During a break from the busyness, Shu occasionally glanced across the venue.
The crowd was surging, and flags of various colors were flying. He saw many familiar names and images at other booths.
Fu Hua's unique Ink Cloud emblem style, Theresa's Teriri posters, Bronya's Homu-themed area, Durandal's simple and grand starlight decorations...
Although the other fan clubs didn't have his cheat-like [Wish] creativity, Shu could see that the decorations and support merchandise sold at each booth were quite excellent.
Everyone had poured their hearts into this support convention. The badge girl and her friends felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... wouldn't others feel the same?
Compared to these people, Shu suddenly felt that he might have gone a bit overboard.
After all, the products of [Wish] were truly exquisite, and they were on a completely different level from the various merchandise and decorations that others had purely handcrafted.
And he had just received many shocked gazes and envious emotions from the surrounding booths. These emotions did not bring Shu any positive feedback, but rather felt more like an "interrogation."
What was being asked was, "So cheating really won't get you banned?"
Compared to them, Shu felt that he had indeed "won without honor"...
Forget it, the next support convention... I just won't participate...
Shu estimated that it would be difficult for him to maintain this identity until the next support convention. If he didn't participate then, this kind of situation where he was miles ahead of everyone else probably wouldn't happen again...
Just as Shu had finished packing a set of Kiana-themed badges and handed it to a satisfied customer, the light in front of the booth was slightly blocked by a figure with a very strong presence.
He subconsciously looked up, a business-like smile on his face: "Welcome, may I help you with something..."
Before he could finish, Shu's smile froze for a moment.
It was Mei.
She stood there quietly, gently looking at the Kiana merchandise displayed on the booth.
It wasn't until Shu spoke to her that she "reluctantly" withdrew her gaze and gave Shu a gentle smile.
"Shopkeeper Stelle, we meet again."
She seemed to be here in a private capacity today, wearing casual clothes. Her calm demeanor felt a little distant from the lively surroundings.
"Mmm..." Shu nodded, recovering from his daze.
But he frowned slightly, because he noticed that something was off with Mei's state.
Of course, this wasn't because there was something wrong with Mei. Mei was still Mei, and she didn't show any hesitation or unnaturalness.
This wrongness... how should he put it...
Shu actually felt that Mei was a bit like him?
Right, this sense of abnormality came from the sense of distance that Mei was deliberately maintaining, a faint sense of alienation...
Alienation...
Alienation?
Mmm...
Shu's mind went silent for a moment, then his train of thought suddenly took a turn. He abruptly lifted the quilt of his memory and fished out his last meeting with Mei from the ripples of the past.
Then Shu began to analyze from his own breathing where he had offended Mei.
Hiss...
Seeing the "Stelle" who was still smiling on the surface but was clearly lost in thought, Mei couldn't help but break character.
"Miss Stelle, you might have misunderstood something..." Mei smiled helplessly, but when she said this, she herself was stunned for a moment.
Why... did she know that the other person had misunderstood something?
This sudden feeling was very strange, and also very familiar.
But this thought was immediately interrupted by her next words.
"I'm just preparing for tonight's performance, just maintaining the necessary state," Mei's smile returned, and the "stay away from strangers" aura disappeared along with it.
Shu was stunned for a moment, and didn't react. Instead, [Shu] who was looking down and calculating the current turnover, suddenly let out a long sigh of relief, and then began to mutter pretentiously: "I thought I had miscalculated... that was close, that was close..."
You're faking it a little too much! You imposter!
"Miss... Mei, you're going to perform on stage too?" Shu asked in surprise.
He was indeed a little surprised. Logically speaking, it was almost impossible for Mei to participate in a program performance given her status and identity... unless...
Was Mei here tonight to give a speech as a representative of the Fire Moth?
This deduction was very reasonable, but why Mei?
Was it because Bronya was too young, Bianca was not suitable for speeches, and the entire Fire Moth court had no one available?
That's not right either, couldn't Rita do it?
At the very least, Theresa also had leadership abilities...
Shu couldn't figure it out.
"Let's end the pleasantries here. After all, I'm here to buy things." Mei's words also interrupted Shu's thoughts. She glanced at the long queue behind her and took the initiative to end the chat.
It would be bad to keep others waiting for too long.
Then Mei, with the air of a wealthy person, said she wanted one of everything, and by the way, pointed at the life-sized human-shaped standees and asked if they were for sale.
"This is not for sale, this is really not for sale..." Shu explained with embarrassment. A trace of disappointment flashed in Mei's eyes, and then she picked up two large bags full of merchandise and turned to leave.
But just before leaving, Shu still asked a question.
"Miss Mei, when is Kiana... Lord Kiana coming back?"
She felt that as a core member of the [Kiana Energy Station], it was reasonable for her to ask such a question.
Mei didn't notice anything wrong when she turned her head to answer.
"Kiana... she should be back at the base tonight..." Mei calculated the time and gave an answer, "Mmm, don't worry, I'll try to get Kiana to come and play here too."
...Something is still not right...
Especially when Mei mentioned "getting Kiana to come and play here too," it was particularly not right.
She was a little worried, and also a little guilty...
Plus the possibility of Mei performing on stage tonight...
Shu felt that the answer was right in front of him, but he was just missing the final push.
There was no final push, but the elbow from his "younger sister" was quite fierce.
[Shu] elbowed the dazed Shu out of his contemplation with a sharp jab. Shu bent over and glared resentfully at [Shu] who was pretending that nothing had happened.
This damn imposter had become more and more unrestrained since he had taken the initiative to claim the identity of "older sister" last time! Especially this elbow jab, he had used it so smoothly!
Very good...
Shu firmly remembered this grudge in his heart and decided to settle the score on the day the problem was resolved.
Calming himself down, Shu looked up and smiled at the next customer.
"Welcome—"