Skyrocketing Popularity

The game between Stanford Cardinals and the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns was scheduled to be held in San Diego, in accordance with the NCAA's March Madness rules. There were no home or away teams, as all games were held in neutral stadiums.

Since San Diego was also a city in California, Li Zhen received enthusiastic support akin to playing on his home turf.

The entire state of California was now familiar with Stanford University's comeback story, and with three consecutive live broadcasts on Time Warner, everyone witnessed how Bruce Li conquered the audience.

So, whether out of personal emotions or regional culture, the audience in San Diego firmly stood with Stanford.

And to ensure that Li Zhen was treated like a hero, since the day before yesterday, several media outlets including MTV, CBS, and Time Warner Entertainment had been continuously reporting on how Disney's sweetheart, Hilary Duff, was saved by the hero Bruce Li.

The video footage captured by surveillance cameras made North American audiences exclaim in amazement and wonder: normally, such situations only occur in Hollywood movies.

Moreover, both of these individuals were celebrities. Hilary Duff had been gaining popularity as Disney's sweetheart for the past few years, becoming well-known in both youth campus films and the music industry.

Some media outlets were now calling her the new-generation American sweetheart, a sentiment that was also shared by her talent agency.

In the United States, being a "sweetheart" essentially meant being a darling of the otaku, similar to figures like Japan's Aya Ueto, a favorite among male fans.

To become a sweetheart, a few major criteria needed to be met: firstly, one had to be American; secondly, one needed to be sweet-looking enough; and thirdly, one had to exude a girl-next-door vibe. Of course, there were some implicit conditions that mainstream media wouldn't openly state, but could still be guessed—such as having white skin, not having a too tragic backstory that would invoke sorrow upon seeing, and not appearing too sanctimonious and unapproachable. In public perception, Jennifer Aniston was probably the last American sweetheart, and even mainstream media had certified "No American Sweetheart After Aniston." (T/N: What's the point of this?)

In a way, the American sweetheart was a small point within American culture, reflecting changes in their culture. The current generation of otaku needed an American sweetheart to comfort themselves, to serve as their tonic.

In recent years, with the troubles and subsequent head-shaving and rehab of Britney Spears, who had grown up as a darling of the American public, coupled with the aging of previous generations' sweethearts like Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, and Jennifer Aniston, there were currently no age-appropriate sweethearts in America. Hence... Hilary Duff emerged on the scene. The media's hype and the talent agency's support swiftly propelled her to fame. Although she hadn't yet reached the level of being universally recognized as an American sweetheart, she was undoubtedly the most powerful contender.

So, when Hilary Duff was involved in this thrilling car accident, complete with a hero saving a princess plot, her talent agency immediately began hyping the incident. They distributed the video footage from the surveillance cameras to major media outlets, and even added in candid photos taken by passersby.

They aimed to give Hilary Duff's resume a bit of "legendary color": an ordinary passerby would courageously rush to save the princess, shouldn't you fans be going crazy for this?

However, it seemed that the development of the situation had far exceeded the expectations of the talent agency.

Because... people quickly discovered that the tall and handsome guy who rescued Duff wasn't just any ordinary person.

He turned out to be the starting guard for the Stanford University team, leading them to three consecutive victories and securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

As the media dug deeper, they discovered that he had actually become a super prodigy by getting into Harvard at the age of 16. During his time at school, he even invested in Facebook, which is now widely regarded in the investment community, and he's the second-largest shareholder!

Oh my goodness!

This guy is much more interesting than Disney's sweetheart princess. He's practically a hidden gem.

The media always has a keen sense, and they quickly caught onto the real juicy gossip. They prefer people with captivating complexities rather than just focusing on the athlete himself.

And, on top of that, he's so handsome, isn't he?

"This guy's face is like a sculpture from ancient Greece. I swear, if it were this guy who saved me from the clutches of the Grim Reaper, I'd be hopelessly in love with him..."

The MTV host's exclamation of amazement represents the general sentiment of American girls: who wouldn't want this kind of scene from a TV drama to happen to them?

Actually, this is also why Li Zhen constantly sees his name and pictures in newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the Hollywood Daily Report...: without this much attention from the masses, the media wouldn't be so eager for it.

In these two days of preparations, Li Zhen declined interviews from more than twenty media outlets.

His rapid rise to fame shocked even his teammates. When Scott saw on TV that his brother had risked his life to save a Hollywood starlet, he was dumbfounded.

First, he asked Bruce if he was hurt from it, then warned him never to do such a thing again.

Finally, he asked, "Is Hilary Duff soft? How does it feel to hold her in your arms? Did you exchange phone numbers? Are you planning the next date? If you are, can you bring me along? I've never seen a live female celebrity before, and actually, I really like her sister, Haylie Duff."

Um... well, there's no one who isn't a bit curious.

In these two days, Li Zhen was almost completely surrounded by these types of questions, and his teammates were all amazed by Li Zhen's miraculous experience. But no one envied him... because it was really too dangerous. Faced with such a situation, they wouldn't dare take a brave step forward.

However, the cousins TJ Walton and the Chris Pat displayed a very sour attitude; they were very envious of Li Zhen's current popularity. Especially TJ Walton, who had just used a little trick to divert the TNT interview team, only to find that dozens more arrived a day later. And that guy Bruce actually refused. My goodness, does he not want fame at all?

Coach Jamie Lin first praised Li Zhen's noble character and courageous spirit in saving a person. But then, he harshly criticized him, believing that his actions were extremely irresponsible towards himself, his parents, and the team. If he hadn't succeeded in saving her, he would've risked his own life for nothing.

This wasn't like a swimming ace jumping into the water to save a drowning child; it was saving a woman who was 169 cm tall in front of a 500-horsepower truck.

Jamie Lin had the team doctor conduct a detailed and comprehensive examination on Li Zhen. Only after confirming that there were no problems did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

At the same time, Li Zhen received a call from New York.

His mother scolded him on the phone, berating him and even bursting into tears while scolding.

"I absolutely do not want my son to become some hero who saves American sweethearts, and I also don't want my son to recklessly risk his life for any woman other than me. In fact, even if I were in that situation, I wouldn't want you to rush over to save me..." As she spoke, Mrs. Wang Junzhu, who had always been strong-willed, even sounded a bit choked up.

But soon, she declared forcefully, "You absolutely cannot stay in California any longer. You must return to New York immediately or go to Harvard!"

Alright!

The conversation between mother and son was interrupted by the intervention of another call; after all, strong women always have an endless stream of phone calls.

What could Li Zhen say to this?