Chapter 103: News Ferments, Used as an Example

Han Er, walking while reading, grew more and more excited the more he read.

The corners of his mouth had long since lifted.

He muttered to himself from time to time: "Scolded well!"

"Right! Who dares call themselves a famous writer? Famous, masterpieces—what kind of famous writer is one who has never written a masterpiece?"

"Hehe, if he scolds like this, can Professor Wang Gongjue take it? Wang Gongjue... what a noble-sounding name! This time the face has been utterly lost..."

In another city.

Guo Xiaosi saw on the television in a small restaurant outside school the words Cao Sheng had said to the media.

He watched with eyes unblinking.

The envy in his eyes was very obvious.

Only after Cao Sheng disappeared from the news did he withdraw his gaze and lower his head to eat.

After two bites, he murmured softly: "A great man should be like this."

It is said that when Liu Bang saw the spectacle of Qin Shi Huang traveling, he could not help but say these words.

On this day, across the entire country, news of Cao Sheng scolding those writers and professors appeared on newspapers, radio stations, television news, and various other media.

Seen and heard by countless people.

The media practitioners seemed particularly interested in this kind of verbal battle.

They flocked to it like ducks.

And the public was also very interested in this kind of news.

A new star of the literary world versus veteran writers and professors?

This matter is interesting!

In these times, everyone's entertainment options were relatively scarce; although computers already existed, most households still only had black-and-white televisions.

Those with color televisions were considered to be from families with good circumstances.

Computers were only used by a few people.

Many people had never entered a movie theater in their entire lives.

In this general environment, everyone was very keen on gossip.

When seeing something interesting in newspapers or on television, people would use it as conversation fodder; some who were talkative could not wait to share it with others.

Just so, the new-versus-old struggle in the literary world, the young writer's resistance against veteran writers and professors, was perfectly suited to be conversation fodder for everyone after meals.

Compared to gossiping about entertainment stars, discussing matters in the literary world carried more style and face; at the very least, it made one appear to care about the literary world and not be that kind of vulgar person.

Teacher Zhang taught high school.

She loved literature.

She very much liked "Living with the Flight Attendant" and was considered a fan of this book.

That noon, after seeing on the newspaper ordered by the school the news of Zhongyuan Yidianhui responding to those writers and professors, her heart surged with excitement.

That afternoon, halfway through teaching her students.

Seeing some students sleeping, some reading extracurricular books, some zoning out, and some fidgeting, she suddenly could not help but want to share Zhongyuan Yidianhui's deeds with the students.

She taught Chinese and was also the homeroom teacher of this class.

But this class was just an ordinary class; few students in it had good grades, most had no hope of getting into university, and the mindset of just getting by was very common.

At this moment, she wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with everyone.

Standing at the podium, she took out the newspaper clipped inside her lecture notes, shook it open, and saw that the attention of all the students in the class had been drawn over.

She smiled and asked: "Do you know what is on this newspaper?"

No one answered.

She pointed with her finger at a news headline: "Did you see it? Zhongyuan Yidianhui! Does anyone in our class know what this name means?"

"A speck of ash in Zhongyuan?"

"What Zhongyuan Yidianhui? Is ash from Zhongyuan so remarkable?"

"Is he the brother of Zhongyuan Yidianhong?"

"Teacher! I know, you are talking about the pen name of a popular writer!"

A female student answered.

Teacher Zhang raised her hand and pressed down, signaling everyone to be quiet.

After the classroom quieted down, she began her narration: "Just now a student answered correctly; Zhongyuan Yidianhui is indeed the pen name of a popular writer. I do not know how many people in our class know or have read his works. Do you know? His first work, 'Living with the Flight Attendant,' recently broke one million copies in total sales. Classmates, do you know what kind of achievement that is?"

Hearing that she was not talking about textbook content, the students all perked up their ears, a pair of eyes looking at her.

Someone raised a hand: "Teacher! I know! I heard this is the best-selling novel recently!"

Teacher Zhang nodded: "Right! This book is indeed the best-selling novel recently, and this book was written by Zhongyuan Yidianhui on this newspaper!"

In the classroom, the students whispered and discussed among themselves.

Someone muttered: "Is living together not breaking the law?"

Someone said: "Could this be a banned book? It's not good for the teacher to talk about this in class, is it?"

Someone else said: "One million copies... how much money would that sell for?"

At the podium, Teacher Zhang was still continuing.

"As far as I know, this Zhongyuan Yidianhui is only two or three years older than you, and moreover, his grades during high school should have been about the same as yours, because the news reported that he was a student at Huizhou Teachers College, studying only at the junior college level."

Everyone! I know many of you had no hope of getting into undergraduate programs during the college entrance exam.

But now universities have expanded enrollment— if you just put in a little effort, isn't it easy to get into a decent junior college?

I also know several classmates in our class write excellent compositions and have solid Chinese language skills— think about it: Zhongyuan Yidianhui's grades are about the same as yours, but did he give up on himself?

No! Even if he couldn't get into an undergraduate program, even if he could only attend a junior college, he never followed the crowd or settled for mediocrity.

What's the atmosphere like in university?

You've never been to university, so you might not know, but I do— the coursework there is very light; at least most major courses are easy. Universities with heavy coursework? You'd barely be able to get into them anyway.

In short, once you enter university, you'll find most students are playing around and dating— it's extremely free.

But in this environment, Zhongyuan Yidianhui never gave up on himself. Now only a sophomore, he has already published two novels: one is the book I just mentioned, *The Days Living with an Air Hostess*, whose total sales have now surpassed one million copies; the other, *I Wish to Become an Immortal*, has already far exceeded the word count of his first novel.

Just now, a classmate said *The Days Living with an Air Hostess* is currently the best-selling novel.

But what I want to say is— Zhongyuan Yidianhui is currently the most popular young writer in our country's literary scene!

So, classmates! Study hard! Don't slack off— especially those of you with strong Chinese grades and writing skills: you should truly learn from Zhongyuan Yidianhui! He has already carved out a path for you—he has already set the example, classmates!

Teacher Zhang spoke from the podium with deep earnestness.

The students listened with varied expressions.

Some looked astonished; some sneered and shifted to lie face-down; others smiled, as if honored by association.

In the original timeline, after Guo Xiaosi and Han Er rose to fame through the *New Concept Composition* contest, many teachers across China used these two as examples to motivate their students.

Now, Cao Sheng has become such an example ahead of them.