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Set in modern-day Shanghai, the film follows Lu Min (played by Xiao Bo), a high school student facing the pressure of the college entrance exam. Without a privileged background, his hopes for a better future rest entirely on getting into a top university. His mother, Fangfang (played by Song Dandan), is a thrifty housewife obsessed with winning prizes from TV quiz shows—nearly every appliance in their home comes from her efforts. His father, Dayi (played by Fu Biao), struggles to find stable work after being laid off, failing one re-employment program after another. After briefly landing a job as a bar companion, he ends up in the hospital due to poor alcohol tolerance. Each member of the family is caught in their own test of life, navigating hardship with resilience, like countless ordinary families striving to hold on.
Director
Writer
Status
Released
Original Language
ZH

Ma Chenggang, a wealthy man in Xihong City, worries that his eldest son is too spoiled to succeed him. Determined to raise a capable successor, he takes an unconventional approach. They conceal their wealth, moving the family to a dilapidated neighborhood, and maintain an illusion of poverty, so that his son could develop qualities such as hard work, knowledge, careful budgeting, physical fitness, and perseverance.

A socially-awkward, home-schooled kid forces his way into public school against his suffocating, but loving, mother's wishes.