Ordinary family's contribution indispensable to society

By Zhan Yuxiao

Class 1, Grade 8, No 2 experimental school affiliated to Shanghai Normal University

As the final exams finished, the first semester of the academic year drew to an end. But the weather wouldn't chill down. December was unusually warm, with the temperature rising and falling dramatically from time to time — there seemed to be something special about this winter. At home, everything went on as usual. Like in previous years, we spent the Spring Festival holiday in my mother's hometown of Yangzhou.

Spring Festival celebrations in Yangzhou started as early as a week before the big day. Walking around on the streets, you could easily feel that the festival was just around the corner. The whole city was immersed in the joyful holiday mood.

Everything was just like it used to be — the view, the buildings, the happy family gatherings. It was only after two days when news poured in: A new coronavirus broke out in Wuhan's seafood market.

Panic brought by the virus was all over the place. TV and social media were broadcasting breaking news every day: Confirmed infections increased by a few hundred in one day, the virus can be transmitted among humans. All of a sudden, surgical masks were sold out, fever clinics were overcrowded, doctors rushed to Wuhan. As I browsed through the worrying headlines, I secretly hoped that Dad wouldn't go. After all, he wasn't in the fever clinic department.

The Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve was a time for family reunions. We prepared dinner together. I was so happy that Grandpa taught me how to cook Yangzhou meatballs. After dinner, we watched the Spring Festival Gala on TV. Everyone was happy, except for Dad. He kept checking the phone, his looks getting solemn.

On the morning of the Spring Festival, Mom and Dad made the announcement: Time to go back to Shanghai. Before I could digest what was happening, we were already driving on the highway, as trees and streetlamps flashed outside my car window.

I couldn't shake off all the questions in my head. Why were we going back all of a sudden? Dad is not a doctor in a fever clinic after all. There were already confirmed cases in Shanghai and the news said tourists from Hubei were all settled in a hotel for now, so there were still risks. How could Mom disregard all these factors and agree to return? She was the one who always made health the top priority of the family…

When we got closer to home, I noticed something different. The usually busy shopping mall was quiet. At gates to residential communities, doctors in protective suits and volunteers wearing surgical masks were doing checkups of passersby. That's when I realized the pneumonia had spread from Wuhan to other places, so Dad must cancel the holiday and go back to work. When people stayed home amid the crisis, doctors and nurses had to do their jobs, even when it meant facing the disease.

When Dad was about to leave home, he turned around. I recalled what I read online and said: "Avoid going out. Wear a mask if we have to." Dad paused, and broke a smile: "That's my good boy. Dad will help the other doctors save lives. You will now help take care of our family." Mom put a mask over Dad's mouth: "Just go. I will be here."

I feel so proud. My dad is just an ordinary man, but he's also a doctor willing to take risks to save lives. My family is just an ordinary family, but we are willing to sacrifice for the whole society and make our contribution, just like every other family of many other doctors.

It is said that life is easy only because others are shouldering all the difficulties. In this unusual winter break, I came to understand that every ordinary family contributes indispensable strength to the society. As the epidemic rages, it is my dad and his fellow doctors and nurses who are holding up the sky for this country.