A familiar scene greets the daily commuters as they pass near the Jilin Road Station of Changchun Light Rail Line 4. Tucked by the window’s edge at the station’s entrance, a girl is immersed in her books. Each day, after school, this young girl sits at her special desk near her parents’ family business, a grilled cold noodle stall, doing her homework. The mother leads her daughter to check the homework under the station’s luminescent lights as darkness falls.
A daily commuter’s recount
Perched, lying prone on the windowsill at the railway station entrance, a young girl immerses herself in her studies, oblivious to all the commotion and the hustle and bustle of the passing crowds. As day turns to night, she continues concentrating on her studies under the light emanating from the Light Rail Station.
As I witnessed this scene, a well-known saying came to mind: “Not hearing what’s going on outside the window, the heart only concentrates on reading the books of sages.” This girl epitomized this saying for me. I continued watching her as she stared at her book, with chin in hand, contemplating how to resolve the complex problem.
A daily routine
An owner was busy taking orders as diners surrounded his noodle stall. A young girl in a pink jacket holds her mother’s hand as they cross the street. They come to the father’s side, and he serves at the stall.
The girl places her white floral school bag into a cardboard box, unzips it, and rummages through it to find her homework for the day. The language assignment, consisting of writing five ancient poems, was the first item she chose to tackle. Pulling out her father’s homemade stool (a round box with a lid for flaky pancakes), she places it at the stone ball near the stall and uses it as her desk. Bending down, she focuses on her writing task; in a short while, she completes her language homework. Next, she takes out a maths book and continues with her homework.
Her mom placed her coat over her daughters’ hands, turning a little red from the cold. In less than 10 minutes, she finished the 20 math problems. Looking at the time, she realized she had spent less than half an hour on her maths. She smiled shyly at her father and stated: “I want to eat some grilled cold noodles.”
A family’s dream
This young girl’s name was Cao Ziqi, a 9-year-old third-grade student from the nearby elementary school. Both of her parents were aged 29. The father, Cao Yanbao, and mother, Fan Xiaodan, owned less than two acres of land in their hometown, Dehui. Since this land could barely support the family, they fulfilled their dream. Fan said: “Since we are still young, we wish to succeed at making a living in the city for the sake of our daughter.” A year later, they moved to Changchun.
Recounting the family’s earlier experiences in the city
“The rent cost us US$1,200 (8,546 RMB) per month, and we spent almost all our savings on paying rent for one year. We also bought an electric tricycle, so we didn’t leave the house for a week since we had no money left. After overcoming these difficulties, we set up a food stall, and the business grew. Making a profit of US$200 (1,424 RMB) a day was good, but there were days when we could only make US$10 (71 RMB)!”
The place we rented is only a few minutes away from the Light Rail Station, so the large flow of people guarantees our business, and most importantly, it’s close to our daughter’s school. It had not been a year since Xiao Ziqi transferred here. Her class teacher Wang Ying offered praises: ‘Ziqi gets along well with her classmates, gets good grades, is good and a serious, well-behaved child.'”
“People ask why our daughter does her homework outside. Ziqi is scared to be left alone at home,” said Fan. “We tried leaving her at home to finish her homework and later come to the stall, but she just couldn’t.” Ziqi said: “I just want to be with my parents, and I’m not afraid of the cold. School ends at 3:30 every afternoon. I pick her up from school and then return to the food stall where the father works. While busy with the stall, Ziqi consciously does her homework at her desk.”
Yanbao’s father said: “She sits next to the stone ball most of the time. She hides in the Light Rail Station when the weather is bad or dark. We close the stall at 10 o’clock every night, and Ziqi remains until that time, and no one can persuade her to do otherwise!”
“After finishing her homework, I recite ancient poems and play idiom solitaire games with her. We have not graduated from elementary school and are not educated. We don’t force our children to study. We want her to be healthy and happy,” said Fan.
It was their dream to find a place in the city
“Now, we are just taking one step at a time, getting down to business for our daughter and our family to make money, open a store, and have our own home,” said Fan Xiaodan.
Someone calls out for a food order. Fan leaves to serve the customer. After finishing her homework, Ziqi places her hands in the hand warmers and helps deliver food to her mother.
Translated by Cecilia and edited by Maria
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