The Good College Student

Introduction

The Wang family valued education and believed in making a success through learning. Wang Shuangquan's grandfather had studied at a traditional private school, and his father was an elementary school teacher. In the early 1980s, few rural families had such a strong educational background. Shuangquan's name meant that he would excel in both the literary and martial arts.

In China, where officialdom holds a deep-rooted prestige, what family, in the city or the countryside, does not want its children to succeed through education? Going to university, or living by the belief that academic excellence leads to a career in government, has been an ingrained aspiration among ordinary people for thousands of years. In elementary school, Wang Shuangquan was proud that his background was better than that of many classmates, and he earned good grades. His path through school seemed easy on the surface, but in reality, failing the high school entrance exam, having to choose an expensive high school, and falling in love with Li Lin only to have it end in failure nearly drove him to despair.

Wang Shuangquan had tremendous determination and resolved to be an honest, down-to-earth person. Looking back on the past, he wanted to make better use of the present. In high school, he would rather be scolded by his parents than lie to them with fake grades. Years later, he finally found his place in the world.