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HEFEI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Li Congling
will soon visit the central Chinese city of Wuhan again, not to fight
COVID-19 this time, but to accompany her son to the university where she
secretly had a photo taken five months ago. When
her son Yu Zongxi received the admission letter on Aug. 26 from the
prestigious Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in
Wuhan, Li finally showed him the mobile phone photo, taken in front of
the school gate. "I kept it between myself and my husband, as I didn't want to put pressure on my son before the exam," said Li. Li,
45, is a head nurse from the First Affiliated Hospital of the
University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, capital of east
China's Anhui Province. In
mid-February, she joined other medical workers from Anhui to Wuhan,
capital of Hubei that was hit hard by the epidemic back then, to help
treat infected patients. "Although I
was worried about my son who was preparing for gaokao, the national
college entrance exam, I knew I did the right thing heading to Wuhan,"
she said. The annual exam is deemed
the most important event for tens of millions of high school graduates,
as it provides an opportunity to set the direction for their future
careers. More than 10 million graduates registered for this year's exam
in July, one month later than usual because of the epidemic. "My
son saw me off at the hospital. He was silent when I boarded the bus,
but I knew he was worried about me as well," Li recalled. She was designated to the Union Hospital affiliated to the Tongji Medical College of HUST, and initially buried herself in work. To
allow people to recognize each other, all medical workers had their
names written on the back of their protective suits. Next to her name,
Li had a few more words -- "Yu Zongxi, you can make it in gaokao." While Li was battling the virus in Wuhan, her 18-year-old son was fighting his own battle, preparing for the exam at home. "We
cheered up each other on phone calls. The best we could do for each
other was do our respective parts well so that the other would be less
worried," said Yu. As his mom was
working at the hospital, Yu started searching for information about the
university online, developing a strong interest, and putting it on his
ideal college list. Under Li's watch, all 71 patients in her wards recovered and were discharged from the hospital. According
to the National Health Commission, more than 42,000 medical workers
nationwide were sent to Hubei in the fight against COVID-19. The medics
did not start to leave until mid-March when infections had waned, and
most patients had recovered there. As
of Tuesday, Hubei reported a total of 68,139 confirmed COVID-19 cases,
and 63,627 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
The disease claimed 4,512 lives in the province, according to the
provincial health commission. On the
day before Li returned home in March, she paid a visit to HUST, the
renowned university that her son often mentioned, and had her photo
taken as a special way of wishing her son good luck in the exam. Yu
scored 668 points out of a full mark of 750 in gaokao, and was admitted
by the School of Optical and Electronic Information of HUST. Upon
hearing the good news, a couple of Li's patients in Wuhan invited her
to come back again and offered to show her family around. "One
of them said she would wait for us at the gate of HUST, take us to the
scenic spot of the Yellow Crane Tower, and treat us with local snacks,"
Li said with a smile. Yu is going to
register at HUST on Sept. 17, and the family of four, including his
grandmother, have planned to head to Wuhan together. "I'd
like to have another photo taken at the same spot with my mom, and
visit the hospital where she worked day and night," said the young man.
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