Chapter 109.1: Sold Out & VG Offline Event
System: [It’s all gone…]
[All gone!!! I’m a dignified system, and I still couldn’t beat the Xiuologists at snatching things. How infuriating!]
Shen Xiu: “…Everyone is just really skilled.”
System: […] That hurt even more!
The Xiuologists who were rushing to make purchases shared the same confused reaction as the system—Why can’t I buy it?!
Wasn’t it just released? Is the system malfunctioning?
Unconvinced fans exited, refreshed, and re-entered the purchase page, only to find that both the “Starlight Ring” and “Rose Night” were labeled as “Out of Stock.”
Xiuologists: “…”
They were all sold out just while people were liking, commenting, and sharing? That’s terrifying!
Some Xiuologists, too slow to grab anything themselves, were stunned by the sheer purchasing power of others. Even in disbelief, they couldn’t help but post online in amazement.
VG had prepared inventory for this launch based on their usual stock levels for endorsements. They never expected that once the advertisement was released, the product links would be wiped clean in mere seconds.
So many people were discussing it that the topic’s popularity skyrocketed, and the news of Shen Xiu’s endorsement for VG’s Summer Cool & Chic Series “Starlight Ring” and “Rose Night” selling out quickly hit the trending list.
#StarlightRingAndRoseNightSales
#SoldOutInSeconds
#XiuologistsBuyingPower
#OutOfStock
#WhenWillVGRestock
— Sisters, I just want to ask: I had my wallet ready, so why didn’t I get anything?! I can understand the launch promo price of the Starlight Ring at 1,888 getting snatched up, but the Rose Night had three tiers—High-End at 7.2 million, Low-End at 2.2 million, and Standard at 5.2 million. We’re talking millions! How did those sell out too?! I don’t get it!
— I helped contribute to Rose Night being sold out~ I got the standard version! All the sisters around me got one too. Who cares about the money? It’s a birthday gift for myself—I just wanted to get the same one Xiu-baby wears~
— We all have hands, so why are mine so slow? What’s the point of having them if I can’t even click fast enough?!
— Wuwuwu I didn’t get to match Xiu-baby today… VG, when will you restock? @VG
— The 1,888-yuan ring got bought out like it was just some cheap cabbage. I’ve never seen anything like this before! Are you Xiuologists really all this rich?
Eventually, the discussion among the Xiuologists all converged on one thing: they started tagging @VG’s official account, asking when the stock would be replenished.
For a celebrity, going viral because an endorsed product sells out instantly is extremely valuable.
It reflects the purchasing power of their fans and becomes a key metric that future brands consider when inviting Shen Xiu for endorsements.
So although the Xiuologists were frustrated they couldn’t buy anything, they were still genuinely happy for Shen Xiu.
While Shen Xiu’s fans were thrilled, not everyone shared their joy. Fans of certain other celebrities showed up under topics about Shen Xiu’s sales success, posting sarcastic and passive-aggressive comments.
— Yeah right, like they didn’t manipulate the numbers! Total fraud!
— Finally, someone said it. These Xiuologists are way too good at managing comments. All you see are people saying they couldn’t get one—how is that possible? Back when Duan Mingfei first endorsed a phone that only cost a few thousand, they couldn’t even move that much stock. Now you’re telling me a watch that costs millions sold out? It’s so fake, it’s laughable.
— Or VG purposely released only a tiny batch of stock to hype up Shen Xiu’s commercial value and deceive other brands.
In response to the skepticism, the Xiuologists began posting their order confirmations as proof.
— Just a possibility, okay? I’m just saying—looking at your profile, you’re still a student. It’s normal that you can’t afford to support your favorite celeb. But assuming fans of other artists also have limited buying power? That’s not normal, right? [photo]~
— I can’t speak for others, but I did buy it. [photo]
— No loans were taken to boost sales, by the way~ [photo]
— The fan making those comments might not understand—buying a million-yuan watch is the same to me as buying a ten-million-yuan luxury car. It’s all part of my image. After all, when I’m doing business, if the other party sees that even the stuff I casually wear is worth millions, they trust my financial strength more. It makes cooperation easier. [image]
— Hey, same here! When I’m doing business, no one’s going to ask to see my bank account. I look at appearances. I can’t speak for others, but for me, someone’s image makes up about 20% of my decision to work with them. [image]
— Huh? Am I the only one here who’s not a Shen Xiu fan? I just bought it as a gift for my kid, who really likes him.
— Ahem, me neither. But after my kid gave our family group a full rundown on Study God Xiu, he became very famous in our circle. So I decided to secretly get one for my kid as a reward—matching Shen Xiu’s version. Maybe she’ll absorb some of his scholarly aura~ [image]
— Wearing the same style as Master Xiu—what if I meet another fan at an event? It’s a great way to expand my social circle. Besides, someone with the same taste as me—someone who likes Study King Xiu—how bad could they possibly be? [image]
Under all the skeptical comments, Xiuologists flooded the replies with photos of their receipts and purchases. Every response was backed with a screenshot or picture as proof—no empty claims allowed.
The Xiuologists’ collective show of receipts quickly pushed the doubters’ comments to the top of the thread, essentially flipping the conversation.
Curious onlookers who didn’t know the full story clicked into the trending topic expecting some juicy scandal. Seeing the initial doubts and accusations, they thought they were about to witness some drama—only to find no scandal at all. Instead, what they got was a flood of purchase confirmations, one after another, proving that Shen Xiu didn’t fake his sales.
And the stream of receipts just kept coming—nonstop. The bystanders soon realized: this wasn’t some simple trend. There were too many receipts to even count!
As the curious netizens dug deeper, clicking into both the doubters’ profiles and those of the fans posting purchase proofs, they quickly understood the root of the misunderstanding.
Office workers, professionals, business owners, wealthy individuals… It became very clear that Shen Xiu’s fanbase largely consisted of people with strong purchasing power.
In contrast, younger student fans—who generally can’t afford high-ticket items—naturally couldn’t match that kind of spending. Their suspicion that sales had been faked made some sense from their perspective. But after everything was explained, the more rational doubters quietly deleted their comments.
Between the people tagging VG to restock and those accusing VG of faking numbers with Shen Xiu’s team, the brand found itself caught in the chaos. Shocked by the actual purchasing power of the “Xiuologists,” VG held an emergency internal meeting and decided to make a public statement.
@VG: We apologize—our stock has completely sold out. Please wait patiently for the next restock. Rumors of fake inventory and manipulated sales are false. Below is our system interface showing ID-based purchase limits.
Here are screenshots of the purchasing accounts—there are still countless more like these. [Images x18]
All 18 images displayed the account IDs of buyers who had purchased the Starlight Ring and Rose Night. The IDs were partially blurred to protect customer privacy, but clearly showed that each account was limited to buying within set restrictions.
This served as hard evidence that accusations of fake sales were baseless.
To fake sales on such a platform would require registering thousands of accounts, each tied to a separate bank card—not to mention making the purchases, screenshotting the confirmation, and then refunding, which is how fanbases typically try to inflate numbers for their idols.
But that tactic only works when there’s no purchase limit—and clearly, VG’s system had strict limits in place.
This kind of tactic—boosting numbers with mass purchases and then refunds—makes an artist’s endorsement look wildly successful. The sales data looks great, the battle reports impressive, and fans get to show off on social media about how much money they spent to “support” their idol.
But when refund requests pile up, the seller’s overall store rating drops. To minimize losses, businesses often take down the product listings themselves. In the end, it’s the merchants who suffer, not the artists or their fans.
Under the influence of fan cliques and idol fandom culture, as long as the numbers look good, the narrative can be spun, and the next brand can be roped in just as easily.
Even though VG had already released solid evidence proving that the sales of the Starlight Ring and Rose Night were real and legitimate, there were still sarcastic and sour comments floating around:
— Hmph, sure, maybe they did buy it, but that doesn’t mean they’ll keep it. Just wait, the return wave will come tomorrow. And who knows if it even sold out because fans are rich—maybe the inventory was just super low. What’s with all the flexing and loan talk?
— I don’t get it—there’s this mountain of evidence and people are still insisting it’s fake? Just admit that Demon King Xiu is genuinely amazing and attracts amazing people—is it really that hard? The jealousy is unreal. I swear my phone must be high-tech now—it can smell the sour lemon vibes through the screen.
— Makes sense now. You lot must do this often—buy, screenshot, return—so you think everyone else plays that same game.
— Just wait—tomorrow, you’ll see the total sales numbers drop and all your smugness will come back to bite you. Sour enough to pickle veggies, honestly.
At this point, it was obvious: anyone still insisting on their point in the face of such concrete proof was simply a rival fan.
The Xiuologists had no time for these “lemon spirits”. They didn’t even bother responding anymore.
Those who successfully bought the products were eagerly awaiting their deliveries and unboxing moments. Those who hadn’t managed to get one—or couldn’t afford it—were waiting for restocks, or at least looking forward to watching unboxing videos from others.
—
The next day.
While Shen Xiu was buried in his studies at school, the total sales figures for the Starlight Ring and Rose Night were finalized.
And with the sales screenshots in front of them—even the people who didn’t want to believe it had no choice but to admit:
Shen Xiu’s first product endorsement had truly sold out in a massive success.
The Xiuologists directly posted screenshots from the purchase page, tagging those accounts that had been sarcastically claiming yesterday that “low stock makes selling out normal.”
Under the trending hashtag #SoldOut, those screenshots were making other artists and their fans green with envy. Many artists’ teams itched to poach these wealthy and loyal Shen Xiu fans—these “rich aunties.” But the moment they realized they’d have to grind as hard as Shen Xiu to attract the same kind of fanbase, they gave up without hesitation.
Beating the Grind God Shen? Yeah… too hard.
Giving up was the simpler and more realistic path.
