Chapter 27: Explosive Influence

The newspaper debate had been raging for days, and the participants were becoming increasingly influential.

Zhao Changtian, editor-in-chief of *Bud*, was getting desperate due to falling sales and personally wrote an article to strike back.

"Some people have truly twisted minds. Either you discuss the work and criticize 'Knowing but Not Yielding' from the perspectives of literary merit, ideology, and artistry—arguing that its theme lacks depth, its structure is flawed, its language is overly obscure, or its message fails to elevate—you are all in the business of words, so feel free to speak your mind! Or, you could pull out one of your own masterpieces, paste it alongside 'Knowing but Not Yielding' in the paper, and declare with dignity: 'The prose I wrote at 28 is twice as good as Fang Xinghe’s piece at 14!' Oh, you realize you can't compare, you can't argue literature, so you decide to smear the kid's character instead? His core theme is the struggle against fate; to take two sentences out of context and criticize Fang Xinghe for encouraging children to be combative is truly shameless! What era are we in, still playing these 'big-character poster' games? If you insist on criticizing from a moral standpoint, fine, let’s talk about morality—does a kid getting into a fight, back in the harshest 'Strike Hard' campaign of '83, even warrant a firing squad? And what about your own behavior of cornering female students to kiss them—how would that hold up in '83? When Fang Xinghe writes 'a crow cannot see the pig's blackness,' it is self-deprecation. Even kids understand self-deprecation, yet you dare to puff out your chests and call the pig black. If people saw that, they’d spit right in your face: 'Bah! Shameless and disgraceful!'"

Old Zhao had some skill, but he wasn't really cut out for this; his insults lacked a stinging edge. If it were Fang Xinghe, he would have exposed the name, workplace, and kissing details of that man who cornered the female student.

Don't laugh; readers love that kind of stuff, even in 2025.

Following this, *Xinmin Evening News*, under the efforts of Chen Danya, reposted the comments from the New Concept competition judges regarding "Knowing but Not Yielding," forming a perfect tag-team. To be honest, those accolades were incredibly gripping.

Wang Meng: "Fang Xinghe is the most talented teenager in this year’s New Concept competition. Broadly speaking, he may be the most talented teenager of this generation. Reading 'Knowing but Not Yielding' made me feel ashamed."

Chen Sihe: "Some criticize Fang Xinghe's writing as crude; I disagree. Fang Xinghe's writing is quite trendy. 'Childhood deprivation,' 'social beatings,' 'thirty-like-wolves-forty-like-tigers,' 'mini-boss,' 'seeking validation from your dad,' 'don't panic when bitten,' 'the King of Hell’s remarks,' 'scattering your ashes'... Look, how imaginative and unrestrained! I cannot say such writing is necessarily 'good,' but when I first read it, the sense of surprise Fang Xinghe gave me was stronger than the work of any contemporary writer. So, I describe his style in four words: vibrant and alive. As for my assessment of Fang Xinghe himself, it is also four words: He is the future."

Tie Ning: "Any cleverness appearing in a work can potentially ruin an essay, a novel, a poem... or even a person. Yet, in 'Knowing but Not Yielding,' Fang Xinghe demonstrates a profound honesty: he is loyal to his anger, simply venting it, and launching a fierce attack on the reader’s emotions, soul, and thoughts. I have never seen such aggressiveness and striking power in any other teenager. He amazes me, even shocks me."

Yu Hua: "I have always emphasized the importance of a broad perspective, wise viewpoints, and humorous language, but unfortunately, I have not done nearly well enough in these areas—at least, not as well as Fang Xinghe. His articles perfectly and absolutely achieved the three elements I strive for; I am particularly jealous of his talent. The emotional core of my 'I Am as Timid as a Mouse' and his summary in 'Knowing but Not Yielding' are two different sides of the same coin, but look, he’s even braver than I am. So, I will never attend an event with him again. Damn it, he’s so handsome and writes so well!"

When these literary critiques were published, Fang Xinghe's fans were howling with excitement. They had already seen much of this in the May issue of *Bud*, but seeing it moved to the newspapers, with two clear sides battling it out, made them feel incredibly proud. Discussions grew more fervent, and the fight against opponents intensified. Sharing the news with friends caused Fang Xinghe’s "Starlight Value" to skyrocket. This is the benefit of being a trending topic: discussion equals heat, heat equals focus, and focused intent generates massive amounts of positive emotion.

He won. He won big.

Although the reality was that a vast number of parents wrote letters criticizing Fang Xinghe’s essay, it didn't dampen his satisfaction. Then again, what was the mindset of parents in this era? Were they really so fragile that they broke down over a slightly intense essay? If they were like this, would they go insane when his "Youth" was published?

As it turned out, the teachers went crazy first. On the eighth day, the *Yangtze Daily* published a letter of criticism from a Chinese teacher. The reason: many students were imitating Fang Xinghe’s style in their essays, cursing this and that, resulting in low marks. If this continued, exams would become a problem, and the influence was too negative, etc. Fang Xinghe was quite dissatisfied with this; why didn't they criticize them for imitating Han Han? Was his "big brother" so insignificant that he didn't deserve a mention?

Actually, he was wronging everyone there; even in his past life, not many students imitated Han Han’s essays. Han Han’s writing style was mainstream yet amateurish, with a unique perspective and a "youthful delinquent" core, topped with a dash of teenage decadence—it was truly impossible to imitate. Imitating him was less effective than just imitating Qian Zhongshu.

In contrast, Fang Xinghe’s essays were easier to emulate—they were stylish and rebellious beyond his time, looking incredibly trendy and punchy, while the underlying structure was actually very simple. What was hard was the altitude of his thinking, which is why those who copied him got low marks.

However, writing messy essays wasn't the real issue. What truly made the schools uncomfortable was that the kids weren't just imitating his writing; they were completely replicating Fang Xinghe. In just a few days, Fang Xinghe-style haircuts appeared in middle and high schools everywhere—shaved thin on the sides, spiked on top.

To be fair, compared to the then-popular "Heavenly King" center-part, the "Chen Haonan" long hair, or the "Pheasant" crew cut, the spiked style was much better looking. Some wondered why, even though his photo had been in print for over a month, students only started imitating him now. Because whether a hairstyle is "cool" doesn't just depend on the looks; it depends on the influence of the idol. So, looking good wasn't the point; the point was the rebellious image Fang Xinghe established with "Knowing but Not Yielding," which turned him into a symbol of "cool" and "trendy," finally triggering a new wave.

Looking at the red-haired little rascals popping up on campus, principals, deans, and homeroom teachers fell into a hell of headaches. They couldn't stop it—they absolutely couldn't stop it! Those who dared to be this flashy were certainly not "good students"; they weren't afraid of beatings or scoldings, and calling their parents didn't always work either. So what to do? Criticize Fang Xinghe—shift the blame first.

However, society's reaction wasn't particularly intense. Good schools had strict management, so it wasn't much of a problem there. As for bad schools, it made no difference whether Fang Xinghe existed or not—if they didn't dye their hair red, they'd dye it yellow; people just got used to it. The attacks on his appearance soon died down, failing to stir much trouble.

However, just as the "Older Sister Wang" and "Auntie Chen" were breathing a sigh of relief for Fang Xinghe, an accident happened. Toward the end of the month, a dramatic incident brewed in a county in Guangdong, completely detonating public opinion.

The *Guangzhou Daily* published a photo. In the photo, two groups of teenagers were confronting each other for some unknown reason. The group on the left had red and green "Fang-style" spikes; the group on the right had "Haonan" and "Pheasant" cuts. Did the two groups actually fight? Nobody knew. Regardless, they looked incredibly agitated and restless.

The newspaper’s headline read: "The Ultimate Conflict Between the 'Fang-style' Campus Big Brothers and the 'Gu' School-out-of-Bounds Delinquents—What Has Happened to Our Children?"

The specific content of the report no longer mattered; the picture spoke for itself. Once the photo was published, the print media erupted in flames, and the intensity of the infighting surged.

When Fang Xinghe saw it, he felt a bit pained. He truly never expected that a guy who just wrote essays could build such huge influence among a crowd that didn't even read them. Were the kids of this era too easy to agitate?

But after thinking it over, recalling the "non-mainstream" culture that lasted until around 2014, and the "spiritual youths" that persisted until 2024, it didn't seem so hard to understand. Adolescents of any era needed a spirit to lead them forward, to shatter their confusion and nourish their emotions. But China was developing too fast, and family education and compulsory education couldn't keep up with the rapidly changing times, so of course, it was easy to feel empty.

Moreover, the turn of the century felt particularly distinct: the ancient and the modern, the traditional and the trendy, decay and reconstruction... Society was spiraling upward amidst contradictions, surging, intense, and soul-stirring. Emerging at this critical juncture, Fang Xinghe was destined to become the trendiest person in the eyes of teenagers.

Talking about being a "leader" was too early. Learning his style of dress was super cool. Cursing him? Hey, that was just right!

And so, he faced the largest wave of criticism and even abuse, finally alarming the county authorities. Meanwhile, journalists from the outside began arriving in this quiet little town...