Chapter 49: The Vast Horizon is My Love [Big Chapter]

Regardless of the expectations others held, Han Han remained unmoved; he had his own rhythm.

After the new article was published, the buzz skyrocketed, and the schemer instead took the initiative to enter a period of silence.

A person must know when they have done enough for a certain matter, then immediately become alert and stop being carried away by inertia.

In the eyes of President Han, now was not the time to consume his own image to satisfy the media; he only needed to wait quietly for the fire to ignite and the wind to rise, letting those who wanted to get high do so on their own.

What is rhythm?

Every era has its own characteristics, never the same.

In the era of short-video self-media, public relations or stirring up trouble must be fast and fierce, a single burst of output.

In the public opinion wars of those years, sometimes it only took eight hours to determine the winner.

But at this time, in 1999, the correct rhythm was one loose and one tight, three shallow and one deep, giving emotions enough time to ferment, while also leaving enough room for the aftertaste to linger.

Adapting to the era is rhythm.

Therefore, Han Han was not only in no hurry himself, but he also refused to let the outside world lead him by the nose.

He stopped stirring up trouble and stayed obediently at home to revise his long novel, immersed in the joy of writing, unable to extricate himself.

He refused all entertainment and turned away many reporters who came knocking.

Whoever you are, don't bother telling me your credentials; this young master isn't taking guests lately!

Firm-willed, handsome, and wild.

But looking at it from another angle, his behavior was like a scumbag: first, he stirred the public opinion world into a frenzy, and then, just when things were getting exciting, the bastard pulled out, patted his butt, and walked away...

How is this any different from a beast?

Heaven knows how many reporters and media outlets were gnashing their teeth at him.

You blew up half the public opinion world, and then you retreated into seclusion—so what are we supposed to do?!

Damn it!

Although he was in seclusion, it was impossible for Han Han to really stay at home without moving.

He only isolated himself from the media, not from the world.

On the third night after "Added Value" was published, the hermit Han Han stole a half-day of leisure, quietly slipped out to go online for a while, and observed the public sentiment.

"Damn, this is so hard for me."

Walking stealthily and sneakily in the night breeze, Han Han couldn't help but complain: "Days without mobile internet or AI tools are really hard to deal with; even for such a small matter, I have to run to an internet cafe and act like a monkey..."

Good things don't come true, but bad things do; his words became a prophecy.

Once in the computer room, Han Han was indeed surrounded and watched like a monkey, and familiar middle-school-style exclamations reached his ears again; the words had changed, but the flavor remained just as pungent.

"Holy crap! Young Master Han!"

"Wow! He's even more handsome in person than in the photos..."

"I actually saw the legend of our Nong'an with my own eyes! Hehe, hehehe, wahahahaha..."

"Being number one at everything, he's just too damn cool!"

"I wonder if Boss Han still needs someone to run errands or something?"

"As if you'd be needed? Even the school beauty of our No. 2 Middle School couldn't find a chance to get close to him."

"Really? How do you know?"

"Damn, I was the one who personally touched the first love letter and stuffed it into Young Master Han's desk, how could I not know?"

Damn, that's a lot of information.

And it was that familiar, cringe-inducing feeling again; there's no one like him.

Young Master Han sat in the corner with a cold face, put on his headphones, clicked on local music, and pretended that everything outside didn't exist, surfing the internet in peace.

The internet of today was finally no longer a wasteland.

BBS was declining, but Tianya and Mop were quietly rising; the 1.5-generation Chinese netizens gathered in various channels, arguing or bragging every day, even livelier than the comment sections of later platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu.

Today, you, Brother Han, are a focal point on Tianya.

In the Arts and Literature and Bookworm Tea House sections, he and his "Big Brother" pendant together occupied half the landscape, with popularity second only to Jin Yong.

In the era of print media, the mass foundation of Jin Yong's Wu Xia was on a different level.

80% of literate men had read Jin Yong's novels, and 80% of illiterate men had watched Jin Yong's Wu Xia films and television, which made Han Han, who had read none of it, seem out of place.

He was very unfamiliar with Jin Yong's Wu Xia and could only feel that obsession through everyone else's praise.

Among them, the most active poster was a fanatical fan with the ID "Feng Qingyang," who spouted wild words when mentioning Han Han:

"Comparing him to Yang Guo is completely illogical; you can't just praise him randomly because he's good-looking. In my opinion, he's at most a Duan Zhengchun, with talent and Wu Gong in a mess, living entirely on his charm with women.

Of course, I'm not saying this out of jealousy; if he's a bit promiscuous and has more children to pass on his genes, I support it.

But expecting him to revitalize the literary scene is ridiculous; he couldn't revitalize a fart!"

Fine, fine, fine!

Han Han was so angry he laughed; he felt there was nothing more insulting than this kind of nonsense.

I was born good-looking and have been handsome since I was a kid, so is that my fault?

But do you know that my looks are the only thing I got without effort? As for the rest—my talent, my ability, my Wu Gong—which one didn't I earn through hard work?

To actually curse me for only being able to rely on my face to be kept by a rich woman—is this Feng Qingyang perhaps used to being ugly in real life?

Uh, speaking of the power of nonsense, you two are about the same...

Feng Qingyang's criticism was a representative voice, but its influence was average.

Because, although Jin Yong was the popular mainstream of the current era, he was not at the top of the chain of contempt.

Orthodox literature lovers looked down on everyone equally, and in this chain, international was greater than domestic.

People who read Tolstoy were just cooler than those who read Ba Jin or Cao Yu, and those who had read José Saramago ruled over everything—even though he wasn't very famous, who made him the 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Literature?

And besides the orthodox, Wu Xia was the strongest, and youth literature was at the bottom.

Actually, there was no real youth literature at this time, nor was there internet literature, so everyone had to look down on Han Han and Han Han together.

The difference was that Han Han was scolded more severely, while Han Han had a few fans.

That's right, when the "Big Brother" first repeated a grade, he was that miserable; except for those with ulterior motives and some young boys, the whole world looked down on him.

It wasn't until "Triple Gate" was born and became a bestseller that he earned the qualification to speak.

Today, the "Big Brother" has been driven to have even higher popularity than in his previous life at the same time; I wonder if he likes it...

Han Han: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Damn!

Actually, Han Han received more and fiercer spraying; no matter how awesome his academic grades were, they couldn't offset the lack of discretion in his "wild words."

However, even those arrogant orthodox literature lovers had to pinch their noses and say, "Han Han is still worth looking forward to; let's wait and see."

"Need your anticipation? How ignorant."

Han Han chuckled, shook his head, and closed the literature section.

With the atmosphere here, it would never become his base, so whether they praised or scolded, it was best to ignore it.

A noble small circle that couldn't bring Starlight Points wasn't worth caring about.

On the contrary, in the emotion and miscellaneous talk sections, his popularity was actually quite positive.

Hottest post: "Serious discussion: Can Han Han represent the highest talent a Chinese person can possess in their youth?"

Seeing the title with his own eyes, Han Han had only one feeling—the first batch of Chinese netizens were actually quite crazy.

Being abstract might be a built-in skill for Chinese people.

The poster summarized it as follows:

1. Appearance: The best of the best.

2. Peer comparison: The spirituality of his writing and the abundance of his literary talent are blindingly obvious.

3. Physical fitness: Excellent; he doesn't even suffer when a first-year junior high student fights a third-year.

4. Fashion sense: Very strong; he has an astonishing intuition for beauty.

5. Intelligence: Very high; he could get first place after studying for half a year, and although it was only the high school entrance exam and didn't require much IQ, it at least proved he was quite smart.

6. Action: Extremely strong; decisive and straightforward.

7. Leadership: Also very strong; that study group with the "Green Dragon on the left and White Tiger on the right" was said to be exceptionally united.

8. He has the sensitivity of a literati but not the weakness; he's a bit like Prime Minister Cao; at a glance, he's an owl-hero.

In summary, I personally feel that Han Han is not a prodigy in the conventional sense like Wei Yongkang; he is much more exaggerated than a prodigy. Looking through history, one can't find any template to correspond to him; he is shockingly comprehensive.

Everyone, what do you think?

"I'm looking at it with a smile."

Han Han's mouth curled up; he loved watching others praise him too much. It could contribute Starlight Points and soothe his mood; double the happiness, better than a threesome.

Below the post, the netizens' enthusiasm for discussion was very high, and they naturally divided into three major camps.

The data and information he wanted to collect were all there.

The first major camp: mindless, crazy boasting and extreme pursuit.

Honestly, the level of enthusiasm was a bit out of bounds.

"Hard to disagree; all eight points are checked."

"1, 2, 5, 6, 8 are no problem, but you call dyeing your hair red, wearing earrings, and wearing a Japanese-style school uniform 'fashion sense'? Why is your fashion sense so cheap?"

"Now the streets are full of Han-style messy hair, driving such a big trend; isn't that fashion?"

"Brother Han's temperament is super cool."

"Looking at the hairstyle alone, it's indeed a refreshing fashion, much easier on the eyes than long hair."

"Holy crap, that Zhongshan suit combined with red hair and earrings is just... it's so handsome it makes my blood boil. I got the same style that day, and then I got beaten eight times in three days..."

"I'm from Yancheng; there are indeed many people with the same style!"

"Same in the Imperial Capital."

"Shancheng +1."

"The current ranking of trends among teenagers: first is Young and Dangerous, second is HOT, and third is almost Han Han. He might be the only one from the mainland on the list."

"Little Swallow didn't make the list? Bullshit!"

"It's not the same thing. We're talking about pop culture now. Little Swallow, Little Li, Jordan, and Backstreet are indeed more popular, but the main objects of imitation for teenagers are Han Han and his group."

"If you're referring specifically to imitation behavior, then yes, it's spreading very fiercely in junior and senior high schools."

"Brother Han is only ranked third?"

"HOT has dance and music; you can watch them by buying a disc. What does your Little Han have? Just those few photos, not even 1/3 the size of others' posters."

"Looking at it this way, Brother Han is truly awesome; he can even tie with them. It's outrageous."

"Mainly because the Han-style quotes are too popular. My classmate's new catchphrase is 'Don't panic first'."

"Shut up, or I'll scatter your ashes~~~"

"Hahaha, that group of idiots in our class chat like that every day!"

"My 11-year-old nephew shouted at his mom the day before yesterday: 'I want to bathe in your blood and turn back into a wolf, eat meat in big mouthfuls, and feed you shit!'"

"Pfft!"

"Then what, then what?"

"He's still hanging from the rafters now..."

"Hahahaha!"

Good heavens, were the netizens of this time already so talented?

Leaving aside the transcendent joke-tellers, Han Han didn't know anything about the things they were chatting about.

The most inconvenient part of the print media era was not the dissemination, but the feedback.

Really, wanting to understand the real situation outside one's line of sight was just too difficult.

Although there was the internet now, with Tianya and Mop, the low penetration rate made the statistical samples lack authority, making it difficult to grasp comprehensive information in a timely and correct manner.

Therefore, what netizens chat about can be believed, but not taken entirely seriously, because netizens are mainly concentrated in cities, and the coverage area is too narrow.

As a leader of the water army, Han Han attached special importance to data and data analysis, far surpassing people of today, but unfortunately, it was a case of a clever woman unable to cook without rice.

After thinking about it, he decided to register an account and chat with the netizens himself.

When it came to naming, he filled it in casually: Han Han Himself.

[Sorry, your name is a duplicate of an existing user and cannot be registered]

Han Han in Person, sorry...

Han Han Himself, sorry...

Han Han is my dad, sorry...

Fine, fine, fine, you guys dare to use such heavy names randomly; aren't you afraid you can't handle the weight?!

Han Han had no choice but to add numbers after the ID, and it wasn't until [Han Han Himself 185] that it was successful.

Now, he had truly experienced his own level of popularity.

No description could be as real as this information; being able to make everyone crazily register social accounts with his name—isn't that the greatest recognition?

Happily returning to the original post, he continued to peek... continued to supervise their chatting.

"As a spokesperson for the New Concept, Little Han seems to be a bit far behind?"

"What do you think? Chen Jiayong got into Peking University with one essay, Han Han shocked the world with 'Peering at People in a Cup,' and Han Han's fans are ten times the sum of theirs. The word 'fan' was coined for him; it didn't exist before."

"Comparing fans is bullying people; Brother Han wins just by relying on that face."

"Actually, at first I hated him, but recently I suddenly realized he's really cool."

"Same, I suddenly started worshiping him after watching the latest interview."

"Are you crazy, worshiping a little thug who fights and collects protection money? You might as well continue worshiping Chen Haonan."

"To the person above, I'm a Southerner. Middle schools here are managed very strictly, and there's almost no fighting, but those bad students still have plenty of ways to bully you. You've never been bullied, so you'll never understand. I envy Han Han so much, but I really don't dare to resist. How I wish there was a 'Big Brother' like him..."

"Thug? You compare trash like Chen Haonan with my Brother Han? Funny!"

"Exactly, do you know what an opinion leader is?"

"Pfft, a lone-wolf leader?"

"Now Brother Han is benchmarked against Ahn Jae-wook, Xiao Tong, Xie Tingfeng... Chen Haonan is out!"

"That's not necessarily true. Among girls, it's Ahn Jae-wook fans, Han Han fans, and Xiao Tong fans arguing with each other; among boys, it's Young and Dangerous, Han Han fans, and Han Han haters fighting each other, making it restless everywhere."

"Indeed, just look at the forum and you'll know; the ones spraying each other are always those same few families."

"But Brother Han hasn't lost recently; awesome~~~"

"Hahahaha! Brother Han is scolded in the newspapers every day, and the Han Han fans are going crazy; anyone who bumps into them now won't have a good time."

Indeed, Han Han himself also discovered that as his fan base expanded to its current level, it had truly begun to radiate influence outward.

President Han was still in the accumulation period, but the Han Han fans had already begun to torture the entertainment industry.

The main targets of conflict, sorted by fan base size, were roughly Richie Jen, Li Erpeng, Lu Yi, Ekin Cheng, Xie Tingfeng, Ahn Jae-wook, and other South Korean idols; they hadn't dared to touch the Four Heavenly Kings yet.

Good heavens, I didn't know until I counted, but counting twice gave me a fright; almost every male star with a bit of idol attribute was about to be finished off...

Honestly, Han Han had to take half the responsibility for the foul atmosphere in the film and television section—his fans were collectively besieged by all fan circles; what kind of Chinese treatment is that!

But this matter itself was not worth being surprised about, because fans are always more sensitive than idols and can feel the crisis more.

Han Han's sudden emergence was essentially eroding the basic foundation of all idols.

The current idol market was too small, with the core force being teenage girls between 12 and 22; after removing the vast rural towns, the most valuable urban girl fans were never enough to go around.

The HOT fan club alone claimed to have 8 million fans, and what about the others?

Of course, the numbers were very fake; the young people listening to their songs were probably more than 8 million, and the real "floating fans" would have to be discounted significantly.

Actually, floating fans and mid-level fans were fine; they could like Han Han and anyone else at the same time. Anyway, they weren't in the same lane, so it didn't affect their fence-sitting.

But when it came to the third-tier die-hard fans and the fourth-tier "poison-only" fans, it became exclusive.

There could only be one idol; everything else was a demon.

Poison-only, poison-only; poisonous to everyone, only for the idol.

Once other people's fans reached this point, no matter how handsome or talented Han Han was, it was useless; he could only wait for his opponents to make mistakes, which was too passive.

Therefore, this was a life-and-death struggle for resources, and Han Han was an enemy of the whole world.

But he wasn't afraid at all, even full of excitement and eager to try.

"Jump around as much as you want now; when I've eaten up most of the fan growth, I'll take you guys to the slaughter!"

Han Han, grinning coldly, truly lived up to that "owl-hero" evaluation—eagle-eyed and wolf-guarded, with both ferocity and banditry, as if ready to pounce and tear someone apart at any moment.

So, why was only Han Han the "Big Brother"?

Because he was weak.

Even at his peak, he couldn't get many girl fans, let alone now; there was simply no conflict...

"Eh? Why are there so many people calling him Brother Han? Are they all elementary school students?"

"Laughing to death, I'm a junior in college, and I call him Brother Han out of respect."

"Unspoken rule of this board: call Han Han 'Brother Han', call Han Han 'Little Han', and those who call him 'Little Han' are assumed to be extremely sour dogs. Are you new here, buddy?"

"Ah? Who set that rule? Are you sick?"

"Friendly reminder: A certain moderator is a big sister fan of Han Han, so watch your words~~~"

"Received! I especially worship Brother Han; the poster is awesome, the moderator is awesome!"

"Don't listen to them lying to you; calling him Brother Han is spontaneous. Those few articles are truly inspiring, and the interviews are also very thoughtful. There are quite a few forum members who admire him."

"Correct."

"Seriously, I have many younger brothers and sisters who like Han Han now. This guy's writing is truly cool, and the arrogance in his bones is too charming."

"'Charming' is a good summary; even as a man, I feel he has a lot of charisma."

"That line 'Whoever you are' really gave me a jolt and goosebumps. How can a little kid be so wild? How can he be so wild with such style!"

"Not as good as 'I am the lone wolf'."

"There are 100 reasons to like him, and only one reason not to: jealousy."

"My reason is 'The Town Test-Taker'."

"Same, it hit home for me. No one understands better than I do how bitter the process of getting out of the mountains and into Jiaotong University is."

"My reason is 'I Fought with Fate'; it's so cool."

"Then I'm the earliest; that award-winning piece 'Knowing but Not Following' shocked me. Sometimes you really have to admit the existence of genius. Damn, he's a real beast!"

"Couldn't agree more! 'Knowing but Not Following' went crazy in our school! Many people copied the whole thing! By the way, I'm in high school!"

"Holy crap! We copied it too!"

"When I first read 'Knowing but Not Following', I only admitted he was awesome, but I didn't like him at all in my heart. There was a girl in our class who was obsessed with him, and I felt very uncomfortable, but now I'm not uncomfortable anymore; now I'm damn desperate! How can I compare to this?"

"Hahahaha, wuwuwu! My secret crush also likes him! Damn it!"

"Wow, you middle school students are wilder than one another..."

"I just found 'Knowing but Not Following' to read yesterday, and the part that touched me most was 'The brutal beatings you didn't take in your youth will be made up by society; it should be quite tempering.' How vicious is this guy? But he sees society very clearly; he's truly awesome. Everything went smoothly before I started working, but now I'm really beaten to the point of wanting to die."

"Don't panic, the situation isn't settled yet; you and I are both Prince Charmings!"

"No, can't you guys really understand the gold content of 'The Town Test-Taker'? The level is more than two grades higher!"

"Shut up, loser; 'Added Value' is number one."

"Don't mention 'Added Value'; that's the most painful piece to read. I regret not knowing better back then."

"I really envy you guys, having so many things to read every day. We kids in small towns have almost no chance to fully understand Han Han; I haven't even seen 'Added Value'."

"Which town are you in? I'm also in a town, and our class uses his three works as model essays."

"Is it meaningful? Can you learn anything? It's just joining in the fun, just a passing fad."

"How can it be meaningless? I have a good friend who wasn't planning to continue studying and was rambling to me a few days ago about going to the South to work. After reading Han Han's 'Added Value', he was silent for a long time, then suddenly changed his tune: 'Forget it, I'll finish high school. I don't expect to get into a good university, but I'll just treat it as exercising my thinking again.'"

"Holy crap! I have the same thing happening around me! Really, a guy in our class who hung out outside every day suddenly came back to school yesterday!"

"Brother Han tells stories too well. Although there are parts I don't understand, I can just feel a faint sadness."

"Yes, reading such text itself is a kind of meaning."

"That's true; I suddenly feel that the post-80s generation isn't that useless after all; not particularly broken."

"Propagating the 'Lost Generation' on the internet? We post-80s are definitely stronger than you, much stronger!"

"It's Han Han who is stronger than me, not you post-80s, and certainly not you."

"Damn! You 3%3&!Q#..."

Why are they arguing for no reason?

Han Han's feeling was that the internet in 1999 wasn't very harmonious either; it was equally filled with chains of contempt, superiority, bickering, and even direct insults to organs.

Actually, his reputation wasn't one-sidedly good; there were many people scolding him, and their combat power was particularly fierce.

The second major camp was those who picked faults, mocked, showed off their nobility, and even sprayed dirty words crazily.

Skip, don't look.

Our Brother Han never consumes himself internally; he wouldn't deliberately look for trouble.

Just collect data, count heads, and check fan status; no need to ponder in detail, it hurts.

The third major camp was serious and detailed analysis.

The Chinese netizens at this time were hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

The high cost of internet access meant that only a small number of wealthy people or successful individuals could speak freely online for a long time.

So there were really many experts among the netizens, looking at problems with sharp insight.

Look at their analysis of Han Han; it was to a degree that even he himself would be shocked.

Fangcunshan: "Han Han's personality, I describe it as a reactive traumatic personality. Everyone look carefully at his interviews and articles; you will definitely feel a strong aggressiveness. This kid is full of desire for competition, locks onto a target and does it head-on, unyielding. The poster's summary is on point: owl-hero, appropriate."

Xiao Agua Hei: "The first time I saw his eyes, I knew he had a very wild, dark, and deep vitality, plus that face—a lady-killer once in a century."

TEMPEST: "He doesn't just attract women by his face; he has a mysterious attribute. I don't know how to describe it so you can understand, but in short, he combines huge destructive power in thought with an exquisite, dreamy external feeling. Even in a calm state, he has a hidden power. He's really not that kind of little kid pretending to be cool; I even suspect his mindset is more world-weary than mine."

Gao Huohuo: "Not world-weary, it's deep and calm."

Heart Like the Milky Way: "An unhappy childhood can indeed change a person's growth state and force out a person's primitive potential, but that Han Han can develop into his current state, I still feel incredible. His potential is so high it's a bit outrageous; I suspect he was born with mutated genes. The country should recruit him quickly; don't leave him outside to harm little girls."

Ruling Black: "Indeed, I've never seen anyone who could become this popular just by three essays and a few interviews."

Greg_Laswell: "He's too topical."

Brother Jie: "Actually, I've always suspected that many of his behaviors have clear purposes, but I've never been able to find the reason. Now I find that he seems to really want to be popular, really likes to appear in front of everyone in the most unconventional, most rule-breaking form. Irresponsible guess: he seems to treat fame as a source of security."

Daolin: "Bingo! He wants to be an idol writer, and it's even possible he'll become a star."

yu2003: "Same feeling. I feel the path he arranged for himself is definitely not the step-by-step one of going to college, taking postgraduate exams, and living a peaceful life."

Jiusi Only Three Seconds: "What's the point of guessing this?"

Baimu Chunshi Five Seconds: "No matter what path he wants to take, I will keep paying attention, because it's like watching a monkey show; it's very interesting."

Yan Meng_Yan Bao: "The description of 'watching a monkey show' is really frivolous. Han Han is not just a cultural phenomenon, but a minor who should be protected. I hope you can maintain the most basic respect for him, otherwise we can also make you very interesting."

There's a Girl in the Village Named Xiao Fang: "A woman?"

Han Han 456: "Head of the Han Han fans. Brother, you're in trouble~~~"

Eyes Full of Milky Way: "Sisters, come, there's another stinky SB here; it's time to let him know who can't be provoked and who shouldn't be scolded!"

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: "Five seconds? Then what's the use of keeping it? Be good, listen, go get it cut off."

The scene suddenly became chaotic...

Seeing the fans' protection of himself with his own eyes, Han Han felt a subtle, indescribable emotion.

But he wouldn't let this emotion run wild.

Because he knew very well what the fans needed most—the idol's success.

And, continuous success. ===== CHAPTER 50 =====