In the afternoon, the sunshine came through the open door of the old house and shone on a pair of frostbitten little hands. The girl sat quietly in front of her father's sickbed, with a focused expression. She picked up a needle and skillfully threaded it. The thread was long, but it became obedient in her hands. Stitch by stitch, a beautiful pattern gradually took shape. The girl was embroidering.
The girl embroidered not because she liked it, but for the sake of living. It took more than 20 minutes to finish one embroidery, earning her 1 yuan. She could embroider fifteen or sixteen pieces a day. This money was the living expense for her family. In fact, there were only two people in the family: her and her father. And now, her father was already in the late stage of cancer.
The girl was 15 years old, in the second year of junior high school, and had been embroidering for five years.
In an unfortunate family, there was a sensible girl.
The girl lost her mother's love when she was young. Her mother was from Yueqing. Unable to endure the impoverished life in the mountain village, in the spring of ten years ago, she abandoned the girl who was only five years old at that time, left the mountain village, and has been out of touch ever since. For all these years, she neither wrote a letter to her daughter nor bought her clothes.
For many years, the girl had been living with her father. Because they were poor, the father went gambling and was caught in November 2008 and sentenced.
Last May, after getting out of prison, for the sake of his daughter, he decided to turn over a new leaf and start anew. But it was too late. Last September, he started coughing nonstop, severely. After checking at the hospital, it was found that he had advanced lung cancer.
After borrowing more than 60,000 yuan to treat him at Ningbo First Hospital, the father realized there was no hope. To not burden his daughter further, he decided to give up treatment and return home.
During the few days in the hospital, the girl washed her father's feet and wiped his face every day. She wanted to stay longer with her father and asked for leave. Her father persuaded her to go back to school, as he didn't want to delay her studies.
Finally, the father went four consecutive days without eating, and the hospital issued a critical condition notice. The doctor indicated that after being discharged, his life would not exceed 24 hours.
Back at their hometown, the girl stayed by her father's side for two nights. A miracle happened - the 35-year-old father was still alive.
Now, the first thing the girl does after returning home from school every day is to take care of her father. Then, she sits by her father's sickbed and picks up her needle and thread to embroider. Because this is their only source of income.
Her hands are full of chilblains, yet her embroidery remains swift.
In fact, as early as five years ago, the girl started embroidering. Because she knew her family was poor, and it wasn't easy for her father to earn money to support the family. She didn't want her father to work so hard.
At that time, there was some embroidery work in the village that could be taken home. For each embroidered flower border, there was one yuan wage. The girl learned embroidery to earn some money for living expenses or to help the family financially.
Because of the special circumstances of the girl's family, many kind-hearted women in the village sympathized with her and were willing to teach her how to embroider. Thus, the girl often began another "homework" - embroidery - after finishing her schoolwork or on weekends.
A kind aunt who often taught the girl embroidery said that the child was very serious about learning embroidery. A flower border could be finished in just twenty to thirty minutes, not slower than adults.
This way, for five years, the girl regarded embroidery as her own "duty," not knowing how many pieces she had embroidered. Due to long-term embroidery, every winter, her little hands would be covered with chilblains. To keep her fingers flexible, she couldn't wear gloves.
This winter, the girl's small hands were again covered with chilblains. Despite the unbearable itching, the girl scratched her skin until it broke, but her speed of embroidery remained fast.
She wanted to use her little hands to earn money for her father's medical treatment.
These days, as her father needed money for treatment, the girl embroidered even harder. As long as she had free time every day, she would sit down and seriously embroider. The girl said she wanted her father to see that his daughter was strong and had learned the skills of life.
In an essay, the girl wrote: Father's treatment requires a lot of money. She was still young, without money to treat her father, hoping to use her own hands to embroider and earn money for her father's treatment. Although the money was little, as long as she worked hard and saved, it would slowly increase.
The girl's head teacher said that in the past five years, the girl's academic performance had always been excellent. She was now the study committee member and vice-class leader, ranking among the top 20 in the second year of junior high school. She was an optimistic and studious girl.
The girl's name is Wang Mingmin, and she is 15 years old. Yesterday, the reporter went to the girl's home, a mud-tile house in Donglin Village, Beizhang Town, Shengzhou City. Some kind-hearted people also went together and brought some money to the girl.
When parting, the girl cried, and her tears sparkled crystalline in the sunlight.