Chapter 215: Fan Meeting

Reborn Starting from China Entertainment 2002, Chapter 210: Fan Meeting

Seoul, Kowloon Village.

This place is only five kilometers from Korea's most prosperous Gangnam District.

Yet it is a slum area famous far and wide.

Its history can be traced back to the 1980s.

At that time, Korea's capital was still called Seoul.

It was preparing to host the 24th Summer Olympic Games.

For the sake of the city's appearance, Korea at the time made a shocking decision:

They forcibly ordered all low-income residents near the stadium and Olympic Village to relocate.

And it was a forced relocation with no arrangements whatsoever.

Because it was a compulsory measure, ninety percent of the poor could only choose to obey.

But where to move became another problem.

In the end, these poor people set their sights on a piece of "wasteland" near Gangnam District—today's Kowloon Village.

"Oh my, Cheng Chen oppa is here! He really came to Korea! There's also a fan meeting the day after tomorrow!"

Inside a house in Kowloon Village, a young girl shouted excitedly at the top of her voice.

Although she lived in a slum, this girl's clothing and styling

were no different from the white-collar workers sitting in offices in Seoul.

This year she passed the bar exam and became an intern lawyer at a law firm in Seoul.

Once her internship is over, she can become a full-fledged lawyer.

In Korea, a lawyer's income is still quite considerable.

Going from a student at the Examination Hall to an intern lawyer—god knows how much she suffered!

You have to understand that although Korea has only a little over fifty million people, the internal competition is fierce.

This internal competition is divided into two parts: one is studying, endless studying of every kind.

Apart from the various adult certification exams that require studying, even the academic workload of primary and secondary school students can be called an internal competition hell.

Take Korean elementary school students as an example:

They are far busier than an ordinary office worker.

During the day, Korean primary and secondary students attend public school.

After school, they go straight to various private educational institutions to study.

It isn't until 10 p. m. that most students finish all their cram school courses.

Parents and private cars waiting outside the cram schools to pick up their children crowd the streets to a miserable jam.

But Koreans are used to this.

But finishing cram school doesn't mean they can go home and rest; some of them still go to study rooms to continue studying.

The influencer-style study rooms that became hugely popular in our country in later years actually originated in Korea.

Some students, after finishing a day of high-intensity school and cram school, would go to study rooms to keep reviewing.

Not until the dead of night would they drag their exhausted bodies home.

The "No-Sleep Study Room" in Reply 1988 also really exists.

Pulling an all-nighter and then going to school the next day is also very common.

In Korea, in Seoul's Gangnam District, there is Daechi-dong.

There is a famous street of "Korea's most high-end cram schools."

Just on this street alone, cram schools of every description add up to over a thousand.

The other part is internal competition in the Korean workplace, which exhausts people to the bone.

In Korea, the pressure on modern people is very great.

On Korean streets at night, you can see people lying or sitting on stone benches by the roadside resting everywhere.

If a person looks dejected and listless, that person must have just gotten off work.

The people resting on the street are basically all dressed quite neatly.

They are all blue-collar or white-collar workers from companies.

The reason is that the pressure they face at the company during the day is especially great.

Then they still have to face the pressure at home after returning.

So they can only stay here briefly to escape the pressure of reality for a moment.

Behavior like this is already commonplace in Korea…

Although the girl was born in a slum, she had always longed for the life in Seoul.

So she kept desperately studying for the lawyer qualification certificate, and finally this year her dream came true!

"Jiang Yan, instead of eating properly, what are you yelling about now."

Her dad came out carrying rice soup and kimchi,

while her mom said with a smile:

"Seems like it's a China star that our Yeon-ie really likes who's come to Seoul for a concert.

Our Yeon-ie seems to have always liked him quite a bit."

"Mom, not 'quite a bit,' I super-like him!"

Jiang Yan took a bite of kimchi and corrected her.

"Aigoo, I really don't know what's so great about liking him. Concert tickets and stuff must be really expensive, right?"

Dad muttered a single line.

"Dad, you don't need to worry about that. I've actually been following him since last year—I knew he had a tour concert planned.

Although I'm not sure whether he'll actually come or not, I've been waiting all along, and I've been saving up to buy concert tickets too.

Plus, I got my internship salary this year, so it's finally enough. You don't need to pay for it, Dad~"

Jiang Yan looked at her dad and said playfully.

"How did you save up the money?"

Dad asked casually between bites.

"From the living expenses you gave me—if I just skip breakfast and eat a little less for dinner…"

At this point, Jiang Yan suddenly fell silent and looked at her mother in a slight panic.

Sure enough, once her mother caught on, she said:

"Last year, you fainted while studying at the exam academy, and the doctor said it was malnutrition.

Were you not eating properly even back then?"

"Aiya, Mom, it's all in the past already, don't worry about it. Look, I'm perfectly fine now, aren't I!"

Jiang Yan hurriedly grabbed her mother's arm and said coquettishly.

Seeing her daughter like this, her mother couldn't say anything more. She could only lovingly stroke her hair and say:

"Silly child, is it really worth all that for a foreign star?"

"Exactly, abusing yourself like this—what if something happens? What would your mother and I do?

What a selfish little thing. We raised you all these years, and we still expect you to see us through our old age!"

Dad grumbled from the side.

Jiang Yan stuck out her tongue at her dad and made a face.

Dad, however, shot her a look, put down the chopsticks in his hand, pulled a few crumpled-up Korean won notes from his pocket, and said:

Xiao Shu Ting

"Women really are spendthrifts—take it, take it, all the money I made from the stall this week."

"What for?"

Jiang Yan was a little baffled by her dad's behavior.

"What else? You think going to see that China kid's concert is free?

You work in Seoul now—that's Seoul, there are plenty of places to spend money day to day.

Didn't you spend all your money on tickets? This is your living expenses—living expenses!"

Dad shoved the money onto the table in exasperation and picked up his bowl and chopsticks again to eat.

Jiang Yan glanced at her dad, who was shoveling food into his mouth, and her eyes welled up a little.

Her parents' usual income came from running a stall. For their daughter's college tuition and to become a lawyer, they had poured in nearly everything they had.

Fortunately, she passed the exam this year, and only then were her parents able to catch their breath.

In Seoul, she had seen many middle-aged men her father's age.

Every one of them was pot-bellied, dressed in crisp suits, with neatly combed hair—the very picture of a successful person.

In her memory, her father had never once owned a decent suit…

Always that same worn, greasy jacket, and a face weathered red-black by the smoke at the little stall every day…

"Dad~"

Jiang Yan was a little choked up.

She pushed the money back in front of her dad and said earnestly:

"Dad, I don't need this. I don't really have much to spend normally—I eat at the firm.

It's just the bus fare every day, and I can still cover that, so please take it back."

Her father, however, shook his head and lectured:

"That little bit of yours isn't enough. What about when you eat out with friends?

Don't think that just because you've gotten into a firm you can rest easy—nothing could be further from the truth!

You have to build good relationships with the leaders, do more so they can see what you're putting in.

Things like buying coffee and running errands—you need to step up and do them on your own. Only by putting yourself out there can you stay. Got it?"

"Okay."

Seeing how insistent her father was, Jiang Yan had no choice but to accept the money.

At the same time, she secretly made up her mind: in the future, she would earn good money and be filial to her parents…

……

Jucan Entertainment arranged a fan meet-and-greet for Cheng Chen in Korea.

It was actually pretty much the same as a signing event back home.

This was the final round of promotion and exposure—even though the concert tickets had long been sold out.

But if Cheng Chen wanted to develop in Korea, more and more exposure was essential.

Many stars who want to be famous mostly rely on their looks.

Those who truly rely on talent are not the majority.

This point has become more and more obvious with the development of the times.

It really proves that saying—you can make a living off your looks!

But in Korea, that route definitely won't work—good-looking people here are as common as fish crossing the river.

What's left is nothing more than backdoor deals and rigged operations.

But these had little to do with Cheng Chen, since he was already a well-established star.

This trip to Hanguk was like a mighty dragon crossing the river.

Public demand for Cheng Chen in Hanguk was high, especially among young people.

That's why Jucan Culture organized this signing event…

Cheng Chen arrived at the venue early; as soon as he appeared, he drew screams from many fans.

"Cheng Chen Oppa!"

"Oppa is so handsome!"

"Welcome, Oppa, to Hanguk!"

Some fans even brought light boards, and others held Cheng Chen's posters.

Cheng Chen nodded to everyone one by one, while asking Su Qingya to remind the security staff to maintain order and prevent any incidents.

As is well known, the term "fan circle culture," which future generations would come to despise, was perfected in Hanguk.

In the early days of fan circle culture, several idol-fan patterns later widely adopted were first developed.

For example, the most numerous balloon color at concerts and award ceremonies.

Indicated that the singer represented by that color was the most popular idol of the year.

Fans would support them by holding raincoats and balloons in the color symbolizing their "Oppas."

The large-scale spread of the internet arrived alongside a new era of idol fandom.

This made fan circle culture even more tightly linked to commercialization.

At the time, although listening to songs online had become widespread,

only those who purchased albums could obtain limited-edition stickers or unpublished photos.

So fans still bought albums in large quantities.

One could say that idol culture saved Hanguk's declining physical music industry.

Besides albums, concert tickets and merchandise became the primary ways capital profited.

But gradually, this model began to sour—or rather, became mechanical, formulaic, and rigid.

After years of development, Hanguk fan circles formed a highly organized and efficient operational mechanism.

And they drove Hanguk culture to continuously export itself worldwide.

Within this mechanism, fan circles became increasingly stratified and institutionalized.

Based on time, money, and contribution value, fans could even be divided into ordinary fans, frontline fans, copywriting fans, and so on.

Fan groups themselves also had different tiers.

To join the core fan group, one had to submit screenshots and purchase records.

Including proof of spending, number of posts about the idol, and whether one had ever followed other stars.

Like a strict job interview.

Fan circle elites typically held certain decision-making and economic power within fan organizations.

Through various fan activities, they stabilized casual fans, created hot topics, and protected the idol's reputation and image.

Star teams often established connections with fan circle elites to use them for their own benefit.

It was precisely under this highly organized operation.

That fan circle culture began to infiltrate every corner of their daily lives.

Today, Hanguk's fan circle culture has already formed a considerable scale.

So when Cheng Chen looked around, he realized these people's idol-fan gear was far more complete than in his own country.

Cheng Chen sat on the chair and began signing one by one.

To Cheng Chen's surprise, his male and female fans in Hanguk were nearly equal in number.

This made Cheng Chen, who always prided himself on his looks, feel a bit embarrassed.

A three-to-seven male-to-female ratio was the standard for a good-looking male idol…

"Keep going!"

"Work hard! Keep going—progress in your career!"

"Wishing you progress in your studies, keep going!"

Cheng Chen kept smiling throughout; for the younger ones still in school, he wrote "progress in studies."

For older ones, he wrote "progress in career," "keep going," and so on.

These were, of course, written in Korean; for this, Cheng Chen had rushed to study Korean.

"Cheng Chen Oppa, I—I really love you!"

A girl, about twenty-three or twenty-four, stood before Cheng Chen.

In her hands were Cheng Chen's poster and album.

Cheng Chen nodded, smiled, took the album she offered, and wrote a message on it.

This girl was naturally Jiang Yan, who had just become a trainee lawyer.

While Cheng Chen was writing, she quickly said:

"Oppa, I adore you—your songs 'Blue Lotus' and 'The Brightest Star in the Night Sky' carried me through last year's toughest days at the Examination Institute.

Especially 'Blue Lotus'—though its lyrics held no grand declarations,

and its melody had no dramatic ups and downs, the entire song was sung in a calm, peaceful tone, yet it shook the soul.

Moreover, the whole piece carried a strong Zen flavor…"

Hearing the last sentence, Cheng Chen looked up in surprise.

In his original timeline, the original intent behind "Blue Lotus" was to honor the famous Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang.

It expressed respect for Master Xuanzang, which is why there was Zen meaning.

But not everyone could perceive this.

However, once Cheng Chen thought that this was the land of Goguryeo, he let it go.

Know that in the 4th century, Buddhism spread eastward from China into the Korean Peninsula.

At that time, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla stood in a tripartite balance.

By the mid-7th century, Silla allied with the Tang Dynasty and destroyed Goguryeo and Baekje, unifying the Korean Peninsula.

Buddhism gradually broke away from its Chinese lineage and established its own unique doctrine in Goguryeo.

Thus, Buddhism's influence on Goguryeo remained profound and enduring! - Add to bookmarks -