ECNS, Lishui, August 3 (reported by Shao Yanfei) -- In recent days, a simple yet touching story has been widely circulated in the mountainous areas of Lishui, Zhejiang. Faced with a raging fire, Ye Xiaowen, a 17-year-old girl from Shikou Village, Xiping Town, Songyang County, acted without hesitation and with composure beyond her years, successfully rescuing her neighbor uncle and a 90-year-old grandmother. She has been hailed as "Lishui's Most Beautiful Girl."
In the sea of flames, a small figure was moving around.
This night, the entire city of Lishui was moved.
At about 12:10 AM on July 16, 2011, Ye Xiaowen, who lived in Shikou Village, Xiping Town, Songyang County, Lishui City, woke up in her sleep due to a pungent burnt smell. Upon opening the door, she felt a chill down her back as the wires on the walls of the adjacent house were crackling and sparks were flying everywhere. Within seconds, flames erupted uncontrollably from the wires and spread to the roof!
"All the houses in our area are old. If the fire spreads, the consequences would be unimaginable. We must wake everyone up and escape," Ye Xiaowen said during an interview with reporters. At that moment, she didn't even have time to think, immediately waking her mother Zhu Ai Hong. She quickly ran to the door, turned off the wall switch, and poured a basin of water onto the burning wires.
Realizing that the fire was unstoppable, Ye Xiaowen shouted to her mother: "Quickly take our sleeping younger brother out. I'll go wake up Uncle and Grandma next door." With these words, Ye Xiaowen rushed to Ye Huogao's house next door.
"Uncle Ye is over 50 years old and slightly intellectually disabled," Ye Xiaowen explained. She pounded on Ye Huogao's door and shouted, "Fire! Fire!" After being woken up, Uncle Ye was dazed and confused in the thick smoke. "I grabbed Uncle Ye's hand and pulled him out with all my strength."
Next, Ye Xiaowen and her mother Zhu Ai Hong rushed to another resident He Jin Feng's house. By then, the tiles were already crackling loudly, and broken beams were falling onto the floorboards. Ye Xiaowen later told reporters, "My whole body felt scorched, but Grandma He Jin Feng was 90 years old, alone at home, and deaf. I had to rescue her quickly."
"When my mother and I knocked on Grandma He's door, she never opened it," Ye Xiaowen recounted. Helplessly, she asked her mother to kick open Grandma He Jin Feng's door. After opening the door, they helped the elderly woman to the entrance, but she held tightly onto the doorframe and refused to come out. Ye Xiaowen decisively lifted Grandma He Jin Feng with her mother and rushed out of the house as fast as possible. Just as they stepped out of Grandma He's house, the second floor collapsed into flames, engulfing the entire house.
The reporter learned that in this fire, Ye Xiaowen's perfectly good house was reduced to ruins overnight. All her books for the nursery teacher qualification exam and the Mandarin proficiency test were burned, along with her electronic keyboard, all her favorite clothes, and photos with friends. The 500 yuan she had earned from two months of hard work also went up in flames, money she originally intended to use to buy gifts for her parents.
The reporter observed at the scene that although many days had passed since the fire, a layer of black ash over 30 centimeters thick still lay heavily on the ruins of the old house, with charred beams scattered all over the ground. Among these ruins, one could still faintly see the remnants of bicycles, televisions, computers, and rice threshers.
Captain Bao Caiqin of the Songyang County Fire Brigade told reporters that where Ye Xiaowen lived, the houses were mostly made of earth and wood, covered with tiles. Once such houses catch fire, heat easily accumulates under the tiles, making them prone to ignite quickly, with fierce flames and rapid collapses. "During this fire, combined with the hot weather, the entire process lasted only 12 minutes, leaving very little time for villagers and firefighters to rescue the elderly, sick, and children. For a 17-year-old child to save two people in such a short time, disregarding her own safety, is truly remarkable."
A 17-year-old child has already made doing good a habit.
At 17, the age of blossoming youth, many children are growing up happily under their parents' care. However, for a post-90s child living in the southern mountains of Zhejiang, what she carries on her shoulders is not just poverty, but also a sense of responsibility.
To increase the family income, Ye Xiaowen's father has been working in Guangdong and other places for many years, while her mother works in a company in the Songyang County Industrial Park. "Since her grandmother suffered a stroke in 2009, she would rush back from school every noon to cook for the elder and help her bathe until her grandmother passed away," said Liu Guoming, the village secretary of Shikou Village, Xiping Town.
The reporter learned that in the more than a year before her grandmother's death, Ye Xiaowen would get up early every morning to cook for her grandmother and return home at noon to prepare lunch for her. During that period, the thoughtful Ye Xiaowen would shuttle back and forth between home and school on her electric bike, getting up over an hour earlier than other children every day. Due to the short lunch break, Ye Xiaowen specially asked her teacher for permission to be "a little late" for the first class in the afternoon.
When the reporter asked her if she found it hard, Ye Xiaowen seriously replied, "These are things that should be done; there's no question of hardship or not. It can also be a way to exercise me. I've even learned how to make several dishes!"
At school, Xiao Wen is a diligent and obedient student. Her homeroom teacher, Wang Yi, told reporters that Xiao Wen is the group leader responsible for evaluating students each week. Despite the complexity of this task, she always does it well. "And she never mentions her family situation. If it weren't for last summer when her mother came to the school and said she couldn't afford her education anymore, we wouldn't have known about her family situation."
Deputy Director of the Education Department of Zhejiang Province, Bao Xuejun, after learning about Ye Xiaowen's experience of saving people from the fire, remarked, "Children from poor families grow up faster. Nowadays, kids her age live happily under their parents' care and don't know what hardship means."
Bao Xuejun told reporters that for Ye Xiaowen to remain so calm and intelligent in the face of a fire is indeed no easy feat. This is inseparable from the regular school and family education she received. Her exemplary deeds serve as a model and living textbook for school safety education. "Facing a fire, let alone a 17-year-old child, even adults might panic and not know what to do. Yet Ye Xiaowen not only saved her family but also rescued two elderly people, bringing glory to our education system. Everyone should learn from her."
"The most beautiful girl" moves Zhejiang and becomes an internet sensation
Ye Xiaowen rushing into the fire to bravely save two people has quickly moved Zhejiang.
Netizen "Most Beautiful China" praised: "At such a critical moment, this child could bravely save people, which is truly amazing. Many adults may not be able to achieve this."
Netizen "Passionate Centimeter" praised: "Faced with a sudden, roaring fire, remaining calm in danger, twice rushing into the fire, successfully rescuing a bachelor and a 90-year-old grandmother, worthy of everyone's study."
Some netizens also said, "Don't underestimate us post-90s anymore, and don't always say we are brain-damaged. 'Lishui's Most Beautiful Girl' is our best role model."
Regarding Ye Xiaowen's touching act of bravery in the fire, Secretary of the Lishui Municipal Committee Lu Ziyue expressed that citizen Wu Juping of Hangzhou supported a young life in a critical moment and was called the "Most Beautiful Mother"; Songyang girl Ye Xiaowen, with her arms raised in the midst of a blazing fire, pulled two neighbors back from the brink of death and can definitely be called Lishui's "Most Beautiful Girl."
At the same time, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the Publicity Department Mao Lingsheng commented: "I am deeply moved. Ye Xiaowen's brave act of saving people reflects the ideological realm and precious spirit of the new generation of youth in Zhejiang Province. Especially those in ordinary positions, they are down-to-earth and their work is extremely ordinary. They usually do not have any earth-shaking achievements, shining words, or thoughts, but their actions show excellent moral standards and patriotic sentiments."
The reporter learned that in order to commend Ye Xiaowen's heroic actions and encourage everyone to learn from her, currently, the Songyang County Public Security Bureau is preparing to apply for honors related to acts of righteousness for Ye Xiaowen. The Propaganda Department of the Lishui Municipal Committee has quickly organized various media within the city to publicize Ye Xiaowen's heroic deeds, aiming to "make Ye Xiaowen's courage, kindness, and sincerity become a benchmark for all the people of the city." (End)
Comments welcome. I want to comment. Weibo recommendation | Today's Weibo Hotspots