A Father's Love and the Meaning of the College Entrance Exam
Published: 16 Jun 2026
Published: 16 Jun 2026
Audio coming soon
Recently, a touching story emerged from Xinhua County in Loudi, Hunan Province. A white-haired father, wanting to meet his son after the college entrance exam, set out early in the morning, walked six or seven kilometers along mountain paths, and then rode a bus for nearly three hours to reach the exam site. The gift he brought was simple: eight ordinary farm eggs. A video of this quiet moment spread online and moved countless people across the country. The student's name is He Yonghui. He was born with a congenital illness and could not walk normally until middle school. His mother, worn down by years of worry over her child, lost her eyesight from crying. Despite all these hardships, He Yonghui worked extremely hard at his studies. His teachers said that based on his usual grades, getting into a first-tier university was well within reach. His dream school was Xiangtan University. After learning his story, Xiangtan University publicly announced that they would welcome his application and offered to arrange teachers to guide him through the enrollment process. He Yonghui's story attracted widespread attention, and many local businesses and kind-hearted individuals reached out hoping to offer support. People were moved because his story embodied a simple but powerful kind of strength: perseverance in the face of adversity, a parent's quiet devotion, and the collective effort of an entire family. These things cannot be measured in numbers, yet they touch almost everyone. Looking at this more deeply, stories like this remind people of what the college entrance exam truly means. The exam is not just a test — it represents a chance for fair competition. Regardless of one's background, hard work can lead to a changed destiny through the gaokao. When a child who has faced so many hardships walks into the same exam hall as everyone else and sits before the same test paper, that alone is already a remarkable achievement. Beyond the exam itself, there is also a broader support system in place. Xiangtan University mentioned that if He Yonghui enrolls, the school has a comprehensive financial aid system to ensure that students from difficult backgrounds can study without worry. According to statistics, from 2021 to 2024, over 630 million student aid grants were distributed nationwide, helping many economically disadvantaged students access higher education. The door the gaokao opens is not only one leading to university — it is a path toward a broader and more promising life. We wish He Yonghui success in reaching his dream, and we wish all students who have walked out of the exam hall a bright and wonderful future.