Recently, a pair of twins from Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province made headlines.
The oldest is a student at Peking University and the youngest at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, yet they both reportedly spent their summer holiday doing part-time jobs in their mother's factory, in order to experience their mother's life of hardship.
Though these twins have humble origins, with their father a taxi driver and their mother a worker in a scaffolding factory, both have brought pride to their family as they each gained exam-free admission to pursue their master's and doctoral degrees at prestigious universities in China.
Schooling
As undergraduates at Southeast University, they developed themselves into well-rounded students. They were involved in a number of activities ranging from academic competitions to sports competitions.
They attended university on a work-study basis to cover their living expenses, relieving their parents' financial burden. Furthermore, they were top students, one a National Scholarship Winner and the other a National Encouragement Scholarship winner.
Parenting
Many attribute the twins' achievements, to a certain extent, to their parents. After they were born, their parents focused on them, and endeavored to raise them to be well-educated people. When they were in school, their father worked about 10 hours every day to make ends meet, while their mother served as their caregiver.
What's more, they tried to create a laid-back atmosphere and meet their needs, such as going to cram schools. Despite the fact that tuition fees and living expenses overwhelmed them, they were strong believers that only education could ensure their children a promising future, so they fought hard to support their studies, and even shelved plans to purchase a home.
Their parents also set a good example for them to follow. While their father was just a high-school graduate, he liked reading poems to them and bought his children many books. When his kids encountered problems or setbacks, he would tell them inspiring stories to encourage and motivate them to move forward.
They enjoyed their mother's company. When they were elementary school students, their mother took them to school and picked them up, rain or shine. After school, she would accompany them when they were doing their homework and began to do housework after they went to sleep.
Above all, although the parents had great expectations for them, they never interfered in their choices.
A real experience of mother's life
It had been a long time since they came to their mother's factory. Their mother has been one of family breadwinners and she has exerted herself so much that she has a bent back, which has made the twins feel guilty.
Therefore, after gaining their postgraduate admission, they decided to work part-time in their mother's factory, to have a real experience of how hard it was for their parents to support them and also make some money at the same time. In the meantime, they hope they could soon give their parents a better life through their hard work.
Source：Chinadaily
