Chapter 33: Pulse of the Era: An Essay to Peking University

The recent period of eating well, drinking well, and exercising hard has been very effective. Fang Xinghe’s physique has increased by another 1 point, mainly reflected in his height—he is 175cm now.

In addition, his immunity has also increased by 1 point, not bad, not bad.

Considering the high school entrance exam is coming up and he has a big thing to do afterward, Fang Xinghe finally decided to pull all attributes to 79 points, fill in the shortcomings, and then go all out to improve coordination.

Once the determination was made, he backhanded a huge 54 million star value, pulling all attributes to 79 points—a level of excellence.

[Attribute Panel]

Appearance Attributes: Looks 99, Physique 79

Constitution Attributes: Strength 79, Speed 80, Stamina 80, Agility 79, Flexibility 79

Hidden Attributes: Coordination 81, Perception 79, Recovery 79, Immunity 79, Health 79

Art Attributes: Writing 79

[Star Panel]

[Fan Count: 2.75 million]

[Star Value: 6.5 million]

[Star Brilliance Value: 3]

The new attributes are really beautiful, and not just looking good, but more importantly, practical.

79 points for all attributes is already very awesome among adults; placed in a 14-year-old teenager in puberty, it is simply outrageous.

Feeling the power surging in his body, he had never felt so good.

Like a second rebirth!

The fragile Fang who lay in the hospital bed for a long time can especially appreciate the preciousness of every point of improvement.

He is not greedy either; if he can max out coordination before college and get all attributes to 85 points, that counts as victory.

The difficulty is not high; another 80 million star value can point coordination to 89, and then use the star brilliance value to add to 92 in one breath.

Speaking of which, where did those 3 points of star brilliance value come from?

Excluding all impossibilities, it must be Mr. Ba Jin’s credit.

As the highest peak in the current literary world, the gentleman possesses both reputation and prestige. His sincere praise can bring fans a huge sense of honor and achievement.

Extremely intense and extremely pure positive emotions, large quantity and high quality, extracting 3 points of star brilliance value is really not an exaggeration.

It might even be a little less, maybe because the old gentleman’s praise wasn't particularly formal?

Thus, Fang Xinghe had a new conjecture—if he could win a heavyweight award and make fans feel honored, then it is highly probable that he could extract more star brilliance value.

In this way, he needs to pay attention in the future. Works should be refined, but it is best not to seek balance.

It is not that you can't have both, but it is very difficult to reach the extreme in one aspect.

In the future, he should continue to clarify goals, fully exert the advantage of thinking height, and aim at the target.

Use time to balance fan-gathering and the public, rather than being eager for quick success and instant benefits.

Behavior is wild, momentum is crazy, core is stable—in this way, the peak is easy to reach.

Time passed day by day, and the date of the high school entrance exam was getting closer.

The attacks on Fang Xinghe from the literary world temporarily subsided, leaving him enough time to prepare.

But before the exam, the horn of the era finally blew a "hello" rumblingly, catching everyone off guard.

On June 20th, Chen Jiayong received the admission notice from Peking University, number 004, the fourth one in Shanghai.

Just the next day, the news report titled *An Essay to Peking University* instantly exploded across the country.

This time, it was a real explosion, much, much larger than the stir Fang Xinghe had caused before.

Because the nature is different. No matter how good Fang Xinghe’s essay is, it is ultimately just an essay and hasn't been linked to the most practical things.

His looks, his talent, his arrogance, added together, can't compare to the status of those two words in the hearts of the Chinese people.

Peking University.

This is a myth; *Sprout* and the Seven-School Alliance succeeded.

Oh, now it’s the Fourteen-School Alliance. Universities like Tsinghua also announced that they had joined the second New Concept Essay Competition, which poured a bucket of oil on this fire.

For a time, it was really the whole society discussing it, positive and negative, envy and anger, endless disturbances.

No. 3 Middle School didn't escape either.

Fang Dadan was so excited her eyes were shining: "You dog thing, if you participate in two more sessions, can you be recommended to Tsinghua or Peking?"

Ever since she was slapped by her mother for the second time because of Fang Xinghe’s "messing around," she had been calling him a dog thing whenever she talked to him.

But looking at it from another angle, preferring to call him a dog thing while still taking the initiative to talk to him shows that it is indeed true love.

Fang Xinghe glanced at her lazily: "What does it have to do with you? As if you could get into Tsinghua or Peking and be my alumnus."

"I!"

Fang Dadan was angry for a moment, then just angry, and replied with a guilty conscience but a hard mouth: "As if anyone cares about being your alumnus!"

Fang Xinghe ignored her, so Fang Dadan waited for a while, stomped her feet and said hatefully: "Don't look down on people, just wait and see, Thirteen Sisters and I will definitely get in!"

Lu Tingting was so shocked she hurriedly waved her hand: "Don't drag me into your bragging, I don't dare to covet Tsinghua or Peking."

Bao Fu had a sudden whim: "It seems I have to practice writing essays hard. If I can easily get into Peking University, who wouldn't want to go?"

This was outrageous enough, but the even more outrageous one was Tuo Dang.

He looked at Lu Tingting eagerly and said confidently: "You study hard. If you can't get into Tsinghua or Peking, then get into Fudan or Jiaotong. When the time comes, wherever you get into, I'll get recommended to wherever. We'll fly together, not bringing Big Brother..."

Waiting for him were a dozen white eyes, and a "bang" punch from Duo Yu.

"Betraying Big Brother, family law disposal! Someone, lift him up, door frame service!"

So Tuo Dang was lifted up by a group of little eagles, legs spread, and launched a fierce charge toward the door frame.

"Ouch, grass, grass, grass..."

The crying and howling sounds echoed through the classroom, and the happy and wanton laughter of everyone embellished Fang Xinghe’s last leisurely youth.

Although Tuo Dang was daydreaming, at the current stage, parents, teachers, and students themselves across the country were indeed hooked by a new wish—write good essays and be recommended to famous schools.

Newspapers have been hyping it up, and in reality, "New Concept" has also become a hot word.

If there were a Baidu search index at this time, New Concept Essay would undoubtedly top the list for the whole year, but the second place is not Chen Jiayong who got into Peking University, but Han Han who suddenly "collapsed."

On the 26th, Fang Xinghe quietly took the high school entrance exam, performing steadily, not losing a single point that should have been taken.

And just the day after the exam ended, on the 29th, the news that Han Han had failed 7 out of 8 subjects and was going to be held back landed in two major Shanghai newspapers.

The wheels of history rolled forward, and the good brother suddenly "caught fire."

A mere grade retention actually triggered a fierce discussion in society about quality education policies and a series of educational issues such as "should schools cultivate all-rounders or specialists."

Except for Fang Xinghe, no one could have predicted this.

When Bao Fu, Duo Yu, and the others brought a pile of newspapers to Fang Xinghe’s house, they were particularly indignant: "Recently, the newspapers are all about Han Han. Damn, failing a grade can cause such a big stir!"

Tuo Dang was very excited and argued: "But I think he’s cool! Didn't the experts say that reading is useless!"

Fang Xinghe frowned and spoke with suppressed anger: "You have to see the different environments we are in and the resource gap caused by them."

"Ah? What the hell?!"

The followers stared at each other, not understanding at all.

"Shanghai has hundreds of newspapers and a population of over 10 million. They can interview Han Han anytime, anywhere, and after writing a report, millions of locals are willing to read it. And here..."

Fang Xinghe stretched out his arms and slowly opened them, as if embracing his hometown, with an unspeakable heaviness.

"In this small city where we live, there is nothing—no people, no media, no factories, no high-rise buildings and bustling commercial centers, not even Starbucks or KFC."

"My story can only spread among a population of tens of thousands at most, and no one cares about your heroism and sadness."

"If we can't get rid of all this, by the time we reach our parents’ age, the sky won't become wider, but will become more oppressive and restrictive, firmly pinning us to this barren land, unable to move an inch."

"Our children will still have nothing."

"Bao Fu, Tuo Dang, Hei Zi, Zhang Qi... you have to walk out, don't rot here, understand?"

"I will take a step first, and then reach out to you. At that time, I hope you have the ability to grab it. Let’s continue to be brothers, instead of being separated by the world from now on."

The thoughtless teenagers finally began to think, having their first deeply touched reaction.

And Fang Xinghe wrote a new miscellaneous essay that night, completely aimed at the "uselessness of reading" theory that had suddenly begun to flood.

The title is *Small Town Test-Takers*.

He wrote at the end:

"Everyone’s ultimate mission is to find themselves, and then be sincerely loyal to themselves."

"We are not trying to escape this homeland, but we need to hit the road, see different scenery, use a wider world to refine our souls, change from hating everything to loving everything, from disdaining everything to respecting everything, and finally happily discover—this world is not what I imagined when I was young, but I still love it."

"There are many such roads, and I choose to take tests." ===== CHAPTER 34 =====