Generation Z Artists

Chapter 118: Tricking the Editor-in-Chief into a Brain-Filled Monster

The reporter pulled his hair frantically and felt like his brain was about to explode.

The main edition of Time Asia is aimed at international users, so the content is written in English. Currently, interviews in Chinese will eventually be translated into English.

But how do I translate Fang Xinghe’s words?

For example, the last sentence "My God is here" is obviously a clever pun with multiple meanings.

Everyone knows that Fang Xinghe has a Taoist background. In Taoism, a certain place inside the brain is the residence of God - the "God" here probably has the first meaning of the God of essence, energy and spirit.

At the same time, it also means "God in heaven" and "the master of self".

The former is easy to deal with, it can be done with just one "god", but what about the latter?
Should it be translated as "Master of oneself", or "Self-mastery", or the short sentence "In control of one's own destiny" which can better emphasize the autonomy of destiny? !

Fang Xinghe only spoke three short sentences, with a total of 11 words, but it is damn impossible to translate the essence while maintaining the original simplicity and power!
When he wanted to pluck his own hair out, the cameraman also went crazy.

Whether good-looking or not is an objective reality, but being handsome is a feeling. Take Fang Xinghe now for example. His posture is so handsome that the cameraman wants to turn the magazine into a TV show.

However, although the video recording could not be used, this buddy captured the most essential moment when Fang Xinghe lightly tapped his temple, and gave a close-up of his side face from above. Fang Xinghe's calm eyes and the seemingly mocking corners of his mouth, combined with his finger movements, formed a sense of power that almost broke through the screen.

There is no better description.

The bird's-eye view from a high vantage point implies an absolute suppression, but Fang Xinghe's body tension just declares a kind of confrontation. This unexpected surprise in composition is hard-won, and if it is cropped and slightly rendered, it can become an excellent cover photo.

Zhao Yao was no longer panicked. He was shocked, but after the silence, he was filled with great surprise.

"I know you are known for your arrogance, a rebellious teenager that is hard to come by in the mainland."

He slowly composed his words, hoping not to waste such a weighty response.

"But the depth of your thoughts and... well, your confidence, still greatly exceeded my expectations. Before moving on to the next question, I would like to express my special respect to you. You have made me feel great respect for the cultural power of the mainland. I have met many children from wealthy families in Hong Kong Island. When they were your age, all they could think about were luxury cars, famous watches, and nightclub girls."

Zhao Gulas is at least 70% sincere.

Now he doesn’t even say “your mainland” anymore, but calls it the inland, which is a very good phenomenon.

Fang Xinghe replied calmly: "Anywhere in the world, only young people living in pain and poverty will think about profound propositions. The beautiful apples soaked in the honey pot don't have that time. The splendor of the material world will naturally bring fulfillment and happiness to the spiritual world. This is not anyone's fault. This is just reality. I happen to be one of those who have to think hard. This is neither worthy of pity nor praise."

An idol who can sell misery so deeply, Fang Xinghe is unique, whether looking back or forward.

Zhao Yao was moved, but did not notice anything wrong. The female assistant who was traveling with him looked at Fang Xinghe with the heartache that is unique to older sisters.

The calmer he was, the more distressed the woman felt.

"OK." Zhao Yao nodded. "Are you ready to continue talking about the practical value of faith?"

"of course."

Fang Xinghe has too many things to say about this issue.

“Leaving aside the overly serious Faith in the West, our Chinese beliefs are independent, pragmatic and free. This is a fact and also the basic premise of my next point.

The core factor that determines what we Chinese believe in is actually what we believe can bring sufficient benefits - either materially or spiritually.

To give the simplest example, a church was preaching in our county. In order to gain popularity, the person in charge announced that two eggs would be given for each sermon.

My mother happened to be seriously ill at that time, so I went there happily. I was shivering in the squeeze among a group of old people, middle-aged women and homeless people, but I still listened very carefully.

I thought: Oh God, no matter where you are from, do you have any magic water or something to give me a bite besides eggs?
It turns out that it didn’t, that’s Christianity.

But I still waited until the end very sincerely - because the eggs would not be distributed until the end - but when it was my turn, there were none left.

The priest was sweating profusely and apologized, saying: I really didn't expect so many people would come and stick to the end. I didn't prepare enough eggs. You can come again tomorrow and I will give you double the amount.

I immediately asked: Then I don’t want eggs, just give me a box of painkillers.

In terms of price, a box of painkillers was slightly smaller than four eggs at the time, so I got a bad deal.

But he shook his head regretfully: No, kid, I have a budget for buying eggs, but I can't explain clearly about buying painkillers.

I pestered him and said: There is a special situation in my family, my mother is sick, please buy me some painkillers, and I will go home and make my mother a believer, and you will get one for free.

He refused and just replied: You can’t be so utilitarian when believing in God, but it doesn’t matter, the Lord will still bless you, child.

From then on, Catholicism was labeled as "stupid and stingy" in my mind.

Because I had been to Longhua Temple in the neighboring city, the great monks knew my situation and not only treated me to a vegetarian meal, they also gave me a bracelet of blessed wooden beads.

What they said was very honest: All living beings are suffering, and donors only need to show filial piety to them by their bedside, and don't worry about anything else. You must know that Buddha also has regrets, and it is better to save yourself than to wait for Buddha to save you, and it is better to save yourself than to wait for others to save you. If he cannot be saved or liberated, then the donor can come back to worship Buddha again.

Later, Longhua Temple became very popular, but once the church stopped distributing eggs, the temple immediately returned to the state of having only two or three kittens.

You see, the difference is there.

After being passed down in China for many years, Buddhism has been modified into the idea that those who are good can save themselves. I don’t know if that is their teaching, but the monk’s heartfelt words were to advise me to do my best and focus on myself.

The essential reason for this reform is your second question: the foothold of faith.

Whatever we believe in and admire can bring us the greatest benefit, then it is the most correct belief.

Therefore, in China, the most mainstream beliefs at present are revolutionary spirit, thoughts of great men, ancestor worship, and the ancient saints and gods of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

From top to bottom, there are reasons for everything.

The revolutionary spirit is an abnormal spirit used as a safety net. After the national characteristics of the Chinese nation have been transformed by modern ideas, the national subjectivity consciousness formed has the most distinctive external feature of resisting all injustice.

There are differences in personal ability to take action, and individual thoughts may be left or right, but our collective consciousness fully supports a series of ultimate resistances such as "a common man's anger can cause blood to splatter ten steps", "dare to pull the emperor down at the risk of his life", "now we call on the Great Sage again", "the blue sky is dead and the yellow sky should be established", etc.

Of course, the revolutionary spirit is not the mainstream doctrine nowadays. It does not often appear in anyone's mouth. It just stays quietly in our hearts, influencing our underlying thinking structure in a subtle way.

The benefit of believing in it is that it makes us courageous and unyielding.

Relatively speaking, the thoughts of great men are mentioned more often.

Most of us young people believe in him and his ideas out of inertia, but the middle-aged and the previous generation must have a deeper understanding.

In my opinion, his thought is a typical methodology of struggle, a concrete elaboration of the revolutionary spirit, and the only action material and spiritual nourishment that has been proven by practice to be able to save China.

There is no other methodology that is more practical than his ideas and more adaptable to our country's culture and national conditions.

The benefit of believing in the thoughts of great men is that they dominate our spiritual world.

I do not have deep feelings about the matter of ancestor worship, so I should ask you for your advice.

In fact, the north does not have a very sound clan system, while the clan cohesion in the south is particularly strong.

I personally think that the reason why the Northeast has formed a decentralized autonomous structure of small families is mainly because under the heavy industrial production system, most of the life problems have been guaranteed by the state in the long term, so it seems unnecessary and not very rewarding to form a group.

In southern regions such as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian, the land was relatively barren and resources were scarce in the early days. Clan-like groups based on blood ties could offset the survival risks faced by small families to a great extent, while minimizing the costs of trust and communication. The common worship of ancestors was the source of this cohesion.

When blood ancestors become a strong bond, there is no need to believe in another god to seek identity resonance. Therefore, in many places in the south, worshiping gods is worshiping ancestors.

So back to the original question.

You asked me what the basis of faith is. The answer is simple - great material or spiritual satisfaction.

Spirit is greater than matter.

At the same time, long-term satisfaction outweighs short-term satisfaction.

For me personally, in terms of methodology, I believe in the thoughts of great men; in terms of the core, I believe in the revolutionary spirit; in terms of overall stance, I believe in the national consciousness of our common blood; and when all things return to their true nature, I believe in myself.

I digested it all and became free and sober. I only live in this one life, and I want to be faithful to my heart as brilliantly as possible.

The heart is the monkey and the mind is the horse, so if you want to run wildly, you can run wildly; if you want to be angry, you can be angry; if you want to stop, you can stop - this is what I understand as the practical value of faith - by believing in something, you get close to something, and ultimately achieve something.

It is very simple, from cultural icons to Hengqu spirit, people should have this freedom...believe in whatever you want. "

The office fell into dead silence for the third time.

In fact, Zhao Yao's resistance had been built up by Fang Xinghe. He was still shocked, but not speechless.

However, increasingly broad and profound insights and expressions require sufficient time to think, chew and savor.

After a long while, he sighed with regret: "Believe, get close, realize... Fang Xinghe, you also have your methodology."

Fang Xinghe also smiled with emotion: "Not only am I standing on the shoulders of true giants, I also have a past that is difficult to replicate."

Zhao Yao thought he was lamenting about his childhood experiences, so he shook his head in disagreement.

"Not everyone has your talent. There are many unfortunate people. But you are the only one I have ever seen with this level of thinking and summarizing ability. You shouldn't stay in the country. Really, you should go to a wider world..."

Zhao Gulas started again.

At the same time, the Chinese thinking ingrained in his bones and his worship of the West have alienated him into a deformed man of the times with only twenty years left to live.

Fang Xinghe was too lazy to even argue with him anymore. He just wanted to wait until twenty years later to have a chance to ask again: Editor-in-Chief Zhao, how do you feel now?

"I'm fine now, walking easily and at a leisurely pace."

Fang Xinghe smiled and waved his hand, raised the teacup, thought for a moment, put it aside, and pulled the ring of the Coke.

Well, mentally I really want to taste the tea, but as a teenager, I still have an extreme preference for sugar, there's really nothing I can do about it.

When Zhao Gulas saw this scene, he did not find it funny, but felt inexplicably angry - damn, this guy is totally a child, then what kind of dog have I lived on for half my life? !
He couldn't help but ask the question in his mind: "Since you believe in yourself, then what do you want to get closer to? What do you want to achieve in the end?"

Of course it is close to the extreme human template in Brother Tongzi!
A superhuman physique, healthy and long-lived, proficient in all arts, and perhaps some other specialties that can be explored...

But this truth cannot be spoken out loud.

So he replied casually: "To achieve a kind of absolute spiritual perfection. Last year, when I was in the second grade of junior high school, I had a very arrogant wish..."

"Oh?" Zhao Yao was very interested and couldn't wait to ask, "What is it?"

"Below God there is only me, and above me there is no God."

The actor continued to speak in a very immature manner without changing his expression, and the shame in his heart mixed with a kind of happiness of pretending to be cool surged up in waves.

Really, acting skills are so useful. If you lack any of them, you won’t be able to be as natural as him.

The reason why I want to say it even though I know it is shameful is mainly because I hope to give today's middle school boys a suitable personal signature.

Today’s interview was so deep that most fans probably couldn’t understand it and it would be hard for them to get emotionally excited.

How does this work?
I suffered a lot and was exhausted, but I didn't gain any fans or get any stars. In the end, I lost ten times my money.

Come up with two perfect golden sentences, and don’t worry about whether middle-aged people frown when they see them, just let the fans have a climax first and then talk about other things.

This is the professional quality of the leader of the water army. Don't give me the chance. If there is a chance, I will definitely fuck up a group of fans.

Practice the exercise.

Zhao Gulas was indeed stunned.

The corners of his mouth twitched and he didn't know how to respond for a long time.

According to his normal character, he would definitely criticize a few words, but when he thought of Fang Xinghe's previous discussion, he suddenly felt that he was not worthy.

But if you keep silent, how presumptuous is it to compare this sentence with the previous thoughts? !

He was at a loss and could only rack his brains to think carefully, trying to see if there was any deep meaning behind this arrogant remark.

After thinking about it, wow, love is really not simple.

Zhao Yao was in high spirits and asked excitedly, "I am the only one below God. Does that mean I want to be the strongest? If you want to do it, do it to the best of your ability and pursue excellence beyond the limits of human beings!
And there is no God above me, which not only expresses your idea of not believing in God and adhering to materialistic thinking, but also echoes the individual idealist spirit of "I am my own God"!

I find that your logical framework is particularly solid and self-consistent. To the outside world, you are a materialist. Internally, you are a bit like the individual refinement school of subjective idealism and self-philosophy.

How many philosophy books have you read? How do you integrate and digest those disparate theories? Please recommend your book list to me. It is very valuable to learn! I believe that the elite readers of Time will be very interested and actively invite you to give speeches and reports..."

"..."

So many tricky questions didn't stump Fang Xinghe, but this sincere compliment made him freeze.

How many philosophy books have I read?

There is not a complete book, but the fragments can be put together to form more than a hundred books.

How did I achieve theoretical integration?
High-intensity keyboard politics, online trolling, and debates. When I was lying in the hospital bed and couldn't sleep because of the pain, I would think about what I didn't do well today.

Book list...

Have you watched "Lord of Mysteries" and "The Tao of Strange Immortals"?
The actor couldn't reply, so he just smiled mysteriously.

"It is better to have no books than to believe in them blindly. Apart from Selected Works of Mao Zedong, I do not recommend any other books, including my Cang Ye Xue and Younian."

"..."

Zhao Yao was silent for a moment and sighed.

"I can no longer judge your realm. So this is the mainland's top genius. It's really despairing..."

The corners of Brother Fang's mouth twitched, and he quickly took a sip of Coke to calm himself.

My brain is weird, it's really hard to be nervous...

*************
My biological clock has been temporarily modified, so I may write during the day and update at night.

(End of this chapter)