This photo is believed that everyone is no stranger, taken 31 years ago in Anhui Zhangjiawan Primary School, the little girl in the photo is called Su Mingjuan.
At that time, Su Mingjuan was in class, and saw an uncle entering the classroom with an unseen machine in his hand, she thought that the superior leader came to check, and held up the pen to listen to the teacher's lecture more attentively.
With a "click", this second is forever frozen, Su Mingjuan did not expect that her life would be rewritten after this second.
Soon, a hope project propaganda titled "I want to go to school" was all over the country, causing widespread concern in society.
Now that 31 years have passed, what kind of story has Su Mingjuan experienced during this period, and how is her life now?
"I want to go to school"
In 1983, Su Mingjuan was born into an ordinary rural family in Zhangwan Village, Taoling Township, Jinzhai County, Anhui Province.
Zhangwan Village is located in the mountains, the land resources that can be cultivated and planted by people are very scarce, and each family can only get a small part, so Su Mingjuan's family conditions are very difficult, and the annual harvest of planting land can only sustain the family for more than three months.
Fortunately, Su Mingjuan's home is upstream of the Meishan Reservoir, and her father, Su Liangyou, can get up early every day and go down the river to catch eels in the dark, in exchange for money to buy some food to make a living, and the family can barely survive.
At that time, the feudal ideology of favoring sons over daughters in remote mountain villages was very serious, and the fate of most girls seemed to have been written from birth.
Because at that time they believed that "women without talent is moral", girls do not need much learning, marrying a good family to live a stable life is the biggest pursuit, after growing up to help the family do farm work to maintain their livelihood, and then find someone to marry, or go to the city to work, few parents will choose to send their daughters to study.
Although Su Liangyou is a farmer and has never been out of the mountains several times in his life, his thinking is not conservative, and he clearly understands the truth that reading changes his destiny.
Even if Su Mingjuan is a girl, her father will send her to school, hoping that she can study hard and strive for a better life in the big city.
Su Mingjuan's home is 6 kilometers away from Zhangjiawan Primary School, and in order to go to school, she needs to leave home an hour early in the morning and make round trips on the rugged mountain road four times a day.
But these harsh objective conditions can not stop Su Mingjuan's yearning for school and study, she has never complained about the long way, but even if she has been so difficult, fate still does not intend to let her go.
Su Mingjuan's tuition and miscellaneous fees of nearly 100 yuan per semester became a heavy burden for the family, and she almost dropped out of school several times because she could not pay the tuition, and each time she cobbled together money to maintain her studies with the support of her father.
One day in April 1991, photographer Xie Hailong's visit completely changed Su Mingjuan's life destiny.
Since the implementation of nine years of compulsory education in China, Xie Hailong has paid great attention to the basic education in rural areas, and decided to use the camera to record these precious pictures, he traveled across more than 20 provinces, went to more than 100 counties, and photographed many excellent photographic works.
Xie Hailong has been to many poor rural areas and has seen many backward scenes, but when he came to Zhangjiawan Primary School, looking at the land temple in disrepair in front of him, the classroom had no windows, or even no lights, his heart was still deeply touched.
This morning, Su Mingjuan was taking a language class, when she suddenly saw a figure appear at the door, she thought that the superior leader had come to check, and she listened to the class more attentively.
And the moment Su Mingjuan looked up, Xie Hailong also noticed the big-eyed girl sitting in the first row, her eyes showed a desire for knowledge, Xie Hailong looked a little fascinated, and after a moment he turned back and immediately turned the camera at the girl and pressed the shutter button.
Su Mingjuan had never seen the camera, did not care about the shutter sound emitted by the camera, nor did she know that Xie Hailong had frozen her image at that moment into a photo, and she did not expect that the photo had actually changed her destiny.
In October 1992, a year and a half later, at the "Hope Project Documentary Photography Exhibition", Xie Hailong's group of photographs "I want to go to school" shined brightly.
In this group of works, the "Big Eyes" photo attracted the most attention, and was finally identified by the China Youth Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "CYDF") as the "Hope Project" publicity logo.
According to the survey "Photography of the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China in Our Memory", the "Big Eye Girl" of the Hope Project ranked first in the list and is considered to be the most shocking photo in 50 years.
Xie Hailong became famous, and the protagonist Su Mingjuan in the photo also became famous, but people did not know the true identity of the girl with big eyes, and Su Mingjuan, as a party, did not know that she had become a "celebrity" after three years.
On May 17, 1994, Zhangjiawan Primary School, this morning the teacher hurried into the classroom and called all the female students to the principal's office.
Then the principal held up a copy of the People's Liberation Army Newspaper, pointed to the photo of the "big-eyed girl" on it, and asked, "Who among you is the person in the photo above?" ”
Su Mingjuan glanced at the girl in the photo, she did not recognize that it was herself, but felt that the red plaid dress worn by the girl seemed to have one herself, she looked left and right to find that no one stood up to claim it, and then replied: "Teacher, that dress seems to be mine." ”
After hearing this, the principal was quite excited, and walked over to Su Mingjuan and held up the newspaper and said with concern: "Can you be sure that it is you when you look closely?" Can that dress still be found? ”
Su Mingjuan didn't dare to confirm whether it was herself or not, so she had to reply, "I'm not sure, go home and let my mother find this dress." ”
After returning home from school, Su Mingjuan mentioned this to her mother, who rummaged through boxes and cabinets for a long time before she finally found the red plaid dress.
It wasn't until the next day that Su Mingjuan brought her clothes to the school that the protagonist of the photo was sure to be Su Mingjuan, and the principal told her the ins and outs of the matter.
It turned out that after a cadet named Li Wan of a military academy in Changsha, Hunan Province, saw the photo of the "big-eyed girl" in the newspaper, the kind of big brother-like protection from the heart suddenly arose, and he decided to sponsor the little girl to go to school.
But the key is that Li Wan did not know who the little girl was, and after inquiring for a long time, he knew that the photo was taken at Zhangjiawan Primary School in Anhui Province, so he sent a newspaper and a letter to the principal.
Inside the envelope was a tuition fee, and Li Wan said in the letter that he would send her tuition every semester in the future, which was undoubtedly a blessing for Su Mingjuan's poor family.
Su Mingjuan has always kept all the letters sent by Li Wan, and Li Wan's actions have taken root in the depths of Su Mingjuan's young heart, and she was touched by this spirit of "great love", and those letters have also become the spiritual pillar of Su Mingjuan's hard work.
Not long after, Su Mingjuan received money from well-wishers, a retired couple in Dalian, and in the letter they encouraged Su Mingjuan to study hard.
However, more and more donations have made Su Mingjuan's father bear a lot of psychological pressure, after Su Mingjuan's problem of going to school is solved, it is not difficult to support a family, and there is no need for more funding, so the remaining money is donated to the Hope Project, hoping to help more children.
At the same time, in order to thank Xie Hailong, who changed Su Mingjuan's fate, as well as the well-wisher Li Wan and the old couple in Dalian, Su Mingjuan's mother would send them her handmade cloth shoes and cured bacon from home every year.
Her parents' actions are like a bright light, guiding Su Mingjuan forward in the night, her parents led by example to let her understand what is called gratitude, and her young heart also deeply planted a seed of gratitude.
Since Su Mingjuan's identity has been reported by the media, there will often be media reporters to interview her, invite her to participate in some activities, her heart is very clear that in addition to hard work, she can return the hope project is to cooperate with publicity, so that more poor children can afford to go to school.
In 1996, Su Mingjuan was invited to Beijing to participate in the 45th anniversary celebration of China Youth Daily, at which Su Mingjuan met Li Keqiang, then the first secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League.
However, it was a long time before Su Mingjuan learned the identity of Secretary Li Keqiang, and when she recalled the scene at that time, she said that she felt that the uncle was very kind.
Three months later, Su Mingjuan went to Beijing again to tell her story through the CCTV "Zhengda Variety" program, and after the program was broadcast, Su Mingjuan's story was well known to more people, and the group of poor students received more extensive attention from society.
People from all walks of life have spontaneously donated love to the Hope Project, and Jinzhai County alone has established more than 60 Hope Schools in just a few years, and nearly 10,000 poor students have been funded by the Hope Project.
One day in June 1998, the village chief rushed to Su Mingjuan's house in a hurry and told her to go to Beijing for a meeting, su Mingjuan thought it was an ordinary activity, packed up her things and set off.
However, when she arrived in the county, she felt that something was wrong, and the two cadres took her to Beijing by train, and the usual activities were usually not accompanied by cadres, and when she arrived in Beijing, she learned that she was going to attend the Fourteenth National Congress of the Communist Youth League!
At that time, Su Mingjuan was only 14 years old, the youngest delegate to the congress, at which she was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee of the League.
As the youngest delegate to the congress, Su Mingjuan was already attracting much attention, at which Su Mingjuan was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Youth League, and soon after she was awarded the title of "National Star of Hope" by the CYDF.
For a time, various honorary titles poured in, and Su Mingjuan became one of the most influential news figures in China in the 1990s!
In 2002, Su Mingjuan was officially elected as a member of the Central Committee of the League, which was a fortunate thing, but these honors also brought unnecessary trouble to her and her family.
After Su Mingjuan was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the League, people in the village speculated that Su Mingjuan's family had soared and become a big leader of the Central Committee at a young age, and would certainly be able to get a lot of salary.
After a long period of explanation, the village finally understood that it was only an honor given to Su Mingjuan by the state, in addition, after becoming famous, Su Mingjuan spent most of her time in order to cooperate with the activities, resulting in a significant decline in her performance.
And as the spokesperson of the Hope Project, she is standing in the spotlight at this moment, and people all over the country are watching her, and these expectant eyes make her feel unprecedented pressure.
Through consultation with the school, Su Mingjuan declined most of the interviews and social activities, and the school also set up a special counseling group to make up lessons for her in order to let Su Mingjuan enter the college entrance examination preparation state as soon as possible.
When approaching the college entrance examination, Su Mingjuan received letters from many people, most of which encouraged her to actively prepare for the exam and strive for a good score, but these encouragements became pressure when Su Mingjuan came here, and she always felt that she would not do well in the exam and failed to live up to everyone's expectations.
When the last mock exam, Su Mingjuan's results just passed the undergraduate line, and when the college entrance examination results were announced, she still played abnormally, fortunately, she was finally admitted to the finance major of Anhui University Vocational and Technical College, and finally did not live up to everyone's expectations and fulfilled her college dream.
At the moment of receiving the acceptance letter, Su Mingjuan's heart was mixed, and she knew very well that she could reach the height of today thanks to the help of hope projects and well-wishers, and of course, the photographer Xie Hailong, who pushed her into public view.
She also realized that in addition to satisfying material desires, a person should also have a higher spiritual pursuit, so she began her own "road of feeding back"!
"Helping others is the happiest thing I can do"
In September 2002, near the beginning of the school, her father had planned to personally send her to report, but Su Mingjuan was distressed that her father was too worried and insisted on taking the car to Hefei, and her father could understand her intentions and did not insist, but kept telling her to "pay attention to safety" and "study with peace of mind".
Su Mingjuan came to hefei for the first time, the provincial capital, full of curiosity about everything unknown, and looked forward to her university life to be rich and fulfilling.
Along the way, Su Mingjuan has been thinking about one thing repeatedly, and finally made up her mind before stepping into the university door, she plans to rely on work-study to earn tuition and living expenses.
Because after going to college, it is still the CYDF that provides assistance to her, and she thinks that she is already an adult and should learn to share the pressure, not only to reduce the burden on the family, but more importantly, so that the CYDF can help more children who cannot afford to go to school.
After firming up this idea, Su Mingjuan immediately wrote a letter to the CYDF, indicating that she wanted to withdraw from the hope project assistance, hoping to be approved.
However, it was delayed to receive a reply from the CYDF, until a few days later, a person in charge of the CYDF found Su Mingjuan and asked, "Mingjuan, did you hear any gossip?" If you encounter any difficulties, you can tell me and I will try my best to help you. ”
Su Mingjuan shook her head and replied, "No, I just think I have grown up and have the ability to support myself, and I hope you can help more people." ”
However, the person in charge of the CYDF finally concluded: "Of course, work-study is good, but you should focus on your studies now, and you do not have a stable job, not enough to live independently, so we will continue to provide you with assistance until then." ”
Unfortunately, Su Mingjuan's request was not approved, but this did not shake her determination to be self-reliant, and she saved all the tuition and living expenses she received and anonymously donated it to other students who needed the money more.
In the summer of 2003, Su Mingjuan wanted to stay in Hefei to work as a summer vacation worker, and with the consent of her parents, she applied for a job in real estate sales.
From the first day of work, Su Mingjuan worked tirelessly to take customers to see the house every day, learned how to communicate with customers, experienced the hardships of beating workers, and also learned a lot of knowledge that could not be learned from books.
However, what she did not expect was that her behavior actually caused a huge public opinion storm, and some media reports said that Su Mingjuan was used by real estate companies to make money by celebrity effects, and various accusations were overwhelming.
Su Mingjuan felt very aggrieved, and many people did come to visit her during her work, but the three houses she sold and the 5,000 yuan she earned were all earned by her broken mouth and broken legs, which was the result of her hard work.
She is also well aware that she is standing in the spotlight, every word and deed needs to be paid attention to, and the slightest carelessness will be misinterpreted by some bad media, and even hyped up.
Su Mingjuan had to quit her job in real estate sales, she planned to use this salary to make some contributions to the public welfare cause, and finally she contacted 9 classmates to go to a poor village in Jinzhai County to volunteer teaching.
When Su Mingjuan and her classmates came to the primary school in the poor village, looking at this group of children who were eager for knowledge, she seemed to see herself many years ago, and she couldn't help but feel a little touched, and her eyes flashed with crystal tears.
After a few days of understanding, Su Mingjuan learned that there was a little girl in the class who had a very tragic life, her father abandoned her wife and son, and the little girl grew up with her mother, because the poor mother and daughter could only make a floor in the grass hut under the eaves of the neighbor's house.
After hearing this, Su Mingjuan was very worried, so she discussed with her classmates to visit the mother and daughter together, and when Su Mingjuan saw that they did not have a pot at home and could only use the rice bowl to cook, Su Mingjuan could not help but cry.
After discussing with her classmates, Su Mingjuan went to town together to buy a pot for the mother and daughter, and also bought some vegetables, and when she left, she also collected more than 1,000 yuan to stay.
This volunteer teaching process allowed Su Mingjuan to see the real situation at present, there are still many children who can't eat and can't afford to go to school, and she is determined to help these poor students as much as possible through her own strength.
Su Mingjuan did what she said, sponsoring two poor high school students through work-study during college, and when she first sent money to two students, she was very happy, and seemed to feel the mood of Li Wan and Dalian's old couple at that time.
Near graduation, Su Mingjuan received an invitation to join the CYDF, which is undoubtedly great news for an ordinary graduate and a shortcut to change the path of life.
However, a few days later, Su Mingjuan refused the invitation, why did she give up such a good job opportunity? What's more, what she has been pursuing is not to give back to society to help more people?
Throw in the peach, repay it with a lee
At that time, Su Mingjuan's heart was very entangled, because she saw the notice of the Anhui branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to recruit employees for colleges and universities a few days ago, and she submitted her resume with the mentality of trying it out.
Unexpectedly, Su Mingjuan was also invited to the anhui branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the invitation to join the China Youth Foundation, and fell into a difficult choice for a while.
Su Mingjuan's inner thoughts are: from childhood to adulthood, hope project is like a big hand pushing herself forward, and now that she has grown up, she should learn to move forward on her own strength, and there are more people who need this help more than themselves.
Moreover, Su Mingjuan is studying finance, and it is definitely more appropriate to choose a bank job from the perspective of professional counterparts.
Su Mingjuan was still more inclined to work in the bank, but there was only one chance, and in order to be cautious, she decided to ask her father for advice and told him her idea.
However, what she did not expect was that her idea was criticized by her father, who said: "At the beginning, people helped us solve our difficulties, and now people invite you to work, but you have left others aside. ”
Su Mingjuan really did not think of this level, her father's words made her suddenly confused, and began to hesitate, he thought of understanding the sea dragon, so he confided in Xie Hailong.
Xie Hailong replied to her with concern: "Your major is finance, you should stick to your own ideas to work in the bank, you don't necessarily have to work at the CYDF to do charity, what is important is the heart, as a photojournalist, didn't I also contribute to charity?" ”
Xie Hailong's words made Su Mingjuan feel relieved, and she refused the invitation of the China Youth Foundation and chose to go to the bank to report.
In 2006, Su Mingjuan entered the general department of the Anhui Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and she just stepped into the workplace to face the transformation from school to society, and it is inevitable that she will encounter some problems in her work.
When Su Mingjuan encountered a problem, her leaders and colleagues would patiently answer her problems and help him solve the problem until Su Mingjuan fully grasped it.
Su Mingjuan's work content is mainly responsible for the marketing and maintenance of some large customers, she will be in the previous real estate sales work experience, quickly into the state.
After receiving her first salary, Su Mingjuan donated 1,000 yuan to the Hope Project at the first time, which also became a part of her life, and every two months she would donate a sum of money to the Hope Project, never interrupted.
It was also in this year that Xie Hailong and Su Mingjuan, after consultation, auctioned the "big eyes" photo that had once been popular all over the country.
Subsequently, all 308,000 yuan from the auction was donated to the Hope Project, and the money was used to build a Hope Primary School in Tibet named after the "Big Eyes".
While repaying the society, she has not forgotten her parents who have worked hard for her, and most of her monthly salary is sent to her parents in addition to donating to the Hope Project.
After paying off the money borrowed for Su Mingjuan to go to school, the family's green brick and tile house was renovated again, and her parents finally saw the color TV.
After the work was stable, Su Mingjuan also formed a family, she and her husband can be regarded as "green plum bamboo horses", the two are alumni and fellow countrymen, and it was not long before the two also had the crystallization of love.
On December 15, 2017, Su Mingjuan was invited to participate in the 14th Committee of the Anhui Provincial Communist Youth League, and at the first plenary meeting, she was elected as the part-time deputy secretary of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League.
As soon as this news was announced, it caused an uproar, and a little girl from a poor family counterattacked all the way to become a deputy department-level cadre, and many people wondered how much salary she could get.
In fact, Su Mingjuan's part-time deputy secretary is only suspended, does not take the salary of the Youth League Committee, and does not have an administrative level, but will attend some important activities and give full play to her own advantages to make suggestions.
In June 2018, Su Mingjuan took out 30,000 yuan of savings to set up the "Su Mingjuan Scholarship Fund", hoping to help those poor students who wanted to be like herself to the greatest extent, and at the "Dream University" activity of the Hope Project that year, she paired up to help 20 poor university freshmen.
On the 29th of the same month, at the First Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, Su Mingjuan was elected as a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, and in the same year, Su Mingjuan was selected as the "National Upward Good Youth" in 2018.
On January 9, 2022, according to China Photography News, the Visual China "Meta Vision" platform sold 10,000 limited edition digital editions of big-eyed girls' photos for 199 yuan and donated all the proceeds to the "Su Mingjuan Scholarship Fund" to support the development of education.
The "Big Eyes Girl" has brought indelible contributions to the Hope Project over the years, and the protagonist Su Mingjuan has never forgotten the vow she made in her heart, and has been practicing for the public welfare undertaking with practical actions, achieving a true unity of knowledge and action.
Su Mingjuan believes that she has only done what she should do, as a beneficiary of public welfare, practicing public welfare is also her mission and responsibility, Su Mingjuan said that she will be a volunteer who hopes to project for a lifetime!