She underestimated the perseverance and determination of a mother and also underestimated Song Ge’s personal plan. Although the requirements for teachers in primary, middle, and high school may not be as high as those for university professors, she chose to skip these opportunities within the educational system and opted for the more challenging university route, perhaps because university teachers have more free time?

By the late 1990s, a university degree was already quite prestigious, but she chose to take this path again as a role model for her son. On reflection, isn’t it admirable?

Afterward, Song Ge began signing up for various graduate school entrance examination training institutions and organizing study materials. She truly took action rather than merely talking.

She had already graduated from a first-tier university with a major in Chinese, so when considering graduate studies, her focus was naturally in this field, with the goal of being admitted to the Chinese department’s graduate program at Changnan University in Ganxi Province.

So, after school and work, he would go to the tutoring class, and his mom would study at home. At the appointed time, he would go pick her up. After dinner, he would do his homework while his mom continued studying. They were both in the living room, leaning over the large dining table, each occupying half, without disturbing the other.

On weekends, he didn’t go out to play. Mom would attend class at the tutoring center, while Liang Quan stayed home to read, reading all kinds of books. He even cooked lunch because the class ran for two days straight, and there were no breaks during holidays, since she had to work on weekdays. Thus, she could only go to such tutoring classes on weekends and holidays.

This tutoring class was organized for working adults who had already entered the workforce, so their pressure was greater than that of non-working individuals. Consequently, whenever they had time, they would study non-stop, and many people withdrew during this grueling process.

According to Liang Junjie, if she wanted to be a teacher, she could just take the qualification test to become a primary school teacher given her level.

But Song Ge insisted otherwise. She didn’t directly point out the huge gap between primary school and university teacher salaries, only expressed her desire to pursue something better. If she didn’t succeed, she would then settle for less. What if she succeeded, right? All the hard work over these days wouldn’t be in vain.

However, Song Ge didn’t expect that this endeavor would last for three full years. The first year was testing the waters, and she was far from the required score. She felt she had room for improvement, so she spent money to persist in the second year. The results did improve, though still not enough. She thought that by persevering for one more year, she’d surely pass, and indeed, she did in the third year.

Though by this time she was already 31 years old, she didn’t feel embarrassed; instead, she felt proud. Moreover, her workplace encouraged academic advancement, so she officially began graduate study. Her company allowed her to leave without pay. After two years, at 33, Liang Quan graduated from primary school and entered a key middle school.

During her time at school, Song Ge obtained qualification certificates for primary, middle, and high school teaching, passing both the written and oral exams. In other words, she could now interview at various schools with these certificates.

But her target wasn’t these schools, it was university teaching.

Because there are two teacher qualification tests per year, during her second year of graduate studies, she obtained the high school qualification certificate in the first semester, and then took the university qualification test in the second semester, but didn’t pass. So the next year she continued to strive, until December of her 34th year when she officially received the employment form from Ganxi Normal University. She shed tears of joy for her six years of effort.

Even though she was consistently studying during these years, there were still winter and summer vacations, so she always stayed by Liang Quan’s side. During summer breaks, she would take him to play around the country, and in winter, take him to participate in summer camps, climb mountains, and ski, not only greatly improving his physical condition but also expanding his knowledge vastly.

In the spring of 2004, when school began, Song Ge became a real university professor, with salary and benefits even better than when she was a public servant.

Not only did Liang Quan admire her, but even her husband Liang Junjie was impressed. Especially inspired and motivated by his wife’s hard work, Liang Junjie also continued to study and improve his capabilities. Therefore, at 40, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.

If both parents worked so hard, how could Liang Quan fall behind?

Initially, middle school was structured as a four-year program since primary school lasted five years, but he participated in physics, chemistry, and biology competitions during middle school, earning first prizes in provincial competitions and first prize in a national English composition competition. He completed four years of middle school in just two years, and at 14, took the Middle School Entrance Examination in the summer, successfully entering a provincial key high school with no pressure at all. Who knows how much pride he brought to his parents?