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In 1985, one of Li Shuying's neighbors gave birth to a son. But the family had a history of mental illness, and neither could afford the effort nor money to spare for the child.
Li was only a peasant in Beijing's Changping district, but she took the newborn in, and raised him as her own. She named him Laishun.
Nine years later, in 1994, Laishun's father died in a car accident. A year later, his paternal grandparents also passed away.
Li generously extended a hand to Laishun's mother, who was mentally disabled and all alone in the world. This act of goodwill brought the two families together and glued them into one.
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The family has been together for almost twenty years now. [Photo/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
The new family's life resembled a roller coaster, constantly shifting, uphill and downhill. Laishun's father's death brought in a 30,000 yuan ($4,839) compensation, and Li made good use of every penny. With the help of her village, Laishun found himself provided with a newly built house.
Then in November 1998, Li's husband was diagnosed with colon cancer. The doctor sent him back, telling her to prepare for the funeral.
Li was devastated, but she wasn't one to give up. After combing the village for medical aid, she found a doctor who kept her husband on medication.
With delicate care, he grew stronger by the day, and slowly began to take over the cleaning and cooking. Six years passed, and Laishun finished secondary school. There were six years of peace, the calm before the storm, before Li's husband relapsed into another episode of colon cancer. This time it didn't go away.
Li's fierce belief in miracles could have been shattered right here, but it didn't. Laishun was the living proof of that. But her husband's death was a hollow blow that never stopped resonating in the family's ears.
So she kept going, taking on all the work by herself. The trees needed to be looked after, plots needed to be seeded. Work was a vicious cycle that never ended. In 2008, it was the laborious Li who stopped first, admitted to hospital for the damage it had done to her nerves.
Three days later, Laishun's mother fell and fractured her hip bone, hospitalized as well.
This new hurtle downhill left Li practically annihilated, but she still did not give up. She arranged for Laishun and her own son to take care of the mentally ill mother, and asked to be released from the hospital early.
There was no relapse after that.
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Li giving a haircut to Laishun's mother. [Photo/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
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The whole family celebrated when Laishun's daughter turned one month old. [Photo/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
Laishun is nearly 30 now, graduated, employed, married, and with a daughter. To Li, it doesn't matter that she never filled out "official" paperwork, nor "officially" adopted Laishun. For all she's done – raised a child and his mentally ill mother to boot – and seen him wade through the stages of life – isn't that what a mother is for, after all?
Edited by Wang Zili
