Chapter 7: Ticket Resale (Part 2)
The concert was to start at 7 p.m. tonight, and so Jiang Bao left school after eating.
She couldn’t contain the anticipation inside of her. Who knows, she might even return right away after contacting her fifth brother.
She had had enough of living so shabbily.
This time, finally, she didn’t need to be squeezed on the bus. Since she had an ample budget, she took a taxi.
While waiting for the taxi, Jiang Bao saw a person squatting on the ground five meters in front of her, seemingly scrawling something on the ground.
The writing was huge and she could see it clearly: “I’m so hungry and lost. Please give some money for food.”
It was a neatly dressed woman, but she looked a little pitiful.
If it was her from before, her heart wouldn’t have wavered, but after two days of hunger, Jiang Bao could empathize with her. Hunger wasn’t a wonderful feeling.
She then went to the stall she frequented and bought two jianbing and a bottle of water and put them on the ground.
Jiang Bao wasn’t a caring person, so her current actions would be considered something new.
The woman who wrote the sentence glanced at her, then stiffly said “thank you” to her. Is this girl silly? Who wanted you to buy something for me? You should give me money!
Jiang Bao turned her head and got into a taxi. As a Rich Young Lady, she had naturally never witnessed such a scam before.
A group of boys who were part of the elite class[1] just so happened to pass by and witnessed this scene.
The students of Fourth High all had good family backgrounds, especially those in the advanced class. They were more arrogant than the average person.
“Isn’t this the girl Lu Min saved last time? Is she sick in the head? How could she believe such a scam?”
“Buying food for her? I bet the beggar asking for money was completely stunned by this.”
“But she is truly quite a looker. Don’t you think so, Lu Min?”
The boy who walked at the end, upon being called out, gave a careless “hmm”.
He was very tall and had striking eyebrows, which made many girls on the street and in school uniforms check him out often.
—-
When Jiang Bao got out of the cab, the sky was already dark.
She had contacted Zhao Yuan Qing, then the few went to find the scalper[2] to get the tickets.
The agreed-upon scalper was a middle-aged man in his thirties, and when they went over, there were already more than twenty people in that corner.
They were all mostly young women.
Jiang Bao felt something was off. Did this man have that many tickets in hand? After all, this was only a small recital. There were only a few hundred seats in total.
… Zhao Yuan Qing had said that the man was very reputable in the scalping business; they had prepaid a certain amount beforehand.
What if they were cheated? Jiang Bao had to meet her fifth brother, no matter what.
The middle-aged man counted the number of people and saw that they had all arrived as he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I have a special pass to access the concert. I can definitely get you in.”
When he said that, the crowd in commotion gradually quieted down.
Five minutes before the opening, the scalper brought along a group of people and sneaked in through the back door of the concert hall.
The scalper had a staff as an inside man, but Jiang Bao still felt something off about this.
They were acting similar to thieves, weren’t they?
Thirty or so people hid in the security passage as the scalper, who led the group, periodically popped his head behind the wall to observe the situation and wait for an opening to move at any time.
“Now everyone, listen to me. There is still one minute till the recital begins, I will shout ‘go’ and everyone will run as I stall the security guards! If you can’t rush in, don’t worry. I’ll give you a full refund, and you’ll get a 10% discount the next time you buy tickets from me!”
The others all expressed understanding and held their breaths as they got ready.
Jiang Bao: “……?”
No, no, no, she didn’t want that. She was just ready to buy a ticket.
Before she had time to object, the scalper had already shouted the code word. Jiang Bao was wrapped up in the crowd and walked forward a few steps, then was pulled forward wildly by Zhao Yuan Qing and another girl.
… Jiang Bao was dragged into the recital hall with a dumbfounded face.
Zhao Yuan Qing gasped and asked, “You weren’t optimistic at all just now! Luckily I pulled you.”
Jiang Bao: “Is this really okay?”
Zhao Yuan Qing: “There won’t be a problem, but we can only stand and listen to the recital. Now that it has started, they won’t drive us out again. Wow, he’s so handsome while playing the piano.”
The lights in the hall were dimmed, and only the stage was lit. Jiang Wei Yan was wearing a fitted white suit as the music flowed from his agile fingertips.
Jiang Bao: “I think you guys are too simple-minded about this.”
It was rather hard to say anything about her fifth brother. Last year, he spent money to buy a wild chicken music award[3], and even let the family sponsor a concert tour.
And there was a very powerful manager helping him too.
Jiang Bao didn’t think much about it. She hadn’t calmed down her breath when dozens of security rushed in. Amid the peak of the “Croatian Rhapsody”, they started checking the tickets of the people standing one by one.
It would only take one song to drive out the people who rushed in.
Jiang Bao walked forward as she felt around the darkness in her surroundings. She couldn’t be taken away today. Maybe someone here didn’t attend and an empty seat was available.
Jiang Bao walked to the first row and finally saw an empty seat in the middle.
She hurriedly walked over to the seat and was about to reach it when someone beside her stuck out their foot and tripped her.
The moment Jiang Bao tripped, she yanked at the person’s collar and fell on her backside onto the other party’s patent leather shoes.
That hurt!
Jiang Bao raised her head in anger and unexpectedly saw a familiar face.
Xie Liao Yuan asked in a cold voice, “You actually dare to follow me here?”
Jiang Bao: “……?”
Footnotes:
[1] the elite class here meant a group of students chosen to represent schools in competitions (eg: math & science)
[2] scalper: a person who resells shares or tickets at a large or quick profit.
[3] wild chicken music award: an award that could be bought with money but is not recognized by the people of the country.
