Chapter 31: Criticism and Severance

In truth, there were far more than just a couple of articles criticizing Fang Xinghe.

He had committed the cardinal sin of the era: threatening journalists.

For those who did not live through the 1990s, it is difficult to imagine how arrogant the "fourth estate" was during the age of print media. They held the power of interview, distribution, and dissemination, which ultimately coalesced into the power of definition. They could define any person or event, crafting an authoritative narrative where "I" served as the ultimate yardstick.

Ordinary people had no channel to discover the truth, nor the energy to verify details. They could only passively absorb what was fed to them and offer lofty reverence to the writers behind the pens. This created a sense of noble, superior status for the journalists, and fostered a temperament they self-righteously dubbed "a sense of mission," but which was, in reality, nothing more than extreme stubbornness.

Now, a mere boy named Fang Xinghe dared to challenge their authority? It was an outrage!

Xu Renjie did not even rank among the most significant critics; his involvement served merely as another piece of "evidence" that Fang Xinghe was unpopular. Aside from *Southern Metropolis Daily*, over twenty other national newspapers, including *Yangtze Evening Post* and *Yangcheng Evening News*, followed suit. They leveraged their immense influence, interviewing one celebrity after another. The media, education, and literary circles were all thrown into an uproar over this affair.

Yet, a peculiar phenomenon began to emerge: a massive rift appeared between the real world and the world depicted in the media.

If you were an adult who read the newspaper every day, you would find that at least 70% of the public discourse was criticizing Fang Xinghe, casting him as a representative of an arrogant, rude, unruly, and volatile bad kid. Under such a massive barrage of noise, those willing to speak up for him—like Zhao Chunhua, Wang Yali, and Chen Danya—were suppressed and struggled to hold their ground.

If you were someone who didn't read the papers, however, life was peaceful and the world was calm. Little Swallow was adorable, wages were never enough to cover expenses, and Nokia’s Chinese-character display phones were so trendy... A teenage writer? Not interested.

But if you were a middle-school student who already knew of Fang Xinghe, you would suddenly discover that Brother Fang was exuding a lethal kind of appeal. He was the kind of "badass" that was unimaginable in 1999.

Originally, only girls liked talking about Fang Xinghe, while boys often used indifference to mask their jealousy. However, after the catalyst of "who isn't even 14 yet," that fragile sense of resentment was suddenly teetering on the edge.

And so, President Fang watched his Star Value skyrocket once again and beamed with joy.

Half a month ago, his Star Value was over 18 million. As the criticism and counter-criticism intensified, it grew steadily to 30 million before hitting a slump. But now, with the *Southern Metropolis Daily* report, his Star Value had surged by 10 million in just two days! At this rate, by the time the high school entrance exams arrived, his little treasury might actually hit nine figures.

But he couldn't wait; he wanted to splurge right now.

[Attribute Panel]
Appearance: Charisma 99, Physique 75
Constitution: Strength 69, Speed 80, Stamina 70, Agility 75, Flexibility 73
Hidden: Coordination 72, Perception 69, Recovery 74, Immunity 69, Health 75
Arts: Writing 79

After a period of tireless training, his stamina had increased by 1 point and his health by 2 points. Aside from that, his attributes had remained stagnant. For attributes between 70 and 79, each point cost 1 million Star Value, while 80 to 89 cost 10 million per point.

According to his original plan, Fang Xinghe bumped his stamina to 80, consuming a full 19 million Star Value. Sigh, his heart ached. He felt it out silently; there was no massive change, though his energy seemed slightly more abundant. It wasn't until that night, when he finished his final set of math problems as per his habit, that the boy finally experienced the prowess of 80-point stamina. At an hour when he should have been exhausted, he felt wide awake—even more alert than before.

"Shall I do two more sets?"

Fang Xinghe didn't go to sleep until midnight, and the next day, he woke up at 6:00 AM as usual, feeling refreshed. Stamina, it turned out, wasn't just about physical endurance; it also bolstered mental stamina.

Unfortunately, anything above 80 was simply too expensive; he couldn't afford it for now. Fang Xinghe abandoned the idea of adding more stamina and, sticking to the original plan, boosted his coordination to 80, spending another 17 million Star Value. His treasury was bottoming out once more.

However, the effects of coordination were immediate. When he picked up his practice sword and thrust, it felt remarkably fluid. It wasn't that he had suddenly become much stronger, but rather a mysterious sensation—his power flowed more smoothly, his grasp of force was more precise, and his movements were nimble and fluid. It felt good to practice, and even better to watch.

After his morning workout, he checked his panel and looked at his skill proficiency. Sure enough, all his martial arts had improved. Though the gains were small, the increase in efficiency was visible to the naked eye. At this rate, he would eventually be able to master his skills on his own.

"Once I have more Star Value, I'll bring all my main attributes to 79, then put everything into coordination!" Fang Xinghe decided happily, heading to school in high spirits.

There was nothing new today; the *Southern Metropolis Daily* report remained the focus, with only a few more people hopping on the bandwagon to take a bite. The most frantic and wild of them was someone Fang Xinghe remembered from his previous life: Song Zude.

In the *Southern Daily*, he fired a barrage of attacks: "I despise Fang Xinghe! A so-called genius manufactured by packaging and hype, a piece of incoherent middle-schooler trash, a punk with dyed red hair who thinks he’s cool! Aside from corrupting children, what use is he? If I had been a judge, this wouldn't have happened. I would have thrown his garbage article into the trash long ago!"

Meanwhile, his brother Liu Xinda and several literary critics also published "manifestos" in various newspapers that contained far more vitriol than actual criticism.

Auntie Chen was worried Fang Xinghe wouldn't be able to handle it and specifically sought him out for a heart-to-heart, but honestly... it was just so-so. Fang Xinghe felt no anger; he didn't even want to mention such trash. He only felt curiosity toward the Southern Media Group: what exactly was their stance?

As an industry insider, Auntie Chen had a deep understanding of this. "The Southern Media Group was initially founded with the support of reformists within the system. They are highly skilled, consistently at the forefront of social hotspots, and view criticism as their duty. They excel at digging into the 'truth of things,' piercing through the surface of hot topics to expose the essence of society. Their various newspapers and journals have different focuses. You must be careful; this matter is clearly not over."

Fang Xinghe pondered this for a while, still only half-understanding. So, which side were they on now? Playing both sides?

Before he could truly figure it out, Auntie Chen's words proved prophetic. On Thursday, the latest issue of *Southern Weekly* featured an article by editor-in-chief Yan Lieshan titled "Seeing the Failure of Traditional Education Through Fang Xinghe."

"Fang Xinghe is not wrong; he is even a victor. It is our traditional education that is wrong, has failed, and is dysfunctional..."

The spearhead pointed directly at the education system, boldly claiming that "there is no real education below the county level" and criticizing the dereliction of duty by certain departments. Yet, toward Fang Xinghe himself, the tone was extremely gentle, encouraging, and filled with hope.

Good grief, playing that game with me? You really are swinging a giant axe in front of Guan Yu, driving a black-market car in front of a bakery... The hilariously devious Yan Lieshan actually made President Fang laugh.

This article had to be viewed from two angles. Regarding Fang Xinghe, Yan Lieshan’s attitude was clearly a form of PUA—*Southern Metropolis* insults him, *Southern Weekly* praises him; one suppresses, one elevates. It was clearly a tactic to toy with him, grind away his rebelliousness, and eventually take him in as a lackey. Tsk tsk, when it comes to playing dirty, you dark-hearted intellectuals really are the best...

Of course, this was just a side mission. The true core of the article was naturally to use a "citizen" posture to savagely criticize the educational system. Fang Xinghe didn't even need to see the ultimate goal; he understood after reading just a few sentences.

The world of "water armies" (online astroturfers) was a small circle where members could vaguely sense each other, and President Fang was exceptionally skilled at peeling away their masks by identifying their intent. In his framework, there were only four types of professional astroturfers.

The first: the timid or those with a bottom line, who only scavenge for food in the entertainment industry, treating their attacks and praises as a joke.

The second: those who, if the price is right, will take any order and eat any "human blood bun." They have no personal likes or dislikes, believing in a money-first philosophy that "the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish." They are the greedy.

The third: those who take one yuan of dog food and do ten yuan of work, genuinely believing that their country is bad and unworthy of them. They are just f***ing stupid.

The fourth: those who receive ten yuan in funding, pay eight yuan to some idiots to do the work, and carefully hide themselves, never surfacing unless there is a perfect opportunity. They know exactly what the truth is and what they are doing. They are purely evil.

The representative of the first type was naturally Fang Xinghe himself. The second type was Song Zude. The third type was Luo Taijun. The fourth type was a dime a dozen in the cultural sphere—for instance, the ringleader who was sentenced for the toxic textbook scandal.

Generally speaking, types two, three, and four were clearly delineated, but occasionally there were "composite talents"—stupid, evil, and greedy all at once. Such specimens were too special to name, but everyone could judge for themselves.

Right now, these people were highly skilled, and the information available to the public was limited, with poor discernment, so their survival space was vast. By the time the era Fang Xinghe lived in arrived, these people would either die abroad, become homeless, or skulk in their own country like rats crossing the street, their lives and beliefs completely collapsed.

Bothering with them was simply giving them too much credit. With this mindset, Fang Xinghe decided to spend the final period before the exams in quiet study, ignoring external affairs. Once he was truly free later, he would hunt them down one by one; there were plenty of backhands in store for these black-hearted wolves.

As it turned out, he didn't even need to lift a finger. *Mengya*, incensed by the impact on their sales, took the initiative to unleash their own hidden ultimate move.