Generation Z Artists

Chapter 96 I Am the Public Outrage

Fang Xinghe disappeared from public view.

The media was becoming increasingly agitated because of him.

The two are not in a causal logical relationship, but two things happening simultaneously.

However, as time went on, and no matter how Fang Xinghe pushed, his movements remained unmoved, the liberals' attacks on him intensified, and various rumors gradually began to emerge.

On November 11, Cheng Yizhong instructed Chang Ping to issue a statement saying that Fang Xinghe might have been arrested and was now in custody and under trial.

On November 11, Wang Deli was interviewed by the Capital TV Metropolitan Channel's legal program, in which he fiercely accused Fang Xinghe of causing him harm.

On November 11, the Human Rights Day rebelled and published an article criticizing Fang Xinghe for "failing to set a good role model, being willful and lacking a sense of responsibility."

On November 11, most media began to discuss whether Fang Xinghe's influence was more positive or more negative.

On November 11, Song Zude said that "Fang Xinghe is very likely to have committed suicide", and the rumor instantly spread like wildfire on the Internet.

On November 11, 13 female students in Yangcheng surrounded the address of a tabloid that published the rumors, causing a huge commotion.

In such an overwhelming black tide, Fang Xinghe's reputation was in jeopardy.

Except for the person who suffered the disaster, everyone was very anxious.

Wang Yali called him every day: "Hey, why don't you fight back?"

Feng Yuanzheng hesitated and asked: "Xiao Fang, don't give up. Do you need some external support now? I can think of a way..."

Chen Danya was unusually stern: "We can't let them continue to hype this up. Tell your agent to do something!"

broker?
Wang Charlie was more anxious than anyone else.

"My dear little ancestor! How can you be a star like this? Do you still want to surpass Jet Li?!"

Even Master Zhong couldn't help but call to show his concern.

"How about you come to Wudang and practice Taoism in the mountains for a while? Send a message to the public and say that you want to become a Taoist..."

Look, what is old ginger?

You really underestimate this great master.

Fang Xinghe couldn't help but laugh and replied, "Maybe next time. You can't use a big killer weapon in a small situation like this. It won't work if you use it too much."

"A small scene?!"

Master Zhong couldn't help but smack his lips: "Tsk tsk, what exactly is the grand scene in your mind like?"

No wonder this kid refused to formally become a disciple, the Dao Association might not be able to handle it...

"What a grand scene..." Fang Xinghe said in a leisurely tone, and one could hear a sense of longing, "Let's make it ten times more intense than it is now."

The Taoist priest was scared away on the spot.

I can't understand it. Kids nowadays are so damn evil!
In fact, it is not that evil. The essence of this matter is very simple: under the premise that there is no possibility of administrative ban, can your personal ability break through the blockade and suppression of the black tide and regain your lost reputation?

If they could break through, that would be Girls’ Generation in 09, soaring to the sky.

If you can't break through, then there is no need for any intense rumors; a small reason can sink you.

Fang Xinghe had absolute confidence and had many escape routes at hand, so he was naturally not in a hurry.

No one could persuade him, but everyone did not just stand by and watch. In fact, many people, familiar or unfamiliar, stood up to speak up for him.

"Fang Xinghe is a microcosm of the pain of marginalized groups in society. He represents a phenomenon, but the phenomenon is not caused by him!"

"Looking at the strange phenomenon of public opinion today through Fang Xinghe - When will the moral judgment end?"

"Rumors are not the truth! Spreading rumors is not fairness and justice!"

"Who is Fang Xinghe, the hard-to-defend team that they regard as a thorn in their side?"

"A child's article made the "adults" jump up and down, how sad and ridiculous"

"It is urgent to be vigilant against the Westernization tendency of the anti-Japanese elements!"

There was a heated argument outside, but Fang Xinghe remained motionless.

The floating fans and core fans that had grown with great difficulty have collapsed again, but the die-hard fans and chicken blood fans are increasing by thousands every day. Is it a loss or a profit?

We should always take a long-term view of things. The brewing of some forces requires the tolerance of having all defense lines breached.

Besides, they don't have the ability to truly break through Fang Xinghe's defenses.

The so-called goodwill of passers-by...let it go.

On November 11th, time temporarily stopped.

On this day, the November issue of "Esquire" was launched nationwide.

Early that morning, newsstand owners in major cities across the country placed it in the most conspicuous positions without hesitation.

The girl passing by just turned her head and was completely unable to walk.

"Wow! Fang Xinghe!"

After a scream, soon a line formed at the newsstand.

For Fang fans, buying a men's magazine just for the cover does not require any consideration as to whether it is worth it or not, the only thing they need to consider is whether they have enough money.

As a result, the November issue of Esquire achieved the best daily sales since its launch - 11 copies.

You know, it is impossible to distribute this product to villages and towns. At most, it can be distributed to fourth-tier cities, which is about 300 or so.

In the past, the sales volume of "Mr. Fashion" could reach a maximum of 4 copies, and most of the time it hovered around 2. This time, Pang Wei gritted his teeth and printed 20 copies for the first time, and they were sold out on the same day.

There is no need to care how surprised the fashion side is, because Fang fans are even more surprised.

They felt extremely happy.

The idol has been "missing" for so long, and every fan of Fang is extremely worried about him. Suddenly, the emergence of such a magazine is like a godsend.

Moreover, this men's magazine is indeed full of sincerity.

The background of the cover is "a dark forest under a bright moon". The branches are dry and twisted, casting mottled shadows. The full moon in the background appears unusually cold under the filter. The overall atmosphere is gloomy, terrifying and depressing.

The effect is very nice.

Fang Xinghe sat on a stone, looking directly at the readers.

It still has the same broken eyebrow style, but the hair is no longer green, but has a rounded bald head.

The upper body was wearing a long-sleeved Jeanswest T-shirt, which had been specially treated - a cut was made with a knife at the heart, the sleeves were full of holes, and the collar was torn a little, revealing one side of the collarbone.

The lower body was wearing camouflage pants and big-toed military boots. His right knee was rubbed raw and there was a scratch on the knee that was bleeding.

He sat upright on a stone, holding a cane in his left hand and sticking it under his feet, with his right forearm resting horizontally above his knees. His drooping fingers and bleeding knees formed a red, white and black composition.

There was a little dust on his face, and sweat was flowing down, leaving grooves on his jade-white skin. He looked dirty, but in fact he had the aura of a "living person".

The whole shape and background are integrated naturally, making people feel at the first moment that a young man is struggling and scarred in the maze-like dark forest.

The metaphor of the finishing touch is the smile on his face—the expression is not too big, but there is a clear brilliance revealed.

Those unique eyes were slightly narrowed, with soft corners and a strong gaze.

Look hard at every reader.

So how do we interpret the entire cover?

[He is still trapped in the dark forest, but he has found a way out]

"Great!"

Mao Xiaotong and her friends stared at the magazine cover greedily, an emotion slowly growing in their minds, infected by the picture.

The subject of a photo is something that is not easy to feel, but it does exist.

"Is he talking to us?"

Xiaomi speculated so.

"It must be!" Mao Xiaotong said firmly, "He wants us not to worry about him. He wants to tell us: I'm fine!"

Everyone looked carefully at every detail of the cover, and gradually, one after another nodded.

"I feel the same way!"

"Xiaotong, you are so awesome!"

"Yes, yes, you really are the one who knows the leader best among us. Now, this guardian will crown you as a saint!"

Fang fans have been completely divided, and their names and purposes of chasing idols have also broken into many categories.

[Fang Shen Jiao] is no longer a joke in the article "Youth", but a crazy fan group that is making waves online, causing many people offline to mention Shen Jiao when joking.

But female fans never call him "Fang Shen", only male fans do that. Female fans either call him "Master" or "God King" without the surname.

There is another group of fans who call Fang Fang and Fang Shuai with their last name.

What's the difference? I don't know.

Maybe they themselves couldn't explain the logic behind it, but they just split up naturally.

"No no."

Xiaotong smiled shyly, her eyes looking a little bright.

"I just read his essays often and try to figure out his ideas."

"You're welcome, you're the best!"

"Ah? No, no..."

The introverted Xiaotong now has many friends. They are all fans of Fang. They are happy for Fang Xinghe together, sad for Fang Xinghe together, and fight for Fang Xinghe together, and have established an unbreakable revolutionary friendship.

This made a huge change in the trajectory of her life.

The lonely and shy girl received warmth she had never imagined. Although she has not yet escaped the shadow in her life, she began to make friends and developed a good habit of reading.

This did not stop her from being a poor student and from hiding the poor conditions at home, but the void deep in her heart was being filled up bit by bit.

Are idols like Fang Xinghe the source of cholera?
Everyone has his or her own answer in his or her heart.

When we got to class, we gathered together and flipped through the pages of the magazine. There were seven or eight photos scattered around, all of which were basically extensions of the same theme.

The group of little girls didn't notice, but Wan Baoer did - in some photos, all the accessories hanging on Fang Xinghe were Cartier.

"Will Cartier sign a contract with Galaxy?!"

Wan Baoer's imagination ran wild.

"There's no hope for now, but you've definitely been on Cartier's watch list! They won't sponsor an irrelevant person for no reason!"

Wang Charlie was so excited that he was circling around the room.

The luxury goods of that time were so high-end that it is hard for future generations to imagine.

2030: Luxury? Oh.

1999: Pierre Cardin? Wow!
As long as he could get the endorsement of any international brand, he could be considered to be bringing glory to the country. Unfortunately, Fang Xinghe knew better than anyone that now was far from the right time.

"Don't think too much, just look at what's written on the inside page."

The shooting process was actually unremarkable. With Fang Xinghe's expressiveness, he was able to convey whatever emotion the photographer wanted, so it ended simply without any setbacks.

On the contrary, during the interview, Pang Wei asked some very interesting questions.

Wan Baoer read it carefully, then suddenly ran to his father and said, "Dad, come and see Fang Xinghe's new interview!"

Father Wan took off his glasses and casually took the magazine: "What kind of interview is this?"

"Fashion magazine!" Seeing her father's disapproving look, she hurriedly urged, "Hurry up and take a look! It's very different."

Father Wan took a few glances, his expression quickly calmed down, and he put on his glasses again.

Question: “Are you anti-Western?”

A: “I am not anti-Western, I am against wholesale acceptance of Western narratives.”

Q: “Excuse me, but what’s the difference?”

Answer: "Westerners are not monsters, but there is no Western narrative logic that is suitable for the Chinese national conditions."

Question: “For example?”

A: "Like those clowns demanding freedom of speech."

Question: "Do you hate the difficult-to-defend system?"

Answer: "Not just hate, but disgust."

Q: "You are the first person to come up with the concept of 'difficult to defend'. I think they are competent most of the time. Why do you dislike them so much?"

A: "We cannot and should not give them the freedom they want."

Question: "Because of Fang Tonghui?"

Answer: "Because every Fang is the same."

Question: "You think the freedom they want is over the line. What degree of freedom can you accept? Or what kind of freedom do you want?"

A: "I want to destroy their freedom to be free."

Q: "But you are not a judge, nor a king. You cannot destroy anyone, and you shouldn't even think about it."

A: "That's good. None of us should have more freedom than is necessary. Now I am willing to accept that. Can you convince them to accept that, too?"

Q: “I can’t, but with all due respect, I really don’t think it’s too much to ask for free speech.”

A: "Their slogan is 'Let everyone have the right to speak'. Do you agree with that?"

Q: "I agree. Don't you agree?"

Answer: “I agree that Article 35 of the Constitution has long provided that we have such freedom, but the problem is deeper: we all know that it is impossible for everyone to have completely equal right to speak, so some people must be elected to exercise the power to speak for everyone. This is the case all over the world, pushing up layer by layer, and ultimately implementing elite management.

But are these media people elected to speak? No, they are stolen by inciting idiots.

Who can guarantee their position? No one can guarantee it.

They are paid by the Insurgent Press, awarded bonuses by various interested parties, and commendations by the same foreign organizations that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So you see, they use rumors to please idiots, tell lies to incite emotions, and through self-depreciation create the illusion that Western narratives are superior to Chinese philosophy, in an attempt to achieve the "salvation of freedom" through total Westernization. This has been going on for more than a hundred years, from Hu Shi to Yan Lieshan.

However, for more than a hundred years, no Chinese intellectual has ever proved through political, cultural, or historical practice that liberalism can save China. They just keep talking and refuse to change.

In fact, it is clear who saved China and what ideas they used. Even a high school student like me can see it clearly.

So why do they have that level of freedom?

They are not there when we are working, but they will take away the fattiest meat as soon as we eat, and then point fingers and say that what we are doing is wrong, and tell us to listen to them next time. Don't put too much soy sauce in the braised pork, use the chicken essence invented by our American dad, which makes it more delicious.

After finishing what is in the bowl, he would go to the pot to get more food, and yell in a tantrum: Hey, hey, give me another piece, I am a public intellectual, a cultural person, you have to let me eat enough first!

If you were a cook, could you tolerate their jumping around and nagging like the current system does?

Anyway, I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t cook, I ate the food ready, so I wanted to protect the cooks and not let them feel disappointed.”

Pang Wei: "I was silent for a long time, which caused the interview to be interrupted for a long time. I couldn't think of how to continue with the next question, so I was just making small talk."

Question: “How do you know so much?”

Answer: "I hate stupidity. I hate it when others are stupid, but it is even more unforgivable when I am stupid myself."

Question: “So what do you think those public intellectuals are?”

Answer: "Not stupid but bad, weak and typical intellectuals without balls in the social transition period, providing the correct sample of wrong cognition for the new Chinese youth, and, for me personally, a very fun toy."

Q: "Toys? You are so...really so. Aren't you afraid of arousing public outrage?"

"Public outrage?"

Fang Xinghe smiled contemptuously and raised his eyebrows.

“I am the public outrage.”

This is the last sentence of the interview.

However, Pang Wei also attached an editor’s note at the end:

"The theme of this photo shoot is 'The Sunny Power of Finding a Way Out in the Dark', so when taking the photo, I asked Fang Xinghe to smile cleanly, brightly, and full of hope, but not too aggressively. He completed the photo shoot very well and gave all of us a huge surprise.

Zhengzi jumped up and down with his camera in hand, shouting excitedly: "This is the best portrait I've ever taken! This issue of our magazine will definitely sell out!"

I think so too. Apart from photographing supermodels, our work has never been so smooth.

But during the interview, everything got out of control.

I wanted to have a good chat with Fang Xinghe about his new book, but before I even got to that point, I was so shocked that my mind went blank. I still don't understand why, but I really felt Fang Xinghe's greatest characteristic, pride.

It is a top-level luxury product that breaks through the world's common sense and my own greatest imagination. That thing is probably specially used to conquer emotions. I don't agree with many of Fang Xinghe's views. Even now, when I write these words, I still disagree with him, but I am already his fan. There is no other way, I can only admire him.

Well, I haven't asked the most important question yet. I'm as confused as everyone else, so I'd like to ask everyone to wait with me and see what kind of work Fang Xinghe will bring us."

……

Father Wan took off his glasses again, rubbed his eyebrows hard, and sat there pondering for a long time.

"How is it?" Wan Baoer asked anxiously, "I really like the Western spirit of freedom and human rights. Is that wrong?"

"You have to think for yourself."

Father Wan touched his daughter's head lovingly, his other hand still tightly holding the magazine.

"Okay, go have fun. Um, lend me the magazine for a while. I want to recommend this interview to a few people. I'll give it to you later."

"Oh."

Wan Baoer went back to her room with a frown on her face. She couldn't understand such a complicated problem at all.

She just subconsciously felt that it must be her fault for not being able to keep in line with Fang Xinghe.

So what can an egoistic navy leader who firmly believes in Eastern culture, adheres to Eastern narratives, and sticks to Eastern thoughts bring to this era?
At this moment, the answer was embodied in Wan Baoer.

……

On November 11, time accelerated again.

Many newspapers reprinted the full text of Mr. Fashion's interview, and the liberal public intellectuals roared in anger at this vicious humiliation.

There were all kinds of insults, and it was obvious that it really hurt.

And the president of Renri, Hua Ze, actually posted another article, supporting Fang Xinghe for the second time this year.

“I want to protect the people who cook and not let them feel disappointed.

In general, this is the highest and most practical way for young people to express their patriotism. He used such simple sentences to write about the ultimate enthusiasm of Chinese youth. I am proud of him. "

In fact, Renri was not able to subdue that group of public intellectuals. The previous back and forth jumping of Renri had already made people see their weakness clearly.

However, Fang Xinghe was convinced.

Because so many people scolded him, but no one had made a more powerful declaration than "I am the public anger". In the eyes of truly neutral spectators, who is strong and who is weak, who wins and who loses, is clear in an instant.

The accusations against Fang Xinghe of lack of moral sense and extreme and tyrannical character still exist and will continue for a long time, but those who don't want to care no longer care, and those who are easily affected by it are just a joke and have little value.

It was hard to prevent the system's random attacks, which seemed to have destroyed Fang Xinghe's popularity among the public, but in fact, it gained him 30 loyal fans in just one month.

In such an era, it is simply a myth.

Although their power still cannot influence the print media, they have completely conquered Tianya and Biliao, forcing Tianya to set up an exclusive section called "Brilliant Starry Sky" to satisfy these crazy fans.

This is regarded as a landmark event in the history of Chinese idols, in which Fang Xinghe officially influenced the Internet and the second generation of Internet users.

The year 1999, which is not special in the domestic entertainment industry, is also known as the first year of modern idols in mainland China.

But at this moment, they, who created history together, are just conducting the final countdown in madness.

On November 11, Xiaoxue, Fang Xinghe’s first novel, Cangyexue, was officially released nationwide.

***********
Thanks to the new alliance Yang Guoer, sprinkle flowers for the leader~~~
Cang Yexue I plan to write some chapters and write a novel within a novel, which is quite exciting.

But I am still considering to what extent.

(End of this chapter)