Little He

Little He is the son of Uncle He and a member of the small support network that gathers around Shen Tang. Although he remains largely offstage, his brief appearances establish him as a programmer whose practical technical ability is used to defend Shen Tang against online harassment. His importance lies less in personal plot development than in showing how Shen Tang’s relationships extend beyond the entertainment industry into an improvised community of relatives, friends, and supporters.

Identity and Introduction

Little He is introduced through Tao Sister’s explanation of how the group responds to attacks against Shen Tang. Uncle He’s son works as a programmer and has written a small program that automatically scolds the people attacking them on Weibo. The detail gives him a distinctly contemporary role: rather than confronting online abuse face to face, he converts technical skill into an automated counterattack. His contribution is comic in presentation, but materially useful within the group’s defensive efforts.

The family connection also places Little He within Uncle He’s household rather than among Shen Tang’s professional associates. When Shen Tang is added to a four-person group, the members are Tao Sister, Uncle He, Little He, and Shen Tang herself. The arrangement makes him part of an intimate protective circle whose members treat Shen Tang as someone to be defended rather than as the scandal-ridden celebrity described by the public.

Appearance and Characterization

Little He is characterized indirectly through his WeChat profile and the group’s teasing conversation. His avatar is a work photograph, identifying him with his occupation and making his professional persona the only visual impression Shen Tang initially receives. Contrary to Shen Tang’s joking expectation that a young programmer might already be bald, the photograph shows that he has exceptionally thick hair. Shen Tang becomes envious because her own softer hair makes it appear less abundant, while black fans frequently attack her hair as part of their broader criticism.

His only recorded direct response is a puzzled reaction after Shen Tang asks whether he knows any methods for growing hair. Uncle He then jokes that the family’s thick hair is natural, only for Tao Sister to add that the hair on Uncle He’s head is actually a wig. Little He therefore participates in a comic domestic exchange without needing a long conversation: his avatar, occupation, and brief confusion make him recognizable as a real member of the group while the surrounding banter supplies the scene’s warmth.

Function in Shen Tang’s Social World

Little He’s programming becomes a form of collective care. Shen Tang is publicly targeted by rumors, and her company’s public-relations strategy has already paired her indiscriminately with male celebrities to exploit attention, making her a notorious figure whom others in the industry avoid. Against that hostile publicity environment, Little He’s automated program represents a small-scale but concrete intervention by people who know her personally. The group does not merely sympathize; it develops a tool for answering attacks.

This support contrasts with Shen Tang’s public performance during livestreaming. When black fans flood a broadcast, she maintains a professional smile as though the comments are not directed at her, accepting the commercial value of the attention because the stream will generate income through the company split. Little He’s labor operates behind that public performance. Shen Tang preserves the calm, saleable image required by the livestream, while her supporters handle some of the aggression beyond the camera through coordinated online action.

Narrative Significance

Little He embodies the novel’s recurring connection between media visibility and labor. Shen Tang’s scandal-driven fame, livestream smile, and agricultural sales all convert attention into money; Little He’s programming converts technical expertise into protective influence. The scale is different, but both forms of work depend on mediated communication and the management of public response. His presence suggests that digital platforms are not occupied only by celebrities and anonymous attackers: they are also spaces where ordinary people organize mutual aid.

As the son of Uncle He and a participant in the group surrounding Shen Tang, Little He helps broaden the meaning of family-like support. He is not given a separate ambition, romance, or major turning point, and the available evidence does not establish a later independent arc. His lasting narrative function is instead concentrated in one memorable image: a programmer whose small automated tool answers the relentless online abuse directed at Shen Tang, while his thick-haired work-photo avatar becomes the subject of affectionate teasing inside the group.