Filial Zhang Sen gives his grandmother a back massage.
City Evening News, Tonghua Edition - Eighteen years ago, the couple Zhang Yude from Shidayingzi Village, Qiaodong Town, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, found an abandoned baby girl with a congenital missing left arm in a park in Bozhou City. Despite the opposition of their two sons, the elderly couple decided to adopt her. When the girl was five years old, due to a flood disaster at home, the couple drifted to Tonghua City and brought up the girl through hard work and garbage collection, while also providing for the girl's education. This year, the girl scored 586 points and was admitted to a high school in Tonghua City. A 14-year-old teenager sent out a Weibo plea for help to raise money for his critically ill father (with pictures).
Eighteen Years Ago >>
Picking up the one-armed abandoned infant in the park
In early winter of 1993, Zhang Yude's wife Luo Xianlan took her son and grandson to visit Xiangyang Park in Bozhou City. As soon as they entered the park, she heard the wailing cries of a baby. Upon closer inspection, Luo Xianlan saw a two-month-old baby wrapped in a single layer of clothing placed on a stone bench. There was 100 yuan next to the child along with a letter indicating the child's birthday.
Luo Xianlan could no longer bear it; she picked up the child and walked away. Her son immediately grabbed her, "Mom, you can't take this child. Our family only survives on a few acres of land; where do we have the money to support another child?" Luo Xianlan's heart tightened, her eyes moistened, and she loosened her clothes to tightly hold the child, "This is a life! Saving lives is paramount!" After bringing the baby home, upon unwrapping the swaddling clothes, Luo Xianlan was greatly shocked: the child was a beautiful big-eyed little girl but was born with a congenital defect of a missing left arm.
Zhang Yude did not blame his wife for picking up the baby girl; he said, "Let's give the child a meaningful name. Since her left arm is missing, if we could add it back, that would be great, so let's call her Zhang Dazeng!" To ensure the baby had enough to eat, Luo Xianlan would pop rice into puffs, grind them into powder, mix them with milk powder, and cook them into porridge, feeding Zhang Dazeng bit by bit.
Garbage Collection >>
Raising the one-armed girl through hardships
Time flew by, and Dazeng turned five. Unexpectedly, floods struck that autumn, with the Dashuhe River flooding, collapsing many houses and submerging large tracts of crops.
Luo Xianlan’s two sons packed their bags and went off to work elsewhere. Not long after, heavy rains came again, collapsing their house. Without a home, the three generations were forced to leave their hometown. They traveled far with the help of kind-hearted people and arrived in the border city of Tonghua.
The three of them were strangers in Tonghua. Passing by a scrap recycling station, the boss noticed the robust and honest old man Zhang Yude and hired him, providing him with a free donkey cart to collect waste. However, the path of collecting garbage was arduous. The elderly Zhang Yude and Luo Xianlan worked from dawn till dusk every day, keeping a close eye on every plastic bottle or piece of broken plastic cloth.
Some kind-hearted people learned about their situation and occasionally gave them some clothes. The Zuo'an Village Committee in Tonghua City also helped them rent a small bungalow at a monthly rent of 80 yuan.
Eighteen Years Later >>
Admitted to Tonghua No. 1 High School with excellent results
In the blink of an eye, it was time for the child to start school. Zhang Yude, who had not received much education himself, wanted the child to attend school. "Dazeng was picked up by us. Although she has a disability, since we've formed this bond with her, we must take responsibility for her!"
In September 2000, eight-year-old Dazeng, accompanied by her grandparents, enrolled in the Zuo'an Primary School in Tonghua City. Her grandmother also gave her a pleasant-sounding name: Zhang Sen. After starting school, Zhang Sen became even more considerate. Every morning, she woke up very early, prepared washing water for her grandparents, and quietly reviewed her lessons on the side. After finishing primary school, Zhang Sen smoothly entered Tonghua No. 9 Middle School, where teachers and classmates showed her special care, and her academic performance was excellent. Now 18, Zhang Sen was admitted to Tonghua No. 1 High School this year with a score of 586.
One-Armed Girl >>
"Grandpa and Grandma have been really good to me"
"My two sons are still in Anhui, but I feel Northeast China is quite nice, and I don’t plan to go back. As long as we can move, we will continue to collect scrap and sell it to provide for Zhang Sen's education. This child is our hope," Luo Xianlan said.
Now Luo Xianlan is 64 years old, and Zhang Yude is 66. Due to limited income, the elderly couple usually eats pickled radish strips and steamed buns, occasionally cooking bean sprouts or cabbage to improve Zhang Sen's diet. In Luo Xianlan's home, the reporter saw that the old bungalow was filled with collected waste. A small plank bed in the room served as Zhang Sen's "bedroom." Without a study table, Zhang Sen would do her homework crouched over a heated brick bed.
Zhang Sen told the reporter, "If it weren't for Grandma saving me, could I even be alive? Grandma nurtures me like a 'mother.' I always want to call Grandma 'Mom,' but Grandma's grandchildren are older than me, and Grandma doesn't allow it. Grandpa and Grandma have been really good to me! I don't plan to look for my biological parents. In the future when I go to university, I will apply for student loans and won't worry Grandpa and Grandma. Once I start working, I will buy a big house and invite Grandpa and Grandma to live with me."
Ideal >>
Helping more disabled people in the future
When talking about her ideals and aspirations, Zhang Sen said, "I will study hard. In the future, I want to become a civil servant to help more disabled people."
In today's information age, 18-year-old Zhang Sen does not know how to use the internet, chat on QQ, or even use a mobile phone. After school, she helps her grandmother wash clothes, cut vegetables, and cook. The reporter saw that Zhang Sen placed the washed cucumber on the cutting board, using a towel under her left shoulder to prevent it from rolling, then skillfully slicing the cucumber with her right hand holding the knife. "At the beginning of learning to cut potato threads, they were as thick as chopsticks. Later, after practicing, she can now cut them finely and quickly," Grandma smiled.
Currently, with the help of the Tonghua Disabled Persons' Federation, Zhang Sen has applied for low-income assistance, receiving more than 200 yuan per month in low-income subsidies, and has registered her household in Tonghua City.
(Peiyue, reporter Wang Yaohui, report/photo)
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