In 2005, after diplomat Zhu Mincai retired, he left home with his wife Sun Lina without explaining to his children. Unexpectedly, 10 years later, they showed up in the hospital, their lives were in danger, and they said that they had no regrets.
Zhu Mincai is a retired diplomat, and Sun Lina is a retired English teacher.
They could have enjoyed their old age like most retirees, but the couple chose an extraordinary path – to teach in the remote mountainous areas of Guizhou.
On a TV show 10 years ago, a female teacher in Guizhou was carrying her young children on her back and teaching students, and the couple was very touched when they saw it.
At that moment, Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina made up their minds to do something for them.
After retiring, after thinking about it for a long time, they packed their bags and embarked on a journey to Guizhou without saying an explanation to their children.
After several days and nights of travel, they finally arrived at the school in the Miaozhai Mountains of Jianshan, Guizhou.
The scene was worse than they had imagined, with dilapidated classrooms made of stone, a school with only one teacher, no even the most basic teaching equipment, and children sitting at rudimentary desks.
Faced with this environment, Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina did not flinch, they first went to rent a place where they could live temporarily, a house with no window frames and an area of only 20 square meters.
Then, with their pension, they bought blackboards, desks and chairs, books and stationery for the school. Knowing that the curriculum only consists of Chinese and mathematics, English, physical education and art were added again.
Every morning, Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina would wake up early to prepare for the day's classes.
Busy from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, they have 32 classes a week, and they not only teach children what they know in textbooks, but also tell them about the world outside the mountains.
Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina have also compiled a set of English textbooks based on their years of teaching experience, which not only contains basic knowledge, but also many interesting stories about the world outside the mountains.
In life, the couple is very frugal, their clothes are always mended and mended, and they only eat meat once a week.
But when it comes to children's education, they are never stingy, and every time they go to the city, they will save money just to buy some extracurricular reading materials and basic stationery for their children.
With the passage of time, the school's environment has improved significantly, and the school has taken on a new look, at this time, Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina chose to leave and came to the next stop, Longping Town Central Primary School.
More than 10 years have passed, and they have traveled to most of the mountainous areas of Guizhou Province and have been contributing to the local education cause.
However, the long-term fatigue gradually made the couple's body unbearable.
One day, Zhu Mincai was teaching students when he suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was taken to the hospital, and due to the limited level of medical care in the area, he was sent to Beijing for treatment.
In the hospital, the daughter looked at her father on the hospital bed and her gray-haired mother with tears pouring down her eyes.
She was both proud of her parents and resentful of them, and she couldn't understand why her parents had chosen such a difficult path.
But after seeing her parents' determined eyes, her resentment gradually subsided.
When Zhu Mincai **, without a trace of hesitation, he followed his wife back to the mountains and continued their coaching life. "As long as I can walk, I'm going back to the kids," he said. ”
In 2022, 81-year-old Zhu Mincai passed away due to illness, and at the last moment of his life, he hoped to donate his body to medical research institutions.
Sun Lina, who is still in the classroom in the mountain village, said: "I will always be here, watching the children grow up and walk out of the mountains." ”
Her perseverance and perseverance have touched countless people.
In 2015, Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina were named the 2014 People of the Year who moved China, and were named the most beautiful rural teachers by ** TV station.
Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina used their practical actions to interpret what "dedication" is.
As a famous person said: true happiness does not lie in how much material wealth we have, but in how much we can contribute to society and others.
Zhu Mincai and Sun Lina have set a glorious example for us with their lives, let us pay tribute to this great couple!