Is this okay here?

It's fine, it's fine.

- Here, lift the banner up. - Okay.

- Pull it straight, a little higher. - Alright.

Over here.

-Tie it up there. - Is this okay right here?

An atheistic school!

Let's go.

Okay.

- Tie it there. - No problem.

Say no to religion?

Right there.

Oh my God!

Have you guys seen?

There's a recruitment fair going on out there!

It's bursting with people!

Getting any job is a challenge!

Graduating is like becoming unemployed.

No kidding!

It really sucks.

Why do you all worry so much? That's exhausting!

Drink today's wine today,

and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

It's different for the rest of us, we're not children of officials.

Your family lined up a job for you ages ago

but we all have to work for it ourselves.

Yeah.

We have to change our fates through knowledge.

University is a springboard.

Competition is fierce out there;

without higher education you'll just be kicked around.

To really get a foothold, you have to go to grad school, get a PhD!

Excuse me.

What use is a degree?

Even people with PhDs are still street vendors.

Without connections, you've got no chance to show what you can do.

You still have to compromise yourself for next to nothing!

So I say,

if you want to end up in front, you have to go around the back.

Isn't that right?

Hello?

Yes! Director He!

I'm on my way, be there in a minute!

Groveling like a little dog.

Any cat that can catch a mouse is a good cat.

Our society is full of unwritten rules.

Making it through your own hard work is too hard.

Panpan, that Audi guy is downstairs honking.

Yeah, I know.

Listen girls,

find someone to take care of you while you're still young.

A house, a car, money in the bank.

It's all taken care of.

Bye-bye!

I used to think going to college would ensure a good future,

that I could build a career off of what I learned

and then that would make my life meaningful.

Dreams are one thing, but reality is quite another.

In our society today, there's no chance for honest people to get ahead.

But all those cheaters and hypocrites get rich and famous,

they end up getting an easy ride.

It's ridiculous.

I used to think university was a palace of knowledge, an ivory tower of dreams.

I was filled with hope for college life.

But now I can see

that getting a sugar daddy, being promiscuous, and strategic gift-giving

are all par for the course.

Plenty of people here even do drugs and join gangs.

Yeah.

How can university be just as dark as the outside world?

What I really can't stand

is that those people brag about all that stuff.

It's like they have no dignity.

No kidding.

What kind of world is this?

I'm really feeling more and more lost.

Hey, Siyuan,

what do you think of all these trends?

Tell me, what are your goals in life?

I used to really revere knowledge,

so I threw myself into getting into college.

But once I got here, I saw there was a lot of corruption and depravity.

Lots of students and professors are corrupt and just do whatever they like.

It seems no one walks the right path or does the right thing.

I just wasn't able to make sense of it all.

It seems reasonable that the more educated and knowledgeable someone is,

the better their character and the more moral they should be.

Yeah, there should be a direct relationship.

So why is it that with intellectuals in power and national education standards improving,

the world is just becoming darker and more evil, and crime is going up?

How could that be?

I really couldn't figure it out.

I looked and looked for the right path in life.

And after a while, I found a book that explains it really clearly.

I really enjoyed it and gained a lot from it.

Yeah? What does the book say?

Yeah, tell us.

I remember one thing it says is this:

There's another part that I copied down.

Here.

This is all really deep.

- It makes a lot of sense. - It does.

Siyuan, where did you find this?

Do you believe in God now?

Quiet …

I do believe in God and I'm reading Almighty God's words.

They've helped me understand some things,

like the root of society's darkness and evil

and how Satan corrupts mankind.

I wondered—

why does everyone go after fame and fortune?

Why is everyone so selfish?

Lots of famous people and intellectuals advocate power and prestige

but have no love in their hearts.

Yes.

They'll do anything in their struggle for power and gain.

Why isn't there real love between people?

That's true.

And some students do great in school,

but why are they all so depraved, obsessed with romantic love, and on the wrong path?

There are also lots of students going around spending money, giving gifts,

making and exploiting connections for their future, so they can get a good job.

Some are even willing to sell their own dignity and integrity.

Totally. Almost everyone's being perverse.

It made me wonder,

how does learning all this stuff at university benefit us?

Can it lead us to live a true life?

Why are students obsessed with fame and fortune?

Why do our ambitions and desires grow along with our education?

Why is the atmosphere on campus deteriorating?

Even if we do graduate, what good is it from a school like this?

Yeah. You are really giving us food for thought.

Yeah.

I felt really lost and bleak about the future,

so I decided to believe in God.

After that I read God's words every day,

and I felt I understood things much better

and I started to see into these things in society.

God also gives us a path for how people's corruption can be resolved.

I came to feel that only God can save mankind from Satan's corruption,

and only the truths expressed by God can cleanse all of people's corruption.

That's why my faith in God keeps growing

and I've been able to feel some happiness and joy.

So you understood all this by reading God's words?

Yeah.

Then that's the right path to take!

Siyuan, you're being paranoid.

If the school finds out, it'll be a problem.

Yeah. The CCP doesn't let people believe in God.

You'll be arrested and persecuted for it.

There were a few believers near my family that were arrested for holding gatherings.

Hey, Siyuan, believing in God is way too dangerous.

If the school finds out about it, then you'll be expelled

and you might even go to prison.

Aren't you scared?

How could I not be scared?

It's been on my mind since I started believing.

But disasters are growing in scale, and there's no other way to escape them.

Almighty God has expressed all truths in the last days for mankind's salvation.

Anyone who accepts the truth and repents to God has hope of being saved and surviving.

The Lord Jesus also said:

Since this is the path I've chosen, I'm not afraid of oppression.

I've already thought it through.

I can understand the truth through my faith,

but in school, I'll never gain the truth or life no matter how many books I read.

Faith gives me hope of salvation and of getting into the kingdom of heaven.

And …

Hey, Siyuan,

the secretary wants you in the office right away.

OK.

Come in.

Secretary, Director.

Li Siyuan,

you've been reported for believing in God and spreading religion in the school.

Is this true?

Come in.

You've really got some nerve!

The Ministry of Education has strictly forbidden religious beliefs in school.

Were you not aware?

Our country invested years of education in you, but you've turned into a Christian.

This brings shame on our system!

Secretary Liu, I just attend gatherings and read God's words in my faith.

I haven't broken campus rules and it doesn't hinder my studies.

I haven't broken any national laws.

Why would the school stop me?

Li Siyuan,

Secretary Liu is thinking of your future.

You show him some respect.

Your faith is against the law!

The Central Committee has issued many directives forbidding religion on campus.

Any religious faculty or students are to be dealt with harshly.

Not tolerated.

Those who believe in Almighty God will be dealt with especially harshly!

Li Siyuan,

you're facing a fork in the road:

Either you give up your faith,

or you're expelled from school!

Secretary Liu,

I don't understand

why the school doesn't allow students to be Christians.

All the Western democracies have freedom of religion,

and most people believe in God

and they have a lot of Christian fellowships on campus—

I don't care what Western schools do.

This is China!

Chinese universities are educational bases for Marxism-Leninism,

and they're the frontline for the CCP to train talents in atheism and materialism.

A Christian coming out of a Communist Party school—

ridiculous!

Siyuan, what Secretary Liu is saying is based on national policy.

You've got to know what is at stake here.

Faith in China is a political issue and it has a direct impact on your future.

You're obviously just too young and naïve.

God is for uneducated, ignorant people.

Knowledgeable people believe in science.

No one believes in God!

You've gotten into college,

so why not work for your future?

What future is there in faith?

You are an excellent student,

your professors think highly of you,

and we wanted to train you to join the Party.

Your faith will wreck your bright future.

Director He, don't we get an education to learn things and understand the truth?

Only God has the truth, and only God's words are the truth.

So why won't the school let us have faith and pursue the truth …

Enough!

I don't care about any truth.

All I know is that you have to follow the Party to have a good life.

I'm warning you,

if you keep your faith, you will be expelled!

Secretary Liu,

she's generally really well-behaved and gets good grades.

I'm sure she'll change her mind before long.

After this, I'll do some ideological work on her.

Li Siyuan,

since this is your first offense, you can stay on probation.

Write a letter of guarantee that you'll stop believing in God.

You won't be allowed to go out without permission,

attend gatherings, or read religious books anywhere on campus.

You are particularly forbidden from preaching to your classmates!

If I find out you still believe,

we'll hand you straight over to the police!

Ah, Siyuan,

a school leader had a talk with me too,

saying I couldn't believe in God, and I had to sign a letter of repentance.