Generation Z Artists

Chapter 26: The Black Tide Begins

On the first day, Lao Fang read Fang Xinghe's composition in class...

Ugh, that was a nightmare, forget it and start over.

On the first day, Sprout sold 10 copies.

The next day, as word of mouth spread, middle school students rushed to buy the book, and 20 copies were sold.

The third day was almost sold out.

On the fourth day, the first batch of 10 reprinted copies was sold out in seconds, and newsstands across the country were urging for the goods.

At this time, Fang Xinghe's number of fans skyrocketed to 200 million, and his star value was 1820 million. It was obvious that the first batch of core fans had been born, and even die-hard fans had appeared.

Just two photos, an essay, and some praise from writers. What an amazing era.

The new generation Z feels very happy and is kind of in love with 1999.

However, it is not all good news.

After a few days of hot sales and due to the enthusiastic response among middle school students, the public opinion finally reacted and began to advocate and criticize.

Uh, more criticism.

Han Han didn’t receive much criticism in the last episode, and the reason was simple—he wasn’t topical enough.

At this time, Han Shao had not yet revealed any obvious bad behavior. Judging from the text alone, he was a rebellious person of the "cultivable" level and was not worth targeting specifically.

Even though there were some controversies, they only focused on whether the make-up exam was reasonable and whether the competition system was a bit confusing. They were mentioned briefly, and most of them were praising his talent.

Everyone who has received 5 cents knows that in the absence of controversy, one-sided praise is very boring and cannot stir up any popularity.

Therefore, in his previous life, Han Han sparked a social discussion only after he failed all seven subjects.

Right now, he has to take advantage of Brother Fang's scene.

Fang Xinghe is now a hot topic.

In the essay, he described himself as a school bully, often got into fights, instigated revenge, and bluntly said he wanted to become famous and make a lot of money...

Every detail is worth writing about.

Moreover, the article itself also touched the sensitive nerves of many parents and teachers. Li Qigang only reported good news but not bad news. In fact, one parent actually called Mengya Magazine and angrily questioned: "How could you publish such an article?!"

On the fifth day, the Yangtze Daily fired the first shot, criticizing the newspaper by writing: "Sensationalism? How can you write an essay like this!"

The general idea is still that of the old-fashioned school. Middle school students' compositions should extol truth, goodness and beauty. Students should not be encouraged to confront their parents and teachers, and gangster-like false strength should not be promoted. A pure campus is everyone's responsibility.

Fang Xinghe found it very funny, but that was the trend of the times. The authoritarian ideas of the old school were above all else and there was nothing he could do about it.

On the sixth day, the Shanghai Youth Daily published an article to refute the idea: “Since it is called New Concept, why can’t we write freely?”

On the seventh day, the six major sects surrounded Shangqing.

A reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily somehow learned that many parents had called Mengya, so he interviewed some students and their parents and published an in-depth report.

No one knows whether his interviewees were really so one-sided, but all that came out were criticisms.

"Recently, a new concept essay has become popular in middle schools, causing a very strong response. I went there on a whim, thinking that I would see the youthful outlook under the concept of 'new thinking, new feelings, new writing style', but what I saw was another Young and Dangerous-style carnival..."

In his writing, the interviewees were full of foul language, shouting in a vulgar manner such as "Fang Xinghe is so awesome" and "He's so fucking awesome". They worshipped Fang Xinghe as if he were a member of the Young and Dangerous gang, and were stupid, mentally retarded, and blindly manic.

After "careful investigation", he found that most of the boys who admired Fang Xinghe had poor academic performance, did not study, and loved to cause trouble.

Girls who like Fang Xinghe blindly look at his face and tend to fall in love prematurely.

In addition, some "good kids" have been affected more strongly by negative influences.

The parents interviewed were very troubled. Parent A complained: "Since reading that crappy article, my child has become more and more disobedient in recent days. He always goes against me and yells at me when he is not satisfied. What kind of trend is this?"

Parent B was very emotional: "Who is the author? Was he born by his mother but not educated by her?"

The reporter said: I hurriedly reminded the other party to be more tactful and felt that she could not attack the author directly because Fang Xinghe was indeed an orphan.

The mother apologized hastily: "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it... But adolescents are rebellious to begin with, and his writing adds fuel to the fire. In his essay, he actually regards being good at fighting as an honor? I don't think he is a good student or a good role model."

Parent C is unhappy but rational and objective.

"In places where economic development is slow, the social atmosphere is bound to be rough, and fighting between boys may indeed be very common. I don't think we need to make a big deal out of it, and we should look at it objectively. The article itself actually provides an alternative perspective, asking us to reflect on whether there is indeed such a lack of education. Of course, we all know that the developed southern regions are definitely much more civilized, but we should also learn from it..."

In short, the whole report was basically just pointing at Fang Xinghe's nose and scolding him, but the reporter didn't scold him. The reporter was fair, and it was the parents who did the scolding.

As to whether there are really parents who say that...it is groundless.

Fang Xinghe curled his lips in disdain and sneered at his peers of this era.

That's it?

However, because Nandu has a very large circulation, this report really caused him a strong negative impact.

One direct manifestation is that the sales of the May issue of Mengya suddenly slowed down.

It’s not that the students have a problem with it, but the price of 4 yuan is not cheap, and ordinary students cannot afford it. If they want it, they have to beg their families to buy it for them.

However, as the media attacked them, New Concept, Fang Xinghe and Mengya all became famous, and many parents were unwilling to pay the money.

Li Qigang was so angry that he called him eight times a day, but he was too lazy to reply even once.

Fang Xinghe doesn't care about this kind of thing at all. Why should he be afraid of being scolded for wanting to stand out?
Moreover, we have seen many water army guys who distort the truth, and this is just the beginning.

In fact, none of the objective criticism, subjective smears, or even speculative slanders from any media outlet have really hit Fang Xinghe's weak spot.

Yes, his reputation among the newspaper audience did become very bad, and middle-aged parents generally disliked him.

But the problem is...what's the use of the goodwill of the middle-aged group?
Mr. Fang didn't want that thing from the beginning.

There is a very objective and realistic code of conduct in the fan circle of later generations: middle-aged people are the least worth pleasing, so don't waste your time on them.

The three views of middle-aged people are fixed and extremely difficult to change, and there are many things to do and life is busy. They can't do data processing and can't afford endorsements. Only a very small number of rich women have value, but they don't need to be pleased. They will like you naturally if they should like you.

So be beautiful on your own and be respectful.

When it comes to Fang Xinghe, he doesn't even want to give him respect.

Today's middle-aged people are those born in the 50s and 60s. They have old-fashioned and conservative ideas and are even less valuable than the new middle-aged Internet users of later generations.

Fang Xinghe is in the developmental stage, and the key is to strive for young people. The star value produced by a hundred middle-aged people is not as good as that of a little girl, so why bother with them?
It’s okay to let them curse a few words and just treat it as fan abuse, how nice.

As for the so-called popularity among passers-by and national recognition… isn’t that just a slight liking that doesn’t reach the level of being a fan?
Professionals all know that whether national popularity is useful or not depends on what route you want to take.

Anyway, Fang Xinghe doesn’t need it now, but when he needs it, his fans will have grown up and become the backbone of society, and his national popularity will naturally increase.

This is how Liu Yifei gained such a high national popularity.

He didn't film any TV series for more than ten years, and made a flop movie every year. But after his return and gaining weight, he is still a top star, because his screen image when he was young is so classic that no matter how many internet trolls are hired to discredit him, it can't be erased.

By the time the early young audiences gained control of the discourse, her image as the white moonlight was naturally fixed, and she didn't need to do anything deliberate.

So some things require diligence, while some things do not need to be forced.

Fang Xinghe smiled and buried himself in the sea of questions again. As a result, things developed more and more bizarrely.

(End of this chapter)