Tā shì hánménchūguìzǐ de diǎnxíng, cóng xiǎo shāncūn kǎoshàng le Qīnghuá.
He's a classic case of a peasant son making good, going from a small mountain village to Tsinghua University.
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Long an article of faith in Chinese meritocracy, this proverb has become contested on social media as debates over 小镇做题家 (small-town test-takers) and widening inequality question whether the gaokao still lets rural kids climb the social ladder.
