Born in the Liangshan mountains of Sichuan, Wang Xiaoya graduated with a degree in economics from Sichuan University. Despite her lively and energetic persona on television, she was actually a total "homebody" during her college years. She rarely participated in club activities or held student leadership positions; instead, she was a regular fixture in the audience during school galas and performances.
Wang Xiaoya spent most of her university years immersed in martial arts novels. Her passion for the genre was so intense that she once jokingly questioned her own gender: "I feel like I'm not a typical girl. While others shed tears over Qiong Yao's romances, I spend my days absorbed in the works of Jin Yong, Gu Long, and Liang Yusheng."
After graduation, driven by a dream to work for a newspaper's supplement section, Wang Xiaoya passed an interview with the editor-in-chief, only to find herself assigned to menial tasks like stuffing envelopes.
"I thought to myself: if they'll let me write envelopes, at least I can stay, and that's fine," she recalled. Surprisingly, Wang Xiaoya grew to love the work and remained in that role for six years.