The story of Hanshan and Shide comes from his previous life. It tells of a dialogue between a man named Hanshan and a monk called Shide.
Hanshan suffered endless humiliation and bullying from the world, and in his anguish, he asked the eminent monk Shide what he should do.
The monk told Hanshan that he only needed to endure it, let it be…
Hanshan followed the monk's words, cultivating himself and tempering his character.
A few years later, Hanshan unexpectedly placed first in the imperial examination.
As for those who had once humiliated him, one by one, they ended up living miserable, pitiable lives.
Because of this story, and because of that exceptionally classic line of words, even in his previous life, after being passed down for a thousand years, countless people still mentioned it from time to time.
When Huang Yifan posted this "statement that wasn't really a statement" in the related section of 'How a Bad Guy Is Made, ' no one expected that this single chapter would instantly blow up the entire comment section.
"'People slander me, deceive me…' This line is too classic! Xiaobai, I support you."
"This passage is practically a saying for the ages, Xiaobai, keep going!"
"Those disgusting scum who keep trashing Xiaobai, open your eyes and look at yourselves. With your garbage-level character, just like Xiaobai said, wait a few years, and we'll see what kind of crap you've turned into."
"That's right! Those trash talkers already sprayed nonsense on Feilong, and now they have even come to the 'Bad Guy' comment section to curse. Screw you! If you don't like it, then get lost. Xiaobai didn't force you to read it."
"Exactly!!! These past few days, who knows how much pressure Xiaobai has endured and how much injustice he's suffered, yet his breadth of mind is truly admirable. What's the point of arguing with this kind of trash? Let them be, endure them, yield to them, avoid them, bear with them, ignore them… wait a few years, and you'll see! That's written brilliantly."
'How a Bad Guy Is Made' was still a new book, and it hadn't yet become hugely popular, but after getting a recommendation, it had attracted quite a few readers.
Among these readers, many were the type who never spoke up: if a novel was good, they read it; if it wasn't, they left. But after finally finding a novel that was easy to read and incredibly satisfying, they saw it being relentlessly attacked every day by a bunch of trash. When the author, Xiaobai, released that single chapter, they could no longer stay silent.
One after another, they logged in with alt accounts and started fighting back against the trolls.
"Brothers, let's go! We're heading to Feilong! Those Feilong trash came to our comment section to curse! Xiaobai has a big heart and won't stoop to their level, but are we really not going to vent this anger for him? Let's go curse them back!"
With someone taking the lead, others immediately followed.
In just a few minutes, hundreds of new accounts were registered on the Feilong forum, and the boards were instantly flooded.
"You Feilong trash, aren't you all authors? If you don't like Xiaobai's book, fine, no one's forcing you to read it. But why spread rumors on Feilong that Xiaobai is related to a Lingdian editor? Did Xiaobai ever insult your family? Or is it that your own novels are so bad you can't even get a contract, so you're jealous of Xiaobai?"
"We already knew Feilong was full of trolls, and sure enough, it's true. You can't write well yourselves, yet you won't admit it. Do you think your writing is amazing? Then show your real accounts and list your books. Let's see how good your novels really are."
"Yeah, you trolls are an absolute disgrace to people who write novels."
Slap in the face.
A real slap in the face.
Originally, a group on the Feilong forum had been constantly mocking 'How a Bad Guy Is Made' for being too "simple" and poorly written.
No one expected that, in the blink of an eye, they themselves would be torn apart in return.
And the counterattack was far sharper than their original insults.
Objectively speaking, Feilong was a forum for authors, and authors evaluating a book was normal enough. But once those comments escalated into personal attacks, the Feilong side was clearly in the wrong.
Now that Bad Guy's readers had charged in, the sound of faces being slapped rang loud and clear.
Especially when the readers demanded, "Show your real accounts, what books have you written? Are yours really that good? What right do you have to trash Bad Guy?" that single line instantly silenced many of those who had been loudly condemning the novel.
Reveal their real accounts?
How could they?
Did they still want to keep writing?
If they revealed themselves, who knew how quickly they'd be attacked in return?
This was particularly true for authors who had achieved some success. As for those who hadn't achieved anything, they still wrote novels, some of them even arrogantly posted their book titles, acting as if their writing was outstanding. But once they did, they were immediately torn apart again. One look showed they weren't even contracted, damn it! How could they have the nerve to claim their writing was good? And uncontracted novels inevitably had plenty of flaws. Once their titles were exposed and those flaws were dug up, they were subjected to another round of merciless humiliation.
Still, although the mutual flame war looked lively, its actual effect was limited.
The truly devastating blow was the single chapter Huang Yifan had posted earlier.
"When people slander me, deceive me, insult me, mock me, belittle me, despise me, hate me, and cheat me, how should I deal with them?
Just endure them, yield to them, let them be, avoid them, bear with them, respect them, ignore them. Then wait a few years, and you'll see for yourself."
That single passage was written so perfectly that it was breathtaking.
Whether they were Huang Yifan's readers or other authors on Feilong, anyone who saw that single-chapter statement couldn't help but feel deep admiration.
A verse like that really could be passed down for a thousand years.
No one expected such a verse to come from a web-novel author.
And even less expected was that the author would be the very "simple-minded" writer they had mocked before.
Thinking of Feilong's current situation, many authors who belonged to the forum felt their faces burning with shame.
Even if they hadn't participated in attacking 'How a Bad Guy Is Made', as regular Feilong users, they still felt disgraced by association.
One such author went by the pen name "Thirty-Two."
Thirty-Two was an ordinary author on Lingdian Chinese Web. He wasn't popular, but he wasn't a complete flop either, barely managing to make a living through writing.
Outside of writing, his biggest hobby was browsing Feilong.
There was no special reason.
Feilong was a free discussion platform for web-novel authors, and because it wasn't controlled by any particular site and maintained strong neutrality, Thirty-Two often checked it to see what topics were trending, what gossip was circulating, or what battles were breaking out.
At first, when Feilong went wild, attacking an author called "Number One White Under Heaven," Thirty-Two had found it quite entertaining.
To be honest, he also felt that the Number One White Under Heaven novel was far too simplistic and that the writing was genuinely bad.
Although he hadn't joined in himself, watching the fight had still amused him.
But the next day, when Thirty-Two saw the single chapter Number One White Under Heaven had posted, that line "People slander me, insult me…," and the state of mind it conveyed made his old face flush red with shame.
Compared to Number One White Under Heaven, authors like them who lurked on Feilong year after year were practically beasts.
Filled with guilt, Thirty-Two created a new post and wrote:
"In the past, I always believed that the most important thing in writing novels was prose, or perhaps talent. Without good writing, without talent, wanting to write a novel felt impossibly difficult. Until yesterday, I firmly believed this. But today, I realize I was wrong.
I now believe that the most important thing in writing novels is neither prose nor talent, but mindset.
The better a novel someone can write, the better their mindset must be.
Without that mindset, you can't breathe life into your work. The characters you write will remain dead; they will never come alive.
Just like an author who mocks those with weak prose, who criticizes writers of simple fiction, who believes their own writing is excellent and their talent exceptional, this already shows that their mindset is flawed. Their vision will likely never extend beyond this point.
Look at those super platinum authors. Have you ever seen them say your novels are trash?
Obviously not.
Even if your novels truly aren't as good as theirs, platinum authors still won't belittle you.
And yet the tragedy is that, over these past few days, Feilong has staged this farce of self-inflicted humiliation.
Friends, you may think I'm criticizing those who attacked the Number One White Under Heaven. No, I'm criticizing myself. Even though I didn't join in attacking him, my inner thoughts were no different from theirs. I feel ashamed of this mindset. Especially after reading Number One White Under Heaven single chapter, I was left utterly mortified.
Here, I solemnly apologize to Number One White Under Heaven, to his readers, and to all the new authors who were unfairly criticized on the Feilong forum in the past.
Also, don't think this is an alt account. My name on Feilong is the same as my pen name on Lingdian.
If anyone thinks my writing is terrible, feel free to curse me as much as you like. I will learn from Number One White Under Heaven, learn his calm, unshaken mindset after enduring countless humiliations, and I will not argue back in the slightest."
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Glossary
1 - Xiaobai literally means "little white," but in Chinese internet and literary culture, it is a nickname, not a literal description. It is often used to refer to someone who is a newcomer, beginner, or inexperienced person, and it can be affectionate, self-deprecating, or teasing depending on context. In this novel, Xiaobai comes from the pen name Tianxia Di Yi Bai ("The Number One White Under Heaven") and is used by readers as a familiar shorthand. Because it functions as a proper nickname with cultural connotations, this term will not be translated and will be kept as "Xiaobai" in the English version.
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