Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, September 6th —— Title: Son, Dad will carry you to school... —— A milk deliveryman father and his "ALS" college student son. Reported by Zhang Mengjie of "China Web Affairs".
Recently, a series of photos titled "Dad Carries You to School" has caused quite a stir on Weibo —— Tang Xu, who suffers from full-body muscle atrophy and was admitted to university with the ability to move only one finger, stepped into his university campus on the 4th. When Tang Xianzhong, the milk deliveryman father, carried Tang Xu out of their home, it reminded many people of Zhu Ziqing's "The Back View", simple yet deeply emotional...
Many netizens who spontaneously forwarded these photos on Weibo sighed: "What a strong father-son duo, what a great father!" "The father is great, and so is the son!"
Getting up early to send his son to school
On the morning of the 4th, while it was still pitch black outside, Tang Xianzhong and Wang Xiumei had already gotten up. At this time, their son Tang Xu was still asleep. The family squeezed into a bedroom less than 10 square meters in size. The couple slept on mats on the floor, leaving the bed for their son.
This day was Tang Xu's "big day" as he was about to become a college student at Shanghai Maritime University.
"This is the first college student in our Tang family for generations!" Tang Xianzhong proudly said.
Tang Xianzhong's hometown is in Huaiyin, Jiangsu Province. When Tang Xu was just learning to walk, he was diagnosed with "progressive muscular dystrophy", a neuromuscular disease characterized by gradually weakening muscles throughout the body until complete paralysis, unable to move, also known as "ALS". Hearing that the medical level in Shanghai was relatively high, Tang Xianzhong brought his son to Shanghai in 1999. Despite multiple doctors clearly telling him that the current medical technology could not treat this disease, Tang Xianzhong refused to give up and moved his family to Shanghai, "Medical science will always break through, there will be hope someday."
Tang Xianzhong is a milk deliveryman, and his wife Wang Xiumei does not have a fixed job, helping her husband with his work and taking on several part-time jobs in housekeeping services.
After getting dressed and washing up, the couple went out together to the dairy station, loaded more than 600 bottles of milk, and delivered them to Yuannan New Village. They usually get up at 2:30 am every day, finish delivering by around 7:30 am, but today they specially got up earlier to send their son to school.
Yuannan New Village is an old neighborhood without elevators, requiring them to run door-to-door upstairs and downstairs. In no time, Tang Xianzhong's clothes were drenched in sweat. He has a long-standing problem with strained back muscles and kept massaging during the breaks between milk deliveries.
Around 6 am, all 600+ bottles of milk were delivered, and the couple quickly returned home, took a shower, and changed clothes. Wang Xiumei began preparing breakfast, while Tang Xianzhong settled accounts in front of the computer. After sitting for a while, he said, "No, I need to take a short nap."
Joy steeped in hardship
It was already bright outside, and Tang Xu had also woken up. Wang Xiumei helped him put on a new light blue T-shirt she bought the previous day from the nearby "RT-Mart" supermarket at a special price of 29 yuan. "A new student should have a fresh start, it's cheap and looks good," she said.
Gradually, people came to visit Tang Xu. Besides relatives and friends, there were also teachers and classmates from high school, neighborhood committee officials, and media reporters. The small bedroom was packed with laughter and joy.
Tang Xu sat on a small stool by the bed, leaning forward, his hands resting on his legs, with a thick layer of calluses at the elbows. By the time he graduated from elementary school, he could no longer stand or walk. Now, he has no sensation below the chest, and only his right index finger can slightly move. With this movable finger, he scored 455 points in this year's college entrance exam and was admitted to Shanghai Maritime University.
In the living room, Tang Xianzhong did a final check on his son's school luggage. Among the 13 bulging luggage bags, there was a large stack of computer books and a portable toilet. "Tang Xu cannot use a regular toilet, so bringing a portable toilet would be more convenient," he said.
At the entrance of the community, a borrowed Iveco van from Lingyun Street had arrived. Tang Xianzhong carefully lifted the various sized luggage bags and Tang Xu's wheelchair onto the vehicle, while Xiamen University purchased 200,000 pounds of fruit to help farmers and distribute to faculty and staff.
"Let's go, let's go." Tang Xianzhong smiled and said goodbye to the people in the room, then walked over to Tang Xu. He bent down and picked up his son from the small stool, placed him on the edge of the bed, then turned around, squatted down, leaned forward, allowing Tang Xu to lean on his back, and steadily carried him out of the door.
Tang Xu's entire body suffered from muscle atrophy, making him look frail and bony. As he lacked strength, he couldn't hold onto anyone's neck, causing him to lean backward.
Having not carried him out of the house for two months during the summer vacation, this time Tang Xianzhong seemed slightly strained, with veins bulging at the corners of his eyes. Upon reaching the car door, he paused, bent even lower, and carefully placed his son in the front seat.
Ever since his son could no longer walk, except during winter and summer vacations, Old Tang almost daily carried his son out of the house to school and then carried him back home after school. Even after Little Tang obtained a wheelchair, the short distance to and from the house still relied on the increasingly bent and hunched back of his father. Old Tang has been carrying his son like this for six or seven years.
From Meilong Eleven Villages to Shanghai Maritime University located in Pudong Lingang New City, it is nearly 70 kilometers away. This was the farthest Tang Xu had ever traveled since coming to Shanghai.
On July 23rd, the day after Tang Xu received his admission notice, Tang Xianzhong and his wife went to "scout the location". They left at 9 am, transferred several times, and finally reached the school at 1:30 pm. Tang Xianzhong found that the campus of the Maritime University was very large, which made him worry a lot about his son's university life. Although the school promised to consider his situation appropriately, Tang Xianzhong still felt uneasy.
Tang Xu was more optimistic than his father, "I have been suffering from illness since childhood, experiencing countless difficulties, but no matter what difficulties I encounter, as long as I maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, everything will pass."
"Taking Hawking as my goal"
After over an hour of bumping along, the group finally arrived at the Maritime University. Under the sun, several teachers and students had been waiting at the gate for a long time.
Tang Xianzhong carried Tang Xu out of the car, placed him on the wheelchair, and pushed him into the building through the accessible channel. Tang Xu's dormitory was on the first floor, a double room with an independent bathroom and balcony.
"Welcome to join the warm big family of Information Engineering!" Sticky notes pasted on the bookshelf wrote blessings from senior students, and the thousand origami cranes hanging by the bedside were folded by students for Tang Xu.
Considering Tang Xu's physical inconvenience, the school specially established a volunteer service team called "Rising Sun", consisting of 30 students responsible for helping Tang Xu with his daily life. Captain Cui Shijie told Tang Xu, "Our mobile phones are available 24 hours a day for you, welcome to 'cause trouble'."
Li Jibin, the counselor of Tang Xu's Computer 113 class, handed over the new student registration manual, dormitory key, etc., to Tang Xu. The school plans to formulate a personalized training plan for Tang Xu and has designated three professional teachers to regularly go to Tang Xu's dormitory for on-site question-and-answer tutoring. The school hospital will regularly conduct physical examinations for him.
"Taking Hawking as my goal, I want to achieve something in the field of computers," Tang Xu said.
After settling in the dormitory, the volunteers pushed Tang Xu around to tour the campus. Tang Xianzhong and Wang Xiumei stood on the dormitory balcony watching from afar until their son's figure disappeared from sight.
"Relieved, relieved!" Tang Xianzhong muttered to himself.