Xu Longkun is helping his mother comb her hair (screenshot from a video). On New Year's Day, the program "Express Time" broadcast a video by Zhu Zhengnan, a videographer, featuring Xu Longkun, a college student from Jiande. Xu took a two-year break from school to study on his own while growing strawberries and taking care of his paralyzed mother.
After the segment aired, many viewers were moved by Xu Longkun's story. The video was filmed during the summer of 2010. Now, as it's strawberry season, how are his strawberries doing? Has his life improved? Is his mother’s health any better? I decided to visit him in Ningbo.
Xu Longkun is now a sophomore at Zhejiang University Ningbo Institute of Technology. He appears to be a very sunny young man, dark and thin, slightly shy, with a ready smile before he even speaks. Upon meeting, he shared a string of good news: the four acres of strawberries are ripe, they no longer live in the small shed, his mother has been brought from their hometown to be near him, and kind-hearted people have donated money to him.
However, when I arrived at the place where he grows strawberries - Dayan Village, Dongqianhu Town, Yinzhou District, I realized that the situation was not as good as he described.
Intern reporter: Xie Jinyi
The new home is still a plastic shed
The small nest by the wall is gone. By the strawberry fields, Xu Longkun built a shed of about twenty to thirty square meters using advertising cloth, plastic sheets, and bamboo slats. It's bigger than the previous one. On the day I interviewed him, the wind was strong, blowing the plastic sheeting loudly. The outside temperature was below 5 degrees Celsius, and inside the shed, it was at most 6-7 degrees Celsius. Xiao Xu said the conditions were definitely not as good as back in his hometown in Jiande, but he has gotten used to it.
Xu Mom's condition has worsened
More than ten years of rheumatoid arthritis have caused all of Xu Longkun's mother's joints to deform, and her left eye has gone blind due to the side effects of long-term medication. In the dead of winter, her arthritis symptoms have become more severe, requiring assistance for even basic needs like toileting.
Xu Mom is paralyzed, and Xu Dad suffers from chronic hepatitis and cannot overexert himself. Therefore, the responsibility of caring for Mom almost entirely falls on the son. After school, Xiao Xu brings some necessities home, feeds his mom dinner, and then returns to school. On weekends, he works in the fields. Because there is only one bed in the plastic shed, after finishing farm work, Xiao Xu has to rush back to school to sleep. The distance between the farmland and the school is about 10 kilometers.
Xu Mom said that sometimes she really wants to end her life so as not to burden her son. But Xiao Xu always comforts her: “Mom, don’t think too much. Being able to be together as a family is already good. Even if you just talk to me, it has meaning. These two years, I'll tighten my belt and won't spend money on your treatment, but someday, I will earn money to cure your illness.”
Strawberry growth isn't ideal
Now, the strawberries are ripe, but it seems there aren't many red fruits. After repeated questioning, Xiao Xu admitted that because he was too busy to manage everything, this year's strawberry growth wasn't ideal. When planting strawberries in the summer, he borrowed over 40,000 yuan from others. He estimates that recovering costs should be fine, but how much profit there will be is uncertain. Feeling embarrassed about the poorly managed field, he looked very uncomfortable.
Xiao Xu says he feels very happy
When talking with Xu Longkun, he maintained a smile throughout and interrupted his parents' complaints several times, focusing instead on gratitude and optimism.
He said that since last summer when the media reported on his story, society has already donated over 30,000 yuan, enough for his tuition fees for two years; teachers from his school also said they would collectively buy his strawberries. “Sometimes, when I think about it, I am still happy. I have received care from society, I still have my parents, I still have a complete family.” He expressed gratitude, “Everyone is different. I believe I should cherish what I have now.”
I asked him, “You have to study, take care of your family, and grow strawberries to support your family. There are so many things to worry about, can you handle the pressure?” Smiling all along, Xiao Xu finally fell silent. After a while, he started smiling again: “I’ve adapted to living under pressure, and I will adjust myself well.”
Xu Longkun's New Year wish
After taking a two-year hiatus from school, this semester, Xiao Xu finds studying a bit challenging, and his grades are not ideal. He plans to focus on his studies this year, reducing the area of strawberry cultivation to avoid neglecting both fronts. However, his greatest wish is still to find a relatively good hospital or doctor for treating rheumatoid arthritis, so his mother can suffer less.
“At least let my mother live independently and be able to move around herself. I will do my utmost to treat her until I am no longer able.”
On the advertising cloth used to build his shed, there are two lines of artistic words: "Do meaningful things, don't abandon, don't give up" and "WE CAN, WE DO" (I can, I will). This may be a coincidence, but perhaps it is destiny.
Tonight at 9:05, Channel 0 of Digital TV's "Express Time" will air a segment on Xu Longkun's current situation. Here, we also want to help Xiao Xu. If any good hospitals or doctors specializing in rheumatoid arthritis are willing to help him, please call the hotline 85100000 and get in touch with us.