Due to the factory's inability to pay wages for a long time, relatives and friends were hesitant to deal with their poor relatives financially. Although the factory issued a certificate stating that "our factory owes Xu Zhenghua 15,000 yuan in unpaid wages," no one was willing to lend them money. Helplessly, Mr. and Mrs. Xu sold this property for more than 20,000 yuan. After deducting the costs required for the buyer to handle the property ownership procedures in advance, they only received a balance of more than 10,000 yuan.
After retirement, Xu Zhenghua worked again to support the family, but unexpectedly was diagnosed with cancer. Upon discharge from the hospital, despite his family's repeated persuasion, Xu Zhenghua refused to continue treatment. "There is basically no money left at home to treat my illness, I can only borrow money shamelessly," Xu Zhenghua said: "Even if I borrow money, my disease cannot be cured. Why should I waste that money and leave a pile of debt for my grandchildren?"
On February 2nd, a post appeared on the Dazhou Phoenix Mountain Forum: Xu Zhenghua, a retired worker of the former Dazhou shale brick factory, now 60 years old, was diagnosed with cancer. Realizing that his days were numbered, he decided to abandon treatment and wanted to apply for a low-rent apartment for his wife before he passed away.
Factory performance was poor and the family never bought a house. "I am very old-fashioned. In my entire life, I have not only never told my wife any sweet words, but also never given her any commemorative gifts. If I could apply for a low-rent apartment for her before Valentine's Day this year, that would be the most comfortable thing." The reporter noticed that when Xu Zhenghua said these words, Zhang Chunyu turned around and wiped her tears.
Around 2007, Mr. and Mrs. Xu successively processed their retirement procedures. To date, both of their salaries have increased from over 700 yuan just after retirement to about 1300 yuan today. Their son has no job, so they sent him to driving school where he learned to drive taxis, earning just enough to get by. His daughter-in-law stays at home taking care of the child. To supplement the household income, Xu Zhenghua became a security guard at a hot pot restaurant. Despite having no savings, the family of five lived happily together.
In late November, both Dazhou Second People's Hospital and Tongchuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital diagnosed Xu Zhenghua with malignant tumor, requiring immediate hospitalization and surgery. "When we heard about hospitalization, Xu Zhenghua still refused, saying he had to return to work at the hot pot restaurant," Zhang Chunyu tearfully told reporters: "Xu Zhenghua really sacrificed his life for our family."
Mr. Xu Zhenghua told reporters that he used to be a young intellectual worker, recruited into the then Daxian City Shale Brick Factory in 1979. In 1980, he formed a family with Zhang Chunyu, an employee of the original Tongchuan Construction Machinery Factory, and they had a son the following year.
The reporter saw two aluminum pots boiling traditional Chinese medicine in their kitchen. "He just takes painkillers; even when the pain becomes unbearable, he will cry out loudly, saying it can relieve the pain," Zhang Chunyu told reporters.
Both spouses worked hard to earn money and support the family, but "the factory's performance was bad, neither starving nor thriving, where could we find the money to buy a house?" The only housing they ever owned was a 72 square meter collective-funded house built by the shale brick factory in 1993. The 6,000 yuan collective funding they paid at that time was borrowed from everywhere. Originally, they thought they finally had a stable place to live, but unexpectedly, in 2004, when the shale brick factory ceased production and entered the liquidation process, they had to pay another 12,000 yuan to formalize the property ownership procedures.
Xu Zhenghua said that the only regret in his life was feeling sorry for his wife, who endured so many hardships with him, eating nothing special and wearing nothing fancy, without even a proper place to live. "If I have any wish, it is to apply for a low-rent apartment for my wife within my lifetime, giving her a place she can call her own."
Sichuan News Network, Dazhou, February 7th (Reporter Jin Tingjiang) - Valentine's Day is coming, and most men will choose to give their loved ones a bouquet of flowers. However, an elderly cancer patient from Tongchuan District, Sichuan Province, Dazhou, wishes to give his wife a special gift: applying for a low-rent apartment for her. However, this wish may not be easy to achieve. Therefore, he extended his deadline: "If I can't do it by this year's Valentine's Day, I hope to see her move in before I leave her."
In summary, this interview made the reporter's heart restless for a long time, even shedding tears. It wasn't supreme sympathy for a cancer patient, but being moved by the love Xu Zhenghua, as a husband and father, has for his family. The reporter believes that this kind of love deserves the word "great."
Despite living in poverty and suffering from illness, Xu Zhenghua remained optimistic. "Being poor is not the government's fault, if there is blame, it is because my body is not strong enough," after taking a dose of painkillers, Xu Zhenghua told the reporter: "It's not my body's fault either, who knows if someone gets sick or not? There's nothing to blame, birth, aging, sickness, and death are all normal."
Reporter's Notes:
On December 15th, before the stitches from the surgery were removed, Xu Zhenghua strongly requested to be discharged from the hospital. "Staying in the hospital longer means spending more money. We've already spent more than 20,000 yuan, how dare I stay longer?" Due to participation in medical insurance, more than 9,000 yuan was reimbursed from the more than 20,000 yuan medical expenses, but he still felt the sting.
Unwilling to spend "unjustified money," he refused to continue treatment.
Final Wish: Apply for a Low-Rent Apartment for His Wife
Cancer Patient Seeks Help: Fulfill My Family's Low-Rent Dream
Apparently, applying for a low-rent apartment as a Valentine's Day gift carries a tragic hue, reflecting the helplessness of a poor and sick family. The reporter, however, sensed a sense of romance and warmth in it, which is humanity's eternal protection and expression of love. Perhaps, it is the unwavering commitment and loyalty until death of a man from Daba Mountain to his responsibilities.
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Do families like this, who receive retirement wages but fall into poverty due to illness, meet the criteria for applying for low-rent apartments? Who exactly lives in our low-rent apartments? The reporter will conduct further investigations.
At the end of August 2011, while working at the hot pot restaurant, Xu Zhenghua suddenly felt intense shoulder pain, thinking it was shoulder periarthritis. For this reason, his daughter-in-law specially bought him a massage device. Gradually, this pain shifted to his legs. Because he had never suffered from a major illness before, he did not take it seriously and treated it as rheumatism, buying medicine from some clinics. He toughed it out for more than two months, but the pain suddenly worsened, making walking and standing extremely difficult.
On December 1st, Xu Zhenghua underwent tumor removal surgery at the Tongchuan District Red Cross Hospital. Through testing the tumor, his condition was confirmed as squamous cell carcinoma.
Forty years of weathering storms together, the scene depicted in the picture is hard to recreate now. Xu Zhenghua fell ill and lay bedridden.