How Ping Pong And A Ukrainian Girl Helped This Chinese 'Loser' Find Success
His Ukrainian success story first appeared on Chinese news portals in December.
By Sadho Ram — 06 Jan 2015, 03:56 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
Back in 2001, Mei Aicai, hailing from a working class family, scored abysmally low on China's college entrance examination. After he failed, Mei, regarded as a 'loser' for his bad performance, suddenly found himself lost, not knowing what to do in life anymore.
His friend then advised him to go to Ukraine. While Mei couldn't speak a single word of Russian, he still boarded the flight to this strange new country, which he thought was in Africa. He had never imagined that once he went, he would be there for over a decade.
"Before I left the country, I went to Shijiazhuang and learned Russian for a month, but ultimately only learned 'hello, I want water'. When I got on the plane, I was really nervous, not knowing what would be waiting for me in an unknown country," Mei said.
shanghaiist.comBefore we go further, a sneak peek into Mei's life in Ukraine now
A. He owns his own business
B. Claims title to three-quarters of an acre of land
C. Lives in a split-level house, and
D. Is married to this 18-year-old who, as the curator of this story along with the Chinese Internet universally agrees, looks like a Goddess!
Alright, now if possible, let's try to move on from here...
Oh, did we mention that certain salty (and obviously envious) individuals have also commented that they cannot believe such an attractive woman would be interested in a "regular guy from China."? Okay, okay, let's try to move on to find out how it happened...
Since he couldn't speak the language, Mei went through a lot of trouble during his first few months attending a local uni there and made a fool of himself. He chose Ukraine as the cost of education was as inexpensive as in China and it was easy to get a visa.
"When I first arrived, I saw black bread in the store. I thought it was made with chocolate and bought a whole bunch, but when I took a bite, it was both bitter and hard, like a rock. In the end, I had to throw it all away,” Mei said.
Another time, Mei went to a hair salon for a haircut and had a lot of trouble describing the hairstyle he wanted to the barber. Eventually, he resorted to buying a pair of scissors and used a mirror to cut his own hair.
Mei couldn't understand anything during class, as the professor had a deep accent, and to him it all sounded like someone selling lamb skewers.
chinasmack.com
There, tomatoes scrambled with egg was a luxury for Mei
“Only after going out in the world did I slowly understand my parents’ hardships. For the first two years, the things I ate the most were potatoes and cabbage, as these two things are the cheapest in Ukraine. Only during Chinese New Year was I willing to buy two tomatoes. At the time, I thought tomato scrambled with egg was a luxurious meal.”
Although it was hard, Mei quickly became independent, and as someone who had never cooked before at home, he gradually learned how to even cook a few specialties.
Mei said: “The first year abroad, what I felt most was loneliness and helplessness, and everyday I wanted to go [back] home. At that time, I did not have a phone or a computer, so I eagerly waited for the weekends when I could go to the internet cafe to chat with my family”.
After graduating from his one year preparatory course, Mei chose to attend the Karkov Academy of Fine Arts, and became the only student in the whole academy who didn't know how to draw
During the first semester at the academy, he spent most of his time playing video games and skipping class. Mei felt he didn't have a goal in life, and wanted to make a change. So, everyday he went to the gymnasium to play ping pong and, as a result, he made many Ukrainian friends, and his Russian also gradually improved.
Most importantly, Mei also represented the academy and won 3rd place in the Karkov University Student Competition. After winning the prize, Mei's life entered a new era. An athletic teacher regarded him greatly, placed his picture in the school halls, and more and more Ukrainian students and teachers came to him to play ping pong.
nextshark.com
It was through ping pong that Mei met his future wife, who would go on to encourage him to work hard at his major improve his Russian along with cheering him as consistently aced his athletics
"She may be young but her views are very mature. At school, she is a good student with excellent grades and at home, she is a good wife, keeping our home neat and tidy, doing the laundry and cooking," Mei, talking about his wife, has nothing but praise for her.
rocketnews24.com
His would-be wife encouraged him to quit his job as an animator and start his own business. He did so and now runs a successful company that imports and exports equipment, oil and grain.
A happy home life left Mei Aicai with less to worry about, so he had more time to devote to his business. He quit his previous job as an animator and chose to start his own business. Currently, he is running a company engaged in the import/export of equipment and foodstuffs.
According to him, doing business in Ukraine requires little entertainment and socializing, where even taking a client out is unnecessary, so even now Mei Aicai does not drink or smoke, but Ukrainians have high standards when it comes to quality of work.
Because he is in the import/export business, Mei Aicai spends a lot of time each day communicating with people in China, but luckily he can stay at home and simply turn on his computer to work.
Mei is now so successful that he recently purchased over 30,000 square feet of land on which he's built a villa for his new family
"Some people think I am very successful, but I feel my greatest happiness comes from my family. I come home everyday on time to eat with my wife, and afterward we go for a walk. I feel this kind of life is very happy," says Mei, a once-upon-a-time 'loser'.
Mei's wife is called Da Sha. She is still in high school. But according to the law of Ukraine, 17-year-old woman can be married.
Since then, his Ukrainian success story, which first appeared on Chinese news portals on 8 December 2014, has gone viral. It was also almost immediately characterised as a 'Diaosi' counter-attack. The term is an identity given to anyone who distances himself from China's money and status-obsessed culture.
For the Chinese public, the moral of Mei's story is clear: for anyone who lacks family connections, elite academic credentials, and a big bank account, it's now easier to achieve upward mobility in Kiev than Shanghai.
It's not hard to imagine what would have happened to Mei, with his modest background and limited education, had he remained in China. Faced with a slowing economy, high housing prices, widening income inequality and a tough job market for college graduates, millions of young Chinese now feel stuck on the lower-middle rungs of their country's ladder of success.
This widespread feeling has coalesced into an identity known as 'Diaosi'. The term is commonly translated into English as "loser" -- although its most literal translation would be a vulgar reference to the male anatomy -- and was originally used to describe young, under-employed internet-obsessed males. But over the past five years, it has escaped its derogatory connotations, transforming into a more pliable identity available to anyone who wants to distance himself from China’s money- and status-obsessed culture.
Mei was praised for avoiding the 'Diaosi' fate by taking up residence in a place where his natural talents were not suppressed by China's academic culture and its obsession with testing
In an interview with one news outlet, Mei also suggested that China suffered by comparison with Ukraine not only economically, but culturally. Mei emphasised that Ukrainian women, unlike their Chinese counterparts, marry for love, rather than money. That sexist comment has been echoed for days in online comments by young male Diaosi frustrated by China’s materialistic dating culture.
However, Mei's story is proof of how much of an impact a quality significant other can have on an individual's success. As described by Nextshark website, in an interview with entrepreneur Craig Clemens, he said the following:
“I heard a story about a recent conference where they had the most self-made billionaires ever together in one room. Someone posed the question, “What is the most important thing that you would say it takes to become a billionaire? What do you all have in common?”
"After a short debate, they all came to a unanimous agreement: The one thing most responsible for their success was having a great partner. It wasn't setting goals, or time management, or being in the right industry. All of those things helped too of course but they all agreed… having a great, long term partner was critical to their success."
"So I think if you’re wanting to build a business, absolutely a relationship is a way to go because one, you've got someone there to support you…"
nextshark.com
