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It wasn’t enough again: successful contractor Liang Shi persistently attempted the dreaded Gaokao, the Chinese university entrance exam and, according to Chinese state media, “the world’s most difficult” of its kind, a total of 27 times.

But this time too, he received too few points for a place at his dream university. “That’s it for this year,” the 56-year-old said in a live stream as he reviewed his results in front of disappointed spectators. “Very sad.”

Now the self-made millionaire doubts whether he will ever make it to the famous Sichuan University. Because although he lived like an “ascetic monk” for months, Liang missed 34 points this year to even be admitted to a university. “If I really don’t see much hope of improvement, there’s no point in doing it again. I really worked very hard every day,” he said wearily.

successful life

Overall, Liang had a successful life – working his way up from a menial job in a factory to starting his own building materials business, earning millions in the process. But his dreams to study have been denied him until now.

In pursuit of a prestigious college education, he completed 12-hour study days, said he abstained from alcohol and mahjong games, and was ridiculed in online media. “It’s an uncomfortable thought that I never made it to university,” Liang told AFP ahead of the exam. “I really want to become an intellectual.”

13 million took the exam

A record 13 million students studied for the exam that year. The Gaokao is considered the most important exam in many Chinese people’s lives. It often allows one to join the country’s educated elite and significantly influence one’s career path. Every year, a lot of effort is put into the maximum four-day exams to prevent examinees from cheating and to get them to the tests on time.

Whether he will make a 28th attempt next year and write the dreaded multi-day test again is “hard to say,” Liang said. But then “every cup of tea would taste like regret”. (sda/afp)