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| Schmuck Clem from Oklahoma |
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| Qiucai in Gansu Provence |
His teachers urged Qiucai to preserve the school’s reputation and “shine like the sun.” Signs posted in the hallways warned that students must tolerate a little pain now to avoid a “life of suffering.”
Since Qiucai began attending the school two years ago, his life has been a blur of late-night cram sessions, practice tests and mastering the art of finishing geometry problems while slurping noodles. He starts each day by running around a racetrack chanting, “The heavens reward industrious people!”
He attends classes until almost 10 p.m., with only a short break on Sundays, and lives nearby in a $32-a-month apartment with his mother, who cooks and cleans so that he can study full time.
