A secondary school graduate in China, unlike many of her peers who travelled after sitting for the national university entrance exam, chose to work alongside her mother at a construction site.

To earn money for her university tuition fees, she carried bricks on her back.

The girl, nicknamed Yuanyuan, is the daughter of Wei Yungui, a dedicated labourer at construction sites in southern China’s Guangdong province for the past 16 years, as reported by the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.

The 40-year-old Wei is a single mother and the sole financial supporter for her daughter and son, both of whom are “left-behind” children in their hometown of Qidong county, central Hunan province.

Yuanyuan took the university entrance exam, known as the gaokao , in June. Since late June, after the exam, she has been working with her mother on the construction site in Guangdong, according to the report.

A viral video showed them striving to carry dozens of bricks on their backs to higher floors, sweating profusely.