Explore "China's Son" by Da Chen on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Cousin Tan locked himself up in the attic on the day the results of the examinations came out. The pressure was so great that he hadn't eaten for days, and he had been suffering a mild depression since taking the test. He had tried alcohol. It didn't help. Then he had slept and slept, with the team leader laughing outside his window, calling him crazy. We were all worried. Then one day Tan had emerged suddenly, throwing himself into farmwork. He kept silent about the test and shut his mouth whenever anyone talked about college. He was an angry mute, immersed in his own world. He had lost weight and looked forty, even though he was only in his early thirties.
His excellent scores sent shock waves through Yellow Stone. Tan cried as the results were slipped under the door of his hideout. He at first refused to open the envelope. When he eventually did, he let out a piercing scream and danced downstairs to meet his beaming family.