Chapter Eighty-Nine: Fans

Anyone with the slightest common sense knows that a star’s image is carefully packaged; beneath it, he is still an ordinary person, full of flaws of every kind.

So all of He Xinghui’s seemingly image-damaging antics gave his fans the feeling of a living, breathing man, vivid and real, down-to-earth.

Of course, the most important reason was that He Xinghui had boundless potential, played beautifully, and was witty and humorous.

With so many qualities worth loving, the fans did not care about a few minor blemishes at all.

Wasn’t there a man trapped in Colorado who was forgiven by the masses of fans, and even given a retirement tour?

Compared with infidelity, domestic violence, theft, and worse crimes, He Xinghui’s fondness for a bit of boasting was hardly worth criticizing.

Besides, in the eyes of his most devoted fans, that was not boasting at all, but a sign of confidence.

Once He Xinghui’s remarks were made public, they immediately stirred up intense debate among basketball fans.

“Hey, did you read He’s interview yesterday? It was seriously cool. He’s the only one in the league who dares to say something like that.”

On Wall Street, in an office tower, Roger, a junior employee, arrived at the company bright and early.

Before the real work began, a cup of coffee to wake himself up was an essential ritual.

And while drinking coffee, it was only natural to chat with coworkers about the games.

“Cool? I think he’s a little too showy,” said Tom, whose favorite star was Kobe Bryant, and for that reason he naturally did not care much for He Xinghui’s style.

“A rookie keeps breaking records one after another. I think a little showiness is only proper. Besides, young people ought to have that kind of vigor,” Roger said.

“Maybe.”

Tom smiled. He was not the kind of blind fanatic who would quarrel with a coworker over a slight difference of opinion.

Everyone kept their own views and went on with life.

Compared with their friendly exchange, the discussion at a university was far more heated.

At a certain university in Los Angeles, two groups nearly came to blows over He Xinghui and Kobe Bryant.

“He is just a trashy attention-seeker. What right does he have to compare himself with Kobe? Does he have a championship? Does he have any real credentials?”

Kobe supporters sneered.

“How many points per game did Kobe average in his rookie season? Did he even have eight? Was it as many as the number on his jersey?”

He Xinghui’s fans mounted a counterattack; they were not foolish enough to compare him with Kobe now. They were comparing his rookie-season Kobe with He Xinghui now.

That immediately gave them the upper hand in terms of facts.

Kobe’s rookie-year performance, of course, could not compare with He Xinghui’s present play.

But the Kobe supporters were not easy prey either. When they were at a disadvantage statistically, they shifted the argument at once and began attacking He Xinghui’s character:

“At least Kobe doesn’t act like the world owes him a living, doesn’t show disrespect to his elders, and doesn’t look down on their records.”

“Right, Kobe only doesn’t care about his parents or his wife, didn’t even invite his parents to the wedding, and then cheated after getting married.”

He Xinghui’s fans shot back.

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you too.”

“The teacher’s coming.”

Whoever shouted it, both sides immediately fell silent.

Of course, even if the teacher had not come, the fight might still not have happened.

In real life, fighting always comes with a price, win or lose, and most people would not easily throw a punch.

Online, however, it was a completely different world. No matter how fiercely people barked, there was no need to fear getting hit, so they could throw punches with full force.

Thus, arguments on the internet had already turned into a battle to the death.

The two groups hurled curses, abuse, and hexes at each other, even casually insulting one another’s families.

Centered on the parents, radiating out through three generations of direct descendants, the entire family tree was caught in the blast.

Some bystanders who had originally been just eating popcorn often found themselves inexplicably dragged into the fray as well.

Allen was a Phoenix Suns fan. Seeing Kobe supporters furiously trash He Xinghui’s triple-doubles, he could not help but play the role of a calm, rational observer and commented, “Even if He saying how Kobe wins games was a bit exaggerated, it has to be admitted that Kobe needs to improve in terms of involving his teammates.”

After posting that comment, Allen felt rather pleased with himself and even imagined a scene where netizens praised his rationality.

The result was:

“Heh, another little dog.”

A sarcastic reply from a Kobe supporter. In the eyes of extreme Kobe fans, everything Kobe did was good.

As long as anyone said one bad thing about Kobe, that person was unquestionably a little dog, and that was that.

“I’m just making a rational analysis. Kobe...”

Allen wrote a long explanation in an attempt to clarify himself, but before his comment could even go out, more than a dozen abusive replies had already piled up, full of the vilest insults, all of them involving his parents.

“Fuck you. Kobe fans are all a bunch of brain-dead idiots.”

Allen cursed loudly, deleted what he had been about to post, and began directly hurling even harsher obscenities at the Kobe supporters.

His firepower was so fierce that it even surpassed most of He Xinghui’s fans.

He did not hate Kobe; he hated Kobe’s supporters.

And in the eyes of those supporters, his behavior made him a confirmed Kobe hater, no question about it.

In truth, Allen the supposedly rational observer was not the only one driven mad.

Some people who had once been Kobe supporters, after seeing the extreme fans’ shameless and absurd remarks, felt ashamed to be in the same camp.

Some chose to quietly leave the Kobe supporter circle, while others tried to talk sense into them.

As soon as those conciliatory comments appeared, a label of “little dog” came drifting over.

That feeling of being falsely accused immediately drove some Kobe supporters berserk. They changed sides and became true Kobe haters, little dogs.

Similar cases also happened among He Xinghui’s fans.

A passerby who had originally rather liked He Xinghui merely said, “He is very strong now, but in pure ability he still falls a bit short of Kobe,” and was instantly labeled by He Xinghui’s fans as a brain-dead Kobe supporter.

As for the Kobe supporters’ remarks, He Xinghui’s fans simply ignored them and went straight to the attack, which never failed.

In addition, there were also some other players’ fans fanning the flames from the sidelines.

LeBron James’s fans would at such times occasionally moonlight as Kobe supporters or He Xinghui fans, then do their best to smear both He Xinghui and Kobe.

They truly went to great lengths to secure the enthronement of their king.

Besides the fans, even some players logged into their alternate accounts and joined the war of abuse.

For example, Tony Parker, who could not stand He Xinghui at all, and top draft pick Andrew Bogut, among others.

Kobe supporters, He Xinghui fans, passersby, LeBron fans, players’ alternate accounts...

These people were all having the time of their lives online.

Where there is controversy, there is discussion; where there is discussion, there are participants; where there are participants, there is heat, and where there is heat, there is fame.

Whether the quarrel between the two groups was ultimately good or bad for their idols could be set aside for the moment, but their argument had indeed turned Kobe and He Xinghui into the hottest names around.

As for this, He Xinghui naturally had no objections.

Such arguments only created the illusion among passersby that he had already become a player on Kobe’s level, someone fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Kobe Bryant.