During the interview, several nearby residents praised Ruxianguli and said Li Yufeng was lucky. "Old Li has no one to rely on, but fortunately he met Ruxianguli. This girl is really good to him!" said resident Li Chengwen.
Ruxianguli's parents' home is one stop away from hers. "When she and her son-in-law are busy, she calls me to prepare food and send it to the old man. If I'm not there, she asks her brother to deliver it. It's only one stop away, so it's convenient."
The acquaintance between cleaner Ruxianguli and Li Yufeng was a coincidence. One autumn day five years ago, when Ruxianguli had just become a cleaner at the Shuimogou Street Office, she happened to see an old man sitting on the ground groaning in front of a newspaper stand. "I went over and asked him, and he said he felt uncomfortable in his heart but didn't want to go to the hospital because he had no money, so I quickly bought medicine for him." The 42-year-old Ruxianguli recalled that after knowing the old man had heart disease and hypertension, she would visit him every day when she was on duty. This old man was Li Yufeng. She would chat with the old man when she had time, and they gradually became familiar.
According to Yaxin News (reporter Qin Jinli, intern Li Hui), watching 73-year-old Li Yufeng eat hot soup rice in large mouthfuls, Ruxianguli sitting beside him softly asked: "Uncle, how does it taste? Should we reduce the salt next time?" "No need, it's very good," the old man quickly replied. This scene took place at a newspaper stand near the First Ji'kun Hospital on West Wenquan Road in Urumqi at 1:30 PM on November 2. After the old man finished eating, Ruxianguli hurried home with the thermos flask, ate, and then went out to continue sweeping leaves off the road. For five years, Ruxianguli and her family have been delivering meals to Li Yufeng every day.
"My family doesn't have much money, so I can't give Uncle Li more help. He's like my parents, and I'll care for him as much as I can," said Ruxianguli. Initially, her pity for the elderly turned into affection, and she will continue to deliver meals.
Li Yufeng rents a bungalow in the Beishan Community of the Shuimogou Street Office. In 1958, he left his hometown in Pingjiang County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province, and traveled around the country making a living by carpentry skills. Twelve years ago, he settled here and made a living by running this wooden newspaper stand. Decades have passed, and the unmarried man has become an orphaned elder.
After washing her hands upon entering, Ruxianguli started kneading dough briskly. The dough was prepared in the morning, and the mutton was stewed beforehand. Boiling water, tearing noodles, pouring meat soup... within twenty minutes, the aroma of mutton soup filled the room. She put most of the meat in the thermos: "It's getting colder, let the old man eat more meat to keep warm. It's not easy to stay outside all day now." She added another bottle of boiling water, packed it together with the thermos in an eco-bag, and headed out the door, "Let me send it while it's hot, I'll come back and eat later."
Yesterday noon, the reporter came to Ruxianguli's home at No. 157, Nanshan Community. This old house is rented from the property office, only 18 square meters in size, with two rooms inside and outside, neatly arranged. Her husband Abduxikuer is a security guard in Beishan Community, and her 15-year-old son is in the third year of junior high school.
Ruxianguli's 63-year-old father said that his daughter has been kind since childhood, and the whole family supports her actions. Long-term interaction has made Ruxianguli's whole family friends with Li Yufeng. "Dad has time to chat with uncle and keep him company, sometimes helping watch the newspaper stand when uncle wants to take a walk," said Ruxianguli. In their hearts, the old man has become a member of the family, and her parents often call to ask if the food has been delivered to the old man.
Sometimes when Ruxianguli is too busy to cook and deliver food, her family steps in. "Her husband, son, parents, and younger brother have all delivered food to the old man, and the whole family is familiar with the old man," said Rugul, Ruxianguli's colleague. Ruxianguli and her family always make sure to deliver food to the old man first before going back to eat, fearing it will get cold if left too long. "The family has persisted for five years, which is really hard!" she said. Sometimes when the old man doesn't eat breakfast in the morning, Ruxianguli buys him a few buns nearby and helps distribute the newspapers. Two years ago, when the old man was hospitalized due to hypertension, Ruxianguli took care of him in the hospital.
Since then, Ruxianguli delivers food to Li Yufeng every noon and afternoon. "The food changes every week," said the old man. Knowing he has hypertension, Ruxianguli deliberately uses less salt when cooking and avoids greasy food. To deliver food, Li Yufeng has scolded Ruxianguli many times, "I told her, 'Girl, don't deliver anymore, you're so good to me, how can I thank you?' But she said, 'Uncle, don't worry, it's just one more bowl of food. And I'm not giving it for free, am I not reading your newspapers every day?' No matter what I say, she still delivers without fail, rain or shine." Year by year, Li Yufeng couldn't stop this "stubborn" girl and instead increasingly depended on this warm kinship: "Even a real daughter wouldn't do any better!"
An elderly neighbor, Dong Wuming, often comes to chat with Li Yufeng. He said he has known Li Yufeng for seven or eight years, and he has seen Ruxianguli's kindness to the old man. "Although they are not related, this girl delivers food to Old Li every day. In summer, she delivers twice a day, and in winter, she delivers once when Old Li finishes work early. She never stops throughout the four seasons." Grandpa Dong said that even during holidays or days off, Ruxianguli always delivers food on time. "She also invites Old Li to celebrate festivals at her home, but Old Li says he feels bad about causing more trouble. So she brings the delicious food to the newspaper stand." Every year, Ruxianguli also gives the old man clothes several times, "winter coats in winter, shirts in summer, all new."
Ruxianguli found that the old man often eats haphazardly at noon, having just a naan or steamed bun with plain boiled water, looking pale and weak. "It's clear that he lacks nutrition, and I feel sorry. Uncle is very diligent; every morning before I start work, he's already there. He's also kind, often letting nearby elders and cleaners read newspapers for free." Ruxianguli said that the old man reminded her of her kind parents, and she felt responsible for making his life better.
Li Yufeng said he knows that Ruxianguli's family is not wealthy either, so he is full of gratitude towards her, "but I have nothing, I don't know how to thank them!" As shown in the picture, on the noon of November 2nd, the sanitation worker Ruxianguli came on time to deliver food to the old man Li Yufeng again. Photo taken by intern Zhang Mei.
Li Yufeng said that after leaving his hometown in 1958, he never returned. He has only one nephew in his hometown whom he has never met, "If I can't sell newspapers anymore, maybe I'll go back." He said that his nephew once invited him to return, but after being here for so many years, accompanied by Ruxianguli's family and experiencing family affection, he is reluctant to leave.
Li Yufeng's husband, Abduxikuer, broke his arm in May this year and still has a steel plate in it, but he often replaces his wife to deliver food to the old man: "Sometimes I work night shifts and am at home during the day. My wife tells me to deliver food to the old man, and I dare not refuse or find excuses, otherwise she will be angry again." He laughed as he said, feeling proud that his wife cares so much about a stranger: "It shows I married a good wife!"
"When she first started delivering food to me, I was quite surprised," Li Yufeng said. On a cold noon in October 2006, he was eating dry naan and drinking cool boiled water brought from the morning when Ruxianguli hurried over with a thermos flask. "Uncle, it's homemade pulled noodles, eat while it's hot!" Ruxianguli also brought the old man a large bottle of hot water. He was stunned: "How much...how much does it cost?" Ruxianguli laughed heartily: "What cost? My house is close, and I cooked extra by chance. From now on, don't mention money!" Li Yufeng said that eating the hot meal almost made him cry, tears almost falling into the thermos flask, "For so many years of loneliness, it's the first time someone cared for me so much."