A Character Design That Wins Numerous Fans

After the concert, Luo Bingqing posted a group photo and some words thanking her fans on Weibo.

In the group photo, besides Zhou Yi, there was another familiar face, Kong Huaijin.

After all, she had been on the hot search list a few times as a beauty, so everyone remembered her quite well.

However, every time she and Zhou Yi appeared together, it was always openly and without any attempt to avoid suspicion, which actually made it seem like nothing was going on.

Fans didn't suspect that she and Zhou Yi were dating.

Luo Bingqing was her good friend, so it was perfectly normal for her to attend the concert.

After the concert, Luo Bingqing treated the three guest performers of the day plus Kong Huaijin to a meal.

Kong Huaijin made no attempt to hide her fondness for Zhou Yi; both Song Ming and Li Yiyi could tell, and Luo Bingqing was already used to it.

Kong Huaijin turned into a complete love-struck fool whenever she encountered Zhou Yi, and she and Kong Xiaohe were the ones who felt this change in her the most.

After the meal, Zhou Yi planned to go back and rest, as the fan meeting was the next day and he needed to prepare early.

The buzz and discussions about Zhou Yi on Weibo never stopped.

Most casual netizens on Weibo were discussing his songs, while fans were largely fawning over his looks.

The photos from Zhou Yi's concert this time were almost all unedited.

The fan site operators seemed to be in a rush, posting raw, unedited photos directly from the scene, with no time for retouching.

After all, in this line of work, you have to chase trends. Zhou Yi's face simply doesn't need retouching; his raw photos easily outshine those heavily edited bicycle seats.

Besides these site operators rushing to post unedited photos for the trend, there were a few of Zhou Yi's genuine fans who posted retouched photos.

They weren't rushing for time or trends; they simply posted for other fans to appreciate, with Zhou Yi's super topic being their main hub.

They added filters to the photos and adjusted the colors, instantly changing the feel.

One set of photos in particular became legendary, adding some smoke effects and snow-white wings to Zhou Yi, making him look like an ancient Greek deity when he slightly lowered his head.

The photos fans posted were carefully selected for angle and expression. When Zhou Yi sang "Mercury Record," he was so moving that even he himself didn't expect his expression to be like that...

He saw many fans reposting that set of pictures while browsing the super topic. Zhou Yi was taken aback for a moment when he saw them, then exited the super topic and didn't look further.

Many fans changed their wallpapers and profile pictures to the one of Zhou Yi with wings. In Zhou Yi's fan groups, everyone used similar profile pictures and similar IDs to discuss the upcoming fan meeting.

["I'm meeting Li Yu tomorrow, I'm so excited I can't sleep, wuwuwu~"]

["He took my letter when he came out after the concert today! And he smiled at me! I almost fainted on the spot."]

["I tried to give him a gift but he wouldn't accept it, saying not to send gifts, but he took my letter. He really... I'm crying."]

["So jealous ahhh! Sisters, take lots of photos tomorrow, so those of us who couldn't go can at least feast our eyes."]

["Anyone who sees Li Yu up close gets hit by the impact of that face. Photos aren't even one-third as handsome as he is in person. And he speaks so gently, his attitude towards fans is just too, too good."]

["This is the first time I've chased such a handsome gege. When arguing with other fandoms, just pulling out this face means you win. Who understands this kind of satisfaction?"]

["Hahaha last time I did that too. Li Yu can easily outshine their idols with anything, okay? Where do they get the courage to argue with us Feathers? So laughable."]

.......

Zhou Yi's fans rarely engage in counter-black campaigns like other fandoms.

The ones who start arguments are mostly just picking fights, or fans of other celebrities who get upset when their idols are compared to Zhou Yi by casual netizens and get completely overshadowed, so they come to pick fights.

Zhou Yi's fans have chased other celebrities before. Compared to chasing Zhou Yi, those past experiences were much more painful.

If the idol isn't impressive, no matter how much the fans hype them up, casual netizens won't buy it. So it's better to stan someone who has both looks and talent.

Sometimes when casual netizens point out flaws of certain traffic celebrities, their fans will come out to curse. Then the casual netizens will bring up Zhou Yi for comparison.

Some casual netizens even get labeled as Zhou Yi's fans, leaving Zhou Yi's actual fans not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

This also led to Zhou Yi, even before officially entering the entertainment industry, unintentionally offending a bunch of traffic celebrities and their fans, who are just waiting to catch a scandal of Zhou Yi's to stomp on him hard.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yi hasn't given them that chance.

There's simply nothing to pin on him. Some sour comments are clearly just jealousy and smear campaigns, and no one believes them anyway.

The next day for the fan meeting, Zhou Yi set off early.

Fans also gathered outside the hotel very early, starting live streams and recording videos, waiting for Zhou Yi to appear.

Some of these girls held flowers, some held letters, some held Zhou Yi standees.

For this fan meeting, they had all prepared a lot.

They all wore white feathers pinned to their clothes, or had feather pendants on their phones, feather decorations on their backpacks, etc. Their affectionate nickname for Zhou Yi is "Li Yu" (Standing Feather), so the fans call themselves "Little Feathers."

The feather Zhou Yi wore at yesterday's concert was also seen by fans as his loving response to them.

Regardless of Zhou Yi's actual intentions, judging by actions rather than thoughts, his doing this naturally moved the fans.

Rarely do fans' efforts receive a response from a celebrity. Zhou Yi's approach made many fangirls feel he was fundamentally different from those other stars.

He is liked as a celebrity, but his essence is not that of a celebrity.

The fans once again realized that Zhou Yi is not a product pushed by an agency, not an empty-headed puppet crafted by capital.

He is real and vibrant. He is himself.

And at this fan meeting, Zhou Yi once again deepened their awareness of this point.

He not only wanted the fans to realize this, but also wanted others to feel it.

His goal is to attract more people to like him. Of course, he wants as many heart points as possible. The support of casual audiences is extremely important—essentially, public opinion.

Zhou Yi is also crafting a persona, one that ordinary people couldn't create.

Celebrities break through into the mainstream relying on marketing and packaging by agencies and capital. Ordinary celebrities can't do it without these.

So this persona is difficult to achieve, but once successfully crafted, it becomes an incredibly popular, positive image that attracts countless fans.