dealers' Carnival Day

Ganzhou Province, Raozhou, Raozhou No. 1 High School.

As the high school alma mater of the famous music talent Zhou Yi, today the No. 1 High School was permeated with an atmosphere of restlessness.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, adhering to the principle that time cannot be wasted, a group of energetic little rascals howled and rushed out of the classroom doors.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Zhu Hui, if we're late, maybe there won't be any left!"

Watching other classmates rush out one after another as if going to war, Han Ziyan, also a fan of Zhou Yi, could no longer wait this time; standing in place, she stamped her feet in anxiety and kept urging her friend who was tying her shoelaces: "Zhou Yi is so popular now; his album must be very hard to buy."

"What's there to fear? There are still several music stores near my place."

The girl named Zhu Hui, after tying her shoelaces, waved and patted her chest, which was just beginning to show its buds: "Zhou Yi's album officially went on sale at 10:08 this morning; it's only 11:35 now. What are you rushing for? Is the album going to grow wings and fly away while sitting in the music store?"

"No, there are so many people! So many people want to buy Zhou Yi's album!"

Han Ziyan, who desperately wanted to get her idol's album immediately, wished her own home ran a music store: "Do you still remember Li Yue from Class 3 before? She was the first to buy Xie Tingfeng's greatest hits CD; the included poster was limited, and she was the envy of everyone for a whole full week before a second person managed to buy one."

"Zhou Yi isn't that exaggerated; Xie Tingfeng is just too handsome."

As a girl who previously preferred Xie Tingfeng's style, Zhu Hui was clearly more inclined toward Xie Tingfeng in this battle between the two young stars.

Mainly because she wasn't very interested in many songs on Zhou Yi's first album; she only liked "Must Love" and "It's You I Love."

Therefore, in this "Zhou-Xie War" that swept through both fan bases, Zhu Hui actually supported Xie Tingfeng with real money and silver more often.

At least, she could learn to sing many of Xie Tingfeng's songs with a little practice, whereas many songs on Zhou Yi's first album—forget her singing them herself—she couldn't even keep up while singing along.

The articulation speed of Zhou Yi's other songs was simply too fast; she could only hum along a bit with those two slow songs, and that so-called Peking Opera piece "Flower Field Mistake" was too rustic; she didn't like it.

"Zhou Yi is handsome too; I think he's handsomer than Xie Tingfeng!"

"How is that possible? I admit Zhou Yi is handsome, but compared to Xie Tingfeng, he's still a bit lacking. Haven't you seen that at school, more boys like Zhou Yi?"

"Doesn't that just prove Zhou Yi is cooler?"

"..."

Zhu Hui was momentarily speechless, unable to come up with a rebuttal.

It actually seemed to make some sense.

Regarding coolness, she admitted Zhou Yi's performance on the previous album was indeed a bit cool.

But she still firmly believed in her stance—Xie Tingfeng is the handsomest!

Zhou Yi must be below Xie Tingfeng!

Holding onto loyalty to her idol, and having wiped her shoes again, Zhu Hui accompanied her friend Han Ziyan into the music store located next to the stationery shop and rental bookstore outside the school—

Unlike the hot scene they had previously imagined, this not-very-large music store was by no means crowded at this moment; it could only be described as having a few cats, two or three.

Besides the thin, short boss, there were only a few people buying albums by other singers.

"See, I told you Zhou Yi isn't as popular as our Xie Tingfeng. His new album has started selling, yet not many people are coming to the music stores at the school gate to buy his album."

Watching one person pick up Xie Tingfeng's "Jade Butterfly," and several others take away the compilation discs with "Twilight" vaguely written on the cover, Zhu Hui turned her head with a smile toward her friend and said: "Wasn't my guess right?"

"..."

Although somewhat upset that her own idol seemed to be losing to Xie Tingfeng right at her doorstep, the joy of being able to buy Zhou Yi's new album made Han Ziyan reach into her pocket, pull out the money she had saved from Chinese New Year until now, and walk toward the counter—

"Boss, I want a copy of Zhou Yi's 'Jiangnan,' the deluxe CD version, with the poster. A higher price isn't a problem."

"None left. Sold out. How about you look at other people's albums in the store?"

Hearing this, Zhu Hui and Han Ziyan were instantly dumbfounded: "Sold out? That fast? Didn't it only start selling after ten o'clock? It's been just over an hour!"

"..."

The thin boss, who had money but couldn't get goods, was directly broken by this unbridled "childish speech," and his face immediately wore a mask of pain.

Could this be blamed on him?!

He had stocked a full hundred CDs plus two hundred cassette tapes, plus one hundred deluxe CD copies with posters.

Given his prime location outside the school, stocking this amount of goods was already considered a lot.

According to common sense, so many goods should have lasted three or four days, yet they were snatched up in less than an hour.

What could he do?!

The damn distributors wouldn't release any more stock!

After the goods were sold, watching RMB notes one after another drift away from him, the thin boss's back molars were clenched numb, almost biting through.

"Besides Zhou Yi's, I basically have albums by other singers here.

"Look, here's one by Leon Lai, one by Guo Fucheng, and one by Sun Yanzi. She's from the same company as Zhou Yi and is even paired with Zhou Yi as the Twin Stars. Do you want to take a look?"

With no choice, the boss had to start promoting other albums in the store, but he was met with cold indifference.

"There's no Zhou Yi? Then forget it. Let's go buy at the music stores near my place; those shops are bigger, and there are several of them. They should have stock. Trust me."

Although surprised that there was no stock at the school gate, Zhu Hui was still not panicked; she patted her chest and made a promise.

Thus, under the gaze of the thin boss, Han Ziyan put the money she had taken out back into her pocket and left with her friend.

They left...

"Damn it!"

The thin boss cursed the inhuman distributor, picked up the landline, and made a call: "Hello? How much more Zhou Yi stock can you give me?

"Don't say you have no stock either; I can add money. I'll pay extra to stock up. Is that okay!"

Unable to bear the money drifting further and further away from him, the boss unleashed the "Add Money" technique and finally got a promise of a batch of goods.

On the other side, Zhu Hui, who had taken her friend Han Ziyan to run to several music stores near her home, was now dumbfounded—

No stock!

No stock!

Absolutely no stock!

"Wait, why?! I don't understand. Didn't it only start selling an hour and a half ago?" Zhu Hui, who had never fought this hard for Xie Tingfeng's album, was now truly angry.

Pulling Han Ziyan, who was equally extremely dissatisfied with these music stores, she borrowed a bicycle from a neighbor, and the two of them pedaled the wheels, starting to run all over the county town—

The answer they received was always the same: "Sold out, but we have other singers' albums. Do you want those?"

"..."

Zhu Hui and Han Ziyan, who were only in their second year of high school, were experiencing this feeling for the first time: having money but nowhere to spend it.

It was suffocating.

Until, disheartened, the two of them ran to the neighboring county, where they finally saw a poster of Zhou Yi's album displayed outside a small audio-video shop next to a repair shop—

Zhou Yi, standing proudly beneath the Lushan Waterfall, looked like an immortal detached from the world; the perfect lighting outlined the contours of his face, striking the heart of Zhu Hui, which originally belonged to Xie Tingfeng, in an instant.

Holy crap!

Zhou Yi is actually this handsome?!

Why didn't I notice before!

When a song they had never heard played from the speakers, the prelude, arranged as if by a divine hand, immediately captured both of their ears—

"The wind becomes sticky here, sticking to the passerby's longing~"

"Boss! Do you have Zhou Yi's new album here?"

"Zhou Yi's new album? Yes, the last two copies. Do you want them? Fifty each."

"Why are you selling it so expensively? What about the deluxe edition?"

"One hundred fifty."

"Boss, are you robbing people?!"

"If you think it's too expensive, forget it. I only have the last one left."

The yellow-toothed boss, calmly smoking a cigarette, glanced at the two young girls in front of him: "Are you still students? My daughter is about your age. Since you are students, I can sell it to you a bit cheaper.

"But you can't tell anyone else; I even bought the stock at a markup to sell it."

Hearing that it could be cheaper, Han Ziyan's eyes immediately lit up: "Boss, how much cheaper?"

"Deluxe edition one hundred twenty, regular edition forty. Can't go any lower."

"Come on, Boss, can it be a bit cheaper..."

"... Fine, fine, fine. Five yuan off. If you want the last deluxe CD, take it all."

After a round of childish haggling, Han Ziyan, overjoyed, took the deluxe CD home with her treasures and her friend.

After confirming that the two had left, the boss immediately stood up, took another deluxe CD from the cabinet, and placed it on the shelf full of empty spaces—

At the same time, he dialed his daughter's phone: "Ruan Ruan, stop helping others grab train and bus tickets for now. See if there's any channel to buy that new Zhou Yi album 'Jiangnan'..."

(End of this chapter)