Chapter 41: A Comical Tidings of Good Fortune [Thanks to the new ally, Fang Cun Shan]

The interview lasted for a long time, covering a wide range of topics. In terms of volume, it was enough for her to write three in-depth articles, analyzing Fang Xinghe from different angles.

Among the content, one part was clearly highly controversial. Consequently, the reporter, who had recently become a "mom fan" of his, privately cautioned: "Do you need me to polish this up a bit?"

"Thank you, but no need." Fang Xinghe refused flatly.

"But..." Zhao Chunhua hesitated, frowning in thought.

As a seasoned journalist, her professional instinct was to dig for sensational news and the truth about her subjects. However, her deep, growing fondness for Fang Xinghe made it difficult for her to feel at ease. After about two seconds of hesitation, professional instinct was eventually defeated by sentiment, and she decided to explain the consequences to him clearly.

Before her sat a young man who was simultaneously an idol and a child, and she had poured a great deal of genuine emotion into their interaction. Without compromising her own position, she was more than willing to offer him the greatest measure of goodwill.

"To be honest, the consensus in public opinion regarding the policy on laid-off workers is critical. There are many influential figures in the cultural sphere speaking out against it, and they are united. Going against them, well... I think it might be a bit ill-considered. This matter is inherently sensitive, and your language is so aggressive that it will offend many people. Furthermore, while your intentions are good, I’m afraid this won’t bring you any benefits. There are so many people filled with anger who cannot move past their own emotions; even if what you say is correct, you won’t necessarily gain their gratitude. You cannot measure others by yourself. You are smart, so you assume everyone else is smart; you can control yourself, so you assume everyone else can. That’s wrong. In fact, the temperament of most ordinary people is quite mediocre; I have seen too much of it. The world is made up of the mediocre and the mundane. You are special, while ordinary people are emotional—they can neither bear the responsibility nor accept the reality... Sigh! In short, do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand, Sister Zhao." Fang Xinghe accepted her goodwill and gave her a brilliant smile.

Then, he arched his eyebrows slightly—his sword-like brows cutting into his temples. A wild, untamed energy seemed to erupt from his heterochromatic eyes like the aura of a blade.

"But so what?"

It is merely a battle, and I find joy in it.

Seeing the look in the boy’s eyes, Zhao Chunhua could no longer persuade him. She forced down the sense of trepidation that made her heart race and bid him farewell.

"I need to go back and finish my draft. Little Fang, let’s stay in touch!"

"All right."

Fang Xinghe waved his hand nonchalantly. He stood at the gate of the small courtyard and watched her go for exactly three seconds—no more, no less—before turning around and walking back into the house with crisp, decisive movements.

As Zhao Chunhua watched the boy’s figure disappear behind the door, she vaguely realized that Fang Xinghe seemed to have a scale or a ruler in his heart. She didn’t know how to describe it; the feeling was just too strange.

The more she pondered, the more uncomfortable she felt, an itch in her mind she couldn't scratch. As soon as she arrived at the train station, she couldn't wait to call Wang Yali.

"Yali!"

"Is the interview over? How is Little Fang? Isn't he amazing?"

"Super, super unbelievable!"

Zhao Chunhua felt energized for only a second before being submerged in confusion once again. She stumbled over her words, describing that mysterious, intuitive feeling, hoping Wang Yali could help her analyze it.

"You know, I’ve met a lot of people—good and bad, smart and foolish, sincere and hypocritical... But how can Fang Xinghe be so special? I don’t know how to share my thoughts with you because many of my feelings come from intuition and emotion; I can’t describe them. My brain is a mess right now, you know?"

Zhao Chunhua hadn't expected Wang Yali to understand, but miraculously, she did.

"I understand. After having deep contact with Fang Xinghe, you instinctively feel that things are awkward everywhere. He is completely different from the image you expected. The good parts are better than the highest expectations, but the sharp edges are so incompatible with your conventional mindset..."

"Oh!" Zhao Chunhua exclaimed, "Exactly! That’s it!"

Wang Yali raised her eyebrows, smiling triumphantly, feeling delighted and smug. *Little amateur, you’ve finally realized his greatness, haven't you? No one understands Fang Xinghe better than I do!*

"So, what are the specific problems? Let me analyze them for you."

Wang Yali took charge with a casual air, but the next second, Zhao Chunhua’s rapid-fire questions left her stunned.

"Where does the essence of the mystery surrounding Fang Xinghe really come from? He clearly has enough capital to establish himself in society now, so why is he still so wild, untamed, and aggressive? Yet, I feel he is both smart and calm. How did such contradictory personality traits form? And finally, what does he actually want to do? Sister..."

Wang Yali rubbed her temples, her head buzzing. *Forget it, don't call me Sister, just call me Little Li. I have no idea!*

"Well, it’s hard to explain over the phone. Come back first, and after I read the interview draft, we can talk about it slowly!"

...

How was Fang Xinghe’s personality formed?

Lying in a hospital bed for years, dying once, coming back to life, merging with a wild wolf cub, looking at the devastation in an unfamiliar era, and finally having a "System Daddy" as a companion—that’s it. See, how simple.

As for what he wants to do... For now, President Fang just wants to rack up followers. Aside from that, he doesn't care about anything else.

Today’s interview went exactly according to the framework he had set in advance, without any slips. Those high-sounding moral principles that sounded like chicken soup for the soul seemed like preaching, but in reality, they weren't; he had never intended to convince anyone. Essentially, this was just a form of self-display.

I show the outside world a deep, complex mind that far exceeds my peers, thereby triggering the pursuit and worship of fans—it’s just that simple. As for whether others believe it or are convinced... it’s better if you aren't.

If a real argument breaks out or criticism is leveled, that’s even better. Thank you for using your own resources to "abuse" my fans. Speaking the truth and getting scolded, doing righteous things and getting slandered—these are the easiest scenarios for attracting and solidifying fans. Twenty years later, similar events allowed Mingde to gain ten million followers in a single day. Shifted to the present, while the scale of dissemination is smaller, the per-unit effect will only be stronger.

Throughout the entire process, Fang Xinghe didn't deliberately incite conflict. He just stood there like an unbendable nail, saying the right things and acting as his own god. After that, whoever wants to scold can scold; whoever wants to hammer can hammer—just bring it on.

Brother Fang wasn't panicked; he was full of anticipation. *You’d better give it your all; don't let me down.*

...

Zhao Chunhua returned to the capital overnight with the manuscript, the video, and the piece titled *The Town Test-Taker*, which she prepared to publish in their newspaper. She couldn't wait to make the *Beijing Youth Daily* explode with a loud bang and show the peer media what they were made of.

As it turned out, before she even got off the train, the morning’s new issue of the newspaper had already pushed the education debate to a climax.

*Jilin Daily*: "What kind of students are the talents we need? — An Interview with Fang Xinghe."

Han Han: "Seven red lights hang high, illuminating my future."

Fang Xinghe: "I took first place in the high school entrance exam because I wanted to."

This was the first time media had pitted the two against each other, triggering an even more intense battle. The moment she saw the newspaper, Zhao Chunhua blurted out a curse word and, in a fit of rage, threw everything onto the table.

"What's wrong?" a colleague asked with concern.

She laughed in extreme anger: "Nothing, I was played by a backwater county station..."

"Oh! Fang Xinghe’s interview?"

"Yeah."

Hearing the name Fang Xinghe, everyone in the office turned their heads in unison.

"Sister Zhao, how is Fang Xinghe?"

"Super awesome!" Back in the capital, Zhao Chunhua picked up the Beijing accent again, proudly giving a thumbs up.

"Is he that handsome in person too?"

"Even more handsome than in the photos!"

"Wow, that’s truly remarkable. Isn't that what you call being skilled in both literature and martial arts?"

"You bet!"

"Tsk, tsk, if only he were my son..."

"Hahaha, keep dreaming!"

"Sister Zhao, how is the interview material? High quality?"

"Just you wait and see!"

Zhao Chunhua opened her notebook and began the final editing, vowing to secure tomorrow’s front-page headline.

At this moment, the power of *Jilin Daily*’s preemptive strike was spreading across the land of China. In fact, in the recent public opinion arena, the education war had ceased to make Han Han the narrative protagonist; most of the time, they would just mention his name, prop him up to take a shot, and then everyone would argue their own points.

*Jilin Daily* was the only provincial newspaper in recent times that truly used Fang and Han as subjects for deconstruction. Of course, the bias was obvious. The "good big brother" was trampled into the dust, while their own boy, Fang Xinghe, was established as a model student of the new era. It was mainly because his grades were truly dazzling—only 5 points shy of a perfect score, enough to contend for first place in any province.

Therefore, the cunning editors felt perfectly justified in using their "Spring and Autumn" brush techniques, playing a very dirty game.

[Fang Xinghe always fights]
*Sigh, children in the Northeast are mischievous from a young age. Who hasn't had a few tiffs or bumps? That’s nothing! Besides, where does the word "always" come from? It was clearly only occasionally!*

[Fang Xinghe recruited a bunch of lackeys]
*Sigh, you don't understand. Northeasterners are extroverted and raised by their parents to venture out. Big brother, little brother, big sister, little sister—we call everyone that. The Thirteen Eagles? What Thirteen Eagles? There’s no such thing! It was actually a self-organized study group, and Fang Xinghe was the group leader. After our investigation, we found that Fang Xinghe urged his younger brothers and sisters to study hard. Look, all the children’s grades improved in this final exam. He is truly moving—handsome, kind-hearted, and responsible!*

[Fang Xinghe charges his classmates for treasures]
*Nonsense! Slander! Rumors! What? You have witnesses and testimony? Ahem, Fang Xinghe’s first-place finish in the provincial exam achieved a breakthrough from zero for Nong'an County’s junior high education. Do you know how hard that is? Look at Han Han, who failed 7 out of 8 subjects!*

[Fang Xinghe’s articles have a lot of swear words]
*Han Han failed 7 subjects.*

[Fang Xinghe is too arrogant and doesn't know how to be humble]
*Han Han failed 7 subjects.*

[Fang Xinghe shamelessly criticizes the media]
*Han Han did that too, but Fang Xinghe was first in the entrance exam, with 610 points!*

[Fang Xinghe clamored to break his biological father's legs...]
*Sorry, we didn't report that at all!*

The draft included everything except that, as if it had never happened. *Confirmed, it’s true love.*

...

To downplay the negative information about Fang Xinghe, *Jilin Daily* threw all shame to the wind. They glossed over the bad parts, and if they couldn't, they dragged Han Han out to take the heat... tsk, tsk.

*Inside scoop: After seeing the Jilin Daily report, the "good big brother" turned pale with rage and immediately went out to run a half-marathon...*

At the very end of the report, *Jilin Daily* started to play the emotional card again, tearfully rambling about how difficult, moving, and worthy of praise and encouragement it was for an orphan to "turn over a new leaf." They built a memorial tablet for Fang Xinghe in the void and started wailing after offering incense.

Honestly, even Fang Xinghe felt embarrassed when he saw it. *A provincial official media outlet! Staring wide-eyed and spouting nonsense! Trampling on my good big brother to go all out! Are you people serious?*

*Jilin Daily* ->_>: *Just tell me, is the effect good or not?*

It was indeed effective. Once the report was published, Fang Xinghe immediately returned to the center stage, his popularity several times higher than before. If the heat generated by *Moe Bud* featuring him on the cover for two consecutive months was 10, the heat during the two confrontations between the thugs was 30, the heat after Mr. Ba Jin’s praise was 80, then the current heat had reached at least 200.

On the very day, more than twenty evening papers reprinted it. Roughly estimated, the total circulation was at least two million copies, covering an uncountable number of people. Those on the side of "studying is useful" were encouraged, hoisting Fang Xinghe’s banner high and launching a general offensive against the "rebels."

This offensive reached its climax the next day.

Zhao Chunhua finally finished the first piece of the in-depth interview. It was the front-page headline for the *Beijing Youth Daily*’s social section, a title that shook all parties and made fans scream:

*I Have Fought with My Fate*

Once this article was released, it was like pouring fire on oil, elevating Fang Xinghe from a thin, high-school-entrance-exam top scorer and literary genius into a cultural phenomenon. Then, through the following two sequels, this image was further fleshed out and quickly swept across the entire society.

For a time, the demand for paper in Luoyang (a metaphor for high popularity) was high; newspaper stands across the country were frantically demanding more copies—print more, print more, print more!

Before the exclusive interview was published, the circulation of *Beijing Youth Daily* was stable between 600,000 and 650,000 copies, with little fluctuation. The readership rate remained at 4.69 people per copy, the highest value for capital media. Three days later, when the series concluded, the circulation surged to 1.1 million copies, squeezing out the *Beijing Evening News* for the first time and ascending to the throne of third in the nation. At the same time, the readership rate broke through to 6.12 people per copy, achieving industry-wide dominance.

On the other hand, although *Southern Weekly* still maintained a circulation of 1.5 million, holding steady at second place, they, who had strongly supported Han Han, had been beaten into a state of embarrassment and trembling in recent days. No matter how stiff their stance, they couldn't hide the despondency of being suppressed.

*Beijing Youth Daily*’s second report, *There is No Why for Learning*, was relatively peaceful, so they could still hold on. By the time the third piece, *The Universe Is Not Yet Settled, We Are All Dark Horses*, was released—truly, it is no exaggeration—the resistance completely collapsed.

At the end of the final piece, Zhao Chunhua wrote:

"Usually, we wouldn't associate grand propositions like 'fate' with a child. If a teenager tried to tell me about fate, I would want to laugh. But at this moment, I cannot laugh. I am genuinely shocked. It is not because Fang Xinghe’s experience is so tragic—as a journalist, my tolerance for tragedy itself is high; many interviewees' encounters have moved me to tears, but that was just sympathy, pity, kindness, and inability to bear it. Only Fang Xinghe makes me feel ashamed of myself.

"Everyone, what kind of imagination would we need to exhaust to integrate 14 years old, orphan, school bully, fighting every three days, provincial top scorer, literary genius, calm critic, the cruel teenager who swore to break his father’s legs, the focused town test-taker, and so on—all these completely opposite traits—into one person?

"If you accept his incredibility, then good—can you continue to accept his disdain for fate? I can't quite accept it. I think: How can you be so nonchalant? Sometimes a small thing can easily crush me, making me restless, irritable, and even manic. I don't think this is because I am too fragile; many adults are the same as me, easily stimulated by life’s disappointments until our chests are tight and our heads are dizzy.

"But Fang Xinghe is just that nonchalant. When he said 'I have fought with my fate' in the most serious tone of the entire interview, I didn't feel for a second that he was showing off. He just used himself as an example to tell us adults: Don’t be discouraged, don’t be negative. When certain things become established facts, accept the unchangeable part and then smash the part that hasn't ended yet.

"The universe is not yet settled, you and I are both dark horses.

"Fang Xinghe used this sentence to summarize his attitude toward fate, finally convincing me. I have to be convinced, and I have to accept it. But I insist that this mindset does not have universal significance... So I said: 'Fang Xinghe, you are an exception. You have top-tier talent I have never seen before, so you cannot demand everyone to follow your standards.'

"Guess how he answered? He laughed out loud, and for the first time, a trace of wildness appeared on his face.

"'Of course, I know that mental impotence is indeed difficult to cure, but if my stimulation can make them slightly hard—even for just a moment—after experiencing the benefits of being hard, they will miss that feeling, plant a seed in the deepest part of their hearts, try every possible way to pursue it, and slowly, perhaps one day they will really be able to stand up.

"'But in the final analysis, what does this have to do with me? Some media want to force a feeling of altruistic compassion upon me, but I’m sorry, I really don't have it. I scolded, I felt good, that’s enough. If it leads to bad consequences, I don’t care; if it leads to good ones, I don’t claim credit. So I won’t use my standards to demand anything from anyone. I hope that when you report this, you record it truthfully: everything I said represents only myself. I am definitely a dark horse, as for you all... whether you are or not, that's up to you.'

"At the end of the interview, Fang Xinghe overturned everything he had said. I was stunned, my mind blank for a long time. Returning to the newspaper office, I reorganized the transcript, feeling anxious, confused, and hesitant. After long deliberation, I finally decided to waste a little of my colleagues' time and conduct a special discussion. Everyone was very active; from the editor-in-chief to the assistants, they watched the interview video and spoke freely. The core question was: Through this interview, what kind of person do you see Fang Xinghe to be?

"The argument was fierce, but the result was regrettable: we failed to reach a consensus. Ultimately, the editor-in-chief decided to shelve the dispute and leave the question to the readers. And just as I was submitting the draft, my thoughts suddenly opened up inexplicably—

"Whatever kind of person you think Fang Xinghe is, he might not be, but he definitely won't care if you think he is or isn't, so... whether you are or not, that's up to you."

The ending Zhao Chunhua left was awkward yet profound. Consequently, what kind of person Fang Xinghe really was quickly became a hot topic.

And beneath this interview, the *Beijing Youth Daily* announced in bold, size-2 font—

"Tomorrow, we will publish Fang Xinghe’s latest article, *The Town Test-Taker*, in our literary section."