[1] While in high school, Guo began publishing articles online under the pen name Disiwei (“Fourth Dimension”), which earned him the nickname Xiao Si (“Little Four”).
Since his first novel, On the Edge of Love and Pain (2002), he has established himself as a commercially successful yet critically polarizing writer in China, with bestsellers such as Ice Fantasy (2003), Rush to the Dead Summer (2006), Cry Me a Sad River (2007), and the Tiny Times trilogy (2008–2012).
[4] Guo's writing talent emerged during his middle school years, as he avidly read Chinese literature and Wuxia fiction, particularly works by Jin Yong and Gu Long.
The contemporary poem expresses Guo's personal feelings of melancholy during his school years, for which he received 10 RMB (approximately 1.5 US dollars) as payment from the magazine.
[1] On Christmas Day in 2003, Guo gathered five of his close friends in the newest McDonald's in Shanghai, decided to establish a writing studio called "Island."
Since then, Guo has launched his writing and business career, becoming one of China's most successful publishers and managers in the young adult literature market.
[1][3] In 2007, he was voted on Tianya.com, one of the country's biggest online forums, as China's "most hated male celebrity" for the third year in a row.
[3][6] Guo, nevertheless, said people criticized him because they had never read his book, so he would not pay attention to their false judgments, though he hated to be misunderstood.
[1] On December 21, 2020, Guo and Yu Zheng were named in a joint letter signed by 111 Chinese film and television industry insiders.
The letter called for an immediate end to the publicity and promotion of the two, citing their history of plagiarism and misconduct, and urged adjustments to the related variety shows they were currently participating in.
[9] On December 31, 2020, after more individuals joined signing the letter, Guo and Yu Zheng each issued apologies through their respective Weibo accounts.