Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 28 Han Han's Counterattack

Zhang Chao joked, "This is too expensive. I can't afford to pay for it if it breaks. Besides, if I take it away, what will you use it for?"

Lan Ting smiled and said, "A computer is not a cookie. It won't break if you touch it. Besides, you don't have to pay for it if it breaks. This is what my aunt brought back from Hong Kong. I hardly use it because I have a desktop computer at home with a bigger screen, and I'm used to using a desktop computer."

Zhang Chao was not hypocritical. As someone who had returned from 2024, he naturally would not really regard a laptop as a luxury. He thanked Lan Ting and accepted it. He really needed such a laptop. It was really too troublesome to go to his mother's workplace every day.

Lan Ting said: "I should be the one thanking you. You have solved the doubts in my heart for a long time. It turns out that what I thought was writing was not real writing. I also need to find the impulse in my heart..."

Zhang Chao looked at Lan Ting with a smile. He seemed to see a literary girl who had untied some kind of seal and was heading towards a whole new world.

Before midnight, Zhang Chao returned home. He first explained to his curious parents who Lan Ting was and why she asked him out. He also explained the notebook.

His parents didn't have much objection to Lan Ting lending him the notebook. Even his mother, who was always attentive, only told him to be careful not to break it. After many things happened in the past two weeks, Zhang Chao's parents treated him more and more like an adult.

The mother was interested in the relationship between Lan Ting and her son, and asked, "What is your relationship with Lan Ting?"

Zhang Chao rolled his eyes at his mother and replied, "What relationship? We're classmates!"

My father murmured to himself, "Lan? You live at No. 2 Shengli South Road?"

With the help of a laptop, Zhang Chao's typing efficiency has increased a lot. He typed nearly 8000 words in one afternoon. More than 2000 words were written for "Blog China", and the rest were the novel "Youth Like You".

After checking the blog post to make sure there were no typos, Zhang Chao ran to his neighbor's house to use the Internet and posted the blog. He also checked the number of views on his blog. The six blogs he had posted had all received more than 10 views, with the highest being the first one, which had received 30 views.

There are more and more discussions about him on the Internet. There are nearly 30 unread emails in my mailbox, basically all of which are interview invitations from various media.

Zhang Chao screened several important media outlets and replied that he would discuss the matter in detail after the Spring Festival holiday. He replied that he could conduct an email interview with less important media outlets. At the same time, he declined all invitations for TV interviews.

The time has not come yet.

After dinner, Zhang Chao's father quietly put a newspaper on Zhang Chao's desk. Zhang Chao flipped through it and soon found out the reason. The newspaper published an interview with the title:
Han Han responds to "Midnight Tide": If you decide to be a dog, don't brag.

From the title to the content, it is as sharp as ever. Han Han said in the interview that although Zhang Chao is only 18 years old, he speaks like a slick person in his 30s or 40s, without the sharpness and rebelliousness of a young man. He is just a dog that obeys the current education system; and this dog arrogantly believes that Han Han's dropping out of school is a failure...

It can be seen that Han Han was very angry and the consequences were serious.

As a top writer among the post-80s writers, although Han Han has been obsessed with racing in the past two years, he still has great influence in the public opinion field.

Every word he says will be taken as a guiding principle by many young people.

Zhang Chao's response to Li Lie's question about Han Han that day was actually risky. Ever since Han Han won the first prize in the New Concept Essay Competition, no one who had a verbal battle with him has managed to escape unscathed in the past decade.

But Zhang Chao is not afraid. First, he has been reborn from the "traffic era" and can control the media better than Han Han now. Second, as a former senior "Han fan", he actually knows where Han Han's current aggressiveness comes from.

The response "Han Han dropped out of school because he was unable to cope with a challenge" was actually copied from a Weibo post by Han Han himself more than ten years later. It was the true feeling of Han Han, who was in his forties, when commenting on his eighteen-year-old self.

As for his youthful recklessness, he also admitted in an interview that it was because "when you are young, you are not taken seriously. Everyone will naturally say some harsh words when they are not taken seriously - that's all."

In Zhang Chao's opinion, Han Han's arrogance is more of a form of self-protection. After going through all kinds of storms, Han Han has gradually matured and is no longer as sharp as he was in the past. He even publicly expresses his reflections on the past.

He expected Han Han's counterattack, but he was not prepared to respond immediately. However, some people could not wait. At around 8 o'clock in the evening, Dongfang Xing called his home and started:
"Han Han scolded you, will you respond? I will arrange a special recommendation for you!"

Zhang Chao replied: "I just saw it too. Don't worry, I will respond, but not now."

Dongfang Xing was a little disappointed, but still said: "Don't make us wait too long, otherwise the topic will become unpopular..."

After hanging up the phone, Dongfang Xing said to the photo of himself and a certain Internet celebrity on his desk: "Dongfang Xing, Dongfang Xing, how could you be so depraved... It's all because the traffic is so rapidly increasing that it's too addictive..."

Zhang Chao chose to remain silent for the time being, not because he had not figured out how to respond, but because public opinion has not yet been fully heated up.

Sure enough, the next day, Zhang Chao's father went out and brought back seven or eight newspapers, which either reprinted Han Han's interview or published inflammatory articles written overnight by reporters and editors.

Even the newspapers of the Nan Guo and Guang Ming series were no exception. Everyone was waiting to see the last show before the New Year.

Later, more people couldn't sit still. Teacher Zhang Ting also called and warned Zhang Chao not to respond impulsively, and not to speak foul language like Han Han, otherwise not only his own image, but also the image of the school would be damaged.

Then Lan Ting called, and Song Shiyu was with her, but both of them expressed their support for Zhang Chao.

Zhang Chao assured them that his self-confidence would not be undermined by Han Han, nor would he be forced to respond hastily. As for how to deal with this turmoil, he would have proper arrangements.

After a while, even Zhang Chao's father, who had been suppressing his curiosity, couldn't help but ask, "What do you think?"

Zhang Chao smiled mysteriously and said, "Don't worry, let the bullet fly for a while."

"What bullet? Let it fly for a while? Can you please talk properly?"

Well, the movie Let the Bullets Fly isn’t due to be released for a few more years.

What Zhang Chao didn't expect was that in addition to the national media, the entire senior year of No. 3 Middle School was also eating his melon.

When Zhang Chao was interviewed before, it was always in the school’s administrative building. In addition, the school leaders deliberately blocked the news, so everyone only knew that Zhang Chao disappeared mysteriously every day and did not attend classes, but no one knew what he was doing specifically.

The class only subscribed to one newspaper - People's Daily, so I didn't see any related reports.

The result was that when they went home for the holidays, they were suddenly overwhelmed by the overwhelming amount of "Zhang Chao". Some of their younger classmates even came to them and asked them all kinds of gossip about Zhang Chao.

As soon as Han Han's counterattack appeared, it immediately became the focus of these students - they really wanted to see whether Zhang Chao could win this battle.

But on New Year's Eve, Zhang Chao did not respond to the news in the newspapers or on his blog "Midnight Tide", which inevitably disappointed many people, whether they supported him or wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

Could it be that the "Midnight Tide" that defeated the "New Concept Essay Contest" with three powerful essays has given up?

(End of this chapter)