Chapter 40

The next morning, the principal of the Tenth Middle School came to the door in person.

A very cute man with a Mediterranean hairstyle, the middle of his head so smooth it was dazzling. He was tall and burly, and as he put his arm around the short and stout Liu Dashan, his opening words were full of domineering presence.

"Student Fang, our Tenth Middle School offers 150,000 in cash!"

Not only was the price the highest so far, but he was also generous in other aspects.

"I know you have many things to do, and you might need to continue participating in competitions or do other things in the future. Tenth Middle School will not only not stop you, but we are also willing to provide you with every convenience!"

As for your studies, the school's ace teachers will serve you with all their might. Private tutoring during winter and summer breaks, special attention during the term, and a reduction in homework—all of this can be discussed.

In terms of daily life, Tenth Middle School will also provide you with meticulous care: a single dormitory plus the teachers' cafeteria. Just treat the school as your home, and all fees will be waived!"

"Our tenet is to take care of you, warm you, and nurture you with the mindset of giving you a new home!"

Good heavens, so you’re a poet too?

To tell the truth, Fang Xinghe was genuinely startled.

He could only reply politely: "You have truly left me flattered. I am very, very grateful for your regard, but this is a major matter, so please forgive me for needing to consider it further."

"Fine, fine, fine, that’s only right. You go ahead and get busy, we’ll keep in touch! Oh, right!"

The Tenth Middle School principal suddenly slapped his shiny forehead, took a red envelope out of his bag, and placed it on the table.

"This is a little token of my personal regard. Congratulations on winning the first Zhongkao top scorer for our Nong'an. Take it, take it, don't push it away!"

Without waiting for Fang Xinghe to decline a third time, the Mediterranean principal left in a whirlwind.

Xiao Fang couldn't help but exclaim: "Tsk tsk, was that necessary?"

"How could it not be?"

Old Fang sighed with lingering fear, lamenting: "You don't know how fiercely the high schools in the city are fighting for students now; the pressure from below is too great..."

"Is that so? Then I really have to take a good look."

Fang Xinghe became interested, intending to experience the wealth and arrogance of the provincial capital.

Then, in less than half an hour, the Jida Affiliated High School came to the door.

Three people came from the Affiliated High School: a super pretty senior student was responsible for looking at Fang Xinghe with adoring eyes and asking for his autograph, the team leader talked incessantly about the various benefits of the school, and the admissions director set the conditions.

To emphasize again, the senior student was truly beautiful.

She was the fresh, delicate little cabbage type, wearing a ponytail, a simple T-shirt and a long skirt—coincidentally, white on the bottom and green on top.

This girl must be the "white moonlight" of many boys.

Yet, she was using a pair of eyes that said "the whole sky of stars is you," stealing glances at Fang Xinghe while thinking she was being subtle.

Those hands clasped tightly together, those lips pressed firmly shut, that slightly flushed neck and earlobes... it really didn't look like acting, unless her talent was even greater than Xun Ge's.

"Could you..."

The senior student spoke softly, her voice trembling, soft and sweet.

"Trouble you... to give me an autograph?"

Fang Xinghe nodded coldly, silently taking the brand-new notebook from her hands.

It really wasn't that our Brother Fang liked to put on airs; in fact, this was a kind of professional ethics.

Because no idol can ever understand what exactly fans like about them—note, any!

There are too many fans, a thousand faces for a thousand people. You can never understand what she is thinking, what the perfect version of you in her heart looks like, or what kind of scene and atmosphere she fantasizes about when meeting you...

Therefore, a good idol doesn't do anything unnecessary. Whatever image is presented to the outside world, that is the image to maintain.

Don't make jokes that you think are humorous but are actually greasy, don't show excessive concern, don't show your private side, and don't engage in any unnecessary physical contact—

The above is from "The Idol Code of Conduct (Fang Zong's Personal Edition)."

Unless you want to stir up fans like the Canadian Electric Eel, that’s a different matter; the fragile Xiao Fang actually has more say on that...

Ahem, in short, Fang Xinghe just asked simply: "Name?"

"My name is Huang Jinghe!" the girl replied quickly. "Jing as in quiet, He as in peace!"

She finished in one breath, only then remembering to breathe, huffing and puffing twice.

A true fan, 99%.

Fang Xinghe had an idea in his mind, and catching a glimpse of the admissions director out of the corner of his eye, he felt amused again.

Although that Director Liu didn't speak, his eyes never left Huang Jinghe for a moment, and his brow was filled with tension and worry.

But the relationship between the two didn't look like relatives, so that meant... the child of an important person?

That makes sense; in this day and age, anyone who can chase stars under the guise of official business is at least from a wealthy family.

Fang Xinghe didn't think much more about it; she was just a tool person providing star power, not worth wasting too much thought on.

But he still had to think about what to write; he couldn't let his class drop.

After a moment of thought, Fang Xinghe wrote a line of poetry and signed his name, all in one go.

[Accepting the gentle face and quiet will, upholding the defense of ritual to restrain oneself. Wishing for quietness and harmony, ritual and restraint. To Miss Huang Jinghe — Fang Xinghe]

"Good, good, good!"

Old Fang suddenly clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

He was unhurried, turning to ask Fang Xinghe: "Xinghe, it seems you have never neglected your studies. To be able to adapt a sentence from the 'Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River' in such a short time, the teacher is very gratified."

"..."

Fang Xinghe couldn't tell for a moment whether Old Fang was trying to help him out or if he just couldn't resist showing off himself...

Old Fang: Hey, isn't this just a matter of course?

But one has to admit, the effect was quite good.

The team leader and the admissions director from Jida were not literature majors; seeing the sentence in the autograph, they only knew it was clever, but didn't know why it was good.

With Old Fang blowing his horn like this, Fang Xinghe's class was suddenly raised another notch.

Actually, Xiao Fang himself was quite satisfied. If you show off but no one plays along, how annoying is that?

Now it’s great, someone did the work for him—a win-win!

At this moment, the admissions director's emotional intelligence finally returned, and he asked very humbly: "Teacher Fang, I don't understand poetry, I just feel it's very beautiful. Could you please explain why this sentence is so good?"

With one sentence, everyone in the room was satisfied.

Only the senior student was so shy she kept twisting her fingers, but she didn't say anything, just stood to the side, carefully continuing to steal glances at Fang Xinghe's profile.

Fang the Dog noticed, but remained calm, only slightly raising the corners of his soft eyes...

Cool~~~

On the other side, Old Fang happily began to show off.

"'Accepting the gentle face' means to restrain a pleasant expression; 'quiet will' means to calm the will; 'upholding the defense of ritual'—the break is 'upholding/ritual defense'—means to show the great defense of etiquette; 'restrain oneself' means self-discipline."

"So the meaning of the whole sentence is—Cao Zhi saw the beautiful Goddess of the Luo River, and immediately composed his demeanor, remaining calm and self-restrained, admiring without overstepping, praising without being flowery."

"Adapted here as an autograph, Xiao Fang is both praising Jinghe's beauty and conveying beautiful wishes to her."

"According to my understanding, it can be roughly interpreted as: May you always maintain a quiet, gentle, and dignified temperament, and I also hope that everyone you meet in the future will be respectful and polite..."

"Good!"

The team leader let out a roar and clapped his hands vigorously—what a supportive act.

"Truly worthy of being a great talent, truly quick-witted!"

"Amazing! Xiao Fang, come to our Jida Affiliated High School. A genius like you should receive the most proper, most thoughtful, and most perfect cultivation!"

The two of them started their "praise mode," looking at Fang Xinghe as if wolves had seen meat, or a dog had seen... ahem.

But the effect...

Actually, it wasn't as good as the senior student's shy, soft sentence.

"Fang... Fang Xinghe, our school is really good, come here, all the girls in our literature club admire you so much..."

You’re using this to test a cadre?

Who could hold out against that?

Fang Xinghe was just about to ask about the specific conditions, but before he could open his mouth, a roar suddenly came: "Wait!"

Everyone was stunned and turned to look, only to see a group of people rushing into the courtyard.

Liu Dashan led the way, and the rest were strangers, seemingly divided into two groups.

Then the one who had just spoken pointed angrily at Director Liu, his finger trembling with rage.

"Liu Aiguo!"

He didn't curse the rest of the words, but Fang Xinghe could guess them—

You dog, I knew you liked to play dirty, but I didn't expect you to play this dirty!

"Do you have any manners?!" Director Liu's face turned livid, hating this guy who was stirring up trouble. "What are you joining in for? Does your Normal University Affiliated High School have the ability to cultivate a literary genius?"

"We at Normal University may not have anything else, but we have plenty of artistic resources!"

"Ha! Singing? Dancing? Piano playing?" Director Liu sneered incessantly. "Is there anything that has even a little bit to do with literature?"

"How can you say that? Our Northeast Normal University Press..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Director Liu picked at his ear to interrupt the other party, then began to count: "Besides children's books and textbooks, what other masterpieces have you published? By the way, wasn't the literature editorial office just established this year?"

"You..."

"I'm not going!" Director Liu waved his hand immediately, then sneered. "Student Fang Xinghe could be your editor-in-chief if he went there; I don't know where you get the face to mention literature!"

Good heavens, Director Liu's combat power was simply—in one word, fierce!

Not only were Xiao Fang and Old Fang amazed, but the two admissions teachers from the county high school next to them were also blown away, shivering.

However, the Normal University director wasn't stupid; if I can't beat you, can't I just stop fighting?

Anyway, I've already ruined your dirty tricks; next, let's compete on money!

"What's the use of you dragging on so much? Doesn't it all come down to conditions in the end?"

He then turned to face Fang Xinghe with a kind face again: "Student Fang, we are very sincere in inviting you to join the Normal University Affiliated High School. As for the school selection fee, no matter how much the other side gives, I will add 20,000!"

Good!

I just like your style of nakedly throwing money around!

Fang Xinghe smiled and thanked him, then said nothing more.

With a glance, Old Fang immediately took over the baton.

What next? Next, there was nothing for him to do; the two opponents above would automatically raise the price.

However, they also had their pride and didn't make it so nakedly adding money sentence by sentence; instead, they chatted with Fang Xinghe privately and played dirty tricks behind the scenes.

Before leaving, Director Liu left an extra letter personally written by the editor-in-chief of the Era Literature and Art Publishing House.

The general content was to fully cultivate Fang Xinghe into a young writer, hoping to work together, and so on, and there were also some promises about resource allocation.

Era Literature and Art is quite strong; Pang Zhonghua's hard-pen calligraphy copybooks are their exclusive publication.

Two years earlier, Era Literature and Art even dared to publish the "World Forbidden Books Series"—you can tell from the name, they were banned books, but they published them anyway, not caring at all.

And Jida is the older brother of Era Literature and Art, so Jida Affiliated High School was indeed very eager for Fang Xinghe.

Eh? Right, what about that senior student?

Fang Xinghe realized belatedly that he hadn't said goodbye to the little beauty Huang Jinghe. He didn't have any regrets, but he felt a bit bad—he had ignored her the whole time and didn't even say goodbye at the end; how much would that hurt a fan's heart?

But what he didn't know was that as soon as Huang Jinghe got back in the car, she immediately took out her phone and started typing frantically, pouring out her excitement and agitation to her best friend.

"Do you know? Fang Xinghe himself is super handsome, super good, super talented, and has a super aura!"

"He even wrote a poem for me!"

"He didn't even think about it, he just wrote that line from the 'Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River' based on my name!"

"Which line? I won't tell you, this is my secret alone!"

"How handsome is he? I can't describe it, anyway I can swear he looks 10,000 times better in person than in photos!"

"Can't describe it! Words fail me!"

"You don't understand, he is really, really, really so special, those eyes are just mysterious to death!"

"A photo together? Oh no! I forgot, woooooo!"

"Go back to find him? Forget it, forget it, I don't dare. Actually, I didn't even dare to talk to him, the time just passed in a daze..."

Blah blah, she went on all the way, and even after returning to the CC city area, she was still not finished, with endless thoughts.

Before today, she was just a second-tier hardcore fan—she liked him, but couldn't explain how much.

But now, she was like she had been injected with chicken blood; there were too many feelings she wanted to share with others.

Male succubi are like this: before seeing him, you think he's just so-so; after seeing him, how can there be such a man in the world?

Question: How is a die-hard fan of Fang Xinghe forged?

Answer: Look at him face-to-face once.

Then what about a higher-level fanatical toxic fan?

Fight for him once.

Huang Jinghe was eager to try, suddenly wanting to clear up the atmosphere on campus of elevating Han Han and belittling Fang Xinghe.

……

Actually, the Normal University Affiliated High School was not to be outdone in offering conditions, providing a package of artistic cultivation resources.

Vocal music, instrumental music, fine arts, photography, dance...

Backed by Northeast Normal University, their artistic resources were extremely rich, able to provide students with the top artistic guidance in the province—very tempting.

After all the school representatives had talked enough and he sent them away, Teacher Fang sighed.

"See? How can our local bumpkins in the county compete!"

Fang Xinghe smiled and shook his head: "Empty and flashy, no real meaning."

"They offered quite a lot of money, didn't they?"

"No, the main thing is that they offered too little privilege."

Teacher Fang chuckled: "Their school rules must be stricter. Even the children of provincial officials can't have privileges once they get in, so of course they won't make an exception for you."

Actually, strict management is a good thing. High school students' personalities are not yet set; if you don't manage and spur them on to death, but instead indulge them, they will definitely grow crooked.

But Fang Xinghe's situation was special; he didn't need restraint and spurring; he could manage himself better than anyone else.

"Forget it, let the county raise the price again."

"Decided? You're really staying in the county?"

"Yeah."

Fang Xinghe nodded.

He didn't lack artistic resources, didn't lack publishing resources, and didn't even lack money; he just needed more freedom, which happened to fit perfectly with the county high school.

"What a pity. Even without mentioning external resources, the two affiliated high schools are the best in our province, fighting for the top scorer every year..."

Old Fang sighed long and hard, feeling very unwilling.

"What are you thinking?" Fang Xinghe let out a light laugh, unable to hold back. "You don't think that once I get to high school, I'll still have to compete with those monsters for grades and sprint for the college entrance exam top scorer, do you?"

"Ah?" Old Fang was stunned. "Isn't that it?"

"Of course not. You really take me for a peerless genius?"

Fang Xinghe laughed dumbly, joking: "That was just marketing to fool outsiders; how did it fool you first?"

Old Fang didn't understand and was a bit anxious: "But with your IQ, if you study hard for three years, there's a great hope of getting into Qingbei..."

"What level is my IQ exactly? And I don't have three years; I can only give high school two years."

Fang Xinghe was clear-headed and had a very clear plan for his future path.

In terms of learning, he really wasn't the kind of super genius who understood everything at a glance; he was just self-disciplined enough and used his time very efficiently.

Junior high knowledge isn't hard; essentially, it's about self-discipline, methods, and maturity of character.

But in high school, it starts to be about talent, and those real monsters won't go easy on him anymore.

The best ones go for competitions, the next tier grinds the college entrance exam—who isn't working hard?

The Big Daddy hasn't unlocked any skills related to academic performance yet; just grinding like this, how could Fang Xinghe win against those academic masters and gods?

He had a very clear understanding of himself: he was top-tier among ordinary people, but definitely not a god like Wei Dongyi who didn't eat the food of mortals—he was far from that.

Studying hard for three years with all his heart, Qingbei would definitely have a chance, but how could a master of internet trolls choose such a low-cost-performance strategy?

Marketing is essentially telling a story.

A good story must avoid hiding all its own shortcomings and fully promote all its strengths.

Fang Xinghe had already told the story of junior high to the end—an orphan tormented by fate who had to rely on his fists to protect himself, but whose heart was always filled with anger at the world and a desire for power. Then, after reaching the top on the path of a school hoodlum, he turned over a new leaf, used his literary talent to win the first prize in the New Concept Composition Competition, and proved that he was great at everything with his provincial top score in the Zhongkao.

Next, how should the story of high school be told?

It shouldn't be a comprehensive push, wanting everything; it should have a focus.

For example, the upcoming interview with the Beijing Youth Daily—being all-encompassing means there is no absolute focus, and no absolute focus means being mediocre in all aspects, ultimately only worthy of being watched as a spectacle and forgotten immediately.

This is a marketing taboo.

The best case is "YOLO," which discarded everything useless, covered up all shortcomings, and fully marketed the successful weight loss.

As an audience, you can scold it if you want, but as a peer, you still have to learn from it.

Fang Xinghe, who had been lying in a hospital bed for a long time, never envied anyone; he just silently learned others' strengths, turned them into his own, and made money so he could struggle to live a little longer.

So, how should the new story be told?

Whatever kind of story can best trigger fans' expectations and fantasies, dig deep in that direction.

However, always maintain the initiative.

Guide fans' expectations and fantasies, rather than satisfying them completely.

Always only show them half, hide the other half, use the feeling of being half-hidden to keep their restless hearts hanging, then use firm self-discipline to remove those harmful impurities, and finally use wave after wave of surprises to push the fans to level up...

Teacher Fang naturally couldn't understand; in this world, no one could fully understand Fang Xinghe; he was lonely, existing on another level.

And this was the root of the mystery, and the only true core that could keep fans in a state of high excitement for a long time.

……

"Sigh, I really don't understand what you're in such a hurry for."

Old Fang muttered and sighed: "Then I'll give them a bottom line and see who can offer the most money."

Though he didn't understand, he was willing to respect it.

Fang Xinghe always had his own ideas; Old Fang would nag, but he wouldn't force him to do this or that.

This way of getting along was the key to the harmonious relationship between the teacher and student.

Old Fang took out his phone to pass on the information, and while writing laboriously, he asked casually: "When the money arrives, shouldn't you buy a phone too?"

Fang Xinghe looked at the Nokia brick in his hand with disdain and nodded gloomily: "Buy one to make do... what a piece of junk!"

Old Fang didn't understand and boasted proudly: "Don't look at the high price, it's worth it! You can make calls and send Chinese text messages, it's really convenient, really!"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, everything you say is right."

Fang Xinghe nodded perfunctorily, unable to muster any interest in the first phone of his new life.

Two days ago, a big event happened in the tech world—many newspapers were flooded with advertisements for the shocking launch of the Motorola V998.

To buy a V998, you needed over 13,000 big ocean dollars; it was truly crazy.

A bowl of noodles on the street was 1.2, Old Fang's monthly salary was 340, a Motorola was 13,000, and Fang Xinghe's school selection fee was at least 150,000.

The magic of the era made Fang Xinghe feel something, so he turned and went into the house to write.

"The Added Value of Reading—From a Bowl of Handmade Street Noodles to Motorola"

He wrote it fluently in one go, and by the time he finished, Old Fang had already been standing by his side watching for a while.

"You have a lot of opinions on the recent 'uselessness of reading' theory?"

"Definitely, they deserve to be scolded."

"I knew you were a good kid."

Old Fang was very gratified and nodded repeatedly: "Hmm, not only is the article sharp, but your handwriting has also improved a lot. But why didn't you write me in? I inspired a bit of your inspiration, didn't I?"

Fang Xinghe gave him a look of "filial piety that brings down the house" and swore: "Don't worry, when I write about Fang Yuting pestering me, there will definitely be a part for you."

"Good, good, good!"

Old Fang gritted his teeth and looked for a broom all over the room; he had been itching to get his hands on Fang Xinghe for too long...

Before he could be beaten, the three key high schools in the county sent their final quotes, like a ray of light, saving the brat.

Fang Xinghe looked at them one by one and soon made up his mind.

"Let's go with Tenth Middle School. I like an alma mater that is wealthy and arrogant, and that Mediterranean principal also looks quite cute."

Other conditions were pushed to the limit, and Tenth Middle School's reward was 220,000; what was there to hesitate about?

In this day and age, even a perfect-score beast in the Zhongkao might not get a 50,000 school selection fee; being any greedier would be impolite.

Old Fang was just about to call them back when his phone rang first.

"Hmm, hmm, ah?! Okay, I'll wait for you."

Fang Xinghe looked over, puzzled, and Old Fang shook his head: "Principal Dashan, he told us not to be in a hurry, he's coming over right away."

Before long, Liu Dashan rushed into the room, sweating profusely, drank a ladle of water in one gulp, and only then caught his breath.

Then, staring straight at Fang Xinghe, he suddenly said: "Come to Experimental!"

Teacher Fang was stunned: "Ah?"

Liu Dashan didn't beat around the bush and said bluntly: "The principal of Experimental is about to retire. If I can bring you over, he promises to help me get the position with all his might."

"Hmm."

Fang Xinghe watched him quietly, not asking any further questions.

Liu Dashan understood what this meant and spoke clearly and logically.

"Experimental can't give you a higher price; it's impossible."

"After I take office, I'm afraid I won't be able to supplement your reward either; it won't pass the procedures."

"But we have an old saying: when one person attains the Dao, their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

"Now you have attained the Dao, and I am the chicken and dog."

"This matter might not necessarily succeed, but if you are willing to pull me, the chance will definitely be greater."

"Once I can really succeed, then besides being able to fully support you, after next year's Zhongkao, your good friends will definitely have a different situation..."

Damn!

Teacher Fang was stunned, speechless. You old rascal, you really know how to lower yourself and play the game...

Fang Xinghe also realized that Brother Dashan had probably started preparing the day the results came out; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so timely.

However, he still underestimated himself, putting it so shallowly and bluntly, losing the charm.

But, it didn't matter.

Dashan's proposal was indeed better, and that was enough.

"188,000?"

Fang Xinghe confirmed softly.

Liu Dashan held back his excitement and nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

"Okay, then let's do that."

YES!

Liu Da-chicken... ah, ptooey, Liu Da-dog... uh, that guy couldn't help but clench his fists, as if he had grasped the spring he thought he would never wait for.

And Fang Xinghe couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

Compared to the tens of thousands of dollars lost, it was clearly more in his interest to have a principal who was "one of his own."

At the very least, he was now starting to look forward to high school life.

……

After settling the most important matter, in the afternoon, another group of people came to the door.

The County Education Bureau, the County Propaganda Department, the County TV Station, the old principal of Experimental who rushed over after hearing the news, Liu Dashan in a new suit, and several other idlers.

Fang Xinghe counted them; there were those sending money, those sending fame, those sending certificates, those...

Eh?

Comrade Dashan, what are you here for again? You've been back and forth four or five times, aren't you tired?

Liu Dashan wasn't tired at all; he served tea and poured water, and even directed the staff to set off a string of firecrackers at the door of Fang Xinghe's house.

The 10,000-shot firecrackers popped with festive sounds. Fang Xinghe watched as the dilapidated courtyard was covered with a red carpet, and his thoughts drifted far away.

Xiao Fang, do you see this?

Our mother should be able to put down a little bit of her worry now and smile with relief, right?