It is difficult to have a school that can arouse such polarized emotions like Maotanchang Middle School. Those who hate it call it "hell", "concentration camp" and "question-answer machine factory". Those who love it can produce countless data to prove the greatness of this school, such as the undergraduate admission rate of 95.7%.
It is difficult to have a city that can be born entirely because of the college entrance examination like Maotanchang Town . The most luxurious hotel in the town is called "Jin Zhuangyuan", and the second is "Xuefu Hotel". Walking on the road, you can see small advertisements on white background and red letters of "renting student houses" everywhere on the wall. The closer you are to the school, the better the rental business of residential buildings; the clothing store bids "sending the exam and wearing cheongsams, winning the flag" to recruit mothers. Most of the clothes are priced at 67.8 yuan (admission) and 167 yuan (admission) to get a prize; the huge advertisement of the property says "Shang Maozhong rents a house, the first choice is xx park"... Everything in Maotanchang Town revolves around the college entrance examination.
As the college entrance examination approaches, Maotanchang was once again sent to the hot spot like a conditioned reflex, and his eyes once again focused on this remote Anhui West town. And we try to observe the college entrance examination life of this college entrance examination factory and the candidates and parents from online shopping and express parcels.
There is a saying that the shopping cart is filled with people’s most real desires, and similarly, express parcels also record the marks of their lives here. Under the closed and militarized management of Maotan Factory, online shopping and express delivery are the only channels for them to contact the outside world, and it is also a mirror for us to observe this college entrance examination factory.
package life
At 12:02 noon, Xiao Zhu, a first-year high school student from Maotanchang Middle School (hereinafter referred to as Maozhong), rushed into Wang Liang's express station, pushed the left sleeve of the school uniform upward, revealing a string of numbers - the number of the package he wanted to take. Wang Liang checked the package with the number, and Xiao Zhu was spinning around the store, anxiously repeatedly pressing the top of the ballpoint pen.
"I'm still ten minutes late, hurry up." The sound of spring replacement in the ballpoint pen urges like a countdown.
Wang Liang and Xiao Zhu
Wang Liang has long been accustomed to such urging. In the "largest college entrance examination factory in Asia", the students have less than 40 minutes of rest at noon. They have to go back to school to study before 12:20, so no matter what they do, they seem to be pressed on the fast forward key, including three meals a day.
Every time this time, electric vehicles equipped with various plastic windshields drive out of the alley. Some parents accompany their parents to deliver lunch boxes to the school gate, and their children swallowed while standing, while their parents held electric fans to cool down their children. Some of them took their children who had finished class to "home" and then sent them back after they finished their meal.
Lunch time Parents and children at the school gate
is also at this point in time, Wang Liang's express delivery point ushered in the most lively moment of the day.
Xiaolin, who is in her second year of high school, came over with her classmate’s electric car and picked up the nutritional milk powder she bought online. Wang Liang recognized her at a glance. Once she notified her to come and get the express delivery. She couldn’t make a phone call in four or five days and had to return the exam.
delivers express delivery at Maotan Factory, and it is difficult to keep in touch with students. The school explicitly prohibits students from bringing mobile phones to the school. Wang Liang met a student who came to get the express delivery a month later, and there were also students who called at one or two o'clock in the evening to ask where the express delivery was, because this time happened to be their rest time after night reading.
Once, a student came to the store to pick up the imitation version of the Apple phone. The cash on delivery. He just touched the phone and happened to have the head teacher also came to pick up the express delivery. The head teacher pulled him back to school without saying a word and called his parents to suspend classes. Wang Liang was left with a messy face. Before he paid the money, he had to negotiate with the seller to return the phone.
Because Maotanchang Middle School prohibits students from bringing mobile phones, many e-commerce purchasing agent stores have been born around the school. Students and parents place orders in the store through Taobao and Tmall platform, and the store charges purchasing fees. There have been reports that the e-commerce purchasing agent store here can earn 30,000 yuan a day when it is the craziest.
But with the popularity of mobile phones, Maotanchang's e-commerce purchasing business is no longer as good as before. When we found a purchasing agent store and tried to talk to the boss, we were immediately rejected. The boss shook his hands repeatedly and signaled us to walk away.Wang Liang explained that the boss thought that the media had ruined his job. If there were too many reports, there would naturally be more people and the business would be worse.
Maotanchang Group Rental Corner
In sharp contrast to the purchasing agent store, Wang Liang's express delivery business was not only not affected at all, but also changed from 1 store to 3 large stores, becoming the largest express delivery site in the town with the largest area and largest volume.
Wang Liang’s express station, on Zongying Road, the only three express stations in the town are all on this road. Zongying Road belongs to the "inner ring and outside" and is not in the prime location closest to Maotanchang Middle School. It takes more than ten minutes for students to walk over. However, the site has been operating for 4 years and has 8 employees. The daily delivery volume is nearly 2,000 votes and 200 votes received, which is 10 times the increase from the beginning.
"When will I get a first-class student, when will I leave?"
Wang Liang, born in 1990, has a baby face and lives in the urban area of Lu'an . He retired after staying in a certain army in Jiangsu for 5 years. When he returned to his hometown, he found that there was no courier here, and he couldn't do anything except driving. He simply went to Maotan Factory to open a courier site to represent Best Express and another brand of courier.
Wang Liang attributed the success of the express delivery site to the parents who accompanied the study. The package signature columns in the store said "XXXX" and "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The express delivery store is surrounded by Jinxiu Taoliyuan and Yulong Community. He estimated that at least 9,000 parents accompanying their parents live here, as well as parents from Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu and Sichuan.
According to statistics, the first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first-level first- Such high admission rate is like a myth that attracts parents from all over the country to continue. At present, there are more than 30,000 students studying in Maozhong and more than 20,000 parents accompanying them. Departure by car, it is 546 kilometers away from Shanghai and 1,095 kilometers away from Beijing. Parents who hope to be a son and a son believe that getting into a good university can help their children go to big cities.
Wang Liang
There is a parent wearing headphones who never talks when picking up the item. He asked him the number and handed it over to the couriers to see it by themselves. Every time he would retreat to the tail of the crowd, and the last pickup was the one. Before picking up the item, he would nod or bow to the courier.
Later, Wang Liang and the others realized that the parent was a disabled person and could not speak. He did not want to influence others' efficiency in getting express delivery because of himself. Once, when it came to Double 11, the number of express delivery increased sharply and it took a long time to pick up the items. The parent waited silently for more than an hour without urging. In the end, the courier found him and took the initiative to give him priority to pick up the items.
The parent that Wang Liang knew the longest time ago. Since he opened the store, he has been studying with him. Every year, Wang Liang would joke, "Don't come again next year, I don't want to see you." As a result, he could still see him the next year. When will his child get a first-class exam before he will leave.
Parents who accompany their studies will also find some part-time jobs in the town, including those who go to tailor shops and snack shops, those who go to supermarkets and clothing stores to work as shopping guides, and those who come to work as part-time couriers.
Master Jiang worked part-time at Wang Liang’s Best Express
Master Jiang worked part-time at Wang Liang’s express store. His hometown is Chuzhou, Anhui. Last year, my son was not satisfied with the second-tier university entrance examination, so he took the initiative to ask his father to come to Maotan Factory to repeat the school. At first, my son was alone in Maotan Factory, Master Jiang operated a express delivery outlet in Nanjing, and his wife opened a store in her hometown.
A few months later, Master Jiang heard about his loneliness from his son's phone. He guessed that his son also wanted to have parents accompany him to study, so he handed over the outlets in Nanjing to his brother-in-law and went to Maotanchang to accompany his son. In this way, he would earn at least more than 100,000 yuan less every year.
The school has regulations that if you are late in the morning, you will be fined to stand for one day, so at 5:50 every day, Master Jiang couldn't beat him and called his son to get up. Usually it is lunch and dinner time, loaches, 600 and shrimps are different ways to make their son's favorite dishes. As the college entrance examination approaches, his menu tends to be vegetarian and mainly light.
A year after coming to Maotan Factory, Master Jiang was only invited once, and his son lost more than 100 points in the monthly exam. The teacher bluntly said that he would not be able to get into college if he did this. Master Jiang and his son issued a guarantee letter in the office.
The only time I walked into the class was because of heavy rain, and Master Jiang was allowed to go in and deliver an umbrella."No one in the 153-person class spoke and made no sound." Master Jiang marked his son's name at the handle of the umbrella and placed it by the door, and was embarrassed to say hello and left.
In the afternoon, Master Jiang worked part-time to deliver express delivery, and he could deliver 200 pieces a day and earn 2,000 yuan a month, which happened to be the living expenses of the father and son. Master Jiang wanted to use this action to let his son see that life is achieved through hard work and his father is working hard. "When he graduates, I will graduate." Master Jiang seemed to have a picture of the future before his eyes, and he smiled.
peak hours
Street, you can see short-term recruitment advertisements for "suitable for parents to accompany students". In Maotanchang Town, there are more than 10 clothing processing factories and more small workshops. Accompanying mothers are the main labor force in this type of industry.
In the small clothing workshop opposite Wang Liang's store, Aunt Wei with short hair and three other female workers were busy threading needles and sewing with hooks. Aunt Wei is the recognized parcel king in the workshop. She buys rice cookers, shoes, socks... all she can buy online and brings her coworkers together.
Student mothers who are tailors
"There are not many things in the supermarket in the town, and they are not good enough." Aunt Wei showed disgust. She is 41 years old this year, from Hefei, and her son is in the first year of high school in Maotanchang Middle School. However, my son has low platelets and needs to take Chinese medicine for a long time. Aunt Wei was worried and came to accompany her to study early.
Female workers work hard for a day, earning around 40-50 yuan, and the more they charge for the piece, the more they earn. For them, the income from this job is not high, but fortunately, they are free of time and can go back to cook for their children when it is time.
When these mothers accompanying their studies were under the light of high wattage fluorescent lights, they were stepping on sewing machines, and some mothers were searching for cheongsams on Taobao that meant "winning in the flag", and putting them on before the college entrance examination to get a good sign.
Sister Li rented a residential building on Zongying Road, and was waiting for people with a grandmother from the same building, leaning her head on the side of the road. Despite wearing pink cartoon pajamas, Sister Li still maintains her delicate makeup, wears bright red lipstick and pearl earrings.
Li Sister’s Shopping Cart
Open Sister’s Taobao shopping cart, improve cheongsam, French jacket, ethnic floral dress... It has been several pages down and can’t be finished. The recent shopping record is three hip-hop style street dance shirts I bought for my son.
Sister Li sold her son’s review materials for the past three years
Sister Li is 45 years old, from Lujiang, Anhui Province. Her son is a fresh graduate of senior high school . For three years, she has spent 10,000 yuan every year to rent a residential house, and can only accommodate a cramped room with a bed and basic daily necessities. This three-story residential building has eight small stoves neatly placed in the aisle, and the wall says, "Dishes are prohibited after twelve o'clock, students are resting, and any operations are prohibited."
Sister Li said that the more rooms, the closer they are to the school, the better the rental business of residential buildings. Good families alone will have millions of rents per year.
In the past few days, she plans to sell the more than 100 kilograms of review materials that her son saved in the past three years. When the college entrance examination is over, Sister Li will take her son to find her husband who is doing business in Zhoushan and reunite her family.
With the arrival and end of the college entrance examination, the express stations in the town ushered in an unprecedented peak of shipping, which is almost their busiest moment every year, even surpassing Double 11. At present, the couriers at Wang Liang's site get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to handle the delivery. In most cases, they have to go to the campus to pick up and transport the packages. The daily parcels at the site are as high as 5,000 tickets.
Fresh graduates and parents accompanying them to send review materials, quilts and luggage back to their hometowns. With the departure of students and parents, the express delivery stations in Maotanchang Town will return to normal track again. What followed was a new group of students and parents who accompanied the school, and everything in the town would start year after year.
Maotan Factory never stops day and night.
