124 ball pens: That’s the number of pens likely required to get through a semester in China, according to a student’s personal experience. 

A high school teacher in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, shared a photo of his son’s classmate and the ballpoint pens he had used during a semester, illustrating the countless hours of writing a student needs to invest to get through the senior year of high school and also prepare for gaokao, the national college entrance examination. 

There was also a photo of a stack of textbooks, showing the amount of studying one need to do to excel in the exams that are seen as a gateway to China’s prestigious universities. 

It is said that such a level of “pen refills consumption” is not even above average among teenagers, as the student even suffered from lumbar ‍disc herniation because of the sedentary school life – otherwise the number of pen refills would have been more than 124.

“He needed a new pen refill even within a day during the busiest time, and some 20 pen refills a month or so,” recalled his mother.

Luckily, the student’s hard work paid off and he’s now attending Zhejiang University.

As soon as the photo of those used ballpoint pens surfaced online, netizens were quick to discuss the pressure that many Chinese students face. 

“The thick calluses on their hands might even make you cry,” a mother of another high school student said on Weibo. 

“Success does not come easily,” commented another user on Weibo.