Refer China: Guangdong Gaokao Student Hauls Bricks with Mother to Fund Tuition

After gaokao, Yuanyuan hauls bricks (10/trip, 4 yuan) beside mother in Guangdong to fund tuition (~5,000 yuan). She aims psychology; work deepens empathy.

Tags:

Guangdong

Gaokao Student

Construction Labor

Mother-Daughter Bond

Tuition Fundraising

While most Chinese students plan trips or ask their families for new electronics after sitting the gruelling national college entrance exam (gaokao), a teenage girl known by the nickname Yuanyuan chose to work alongside her mother at a construction site, hauling bricks to fund her upcoming university studies.

Guangdong Gaokao Student Hauls Bricks with Mother to Fund Tuition

As reported by Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, Yuanyuan’s mother Wei Yungui has worked as a construction labourer in Guangdong Province for 16 years. The 40-year-old single mother is the family’s sole breadwinner, supporting Yuanyuan and her son. The siblings grew up as left-behind children in their hometown of Qidong County, Hunan Province.

Yuanyuan took the gaokao in June. Soon after the examination concluded in late June, she travelled to the construction site in Guangdong to work with her mother.

A viral video shows the pair trudging up stairwells carrying stacks of bricks on their backs, drenched in sweat. Yuanyuan can carry 10 bricks per trip, while her mother handles four times that weight.

“Your load earns four yuan (60 US cents), and mine brings in 16 yuan. Together we’ve made 20 yuan, drawing nearer to your university tuition goal,” Wei tells her daughter with a smile in the footage.

Yuanyuan admits the work is physically draining. “I just want to do everything I can to ease Mum’s burden,” she said.

Wei was initially reluctant to let her daughter perform such backbreaking labour, but relented after Yuanyuan persisted. The teenager said the gruelling work allowed her to truly comprehend her mother’s years of hardship.

“Before this, my daughter only saw me toiling away every day, yet she could not fully understand how difficult it really was. Having experienced this work herself, she has become much more considerate and empathetic toward me,” Wei recounted.

At Wei’s request, the family has kept Yuanyuan’s gaokao score and university admission information confidential. She only shared that she is pleased with her daughter’s results, which are sufficient for entry to a mid-tier university. Yuanyuan hopes to major in psychology. The exact tuition sum the family needs to raise remains undisclosed.

Tuition fees vary across China’s higher education institutions. Public universities generally charge approximately 5,000 yuan (US$740) per academic year.

Yuanyuan’s decision presents a sharp contrast to common trends among newly freed gaokao graduates. Many embark on domestic or international travels after the exam, while others ask their parents to purchase the coveted “Apple three-piece set” — an iPhone, an iPad and a MacBook, a package that can cost tens of thousands of yuan.

Source:

Editor: Crystal H