三顾茅庐

sān gù máo lú

to call on someone repeatedly and sincerely to win their help

Character by character

三sān
three

顾gù
visits

茅máo
thatched

庐lú
cottage

公司老板三顾茅庐，才把这位专家请来。

The boss had to call on him again and again before this expert agreed to come.

Tone: positive (praise).

Learn this in Lesson 209 · HSK 9+: 四大名著 (The four great novels)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.