What's it like to have 35 dads?
No one has a better say than Zheng Xiangfang from Pinghu, Jiaxing, Zhejiang.
In November 2004, 4-year-old Zheng Xiangfang lost her biological father, but she quickly gained 35 fathers at once. And these dads will accompany her in the years to come.
So, why do these dads want to be Zheng Xiangfang's father?
What is the story between the fathers and this daughter?
Now, 20 years later, are she and her dads okay?
Daddy's group
As everyone knows, the First National Congress of our Party was held on a pleasure boat on Pinghu Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Therefore, Pinghu has a long revolutionary tradition, and the people are simple and sincere.
Zheng Junjie is a native of Pinghu, lives in Xingguang Village, and has been determined to serve the country in the army since he was a child. In 1997, he finally got his wish and became a soldier of the Xianning Detachment of the Hubei Armed Police Corps together with 35 local youths.
By getting along with each other day and night in the recruit company, the 36 young fellows quickly established a deep friendship with each other. Zheng Junjie is a tall man with a height of more than 1.8 meters, with a cheerful and generous temperament, and his brothers like him very much.
After leaving the company, he patrolled with his comrades, was on duty together, and fought side by side on the front line of life and death in the catastrophic flood in the Yangtze River basin in 1998.
The sun and the moon are like a shuttle, the 2-year service career is over in a blink of an eye, Zheng Junjie and 35 comrades-in-arms are discharged together, fortunately, they are all Pinghu people, so there is no trouble from each other, you can often get together on weekdays, catch up with whoever gets married, and everyone can go to the lively and lively.
However, in November 2004, Zheng Junjie unfortunately suffered a car accident and passed away unexpectedly, leaving only orphans, widows and elderly mothers at home. After hearing the bad news, 35 brothers rushed to his house to help with the funeral.
When they saw the 4-year-old daughter of their old comrade-in-arms~ Zheng Xiangfang, everyone's hearts trembled, and they sighed that this girl was so pitiful.
And after the sigh, everyone did not disperse. Although everyone was old and young at that time, and the family burden was very heavy, everyone still agreed without hesitation to take good care of this little girl and accompany her to grow up, so that her brother's spirit in heaven could rest in peace.
That is, from that day on, Zheng Xiangfang, who lost her biological father, suddenly had 35 fathers who regarded her as their own, and this lineup was luxurious. In fact, many people didn't believe that these 35 fathers could last too long at the time, and felt that they were just expressing their attitude, because the child was not biological after all, let alone raising the child as an adult, this matter is not as simple as it sounds.
In the face of these rumors, the 35 brothers did not take it too seriously, they were not originally for fame, in the later years, they will prove their friendship with their comrades-in-arms with practical actions.
At that time, the first problem they faced was how to care for the little girl without reminding her of the sad past of missing her father.
To this end, 35 big men met and studied, and in the end, they came up with a plan that could get the best of both worlds. That is, everyone should take turns to take the children out to play, and they also take the children to their comrades-in-arms reunion every year. In this way, everyone can not only justifiably give their children big red envelopes, but also help the families of their comrades-in-arms in disguise. At the same time, you can also chat with the little girl and learn about the child's growth and the situation at home.
Their selfless dedication touched Zheng Junjie's mother, she didn't expect that her son's comrades-in-arms could keep their original promises for more than ten years and treat themselves like their own mothers. Every time she mentioned this, the old lady was full of tears.
So, what touching stories have happened to 35 fathers in the more than ten years of taking care of their daughters?
Daughter
Zheng Xiangfang is an ordinary little girl, but the experience of losing her father has made her have a maturity that most children of the same age do not have since she was a child.
It's natural for girls to like dolls. Whenever Zheng Xiangfang saw that other children could get tired of their father and let their father buy dolls for themselves, she would be envious. But she never spoke up about it.
Until one day, when Zheng Junjie's comrade-in-arms Li Dongfang took her to play in the mall, she found the longing in the little girl's eyes when she looked at the doll in the toy store.
Li Dongfang's heart was stabbed, he didn't say a word, and immediately chose a beautiful doll for the little girl. At that moment, Zheng Xiangfang showed a sweet smile, she hugged the doll and couldn't put it down, in her memories, that moment was simply too happy.
Looking at the bouncing little girl, Li Dongfang blamed himself very much, he blamed himself for being too careless, and blamed himself for taking care of this daughter for being far from enough.
In a blink of an eye, in 2008, Zheng Xiangfang should go to primary school.
Her home is seven miles away from the school. At that time, her mother went out to work, and there was only her elderly grandmother at home. This requires 4 pick-up and drop-off times a day, which has become the biggest obstacle for children to study. What to do?
Just when the old lady was at a loss, 35 sons stepped forward and took turns to take on the responsibility of picking up and dropping off the little girl. So, on every school Xi day after that, there will be different big hands holding Zheng Xiangfang's small hands, walking on the country dirt road to school, rain or shine.
In a blink of an eye, Zheng Xiangfang became a junior high school student.
One day, she came home, sullen, and suddenly told her grandmother that she didn't want to go to school anymore. This made the old lady anxious, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't want to trouble her sons anymore, so she spat out her bitterness to her neighbors.
But she didn't expect that her sons had long since developed their neighbors into their "insiders", and the news soon reached everyone's ears.
So, the fathers rushed to the school in a hurry and learned about the actual situation from the head teacher. It turned out that Zheng Xiangfang had a conflict with her classmates, and she made the decision to drop out of school in a fit of anger. The head teacher, who learned about the latest situation, quickly guided the children and quickly solved this thorny problem.
In everyone's memory, Zheng Xiangfang's family only took the initiative to ask everyone for help once. The cause was that Zheng Xiangfang accidentally broke her arm and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
After hearing the news, the comrades-in-arms put down their work and rushed to the hospital. Along the way, everyone prayed that their daughter would never be fine. At that time, Zheng Xiangfang's mother was outside the emergency room, and she was already dispossessed. As soon as the injured little girl saw her fathers coming, she immediately endured the pain and squeezed out a smile.
But when the comrades-in-arms saw it, they were distressed to death. At this flower-like age, other little girls are still coquettish in the arms of their parents, but Zheng Xiangfang can already comfort and care about her fathers with a smile.
I have to say, this kid is really sensible.
At that moment, many comrades-in-arms burst into tears when they walked out of the ward.
When Zheng Xiangfang later recalled this incident, she felt very happy, because during a week in the hospital, her ward was always very lively, and the bedside was full of endless milk and bananas that her fathers bought for her.
In the more than 10 years of taking care of Zheng Xiangfang, the comrades-in-arms would put the little girl in the middle at every party, and then take a big family photo, and these photos are recording the growth of their daughter, and they are also everyone's most precious memories.
It is precisely with the careful care of her 35-year-old father that Zheng Xiangfang never feels that she is living in a single-parent family, and her face is always filled with a happy and happy smile. No one who knows the truth will see that the child has lost his biological father.
In terms of Xi, Zheng Xiangfang was very competitive, and at the end of July 2020, she was admitted to a second-class university in Taizhou. This is not easy for a little girl from the village. On the day she received the admission letter, she picked up her phone and reported the good news to 35 fathers one by one.
Hearing this good news, the 35 fathers were overjoyed and soon gathered at Zheng Xiangfang's house. At that time, a room was packed with people, and everyone was smiling.
But such a happy event added a happy worry to the university teachers.
So, what "problems" did the teacher encounter?
Send your children to school
Because the story of 35 fathers taking care of a daughter has long been spread in the local area, reporters from local media have also heard the news, hoping to let more people share the joy of this moment.
On weekdays, Zheng Xiangfang is an introverted and shy girl, but as soon as she chatted with reporters about her fathers, she seemed to be a different person immediately, and she talked endlessly, and the most she said was the sense of security and warmth that fathers brought to her, and it was precisely because of the love of 35 fathers that she had never had regrets on the road of growth.
You know, at this moment, it has been 16 years since the death of her biological father.
Zheng Xiangfang emotionally mentioned that the fathers fulfilled all their fantasies about their fathers. Holding a group photo for so many years, seeing that the little girl is always standing in the middle, the reporter smiled and asked why.
The fathers laughed and replied that their daughters were everyone's red flowers, and everyone was their daughter's green leaves. Li Dongfang said affectionately: "If possible, we are willing to be our daughter's green leaf for the rest of our lives and watch her grow up slowly." ”
What is the difference between such a mountain of fatherly love and a biological father?
I think that at the beginning, Zheng Xiangfang would party with her fathers when she was a child, and she would always be very restrained, and she didn't like to talk, just eating her own food by herself. And 16 years later, she has become one with her fathers, not only eating together, but also taking the initiative to toast to them.
Think about what a touching scene it will be when she gets married. In the face of 35 old fathers-in-law, the groom official must be "under great pressure".
While rejoicing, looking at their daughters who were about to travel far away, the fathers couldn't help themselves, their eyes were red, and they said: "When the child graduates from college and has a stable job, we will be relieved!"
Moreover, everyone also told their daughter earnestly: "In the future, whether it is in school or in life, no matter what difficulties you encounter, don't forget, we will be behind you, and we will always support you!"
This time I went to my daughter's home, and we also brought my daughter a lot of equipment and big red envelopes necessary for college. Everyone hopes that everything will go smoothly for their daughter.
Subsequently, the whole family happily ate a "victory banquet" together.
However, because Zheng Xiangfang's fathers are too famous, and everyone has to send their daughters to report to school together. The teachers of Taizhou College were a little "not calm", so they specially called to persuade everyone to send a few representatives, and the 35 fathers should not rush to the top.
The fathers also understood the "difficulty" of the teacher, so they elected a representative, drove the car, and sent their daughter to school in a lively manner.
Along the way, Zheng Xiangfang is still recalling the meticulous care of her fathers, making herself feel no different from other children. Moreover, she said that she must work hard to study Xi, not to live up to her father's expectations of herself, and to be a useful person to the country after graduation. That's the best reward for dads.
Hearing his daughter's heartfelt words, the eyes of the father's representative moistened again. They said that it is their responsibility to take care of their children, and they are very happy to see their children grow up. And the task of taking care of the daughter will be carried out to the end.
Today, Zheng Xiangfang is still studying hard in college, and the story of her and her fathers continues.
She is unfortunate to have lost her father since she was a child, and she is lucky that the love of 35 fathers has always haunted her. Our veterans in the new era have inherited the fine traditions of our army, and they have not made bold statements, but have taken up their responsibilities to the families of their comrades-in-arms through their own practical actions, and have fulfilled their promises.
Salute to our ordinary and great people's soldiers!