Zhang was experiencing the fallout of poverty. She may have been enrolled in a prestigious school, but her background of indigence will dog her wherever she goes and cannot be easily cast off.

Essentially it is a stigma that she has to carry around with her, not only through her college years, but crawl all the way into the real world of employment, dating, promotion etc. You can almost call it "the stink of poverty".

The meme in the Chinese language is "the second-generation poor", or pin erdai. It is a new term coined to contrast "the second-generation rich" or fu erdai. Because wealthy families have more resources, their children get to enjoy the fruits of success and lay the foundation for their own future success.

That, in a sense, is to be expected. The hereditary nature of poverty, on the other hand, is shocking because education, especially that from a reputable school of higher learning, is supposed to level the playing field.

If a good student from a good school cannot compete on that alone, what's the use of education?

You may be wondering why employers want to know about a potential employee's family finance.

Shouldn't they take an interest in her potential to make money for the company instead? As a matter of fact, these two are related in the eyes of the recruiters.

If your family is rich, powerful or well connected, you may have an easier time bringing in prospective clients and deals.

If your family lives in a mountain village, your folks won't be valuable even as a sample for market survey.