Chapter 38: Tomorrow Will Be Better

Fang Xinghe lingered in the waiting hall until the middle of the night, using his backpack to hold down his manuscript paper as he finished writing his daily training reflections, then boarded the bus to sleep.

After getting off the bus, he followed his usual routine of taking a long soak at the bathhouse. While lounging in the pool, he found himself surrounded by people eager to chat.

Oh, so he had become famous.

Those striking up conversations included young street toughs with dragon and phoenix tattoos, middle-aged civil servants with bulging bellies, and fresh-faced college students. In this small city, he was no longer a nobody; he had earned a bit of social capital.

A young man with a tattoo exclaimed with restless excitement, "Brother Fang, look at my hair! It's exactly like yours! Is it cool or what?"

Fang Xinghe gave a thumbs up. "It’s uniquely hideous, but your confidence is top-notch."

The guy just scratched the back of his head and grinned foolishly.

A college student felt a sense of pride on his behalf: "My classmates all ask if I’m from the same place as you. When I say yes, the girls let out a 'wow'..."

"When school starts again, just tell them we’re close friends. Go get yourself a girlfriend—good luck!"

The student hung his head shyly, his gaze shifting in embarrassment. It was obvious he already had someone he liked, so Fang Xinghe wished him well.

A middle-aged civil servant asked about his family affairs: "Has that deadbeat uncle of yours been dealt with? A buddy of mine is at the local precinct; just mention my name, it works wonders!"

Fang Xinghe laughed and teased, "Don't bother. In a couple of years, your bosses will be pouring drinks for me. How about you treat me to a bath today, and when the time comes, I’ll put in a good word for you with your superiors?"

The pool erupted in laughter, filled with banter and playful arguments—a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

Although Fang Xinghe only had one published piece to his name at this point, after receiving high praise from Ba Jin and winning first place in the provincial high school entrance exam, everything had changed.

And the future would be even more different.

...

After tidying up and returning home to drop off his things, he headed straight for school.

As soon as he reached the main gate, he saw a large red banner hanging from the railing:

【Warmly celebrating our school's second-year junior high student, Fang Xinghe, winner of the first New Concept Writing Competition, for achieving a historic breakthrough in our school's high school entrance exam with the top score in the entire district!】

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Fang Xinghe felt the characters for "second-year" were slightly larger than the rest.

Are you guys serious?

He pushed open the door to the Chinese department office, and Mr. Fang immediately rushed over, grabbing him and patting him on the shoulder.

"Good kid, you’re really something! You’ve brought such glory to me!"

Letting go of Fang Xinghe, he looked frustrated. "It’s so annoying—why is the school on break now? I was hoping to take you around to every grade level..."

"You really don't fear being hated, do you?"

Fang Xinghe chuckled, plopped onto an office chair, and joked, "Who wrote that banner outside? It’s a good thing our school wall is long enough; if it were even a meter shorter, it wouldn't have fit."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Fang laughed so hard he slapped his thigh.

"You think it’s that precise by accident? Director Huang measured it himself, calculated the character count, and Principal Liu pondered every single word. They wanted it to fit perfectly from end to end!"

"Good grief, such show-offs."

"Oh, my dear top scholar, you’re poking fun at me as soon as you get back!"

Liu Dashan suddenly appeared at the door, rubbing his belly with a beaming smile. Far from reprimanding him, he pulled a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

"Come on, Old Fang, you’ve worked hard, have a smoke! And our great talent, are you ready to accept your accolades?"

Fang Xinghe waved him off decisively. "Please, don't expect me to get on stage and give a speech or anything. I don't like it. But if the Education Bureau holds a big meeting, I authorize you to take the stage on my behalf."

At these words, Liu Dashan smiled so broadly his eyes vanished.

Still, he put on a show of shaking his head politely. "I have my own commendations; yours are yours, and mine are mine..."

"It’s all the same," Fang Xinghe insisted. "Don't bother two people for one task. You take the spotlight, and I’ll just take the benefits."

Liu Dashan immediately turned serious. "Yes, yes, the school has already held meetings to discuss this. Our Third High School is prepared to offer you a special educational reward of 50,000 yuan. You need to go open a bank card, and the finance department will wire the money directly to your account."

Fang Xinghe was stunned. "Do those things exist now?"

Mr. Fang smiled. "They were just introduced this year. No more passbooks; it's very convenient."

"Alright, I'll go take care of it tomorrow."

Liu Dashan quickly reminded him, "Tomorrow, the Education Bureau and the Propaganda Department are coming for an interview. It’ll be around 2 PM at your house. Make sure to tidy up."

"OK."

Fang Xinghe nodded lazily. "Anything else? Let's get it all done at once."

"High school admissions," Mr. Fang reminded him concisely.

Liu Dashan coughed and, with a thick skin, added, "Our local experimental high school is quite good, with a very strong faculty..."

"Terms," Fang Xinghe interrupted directly. "Give me something useful."

Liu Dashan didn't change his expression, switching his pitch with extreme smoothness: "All fees waived, various exclusive privileges, and finally, 100,000 yuan!"

Whoa, pulling out all the stops, are they?

50,000 from the Third High School was already a massive investment, considering the average national annual salary for employees this year was only around 8,000 yuan—50,000 would take six years to save.

For the experimental school to offer 100,000 showed they were truly wealthy.

However, Fang Xinghe just smiled, feeling no urgency despite the staggering figure.

Liu Dashan tried to persuade him a bit more, but seeing that the top scholar wasn't taking the bait, he had to take his leave, regretful yet understanding.

Once he left, Mr. Fang immediately gave Fang Xinghe a thumbs up.

"You really know how to keep your cool. Thank goodness!"

"What, did some school ask you to offer even better terms?"

"Wanshun High School," Mr. Fang didn't mince words. "120,000, plus all other privileges."

Good grief, they were all trying to outbid each other.

Fang Xinghe remained unmoved, continuing the casual chat: "What about the Tenth High School and the City High School?"

"The Tenth is holding meetings. I don't know what the city's intentions are, but I expect the Normal University Affiliated High School and Jilin University Affiliated High School will make their moves in the next few days."

In this day and age, things were different from the future.

Currently, high schools in the same province could recruit students from other districts, so any promising talent in the lower regions would typically be poached by the provincial capital at a high price.

When it came to money and resources, how could Nong'an compete with the provincial capital?

Fang Xinghe had no qualms about where he studied; leaving the county might be for the best—he found his uncle’s family of three annoying.

But in the end, it would come down to the terms. If the money was meant for him, there was no reason not to take it.

"I'm not in a hurry, so let's just wait and see."

"Hmm," Mr. Fang nodded in approval. "You are a big celebrity now. Even without considering your future college entrance exam scores, just having you enroll is the best possible advertisement for any school."

"Understood."

Fang Xinghe grabbed all the newspapers from the rack, turned, and headed out.

"You carry on with your work, then. I’m going home to see what the current public opinion is like."

Actually, there was nothing fresh.

Chen Jiayong's popularity had faded, while the educational debate sparked by the "big brother" was in full swing.

If you counted from the time of the high school entrance exam, this mess had been argued over for a month, and there was still no sign of it ending.

Was it worth it?

Yes, it was.

Young people living in the new era would never understand just how lost society was in 1999.

This confusion wasn't the aimless whining of literary youth; it was an uncertainty that existed in every corner.

Take education, for example: *Zhiyin* praised the high quality of Japanese students, *Yilin* bragged about how German children were disciplined and respected science from a young age, and *Reader* boasted daily that only the "quality education" of the beautiful lighthouse nation could drive a great civilization forward.

If you were a member of Generation Z surfing with 6G, you would only find it laughable—what on earth was all this?

...

There were seven or eight different directions alone, and when it came to specifics, there was no consensus even within the same camp.

Most absurdly, there were even people in this day and age blowing smoke about the Indian model...

Fang Xinghe leafed through the newspaper discussions; there was very little of value, only a witness to yet another anti-intellectual carnival.

...

As for Han Han, he was being carried along and turned into a banner, pushed to the forefront of the storm.

Did he realize it himself?

Fang Xinghe vaguely remembered that his "big brother" didn't realize until he started making movies...

Southern media outlets bestowed a series of impressive titles upon him: "Citizen Han Han," "The Modern Lu Xun"...

Yet, he later reflected on it himself: "I am a very failed example, not worth emulating."

One can only say that maturity takes time.

And right now, not being mature... made him just perfect for being the idol of the youth of this era.

In truth, the image Fang Xinghe was deliberately crafting was the same, except he wanted to stand in opposition to "being angry for the sake of anger, and being a 'furious youth' for the sake of it."

After working so hard for so long, it was time to harvest the fruits of victory.

Likely, starting tomorrow.