Chapter 21: Chapter One: The Cover

The next day, Fang Xinghe boarded the train home; after a bumpy journey, he finally returned to that small county town and threw himself back into the current main battlefield.

A week after his departure, the campus seemed to have changed not a bit, as if time had solidified there.

Yet certain changes were quietly becoming the norm.

He had become overly obsessed with practicing martial arts, growing taller by the day, and becoming increasingly steady.

Bao Fu roamed the entire campus grabbing people to brag; if he caught anyone, they had to listen to his story about how awesome his older brother was, then clap and applaud.

Tao Dang finally stopped pulling down his pants, so he very sadly discovered that when he went to pester Lu Tingting to chat again, she indeed no longer blushed.

Little Lu's studies had improved greatly, nearly catching up to Fang Yuting, making Big-Daring Fang extremely nervous.

However, between grades and a man, she resolutely chose the man—once Fang Xinghe returned, she immediately started clinging to him again, giggling and chattering nonsense all day long.

Fang Xinghe specifically made time to advise Old Fang once.

"If the child won't listen, you still have to beat her; at such a young age, she's already full of thoughts about dating. Aren't you afraid she'll give you a grandchild right after starting high school?

If you really can't bring yourself to be harsh, just quietly tell my master's wife; she will definitely be able to do it."

Old Fang shivered all over, scared by that dog-like creature into breaking out in a cold sweat.

Frowning and pondering for a while, a look of resolute determination appeared in his eyes...

The next day, Fang Yuting kicked Fang Xinghe fiercely with tears in her eyes: "You scoundrel! You're not human!"

Fang Xinghe only dodged twice, then just let her do whatever she wanted.

Mainly because he was laughing so hard his whole body went weak, his mind filled with images of her being chased and whipped by his master's wife with a leather belt.

The surrounding students were all laughing, and it quickly spread to the whole class, getting louder and louder.

Since that day, Big-Daring Fang had started giving him the silent treatment.

So good~ Finally some peace and quiet~

Actually, Fang Xinghe cherished the present time very much, because he knew that before long, he would never find this tranquility again.

That day came extremely fast.

Just a few days after his 14th birthday, on a certain Wednesday in mid-April, Bao Fu rushed into the classroom holding a copy of "Mengya" magazine, shouting: "It's published! Brother, you're published!"

Then Bao Fu received the only treatment in his life where he was surrounded and fawned over like a star among stars.

"Brother Fu, Brother Fu, let me see!"

Bao Fu was so dazed by the flattery that he loosened his grip in a muddle, and he never saw that magazine, which originally belonged to him, again.

But how could one copy be enough to share?

That afternoon, more than twenty copies of the April issue of Mengya appeared in the class, with almost every girl having one.

The reason was simple: the cover of this issue of Mengya was Fang Xinghe.

That afternoon, the male star on the cover finally borrowed a copy from Lu Tingting in exchange for an autograph and saw the true appearance of the April issue of Mengya with his own eyes.

The cover was a half-body photo of him, a moment of him looking up captured by a certain reporter.

In the picture, the youth was in a half-turned posture, as if suddenly called by someone, then slightly turning his head to look forward.

Under the flame-like red hair was a face that showed almost no expression, a pair of eyes, clear and calm.

The pupils had a gray base with a brown membrane; the iris was light brown like amber, highly translucent, while the base was light gray with strong reflection, so under natural light it scattered an extremely layered iridescence.

This brought about not a strong sense of foreignness, but an exceptionally strong sense of stunning beauty.

The sense of foreignness was not strong because of his typical Huaxia appearance; anyone seeing him at a glance would know he was definitely not a "Little Japanese," let alone a "Little Korean" or "Little Monkey"; he must be one of their own, an ancient noble young master from the imagination.

But the sense of stunning beauty was very strong, because embedded on a perfect bone structure were such unique eyes, forming an indescribable impact and shock.

On the cover, the youth looked at the camera, neither curious nor excited, just calm.

That calmness brought an aloof atmosphere of "I know you are filming me but I simply don't care," as if separated from the real world, living alone in another dimension.

Would the coldness bring rejection?

No, it would bring an even stronger attraction.

In fact, many little girls, the moment they saw this face, couldn't move their feet.

The special adjective "high-cold" (aloof and cold) had not yet been born, so Big-Daring Fang, excited beyond control, sighed: "So proud and aloof!"

The desk-mate whispered in rebuttal: "It's cold and proud!"

The person in front suddenly turned around: "I feel a prince should be like this."

The desk-mate of the person in front also joined in: "What kind of prince?"

"Like the European royal family? Anyway, very noble temperament."

"Hey, hey, hey, Leon Lai is the noble one, okay? Fang Xinghe, hmm, cool, arrogant, should be called 'unruly and proud'."

"Yeah, yeah! Even Nicholas Tse is outshined!"

"After seeing him, the brothers of HOT suddenly weren't that handsome anymore; my KangTa, I think I'm going to fall for someone else, wuwuwu..."

A group of little girls chattered, a class of little girls chattered, a school of little girls chattered...

Today, little girls all over the country were chattering.

And Fang Xinghe, watching his fans and Starlight Value skyrocket, felt extremely delighted.

Mengya used a huge portion to tell the story of the New Concept competition; Li Qigang, as the Mengya editor and chief organizer of the New Concept, as the main contributor, focused on two contestants.

The first was Big Brother Han Han, from the staff's mistake, to rushing in for a make-up exam, to the special question designed to make things difficult, then composing an article in seven steps, writing a breathtaking piece in just one hour, and winning the first prize...

In short, it was a story packed with drama, extremely captivating.

And right after the commentary, Mengya released the full text of "Peering at People in a Cup."

This was the first time in two lifetimes that Fang Xinghe saw this extremely legendary article, so he read it carefully.

After reading it, he had only one feeling: indeed awesome.

You have to know Han Han was not a reborn person; he was a truly sixteen-year-old youth, so this sense of language, this accumulation, this train of thought, was truly strong.

As a result, Bao Fu endured the patience to scan it once and muttered: "What the hell is this crap? And how can there even be a make-up exam? There must be foul play, right?"

This is one of the sources of controversy and buzz surrounding Han Han; those who cannot grasp the article's true worth focus entirely on the question of fairness.

"It doesn't amount to a scandal."

Fang Xinghe thought for a moment and found the precise description: "At most, it's a small favor."

"What's going on? What's going on?"

All the brothers perked up their ears.

Fang Xinghe replied offhandedly: "The make-up exam opportunity is certainly partly due to Han Han's father's influence; he is very familiar with the editors at Mengya, so granting a favor on such a small matter is perfectly normal.

However, this competition has no direct rivalry; the number of first prizes is unlimited, and anyone who writes well can win.

Moreover, Han Han is not a graduating student and isn't competing for a guaranteed admission spot, so overall it doesn't affect fairness.

Therefore, being able to write a good article with such a last-minute topic is truly his own skill."

As a professional water army member, Fang Xinghe is actually the one who believes most in ability—in the entertainment industry, everyone buys marketing, yet those who buy the least end up winning in the end; how can that not be a form of proof?

The deeper one immerses oneself in this circle, the more one should respect true skill rather than so-called backers and backgrounds.

Background can only secure opportunities; whether one can seize them depends entirely on oneself. There are countless Crown Princes and Princesses in the entertainment industry, yet none of them have become famous.

Chen Feiyu, Dong Zijian, Guan Xiaotong, Fang Crown Prince, Zhang Crown Prince, Xiang Crown Prince...

Fang Xinghe once took on a marketing order from a certain Sir above; that was truly an unliftable weight, "descending to the mortal world" to act in a gender-bending drama with no splash at all, not even as good as Xiang Crown Prince; at least the latter actually had a viral meme.

So Fang Xinghe does not envy Han Han's resources and special treatment; he deserves them, and besides... we will definitely have them too.

It's just that the young eagles are all unconvinced; the key point lies in—

"Why was only his article published, and what about yours, big brother?!"

Fang Xinghe flipped backward and quickly saw the "reflection" or rather "teaser" that Li Qigang had written specifically for him.

It was a rather sickening piece of praise, no different from the marketing press releases of later eras.

So he understood immediately upon thinking about it.

"It will probably be released in the next issue, right? They're just teasing people's appetites."

"Sigh..."

Lu Tingting and the other girls instantly slumped down, their faces filled with utter despair.

"We have to wait a whole month; that's so long!"

Fang Xinghe didn't want to engage, so he just smiled, but the smile made the girls' hearts tremble wildly.

"Ahhh! Go away, you're not allowed to shoot electricity at me anymore!"

"???"

Are women always this inexplicable since childhood?