Generation Z Artists

Chapter 48 Reading is of course the right way

As time goes by, the shock wave caused by Fang Xinghe continues to spread, like a sudden and violent wildfire, shaking the freedom of public opinion.

Looking back at the whole process from a global perspective, the main battlefield was initially born in the field of education. In order to establish a new trend in Chinese language, with the tacit understanding of a number of media, the first wave of popularity was generated through the "One Composition to Peking University" campaign.

At this time, the main audience is senior high school students and their parents.

After that, the influence spread, horizontally affecting the literary world and vertically penetrating into the first and second year high schools and universities, and the number of followers increased three to five times.

Later, due to the malicious promotion of some people, the topic was re-emerged.

From "studying hard is meaningless" to "studying hard is not the only way out", and then to "quality is more important than taking exams", the hidden core idea is "education must be reformed".

Han Han, as a representative figure, was held high on the crest of the wave, forming a wave of reflection on the current education.

At this point, almost all of China’s third-tier and above cities have been covered.

There seems to be no five-tier division at the moment, so to be more specific: in all cities above the county level, 70% of parents of junior and senior high school students have passively become followers of this trend of thought.

A rough estimate is that the coverage scale is at least 70 to 80 million people.

Compared with the total population of 13 billion, 0.8 million people may not seem like a lot at first glance, but the current total urban population is only 4.4 million. If we remove the elderly, the young, the sick and the disabled, isn’t that enough?

Such a grand stage is used for two young people to perform. It is hard to replicate this.

In his previous life, Han Han’s role was a “villain with shining points” who fought his way out with great difficulty. Although he was not liked by the righteous, he reaped the benefits of being an angry young man.

In this life, Fang Xinghe went one step further and created for himself a "beautiful, strong and tragic villain who turns over a new leaf". He wants to eat what Han Han can eat, and he also wants to eat what Han Han can't eat. His main goal is to have everything!

The development of the situation has whetted people's appetite for Fang Xinghe's appearance.

——In a social discussion of this magnitude, the affirmative side that holds the view that "going to school is the way out" is actually losing the upper hand!

Isn’t it incredible?
But it is true.

In the era of print media, there is a lack of independent viewpoints and an even greater lack of communication channels.

Among all media entities, television stations basically do not participate in such discussions, and only a very small number of programs have real-time hot spot tracking capabilities.

So the debate subjects are usually newspapers and radio.

Radio stations generally do not make independent decisions, but follow the stance of their superior media.

So, whoever controls more newspaper circulation will naturally have more voice.

In terms of quantity, the official media is certainly much stronger, but in terms of interest, incitement and sharpness, it lags far behind the information media dominated by the difficult-to-prevent system.

The official newspaper has a sales volume of tens of millions, 80% of which is concentrated within government agencies and systems.

With sales of more than tens of millions, all kinds of media have spread across the public in all developed regions, and are deeply loved and trusted by intellectuals, the wealthy, and the angry young people.

In addition to having a channel for speaking out, we also need people who are good at speaking out.

Editors, reporters, literati and scholars, well-known social commentators... together they are equivalent to the big Vs of later generations, but they have more credibility than the big Vs because ordinary people at that time are very superstitious about authority.

The people will naturally follow blindly whichever side they lean towards.

Which side did the vocal people in China generally lean towards in 1999?

In short, against this backdrop, the situation for the public intellectuals is very good.

They used Han Han and other special cases as their spearhead and launched their usual wolf pack harassment tactics, attacking left and right, taking advantage of any gaps they found, and forcing their way through even when there were none, causing the opposing side to become extremely anxious and frustrated.

If this continues, small victories will accumulate into big ones, and sooner or later, like in the previous life, it will lead to a wave of anti-intellectualism.

As a result, when they were most proud of themselves...

Fang Xinghe suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

With the overwhelming momentum of ranking first in the provincial entrance examination, with three articles from Beijing Youth Daily as the vanguard, two articles from Xinmin Daily as the follow-up, and then adding "Small Town Test-taker" and "The Added Value of Reading", we vigorously raised the banner of counterattack.

It was a merciless crushing.

The shock wave rolled up flames and swept away all the demented clowns like a whirlwind.

Is studying useless?

Fang Xinghe: "I ranked first in the province in the high school entrance examination. I think studying is very useful."

Are you against it?
Excuse me, how many points did you get in the high school entrance examination?

His achievements give his speech a natural authority. Compared with Han Han, a talented person who has not yet achieved any results, Fang Xinghe is obviously more convincing to readers.

The fact that the prodigal son has returned is beyond doubt. From being a campus big brother to winning the first prize of New Concept, he made another brilliant turn after returning...

In 99, during the Tongtian era, the battle record can be checked.

Don’t worry about what will happen in the future, am I now integrating knowledge and action?

Even though the clowns refused to admit defeat and tried to suppress the audience with their huge voices, the audience's stance could not remain unaffected, and this was the significance of Fang Xinghe's counterattack.

He never intended to defeat any public intellectual. There was no need. As long as readers read his articles and thought about them, that was enough.

Anyway, I have made my attitude clear, you can listen to it or not, believe it or not.

In fact, there are many people who believe.

What he demonstrated in "Doing Problems", "Added Value" and "Destiny" is not only intellectual authority, but also a thought-provoking cultural power.

In peacetime, powerful words are far more effective than swords and guns.

For example, he wrote in "The Added Value of Reading": "When one day you wake up completely from a numb and drowsy dream and shed tears without warning, it is not because you are living a good or bad life, but because you suddenly begin to feel sorry for yourself for having suffered so much unnecessary hardship over the years."

People who don’t understand will be confused, but people who do understand will be instantly defeated.

Wang Yutang, a fan of appearance, is the former. The little girl asked blankly: "Many people in the class said that Fang Xinghe's new article is not well written. Tongtong, is it really not good? Why can't I understand it?"

Mao Xiaotong spoke toughly, but was actually very weak inside.

"What do they know?! This text is so poetic!"

But what is the charm?
She couldn't explain it clearly either. "Added Value" is seriously beyond the syllabus for primary school students and even junior high school students.

This bullet may fly a very long distance and may not hit her between the eyebrows again until many, many years later.

But at the moment, she didn't realize how powerful the shot was.

"At least he was handsome and cool during the interview, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

One was trying to save face, the other accepted it all, but the conversation eventually became boring and not as lively as usual.

Mao Xiaotong returned home in a depressed mood. As usual, she cut out Fang Xinghe's photo and pasted it on the head of her bed. Then she cut out the interview part and the full text of "Added Value" and put them together in the album.

Before putting it in, she wrote this line in the blank:

"Actually, I don't understand it either, but, Fang Xinghe, I will always believe that you are the best! It must be that I am not smart enough, so, work hard, Xiaotong, and become smarter and stronger soon!"

At night, Mao Huiling rubbed her lower back and returned home from the store, feeling exhausted. The first thing she did was to go to the small bedroom to see her daughter.

Xiaotong fell asleep, holding the quilt dishonestly, with her brows slightly furrowed.

Mao Huiling smiled lovingly, turned her head to look at the desk, and found that the photo album had been moved again, so she tiptoed to pick up the photo album and diary and quietly went out.

Of course she knew that it was not good to peek into her daughter's little secret, but this family was too special, and Xiaotong was too special, so she had to be on her guard all the time and secretly pay attention to her daughter's thoughts.

Mao Xiaotong admired Fang Xinghe very much. She had known this for a long time, but she had never figured out how to talk to her about it.

The mother and daughter seldom chat, not because they have closed their hearts to each other, but because neither of them is good at expressing themselves and is afraid to express themselves.

Mao Huiling could only guard silently and show her support for her daughter with actions.

She opened the album and quickly found the latest news. Turning it over, it turned out to be Fang Xinghe's interview.

She didn't feel much about Wang Tong's description and just took a casual look at it.

Apparently, dictator is not a nice word.

However, when she saw the article "Added Value", her business acumen from years of running small businesses enabled her to understand and immerse herself in it immediately.

The discussion on added value is so fresh and reasonable at the mass level in today's era.

Although it is just a short allegorical story, the philosophy it contains is profound enough.

"What's wrong with his brain to add value to the cold noodle business?"

I sighed and continued reading with admiration.

It was not until she saw those two cold and generalized analyses that Mao Huiling's nose suddenly felt sore.

“It turns out that if you bravely take a few more steps forward at that fork in the road of life, you can avoid the continuous autumn rain of half your life and bask in the bright midday sun that you despised the most when you were young.”

It's apparently about reading, but every middle-aged person who has been caught in the rain can relate.

It looks warm, but in essence it is a cold and sharp scalpel, accurately cutting open the bloody wounds of tired middle-aged people without any mercy or sympathy.

"A dream of numbness and distress."

“There is no need to suffer.”

“The bright midday sun that I despised the most when I was young.”

How precise, how cold, how cruel!

She had the opportunity but didn't study hard; she had the choice but followed that man; she was dismissive of many things but now she misses them very much...

In just a moment, Mao Huiling burst into tears without any warning, just as Fang Xinghe described.

Indeed, this is not because of a good or bad life, but because of the sudden heartache.

I feel sorry for myself for having suffered so much unnecessary injustice.

Fang Xinghe is so good at writing that it seems like he is painting with words and he has already drawn this scene in advance.

Mao Huiling was overwhelmed with grief and suddenly raised her hands to cover her face. It only took her 5 seconds from sobbing to whimpering.

The next day, when Mao Xiaotong got up, she found that her mother's eyes were red and swollen.

"Mom?" She was extremely worried and asked timidly, "What's wrong with you?"

"nothing."

Mao Huiling grinned brightly, then raised her hand to stroke her daughter's cheek, revealing her cards openly.

"Mom read Fang Xinghe's new article yesterday. It was so well written that I was so moved that I couldn't help crying for a while. Honey, you have a great eye. How come he is so good?"

Mao Xiaotong panicked at first when her thoughts were seen through, but was quickly calmed down by her mother's understanding and tenderness. Finally, she came to her senses, with ecstasy in her eyes.

"Mom, do you like Fang Xinghe too?"

"Of course!" Mao Huiling nodded vigorously. "His words are so powerful, of course mom can feel it."

"That's great! My deskmate Doudou and I like Fang Xinghe the most, but she is a bit superficial and can't really appreciate Fang Xinghe's talent. There's nothing much for us to talk about..."

Today is the day Mao Xiaotong talks the most. Her desire to talk is finally released, and she immediately turns into an endless stream of passionate talk, even though her words are often inarticulate.

Today is also the happiest day for Mao Xiaotong.

The surprise came too suddenly and too dreamy that my mother and I, who depended on each other for everything, liked the same idol at the same time and felt the same love across all barriers.

Mao Huiling not only listened carefully, but also used her not-so-professional but sincere words to talk to her daughter about Fang Xinghe's writings and inner thoughts, trying to find resonance in the differences...

This feeling was new and happy to her.

And similar things are happening everywhere.

Mao Huiling is just a tiny ripple in this storm. When magnified to a scale of nearly 100 million, it is really not worth mentioning.

How many middle-aged people full of regrets have had their defenses broken by "added value"?
I'm afraid it's difficult to count clearly.

However, the feedback from reality gave Fang Xinghe almost made him smile crookedly - since the day of the newspaper advertisement, the total number of his fans began to soar at an exaggerated number of 100 million per day.

One million every day!
What a small number!

"I am a dictator", these five words swept the young fans.

"Half a lifetime of rain and a little sunshine" shines into the hearts of frustrated middle-aged people.

Although most of the increase is just some worthless middle-aged shallow fans who will soon drop off, but as long as the base is large enough, there will definitely be exceptions.

As more and more exceptions accumulate, one day they will burst out into tremendous power.

This is the necessary accumulation for qualitative change, and it is also the road ahead in which every step counts before embarking on the path of absolute madness.

Fang Xinghe didn't want to pop the champagne at halftime, but the starlight panel was reminding him every second - you won again, and this step was steady and cool.

……

Within two days, Wang Tong and Zhao Chunhua called him to inform him of the latest situation.

"We have received many calls from readers, and there are obviously more people praising you. Most of them are parents who scolded you before. Congratulations!"

"The new interview was a great success! Fang Xinghe, you need to wear a mask like Xiaoyanzi when you go out now!"

Compared with Xiaoyanzi, it’s really nonsense, but it’s really hot.

The biggest gain is that the reputation of the three words "Fang Xinghe" has reversed significantly among students' parents.

Thanks to my good big brother, with his full help, the new number one scholar's extraordinary history and rebelliousness have now all become minor flaws.

In China, being a good student can offset many shortcomings. If you also add "righteousness in heart but arrogant in words", "pitiful life and unremitting self-improvement", and "talented and meaningful", then you have really stacked up all the positive buffs.

Moreover, they are all the strongest buffs in the current version.

If we use the words of later generations to describe the emotions of Fang fans at this moment, it would probably be as follows:

"Who in my family would understand? My mom and I are fans of the same idol!"

"He deserves it all!"

"It's really hard not to sympathize with him. I burst into tears when I thought about the suffering Fang Xinghe had to endure!"

"Girls, protect the best galaxy for the light in your heart!"

They have no organization, no super topic, no group, and no channel to speak out, but their firm will to protect Fang Xinghe can still transform into powerful voice pressure.

When the sound pressure is superimposed to a certain extent, it will naturally converge into the same frequency and become the same sound.

Whatever Fang Xinghe said was right, studying was definitely the right way!
And the victims...

As soon as Fang Xinghe’s good brother woke up, the sky fell again.

As soon as Yan Lieshan arrived at the office, the ground cracked.

Song Zude threw the newspaper away and turned back to the house. He picked up the bag with the bird in it, packed two sets of clothes, and ran out towards the station for his life.

Damn it, I can’t stay in this crappy place for even one more minute, I need to go back home!

I don’t believe that you can still chase me and fight me!

*************
Thanks to my sixth alliance leader, liangxxx. I heard that he gave me his first alliance. I am touched TT
(End of this chapter)