Fate Beneath Correction Tape

This is a true story about despair and redemption. Fifteen-year-old Li Xiuzhi scores 658 points on the high school entrance examination, ranking seventeenth in the county, but her father, greedy for a bride price, wants her to attend only a free high school. In secret, she writes "County No. 1 High School" in pencil in the third section of her application form. When her father discovers it, he tears the form to pieces. In despair, she attempts to drown herself in a river, but is fortunately rescued in the rain by her neighbor, Uncle Chen. Uncle Chen makes every effort to help and eventually contacts her maternal grandfather, a retired teacher. Her grandfather angrily slams his hand on the table, agrees to cover all the expenses, and successfully applies to correct her school-choice application. Xiuzhi finally enters County No. 1 High School and fights her way forward from a weak academic foundation. During her three years of high school, she gets up at half past five every morning and continues studying by flashlight even after the dormitory lights are turned off at night. The braised pork shared by her roommates, the basic exercise books given to her by her teachers, the scarf knitted by her grandfather, and the fifty yuan sent by Uncle Chen provide small but steady sources of warmth that support her journey. Three years later, when the university entrance examination results are released, her score is withheld from public view until mid-August: 710 points, first in the province in the science stream and first in the entire city. The physics department of Tsinghua University opens its doors to her. From sitting on a red plastic stool doing homework at the age of nine to holding her Tsinghua admission letter at nineteen, she walks a ten-year road through thorns. Using the pencil-written school application as its central thread, this novel portrays a rural girl's unyielding struggle against poverty, family upheaval, and prejudice. It also records how the people who quietly protected her, including her neighbor, grandfather, teachers, and classmates, use their limited strength to hold up a piece of sky for her. This is a work dedicated to everyone who lights a lamp for children in the darkness.