Wei Dongyi could have been famous for his mind alone. Prodigy of mathematics since childhood, he won gold at two consecutive international Mathematics Olympiads with perfect scores. He jumped brutal China Gaokao examination Completely and went directly to the University of Beijing, where he teaches now. But what has attracted the attention of the Internet lately is not his brain – it is how much he seems to worry about something else.
At 33, Wei could only have been 300 yuan per month, or about $ 40. He does not go out, does not make his purchases online and spends most of his free time listening to the radio. A recent four -second video He posted on Douyin – his first – made him offer a shy and slightly embarrassing introduction. He looks thin, missing a few teeth and visibly not interested in performance. He has accumulated millions of views in a few days.
The mathematical genius of stunned Internet China with an extremely frugal lifestyle
In 2021, Wei became viral for similar reasons after being nicknamed “the utmost teacher at the University of Beijing”, which is honestly bad. This previous video (which is no longer available) showed it with disorderly hair, a water jug and a plastic bag of steam breads, answering questions with sweet and interrupted answers.
Many people have been surprised to learn that he was teaching in one of the most elite universities in China. But others have found his lack of refreshing pretension – and that quickly turned him into a cult figure online.
Wei’s cousin later confirmed that his frugal lifestyle was completely intentional. Despite a good salary (about $ 85,000 per year), he chooses to spend almost none of that. His priorities do not include fashion, food or friends. They start and end with mathematics.
He has once helped a group of doctoral students to resolve a model on which they have been stuck for months. After adjusting some equations and improving their success rate at 96%, he refused payment. “There is no need to pay me for such an easy problem,” he said. The only thing he agreed to accept was a renewed transit card.
“His world is remarkably pure – just figures and formulas. Please don’t hurt him. Let him be,” wrote a commentator on Wei’s social media page.
In a culture obsessed with agitation, status and self-promotion, the lack of performance by Wei Dongyi seems strangely radical.