Chapter 44: Starlight Value Skyrockets

Yan Lieshan wrote emotionally in his open letter: "I still maintain that Fang Xinghe is the most gifted adolescent literary genius of the current era, and our biggest pleasant surprise this year.

However, the biggest problem with him also stems from those four words—adolescent genius.

His excessively outstanding talent has also made him overly arrogant.

His unfortunate childhood experiences have caused Fang Xinghe to value his own survival experience extremely, while having no intention of establishing a healthy and sound ideological core in terms of emotion and morality. Therefore, he lacks the patriotism and care for the people characteristic of traditional Chinese literati.

I deeply regret this. As for him personally, my disappointment is profound precisely because my expectations are high, and I grieve that he fails to meet my standards.

Fang Xinghe is truly too clever. Yet, when cleverness is combined with his tender age, it brings him a second fatal flaw—selfishness.

Fang Xinghe, how selfish your thoughts, words, and actions are!

Relying on daring and ruthlessness, you gathered a group of minor thugs, taking pride in extorting the vulnerable among your peers. How could you actually dare to think you had conquered destiny?

How laughable!

Gentlemen, might as well ponder carefully: if Fang Xinghe had not engaged in this so-called resistance, but instead obediently gone to school, would he really have been unable to survive?

Of course not!

What is the nation for? What are the civil affairs departments for? What are schools for?

Your plight was never a true plight and was very easy to resolve. Your resistance was not a true resistance either, but merely a dark anger born out of extremism.

What kind of irresistible destiny could that possibly be?

How does it even compare to the torrent of tens of millions of workers being laid off?

You curse the media for feeding on human tragedy, but you stand with hands on hips and utter frivolous nonsense to advance your fame and gain—is that supposed to be righteous?

Is living well through bullying, deprivation, violence, enticement, and intimidation some sort of remarkable skill?

What on earth have you conquered?

A group of kids a head shorter than you?

You say you have no sense of justice, no compassionate heart, and do not care about the life or death of others. Fine, I can understand your numbness and self-seclusion after being wounded, and I feel pity for you.

But you should not abuse your anger time and time again. If you truly cannot see the misery of those laid-off workers, nor hear their helpless cries in the cold wind, then shut your mouth!

You cannot feel the heartache of us media professionals, yet you dismiss us all as people who talk idly without feeling the pain—how utterly arrogant!

I am truly, deeply disappointed. You should have been our pride, but now I suddenly realize that the more successful you are, the more direct and intense the negative impact you bring to the young will be.

At this, my heart aches profoundly.

I truly do not wish to see the most promising rising star in our domestic literary circles gradually degenerate into a selfish, cold-blooded, and callous solitary figure. This is not my loss; it is the loss of the entire literary and educational world.

Alas, how lamentable! When on earth will our country provide children with truly formidable talents a favorable environment where they can grow freely and advance with peace of mind?

The personality Fang Xinghe has formed today precisely proves that our education has failed, and such failures continue to repeat themselves over and over.

Educational issues can be addressed gradually, but Fang Xinghe, do you realize that you are collapsing?

Perhaps you will write more of those fiercely angry Fang Xinghe-style articles in the future, filled with personal flair, uniqueness, and distinctiveness, but you will never again write truly good works with a great humanistic core.

Scolding people and fighting are things you are very good at, and perhaps you will become even better at them.

As a writer, you are no longer worthy.

Fang Xinghe, you need to truly grow up. Before you understand the hardships and difficulties of adults, stop uttering those weightless, childish, nonsense remarks. Look more, think more, speak and act with caution, and... enough said, take care of yourself."

As soon as this magnificent piece of writing was published, the monsters and demons slammed their tables and stood up, shouting with joyful acclaim: Well-scolded!

Building upon the groundwork laid by his comrades-in-arms, Yan Lieshan successfully deconstructed Fang Xinghe's "halo of destiny," truly achieving the goal of "criticizing and discrediting him completely."

Because the article was written with exceptional cleverness and possessed extreme deceptiveness, it was the kind of brilliant piece that would leave even Fang Xinghe's fans momentarily stunned at first glance.

At first glance, it was entirely written in plain, highly colloquial language without the slightest hint of literary flair.

Yet, in terms of content, it used emotion as its hook, linked ring after ring, positioning himself as a "kind and benevolent elder." With the high-handed posture of someone grieving over a failed potential, he pointed fingers, deeply touching the inner hearts of middle-aged readers and sparking their empathy and identification.

One must realize that the middle-aged generation of this era was vastly different from the new middle-aged internet users of later generations.

The new middle-aged generation grew up in the internet era, basically achieved the ability to open their eyes and look at the world, possessed broader thinking, stronger critical thinking skills, and greater inclusivity.

However, the old middle-aged generation of this era grew up against a special historical background, having spent most of their lives consumed by the slow-paced era of print media, only to suddenly face various shocks from the new era just as their ways of thinking were solidifying.

Consequently, their personalities were rigid and conservative, they valued parental authority, yearned for the greener grass abroad, and harbored deep, heavy grievances.

This had nothing to do with whether they were good or bad people; comparing the two generations of middle-aged people, that was simply the overall backdrop of their personalities.

Therefore, the conservative middle-aged faction especially could not stomach a rebellious youth like Fang Xinghe. They neither understood nor intended to understand; they simply cast their enthusiastic votes of approval for Yan Lieshan with churning emotions, building up a surging wave of momentum.

The small fry also bravely raised their voices, howling as they charged forward.

"How dare an ignorant youth speak recklessly about major affairs of state?"

"Fang Xinghe is too inflated, taking himself far too much to heart. As a mere high school entrance examination top scorer, what qualifications does he have to discuss such obvious policy failures?"

"You are just a middle school student, and your understanding of society is so superficial that I cannot bear to look."

"A textbook example of someone whose brains have been ruined by studying, a Fang Zhongyong of the new era."

"He was a morally corrupt person to begin with, what were you expecting? Fang Xinghe even wanted to harm his own biological father, with a personality distorted to this degree, isn't this just exposing a bit of his true nature?"

The tide of black hatred surged like a sea of ink, and young Fang Xinghe fans were utterly powerless to resist. Many young girls wiped away tears in anxiety, but what about Fang Xinghe?

He remained entirely unperturbed, smiling as he watched the dogs bark in desperation.

Teacher Fang, Liu Dashan, the old principal, and even Sister Yali and Aunt Chen—none of them understood why Fang Xinghe did not care at all about the external turmoil. Slandered, blackened, and rumored about until his reputation stank, how could he still remain so steady?

Because this was precisely what he wanted.

In just five days, the starlight dashboard completed the KPI of the previous entire month.

[Fan Value: 4.04 million]
[Starlight Value: 58.88 million]
[Stellar Value: 3]

The number of fans hadn't increased by much, but the Starlight Value was skyrocketing crazily!

Just how many female fans were feeling heartbroken for their little brother?

Unknown; it was entirely incalculable. In any case, the leader of the troll army had made a complete fortune.

His grasp of fan psychology could be described as the pinnacle of perfection. The situation had developed entirely within the boundaries he had mapped out, and it finally ushered in its climax.

As an idol, as long as one did the right things and said the right things, there was simply no need to care about anti-fans.

Often, even if an idol did something less than correct, fans would still desperately whitewash it for them.

Fans, as emotional creatures, were adorable when their sincere hearts were like crystal—clear, completely pure, and cautiously holding only you alone.

Yet when hateful, they resembled a combination of love-struck fools, control freaks, and invalids—foolish, blind, and unreasonable.

Therefore, fans could be pampered, but never spoiled, and they had to be disciplined.

This was not a pleasant word, but maintaining a cold and tough attitude toward them was the responsible course of action for oneself, for them, and for society.

Fang Xinghe was not a moral guardian; he was willing to grant fans the maximum degree of respect befitting an idol status, namely: do no evil, commit no disgrace, perpetrate no villainy.

He would exchange continuous radiance for their empathy and devotion, and then... discipline them ruthlessly whenever necessary, without the slightest hesitation.

This time, the discipline yielded remarkable results.

Judging by the growth rate of the fan base and the corresponding surge in Starlight Value, the black tide voluntarily initiated by the southern media had refined at least two to three hundred thousand secondary core fans and tens of thousands of die-hard loyalists for him.

Moreover, it left behind no sequelae whatsoever, serving as a completely free profit.

It was too easy.

So easy that Fang Xinghe couldn't help but sigh with emotion: What a desolate yet beautiful era this is...

Roughly starting from 2018, celebrities no longer dared to actively play the "black-to-red" strategy; Fan Bingbing and Yang Mi were the final swan songs.

The core reason was that every track was crowded with similar competing products. Everyone fought for traffic, projects, and commercial deals; it was a life-and-death competition for resources with no room for error.

Every time a peer was trampled down, everyone else could eat an extra slice of meat.

For instance, after Wu Yifan fell, the new generation of traffic stars collectively enjoyed a fat year.

Except for Arthur who didn't get much, everyone else had grease dripping from their mouths.

Living in such an environment, mutual smearing was inevitable, and anti-smearing naturally had to keep pace.

Fans had too many choices, with alternative objects of affection everywhere. If you didn't properly maintain your personal image, you could just wait for fans to defect; there was simply no time to slowly savor the "black-to-red" popularity.

Therefore, normal companies and artists were particularly sensitive to black materials, dealing with them immediately upon appearance.

However, Fang Xinghe was different. Right now, he was in a marvelous environment where "competitors seemingly existed, yet none truly did."

Search the entire world—who was his direct competitor?

Han Han?

Not in the same lane at all, at best counting as half.

Besides, Big Brother Han didn't even have the right to speak publicly before the release of *Triple Door* and *Negative One Degree*.

Li Yapeng, Lu Yi?

Not really. The two of them considered themselves actors and neither understood nor valued fan management.

Nicholas Tse, HOT?

Count them as a large half, perhaps. Their fan composition did indeed heavily overlap with Fang Xinghe's.

However, President Fang had carved out a single-track lane for himself, taking the differentiated competition route and fearing no one whatsoever.

Good-looking supreme teenage leader + literary wild-child lunatic + fashionable rebellious newcomer—operating in the version 1.0 domestic entertainment circle with such an explosive combination, how could he lose?

There was simply not a single chance of losing.

Therefore, even though the identity of a writer digested fans extremely inefficiently and at a very slow pace, Fang Xinghe still had ample time to convert anti-fans and plenty of room to digest those negative voices.

Being smeared was not a bad thing at all; on the contrary, it could assist in his growth.

Watching the starlight increase dramatically every moment, President Fang smiled with great delight.

It was already enough to add 5 points to coordination, soon it would be 6, and in a few days it would be 8... so comfortable~~~

He kept hoarding it, completely reluctant to spend it.

When he finally saved up 80 million, he would boost coordination straight to 92 in one go!

Fang Xinghe decided to maintain restraint and delayed gratification; treating himself to a massive upgrade at that time would surely feel exceptionally exhilarating.

He closed the dashboard and calmed his mind to start reading.

No matter how fiercely the outside world argued, it no longer concerned him.

I am merely a weak, pitiful, helpless middle school student dedicated to making progress. You all can continue cursing; I'm off to learn some new skills.

Under the guidance of the Feng-named professional, Wang Yali had bought Fang Xinghe a pile of highly targeted textbooks.

*Directorial Thinking*, *The Grammar of Film Language*, *How to Direct Actors: A Director's Essential Course*, *Film Art: Form and Style*, *World Film History*...

The above were masterworks that established directorial thinking and fostered a correct understanding of the directing profession.

As for the others, they were cultural knowledge question banks for entrance exams.

*15 Lectures on Cinematic Masterpieces*, *Contemporary Chinese Film Industry and Aesthetics*, *History of Chinese Television Documentaries*...

Teacher Feng and Wang Yali had gathered all relevant books across three major categories: film history, director's vocabulary, and film theory, along with an accompanying super reference book, *Dictionary of Film Art*.

Fang Xinghe was deeply grateful, and thus read with extreme dedication.

From the departure of Zhao Chunhua, over a full five days, he briefly went through all the books related to directorial thinking and finally gained a proper understanding of what being a director was all about.

Three basic capabilities: acting, screenwriting, and audiovisual language.

Four management qualities: raising funds, assembling teams, controlling the scene, and promoting distribution.

Two upper-limit talents: aesthetic taste and humanistic core.

Acting did not mean acting oneself, but rather the ability to perceive good performance and understand what kind of performance effect a film required.

Screenwriting was also not a rigid requirement; a director didn't necessarily have to write scripts, as long as they had appreciation skills, could tell good from bad, and communicate smoothly with the screenwriter, that was sufficient.

The true foundational skill was audiovisual language, which was what one learned upon entering the directing department—composition, color, shot size, camera angles, and editing were all encompassed within it.

With these three basic capabilities, one could shoot a film.

Management qualities, on the other hand, constituted a rather realistic issue. They weren't taught in textbooks, but lacking them simply wouldn't do, especially under the domestic industry atmosphere.

Having management qualities without basic skills still allowed one to be a director, with Han Er and Guo Si serving as examples.

Having basic skills without management qualities meant stepping aside.

Unless you were exceptionally talented.

Talent directly determined what kind of film a director could make out of a normal script—whether it turned out to be a bad film, mediocre, or a classic, the difference lay entirely in aesthetics and the humanistic core.

The most classic presentation of aesthetic taste was precisely the State Preceptor's Olympic opening ceremony; calling it peerless under heaven, would that be an exaggeration?

There were also many good examples of the humanistic core: Wen Muye's *Dying to Survive*, Guo Fan's *The Wandering Earth*, Wu Jing's *Wolf Warriors 2*. Although their cores differed, they all possessed a unique temperament that ordinary audiences could perceive.

If Lord Lu were allowed to direct *Dying to Survive*, well, that would be it—just imagine that picture yourselves.

In any case, Fang Xinghe got goosebumps.

...

So how on earth does one become a director? The route was extremely clear yet difficult.

1. Learn basic capabilities.
2. Struggle and crawl in the industry to temper management skills.
3. Determine one's own talent and find a personal path.
4. Create, grow, reach the peak, decline, fade into obscurity...

Combining this with his experiences from his past life, Fang Xinghe finally understood why so many good directors came from unconventional backgrounds.

The upper limit was ordained by heaven; struggling offered little significance.

Everyone could learn basic capabilities, but what level one achieved was not determined by hard work.

In fact, the talent required to be a director was even more rigorous than that required to be an actor.

Actors could grind hard and practice clumsily, but try grinding an iron pestle into a needle as a director!

Right, Director Bi?

Then, comparing this to Han Er and Guo Si, one could understand that the two of them indeed possessed talent.

Big Brother Han's talent lay in his humanistic core; the bewildered, affected, and melancholy literary youth style consistent across his films and books was shot with an extremely personal flair, and some audiences loved this vibe.

Xiao Si's talent points, however, were placed on aesthetics. Later on, when he was rejected by the film circle and went to shoot idol dramas, his stories and pacing remained frequently sluggish, yet he could always make actors look extremely beautiful, and his compositions often featured flashes of brilliance.

As for Fang Xinghe...

Realizing that this was yet another talent-driven profession, Director Fang suddenly felt a great sense of relief.

For no other reason than that this young master had saved up a whole lot of talents.

[Artistic Attributes: Writing 79, Acting 35, Directing 1]

The new attribute lay there bright and clear. With his current Starlight Value, he could even boost it straight to 85 points in one breath—so what was there to panic about?

Using a minor cheat didn't count as cheating; every single point of Starlight Value was earned through his own hard work, so how could it not count as his effort~~~

The minor cheater closed his directing book with a happy grin, reviewing high school courses on the one hand while making his final preparations on the other.

Wang Tong was about to arrive, and the new interview that would sound the horn of counterattack was galloping wildly on its way.

******

PS: In the chapter that was deleted earlier, some content must be used, so it can only be filled in slowly later on. Do not be surprised if you experience a sense of familiarity...