Cao Qiufang's life, since the age of four, has been on a path that she is still walking today: taking care of her paralyzed mother, carrying her mother on her back to school, a difficult process that has continued through her sophomore year of high school and will continue into the future.
Later, Cao Qiufang asked her neighbors for a small piece of land where she grew vegetables for food, "basically we don't have to buy vegetables anymore."
After the high school entrance exam, Cao Qiufang achieved excellent results and was admitted to the experimental class of Dongguan Middle School, a key school in the city. She still chose to take her mom with her, "even if I go to university later, I will still take my mom with me."
"Her father left, so it's up to her to take care of me," Yang Weijuan said. A son, after all being a boy, might not be as convenient in certain situations.
"If her mother hadn't held her back, Qiufang's grades would be better! She could become one of the top students in the class, how pitiful this girl is!" The neighbors' comments reached Yang Weijuan's ears, "yes, it's me who has held her back, she has suffered too much." Yang Weijuan thought of death, one night, she asked her daughter to sleep at her feet. Estimating that her daughter was almost asleep, she took out a silk ribbon and tried to strangle herself.
At first, during the first half year, her father didn't earn much money, the family of three had to live on a little fried rice noodles. Cao Qiufang said, for more than ten years, they basically haven't eaten any meat dishes, the most expensive dish was eggs, "we love tomato and egg soup the most."
Even working so hard to make money, it still wasn't enough, "dad's health isn't good, the money he earns has to support grandma, my brother is in college and can support himself." It wasn't until a few years ago when they received low-income assistance, and the Shangyu Disabled Persons' Federation provided an additional subsidy, that the mother and daughter were able to scrape by on more than 400 yuan per month.
In October 2008, Cao Qiufang was elected as one of the "Top Ten Moral Role Models in Shaoxing", becoming the youngest moral role model in Zhejiang's history.
In Shangyu, there are two well-known stories of filial piety known even to children: one is Yu Shun, the first among the twenty-four filial examples, whose filial piety moved heaven; the other is Cao E, the filial daughter who drowned herself trying to save her father. Now, on the banks of the Cao'e River in Zhangzhen Town, Shangyu, nineteen-year-old modern filial daughter Cao Qiufang is once again demonstrating touching filial piety that moves heaven and earth.
"She often encourages me, giving me the courage to live on." After regaining the will to live, Yang Weijuan also encouraged her daughter, "Qiufang, you must study hard, achieve good results." Encouraged by her mother, in her second year of junior high school, Cao Qiufang won the second prize in the city-wide "Olympiad Mathematics Competition."
Now, the mother and daughter still live a humble life, but life is full of hope...
Since then, every day around five or six o'clock in the morning, after Cao Qiufang gets up, she washes clothes, cooks, cleans, feeds her mother, and only goes to school after everything is settled. At noon, she returns home with boxed meals, and after school in the evening, she cooks dinner before doing her homework.
As she approaches her senior year of high school, unless there's something at school, Cao Qiufang stays by her mother's side. The mother and daughter live in two free flat rooms near Dongguan Middle School, provided by a kind person.
Yang Weijuan cried, "even doctors say it's a miracle, it's because my daughter has taken such good care of me." Watching her mother walk step by step, Cao Qiufang also cried, "there's hope for mom now!"
The biggest surprise came last February 12th, "before, I was worried that mom lying down all day wasn't good, occasionally I would help her walk around for a while, that day I suddenly tried letting go, and mom could actually walk on her own."
From then on, Yang Weijuan walks around every day, now she can walk for more than half an hour, "I estimate it's because the heavens saw our family suffer too much and showed mercy."
That year, Cao Qiufang was four years old, she understood her parents' worries and told her father, "dad, go out and make money, me and my brother will take care of mom."
Carrying her mother on her back to school, she has done so for 11 years.
Although her father works outside, he doesn't send much money home each year. In her third year of elementary school, Cao Qiufang decided to earn money for the family, "I saw the aunt next door sewing gloves, so I also took a batch, after finishing my homework every day I sewed them, earning 3.3 yuan for every 12 pairs."
One person carries an entire family, without complaint.
As soon as anyone mentions this understanding daughter, Yang Weijuan feels guilty. On the 56th day after giving birth to her daughter, due to a failed surgery causing compressive vertebral canal stenosis, she became bedridden. Her husband took her everywhere for treatment, continuing for four years, dragging the family into poverty without any improvement in her condition.
"My own mother, I have no complaints." Cao Qiufang said.
"Look at her hands, they're covered in chilblains," Yang Weijuan said. During junior high school holidays, her daughter found odd jobs processing umbrella parts, working tirelessly to make money. Over time, especially in cold weather, the iron wires of the umbrella parts pierced through her skin, swelling her hands like big buns. "I told her not to do it, not to make this money, but she always comforted me saying it's fine, just apply some ointment and it'll be okay."
Letting her mother live happily is Cao Qiufang's greatest wish. Her Chinese scores are very good, her essays often become sample texts. She takes her own essays home to read to her mother, every word filled with love for her mother and life, "at these times, mom smiles."
In 2005, Cao Qiufang was going to attend Zhangzhen Middle School for junior high school. Someone asked her, "will you continue carrying your mother to school?" "Of course," in her eyes, her mother's life is her own life.
In the evening, when her mother was hungry, Cao Qiufang quickly went to cook. Watching her daughter busy in the kitchen, Yang Weijuan couldn't help but cry, "the child works too hard, hasn't eaten well from a young age, and hasn't grown tall, she should be taller than me."
Walking into the small house, Cao Qiufang was helping her mother get out of bed, "walking every day is good for the body." She is 19 years old, only 1.53 meters tall, while her mother Yang Weijuan is 1.65 meters tall. When they lean on each other, the daughter is clearly shorter.
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