Dong Yuanbing (left), the owner of the billiard hall, took in more than 100 people whose quarantine period expired. (Nanfang Daily reporter Dong Tianjian, Wang Juntao/Photo)
A moment of rest is also a rest.
After this billiard hall of more than 1,000 square meters took in more than 130 people, the owner Dong Yuanbing had to close the door of the billiard hall and say sorry to the people who came to him for help again. But on November 16, 2022, when a pregnant woman who had just been discharged from the Eighth People's Hospital in Guangzhou approached him hoping that he would provide a place to stay, Dong Yuanbing relented. He found a private room in the billiard hall for the lone pregnant woman to live in.
At about 4 a.m. on November 13, 2022, Dong Yuanbing, who opened a billiard hall in Fengyang Street, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, was woken up by a phone call, and local government department staff asked him if he could clean up the billiard hall. Opened in May 2022 and closed on October 23 due to epidemic prevention needs, this billiard hall has now reopened and will be used to house some people who need to return after the expiration of the centralized quarantine period in Haizhu District.
He thought for a few seconds and agreed. It was thought that in less than three days, when all the people were returned to their hometowns or found a place to go, the resettlement site would be able to complete its mission. But for more than 6 days, those who stayed at this isolation point were more people stranded in Haizhu after the centralized isolation was lifted.
As the "epicenter" of the current round of the epidemic in Guangzhou, Zhang Yongliang, deputy mayor of Haizhu District, Guangzhou, said on November 17 that 95,300 people have been transferred to Haizhu District. A number of grid workers in the Recreation and Lujiang areas told Southern Weekend that due to the risk of infection, people who have ended centralized isolation are not yet supported to return to urban villages where the epidemic situation is still grim. Some people who had nowhere to go began to carry backpacks and drag suitcases in search of shelter.
At about 10 o'clock on the 13th, Dong Yuanbing had just finished cleaning the billiard hall, and the first batch of about 30 people released from isolation was sent to Fengyang Street, Haizhu District; In the afternoon, nearly 60 people came; The next day, more than 30 people came. In addition, these days, people who hear about him continue to find him through short videos, phone calls, WeChat, and even directly door-to-door.
Dong Yuanbing only received people who returned to Haizhu after centralized isolation. At check-in, they must have a negative nucleic acid certificate for 7 consecutive days, a green code within 24 hours and a notice of release from isolation, in addition, priority is given to the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with reduced mobility. Even so, the billiard hall filled up quickly.
This temporary resettlement site, which houses more than 100 people, always encounters many accidents: not enough supplies, too much help, red codes, and even positive for transfer. Dong Yuanbing didn't know what would change tomorrow in the billiard hall, but he still reminded himself to insist: "I am also responsible for the more than 100 people who remain here." ”
Find a place to stay
At noon on November 13, Dong Shuwu ended the "7+3" day centralized isolation and returned to the gate of Kangle Village in Haizhu District.
He told Southern Weekend that he is over 40 years old and is from Jianli County, Hubei Province. He has been in Guangzhou for more than 20 years, living in Kangle Village, and doing contract work in the village's garment factory. On the night of November 3, Kangle and Lujiang areas organized large-scale centralized isolation and transfer, and he was transferred to an isolation hotel in Liwan District, Guangzhou.
Dong Shuwu remembers that after the quarantine was lifted, some of the people who were quarantined together went to the train station to go directly to their hometown, and the others, including himself, decided to stay in Guangzhou for various reasons.
He and more than 30 people in the same car got off the bus at the Dunhe intersection in Haizhu District. He had planned to return to the rental house not far away, but the epidemic prevention staff on duty at the entrance of the village told him that the village was still a lockdown area, and they had to "stay outside" first, and the government arranged for them to go.
Dong Shuwu and his party of more than 30 people waited at the entrance of Kangle Village for about two hours, and three Chinese buses pulled them to Dong Yuanbing's billiard room. This is the second batch of released quarantine personnel received by the billiard room on November 13.
Compared with Dong Shuwu, Tian Xiaojie took several days to come to the billiard hall. On November 13, Tian Xiaojie returned to Lujiang Village after completing centralized isolation. He told Southern Weekend that because he had no money to buy train tickets, he slept at the subway station near Kanglu for two nights, and went to the streets with more than a dozen people in the early morning of the 15th to find a resettlement site. A street worker met them and contacted Dong Yuanbing. At dawn on the 15th, Tian Xiaojie and his group of more than ten people also came to this billiard hall.
Tian Xiaojie described to Southern Weekend what he saw in the haze: dozens of pool tables in an open hall, and the gaps between the tables and the hall corridor were unfolded folding beds, and people were sleeping on each folding bed. There are also sleeping people lying on the sofa. Dong Yuanbing took a folding bed for each of them. "He told us to find a place to sleep for the night and wait until the next morning."
Tian Xiaojie quickly fell asleep. In a way, this was indeed where he was able to sleep peacefully for two days: no mosquitoes, no cold at night, two meals a day per person per person, and a bathroom to cool off.
More than 100 people were accommodated here, including men and women, old people and children. From the 13th to the 15th, twenty or thirty people who met the conditions for leaving went to the railway station to leave Guangzhou every day, and new arrivals also poured in every day.
Dong Yuanbing, a native of Jingzhou, Hubei Province, thought that the people who needed to be resettled were all Hubei villagers, but in fact there were also migrant workers from Henan, Sichuan, Hunan and other provinces and northeast China, as well as two local residents of Haizhu.
Stranded people in the billiard hall. (Nanfang Daily reporter Dong Tianjian, Wang Juntao/Photo)
"Gritting your teeth"
In the first 3 days, the life of the billiard hall was like this: get up at 8 o'clock, everyone washed and cleaned up one after another; Go out at 9 o'clock to do nucleic acid; The meal opened around 11 o'clock, and everyone lined up in turn to show the health code to receive the meal; After the lunch break, Dong Yuanbing began to contact the street to report the daily list of people who met the conditions for returning home, and these people had to afford to buy bus tickets in addition to holding a certificate of release from isolation and a negative nucleic acid report for 7 consecutive days, and the destination community also agreed to accept them. The street will send them to the station. Immediately afterwards, the vacated beds will be filled by new occupants. At about 4 p.m., Dong Yuanbing began to disinfect the place with four volunteers, and the work continued until 6 p.m., when everyone showed their health codes and prepared for dinner.
Dong Yuanbing said that he was more often taking one step at a time, and "he didn't have such confidence at the beginning." The billiard hall rents 4,000 yuan a day, and if you want to receive quarantined people, you have to spend about 1,000 yuan more on water and electricity bills. Initially, he did not think about these costs, nor did he consult with the street.
But Dong Yuanbing soon discovered that this was not only a matter of money, but also had to solve the problem of food and accommodation for more than 100 people in a short time, while ensuring everyone's safety and health.
Sleeping was the first problem to be solved: Fengyang Street sent 60 and 40 folding beds on the first and second days, as well as dozens of quilts. But it's not enough. Dong Yuanbing took out the more than twenty sofas originally equipped in the store, plus dozens of blankets that were already prepared, which allowed most people in the store to have "one bed and one quilt" sleeping conditions.
Immediately followed by eating, if according to the idea that everyone can find a place to go within 3 days, the people placed can order takeaway, but at that time the surrounding restaurants were closed, and many elderly people did not know how to use takeaway software, Dong Yuanbing verbally discussed with Fengyang Street, and the street provided ordering channels, according to the standard of "two meals a day for one person", the food expenses of 130 people were nearly 5,000 yuan per day, and each person's meal expenses were borne by Dong Yuanbing and the street, and there was no time to settle the bill.
Their water supply was also strained: on the first day, Fengyang Street moved 20 boxes of mineral water to the billiard hall, plus the bottled water stored by the billiard hall, enough for everyone to use for several days. But if someone wants to use hot water, they can only heat it slowly through a water dispenser.
"At first, the idea was to spend more than 1,000 yuan a day and help everyone return to their hometowns, but slowly I realized that there were so many people who needed to be resettled." Dong Yuanbing said.
October and November every year are the peak seasons for garment order production in Kanglu area, and Dong Shuwu said that many factory owners will put up "recruitment" signs at the entrance of the village to attract part-time workers who earn daily wages to find work here.
Dong Shuwu is one of the volunteers in the billiard room. On the first day he came here, he saw that Dong Yuanbing needed help, so he signed up. During the day, he was responsible for counting the living and medication needs of more than 100 people, and at the same time organizing everyone to do nucleic acid, and at night, he guarded the entrance of the billiard hall to maintain the safety of the place.
"Everyone has difficulties, we grit our teeth and stand up, and everyone who can help can help as much as possible." Dong Shuwu said.
A corner of the billiard hall. (Nanfang Daily reporter Dong Tianjian, Wang Juntao/Photo)
Order and Code Red
Most of the people who had just entered the billiard hall were helpless and tired, but Dong Yuanbing still tried to re-establish some "order" and "rules" between them.
This included: he selected four more enthusiastic men of similar age to form a "volunteer group" to do the work of moving, maintaining order and guarding together; As long as there are conditions, women, children and the elderly are placed in the 22 boxes of the billiard hall, where there are separate toilets, relatively quiet spaces, which can protect some privacy; In addition to sleeping and eating, volunteers always remind everyone to wear masks and maintain relative distance; Provide all food in the billiard room free of charge to everyone except betel nuts and cigarettes; Remind everyone not to smoke indoors, not to go bare-chested, but also to pay attention to the cleanliness of the surrounding environment...
Stranded people who live here for a short time can go upstairs to the billiard room to dry their clothes on weekdays, and they can also go downstairs in three or two to breathe, but more often than not, due to venue restrictions and social distancing, they still play on their mobile phones in their respective beds.
In the "epicenter" of the epidemic to manage this billiard hall, Dong Yuanbing and four volunteers sometimes had to make some very difficult choices.
On November 14, Dong Yuanbing posted a video of everyone lining up to receive food on social platforms, and dozens of migrant workers stranded in Haizhu District left messages for him, hoping to take them in. That night, Dong Shuwu saw a young man come to the billiard hall during his vigil, and he wanted to keep him, but he saw more people behind the young man.
Dong Shuwu had no choice but to refuse. "If you don't help, you don't care, but take in so many people, in case there is a red code, and you feel irresponsible to more than a hundred people in the house."
Until Code Red really showed up.
On the afternoon of November 15, the health codes of five people in the billiard hall turned red. Dong Yuanbing and volunteers, who had no previous experience in handling, once asked the five people to leave the billiard hall and stay outside. However, the street staff told him that according to the current regulations, it is recommended that people with red codes at home can be isolated at home, and epidemic prevention personnel will come to the door to do single-tube sampling. Given that they currently had nowhere to go, Dong Yuanbing vacated the 4 private rooms in the corner and placed them inside.
On the afternoon of the 16th, three more young people came to the door, one of whom had a disability in his legs and feet. Dong Yuanbing did not agree to let them in, but said that Dong Yuanbing could not bear it, and after checking their nucleic acid reports, health codes and release notices, he took them in.
At dinner that day, the staff of the epidemic prevention department came to the billiard room and told him that the three had just been assigned a red code and also needed to be apheresized.
At that moment, Dong Yuanbing said that he calmed down. He first contacted the medical nurse to take samples and sanitize; Three more red-coded personnel were sent to the isolation box, and he and the volunteers put meals and drinking water at the door; Finally, he informed more than 100 people at the scene of the situation in the billiard hall. He first calmed everyone present so that everyone should not panic, and then told more than a hundred people that as long as this billiard hall was still operating normally, he would still stay here and provide everyone with basic guarantees for food and accommodation.
No one wants to leave or raise objections.
A rollaway bed is a place to stay. (Nanfang Daily reporter Dong Tianjian, Wang Juntao/Photo)
"Hold on to the end"
On November 17, a positive patient was confirmed in the billiard hall, which was a red code person found on the 15th, and on the same day, six new red code personnel were added to the billiard room.
After the positive patient was transferred to the hospital, the staff of Fengyang Street discussed with Dong Yuanbing whether to apply for the process and let everyone in the billiard room go to the isolation point. But he said he hoped to hold out for another two days.
"Now it's time for health care workers to come and give everyone a few days in a row, and if there are no other positives, we can continue to accept more homeless people here." On November 18, Dong Yuanbing said. At present, he has placed all the red code personnel in the box, and the entire billiard room does not enter or exit, and a total of 123 people are isolated inside.
In the live video he sent back to Southern Weekend reporters, some people held up their mobile phones and videos of relatives across the Internet, some people were eating, some people were cleaning up dishes and tables after eating, he reminded everyone as he walked, "Wear masks immediately after eating", and told the on-site personnel to replace them with new bottled water and paper cups later.
Every day, messages of help continue to pour in to him. In addition to the people who have been released from centralized isolation, there are also people in the Lujiang area who need to be resettled when returning to Haizhu from hospitals and cabins, and ask him for help.
Since November 16, public welfare foundations, caring volunteers and friends around him have begun to find him and provide him with food and epidemic prevention materials every day. Extra food, masks, he sent it downstairs every day, where there were more people in need.
This is the 6th year that 36-year-old Dong Yuanbing has come to Guangzhou. He feels that he who has worked and been a boss in Guangzhou is an ordinary person. After receiving the initial call from the street staff, he was already outside Haizhu District, and he could have handed the key directly to the staff near the billiard room, but he still changed his car three times and entered Haizhu District, which was already under traffic control.
At that time, he was ready to leave until the epidemic calmed down and put everyone on the last day. He wants to mobilize his fellow villagers and friends who have venues or financial resources around him. "There is money to contribute, strong contribution, and do not let them live on the streets."
(At the request of interviewees, Tian Xiaojie and Dong Shuwu are pseudonyms)
Southern Weekend Reporter Wang Xu Qiulin Southern Weekend Intern Peng Leyi Xiao Yao Zou Lu