Chapter 65: My Child, You Have Grown Up

In this lifetime, the publication of the inaugural collection of New Concepts Essays received many times more attention than it did in the previous life.

In the original timeline, when the essay collection was released, the figure providing positive influence was Chen Jiayong. Having been recommended for admission to Peking University, he naturally sparked curiosity among many students and parents.

Meanwhile, Han Han had just become famous for being held back a grade and for his essay "Peeping at a Person from the Bottom of a Cup," briefly making him a social hotspot, though the influence he provided was entirely negative.

Indeed, some people were curious about what his preliminary contest essay looked like, but not many, and not to any great depth.

Han Han served primarily as a symbolic figure, pushed to the forefront of educational debates, and his contribution to boosting the New Concepts Essay Collection was negligible.

Consequently, even Han Han's own novel "Triple Door" failed to win the favor of publishing houses, and it was ultimately decided by Yuan Min of the Writers Publishing House to take it on—which did not happen until the year 2000.

In the previous life, the two-volume set of the New Concepts Essay Collection was cautiously priced at twenty yuan, with an initial print run of no more than 50,000 sets, and it was only reprinted twice in total until it sold through 2001.

Yet now, everything was completely different.

It was hard to precisely calculate how many people wanted to read this essay collection, but considering purely in terms of popularity, in every single junior and senior high school class across cities of tier three and above, there was bound to be someone who knew about the essay collection's release.

In terms of promotional reach, it was at least ten times greater than in the previous life.

On the very eve of the official release, Wang Yali called Fang Xinghe to share the good news, her voice trembling with excitement.

"An initial print run of 250,000 sets, and they've all been distributed. The enthusiasm for stocking up from bookstores and newsstands is unbelievably high. Nongan alone took 1,000 sets, and the distributors are still hounding us for more stock..."

"Nongan is an exception," Fang Xinghe said very calmly. "County towns shouldn't be the main driving force for sales, right?"

"It's hard to say right now. Judging by current trends, enthusiasm in the North is greater than in the South, but the South has stronger economic power. If we can ignite the purchasing enthusiasm at the county level and surpass the large cities in sheer volume, it'll be an absolute blockbuster!"

"There's no need for it to be too explosive."

Fang Xinghe held his pen, dragging a line backward across the calendar until he finally circled two dates.

"Just enough to spark discussion enthusiasm in the county-level markets, but not yet time to translate that into actual purchases—that is what you would call hitting the sweet spot."

The young man's voice was soft and light. Wang Yali sucked in a sharp breath, instantly calming down completely.

"No matter how many times I converse with you, you manage to shock me over and over again."

She sighed with emotion: "The economic potential available for book consumption in county-level markets is limited. You want to maximize its activation without releasing it, so it can ultimately convert into sales for your new book... Exactly how is your brain wired?!"

"Perhaps because I understand small county towns better?"

Fang Xinghe made a light joke, then expressed his sincere gratitude: "Thank you for the trouble, Sister Yali."

To precisely monitor the dynamics of the county-level book market, only Wang Yali could pull it off, and even then, it was no easy task.

Normally, publishing houses only tallied data from provincial distributors, glancing over it roughly and letting it slide in a blur of vagueness.

Yet the data Fang Xinghe required demanded that Wang Yali compile statistics downward to the county-level sales points, ultimately aggregating the figures into a massive spreadsheet.

Although the concept of computerized office work was emerging, this was still a monumental undertaking—exhausting to both manpower and mind.

Yet, looking at it from another angle—since Fang Xinghe had prepared to such an extreme degree, how could Wang Yali, Chen Danya, Wang Charlie, and the others possibly not believe in him?

Everyone was filled with confidence, firmly convinced that Fang Xinghe was bound to achieve massive success.

The concepts he brought far surpassed the current era.

...

On September 20th, "The Selected Essays of the First New Concepts Writing Competition" finally made its long-awaited debut.

Liu Zhenyun bought two sets early in the morning and strolled leisurely over to Shi Tiesheng's place.

"Take a look! I've been yearning for this for ages!"

...

Yan Lieshan sat in his office with one leg crossed high over the other, casually flipping open the title page of the essay collection.

"Fang Xinghe, Fang Xinghe..."

He muttered softly to himself as he scanned down the page.

From the bottom of his heart, he loathed Fang Xinghe.

Too handsome, too young, too sharp, too wild, and too arrogant.

Every single trait was something that made him green with envy, tearing at his heart and lungs, yet something he could never possess.

Who was a more formidable writer?

He felt he was not a whit inferior, yet once he stepped out from his cubicle and exposed himself to the glaring sun, that tiny bit of skill amounted to nothing at all.

"Fang Xinghe, Fang Xinghe... Found it. Come on, let me see what you've written..."

...

Chen Jiayong sneaked into the back door of the classroom, where his dorm roommate made space for him and teased, "Were you really that reluctant to let it go, insisting on getting your hands on a copy first even if it meant being late?"

Chen Jiayong pursed his lips and replied with extreme economy of words, "I'm still a little unconvinced."

...

Feng Yuanzheng finally stopped tucking a book under his arm, instead holding it openly in his hands as he walked through the theater doors.

The resident fan-boy He Bing laughed the moment he caught sight of him, asking merrily, "Hey, Yuanzheng, how are your little apprentice's new writings turning out?"

"I honestly haven't looked yet."

Feng Yuanzheng waved his hand with a profound air, his pace somewhat hurried.

"Wang Yali told me to brace myself; the scoldings I'm bound to take this time definitely won't be light. I'm even more eager than you to know what's going on."

At these words, He Bing's curiosity was genuinely piqued.

"Oh ho! Then I truly must take a careful look. You read it first, and hand it over to me when you're done."

...

Wan Bao'er was already in Hong Kong, listless and dejected all morning long.

Her newly acquainted best friend found it hard to understand: "You're just seeing it a little later, why are you acting like you've been crushed?"

"You don't understand!"

As soon as the noon bell rang, Wan Bao'er bolted out the door, sprinting to the school gates where her waiting chauffeur immediately handed her the pristine essay collection purchased back in Shenzhen.

"YES!"

She instantly came back to life, eagerly flipping open the table of contents.

...

At Shanghai Jianping Middle School, Ding Yan, who had just entered the third year of junior high, quietly opened the essay collection amidst a pile of books.

Her deskmate was utterly astonished: "Don't you sort of dislike Fang Xinghe?"

"I don't dislike him."

Ding Yan explained with deliberate calmness: "I just don't really approve of using a single person's strength to fight against the secular world, like him and Han Han do. That's just too exhausting."

"Then you basically don't like him."

Her deskmate's certainty quickly transformed back into curiosity: "So, since you disapprove, why on earth are you going out of your way to see what he wrote?"

"Because... because..."

Ding Yan couldn't quite articulate the exact reason; there was simply an urge in her heart to further understand that strange person through writings from an earlier time.

Found it.

Volume One, page 53, Fang Xinghe, "Another Day I Desperately Wanted to Grow Up."

Ding Yan was soon completely immersed. To her surprise, she discovered that Fang Xinghe could write articles in this manner after all—it was a style she adored.

Reading carefully to the very end, there was a passage that touched her thoroughly and completely.

"I know the adult world will certainly not be as wonderful as I imagine. I see many mediocre people living exhausted, numb lives—and even those who are not mediocre always harbor troubles that exceed their abilities yet fail to satisfy their desires.

Yet I still want to grow up quickly. I must embrace that world myself.

I want to catch a breath of the night breeze carrying the fragrance of her temples. That wind does not come from the wilderness, but it is so free and unrestrained.

I want to endure a rainstorm that might tear my heart apart or lead to a sudden clearing. That rain is very cold, drenching my burning shell and ripening me.

I want to watch over a train laden with longing. I do not know when it will arrive, nor whose longing it brings, but when I sit on the weathered wooden bench of the platform, gazing into the distance against the setting sun, I am certain to be happy at that moment.

I want to walk barefoot on the pristine white sand by the blue sea, covering her footprints with my own until they completely overlap. We will embrace openly in the bright light. I will raise my hand to point toward the distant horizon where the sea meets the sky: Look, fireworks! When she turns her head, jumping and shouting, I will unearth the ring I buried in the sand long ago and place it on her ring finger. She will cry and kiss me deeply; I will smile and hold her in a deep embrace.

From then on, I will no longer be alone; from then on, my responsibilities will have an anchor; from then on, I will develop a different understanding of sudden wind, frost, rain, and snow; from then on, I will view the world from an adult's perspective.

I do not know whether things will progress so smoothly.

Right now, I am not yet ready to love someone, but I believe I certainly possess the ability to love someone well.

She should be like my mother—soft, resilient, and kind.

We will have a few pretty babies. The winds of heaven will occasionally blow through our laughter-filled living room, turning into a satisfied sigh as they drift out the window.

Child, you have grown up."

Ding Yan's eyes suddenly welled up with hot tears.

Fang Xinghe's rare display of warmth and vulnerability in his writing touched the softest spot in her heart.

This was not a romantic fantasy of love that seemed to originate from him personally, but was he truly only fantasizing about romance?

Ding Yan did not think so.

This profound and sincere emotion must have sprung from his mother. The imprint of Fang Xinghe as an orphan had never been exposed to the world so clearly before.

Thus, when he calmly and firmly wrote, "I certainly possess the ability to love someone well," Ding Yan suddenly broke down in tears.

At the same time, every sensitive and delicate girl shed a warm tear for Fang Xinghe.

Yan Lieshan let out a disdainful scoff from his nose: "What absolute bullsh*t!"

Shi Tiesheng sat in melancholy silence, slowly shaking his head.

Liu Zhenyun asked offhandedly, "What, deeply moved?"

Shi Tiesheng replied, "The emotion is exceptionally sincere, very beautiful, very good, but I also get the feeling he doesn't quite strike me as a young boy who pines for love like this. Perhaps... it was written a long time ago?"

Song Zude, who possessed no emotional depths whatsoever, laughed heartily: "You bastard, wanting puppy love? Let's see if you don't die from this!"

Mao Xiaotong, full of maternal love, cried so hard she was out of breath.

The chronically failing student Yang Mi had crystal-clear tears pooling at the corners of her mouth while little cartoon hearts flashed repeatedly in her eyes: "Wow, so romantic! I want so badly to walk along the beach with him, and then... *slurp*!"

And Fang Xinghe...

Watching the number of die-hard fans on his panel tick up from just over 30,000, growing wildly by the second—sometimes jumping by two or three increments at a time—he couldn't help but wear a faint, all-knowing smile.

Today, nobody understands visual-appeal fans, girlfriend fans, and delusional-romance fans better than I do!

Visual-appeal fans: Love based on appearance, driven by hormones; highly supportive of idols taking on diverse roles and experimenting with different images.

Girlfriend fans: Self-identifying as girlfriends, calling their idol 'hubby,' using real-life romance as the basis for their fantasies.

Delusional-romance fans: Fictionalizing interactive scenarios between themselves and their idol through fan creations; deeper in their fantasy level, crazier, more literary, more private, and freer.

The fundamental difference between the latter two lies in whether the fantasy is rooted in "reality projection."

Yet the common denominator among all three can be summed up in four words: "romantic fantasy."

From the very first word Fang Xinghe wrote in "Growing Up," he was gunning straight to captivate female fans. In truth, there was zero genuine romance in it; it was 100% pure technique.

However, the content ultimately presented also carried Xiao Fang's sincere affection for his mother.

Therefore, it possessed a heart-touching power that did not merely stop at exciting young girls; it was a devastating critical hit to "mother fans" as well.

Anyone with even a shred of literacy could not simply dismiss it as a "pubescent boy's romantic fantasy about love." That thread of the night breeze "carrying the fragrance of her temples" contained an endless well of longing.

This piece was not wild, but the number of people who achieved absolute emotional resonance with Fang Xinghe because of it reached an unprecedented level.

Ding Yan slumped over her desk, letting her mind wander for an entire class period, still unable to settle her emotions.

Fang Xinghe was simply too pitiful.

She thought to herself.

Actually, Fang Xinghe's inner self is also so soft...

She thought again.

Her thoughts twisting and turning through a hundred loops, she felt she had gained a deeper and more authentic understanding of Fang Xinghe.

It wasn't until the start of the next class that she eagerly dug out another essay from Volume Two—the one titled "Dog-Eat-Dog Youth."

After reading just a few lines, she began to look utterly bewildered.

Having read the entire piece, her mind completely collapsed. All her previous emotional stirring was thoroughly smashed to pieces, making her so angry she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Fang Xinghe, are you out of your damn mind?!!!

***********

Should tomorrow's update still be posted at 12 PM?

Would that time slot be a bit too ghostly...