Share to: Welcome to post comments I want to comment Weibo recommendation | Today's Weibo hotspot (Editor: SN026) Every day, the few cents or yuan earned from picking up scrap materials, Elder Xu Fengying was reluctant to spend on food and clothing. Every morning, she didn't eat breakfast, saving money to buy buns for Little SiSi to eat, which left her with a serious stomach ailment.
Since then, Grandma Xu's fate has been tightly linked with that of this abandoned child. Grandma Xu lived a hard life, relying on picking up garbage and scrap materials on the streets to make ends meet. Unable to afford milk, she boiled rice porridge for the child, feeding her mouthful by mouthful, and getting up again at midnight to feed her once more. After the child reached one month old, sometimes Grandma Xu would carry He SiSi while picking up scrap materials, and other times she would lock He SiSi at home, rushing to pick up some garbage nearby before returning home to take care of He SiSi.
SiSi said that the clothes Grandma wore on her feet and body were all washed clean from the items she picked up. Once, the clever He SiSi proactively found Grandma and said she wanted to buy a new piece of clothing. However, she deliberately bought a larger size. When she got home, she told Grandma that it didn't fit her and asked Grandma to wear it. Thus, Grandma Xu "unexpectedly" put on a new piece of clothing.
It wasn't until the winter of 2008 that Grandma Xu handed over the "daughter" she had personally raised to her forty-something grandson to foster.
13 years ago, on April 25th, just as dawn broke, then 79-year-old Xu Fengying came to the gate of the county central hospital to pick up garbage and scrap materials. Under a tree, she saw a cardboard box, thinking it was scrap, she bent down to pick it up. Upon opening it, she found an abandoned infant inside, its umbilical cord not yet cut, and its face already turning blue.
The reporter visited Grandma Xu just before the Spring Festival. Although Grandma Xu could no longer hear very well, she recounted to us the touching story of how she found the abandoned baby and raised her into adulthood.
Thus, under the help of family members and kind-hearted people, Little SiSi grew up day by day. During her primary school years at Chengguan Central Elementary School, the school and caring individuals in society also provided the greatest assistance possible.
At the age of seven, the thoughtful He SiSi began picking up garbage with her grandmother. While studying at school, she would pay attention to bringing home discarded water bottles, plastic bags, and other recyclables for her grandmother to sell.
For 13 years of wind and rain, 13 years of sweetness and bitterness, and 13 years of nurturing grace, facing the aged grandma with weathered features, akin to a mother, He SiSi said emotionally, “Grandma gave me a second life, infinite warmth, and happiness.”
Author: He Bingwen
Grandma Xu quickly undid her buttons, wrapped the baby in her arms, and brought it home. She begged a little white sugar from her neighbors and fed it to the baby with warm water. The baby cried loudly, hearing the cries, Grandma Xu comfortingly said, "There's hope, there's hope!"
A photo of Grandma and the abandoned girl who depended on each other for survival. Photo by He Bingwen.
Picking up garbage and scrap materials. Photo by He Bingwen.
92-year-old Xu Fengying lives in Chengguan Town, Chengdong Community, Anren County, Hunan Province. He SiSi, a 13-year-old middle school student, is the "daughter" that Grandma Xu picked up and raised.