Something I've heard from Chinese people online about the difference between the US and China is that in America, you could be a plumber/auto mechanic/skilled trades and still have a middle-income lifestyle and a decent amount of societal respect. In China, working with your hands puts you on the lower rungs in society, hence everyone wants to get into college.

I don't think "deserve" is the best word to use, but I can absolutely see how it's a deciding factor whether you get to live a comfortable and secure life, vs pretty much working to survive.

But that's not really unique to China. One can go to the more expensive cities in the western world, and take a look at how the working classes are just surviving. Zero upward mobility, once you're trapped in those jobs - from a professional point of view.

I've had the great displeasure of working minimum wage dead-end jobs, in a major city, and it was the most stressing thing of my life. Poor pay, ever-increasing rents and general living costs, zero job security, close to no prospects of owning your own apartment or home.

You don't really feel like a permanent resident. Just a transient passing through, and when the jig us up, you're out.

It seems more like it's saying that people deserve to receive the benefits associated with the test score that they actually got.

How exactly do you arrive at this conclusion?

Not sure about China, but that is pretty much the unstated assumption that defines life in other developing countries.