Watching across 4,000 kilometers: "Little Pomegranate"'s nine-year love affair with Tianjin and Xinjiang

China News Service, Tianjin, October 23. Title: Watching across 4,000 kilometers: "Little Pomegranate"'s nine-year relationship between Tianjin and Xinjiang

China News Service reporter Jiang Ying

From Tianjin on the coast of the Bohai Sea to Hotan in Xinjiang under the Kunlun Mountains, the distance is more than 4,000 kilometers.

Lu Yuxiang, deputy chief physician of the Community Health Service Center in Jingwu Town, Xiqing District, Tianjin, and "Little Pomegranate" (Anargul Yasen), a girl from Kaladuwai Village, Kekeya Township, Yutian County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, spent nine years caring about each other and wrote a warm story of the unity of the two ethnic groups in Tianjin and Xinjiang.

"Mother Lu, you are too thin"

The temperature in Tianjin has dropped sharply recently. Lu Yuxiang was thinking about the "little pomegranate" far away in Xinjiang. She sent a WeChat message to ask her if she had prepared winter clothes. If she needed anything, she must tell her.

In September this year, Lu Yuxiang traveled thousands of miles to Yutian to visit this "little pomegranate" that made her worried.

The pomegranate tree in the corner of the courtyard has grown taller, with fruits hanging on its branches. A girl with a ponytail ran out, hugged Lu Yuxiang, buried her face on her shoulder and said, "Mother Lu, you are too thin."

Nine years ago, Lu Yuxiang was still an infant with a wrinkled face when she picked up "Little Pomegranate" for the first time. Now the "little pomegranate" has grown to the height of her chest, her eyebrows are stretched, and the faint scar on her left cheek is faintly visible in the sun. Lu Yuxiang reached out and gently touched the scar without saying a word.

The "sister" I recognized in the ward

Lu Yuxiang has worked in primary medical care for more than 30 years. At the end of 2016, the unit had a quota for aiding Xinjiang for the first time. She was the first to submit the application form and became the ninth batch of cadre talents in Tianjin to aid Xinjiang and went to work at Yutian County People's Hospital.

During an obstetric ward round in April 2017, she met "Little Pomegranate"'s mother Mayimunihan for the first time. She was a 35-year-old Uyghur pregnant woman with severe anemia. Her hemoglobin was only 6 grams at the time. She asked to be discharged because she could not pay for the blood transfusion. Lu Yuxiang thought, two lives cannot be forgotten like this. She asked the working group for instructions and sent the situation to the Xinjiang Aid Cadre Work Group. In about 20 minutes, 2,100 yuan was raised. That afternoon, Mayimunihan received a blood transfusion.

Lu Yuxiang told the doctor in charge that the follow-up expenses should be paid directly to her. Don't tell the pregnant woman herself. After finishing her work in the department every day, she would go to the ward to take care of this sister who had no family to accompany her, fetching water, turning over, and talking. After two blood transfusions, Mayimunihan gradually recovered and wanted to recognize her as her sister.

The night before the baby was born, Lu Yuxiang rushed to the hospital with 5,000 yuan prepared. Mayimunihan was very nervous and said that when she gave birth to her second child, she suffered from severe bleeding and almost died. Lu Yuxiang held her hand and said, don't be afraid, my sister is here. At noon the next day, the baby was born safely, weighing seven pounds and six ounces.

The name of “Little Pomegranate” and the unfulfilled promise

The person who gave "Little Pomegranate" the nickname was Xi Shiming, another cadre from Tianjin who aided Xinjiang. At that time, he looked at the blooming pomegranate tree outside the window and said, let's call it "little pomegranate" - I hope it will be as bright as the pomegranate flower, and I hope that all ethnic groups will hug together like pomegranate seeds.

In January 2019, Xi Shiming suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and collapsed at his Xinjiang aid post. Before entering the ward, he held Lu Yuxiang's hand and said in a very weak voice: "Next weekend, remember to go see 'Little Pomegranate'. I haven't seen her in two months. I miss her so much." That year, Xi Shiming died at the age of 43. He couldn't go see "Little Pomegranate" again, but the people who went to see "Little Pomegranate" for him never stopped.

After returning to Jingwu Town, Lu Yuxiang kept in touch with "Little Pomegranate" and her family. She knew that "Little Pomegranate" carried a schoolbag for the first time and got good grades for the first time.

The never-ending relay of aid to Xinjiang

After that, the tenth batch of Tianjin aid cadres took over this concern and planted a pomegranate tree in the corner of "Little Pomegranate"'s home, so that the tree could grow up with her.

In 2021, "Little Pomegranate" was accidentally burned, leaving scars on the left side of his face. At that time, the Tianjin Xinjiang Aid Working Group quickly coordinated medical resources and took "Little Pomegranate" to Hotan Municipal People's Hospital for nearly eight hours of repair surgery. Tianjin's Xinjiang Aid cadres have been waiting silently outside the operating room.

The eleventh and twelfth batch of cadres who aided Xinjiang also took over the task of repairing the leaky roof of "Little Pomegranate"'s house and filling in the potholes in front of the house. There is also a calligraphy hanging on the wall of her living room, which reads, "The love between Tianjin and Xinjiang is deep, and the whole family is like a family. The pomegranate flowers are blooming to express gratitude to the party."

"Little Pomegranate" said to Lu Yuxiang: "Mother Lu, I want to go to college in Tianjin in the future. When I grow up and have the ability, I will also help those who have helped me." Lu Yuxiang listened, her eyes were moist, and she held "Little Pomegranate" tightly in her arms.