(Photo/Weibo)

“Dear customers, the diner will be closed from Aug. 20 to 24, because I’m sending my son to Tsinghua University. I will resume normal business operations on Aug. 25.” The announcement, which was handwritten in clerical script, went viral on Chinese social media.

Tang Dejin, who wrote the announcement, is the owner of a small rice-noodle diner in Quanzhou County, Guangxi. His son, Tang Chao, just got admitted to Tsinghua University, one of China’s most prestigious universities.

“I never expected the announcement to go viral online. I just wanted to inform my customers so they wouldn’t show up during my absence,” said Tang Dejin. Beijing Youth Daily reported that some locals made a special trip to the diner just to take photos at the front gate after the announcement went viral.

Tang Chao (M) and his parents (file photo)

According to Tang Dejin, in Tang Chao’s final year of high school, he was only allowed to watch TV on weekends. He didn’t get a smartphone until he finished the national college entrance exam. As a top student since primary school, Tang Chao didn’t let anyone down. He scored 656 points in the exam, the second highest in his school.

“Sometimes we see Tang Chao help out at the diner. He is a very well-behaved boy,” Mr. Jiang, a regular customer, told Beijing Youth Daily.

The family arrived in Beijing on Aug. 20 and visited the Palace Museum the next day. “We rarely have time to travel, since we have been busy making rice-noodles every day for the past six years. This is a great opportunity for my wife and I to finally see Beijing,” said Tang Dejin.