Puzzling formula for TV show's success

Shaping personality

Wang Xinran, a contestant in the show's seventh season, has also come back to the stage this year. She once studied physics in Peking University and later chose to be a physics Olympiad teacher. Her father was a major influence in developing her interest in the field.

He had studied physics at the University of Science and Technology of China during his undergraduate years, then completed a postgraduate program from Tsinghua University and later became a successful businessman.

"He gives useful instructions on learning the subject and I think I'm more or less gifted," she says.

The father's excellent academic performance and career achievements consolidated his authority in the family.

"I respect and even worship him," Wang says.

The father and daughter shared joyful times when watching competitors solving puzzles in Super Brain. In 2020, they decided to have a try themselves.

Both signed up for the show's seventh season.

As a result, the daughter had several highlight moments when coping with the challenges while the father failed to survive the preliminaries.

"The experience was inspiring," she says.

Growing up in a family where strict parents regularly show their disapproval of her, Wang confesses that she lacks courage and self-confidence.

"I was fainthearted when we had to compete as teams in the show. I was afraid that my mistake would cause a failure of the whole," she reflects on her performance in the seventh season.

She found that some other contestants could express themselves emotionally on the stage, living a free and easy life.

Wang wanted to be more outgoing and expressive.

"In this new season, I won't shrink from taking the responsibilities of my team," she says.