A lesson in love

"Many of my friends, even those who are living in Japan and North America, commented, as they, too, have also suffered and struggled with the stress. Most of them suggested that I use it as the subject for my new novel," recalls Lu.

With the idea haunting him, Lu was drawn to delve deeper into the subject by hearing the stories of a friend, a deputy chief at a media organization.

"She is highly educated and open-minded about education, but she was also forced to sacrifice the childhood happiness of her daughter by sending her to extracurricular classes after discovering that most other pupils in the young girl's class were already attending such programs," says Lu.

Despite the young girl being smart and diligent, she was incapable of catching up with those who had been undertaking further learning outside school hours, pulling the mother, unwillingly, into the "battle "for the limited admission quotas of her top local junior middle schools.

The woman became the archetype of Nan Li, played by actress Song Jia, the protagonist in the TV series.