Wealthy Chinese boy who excels in key exam hopes hard work will help him erase 'rich boy' label

An 18-year-old Chinese student, who was mocked as a “spoiled rich boy” after arriving at the university entrance exam in a Mercedes Maybach, surprised his doubters by getting the best grades.

Zhu Yetian, a graduate of Hangzhou No. 2 High School in east China's Zhejiang Province, was dubbed “Young Master of Maybach” after a video of his father dropping him off in the luxury car went viral online.

He passed the grueling university entrance exam, known as the gaokao in China, and scored 700 out of 750, a score high enough to get him enrolled in one of the country's top universities, Chao News reported.

After Zhu's results were released, social media in China was flooded with comments about his prosperous family and academic excellence.

“With such a rich family, why does he bother to take the gaokao?” asked someone on Baidu.

“The gods treat him very well. Her family is rich and her academic achievements are amazing,” said another.

His grandfather, Zhu Bingren, is a famous master bronze sculptor whose 100 selected works are expected to be exhibited at the National Museum of China in Beijing this month.

The 80-year-old artist applied bronze to the exterior of the historic Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou during its restoration two decades ago.

His son, the boy's father, Zhu Junmin, is also an accomplished bronze craftsman and successful entrepreneur.

Young Zhu was always an excellent student, the report said.

According to his grandfather, the boy is very disciplined and gave up his hobby of playing mobile games for the past three years to actually focus on his studies.

Zhu junior said he chose to endure the hardship of taking the difficult gaokao exam because his dream is to go to Peking University, and passing the test is the only path.

He excels in several subjects and even won a championship at the National Chemistry Olympics last year.

“When I started learning chemistry, I needed to recite a lot of things. But later I realized that this subject required logic, reasoning and imagination. I found it more and more fun to study chemistry,” he said.

Its ambition is to undertake scientific research on new materials.

His father wrote on Weibo that the boy was reading a textbook for a university program at 8 a.m. on June 11.

“They only see a 'Young Master of Maybach', but I know how hard you studied,” his father said.

Zhu junior said he did not like the new nickname because of its negative connotation of displaying wealth.

“The stereotype of children from rich families is that they are ignorant, incompetent, extravagant and spendthrift.

“However, many of my classmates also come from wealthy families, but they are pragmatic, low-key, humble and polite. I often remind myself to learn from them,” he said.

“I hope to get rid of the label of being just a son of a rich family through my hard work,” he added.