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.