It was just dawn, and Yang Wanjun was walking on the stone road in the mountain village to deliver soybean milk to the elderly. The first "old customer" had just got up when Yang Wanjun delivered the soybean milk to the window. Several old soybean grinders were no longer useful, so Mr. Yang opened a new one. During his noon break, Mr. Yang went home to screen soybeans and soak them. Mr. Yang, who loves calligraphy, showed off his newly written "Beijing Spirit" at home.
On November 18th, at 6 o'clock in the morning, it was still dark, and drizzling rain fell from the sky. In Shuiyu Village, Nanjiao Township, Fangshan District, 73-year-old Yang Wanjun, as usual, carried two thermoses with a flashlight and began delivering freshly made hot soybean milk one by one to more than 20 elders in the same village. The first "old customer" habitually pulled open the cotton curtain and handed out a porcelain bowl. After filling the bowl with soybean milk and chatting for a few moments, Mr. Yang again carried the two thermoses and walked towards the west end of the village. Every day was like this, and he had been doing this for six years.
In 2006, Mr. Yang received an award as an "advanced worker" for the economic census of the previous year — a soybean grinder issued by the township government. He usually had nothing much to do, and it would be a pity not to use the grinder, so he came up with the idea of using his own money to make soybean milk for the old party members who joined before the founding of New China and the lonely, elderly, sick, and disabled people in the village.
At the beginning of delivering soybean milk, his second uncle, Yang Tianbo, who was over 80 years old, misunderstood him as wanting to make a profit and took out some money; Auntie Shi Junhua touched his head and asked if he had a fever. Many elderly people drank the fragrant soybean milk delivered by Yang Wanjun but felt very uneasy: "What is he up to? Even their own children might not be able to deliver a bowl of hot soybean milk in the early morning."
Mr. Yang made a commitment to all the elderly in the village: "I will continue to deliver soybean milk to you as long as you like drinking it."
Since then, every morning, there has been the figure of an old man delivering soybean milk on the mountain roads of Shuiyu Village. As time went on, people who once accused Mr. Yang of "showing off for fame" began to praise him.
Mr. Yang's wife passed away more than 20 years ago, and his children are busy with their careers in the city. Mr. Yang is in good health and lives alone in the village as an accountant, but he is not rich. With a monthly income of five or six hundred yuan, plus more than 300 yuan in low-income assistance, much of his money goes to buying soybeans and updating his soybean grinders. The most noticeable electrical appliances in his home are a row of soybean grinders.
Working during the day, he returns home at noon to soak soybeans; finishing work at 4:30 in the afternoon, he grinds soybean milk at home, prepares it in the evening, and pours it into thermoses. Mr. Yang has developed a habit of going to bed around 9:30 p.m. and getting up before dawn to deliver soybean milk.
Once, on a rainy day, Mr. Yang slipped into a mud pit while delivering soybean milk, injuring his knee and breaking the thermos. That day, the "old customers" didn't get their soybean milk and went to visit him out of concern, returning a bit of warmth.
The villagers calculated for Mr. Yang that they needed more than 300 jin (approximately 150 kg) of soybeans each year, broke five soybean grinders, and bought more than a dozen thermoses. Everyone teased him: "You haven't calculated your accounts as an accountant, how much money have you spent?" Mr. Yang said: "Regardless of how much money, it's hard to 'buy' everyone's happiness. I feel very fulfilled and happy doing this."
This article was written by reporters Duan Jiuru and Sun Xuemei, and photographed by reporter Zhang Bin.
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