When I was twelve, my dad chiseled a hole in the ice to fish and nearly drowned. Although he was rescued, his legs were left useless, and I had a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old brother below me.
At the time, my mom and I felt like the sky was falling. After learning about our situation, it was Director Xue who took my dad to the county hospital and also gave our family a certain amount of relief funds every month.
Latter, when I could earn work points, I thought about no longer taking advantage of the state's help, but Director Xue said that my family had special circumstances and told me not to feel burdened. And now, with this enlistment, it was also Director Xue who assured our family that the commune would continue to take care of us after I left.
I never expected..." Sun Shangmei's eyes reddened as she spoke, "I never expected that before I could even leave, something happened to Director Xue. I thought for sure that I wouldn't be able to enlist.