Teens illustrate dedication to beat the coronavirus

An ordinary family's contribution By Zhan Yuxiao, Class 1, Grade 8, No 2 Experimental School affiliated to Shanghai Normal University

As the final exams finished, the first semester of the academic year drew to an end. But the weather wouldn't cool down. December was unusually warm, with temperatures rising and falling dramatically from time to time-there seemed to be something special about this winter. At home, everything carried on as usual. As in previous years, we spent the Spring Festival holiday in my mother's hometown of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province.

The celebrations in Yangzhou started as early as a week before the big day. Walking on the streets, you could easily feel that the festival was just around the corner. The whole city was immersed in a joyful holiday mood.

Everything was just like it used to be-the views, the buildings, the happy family gatherings. It was only after two days that the news broke: a new coronavirus had broken out in a seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei province.

Panic sparked by the virus was all over the place. TV and social media were broadcasting breaking news every day-the number of confirmed infections had risen by a few hundred in a single day; the virus could be transmitted by humans. Suddenly, surgical masks were sold out, fever clinics were overcrowded and doctors rushed to Wuhan. As I browsed the worrying headlines, I secretly hoped that my Dad wouldn't go. After all, he wasn't in the Fever Clinic Department.

Lunar New Year's Eve is a time for family reunions. We prepared dinner together. I was so happy that Grandpa taught me how to cook Yangzhou meatballs. After dinner, we watched the Spring Festival Gala on TV.

Everyone was happy, except for Dad. He kept checking his phone, his looks becoming more and more solemn.

On the morning of Lunar New Year's Day, Mom and Dad announced that it was time to return to Shanghai. Before I could digest what was happening we were driving on the highway, and trees and streetlamps flashed outside the car window.

I couldn't shake off all the questions in my head. Why were we going back so suddenly? Dad is not a doctor in the fever clinic, after all. There were already confirmed cases in Shanghai and the news said tourists from Hubei had all been settled in a hotel, so there were still risks.

How could Mom disregard all these factors and agree to return? She is the one who always makes health the family's top priority.

When we got closer to home, I noticed something was different.

The usually busy shopping mall was quiet. At the gates of residential communities, doctors in protective suits and volunteers wearing surgical masks were conducting checkups on passersby.

That was when I realized the virus had spread from Wuhan to other places, so Dad had to cancel his holiday and return to work. While most people stay home during the crisis, doctors and nurses have to do their jobs, even when it means facing the disease.

When Dad was about to leave home, he turned around. I recalled what I had read online and said: "Avoid going out. Wear a mask if we have to."

Dad paused and broke into a smile: "That's my good boy. Dad will help the other doctors save lives. You will now help take care of our family."

Mom put a mask over Dad's mouth. "Just go. I will be here," she said.

I feel so proud. My dad is just an ordinary man, but he's also a doctor willing to take risks to save lives.

My family is just an ordinary family, but we are willing to make sacrifices for the whole of society and make our contribution, just like the families of many other doctors.

It is said that life is easy only because others shoulder all the difficulties. In this unusual winter break, I came to understand that every ordinary family contributes indispensable strength to society. As the illness rages, it is my dad and his fellow doctors and nurses who are holding up the sky for this country.