Fùdú De Yì Nián

Lu Yuan misses medical school by four points. His mother, who sells steamed buns at dawn, pays for a repeat year at an exam-factory school in Hengshui: up at half past five, running drills, a hundred to a class. There he meets Xu Nuo, on her third attempt, whose hands shake in every exam -- and Teacher Ning, who never praises anyone and knows everything.