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0Erinome: Hello dear friends! Let's see what news is worth paying attention to today. Enceladus, I read something about university life in China. It seems... very strict.
Enceladus: Oh, really? What's happening? You know that? In my time, university was more free.
Erinome: Wow, yes. The article says in some universities, students have morning reading, must run in the morning, and have evening self-study until 9 PM. Their phones are taken away in class.
Enceladus: Haha, that sounds like high school! Um, why so strict?
Erinome: The schools want to become "shuangyiliu" – you know, top universities. They think strict rules help students study better for tests like the English CET-4. One student, Xiao Ai, says she gets up at 6:40 AM and is busy until 10 PM. She feels tired, like she's back in gaosan – the final year of high school.
Enceladus: Sad. I thought university was about freedom and exploring yourself. Some students even imagined it from TV dramas, like *Weiwei Yixiao Hen Qingcheng*. They thought the air there would smell sweet and free.
Erinome: But the reality is different. Another student, Mingming, tried to skip morning reading. If she does, her name is shown in the class WeChat group. She must write an 800-word self-criticism report. She is very angry.
Enceladus: Oh no. What about playing games or going out?
Erinome: Some schools check if students play online games during study time. And leaving campus needs three levels of approval! A student wanted to climb a mountain to see the sunrise on a Saturday. He called his teacher late at night. The teacher said okay, but later scolded him in front of everyone.
Enceladus: That's... not funny. A student named Canglang didn't laugh. He doesn't understand why a university student can't climb a mountain on Saturday. He thought university would be like in the movie *Dead Poets Society*.
Erinome: Yes. Many students feel a sense of... emptiness. They miss the curiosity from high school. Now, classes are quiet. Many students just look at their phones or do math exercises. They talk about grades and how to get into graduate school.
Enceladus: So it's like another four years of high school? A "kaoyan gongchang" – a factory for the postgraduate entrance exam?
Erinome: Exactly. Even the teachers feel pressure. There are counselors, like Luo Yu and Wang Ran. Their job is very hard now. They must approve many student requests to leave campus. Parents message them all the time, asking "Is my child eating?" or "What is my child doing?"
Enceladus: Wow, parents are very involved. The counselors must also fill out many, many forms. They call it "liuhen cailiao" – leaving a trace for proof. They spend 80% of their time on paperwork, not talking with students.
Erinome: Yes. Counselor Wang Ran even learned to play the game *Wangzhe Rongyao* to talk better with students! He needed to find a student once, and the roommate found him in the game's "Wangzhe Xiagu".
Enceladus: Haha, that's creative! But also a bit sad. The relationship is not like friends anymore. One student even told a counselor, "If you don't approve my leave, and something happens to me outside, you will be in big trouble."
Erinome: The counselor asked where he learned that. The student said, "From Douyin comments." Um... There is also a psychology teacher, Jiang Xin. She wants students to find happiness and explore "who they are." But at a new student ceremony, school leaders said students must work very hard, that this is just the beginning.
Enceladus: So what did Teacher Jiang do?
Erinome: She quickly deleted some pages from her PPT. She wanted to say students can try a gap year, fall in love, skip some classes if they take responsibility, follow their interests... But she felt she couldn't say it. She only talked about the idea of "self-identity." The students didn't really respond.
Enceladus: That is very... complex. The students, the teachers, everyone seems a bit trapped. They are all trying to complete their KPI.
Erinome: Yes. The article asks: when university life lacks freedom, how can students explore their unknown selves in limited space?
Enceladus: A big question. Okay, that's it for today. Let's talk again next time.
