American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 314 The Online Daughter

Last night, Lin Yu-an not only made a stunning appearance at Madison Square Garden, but the subsequent broadcast of the third episode of "Wilderness: The Frozen Throne" also won him countless fans.

From Lin Yu'an discovering that tiny, dying figure in the snowstorm, to his difficult communication with the production team, his near-give-up from the challenge, and finally, the moment he resolutely picked up the cub...

When the second half of the program began to show previously unseen footage from a first-person perspective, all the emotional build-up was done perfectly, and audiences around the world were completely overwhelmed.

They witnessed how Lin Yu'an clumsily prepared the first life-saving milk substitute for that little life in that warm shelter.

When the bear cub sucked on its food for the first time and made a satisfied gurgling sound in its throat, Lin Yu'an had a relieved smile on his face.

On a snowy afternoon, a heartwarming scene unfolds as a human and a bear chase a red rubber ball across a frozen lake.

During the long, cold night, how persistently that little white fluffy ball of fur climbed into the sleeping bag again and again, seeking the warmest comfort.

If the concert footage is a tearjerker, then these first-person perspective shots in the program are a powerful tearjerker nuclear bomb!
Overnight, the name "December," along with its endearing yet pitiful appearance, captured the hearts of hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.

It is no longer an ordinary polar bear; it has become everyone's "virtual adopted daughter"!
In the living room of an ordinary middle-class family in Ohio, USA.

John, the father, a man who enjoys watching football and action movies, is currently huddled on the sofa with his six-year-old son, Tommy, watching television intently.

On the screen, a video was playing of Lin Yu'an holding December, sleeping peacefully in a sleeping bag.

“Dad,” little Tommy looked up and asked in an extremely serious tone, “that…that little bear, will it die?”

John's heart clenched painfully. He opened his mouth, but didn't know how to answer.

Just then, a turning point appeared on the screen. Lin Yu'an was clumsily but incredibly gently preparing the first meal of milk substitute for the little bear.

When John saw December bury her whole face in the bowl and make satisfied gurgling noises, his eyes lit up. He had finally found the perfect answer.

He hugged his son tightly and replied affectionately, "No, baby. Look, it met a very good and powerful person."

"Just like... just like when you're sick, Mom and I take you to see the doctor. That Uncle Lin is now Little Bear's doctor and dad."

"As long as he's there, Little Bear will be alright. He will love and protect it just as much as we love you."

These words, using the simplest metaphor, gave little Tommy the greatest sense of security.

He nodded vigorously, refocusing all his attention on the hopeful scene.

He had even completely accepted John's character, and looking at the tall figure on the screen, he called out in a childish voice, "Bear's dad! Go for it!"

When the show ended and the helicopter that was handing over the December was taken away, leaving Lin Yu-an with a lonely figure, little Tommy could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

"It's been taken away! It's separated from its father!" He cried, pounding the sofa with his little fists, looking heartbroken.

John awkwardly tried to comfort him: “It’s okay, it’s okay, Tommy. It’s just… just going to school.”

It took a long time for Tommy to calm down.

He broke free from his father's embrace, looked up at his father with a bewildered expression, his little face streaked with tears.

“Dad…” His voice was filled with the purest fear and unease of a child, “That uncle… is Xiongxiong’s dad, right?”

“Uh…yes, honey, that’s how we put it.” John was a little confused, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Then...why did Dad give his child to that doctor?"

Tommy's voice trailed off, and his eyes welled up with tears again.

"Will one day, a doctor auntie come to our house in a helicopter and take me away? Dad, are you... are you going to give me to the helicopter auntie too?"

"boom--!"

This question struck John like a bolt of lightning, instantly hitting him on the head! His mouth gaped open, his mind went blank, and he realized that his adult logic was incredibly fragile in the face of this child's purest fear!
“No! Of course not! Honey! That’s different! You are…” John stammered, trying to find the right words to explain.

However, before he could come up with any reasonable explanation, a voice filled with danger, like a Siberian chill, came from behind him.

John Smith.

John's body stiffened abruptly. He knew that when his wife started calling him by his full name, it meant the end of the world was coming.

He slowly and stiffly turned his head and saw his wife, Caroline, standing at the entrance to the living room.

She had just finished showering and was only wearing a bathrobe, her golden hair still dripping wet. But her usually gentle blue eyes were now like two icy daggers, staring intently at him.

"I think I just heard someone say that they're going to give my son to some helicopter lady?" Caroline walked over slowly, each step feeling like it was treading on John's heart.

“No! No! No! Darling! Let me explain!” John immediately raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and began to explain incoherently, “It was the TV! It was that Chinese man! He saved a little polar bear, and then…”

Caroline wouldn't listen to his explanation at all; the blood of this tough Ohio farming family was fully awakened at that moment.

She pulled her still-crying son Tommy into her arms, then plopped down next to John and grabbed his ear.

“John!” Her voice was extremely low, but it was filled with the terrifying energy of a volcanic eruption.

"Is your underdeveloped brain, damaged by that football, now making you doubt whether Tommy is your biological son? You'd better explain yourself clearly today, or I guarantee you'll be the next one sent away!"

"Ouch! Ouch! It hurts! Darling! No! Absolutely not!" John winced in pain, feeling as if his ear was about to be twisted off. "It's a metaphor! A stupid metaphor! I swear to God!"

He looked at his son in his arms as if grasping at a straw: "Tommy! Quick! Say something to Mom! Tell her we're talking about the bear on TV!"

Little Tommy was so frightened by the sudden domestic violence that he forgot to shed tears.

He looked at his angry mother, then at his pained father, and finally said to his mother in his righteous little voice, "Mom, don't bully Dad!"

The words "a hero saving his father" finally calmed Caroline's anger somewhat. She released her grip, but still stared at John with a suspicious look.

John rubbed his bright red ears and finally had the chance to explain the story of the "Bear Daddy" on TV and his own silly analogy in his fastest possible voice.

After hearing this, Caroline's face finally brightened. She glanced at the still-scrolling end credits on the TV, then at her aggrieved husband, and finally burst out laughing.

She gave John a kiss as an apology before turning her attention back to her son in her arms.

“Oh, my silly boy,” she gently kissed Tommy’s forehead, “Don’t worry, no one will send you away. You will always be Mommy and Daddy’s most beloved little baby.”

After receiving his mother's assurance that he would "never be sent away," little Tommy felt secure, but another, grander idea took root in his little head.

He broke free from Caroline's embrace, looked up at his father with his tear-streaked face, and gazed expectantly at him.

“Dad,” his voice was filled with the purest longing of a child, “then…can we also have a little polar bear as a pet?”

"I promise! I'll use all my allowance to buy it fish! I'll even bathe it! I absolutely won't give it away!"

This question is more damaging than the previous one, "Will you send me away?"

John and his wife Caroline exchanged a glance, both seeing a mixture of doting affection and immense helplessness in each other's eyes.

“Oh, baby…” John smiled wryly, picked up his son and put him on his lap, trying to explain it using adult logic.

“That probably won’t work. Polar bears are Arctic animals; they need to live in very cold places. Summers in Ohio are too hot for them.”

“Then we can turn on the air conditioner!” Tommy immediately retorted, his logic clear, “Just like we’re afraid of the heat in the summer!”

“Uh…” John choked for a moment, then changed his perspective, “And they’ll grow really big, bigger than Dad’s pickup truck! Our house probably won’t be able to fit them.”

“Then we can move to a bigger house!” Tommy’s solution was always so simple and direct. John was completely at a loss.

Looking into his son's determined eyes, he knew that simply refusing him would only hurt him more, so he had to find a way to distract him.

His mind raced, his gaze sweeping across the living room, searching for inspiration.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

“Hey, Tommy,” John’s tone suddenly became mysterious. “Raising a polar bear is a bit of a hassle. But… Dad knows another kind of cool little monster that also loves to eat fish and can stay with you for a very, very long time. Do you want one?”

"A little monster?" Tommy's curiosity was immediately piqued. "Cooler than a polar bear?"

“Of course!” John’s face lit up with a “you’ve hit the jackpot” look. “Polar bears grow up and have to be sent back to the Arctic. But this little monster can stay with you forever, until you grow up, and even until you have your own son!”

He took out his phone, quickly searched for a picture, and handed it to his son. The picture showed a small map turtle.

“Look,” John pointed to the picture, “it’s called the Map Turtle because its shell looks like an ancient treasure map! Isn’t that cool?”

"Wow!" Tommy's eyes lit up.

“And listen carefully,” John lowered his voice and said the most crucial point, “it also likes to eat fish! We can buy it dried fish, and you can feed it by hand! It eats fish, just like a polar bear!”

"Same...eating fish?" This common point seemed to instantly open up a logical loop for Tommy.

“Exactly the same!” John said decisively. “And it can swim! We can build it a little island in the tank so it can swim and sunbathe. It will become your own personal underwater superhero at home!”

Tommy was completely convinced!
"I want it! I want this!" he shouted excitedly, pointing at the little turtle on his phone. "I want the treasure map monster!"

A family crisis over raising polar bears was perfectly resolved thanks to John's clever maneuver of mistaking a tortoise for a bear.

Caroline watched her husband racking his brains to appease their son, a helpless yet happy smile on her face.

John let out a long sigh of relief. However, as he slumped back onto the sofa, he recalled the harrowing ten minutes that had just passed.

From his son's soul-searching questions to his wife's death stare, a mix of lingering fear and unvented frustration surged into his heart.

"Whose fault is this?"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and in the end, he blamed all the fault on the very culprit who had inspired the metaphor.

"No way! I have to get an explanation!"

He immediately picked up his phone and flooded the Discovery Channel's official Twitter account!

He's going to complain! He's going to protest! He wants the production team to know that their damn show almost ruined his happy family!

He angrily typed a tearful accusation in the comments section below Discovery Channel's latest promotional tweet for Warcraft III:

[@Discovery, do you know what you've done?! My six-year-old son, after watching your program, cried and asked me if I should send him away like his father did!]

My wife thought I was going to abandon our son and almost twisted my ear off! Now, to appease him, I have to promise to buy him a turtle that also eats fish! You must be held accountable for this! #AFather'sTearfulAccusation#

After posting this comment, he finally felt that most of the anger in his heart had been released.

Then, like millions of other viewers, he clicked on Lin Yu-an's YouTube channel to see what happened next.

However, John did not expect that his emotionally charged accusatory comment would suddenly emerge like a mudslide!

Countless netizens who were just immersed in being moved were stunned for a moment after seeing this comment, and then burst into a tremendous burst of laughter!

Hahaha! I'm sorry, although I feel sorry for you, I really couldn't help but laugh out loud!

In less than an hour, John's comment received over 100,000 likes and thousands of replies, quickly becoming the top-rated comment!
Countless netizens flooded his personal page, affectionately calling him "Turtle Dad".

John himself, from an unknown father in Ohio, has dramatically become the most famous victim and comedic figure in this global virtual bear-raising craze in a way that even he could not have imagined.

Like John, countless fans flooded into Lin Yu-an's YouTube channel after watching the show.

[Oh my god! I came from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne! Lin! Please! Tell us how December is! Where is it now?]

I cried, I really cried! The scene of you sleeping while holding it was the most tender thing I've ever seen in my life!

[Lin! You have to update! We want to see December! Now! Immediately!]

[That Dr. McCormick took it away, and then what? What happened next? Tell us what happened next!]

Faced with this overwhelming demand for more updates, Lin Yu'an didn't keep them waiting too long.

Instead of releasing a long video immediately, he released a short video of only three minutes on his YouTube channel and his newly logged-in Bilibili account the following day at noon.

The video's title is simple—"Hi, December"

The video was clearly shot with a mobile phone; it was a bit shaky, but incredibly realistic.

In the shot, Lin Yu'an is standing in a spacious and brightly lit indoor venue. Through a thick layer of special glass, he is smiling and waving gently at a white figure inside the glass.

On the other side of the glass, December had grown noticeably larger than when it appeared on the show, and its fur was whiter and fluffier.

As soon as it saw Lin Yu'an, it excitedly ran over, scratching at the cold glass with its two front paws, letting out an urgent and longing "woof" sound from its throat.

This video acted like a shot in the arm, instantly calming the anxieties of all the fans.

But at the same time, it ignited an even more frenzied passion in them!

【Ahhh! December has grown up! And gotten even cuter!】

[Lin Shen went to see her! I knew it! They won't separate!]

[Dr. McCormick! She's that cool girl from the diary! She and Lin look so good together!]

[Please update! Please update! We're begging for more daily videos from December!]

Lin Yu'an knew that he had successfully capitalized on the epic surge in popularity brought by the concert and "Frozen Throne".

The following week was busier than ever before for Lin Yu'an.

As his story with December spread through major media outlets, he became a household name. Countless interview invitations flew in through CAA's agent, Scooter.

With Scout's professional advice, Lin Yu-an selected only a few of the most influential top programs.

He appeared on "The Ellen Show," where, in a relaxed and humorous atmosphere, he shared with host Ellen his amusing encounter with early December in the wilderness, making audiences across America burst into laughter.

He also gave an in-depth interview to 60 Minutes, in which he elaborated on the concept behind the establishment of the "Beautiful Things" Foundation and the scientific nature and importance of the Arctic Pavilion project in a serious and professional dialogue.

Within just one week, his YouTube channel subscriber count surged from 270 million to officially surpass the 500 million mark!
His Bilibili account, which he had long neglected, saw its number of followers surge from over one million to over three million thanks to the frenzied spread of various video clips and word-of-mouth marketing, and it is still growing rapidly.

Lin Yu'an, with the super advantage of December and his own charm, has undeniably become the most popular phenomenon in the world at the beginning of 2022.

In the study of Eagle's Nest, Lin Yu'an stared at the steeply rising data curves on his computer screen—the growth of YouTube subscribers, the amount of donations pouring into the foundation's backend, and the popularity index of various media platforms—and fell into deep thought.

He knew it was time to launch the grand plan that had been brewing in his mind for so long.

(End of this chapter)