Volume 1, Chapter 35: Raising the Curtain

"I'm so stressed! I didn't get tickets for tomorrow night's race! The boss is in the 50m butterfly final!"

"Oh? Dear, which 'site manager' did you ask?"

"Number 3. I bought today's tickets from her too."

"I always buy from Number 8. I reckon she might still have some, but it’ll cost you."

As she spoke, the girl made a gesture—a signal of price only those in the circle would understand.

"Ah! I'll try! Sigh, after watching this, I'll be eating dirt for a month."

"Forget it, for dear Yuan, it's all worth it."

"Exactly, he needs us!"

...

Both girls looked very young and wore expressions of complete devotion; many fans around them shared the same demeanor. Watching them, Susan felt as though she were seeing the embodiment of "girlfriend fans," "mom fans," and "fan girls." That profound, introspective willingness to sacrifice everything for an idol gave her goosebumps.

Although she had heard only a snippet, Susan had an intuition that there was something fishy about the "tickets." Once she left, she immediately found Xiao Rui, and together they disguised themselves as spectators to blend into the fan crowd, complaining about failing to snag tickets for the upcoming sessions.

Xiao Rui’s acting skills were on par with Jiang Ming and Susan’s. Coupled with her prior investigation into Lin Tingyuan, playing the role of a fan came naturally to her. It is easy for fans to empathize with one another, and soon, amidst the laments and venting, they uncovered a staggering inside story.

Reporters had previously learned that many sessions were sold out—without exception, these were the final sessions where Lin Tingyuan competed. They had even written pieces on the star athlete’s drawing power, focusing on how sports economics stimulate domestic demand and promote development. Various media reports were unanimous in their praise. But now, it seemed, if the fans' complaints were true, the sell-out of tickets was not so simple.

It turned out that the "site managers" mentioned by the fans were categorized by different serial numbers, forming a surprisingly large operation.

These "site managers" had various channels and held a significant number of tickets. They sold them at high prices under the pretext of having acquired them from "scalpers," justifying the cost to the selected fans. To keep these hot-headed customers stable, they had also set up a complete system of "gifts"—using small perks to keep the "big suckers" hooked.

It was reported that for sessions involving Lin Tingyuan’s 50m, 100m, and 200m butterfly finals, ticket prices had been inflated to 1,000, 3,000, or 5,000 yuan, depending on the time and seat location.

Purchasing a ticket with a 1,000-yuan markup included a 288-yuan "support makeup" kit and one random piece of Lin Tingyuan merchandise.

Purchasing a ticket with a 3,000-yuan markup included a 588-yuan full-body "support makeup" package and two random pieces of merchandise.

Purchasing a ticket with a 5,000-yuan markup included the 588-yuan full-body "support makeup" package, three random pieces of merchandise, and an autographed photo.

More importantly, money alone couldn't buy these marked-up tickets. Such tickets and gifts were sold exclusively to those in the fan groups; in other words, they were "internally supplied." Thus, those who bought them often did so willingly, even feeling as though they had gotten a deal.

When Xiao Rui relayed this information to Susan, Susan was stunned for a full ten seconds.

Sure enough, the tactics used to control fans in the entertainment industry were being played out with crystal clarity by certain people in the sports world. In the pool, they fought for speed; outside the pool, they scrambled for money. While it was not yet clear if Lin Tingyuan had a hand in this chain or what role he played, the very existence of such a mature organization and operational process was terrifying—and it posed yet another challenge to the fairness of competitive sports.

Despite her anger, Susan maintained her basic rationality. These matters outside the pool could be investigated slowly; her immediate job was to continue reporting on what happened inside the pool. She quickly composed herself and returned to the live broadcast and reporting duties for the television station.

After the first race, Lin Tingyuan graciously accepted Susan's interview, expressing his emotion over the rise in the average strength of Jiangzhou swimming. He stated that he would have to give his all in the finals to secure the gold medal, and he also made a point to thank the fans on-site and those watching at home.

He was indeed a media darling; he knew exactly what was needed in front of the camera without being prompted. The entire interview highlighted his broad perspective, high standing, gentle tone, and meticulous content, covering every base. Susan held her patience, showing no sign of anything unusual, and asked only the questions a standard television reporter would. She was professional, capable, and detached.

On the first day of competition, Wang Yining also performed well. He put in an excellent showing in the men's 400m freestyle and the men's 4x100m freestyle. In the men's 400m freestyle individual final, he set a personal best and finished second, only 0.1 seconds behind the national team athlete, Li Yang, who took the gold.

During the post-race interview, perhaps because he was close to Susan, Wang Yining was not nervous at all. He appeared quite excited in front of the camera, showing none of the awkwardness of a young athlete, but instead displaying a rookie's ferocity to the fullest. However, having seen his usual goofy side, Susan couldn't help but overthink the last sentence he said with a raised eyebrow and a wink—a double entendre that seemed to address not only his racing goals but also his feelings for her.

"I will keep working hard until I reach the summit. I can do it, and so can you!"

As for Jiang Ming, he had no individual events today and only participated in the 4x100m relay as part of the first team. He swam the second leg in the preliminaries with an eye-catching performance, and for the evening finals, Coach Zong promoted him directly to the anchor leg.

This decision was somewhat of a slap in the face to the freestyle specialists, but as the strongest individual medley swimmer in the country, Jiang Ming’s short-distance times in the other three strokes—aside from the breaststroke, where he trailed top domestic athletes slightly—were highly competitive even when taken individually.

This was the first time Susan had watched Jiang Ming compete in person, and the feeling was surreal.

Jiang Ming during a race was completely different from his usual self. If he was usually cold and unapproachable, then during a race, he was simply ruthless, dominating the field. But one thing remained the same: he was handsome! Watching him, Susan felt a sense of joy and passion, suddenly resonating with what Xiao Rui had said: "Looking at such beautiful scenes helps prolong life" and "Admiring them up close is even happier." She even briefly understood the fanaticism of Lin Tingyuan's fans—though, had the object been Jiang Ming, she might have understood it even better.

However, one thing did not change: Jiang Ming still refused to be interviewed after the race, even when the person holding the microphone was Susan.

Fortunately, this was a relay race, and four young men stood before Susan. Even if this cold-faced handsome man remained silent, there were others—especially with Wang Yining there—so there was no need to worry about an awkward silence.

"Fine, you just stand there looking pretty, and let your teammates be your mouthpiece," Susan thought with a mix of annoyance and amusement.

This was the final event of the day, so Susan asked a few extra questions during the interview. She didn't put Jiang Ming on the spot, knowing he wouldn't want to speak, so she didn't direct any questions at him specifically. However, when she finished her work, packed her equipment, sent off her colleagues, and prepared to be the last one to leave, she saw Jiang Ming in the back area, just about to head out.