Generation Z Artists

Chapter 72 The Stage Is Set

The Beijing Youth Daily is sold out again.

The score of 135 million copies set a new record.

However, the hot sales were still not the limit of this interview. Fang Xinghe's seemingly simple outburst finally alarmed the big shots.

The next day, Renri reprinted the full article, and Hua Ze, then the president, attached a heavy commentary:

"Fang Xinghe's understanding of civilized order is thought-provoking and goes straight to the core. He possesses a profound insight and high level of understanding that is not typical of young people.

Generation after generation of rebellious young people have almost all experienced the three anti-youth narratives of anti-tradition, anti-middle age, and anti-patriarchy, from ancient times to the present, without exception.

Therefore, the kind-hearted elders always laugh at their antics and only criticize them when they have gone too far, because we have also come through this stage and gradually grown and matured in the Three Antis narrative.

However, Fang Xinghe completely broke this convention. His rebellion was not anti-patriarchal, anti-middle-aged, or anti-traditional in nature.

He has a deep understanding and sympathy for middle-aged people. He describes "being smooth but not worldly, harmonious but not conforming" as the highest state of being a human being. He has a strong respect and awe for traditional Chinese culture.

So what is he opposing?
Fight against injustice, oppression, bullying, and any specific person or thing that makes him feel uncomfortable.

He is not rebelling for the sake of rebellion. He has a clear set of standards, strict logic, and a macro and highly self-consistent framework. So can this still be described as rebellion?

I think it doesn't count.

He is a type of person that has never appeared in Chinese society before. He is too distinct, too unique, and too impactful. He is fundamentally different from all the rebellious children I know.

He must be lonely. I don't think anyone can fully understand him, nor do I think today's society can fully accept him. I even doubt whether the two major factors of 'middle age' and 'social beatings' can smooth out his edges?
Perhaps, when one day I see a Fang Xinghe who is 'smooth but not worldly, harmonious but not in harmony', it is not because of time and external forces that have changed him, but because he is tired of playing around and chooses to take the initiative to converge his edges and mingle with us fools.

This is very possible, but I can't imagine it.

But at least now, I can imagine what he looked like—knife in left hand, pen in right, drawing the knife and throwing the pen when drunk, pointing at someone's nose and cursing: "You don't accept the truth, right? Come on, let me stab you twice, and then you won't have to accept it if you die!"

I heard that he practiced martial arts in Wudang Mountain. It is obvious that he is a new madman whose literary level has weakened but his temper and martial arts skills have strengthened.

Does our time still need a madman?

I have no answer.

I just sincerely hope that this kind of clear-cut and logical Fang-style rebellion will appear more and more among young people.

But at the same time, I also hope that, Madman Fang, this one is good enough.

My heart can’t take it if there are too many of them.”

As the president of a company, when commenting on Fang Xinghe personally, he did not use more serious official language, but chatted with him simply like chatting about family matters, and finally made a little joke. What does this mean?
At least it means that the situation of scolding him is no longer one-sided.

"Master Fang, you're getting more and more awesome!"

Liu Dashan moved aside his office chair and eagerly invited Fang Xinghe to sit over, with a bright smile rarely seen in recent times on his face.

"Come on, come on, all the newspapers for today are here. Which one do you want to read?"

During the morning break every day, Fang Xinghe did not do the exercises. Instead, he strolled to Liu Dashan’s office to check the public opinion trends of the day.

Dashan is a wonderful person, sometimes naive, sometimes silly, sometimes naughty, but never pretentious, and treats Fang Xinghe as a friend.

Fang Xinghe was not pushy and never commented on his work. He would just read the newspaper and chat for a while before leaving.

The master is kind and the disciple is filial...

"Recover for a while. You feel a little sick today."

"Haha!" Liu Dashan laughed out loud. "That's Mr. Shao! I feel so relieved all of a sudden! It would have to be you. You did a great job!"

Brother Dashan exuded a sense of pride and joy, but Fang Xinghe knew his own business and did not dare to show off.

"They may not all be targeting me."

"how to say?"

Fang Xinghe shook his head, neither bragging nor revealing anything.

According to his guess, this matter was either done by Sister Yi or by Teacher Wang Meng behind the scenes. It was unlikely that the president would take the initiative to intervene.

He specifically asked Wang Yali, but got nothing out of her. The girl was also confused.

"Maybe you're writing the right kind of articles? The president doesn't comment often, but he does two or three times a year. Don't think too much about it, just accept it."

That’s what Sister Yali said, and so did Aunt Chen.

"Xiao Fang, the public opinion environment in recent days is basically guaranteed to be 55-. Don't let trivial matters like who helped you get distracted. Go all out to prepare for the show and fight a great comeback!"

Indeed, not to mention the influence of People's Daily, just looking at the sales volume itself - the two newspapers sold a total of 450 million copies in two days, which immediately brought Fang Xinghe unimaginable space.

It has full coverage in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, semi-coverage in inland provincial capitals, strong penetration in third-tier cities, and even scattered three or five newspapers in towns and villages can spark heated discussions.

Too many people began to use this incident as fodder for daily gossip.

They may not know exactly who Fang Xinghe is, but they can feel the bravery in this letter of challenge and can't help but talk about it with relish.

They don't want to waste time watching that chat show, but they really want to know the outcome.

Fang Xinghe's influence has not yet reached the towns and villages, but his personal image has quietly taken root in a wider area.

In the higher-level market, such as middle schools and colleges in the city, Brother Fang’s wildness becomes more concrete.

"Fuck! Brother Fang is awesome!"

"Damn it, why can I recognize every word in the newspaper, but when they are put together, I can't understand it at all? What's wrong with Brother Fang's brain?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I don't understand it either, but that doesn't stop me from thinking Brother Fang is awesome!"

Listening to the discussions of his friends around him, Hu Ge lay on the table in melancholy, flipping through the borrowed pirated New Concept Composition Collection, feeling extremely conflicted.

He might be the one among his friends who best understands how awesome Fang Xinghe is, because he truly understands Fang Xinghe's explanation.

The more you have, the more you desire stability. How insightful!
Looking back at myself a few days ago, I was at a stage where I most longed for a peaceful life and a stable environment.

If I analyze it carefully, the reason why I hate Fang Xinghe is because Fang Xinghe has destroyed my original life, right?

Girls no longer surrounded me, and I no longer considered myself the best boy of my age. The stable and pleasant environment had changed, so I had to put on more edges and show more toughness, trying to prove something...

It's fucking ridiculous.

The more Hu Ge thought about it, the more desperate he became. An advertisement and an interview completely shattered his strong and stubborn self-confidence. He couldn't help but think: If this guy studied in the No. 2 Middle School in the city, would I also be one of those who followed him around and cheered for him?
The pigeon spirit in Thirteen Eagles?

Damn, that’s so fucking ugly!
Hu Ge's random thoughts did not make him laugh, but made him more annoyed. However, he still decided that he would watch the entire show carefully when it started.

If for no other reason than to see what new tricks this idiot can come up with!
……

Also in Shanghai, at another No. 2 Middle School, Han Han took the initiative to mute his microphone.

I turn a deaf ear to what is happening outside and focus on reading the books of sages.

Fang Xinghe is a saint, and he is a sage. So why can’t the new book of the sage who is battling with Fang Xinghe be called the Book of Saints and Sages?

He couldn't talk to his new classmates at all, so he immersed himself in his own world, trying hard to chase the resentment, pain and anxiety that was about to burst out.

The core of "The Triple Door" has been determined - there are three levels to rule the world, and there are few mistakes.

The "threefold" refers to "ritual", "system" and "examination".

The content reflects several aspects of current school education from the perspective of a middle school student, such as classes, classmates, teachers and students, parents and children, school and society...

The book does not have any plot twists and turns, nor does he want to write any. It simply uses a real school life to mock and ridicule the core teaching mechanisms, teaching concepts, educational and teaching methods, examination formats and systems, and related social phenomena of the exam-oriented education.

He originally thought that his criticism was sharp enough, but after experiencing the positive stimulation from that pervert, he found that it was not enough.

So he designed a new character, a top creature on campus who was like a big devil, high above everyone else, irresistible, and hopeless.

The new character has no name, only a nickname - called the King of Force.

Han Han didn't know how he came up with this nickname, but when he exerted the full sense of oppression of the King of Force, the ordinary story suddenly had a hidden core.

The protagonist Lin Yuxiang in his novel never defeated the King of Force from beginning to end. The opponent appeared only a few times, and each time brought deeper despair, but Lin Yuxiang never admitted defeat and continued to resist in vain.

Face up to your own weakness, resist the heavy pressure of fate, and continue to be dismissive of everything.

"Han Han is a punk who is completely and utterly opposed to the current education system."

He examined the first version of the summary in the postscript, and finally carefully added the second half of the sentence:

"Han Han is a failed punk who is completely and utterly opposed to the current education system. He's acutely aware that he doesn't have the all-around talent of Fang Xinghe, but he's still angry."

……

Mao Xiaotong suddenly discovered that the battle over Fang Xinghe in the school had become more intense.

Baifan, who likes HOT, has become so emotional when she hears Fang Xinghe's name, and she doesn't understand why.

In addition, Feng fans have emerged as a new force and are mocking Fang fans.

She knew the reason. Xie Tingfeng released his first Mandarin album, "Thank You for Your Love 9" on September 22. The title song of the same name became a hit as soon as it was released, sweeping all the way from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the mainland.

With the unremitting publicity of Hong Kong media, Xie Tingfeng jumped from a "new generation idol" to a "new king". What "Young and Dangerous" and "Chinese Hero" combined could not do, "Thank You for Your Love" did.

As a result, many fans of the "black side" switched sides and became fans of Xie Tingfeng, and became the main force of the "black side".

This is what floating powder looks like, especially young floating powder.

They felt "insulted" by Fang Xinghe's article. There are idols in the market who are "just as good", so why should I pursue you?

At the same time, the loyalty of Fang fans is also increasing rapidly.

Before you can no longer spend money on your idols, quarreling for them is also a very important investment.

Even though Mao Xiaotong is so introverted and unsociable, she often has to be involved in quarrels.

"Wake up, Fang Xinghe doesn't care about you at all!"

"I am happy to! I just care about him."

"Then you eat your ass!"

"It's better than you eating shit!"

"Xiaofang will definitely be severely criticized by those professors. Let's see how you can still be so arrogant then!"

"Ha! Fang Xinghe has never lost a fight. Have those experts ever won a fight by writing articles? Just wait and see who will win in the end!"

The little girls' quarrels are childish, but they essentially reflect reality: despite mounting external pressure, Fang's fans are becoming increasingly comfortable with the situation. When pressure resistance becomes the norm, they are forced one by one into a fighting mode. Those who can't handle it quit, while those who persevere become stronger. Their starlight output increases, and the color representing their fan level grows darker and darker...

Everything is changing with each passing day.

……

Peking University campus.

The vice president of the Student Union of the School of Journalism and Media came to the Chinese Department and found first-year student Chen Jiayong.

"Jiayong, Professor Jiao from our school has decided to participate in the program on Jilin Provincial TV. Jilin TV has given us 10 audience spots. We welcome our Peking University students to attend the event and discuss with Fang Xinghe. After careful consideration, the student union has decided to give you three spots in the Chinese Department. Are you willing to participate?"

Chen Jiayong was stunned for a moment, then asked with a complicated expression: "I'm just a freshman, why are you giving me the spot?"

In fact, the answer is very clear, but he needs to make sure whether this trip is just to watch the game or whether he needs to do something.

The vice-chairman replied as a matter of course: "Haven't you met Fang Xinghe? It's possible that you'll be needed to help him, but it's not certain. It shouldn't be difficult for our journalism debate team to refute him..."

"I'm sorry, I'm not going."

When Chen Jiayong heard this, he immediately made a decision.

"Ah?" The vice chairman was stunned, then walked away with an unhappy expression, "Forget it, I gave you a chance but you didn't take it, do you really think we are short of people?"

Chen Jiayong looked at the other person's back and sneered in his heart: Debate? That bastard will follow your logic to debate?
How childish!

His roommate was shocked and regretful when he asked him, "You're really not going, Yongzi? What a great opportunity..."

"You don't know that idiot Fang Xinghe."

Chen Jiayong shook his head and said no more.

In fact, he had only met Fang Xinghe two or three times and they had never talked to each other, so he didn't know much about that guy.

But he knew one thing very well - anyone who dared to spend 100 million to publish a book for the same subject and made such a big fuss for publicity was either a madman or at a higher level.

If Fang Xinghe is a madman, then you can't defeat him using normal means.

If Fang Xinghe is at a higher level, then he still cannot be defeated using normal means.

Since you can't win either way, why bother going to the scene and getting covered in blood?
……

Chen Jiayong didn't want to go, but Feng Yuanzheng couldn't sit still.

It just so happened that the performance team didn't have a rehearsal today, so everyone chatted in the office for a while. Song Dandan suddenly pulled him aside and said, "Zhengzi, what are you thinking about? You seem distracted."

Gu Wei, who was old and shrewd, didn't even look at him. He held the teacup and said suddenly: "You are probably thinking about going to Jishi site..."

Screenwriter Liu Heng's eyes lit up, even more excited than Feng Yuanzheng: "Zhengzi, give me two tickets, I'll go with you!"

Feng Yuanzheng finally came to his senses: "No, what are you going to do?"

"I'm not curious anymore?" Liu Heng said indignantly. "What great material! I'll just go there and experience it. Who knows, it might be written into the play later?"

"Hahaha, I think it's okay!"

Everyone laughed and praised the idea.

"Go ahead, go ahead. It's been years since we've had this kind of excitement. I wonder who will be acting opposite Xiao Fang then..."

"Isn't this what Zhengzi is worried about?"

"Don't worry, what are you worried about? That kid is a sly guy, why didn't he come to the capital to do the show? I have a plan in mind."

"Of course, it's wild."

This is pretty much the general opinion of the People's Art Theatre on Fang Xinghe. As a group of veteran performing artists, they will understand what's going on with Fang Xinghe after watching the news a few more times.

It’s not about understanding Fang Xinghe better, but starting from the “character logic”, I believe that he won’t suffer a big loss.

Director Lin was also unusually interested and added a comment: "It's just that the timing is not right, otherwise I would have liked to go and listen. Fang Xinghe's thinking is different from that of ordinary people. The thinking path revealed from his wild words alone is more valuable than many books. I really want to have a good chat with him..."

Feng Yuanzheng clicked his eyes, a little confused.

At that moment, he had not yet reached that level and did not have the ability to extract the ideological value from just a few words, so he listened in confusion.

And those young people just want to watch the fun.

The world has always been like this. The same thing has very different values in the eyes of different people, so there is no need to force it.

At least they're willing to watch, right?
Under this trend, Jishi's unnamed program suddenly became a major event that attracted much attention in the urban middle school community.

Curious, want to see, can't wait.

Jilin Province Satellite TV had never received such attention before, and its market share began to increase inexplicably, making everyone on the station smile.

Of course, it is definitely not just middle school students who are paying attention to this. The cultural and intellectual circles will be paying even more attention to it.

If the previous "Youth" was just a mockery, then this letter of challenge that hits you in the face is the most direct humiliation.

For a time, most of the media were outraged.

Everyone who wrote an article criticizing Fang Xinghe was scolded.

Turtle, dog, maggot?

"Crazy!!!"

Yan Lieshan slammed the table, his face turned blue with anger, and he was about to pick up his pen to write.

But when the pen tip touched the paper, he only started writing and couldn't continue.

how to write?
Write what?
Is it still meaningful to post articles now?

Questions come to mind one after another, making people hesitate and timid.

Finally, he put down his pen and picked up the phone.

"Hey, Lao Cheng, what do you say?"

"What else can I say? They are all very anxious..."

Cheng Yizhong's voice was completely different from usual, gloomy and depressed.

"The little bastard is openly provocative. Now everything he writes is a joke. No matter how well he writes, readers won't recognize him..."

"Then encourage them all to participate!"

Yan Lieshan's voice suddenly turned cold, and he squeezed out a decisive tone from between his teeth.

"As long as everyone here is ours, I'll see how many mouths he has to support us!"

Once the mobilization order was issued, the effect was immediate.

The news media, led by Nan Fang, originally had an extremely strong motivation to criticize Fang Xinghe. In addition, with the instructions from the top, most of the "senior intellectuals" in the same camp submitted applications to Jishi.

He's just a little brat. Watch me beat him to pieces right in front of him!
"Gan Su" has quietly become a popular word nowadays and everyone is using it.

Some cautious people felt that Fang Xinghe was difficult to deal with, so they stayed back and waited and watched. However, there were always some people who judged the young man's overall qualities with their inherent thinking and regarded it as a good opportunity to become famous.

Some people privately did a statistics, and wow, among the currently active public intellectuals, almost 70% of those who have something to do with literature want to go.

Once you become famous, that's money!
Once Fang Xinghe is defeated, he will become the new generation standard-bearer of the public intellectual community!

Once you have made a grand exit amidst applause, you can then go on tour, teach classes, sign and sell books, and give reports abroad...

I can’t even imagine how much economic benefit I can get!
No one was optimistic about Fang Xinghe's performance in a big scene. As everyone knows, writing and speaking, speaking and debating are completely different things.

And even if Fang Xinghe is quite capable, even if we can't win, it should be no problem for us to save face, right?
Similar ideas spread among the public intellectuals, causing guest spots to become a hot commodity. Not only did they not have to pay, they even had to curry favor with Jilin Province Satellite TV...

It's really fantasy.

Then, at around 9 o'clock in the evening on September 28, the deputy director called Fang Xinghe.

"Xiao Fang, the guests have been basically confirmed. Professor Jiao Guobiao from Peking University will be bringing a group of students. Another guest is Teacher Wang Meng. And there's one you definitely won't expect—Editor-in-Chief Chen Danya's brother, Chen Danqing, learned about you and returned home early just for you!

You may not know Chen Danqing, but he was originally a very famous painter in China. Later he went to the United States to pursue art. I don’t know why he came up to you this time, and wanted to be your guest…”

What else can I do? I just jump on the bandwagon when I see a chance to ride on the popularity!

Fang Xinghe roughly knew who Chen Danqing was - he later became popular on the Internet for a while because of his love of showing off. It seemed that one of his works was auctioned for hundreds of millions of yuan. He also published books and wrote an autobiography. Generally speaking, he was a very influential person in the cultural circle.

He didn't care. Who cares? He had to be my partner after all.

"Okay, you guys decide, but can you hurry up a bit?"

"I was just about to tell you about this. We'll start recording tomorrow and do post-production for three days. It'll be out on the 2nd, just in time for National Day!"

The deputy station director's voice became extremely excited. "After three days of thorough publicity, we plan to put the program after the Xinwen Lianbo and Focus Interviews. It will start at 8 o'clock. We'll broadcast it for an hour when there's an hour, and for two hours when there's two hours. Let's also strive for the number one ratings in the same time slot!"

Fang Xinghe is not so optimistic about this matter. No matter what, it is difficult for interview programs to compete with TV dramas in ratings.

Especially now that the first generation of Princess has started to be rebroadcast, the daily collection share is more than 20 to 30 percent.

"Let's give it a try!" The deputy station director's ambition was not concealed at all. "At least the ratings for non-TV series will definitely be number one. Our program is so fresh!"

Indeed, the program tentatively named "The Trial of Fang Xinghe in Three Courts" is quite fresh. There has never been a talk show in China that allows a child to debate face to face with a group of professors, and that child is also the most popular cultural celebrity recently.

The sales of the New Concept Composition Collection have temporarily slowed down and still haven't reached 20, but reprinting is inevitable.

And as a key point, many newspapers have published the full text of Fang Xinghe's "Youth". The discussion base of this matter is broad enough, which means that the audience base is solid, and I am afraid that many people will read it.

Therefore, the deputy director was excited but also very nervous.

"Xiao Fang, the stage is set, you must not be careless. Although we can use editing to protect you, you also need to perform at a certain level..."

"no problem."

Fang Xinghe's voice also carried a hint of excitement.

He's already tired of fucking people online.

Now I finally have the chance to vent on the spot, it feels so good. Brother Fang has been looking forward to this for a long time.

As for whether it can perform well...

Guess how many I added to the Gerrit Actor Training Method and the acting category?!
*******
This is a very long chapter, I will continue tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)