Chapter 7: Black-Hearted Bundling

Time flew by; before the manuscript deadline arrived, the final exams came first.

The entire month of December passed unusually peacefully.

Because society's "Brother Fang" had been promoted to "Daddy Fang," the campus enjoyed unprecedented harmony. He spent over a month blissfully drifting through the ocean of knowledge, and then dropped a massive bombshell in the final exams.

"Holy crap! You actually got into the top 5?!"

Tao Dang held up the report card, hands trembling, lips trembling, legs and feet trembling.

Bao Fu's face was full of despair too: "I'm dead, I'm dead. My dad's gonna beat me to death when I get home… last semester you got 51, I got 52; now you got 55 and I'm 5th. I've got no way out…"

"Only 5th. Still a long way to go."

Fang Xinghe calmly took back the report card, then suddenly raised his hand, blocking it in front of Fang Fang Yuting's little face as she charged over.

"Halt. Your daddy's glaring at me."

Fang Yuting glanced back, grinned carelessly: "Don't worry, he's glaring at me!"

"Then don't come over either. I'm afraid Lu Tingting will get the wrong idea."

But Lu Tingting immediately scooted over: "I don't mind either. Yuting swore she'd let me be the big mmmph—"

Nervous Little Lu was physically muzzled by Fierce Little Fang. The two of them were hugging again.

Then they did something extremely childish—you pinch me, I pat you, whispering in each other's ears about who-knows-what, occasionally sneaking peeks at Fang Xinghe, then tittering and giggling.

Fang Xinghe could read lips a little, and discovered that the quiet, secretly-flirty Lu Tingting was saying: "Did you notice? Bai Hehe seems to have gotten even more handsome~~~"

No "seems" about it—he really did get more handsome.

Over a month of development, his height grew slightly while his looks shot up. I've already touched the threshold of male-god status, okay?

Bold Fang sneakily glanced at Fang Xinghe again, then boldly shot back: "If you're smitten, hurry up and make a move! I've been waiting in line forever!"

Oh lord, who says girls of this era are conservative?

Anyone saying that probably has never been handsome…

Off to the side, Duoyu, who had absolutely no interest in girls, watched Fang Xinghe enviously: "Bro, you already got 5th and you're still not satisfied? I nearly killed myself to get 28th."

During this past month or so, the Thirteen Eagles had also started studying properly.

But not everyone could actually learn.

Lu Tingting had always had a solid foundation, and being quiet by nature, she sat obediently beside Fang Xinghe, listening to lectures and doing problems—making the biggest improvement.

Yu Xiaoduo's original ranking in the 30s wasn't the worst, so getting into the second tier counted as a success.

Bao Fu and Tao Dang were truly hopeless—one was too lazy to study, the other couldn't learn no matter what.

The rest had mixed results, clearly splitting into different groups.

Honestly, middle school knowledge really isn't that hard, but once a study habit is formed, changing it is indeed a huge pain.

Looking at the current situation, probably only Lu Tingting, Little Stutterer, Big Eagle, and Bao Fu had a shot at key high schools.

To motivate them, and also to nip that little spark of puberty in the young lass, Fang Xinghe voluntarily shared his future plans.

"5th in class definitely isn't enough. I'm planning to skip a grade, take this year's high school entrance exam directly, and aim for No. 10 Middle or the Experimental School."

"Huh?!"

Collective brain-fry.

The smiles on Lu Tingting and Fang Yuting's faces froze simultaneously; they both turned their heads at once, expressions turning extremely stiff.

Among everyone, the changes in the three die-hard little brothers were the most interesting.

Bao Fu froze for a moment, then panicked badly;

Duoyu's eyes dimmed, then he lowered his head dejectedly;

Tao Dang inexplicably got excited: "Holy crap! Big bro, you're seriously badass!"

Just as the others were about to press for reasons, the three of them had already completed a round of mental preparation and started blessing Fang Xinghe.

"If you want to do it, go for it. You'll definitely make it!"

Fang Xinghe was deeply moved, and gently encouraged them: "You guys need to work hard too. Once you're past 14, you're half an adult. Siblings can stay together for a lifetime, but the road of life can only be walked by yourself…"

Honestly, this speech was a bit too "daddy-ish," but Fang Xinghe had no choice.

If he didn't lay down the logic, was he supposed to encourage them to keep slacking off?

He knew all too well what the result of messing around in China was.

Cut the crap, everyone snap out of it.

The little eagles chattered away for a while, failing to extract the real reason for Fang Xinghe's urgency, but they did sense the big brother's determination.

Unwilling to accept it, but they could only accept it.

The final parting scene was rather desolate; each of them looked like they'd lost their soul.

Actually, the reason for skipping a grade was simple: Fang Xinghe needed more explosive moments.

To become a "celebrity-level" young writer, relying on just two or three essays was far from enough.

Little Si won first prize two or three times in a row, only then got the chance to publish, then quietly developed for ages, and only finally gained some mainstream fame when he got sued for plagiarism.

And it was negative fame at that.

Fang Xinghe was confident his competition entries were definitely way more badass than Little Si's two first prizes, but it still wasn't enough.

In the first edition and even the first several editions, the only social-level explosive moment was Han Han, because everyone else studied well, while he was extremely lopsided in his subjects—seemed like he was so bad at studying he got expelled?

Fang Xinghe didn't know the specific details clearly, only the general idea.

Failing courses, repeating grades, rebellion, wild claims—sparking a nationwide discussion.

For a very long time, Han Han was the sole top-tier celebrity of that era. The sheer scale of his popularity was something Fang Xinghe didn't even dare to guess at.

In any case, massively famous, explosively famous.

Fang Xinghe hadn't personally experienced it, so now he could only guess, but he'd already decided to pull off a "bundled hype" campaign.

At this point, he had to share the same pants and sleep under the same blanket with his beloved family, sworn brothers, and good big brother Han Shao.

Without him, how lonely would I be?

Without me, how lonely would he be?

So Han Han takes the rebellious bad-student route, while Fang Xinghe takes the reformed rogue route; together they form South Han and North Fang, entangled and lingering until the ends of the earth.

Just imagine: originally both bad students alongside Han Han, then suddenly awakening and turning over a new leaf, the two begin to go in opposite directions—how dramatically oppositional is that?

And how naturally sensational a topic for hype?

By then, Little Fang's past, Little Fang's wildness, Little Fang's looks, and Little Fang's redemption story will all possess exponentially compounding value.

On the bad side, Han Han helps share the fire.

On the good side, Han Han serves as the contrast.

It's a win-win, okay?!

Of course, my Brother Han truly suffers no loss either.

Although this kind of contrast is certainly unpleasant, once bound together, when Han Han becomes popular, Fang Xinghe becomes popular along with him; similarly, when Fang Xinghe has topics, Brother Han gets topics along with him.

The continuity is incredibly strong, far more interesting than the Han Four combination.

Anyway, I'm stepping on Fang from a superior position; what do I have to fear?

Black-hearted Big Fang never cares about shame when doing serious business; once the plan is made, it heads straight for Big Brother's entire lifetime, and the more he thinks, the more excited and happy he becomes.

Heh, heh~~~

Putting away the report cards, the four young men headed home together.

Until the ever-silent Duoyu suddenly asked, "Brother, how do you plan to spend the holiday?"

"Going out for a trip, to learn something."

After answering offhandedly, Fang Xinghe turned to look at Liu Fu: "Baofu, get some money; I'm afraid it won't be enough."

Liu Fu's eyes immediately sparkled: "Short on cash? Brother, several third-year classes haven't paid their January tributes yet; shall we pull off a big one?!"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Fang Xinghe slapped the back of his head, and Baofu immediately fell silent.

He swiftly pulled out 2,000 yuan: "Is it enough? Our little secret stash is all here; if we wait a few more days, I could even get another 1,000 from home..."

"Enough; I estimate I won't spend too much."

"Where are we going, Brother?" Tao Dang finally couldn't hold back his curiosity.

Fang Xinghe smiled lightly, his gaze distant, his tone filled with longing: "To Wudang Mountain, to learn boxing!"