Generation Z Artists

Chapter 128 Big News with a Simple Move

In all the other Southeast Asian countries, Fang Xinghe received official receptions and greetings, except in Singapore.

Only the publishers were waiting at the airport.

The publishing house in Singapore is called Times Publishing Group, which is not the same as Time Magazine, but they have the same name.

Deputy Manager Chen Guanghua warmly opened his arms: "Welcome to Singapore, Mr. Pride of the Chinese Community!"

There's nothing wrong with their attitude.

Fang Xinghe extended his hand, refusing the hug: "Hello, Mr. Chen, thank you for your hospitality."

Looking at the small, insignificant reception team in front of them, the CCTV documentary production team showed a look of disappointment.

It's no exaggeration to say that, including Fang Xinghe's bodyguard team and production crew members, the number of people who came was twice that of the people who were supposed to receive them, which shows how perfunctory the other party was.

This made the production team, who were very popular in Southeast Asia, very uncomfortable.

Chen Guanghua did not explain any of this, choosing instead to avoid the topic.

"Mr. Fang, your book is a bestseller in Singapore! It's practically a historic bestseller for Chinese books. Your fans in Singapore are eagerly anticipating your arrival..."

This is the truth.

As Fang Xinghe emerged from the terminal and headed towards the airport's VIP passage, he finally felt the warmth.

The airport terminal was divided into several areas, each packed with hundreds of fans. As soon as they saw Fang Xinghe, they screamed wildly.

"Fang Xinghe!"

"Fang Shen!"

"gray!"

"husband!"

It's here! The classic dream girl's husband is screaming with excitement!

Fang Xinghe felt that this was finally right. The fans in Southeast Asia didn't shout like that—or perhaps they did, but didn't understand because of the language barrier.

Now, finally, some fans are shouting "husband" in Chinese, which makes Fang Xinghe truly feel the silly and funny nature of his crazy fans.

I walked on, waving to them all the way.

The fans' voices grew increasingly frenzied, their shouts grew louder, and their aura rapidly transformed into something deeper.

Every female fan who has seen Fang Xinghe in person goes crazy.

Amidst screams, some female fans even fainted and were rushed away by security guards for treatment.

Today, the airport was well prepared, and all necessary measures were taken in a timely manner.

This proves one thing—the local government is well aware of Fang Xinghe's power and the buzz his Southeast Asia trip has generated.

However, the authorities remain unwilling to come forward, and their attitude is extremely... indifferent.

Upon arriving at his hotel, Fang Xinghe turned on the television and tuned it to MediaCorp Channel 8, Singapore's main Chinese-language channel at the time.

The TV is showing Fann Wong's version of Swordsman.

If Fang Xinghe were to speak frankly, her ancient costume appearance was really rather ugly.

On the one hand, her temperament is not suitable for period dramas. The core reason is that the proportions of her facial features are not harmonious enough. In terms of the three courts and five eyes, the upper court is too long, the middle and lower courts are too narrow, the eyes are long and narrow, and the proportions are further unbalanced. She has high cheekbones, a low nose bridge and wide nostrils, and the shape of several important facial muscles is also not ideal.

Compared to Fat Fairy... well, it's not worth using a Gundam to fight a small monster. Xu Qing's Ren Yingying in the next year or two will be more than enough to crush her.

But she is indeed the "most beautiful woman" in Singapore at this moment, a "national treasure-level actress", and an "Asian queen who excels in both film and television".

The above titles are all from Singapore media and roughly represent public opinion.

"A poor, desolate place."

Fang Xinghe curled his lip and sneered, not targeting Sister Fan personally, but simply expressing his displeasure at being left out in the hotel.

The book signing event didn't start until the afternoon, and apart from Zhao Guanghua, no one paid any attention to him.

Charlie was furious.

"This is outrageous! Why isn't there even a reception?!"

Around noon, Zhao Guanghua, on behalf of the Times Publishing Group, hosted a banquet for Fang Xinghe and his entourage—actually, it was just a single table at the hotel's Chinese restaurant.

Does Brother Fang need this meal?
Zhao Guanghua tried his best to smooth things over and ease the atmosphere, but Fang Xinghe ate quietly and didn't respond much, so the atmosphere remained very cold.

After a bland meal, we went upstairs to rest for a while before setting off.

"what happened?"

As documentary director Wang Bin sat in Fang Xinghe's car, he asked with some concern.

"No big deal."

Fang Xinghe waved his hand dismissively and turned to look out the window. Just then, after the car turned onto Orchard Road, a group of American soldiers walked across the sidewalk, chatting and laughing, filling the road.

Fang Xinghe curled his lips into a smile: "Looks like I scared them..."

As a documentary director for CCTV, Wang Bin naturally possessed a certain political sensitivity and asked with a sudden realization, "Is it because of that new-US agreement?"

"It's almost the same."

"What new US-China agreement?"

As an American, Charlie Wang was completely unaware of this matter.

Fang Xinghe gave him a brief explanation.

On April 20th of this year, Singapore and the United States officially signed the Naval Base Agreement, which explicitly allows the U.S. military to provide logistical support to the Seventh Fleet from Changi Naval Base.

As a result, since the beginning of this year, US aircraft carriers have frequently docked in Singapore, bringing a unique feature to the area – US soldiers.

Against this historical backdrop, Fang Xinghe put forward the idea of ​​cultural warfare, which was aimed directly at the leaders of Western culture and civilization. It is not surprising that Po County pretended to be deaf and dumb.

Although both are located in Southeast Asia, interestingly, the grand cultural movements that have taken place in Southeast Asian countries have never occurred in Singapore.

Da Fang was unaware of this. He hadn't paid much attention to Singapore when he was working as an online troll. Only now did he realize that Singapore was far more...closed and conservative than he had thought.

Wang Chali was also stunned: "Good heavens, so this is what happens when the authorities treat you like a monster?"

"more or less."

Fang Xinghe turned his head to look out the window at the extremely bustling city center.

At this moment, Singapore is one of the most developed cities in Asia, comparable to Tokyo, and far superior to Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai.

The roads are clean and tidy, high-rise buildings stand side by side, pedestrians are dressed fashionably, and luxury cars come and go in an endless stream.

The so-called land of freedom is actually more like a tightly sealed cage.

Everything that happened next completely confirmed Fang Xinghe's feeling.

The autograph session was held at Orchard Central, a newly built, trendy, modern, and spacious shopping mall in Singapore with a strong artistic atmosphere.

The shopping mall made extensive preparations for Fang Xinghe's arrival, with tight security, a beautifully set-up autograph booth, a spacious media area in front, and an exquisitely designed backdrop. Several luxury brands sponsored the event, displaying their logos on the wall panels.

Chen Guanghua asked with a hint of pride, "Mr. Fang, how is it? Are you satisfied with our preparations?"

“Excellent.” Fang Xinghe nodded. “From a hardware perspective, this is the most satisfying autograph session venue for me, and also the most beautiful autograph session environment.”

However, the number of media outlets... only three in total attended.

Lianhe Zaobao and two foreign media bureaus in Singapore – one affiliated with Thailand and the other with Vietnam.

No one from the local TV station came, and no cameras were set up. The CCTV production team easily took the best spot, set up two cameras, one to film Fang Xinghe directly, and the other to film the fans from the second floor.

A lot of fans came.

Two long lines of people, thronged out of the mall and snaked like gluttonous snakes, guided by the barriers.

Therefore, it cannot be said that Fang Xinghe encountered a cold reception in Singapore. On the contrary, he has an astonishing number of female fans in Singapore, accounting for as much as 85%. The enthusiasm of his fans is no less than that of Southeast Asia, and may even be greater.

However, this is only at the grassroots level. From an official perspective, Fang Xinghe's visit to Po County seems more like an unspeakable trouble.

The official control over Singapore was fully demonstrated in this book signing event and subsequent reports.

There's not much to write about the signing team itself; it's the same as always—screaming, trembling, incoherent, and fans going crazy one after another…

When facing each other across a table, very few female fans can remain calm.

They often blushed, half of them covering their mouths and the other half their faces, rambling incoherently about words of support or admiration.

Fang Xinghe usually just smiles reservedly and says, "Thank you for your support."

Unless he encounters someone with whom he can have a normal conversation, he will respond with a sentence or two, or ask a question or two in return.

For example, the following dialogue: "High school? University?"

"University! National University of Singapore, Department of Economics!"

"Am I somewhat popular at your school?"

"Not just a little! You're super, super, super popular! Half the girls in our class like you!"

"why?"

"Because you're more handsome than Louis Koo!"

……

"I keep thinking about my third year of junior high..."

"You guys really like 'The Snow in the Dark Night'?"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

"why?"

"Huh? No, no, no, there's no reason, it's just that I like them all..."

……

After talking for a while, the situation became extremely clear.

The Singaporean fans are mainly female, with half being fans of her looks and the other half being fans of her appearance; there are no so-called fans of her ideals.

Ordinary people in Po County know very little about him, and are even unaware of his specific experiences.

Only the most fervent fans could piece together the full picture of Fang Xinghe's rise through the domestic internet.

By the way, my collection of essays, "My Youth," was not published in Singapore.

Of course, this doesn't stop fans in Singapore from buying the mainland version and shipping it back directly, but ordinary people almost never see it, have little chance of getting it, and not many people know about it.

On the contrary, "Azure Night Snow" received a certain degree of official promotion.

After it became a bestseller, there was also a lot of discussion in the newspapers.

Mainstream media offered a very "objective" commentary on the domestic living environment, developmental difficulties, and anti-corruption pressures, while also praising Fang Xinghe and expressing regret that he was born in mainland China...

Overall, the public opinion environment here is really "strange".

After the book signing ended, I went back to the hotel to rest and take a nap when Mr. Ding rushed over.

"Xinghe, is there a problem with tomorrow's opening ceremony?"

"No problem, why do you ask?"

"Um, I noticed that there's no news about you on TV at all..."

“No, there isn’t, but so what?” Fang Xinghe glanced at him lightly and laughed. “My billboard is there, and that’s enough.”

That's definitely enough.

Xtep and Jeanswest opened stores across the pedestrian street, each renting an 8×24 meter space and hanging a huge poster of Fang Xinghe.

On the left is a poster of Fann Wong, on the right is Ronaldo, and next door, a small portrait of Stefanie Sun is displayed in the L'Oréal window.

Despite the media's lack of enthusiasm for Fang Xinghe's arrival, the fans were incredibly enthusiastic, packing the pedestrian street to capacity for the opening ceremony the following day.

On this day, Xtep achieved a sales miracle.

The Galaxy One shoes, priced at 99 Singapore dollars, sold a total of 4000 pairs in one day, including 3000 women's pairs and 1000 men's pairs.

The store across the street, Jeanswest, is quietly making a fortune, with its shelves emptied several times.

The ice cream shop next door, the Starbucks next door, and the dessert shop next door all hitched a ride, making for a tiring but happy day.

The Nike store across the street was deserted, with salespeople lined up, peering at Fang Xinghe's figure through the glass windows.

During this time, in order to maintain order, Fang Xinghe came out of the store several times and stood on the small stage at the entrance, asking everyone not to crowd or get agitated and to pay attention to safety.

It did have some effect; fans did start to pay attention to order. However, every time he appeared, more passersby stopped and stood there asking, "Who's that? Who's that?"

The pedestrian street became increasingly congested as a result, with many passersby having nothing better to do than wait nearby, hoping to catch another glimpse of Fang Xinghe up close.

The value of a 99-point appearance rating still perfectly illustrates what it means to be "nothing special online, but breathtaking and mind-numbingly blank offline".

The official control over Po County is indeed very tight. They don't like Fang Xinghe, so no matter how high his commercial value is, no media outlets give him positive coverage, only perfunctory responses.

However, they cannot control humanity's appreciation of beauty.

Those casual observers who weren't fans at all, who had only caught a glimpse of the figure on the small stage from afar, began to yearn to see him again.

'I can break through your blockade with my own strength.'

Fang Xinghe thought this way, so he would show himself every hour, working diligently.

As a result of the excessive congestion, around 4 p.m., a very unpleasant little incident suddenly occurred.

A group of six American soldiers appeared on the pedestrian street.

They walked against the flow of people, and while passersby tried their best to avoid them, it was still so crowded that they occasionally bumped into each other.

Arriving near the Xtep store, in the most crowded area, this group of elderly men couldn't take it anymore.

“Fuck, what the hell are these people doing?”

Another person turned to look at the small stage. Fang Xinghe happened to be walking out of the shop and shrugged: "Who knows? Seems like some pretty-boy celebrity is hosting an event."

One of the tall, muscular white men suddenly shoved aside the thin man beside him who was already trying to get out of the way, yelling, "Get lost! Don't block the way!"

The man staggered backward, and amidst the gasps of the crowd behind him and their hurried scrambling to get out of the way, he crashed into the edge of the stage with a thud.

It was called a stage, but it was actually just a temporary wooden platform that reached waist height, covered with a red carpet, and was only about seven or eight square meters in size.

Fang Xinghe happened to walk to the center of the stage and saw this scene.

Fang Xinghe's smiling face instantly turned gloomy.

Seeing such a scene, probably no Chinese person could be happy.

Generation Z especially dislikes the idea that the first island chain belongs to us, and the second island chain also belongs to us. In their generation, a warlike mentality had already been brewing in the hearts of all young people.

He quickly walked to the man's side, squatted down at the edge of the stage, and asked, "Fang Fen?"

The guy was taken aback for a moment, then nodded hesitantly.

Actually, he wasn't a fan of Fang Xinghe; he was just a passerby. But since Fang Xinghe had asked him that question, even though he didn't understand and was filled with grief and indignation, he would nod and admit it out of politeness.

Immediately afterward, amidst the astonished gazes of everyone around, Fang Xinghe stood up, pointed at the soldier who had pushed him, and coldly rebuked, "Hey! Apologize!"

The soldiers were stunned, the thin man was stunned, and the surrounding fans were also stunned.

Bro, are you really that brave?!
The next moment, the soldier laughed angrily, raised both his middle fingers, and charged at Fang Xinghe, taunting, "*** you! Yellow Monkey!"

Fang Xinghe coldly stared back at him, refusing to back down: "White trash."

The soldiers were enraged.

It's not just because of the sweeping label "white pollution," but also because on this land where everyone thinks they are superior, they have been insulted as an "inferior race."

They immediately pushed through the crowd and rushed to the stage.

The surrounding crowd screamed in fright, but Fang Xinghe instead revealed a sinister yet gleeful smile.

This wretched place made him feel extremely oppressed. The authorities clearly didn't welcome him, yet a group of bandits were swaggering around and causing chaos.

Even though this may be the most advantageous approach for family rule, why should I accept your reasoning?

If you've upset me, I'm going to find some fun for myself!

Fang Xinghe had absolute confidence in his fighting ability.

It depends on who practices the kung fu.

Jet Li has good coordination but no weight, good moves but no fighting style, and good speed but no power, so he can only look cool in movies.

Fang Xinghe is different. With 89 points in strength, agility, and speed, combined with 89 points in Bajiquan, Bagua, Pigua, Tongbei, and Chuojiao, he can basically hit someone in one strike.

There were a total of 6 people: two muscle-bound guys from weightlifting, two chubby idiots, and two technical soldiers from a warship.

They rushed onto the stage one by one, looking down from above, basically one per second.

The real point is... how to fight in a cool way!

Fang Xinghe's violent tendencies, inherited from Xiao Fang, and his desire to show off resonated together, and he was about to create a major news story in Singapore...

(End of this chapter)