Chu Xinhua has to feed her father-in-law with water, food, and medicine every day like this, while seeking treatment for hemorrhoids. Written and photographed by reporter Chen Wei. In Taoyuan North Community of the provincial capital, whenever people talk about the good daughter-in-law Chu Xinhua, many would give a thumbs up. Since 1999 when she began taking care of her bedridden father-in-law, Chu Xinhua persisted for a full 12 years. After her husband passed away in 2009, she single-handedly shouldered the burden of the family. Although life was tough—court cashier sentenced to death with reprieve for embezzling 29 million yuan, having spent millions on lottery tickets—Chu Xinhua never complained. Her greatest wish was "to ensure that my father-in-law's remaining days are free of regrets."
On the 22nd, I visited Chu Xinhua’s home. It was an ordinary farmhouse courtyard, filled with various items under the gate, and the yard was incredibly small. The house was rather dark inside, with basically no decent furniture, but it was very clean.
In 1993, at the age of 22, Chu Xinhua married into her husband's family from Ji Yang. At the time, both she and her husband worked at a lighting institute, and although their income was not high, they had steady jobs. By 1996, her father-in-law suddenly suffered from a cerebral thrombosis, which disrupted the household. In 1999, his condition suddenly worsened, leaving him bedridden and unable to take care of himself.
"At that time, the company wasn't doing well, so I took leave from work to focus on caring for my father-in-law," said Chu Xinhua. Initially, her father-in-law could not accept the fact of being bedridden, and his temper became somewhat irritable, leading to loud arguments when things didn’t go his way. Now, Chu Xinhua gets up early every morning to turn her father-in-law over, massage him, cook meals, feed him, and administer his medication. "For 12 years, he has never developed bedsores." Nights were the most exhausting for Chu Xinhua; her father-in-law would shout out whenever he needed something, such as drinking water or going to the toilet in the middle of the night, sometimes calling out five or six times a night.
Actually, taking care of the elderly did not make Chu Xinhua feel too much hardship. What saddened her the most was her husband's passing in 2009. "He passed away on February 14, 2009. From being diagnosed with liver cancer to his death, there was only a short month. At the time, we accumulated a debt of 30,000 yuan for his medical treatment," said Chu Xinhua. Her husband's death made her feel as if she had aged overnight, and from then on, everything in the family depended on her.
In the past two years, seeing how hard Chu Xinhua's life was, her family had repeatedly advised her to remarry, but she refused. "After my husband's death, only the bedridden father-in-law, the 73-year-old mother-in-law, and a 15-year-old daughter remained in the family. If I left, the family would fall apart."
Chu Xinhua said that she felt she owed the most to her daughter because of limited economic conditions. After graduating from junior high school, her daughter attended a vocational secondary school instead of university. Now, as her daughter is about to graduate, she is interning at a large supermarket with a monthly salary of 800 yuan, and Chu Xinhua herself has also found a job in the lighting market, leading to some improvement in the family's financial situation.
Reflecting on the years she had gone through, Chu Xinhua said she had no regrets at all, "Hard times will always pass. Since I have already persisted for these 12 years, what can't I continue to persist in the future?"