Generation Z Artists

Chapter 85 Rumors
October 1st can be considered a good day for Chen Danqing.

Since returning from CC, he has been staying at a friend's house in the capital, and will plan for follow-up.

There were many activities during the National Day holiday, and it happened that a "big shot" came to the capital for a meeting. He was quite interested in him and came to visit him.

The man is Ai Luming, doctoral supervisor of Wuhan University and chairman of Wuhan Contemporary Group.

Chen Danqing greeted him with his shoes turned upside down.

"Boss Ai, you are looking for me..."

"You're welcome. My sister thinks highly of you, and I have long admired Mr. Chen."

"Oh, your last name is Ai, and your name is Sister Ai Xiaoming?"

"Yes, my sister is currently serving as a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee Southwestern, and you are familiar with her good friend..."

Chen Danqing blurted out: "Could it be one of Long Zhang and Sora?!"

"Haha!" Ai Luming laughed, "All of them!"

"Oh, oh, what a coincidence! Before I came back, I heard Long Zhang talking about Sister Ai, but due to the inconvenience of my schedule, I was unable to meet her..."

"Excuse me, I'm here, right?"

The two of them felt like they had met too late and their conversation became more and more lively.

Soon, Ai Luming asked generously: "Dan Qing, do you have any plans to return to China? I have a good friend in Tsinghua University, and I happen to have a recommendation quota for the 100-person recruitment plan. If you are willing to come back, I can help you contact him."

"Oh, that's great! Mr. Ai, thank you so much!"

Chen Danqing was overjoyed. Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts couldn't be a better place to stay. The remuneration offered by the Hundred Talents Program was also generous, with an annual funding of two million yuan, which was enough to allow him to publish 300,000 copies of his own books.

Why did I think of self-publishing the book first?

Chen Danqing put aside his doubts and followed the decisive Ai Luming out for a social event.

With the other party's face and his own talent, the relationship went quite smoothly. During the dinner, Liang Wendao, a Hong Kong media person who came to the capital for an interview, praised him highly, which made him very happy.

When the second session was over, the dean of Tsinghua University patted his chest and promised: "Dan Qing, I will put your name up after the holiday. Just wait and see how I will do it for you!"

When sitting in Ai Xiaoming's luxury car on the way home, Chen Dan burst into tears.

"Boss Ai, I will never forget your kindness in helping me!"

There was some brotherly talk afterwards, but he himself could not remember what they talked about specifically.

On August 8nd, it was almost noon when I woke up.

He drank too much yesterday and felt uncomfortable all over. He didn't want to go out again, but the friends he just met yesterday gathered together for a rare occasion, so he arranged an activity for him.

Go to Chang'an Club to swim and play cards.

That’s good, I’m good at all of them, he thought.

When we arrived at the club, there were more people today. Nandu’s editor-in-chief Cheng Yizhong and female writer Wang Fangfang were also there. They were good friends of Liang Wendao, and Wang Fangfang had been a friend of the Ai siblings for many years.

"Oh, the literary and artistic community is united?"

Chen Danqing just used a joke and immediately integrated into the group.

"Come here, Lao Chen!" Liang Wendao waved excitedly, "I'd like to introduce two good friends to you!"

Cheng Yizhong looked at Chen Danqing reservedly, while Wang Fangfang chattered enthusiastically.

If Fang Xinghe was here, he would definitely have a sense of the absurdity of witnessing history - a long time later, when Wang Fangfang received the medal from the BBC's Top 100 Women, this group of people celebrated in the villa, and the photos they took were leaked online and were dubbed by netizens as "The Last Carnival: The Thirteen Guardians of Country D."

Even though the history of this life has been slightly changed, they still got together.

What kind of law of shit attracts shit is this?
After a leisurely swim in the afternoon and a simple meal, a group of people gathered in the room to play cards.

It was a popular time for bridge, so Alumi and his friends, who were the most addicted, sat at the table, while the others sat beside them, smoking cigars and chatting.

Cheng Yizhong drank a little wine and asked inexplicably: "Teacher Chen, have you seen Fang Xinghe?"

"Ah."

Chen Danqing's expression was a little gloomy. The show from the day before yesterday still hurt when he thought about it.

Wang Fangfang was also interested in this topic and asked, "Is it that show? How is Xiao Fang in person? Is the chat very insightful?"

Chen Danqing's face became more and more embarrassed.

"Uh... pretty crazy, sharp-tongued."

Cheng Yizhong couldn't help but complain: "Sister Wang, do you really treat him as a student? Such an impolite thing!"

Wang Fangfang feels proud of Fang Xinghe. She always feels that she was the one who discovered Fang Xinghe. During the semi-finals, she also praised his article "Knowing but Not Following", so why doesn't it count?
"Haha!" She laughed and replied, "Xiao Fang's temper is indeed a bit wild, but if you don't provoke him, he won't chase you and scold you, right?"

"You don't understand his aggressiveness." Chen Dan shook his head slightly. "If he doesn't like someone, he will take the initiative to provoke him."

"Huh? Did they attack you on the show?"

Cheng Yizhong heard the news and asked hurriedly.

Chen Danqing hesitated a little: "Um, the chat was not very pleasant..."

He really didn't know how Xie Rong would edit the show, so he couldn't explain it too clearly. If we cut out the two most intense segments, we could still be considered to have a good chat, right?

It's not convenient to scold, and it's not convenient to praise either. It feels so uncomfortable.

So he took the initiative to change the subject: "Why, do you all care about the show?"

"I care. How can I not care?" Cheng Yizhong sneered and blew out a smoke ring. "How powerful are you? How many times have you pointed your finger at us media people and scolded us?"

Wang Fangfang ignored him and turned to look for the remote control - directly opposite the lounge area in the room, there was a state-of-the-art Sony 45-inch color TV.

"Where's the remote? I've been thinking about this when I'm at home."

Liang Wendao didn't know the background of the program, but he knew Cheng Yizhong and Wang Fangfang, and found that they were both so enthusiastic, which piqued his interest.

"Then let's take a look. It's said that he's prettier than Leon Lai. Let me see if it's really that exaggerated."

Chen Danqing didn't want them to watch the show in her heart, so she advised them: "It's rare for us to get together, chat, play cards, it's so nice. That show is a mess, it makes me sad just thinking about it, don't watch it."

Wang Fangfang refused to do so. In a sense, she relied on writing about family matters to show the ugliness and distortion of human nature. Realizing Chen Danqing's avoidance, she became even more interested.

"You guys go ahead and have fun. We judges have already agreed to keep an eye on him. I was going to watch him too."

It can’t be stopped. It can’t be stopped at all!
Chen Danqing had no choice but to smoke his cigar to hide his inner panic.

I hope Mr. Xie keeps his word and really cuts off all the indecent things...

Then they started watching the show, and soon they were shocked.

"Fuck his mother! Fang Xinghe roared sharply!"

Liang Wendao didn't know Jiao Guobiao, but when he saw him being criticized and struggling, he praised him sincerely.

As a result, just after I finished praising her, I saw Fang Xinghe spit out those words with a sarcastic look on his face: "You media people who hold the right to speak and journalism professors who have taught a large number of unethical media people."

In an instant, the whole area became quiet.

Liang Wendao is a media person, Cheng Yizhong is a media person, and Wang Fangfang is a writer and also the editor-in-chief of a celebrity magazine and a media person.

Chen Danqing occasionally writes some articles and sends them to China to earn money, so he can be considered a media person.

He knocked them all down with one blow.

"Haha, you are a little too young and frivolous to know your place..."

Liang Wendao swallowed the compliment and changed his words: "After all, you are too ignorant to understand the necessity of the media supervising the government."

Cheng Yizhong sneered: "He is just trying to attract attention. It's not that he doesn't understand. He just criticizes us on purpose to show his personality. He wants to be famous so badly!"

Wang Fangfang's expression was also not very good, but she still gritted her teeth and helped to ease the situation.

"You guys, there's no need to make things so awkward. With his age and temper, he'll definitely fight back against anyone who dares to scold him. But he's not ignorant of respecting those of us who have sincerely helped him. Look, Teacher Wang Meng went over there specially, and how nice is Xiao Fang's attitude?"

These words sound very condescending and gloating, as if they have nothing to do with one's own misfortune.

To be honest, as Fang Xinghe became more and more famous, she was very proud of her identity as a judge of New Concept.

To put it in a small way, it is the discovery of a literary genius; to put it in a big way, it is "actively working for Chinese language education in China" and "paving the way for the healthy development of the literary world", and it has really produced results.

So far, none of the New Concept judges, whether they like Fang Xinghe or not, has stood up to criticize him.

This principle is easy to understand, but speaking it out will mean a rift.

Cheng Yizhong could only pretend not to understand, and then use the tiger's skin and the big banner to play the group card.

"We, the media people who still have some backbone, are thorns in Fang Xinghe's side. He is young and doesn't fully understand the absolute necessity of democratic supervision and just criticism."

Liang Wendao nodded immediately: "Yes! Without us, where will this country go in the authoritarian system?"

Xiao Chuan, a writer for Nan Du who was also present, was indignant: "How could he not understand? He just stood against us intentionally for personal gain!

How comfortable it is to be an idol. You can earn more than 100 million a year by endorsing a brand called Jeanswest. How can you make money easier than this!
So he attacks us because it is in his own interests.”

Chen Danqing quickly said, "Yes, yes, I feel the same way. Otherwise, it's just a normal clash of opinions, one person against another. Why is it necessary to attack all the media people together?"

"Hype!" Liang Wendao was extremely sure, "This is hype without any bottom line and morality! I have seen this a lot in Hong Kong Island, I can't be wrong."

The sentiment is indignant.

As he was cursing, Jiao Guobiao fell to the ground with a bang, and the room was silent for a moment.

"I lost..."

Liang Wendao and others were stunned and really didn't know how to express the horror and shock.

Chen Danqing's heart skipped a beat, and a strong sense of anger and fear surged into his mind, making him panic.

Xie Rong, fuck you!

Didn't you swear to cut it off?

The reputation of three generations of martyrs can't stop you from doing this shameless and dirty work? ! ! !
On the other side of the room, several people playing bridge paused.

Ai Luming's eyes widened as he pointed at the screen: "That's the show Dan Qing participated in? How did such a big broadcast accident happen?"

"I don't know." A certain dean of TOP2 threw the card and walked forward a few steps. "Let's go see what's going on. How can a Peking University professor named Jiao be so disgraceful?"

No one played cards anymore. No matter what they were doing, they put it down and gathered around the TV, either with their hands behind their backs or holding glasses of wine.

Chen Dan was sweating profusely.

But can he stop it?
No.

So he had to hold the cigar tightly in his hand, silently hoping that Xie Rong would not go too far.

Xie Rong certainly didn't go too far. He could clearly distort the facts through editing, but he ensured the greatest possible degree of restoration. He simply edited in a lot of audience reactions during the debate to make the show more... entertaining.

Everyone gathered in the rest area of the room, and saw Fang Xinghe's strong attitude of "I wouldn't feel the slightest bit of heartache even if you died in front of me", and two professors from Peking University were enraged at that time.

One is surnamed Luo and the other is surnamed Xiao.

Liang Wendao, Cheng Yizhong and others were so excited that they broke down.

"Damn, is he really sick?!"

“Too much.”

"Fuck! That little B kid really deserves to be fucked, he has no parents!"

"How uncultured! How uncultured! How can you not feel a bit of guilt?!"

"Arrogant! Arrogant! I don't know what I'm talking about!"

A group of middle-aged people who have the attributes of both professors and media professionals are really angry.

It is normal for the fox to feel grief over the death of a rabbit and for other species to feel sympathy for their own kind.

It was from this moment on that the growth of Fang Xinghe's floating fans stagnated - the number of young floating fans increased sharply, while the number of middle-aged fans felt uncomfortable, with one increasing and one decreasing, and the total number basically remained unchanged at tens of millions.

However, the growth rate of hardcore fans and fanatical fans has obviously become faster.

Fang Xinghe is not unaware of the scale, and he also knows how to obtain the greatest common divisor of favorability, but this is a trade-off - instead of gaining three points of favorability from everyone, it is better to gain three points of disgust from middle-aged people and eight points of enthusiasm from young people.

When it comes to the core need of attracting fans, you must never think of taking a "middle road".

Trying to please both sides? Being reasonable? Bullshit!
How can the conservatism and steadiness of middle-aged people who do not want to offend others coexist with the rebelliousness and passion of young people?

It’s better to strive for one of them.

Fang Xinghe targeted young people, and his ruthless words and actions deeply hurt all the public intellectuals present.

In particular, when Fang Xinghe began to criticize the weak intellectuals for their weak resistance to the Western world, the room became noisy and everyone was indignant.

"You ignorant boy, you are talking nonsense!" The scolding continued. Who was actually hurt by the sting?
The hurt people know it in their hearts.

Then I kept watching like this. When Charlie completely nailed Chen Danqing to the pillar of shame in English, the noise in the room suddenly disappeared as if the pause button was pressed.

A group of people stared with their eyes wide open, the roar echoed in their minds, but they could not make any sound.

They just looked at each other quietly, and then looked at Chen Danqing cautiously out of the corner of their eyes.

"He's the most ordinary immigrant loser in American society."

Hiss...that's too mean!
As literati, they had seen opponents with strong attack power, but Fang Xinghe's damage was still seriously exceeded.

He pointed at the scholar's nose and cursed: "You are a bastard! A bastard! An old bitch!"

It looks fierce, but it's actually just that simple. Anyone with a thick skin won't care.

However, Fang Xinghe, who specifically pulled out a white American, casually revealed a fact in front of hundreds of millions of viewers...

It hurts so much.

Really, they felt the suffocation through the screen.

At this moment, even breathing a little louder seemed like a sin.

As Chen Dan in the picture left the scene in anger, not long after, a bang was heard in the corridor. Bandit Xie immediately cut the camera over and aimed it at the trash can that was kicked over on the ground in the corridor.

In the private room of the club, Chen Danqing's face turned pale again, and he crushed the half-smoked cigar in his hand.

Everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to speak first.

"Uh... Dan Qing..."

In the end, it was Ai Luming, who had the highest status, who took the initiative to break the silence.

"A temporary failure... er..."

As soon as he started, he felt something was wrong, so he stepped forward and hugged his shaky shoulders.

"We are here to drink today, don't think about anything else, okay?"

Liang Wendao immediately agreed: "That kid is so arrogant, sooner or later he will get into trouble, don't take him too seriously."

The others soon followed, each speaking their best to comfort the woman.

However, once others fail to notice, pity and ridicule will immediately appear in their eyes - that's so realistic.

Among a group of absolutely selfish people, who can truly empathize with each other?

It's just raising high and stepping down low.

Of course Chen Danqing could feel it. His scalp was numbing and his chest was stuffy because of that gaze, but he didn't have the courage to turn his head and glare at him. So he had to pick up a glass of whiskey and drink it in one gulp.

The strong liquor went down my throat and burned my esophagus, but the depression in my heart and the stuffiness in my lungs did not diminish in the slightest.

Although no one mentioned the matter again, he still got drunk quickly.

"Old Xiao, send Dan Qing back and let him have a good rest."

"Okay, you guys continue playing, we'll leave first."

As soon as Chen Danqing left the room, the discussion in the room immediately became lively.

"Old Chen... a little, um, a little..."

"Well, he hasn't been back to China for a long time. He is not familiar with the environment or style."

"That's right, plus he's doing so well abroad... hehe!"

"This is so unlucky. I finally found an opportunity to be on the show, but I happened to run into Fang Xinghe..."

"That boy is really mean when he curses at people."

"That's right! We can't blame Jiao Guobiao and Lao Chencai entirely. If they are not professionally trained, anyone who runs into him will suffer."

"Luckily I... Hehe, Dan Qing's future life will probably be difficult."

"Well, both reputation and credibility will suffer greatly..."

"Don't jump to conclusions. Let's wait and see. Jilin Province's ratings have never been very good, and its influence is limited."

"Limited? That's when it's normal."

"Indeed, he's really in trouble this time."

At this moment, even Wang Fangfang, who wanted to support Fang Xinghe the most, remained silent.

Cheng Yizhong watched coldly, seeing their change from gloating to sympathy, then realized that it was his turn to play, and immediately gave Fang Xinghe another round of eye drops.

"In fact, as Fang Xinghe's influence among young people grows, each of us will be affected. He and we are not the same kind of people at all."

The general meaning is still the same old thing, that we should be wary of the threats Fang Xinghe poses to us noble media people, and face up to his attempt to seize our right to speak, blah blah blah, just fanning the flames.

Soon, the looks of these media people changed.

In fact, even without Cheng Yizhong's instigation, they naturally hated Fang Xinghe.

In traditional ideology, no vested interests in high positions would like young challengers from the bottom up.

What's more, this group of people really makes a lot of money from the credibility that is being shaken by Fang Xinghe.

Therefore, in order to save face, they did not discuss in public what they should do.

And because of tacit understanding, we decided what to do.

When they left, they were either alone or in groups of two or three, whispering their plans.

On August 8, public opinion was surprisingly calm.

Or it can be described as, except for those pro-Fang media singing praises for Fang Xinghe, the rest of the media remained silent and did not make any sound.

Only Chen Danqing felt like the sky had fallen.

He waited and waited, but the invitation to the party never came, and he was restless at home all day.

I have received many calls for interviews from the media. I don’t know which bastard leaked the information, but the people who should come just don’t come.

By night, there was still no movement.

He was not a shameless person, so he took the initiative to call Ai Luming: "Mr. Ai..."

"Dan Qing..." Ai Luming said in a heavy tone, "There may be some changes to what we discussed yesterday, but don't worry, I will communicate with them again, it's just a matter of waiting a little longer..."

Chen Danqing felt very disappointed. For this kind of thing, if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. What's the point of waiting?
After hanging up the phone, he couldn't help but send another text message to the dean of Tsinghua University.

The other party's reply was——

"Ah? What's the matter? I drank too much yesterday, Dan Qing, please remind me..."

Grass!
Chen Danqing threw the ashtray against the wall, gasping for breath. He had a lot of anger and had no place to vent it, so his neck turned red.

The other party's meaning is very clear. All previous promises are invalid. Please find another job.

He is not short of a job. With his fame and level, how could he not get a professorship in any art academy?
The real question is... Is the Hundred Talents Plan completely a failure? !
Thinking of this, he immediately picked up his well-protected mobile phone and dialed the number.

After asking around, he found out that everyone welcomed him to teach there, but there were no second spots available for the Hundred Talents Program.

There are not many universities that have the right to recommend, and all the places are filled. The only one he could hope to get into is Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, but it was messed up by him... No, it was messed up by Fang Xinghe.

Chen Dan stood up angrily, grabbed the stack of newspapers and manuscript paper, and strode into his friend's study.

Four hours later, he came out of the room and went to the bedroom in a daze.

He really wanted to write an amazing article to clear himself and kill Fang Xinghe at the same time, but after racking his brains, he still couldn't break that trick.

A fairy from the sky, a great and beautiful sword, spoke the truth of the common people in the mouth of a foreigner, and shattered his eighteen years of time with one sword.

No matter how strong Chen Danqing is, everyone in the literary and art circles knows it.

How to do?
Chen Danqing was in a daze the whole night. When the morning light just lit up the curtains, he immediately got up.

We can’t stay in this crappy country any longer!
Damn it, go back to America!

In order to not become a bigger joke, he had no choice but to do so.

Although hiding away is also likely to make people laugh at you for "running away in fear", as long as you avoid the center of attention, when they start fighting, time will naturally eliminate everything that is happening now.

If you continue to hold out in the country, then you'll be scratched from time to time. Who can stand being scratched by a bastard like Fang Xinghe every day?

Chen Danqing closed his eyes and knew what was going on.

Fang Xinghe wrote an article and mentioned Chen Danqing blah blah blah...

Then every time a name was called, a reporter would rush over to interview him.

If you dodge it once, there will always be another time.

Then whenever something happens again, Fang Xinghe has to pull himself out: Teacher Chen was like this and like that, if you don’t believe me, go ask him?
Really, he sees through Fang Xinghe.

At the scene, he had laughed at Jiao Guobiao for being impatient, but now it was his turn...

Sure enough, I was shivering too.

Chen Danqing also saw through this group of public intellectuals in the same camp - who would help him when the time comes? No one!

He is indeed a real man with decisiveness and execution ability. After realizing the best way out, he didn't even discuss it with anyone. He directly notified his friends and drove to the airport.

When I arrived at the airport, I found that the ticket was not cheap. I rolled my eyes and called Ai Luming to say goodbye.

Given Ai Luming’s style, he would definitely come and give it as a gift.

After getting the plane ticket and hearing the news of returning home, Chen Dan just patted his butt and left, but this pushed Fang Xinghe's prestige to a new peak.

"Have you heard? Jiao Guobiao was criticized by the Peking University School of Journalism and is currently suspended from teaching!"

"Oh, that's nothing! Chen Danqing was scolded away by Fang Xinghe!"

"Huh? Where did you go?"

"The United States! They were so ashamed and angry that they ran away on the plane that night!"

Fang Xinghe's famous line about scolding Jiao Guobiao for "running away on a train" became popular, and also became popular was the story of Chen Danqing carrying a plane back to New York.

In this day and age, there is a lack of efficient communication channels, so rumors and gossip are particularly popular.

Soon, the rumor spread to the art circle, and then to the literary circle and the public intellectual circle. By the time it spread downward to the consumer market, the rumor had escalated again.

"After the show, Fang Xinghe trapped Jiao Guobiao and Chen Danqing in the waiting room and beat them up!"

"Really! Jiao Guobiao was beaten so badly that he couldn't attend classes. All the sophomores in Peking University's Journalism Department knew about it!"

"What? Fang Xinghe broke Jiao Guobiao's ribs? What about Chen Danqing?"

"Chen Dan had a mild concussion! He went back to the United States to get treatment overnight!"

"Hey, do you know? Jiao Guobiao, the Peking University professor, was beaten by Fang Xinghe and had to be hospitalized!"

"What? Jiao Guobiao is in critical condition and on a ventilator?"

"Wow! This is a big deal! Chen Danqing couldn't make it halfway and died on the plane!"

Fang Xinghe knew nothing about this until the evening of the 4th, when Lao Fang ran home breathlessly and asked him whether he had beaten the man or not, which made him feel both amused and helpless.

"Really? Why would I hit them? Am I such a violent person?"

"You're not violent?" Lao Fang looked at him suspiciously. "Now all the middle schools in the county have been stirred up by you to have a craze for Kung Fu. The grandparents of Wudang block the Shaolin disciples at the toilet door every day and beat them. A few days ago, the son of the Black-Faced God jumped from the second floor and broke his leg... It's all your fault. Do you know what kind of reputation you have now?"

"Oh? Tell me, what's my new nickname?"

"Fang Xinghe, Fang Shen!"

Lao Fang laughed very sarcastically, and was so angry that he raised his thumb.

"How impressive! Master Fang! Just wait and see. I don't believe that no one will come to talk to you!"

This statement came true so quickly that the next day, someone from the provincial government came to talk to him.

These days, it is a typical big government with extremely wide responsibilities yet extremely loose control.

Fang Xinghe was not scared. It was just a small matter and would not affect him. It seemed more like the higher-ups took it more seriously.

But it was also on this day that the wave of criticism in the media, led by the Nanfang Group, finally broke out.

These Mao-mongering public intellectuals...are probably crazy.

(End of this chapter)