After failing, for the 27th time, the “gaokao”, the terrible Chinese exam which gives access to university, the Chinese millionaire Liang Shi wonders, at 56, if he will ever be able to realize his dream of entering at Sichuan University. However, Liang Shi can be proud of his social success, having started his career with a menial job in a factory before founding his own building materials company, which flourished and made him a millionaire.
But the fifty-year-old has always kept a frustration, that of not having obtained a sufficient mark in the “gaokao” to be able to integrate the prestigious University of Sichuan, the province of south-west China where he lives. After having failed the exam for the first time at the age of 16, this obstinate man had retaken it, always in vain, nearly ten times, before having to stop, having reached the age limit (25 years old). ) imposed at the time.
Months of “monk life”
As soon as this limit was lifted in 2001, Liang Shi thought he had another chance. And this year he was on his 27th attempt, tried each time after months of “life as a monk”: getting up every day at dawn to spend 12 hours a day in school books, no alcohol, no distractions, not even mah-jong, his favorite game, with his friends.
And late Friday night, like hundreds of thousands of high school students in his province, he rushed to the internet to see his results. Along with a number of journalists who now follow him every year. Even before seeing his score, he understood from their disappointed look that he had once again failed.
Last attempt?
The result of this year makes him doubt. “I thought that I would not have a high enough score to enter Sichuan University. But I did not expect that my score would not allow me to enter any university, even the lowest rated ones,” he told AFP. Until now, he had never been discouraged, announcing every year immediately that he would retake the exam the following year.
“But if I really don’t see any improvement, I tell myself that it may not be worth trying anymore. I really worked very hard every day. I don’t know for the moment if I’m going to try it again next year, ”he admitted with a tired look. On the other hand, he finds it hard to imagine giving up. “If I stop showing up for gaokao, every cup of tea I drink for the rest of my life will taste like regret.”