Chapter 45 I Am a Solitary Ruler

Picking up high school knowledge once again was much easier than expected.

After all, having studied it once before, combined with his advantages in Chinese and English, self-study became smooth and effortless.

Of course, being capable of self-studying was one thing, but what score he could actually get on an exam was another. High school math problems were clearly starting to give him a headache...

There were a few moments when, as he scratched his head and felt a tight chest over advanced math problems, Brother Fang—no, Little Brother Fang—couldn't help but think: Damn it, should we just surrender?

What’s the point of fighting against these people?

Even I find this rotten math disgusting just looking at it!

Support educational reform! Support quality-oriented education! Hurry up and delete both high school math and physics for me!

Of course, these moments of madness were fleeting. Afterward, he still had to do what needed to be done. The difficulties he had faced in the past were far greater than this; when had he ever truly been a coward?

Summoning his alter ego and giving himself a swift mental kick, Brother Fang plunged back into the battle.

As a result, he had only managed to solve five problems in total when Wang Tong, a reporter from the Xinmin Daily, arrived.

——Don't you dare ask me about the time!

By the time Wang Tong rushed to the small county town, the influence of the three essays and the "Black Tide" had reached its peak.

The people cursing Fang Xinghe could line up from Tiananmen Square all the way to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Those supporting him were few in number but completely fearless, and the two factions were beating each other's brains out until it resembled a dogfight, ready to be served as a spicy bowl of soup.

Therefore, it wasn't just Wang Tong who couldn't wait to rush over; a vast sea of reporters was flooding into the small town. Just yesterday alone, Liu Dashan had received three batches of reporters from different media outlets.

Fang Xinghe ignored everyone and maintained complete silence.

Exclusive interviews were not something that could be frequent or indiscriminate; interview qualifications were also a precious resource.

To whom he should give it and to whom he shouldn't, Fang Xinghe had a very clear idea in his mind.

Therefore, Wang Tong did not complain about why a reporter from the Youth Daily had secured the first exclusive interview. Instead, he smiled warmly, made small talk, delivered a gift from Chen Danya, and personally brought Fang Xinghe a Hero fountain pen.

"That post-match interview of yours brought the Xinmin Daily a sales increase of nearly 200,000 copies, and I even received a commendation because of it. It’s all thanks to you... Thank you, thank you!"

"I haven't had the chance to read it yet."

Fang Xinghe smiled lightly and killed the conversation, leaving no opening for the other party to continue cozying up.

In fact, he had read it. Wang Tong's writing was quite good, making the theme extremely captivating.

Oh, right, the theme focused on the depth of Fang Xinghe's thoughts, making it a display with strongly positive implications. Furthermore, the Xinmin Daily didn't forget to drag his "good older brother" into a comparison, staging a drama of two genius literary youths locked in mutual destruction.

The tactic of stirring up controversy to farm web traffic was never exclusive to later generations.

Overall, the previous interview had been of great help to Fang Xinghe, making the proud citizens of Shanghai look at him with a few degrees of genuine respect.

Even if it was only a few degrees, that was quite remarkable. This was already good enough.

The interview began in a harmonious atmosphere.

Unsurprisingly, Wang Tong asked, "Why did you write 'The Small-Town Test-Taker'?"

Fang Xinghe's reply was sharp and direct: "I don't like the current trend. Some people are both stupid and malicious—how could studying possibly be useless?"

It was time to truly open fire on such absurdities.

No longer so gentle, no longer so metaphorical, no longer so beautiful, but directly launching a frontal assault.

Realizing there was a great story here, Wang Tong instantly perked up and eagerly pursued: "But many people curse you for seeking fame and fortune, because you can live quite well without relying on studies.

"They even think you haven't seriously studied for more than a few days, and that it's sheer talent carrying you to where you are today. They believe you can succeed at anything you do, which precisely proves that studying or not studying has no decisive significance for exceptional talents."

What utter nonsense.

Fang Xinghe didn't want to engage in meaningless internet bickering, so he simply handed over an essay titled "The Added Value of Reading—From a Bowl of Hand-Pulled Street Noodles to Motorola."

"A new miscellaneous essay prepared for your publication. The added value of my own studies indeed isn't that high, but I believe it's different for ordinary people."

Wang Tong was extremely surprised. He raised a hand to pause the interview: "Wait a moment. Let me finish reading this before we continue."

The new essay exuded a very down-to-earth vibe as a whole, discussing economic principles that would become common knowledge in later generations but were entirely fresh at this moment.

In the latter half of the article, Fang Xinghe told a small story:

"Bao Fu doesn't want to continue studying. His family is rich and can support him for the rest of his life.

"Little Yanbian doesn't want to continue studying either; his family has a hereditary recipe for cold noodles. So he discusses it with Bao Fu: 'Let's partner up then and open a cold noodle shop. You've eaten my family's cold noodles and spicy pickled cabbage—were they delicious or not?'

"Bao Fu nods vigorously, saying it's insanely delicious, he can eat three big bowls, and this business will definitely work!

"The two of them start daydreaming with boundless enthusiasm, as if a wonderful life is just around the corner.

"I couldn't help but do the math for them.

"I told Little Yanbian: Suppose you treat selling cold noodles as your opportunity to turn your life around, then you have two completely different developmental paths.

"One: You drop out right after junior high school, borrow 2,000 yuan, and open a tiny shop across from the school.

"Judging by the sales of the wonton stall at the school gate, under the most ideal circumstances, you can sell 100 bowls a day. After deducting all costs, you net a profit of 20 yuan, which is 600 yuan a month, or 7,000 yuan a year.

"Then, some people won't pay, deduct 500;

"Some fees you are forced to pay, deduct another 500;

"The landlord wants to raise the rent and you have to swallow it, deduct another 500;

"Food, clothing, housing, and transportation cost 1,500 a year, leaving you able to save roughly 4,000 yuan annually.

"Suffering in silence and holding on for ten years until you have 40,000 yuan in savings, you can finally afford to lease a proper restaurant, hire a few chefs and waiters, and make your business bigger and stronger.

"However, even after becoming the boss, you still have to make the cold noodles with your own hands.

"That is your family's ancestral secret recipe, after all—the sauce, the broth, the ingredients—you have to handle them personally to feel at ease.

"Then gradually, you find that opening your big restaurant was all for nothing. In essence, you are still just a small manual vendor, still relying on your ancestral recipe to earn that bit of hard-earned money. Nothing has changed.

"If the chef's culinary skills aren't good, he might even drag you down.

"You begin to ask yourself: How much longer do I need to work before I can free myself from this exhausting and numb life?

"Two: You start studying hard right now, get into a key university, and major in food science.

"At school, you study desperately, single-mindedly delving into the ancestral recipe.

"Before graduation, you finally crack all the secrets and achieve the capability for industrial production while keeping the taste identical. Coincidentally, Bao Fu has mastered business management by then, and the two of you hit it off instantly. You take some money from his family and set up a small food factory.

"To produce instant cold noodles.

"That stuff is just like instant noodles: it has a measured portion of cold noodles inside, a seasoning packet, and a vacuum-sealed dried vegetable packet.

"Bao Fu specifically applies for a brand and trademark called 'Little Yanbian Ancestral Ultra-Fresh Big Cold Noodles,' and then brings it to an exhibition in Guangdong to showcase.

"You were born knowing the Korean language, so you specifically target South Korean merchants to pitch and invite them to taste it.

"Your ancestral secret recipe brings tears to their eyes as they exclaim that they've tasted their grandmother's cooking.

"The merchants decide to purchase on the spot, and you start earning foreign exchange.

"As you make more and more money, you naturally expand production. You only need to keep the final production step of the sauce strictly confidential; for everything else, you can do whatever you want.

"At the exact same age of 40, the version of you who spent over twenty years making cold noodles by hand has collapsed from exhaustion, while the version of you who opened a food factory is traveling around the world.

"As for Bao Fu—at age 14, he lent you 2,000 yuan to open your small shop. Ten years later, he laughs heartily, waves his hand, and says: 'Forget about paying it back, damn it! Isn't our brotherhood worth more than 2,000 yuan?'

"Yet the educated Bao Fu opens the factory together with you, using his professional management skills to develop 'Little Yanbian' into a major brand.

"The initial investment of 200,000 yuan turns into 2 billion years later, making him even richer than his father.

"Where is the difference between these two completely different endings?

"The difference lies in the fact that the books you read and the knowledge you acquired added extra added value to your ancestral craft, and also added extra added value to Bao Fu's money.

"This kind of value is not the junior and senior high school physics and chemistry that you will never use again, but rather our mindset after being enriched by knowledge and expanded by logic.

"Studying doesn't necessarily have to be directly applied; studying in itself empowers us.

"You always ask me: 'Brother, you're already so handsome and awesome, why do you still study so hard?'

"Because the more added value, the better. Everyone has a baseline, and the more useful things you stack on top of it, the stronger you become and the greater power you wield.

"So how absurd and laughable are the remarks slandering education?

"There is no form of empowerment in this world with a lower cost and a greater return than studying.

"Those who clamor that studying is useless are either foolish or malicious.

"Don't believe them; treat them as scum to be criticized. They want the laborers at the bottom to remain forever sunken beneath their feet so that they can hold their 13,000-yuan Motorola phones, point at you selling cold noodles by the roadside, and mock you wantonly.

"A bowl of noodles for 1 yuan 20 fen? Bah, not even dogs would eat it!

"Meanwhile, their beautiful wives will gently educate their children—

"'Look, if you don't study hard, you'll end up just like that uncle in the future, only able to set up a stall by the road. Tell Mommy, do you want to set up a stall?'

"You raise your head, wanting to argue: I'm not an uncle, I'm only 25...

"But in the end, you say nothing, and numbly lower your head again.

"Making a hundred bowls of cold noodles a day is exhausting enough; why bother wasting your breath arguing with people? That family looks extremely wealthy; it's better not to provoke trouble...

"Little Yanbian, I dare say that at that moment, you will no longer have the courage to throw a punch whenever you feel like it, the way you do today.

"You don't believe it?

"Go back and observe your father carefully, then guess why he loves rambling about the past every time he drinks.

"Because only at those times is there light in his eyes.

"My friends, never engage in simple, mechanical, and repetitive labor during the years when you should be studying the most. It might seem like you're earning some money and gaining a bit of freedom, but you lose the greatest possibilities in life, the opportunity to stack value onto yourself, and the energy and instinct for deep thinking.

"When one day you finally wake up completely from your numb and sluggish dreams and shed tears without warning, it is never because your life is good or bad, but rather because you suddenly begin to ache for yourself, having endured so many unnecessary hardships all these years.

"Now, let us re-examine this question: What on earth can studying bestow upon us?

"The answer is simple: the light deep within our hearts."

Wang Tong read the entire text in one breath. For a long time, he couldn't speak, feeling a heavy tightness in his chest.

Although he had attended university and his current job was quite good, he hadn't given his all during the time he should have worked the hardest, and he had made many wrong choices.

At this moment, reading such an article, his psychological defenses were ruthlessly shattered.

Unconsciously, Wang Tong touched his face, which was no longer as smooth as it once was, and a thought arose, refusing to be dismissed: If I could return to the starting point, would I rebel once more, or would I study diligently?

The answer leaped out fiercely, without a single second of hesitation, making him realize that Fang Xinghe's article would achieve yet another sensational success...

Wang Tong remained calm for a long time.

This emotional turbulence led him to ask a rather amateurish question.

"Fang Xinghe, this article is so righteous, unlike your previous rebellious works. Can you explain why?"

Because every article I write has a different strategic objective, obviously. What else?

Fang Xinghe found it amusing, so he genuinely smiled.

As a troll leader, he was quite casual in his daily life, but exceptionally purposeful and methodical in his work.

This article was fundamentally not meant for attracting fans.

Fan-oriented articles needed to be cool, trendy, and filled with intense emotions, but it was best to avoid preaching clichés.

Young kids didn't like reading that.

Yet "Added Value" was a stance, an attitude, a trumpet call, a banner.

It was written for adults.

——Look, I'm not just good at acting cool; when it counts, your boy here has a firm stance and a clear mind, making me a fine youth with a heart full of justice.

When the era needs me, I will naturally charge to the front lines.

Stance and action perfectly coincided at this moment.

Therefore, even though Fang Xinghe clearly had many ways to curse people and more aggressive writing styles available, he ultimately chose to simply and plainly reason things out, unlike the fierce and sharp tones of "Ignorant of Obedience" and "I Fought Fate."

With different objectives, the writing naturally required subtle adjustments. This wasn't a quality a standard writer needed to possess, but rather the unique ingenuity of a troll leader.

"I don't know how you people view rebellion."

Fang Xinghe calmly began his statement, presenting his righteousness before Wang Tong.

"In my view, rebellion is a resistance against injustice, fallacy, and hegemony.

"Although we young people often make our rebellious actions look childish and ridiculous because we cannot properly distinguish right from wrong most of the time, when it comes to the question of whether to study or not, we don't need to struggle to tell the difference—the right and wrong are self-evident.

"Faced with such an obvious fallacy, I oppose it. How is that not being rebellious?"

Wang Tong hadn't requested recording equipment, so he scribbled furiously with his pen. As he wrote, he suddenly discovered a blind spot.

He hurriedly asked, "But in the interview with the Youth Daily, you said: 'Whether you care or not is your own business.' I noticed that you hold a bystander's attitude toward other people's fates, yet now you've written an article urging people to study. Don't you think you're being contradictory?"

"Not contradictory."

Fang Xinghe shook his head, patiently drawing a distinction.

"When faced with things that hurt the eye, whether to curse or not is one thing, which depends entirely on my mood; what the outcome is, is another thing, which depends on the reader's mood.

"I write articles because I'm annoyed, but I don't force readers to obey. That is the true meaning of 'whether you care or not.'

"Even toward my friends, I only offer reminders rather than forcing them to do anything.

"I don't have that qualification, let alone that obligation.

"Abandon the savior complex and respect others' destinies—that is my unity of knowledge and action."

Wang Tong's eyes lit up as he eagerly and hastily pursued: "Actually, this ideology doesn't conform to our traditional values. Ancient Chinese philosophy emphasizes saving the world and caring for all under heaven, but you are exceptionally different.

"Therefore, some experts and professors criticize you for being selfish and holding an independent egoist ideology. How do you view these criticisms?"

Fang Xinghe smiled, then gently raised his chin, looking at Wang Tong with arrogant disdain.

"I am an egoist."