Wang Xiaoliang held his cup and rubbed his fingers along its rim. Fine, he would tell it, honestly. There was no point embellishing his little mess of a life. Competing with someone like Fan Qishan was pointless. The man could hold a standing stance for two hours as though it were nothing, while he fell apart after nine minutes. What was there to compete over?
If the story was dull, then dull it would be.
"Where should I start? Let's start with the high school entrance exams. Before that, my body hadn't developed, and apparently neither had my brain."
"I did pretty well on the entrance exams and got into No. 1 High School. It went straight to my head. I thought I was something special."
What had his mindset been back then? He thought that if the sky fell, someone tall would hold it up, and he was that someone. Everyone who got into No. 1 High School was the best of the best. He walked with a swagger, and even his relatives changed what they called him. He wasn't Xiaoliang anymore. He was "the college student."
"Then came the first semester finals in my first year."
He paused and set his teacup on the table.
"Bottom of the entire grade."
The instant he got his papers back, his head buzzed and his ears rang. The sounds of classmates turning pages, sighing, and quietly celebrating all crowded together, choking him until he could barely breathe.
"There was a parent-teacher meeting. My dad went."
His father hadn't said a word that evening after coming home. He just sat in the living room, silent, sighing. His mother washed dishes in the kitchen, the plates clattering especially loudly. He knew she was unhappy but didn't want to upset him.
"The teacher called