Chapter 60: Going to Walk Good Big Brother

Your Brother Fang is a fine actor who has pickled his swagger into his very bones.

Launching such a show of force right off the bat made every member of True Vise's scalp prickle; they knelt on the spot.

Whether a person is truly awesome or just an idiot ultimately depends on whether there is a huge mismatch between his age and what he does.

A seventy-year-old woman finishing a full marathon, or an eighty-year-old man bedding six women at night—both would definitely make headlines; anyone seeing it would be stunned.

Young Fang's self-cultivation over a decade follows the same concept.

Vowing to be the strongest counts for nothing; anyone can make such a vow. Only the sweat shed can prove depth.

And for an idol writer like Fang Xinghe, already famous and capable of living off his looks, the value of his sweat must be multiplied tenfold.

The person in charge, an auntie, immediately blurted out the bottom line: "Student Fang Xinghe, you are the spokesperson we are looking for. No one is more suitable than you!"

Now that he was here, Fang Xinghe actually grew less anxious.

"I'm sorry, I need to carefully understand your company."

True Vise was very pleased; the assistant pulled out a complete set of materials and gave a rapid-fire presentation.

It turned out True Vise had been established long ago, originally an Australian clothing brand. In '90, it was acquired by Sunrise, establishing a Hong Kong company, and entered the domestic market in '93. So theoretically, it is both an international brand and a national enterprise.

Spin it left or right, change as needed.

At the start, this brand was popular for a while, but with the development of the domestic clothing market, their high pricing and low cost-performance ratio gradually stopped working. This year, True Vise, having learned its lesson, decided to undergo a strategic transformation.

According to the person in charge, Ms. Yang, True Vise planned to lower prices and change its positioning to become a fast-fashion brand loved by young people, expand store scale, and push hard into the north.

She really, I'm crying, didn't hide or conceal a thing at all...

President Fang quickly realized his value to True Vise—positioning extremely precise, image extremely fitting, highest popularity at the same price point, and strongest youthfulness at the same popularity level.

Isn't this the chosen spokesperson?

In that case, wouldn't it be a shame not to beat the bamboo stick hard and extract as much as possible? How could one disrespect Ms. Yang's goodwill?

"How many years does your company plan to sign me, and how is the endorsement fee negotiated?"

"Three years, 500,000 per year."

Fang Xinghe didn't even think, directly doubling and rounding up: "Two years, 1 million per year."

Then, he seemed to see a trace of approval in Ms. Yang's eyes?

To prove he hadn't misread it, Fang Xinghe silently opened the Starlight Panel. Result: good lord, Ms. Yang was emitting a dense green light, a Level 2 Core Fan!

"I'm sorry, Student Fang, your asking price is simply too high. Currently, Lu Yi's endorsement quote is only 600,000 per year..."

While refusing, she turned her head to the Marketing Manager: "Manager Gao, please explain our advertising budget and standard conventions to Student Fang. By the way, focus on explaining the advertising philosophy of 'True Heart, True Self, True Vise'..."

True Heart, True Self?

Good lord, they're forcing it right onto my face?

Fang Xinghe didn't listen to what the manager said; he only noticed Ms. Yang curling her right index and middle fingers, tapping her leg twice with her knuckles in a casual manner.

Got it!

"Lu Yi is worth 600,000?" Fang Xinghe frowned slightly, then changed his tone displeasedly: "My fame is at least ten times his, right? This is too insulting. Two years, 2 million per year."

In a flash, Ms. Yang turned her head in shock, eyes full of astonishment.

I meant you can add another 200,000! Where did you scream to?!

Uh... well, no big problem.

He had feelings, she had intentions; one willing to strike, one willing to endure; in the end, they could reach an agreement.

After a not-so-long tug-of-war, once the other side mentioned 1.2 million, Fang Xinghe finally relented and sealed the deal.

Two years, totaling 2.4 million, without the messy clauses of later eras. He only needed to shoot one commercial and take new product posters in spring and autumn each year to get paid.

The first year's money would be given immediately upon signing the contract; the second payment would be transferred on next year's contract date.

Money in this era was indeed valuable, but for an endorser like Fang Xinghe, who fit the youth fast-fashion brand so extremely well, there was only one such case in the Chinese-speaking world, with no other branches. There was truly no way around it.

If their company weren't so small and truly unable to squeeze out more budget, Fang Xinghe estimated he could have pushed the price of his first commercial even higher.

With details basically settled, Ms. Yang became even more open, stating plainly: "Actually, if Student Fang you hadn't suddenly appeared, we originally hadn't planned to hire a spokesperson. It wasn't a money issue, but rather the feeling that current stars didn't quite fit the bill."

Fang Xinghe chuckled inwardly—luckily he had timely blocked Nandu's undercover investigation; otherwise, once the arson record was exposed, True Vise certainly wouldn't have come knocking.

Spending 50,000 to fight for two months, only to earn back 2.4 million in the blink of an eye—a fate gift from one who knows but doesn't follow. Truly interesting.

After a brief pause, she reminded meaningfully: "Before you turn eighteen, you have no substitutes in the country. Xie Miao originally counted as one, but now there's a bit of... change. Shi Brother Xiao Long is still young, and who knows what his puberty will be like. So as long as the brand temperament matches, I believe many companies will be willing to pay you even more endorsement fees."

Fang Xinghe could roughly understand her hint, but didn't care.

He replied thus: "With your company's 2.4 million, I am completely不缺 money, so I have no next endorsement for now. Your company will be exclusive."

This words reached the ears of the group boss, President Li, who immediately waved his hand: "Add another 88,888 signing fee for him! Whether real or fake, it sounds comfortable!"

The contract was signed on August 12th, and the money arrived on August 15th. By then, Fang Xinghe was already on a plane to Magic City, shooting his first commercial in his life.

Although it was just a commercial, he was finally about to touch the film industry.

Regarding this, the future Best Actor felt uneasy, yet had an indescribable expectation.

What does shooting a commercial feel like?

Whatever fantasies existed before going, there would be just as much disappointment after filming started.

It was too simple.

The moment he entered the set, the director: "Holy crap!"

Filming started, the director: "Little Fang, give me a brighter smile... Holy crap!"

Next take, the director: "Now bring some wildness... Holy crap!"

If only he himself was saying "Holy crap," that would have been fine. But in fact, the staff were all marveling along with him, making Fang Xinghe's head buzz.

Although he knew beforehand that this probably wouldn't be a professional crew, their absurdity was indeed too absurd...

But the director spoke with absolute conviction: "Little Fang, based on my years of experience roaming the advertising world, you are absolutely a born super star! Even with the discount of being on camera, you're this handsome. Who can compare to you? If you don't become famous, heaven and earth will have no justice!"

Fang Xinghe took it as mere flattery and didn't take it seriously.

The director got frantic: "Really! I was one of last year's Top Ten Advertising Directors—I've even directed Ge You!"

Oh, my apologies.

Fang Xinghe lazily scanned the set: "Top Ten Director, and this is what you shoot?"

This kid is really annoying.

The director's face turned red as he jumped up: "Hey, it's a fast-fashion brand targeting teens—why bother with some fancy plot? Just look cool, that's it!"

Hmm, logically, you can't really argue with that.

And so, relying purely on his raw coolness, Fang Xinghe easily finished the ad and photo shoot.

The script had only one line: True, Real, TrueWeis!

"Xiao Fang, your vibe is incredible!"

The director kept praising; Fang Xinghe smiled politely, but the man still shoved his business card into his hand despite Fang's aloofness.

"Take it, take it—I've got plenty of ad and MV projects. If anything cool comes up, I'll come straight back to you as the lead!"

He looked at it: Tan Xiaogang, Class of '93, Fine Arts, Beijing Film Academy. Oh hey, senior?

But he said nothing, standing quietly to one side as Ms. Yang and the director finalized their discussion.

Ms. Yang: "Xiao Fang's voice is great—should we add two more lines?"

Director: "Enough already. I could add lines—I could even turn this into a short film—but who'd care about TrueWeis then?"

Ms. Yang: "Everyone's watching him? Well, that's not bad either…"

Director: "Huh?"

Ms. Yang: "Ahem, what I mean is—can't we find a better solution?"

Director: "Of course we can! Isn't this it? Add more lines and you overshadow the brand; stay silent and you overshadow it even more. One line, 'TrueWeis' with emphasis—that's the perfect balance."

Ms. Yang beamed: "So basically, as long as he wears TrueWeis, he overshadows everything, right?"

The director side-eyed her: "Ms. Yang, your priorities are off."

Ms. Yang shrugged: "Broadcast ads are too expensive and have limited impact. What we really rely on are the giant posters in physical stores. How we shoot the ad doesn't matter."

"Ah!" The director smacked his thigh hard. "Why didn't you say so earlier!"

He turned to Fang Xinghe: "Xiao Fang, what sports do you do? Let's shoot a set of athletic shots, then close-ups of sweat dripping from your forehead, gathering at your nose and chin—guaranteed to make every female viewer thirsty!"

Fang Xinghe, with his shallow understanding of composition, thought for a moment—and immediately sensed Tan's boldness and flair.

You know what? If shot well, this sequence would be absolutely devastating.

He opened his panel: Coordination 82, Fundamental Skills—Tai Chi and Roundhouse Kick both at 75. Fang Xinghe thought: "I'll do some urban parkour."

"????"

Both stared, baffled: "What's parkour?"

Huh?

Is this even a thing in China yet?

Fang Xinghe got excited—he'd only planned to half-ass it, but now he was fully invested.

So, a mere几十-second shot took two full days to film—and blew past the budget.

"Holy shit!" The director slammed his storyboard, pacing in circles. "It's gonna blow up! It's definitely gonna blow up!"

Ms. Yang watched the footage and immediately decided: "If the final cut holds up, we're moving it to prime time on CCTV-1!"

"My editing—you'll love it. Just wait and see!"

"Alright, thank you."

Ms. Yang turned back to Fang Xinghe, eyes gleaming.

"Xiao Fang, looks like we need another launch event… Don't worry, we'll pay more! And if the broadcast performs well, next year we'll invest even more in a bigger, better ad—do you have the confidence?"

Next year?

By next year, my level won't be like this anymore…

"I'm still growing, so let's see. If we work well together, anything's possible."

Fang Zong lazily pulled off an ambiguous move, making TrueWeis pant like a dog, tongue lolling out…

After filming wrapped, the rookie model Fang declined TrueWeis's offer of a high-end dinner and went to Xinmin Daily instead.

Arriving in Shanghai, he had to see Aunt Chen.

He took a taxi to Yan'an Road—wow, Xinmin's building is beautiful.

Wearing a baseball cap and mask, he walked to the gate—Chen Danya had already been waiting there.

"Xiao Fang!" Chen Danya was thrilled. The first thing she did was raise her hand to measure his height. "Have you grown taller lately?"

"Yes, one centimeter."

Fang Xinghe smiled, raising his index finger: "I'm 1.76 meters now."

"Good, good, good—you'll definitely hit 1.80 before you turn eighteen!"

In this era, people thought 1.80 meters was tall; in Fang Xinghe's time, tall meant at least 188.

He planned to adapt to local norms and cap himself at 184.

Female actors are short? Wear flat shoes. When you need to stand next to male actors? Add five centimeters of insoles.

The goal: calculated freedom.

But he probably wouldn't need insoles at all—there didn't seem to be many male actors over 185 here.

If it's someone like Chen Kun or Xiao Ming—let them pad all they want!

Fang Ge wasn't worried at all.

"Come, let's chat in my office."

Chen Danya led him upstairs; passing workstations, she told a girl to buy fruit.

Sitting down in the office, her greatest concern remained Fang Xinghe's psychological state.

"I'm fine; being scolded a couple of times really isn't anything."

"Then you must be careful too." She was very cautious. "You're famous now, your reputation is good, and you're not on their side; they are definitely thinking about ruining your reputation every single moment."

"Mm, I know."

It was a struggle of stance; Auntie Chen saw it very clearly.

Afterwards, he became curious: "Does Xinmin count as an official media outlet now?"

Chen Danya replied truthfully: "Of course it does. We now belong to the Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group. We have 16 overseas editions, the lowest cost per thousand people, the highest media preference rate, and the highest electronic edition click-through rate. I dare not say we can completely protect you, but we certainly aren't afraid of the Southern Media Group."

"That's good." Fang Xinghe made a joke. "When my new book hits the shelves, I'll have to trouble Auntie Chen to help with the promotion again."

"Definitely!"

She was particularly cheerful, then asked: "The draft isn't even finalized yet; have you already set a date in advance?"

"About right. Roughly one month after the New Concept campaign rolls out."

"Great idea!"

Chen Danya had been excited for just one second when she suddenly turned worried: "That piece of yours, 'Youth'... young kids might not be able to accept it..."

Mentioning this, Fang Xinghe also felt a sting at the back of his head, and a rare bitter smile slipped out.

When I was sharpening my sword back then, I didn't think it would turn out like this!

Who knew I could finish the KPI this early?

Damn it, I haven't even drawn my sword yet, and the battle is over...

According to his original plan, he probably would have had to tangle with Good Big Brother until the New Concept essay anthology was published before he could achieve nationwide popularity.

However, the unexpected restlessness of the era brought unforeseen great opportunities; his impromptu performance in a few interviews and a few articles was堪称 perfect, firmly grasping the opportunity in his hand, step by step, naturally leading to success.

At first, he had sharpened three swords for himself.

"Growing Up" was the safety net, aiming to capture the romantic, fantasy-loving little girls of adolescence.

"Youth" was the slaughter, targeting all young people under twenty, friend or foe, charging in to kill indiscriminately.

"Sex" was a declaration of war, telling the whole world, I am here, my wildness is something you have never seen before.

The result...

With three swords, not a single move was made, yet the initial vision of a sword's light chilling nineteen continents was already realized.

Uh, that's not quite right either. Actually, those three swords were half-drawn; at the very least, they slashed the competition judges, which led to everything that followed.

Originally, this was a good thing. The Starlight Points let him earn plenty, leveling up the system and adding full attributes, wasting not a single moment of time.

But now the order is reversed; he has already become famous and established a fan base, yet "Youth" is being published later, suddenly feeling a bit untimely.

That article... how to describe it... originally it was aimed at stirring up heat... it was a bit fierce...

Well, actually, it was very fierce.

Something specifically designed to pry open emotions and provoke anger; think about it, how could it not be vicious?

But he had no other choice; since it had come to this, he might as well let nature take its course.

In the end, it was him comforting Auntie Chen: "It's fine. In the future, they will encounter even more things they can't accept. The most important thing is that I wrote to my satisfaction."

"You really are..."

Chen Danya sighed, then changed the subject: "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Have you gone to see Qigang and Old Zhao?"

"No, I don't plan to go. Those two old men are terribly annoying."

"Hahaha, you little rascal, you're number one at annoying people!"

"But I actually really want to see someone else." Fang Xinghe curled his lips, raised an eyebrow amidst Chen Danya's puzzled gaze, and said, "I heard Shanghai middle schools start early; it's almost September. Has Songjiang No. 2 High School started yet?"

Chen Danya was stunned, then quickly realized what he meant, laughing so hard she bent forward and backward, tears almost spilling out.

"You really are rotten to the core... wait, I'll call right now to ask for you!"

She made the call; by sheer coincidence, Songjiang No. 2 High School had already started classes the day before yesterday.

"Looks like he was destined to be blocked by me..." Fang Xinghe smiled as he stood up, waved his hand to bid farewell, and said, "Then you get back to work; I'm going to see my Good Big Brother. He dared to blacken me in the newspaper; it's time to settle the score."

Chen Danya stuffed a bag of fruit bought by her assistant into his hands and smiled as she instructed: "Go ahead, have a good chat, but don't go punching the guy."

"Good idea. I'll decide based on his attitude."

Fang Xinghe suddenly felt that if Good Big Brother's attitude made him unhappy, beating him up might actually be quite interesting?

Isn't that how men's friendships are forged?

He's sixteen, I'm fourteen; he's a sports student, I've trained in martial arts. Fair, simply too fair.

Not long after, carrying a heart that refused to submit and was ready to fight, Fang Xinghe happily stood at the main gate of No. 2 High School.

It was 4 PM in the afternoon; it was still early before dismissal, and the campus was completely quiet.

The main gate of No. 2 High School was locked; beside the small gate was the guardhouse, where a stern-looking old man was looking down at a newspaper.

Clang, clang, clang!

Fang Xinghe gently tapped the window glass. When the old man raised his head, he pulled his mask down just a little bit and simultaneously held the bag in his hand high up.

"Uncle, I'm a new Grade 10 student this year..."

The old man slowly opened the window and, speaking with standard Mandarin, asked: "Which class?"

"Class 10."

Fang Xinghe smiled obediently, feeling that he had perfectly captured the introverted aura of Southern students; he was one hundred percent sure he could handle it.

But the old man continued to ask slowly: "Class 10, surname Fang?"

"Yes, yes... Eh?" Fang Xinghe's eyes instantly widened. "How did you know?"

The old man spread the newspaper in his hand on the desk, tapped the color page with his finger, looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, and sighed: "I'm not blind!"

Fang Xinghe looked down and immediately felt a mix of laughter and tears.

The Xinmin Daily, education section, on the big color page his face took up at least a quarter of the spread!

Holy shit, that was brutal. On a whim he wanted to pull off a spy infiltration, and ran right into the barrel of their gun…

"Ha ha!" Fang Xinghe gave a dry laugh, once again raising that bag of apples and oranges. "I'm good friends with Han Han, I came specially to see him. Can you let me in?"

"Go on, go on! There's no way I'd stop you… Take a good look around, and if you like it you can transfer schools!"

The old man waved his hand, the electric gate slowly pulled open a crack, and Fang Xinghe hurriedly pulled out a few oranges and apples, shoved them through the window, and quickly scampered off in a puff of smoke.

Damn, not a good start…

But it's no big deal. The frustration he took from the gatekeeper old man, he'd make the Second High students pay it back later!

Thanks to the 9th Alliance's Slime and Big Weirdo, throwing flowers~~~