When
poor village boy Hong Zhanhui was just
12-year old, his dad became mentally ill, his
mum disappeared, and he had to look after
himself, frequently going to school with
empty stomach. And if that wasn't hard enough
for a little boy to endue, one day, his dad
brought home a baby girl abandoned by her own
mum despite he knew with his mental condition
he was not capable of looking after her. What
would you do if you were the boy? Let her
stave and cry, because you barely had enough
food to eat yourself?
The
choice the boy made was astonishing: He went
out begging for milk to feed her.
Since
then, to the baby girl he was mom, dad and
big brother all-in-one. He bathed her, nursed
her, and collected wild herbs to feed her and
himself. Once he was badly injured when
climbing a tree to look for bird eggs for the
baby, yet which did not cause him to quit his
duty as a carer, nor stopped him going to
school.
Ten
years later, when he passed his tertiary
entrance exam and went to university, he
brought his sister with him, taking partime
jobs to support both of them.
After
his story was spread out over the Internet,
he quickly became one of the most popular
figures in China. Last week, he was invited
to meet some young people in the Inner
Mongolia. He went, along with his sister and
his sweetheart of high school days. On
Thursday night, with the bliss of his
hospitable Mongol hosts, in a tent set on the
wild prairie land under a star-studded dark
blue sky, the young couple were formally
engaged.
On
the simple ceremony, they sang a song by a
Mongol singer titled Heaven:
天堂在哪里？天堂就在你的眼里;
天堂在哪里？天堂就在我的心里.
Where
is Heaven? Heaven is in your sight;
Where is Heaven? Heaven is in my heart.
Hong's
girlfriend, Hong Zhanhui today, the baby girl
today
“我们3个就是吉祥如意的一家！ ”
"We three make a happy family!"
