School students' stories about their medical-professional parents responding to the call to work win praise nationwide

An essay written by a teenager garnered many likes online recently. The writer, Yang Xiayu, told how his mother, a military medic, had traveled to Wuhan, Hubei province, to help combat the novel coronavirus, online news portal The Paper reported on Friday.

Xiayu is a sixth grader at No 2 Experimental School affiliated to Shanghai Normal University in the city's Putuo district, and his mother is a chief orthopedics nurse at No 905 Military Hospital of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

The essay was a winter break assignment, and Xiayu said he wrote the story because he was moved by his mother's response to the call to serve.

Yuan Jianzhou, the school's vice-president, said Xiayu's essay was one of 191 the school received. It was so touching that his Chinese teacher submitted it to the Shanghai Morning Post's WeChat account, which published the essay online and received many touching responses, such as "This mother sets the best example for her child" and "Thumbs up for this hero mother."

Liu Jun, an education officer in Putuo, said the district had recently called for essays documenting this "unusual winter holiday", and students began submitting stories about people's fights against the outbreak. Some wrote about their medical-professional parents, some wrote about donating masks and money, and some wrote about social workers' efforts to prevent transmission of the illness.

The essays documented this unusual holiday-a hard time eased by the deeds of many individuals, Liu said.

Below are two essays written by students

An unusual winter holiday By Yang Xiayu, Class 4, Grade 6, No 2 Experimental School affiliated to Shanghai Normal University

Jan 24 was Lunar New Year's Eve. The ringing of the phone woke me up from a sweet dream. As I opened my drowsy eyes, mom was already on the phone: "Yes, director, I am on holiday with my family in Changzhou (a city in Jiangsu province). What time? Okay, we will be on our way at once."

Click! Mom turned on the bedroom light, and jostled my dad and me awake. "Quickly, we have to pack up and go back to Shanghai now. I need to report for emergency work for Wuhan at 11 am," she said.

Dad grumbled, "It's only 5 am-why can't you let me have a good holiday!"

The sudden light made it hard for me to open my eyes as I snuggled into my duvet and complained: "Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and we have a family dinner with great-grandfather and aunties. I want to receive lucky money when we pay visits to relatives. I haven't celebrated Spring Festival in the countryside for years!"

As she pulled me out of bed and helped me to dress, Mom said, "My baby, I will explain to you on the way. Now, get up and pack up your stuff."

In the wake of our noise, grandpa and grandma, who were sleeping in the next room, got up. One started preparing breakfast, while the other started packing things and making phone calls.

At 7 am, we had a simple, quick breakfast and put our luggage in the car, leaving stuff that didn't fit in. It was raining and foggy, and the sky was still dark.

Mom dragged me into the car, despite my crying for New Year visits, and Dad started the engine. The rain became heavier and the road was blanketed with fog. The windshield wipers worked at the highest frequency, but we could only see about 50 meters ahead. Sometimes, Mom urged Dad to drive faster, but at others she warned him to slow down. That made me carsick, and I felt awful about this Spring Festival.

The rain stopped as we drove on the highway to Shanghai, and Mom finally had time to turn around and talk to me.

"I know you are not happy, but do you know why Mom has to give up her holiday and go to Wuhan? Because there is a new type of virus in Wuhan-hundreds of people are infected and thousands are in quarantine," she said.

"Is it more serious than flu?" I asked.

"Definitely. Remember when 16 classmates couldn't go to school last month because they had the flu? This pneumonia-like virus is more dangerous. In 2003, a similar virus called SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) broke out in China, infecting thousands and claiming 700 lives globally. You were not born then."

I felt so upset when Mom showed me photos of the SARS outbreak: people wore masks, doctors and nurses put on hazmat suits, and few people walked on the streets.

"Mom, must you go?" I asked, worried.

"Yes, I am a chief nurse, and I am a military medic. My job is to heal the wounded and help the dying," she said. "Now Wuhan is in danger-it is your father's hometown, and your mom must go and help save it."

When we arrived in Shanghai, Mom rushed inside our home. After just 10 minutes, she was downstairs again with a small bag. Looking at her, I was about to cry. I knew she wouldn't be with us for a long time and I wouldn't be able to eat her cooking. She was going to brave the dangerous virus.

She hugged me and patted my head. As she left she said, "Be a man." I nodded.

Grandpa cooked noodles for our Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. There was little festive feeling, and I didn't even want to watch the Spring Festival Gala on television. Outside, there were no sounds of traffic or firecrackers. Time seemed to stop.

At 8 pm, Mom called. "Watch the news on (China) Central Television," she said, hanging up before we could answer. I turned on the television. It was broadcasting footage of reinforcements by military medics from Shanghai to Wuhan, and Mom was on the screen.

Wearing the blue uniform of the People's Liberation Army Navy, Mom and 150 other Navy medics were on their way to an airplane. The cargo plane had its back door wide open, and Mom and her comrades rushed to board, quietly and orderly. Their faces were solemn and anxious, and the only sound was that of shoes hitting the ground in unison and the orders given by the commander. Finally, the airplane taxied to the runway and took off into the night sky.

Wuhan, tonight you will no longer be on your own! Mom and her comrades are coming!

After watching the broadcast, I was no longer upset and I fell asleep, thinking: Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year. Life will continue, Mom will triumph and Wuhan will be safe again.