According to reports (by reporter Wan Qiang and correspondent Yi Lingyun), it has been ten days since the start of the new semester, and Zhou Jun continues to travel back and forth between Huangpu Road and Dijiao. Yesterday, this 22-year-old female college student told reporters: "I want to be a kindergarten teacher around Erqi Road. First, it will allow me to conveniently take care of my younger brother, and secondly, I can earn money to support our family."
Zhou Jun's home is in the Pinghe Community on Minzu Street in Jianghan District. Two months ago, her parents passed away due to illness, leaving her and her 16-year-old brother to rely on each other for survival.
After handling her parents' funeral arrangements, Zhou Jun decided to leave the house filled with sorrow and moved with her brother to rent a place near the school. Just before the start of the school year, she rented a 20-square-meter private room near Erqi Middle School with her brother’s high school enrollment notice, beginning their life as "study companions."
Tasks that were originally done by her parents are now all handled by her: waking up her brother at 6 a.m., preparing his toiletries, rushing home to cook lunch, supervising his homework in the evening, and finding time to wash clothes and air out bedding. She has become like a "study companion mother."
She told reporters that she majored in early childhood education and hoped to find a nearby kindergarten job. "I want to raise my brother into adulthood with the income from my labor."