张雪峰突然离世：一个教育网红的一生

Today there is a very sad piece of news: Zhang Xuefeng has passed away.

On the afternoon of March 24th, he felt unwell after finishing a run at his company in Suzhou.

At 12:26, he started to collapse.

Although they immediately called for emergency help, they couldn't save him.

At 3:50 in the afternoon, he was pronounced dead.

The cause of death was sudden cardiac death, meaning his heart suddenly stopped.

He was only forty-two years old, truly too young.

Speaking of Zhang Xuefeng, there's probably no Chinese person who doesn't know him.

He was the most popular education influencer of the past few years.

Over thirty million people followed him online.

His main job was helping students and parents choose universities and majors.

You might think, how hard can choosing a university be?

But in China, how to fill out your college application after the gaokao is a really big deal.

China has thousands of universities and hundreds of majors.

The cutoff scores are different for each province, and they change every year.

Choosing the wrong major could affect your whole life.

Many parents and students just don't know how to choose.

Zhang Xuefeng was the person who helped everyone solve this problem.

Let's talk about how he got to this point.

Zhang Xuefeng was born in 1984 in Fuyu County, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province.

The name is quite interesting — it's called Fuyu County (meaning 'wealthy'), but that place actually wasn't wealthy at all.

His father was a railway worker, and his family's conditions were average.

In a small city in the Northeast, the only real way to change your fate was through studying.

From a young age, he was an especially good talker — his mouth was very sharp.

Later, he got into Zhengzhou University.

In college, he participated in a campus hosting competition and even won the championship.

You could tell this person was born to do this kind of work.

After graduating, he became a graduate school entrance exam prep teacher.

The graduate school entrance exam is the test for a master's degree, and competition in China is extremely fierce.

Every year, millions of people take it, but many can't pass.

His teaching was especially entertaining — not the kind of dry, monotone reading from PowerPoint slides.

He would tell jokes, make sarcastic comments, and students wouldn't fall asleep listening to him.

With other teachers, you might drift off and fall asleep while listening.

But with his classes, you wouldn't want to sleep at all, because they were too funny.

Gradually, he gained some fame within the graduate exam prep circle.

What really made him blow up was a video from 2016.

In seven minutes, he covered all thirty-four of China's top universities.

Just a few sentences about each university — accurate, sharp, and hilarious.

This video went viral online; everyone was watching it.

From then on, Zhang Xuefeng was no longer just a graduate exam prep teacher.

He became a super influencer in the education world.

Later, he started his own company in Suzhou, called Fengxue Weilai.

This company specialized in helping gaokao students choose universities and fill out applications.

Business was booming.

He opened eleven companies in total, and it's said his net worth exceeded one hundred million yuan.

His services weren't cheap either.

One option was called the Dream Card, priced at 12,999 yuan.

Another was called the Dream Fulfillment Card, priced at 18,999 yuan.

Basically, they analyze your grades and recommend schools and majors.

You might think that's pretty expensive — over ten thousand yuan is no small amount.

But many parents were willing to spend this money.

Because they felt what Zhang Xuefeng said was reliable.

Choosing the wrong university and major — that loss would be far greater than ten thousand yuan.

He also did advertisements — the starting price for one video ad was 250,000 yuan.

Having him appear in person cost 400,000 yuan per hour.

That rate of earning money is honestly quite astonishing.

However, Zhang Xuefeng was not without controversy.

He spoke bluntly and sometimes offended people.

He once said on a show that Harbin University of Science and Technology was no good.

His exact words were quite harsh — he said that school was worthless.

This made many alumni extremely angry.

Think about it — if someone said that about your alma mater, who wouldn't be angry?

An even bigger controversy happened in 2023.

Someone asked him if studying journalism was a good idea.

He directly said studying journalism was useless and didn't recommend applying for it.

Well, that really stirred up a hornet's nest.

Journalism students weren't having it — many reporters and editors came out to refute him.

This debate raged on for several months.

But if you think about it carefully, why was Zhang Xuefeng so popular?

It's actually because he said things that many people wanted to say but didn't dare to.

Which majors lead to good jobs, which majors lead to unemployment right after graduation.

He was very direct and didn't beat around the bush.

Some things might not be pleasant to hear, but many people felt he was telling the truth.

Especially children and parents from ordinary families.

They don't have that many resources and connections.

Choosing the wrong major really can be terrible — you might not be able to find a good job.

So they especially needed someone to tell them how to choose.

Zhang Xuefeng was exactly that kind of person — he spoke on behalf of ordinary people.

Speaking of his passing, it was truly so sudden.

He normally paid quite a bit of attention to exercising.

He liked running and ran often.

On March 22nd, he even posted his running record on WeChat.

That day, he ran seven kilometers.

In March, he ran a total of seventy-two kilometers.

It seemed like his health should have been fine.

But just two days later, he was gone.

Sudden cardiac death is a truly terrifying thing.

It can happen suddenly even to people who appear healthy.

Sometimes when work is too busy and pressure is too great, the heart just can't take it.

His passing shocked many people.

Tributes to him were everywhere online.

Many students said that without Zhang Xuefeng, they simply wouldn't have known how to choose a university.

Many parents said he helped their children.

Whether you liked him or not, you have to admit he influenced a great many people.

He changed the way Chinese people choose universities in his own way.

Forty-two years old — far too young.

This news is really hard to accept.