In the book "I don't like the world, I only like you" by writer Qiao Yi, she said about father's love: "Father's love is a guardian tenderly engraved in the blood." There is such a father, after going to Japan from China in 1989, he began to work endlessly for more than ten years in order to provide for his daughter to study in the United States.
The Chinese father left his home for 15 years for the sake of his daughter, and was unable to return home to reunite with his family for 15 years. In 2004, after his daughter graduated and began her Ph.D., he was on a plane back to China, which meant that he would be banned from Japan for the rest of his life. He is the protagonist of the documentary "Living with Tears" - Ding Shangbiao.
His family was poor and he was deceived into coming to Japan
In 1954, Ding Shangbiao was born in a very poor family in Shanghai, and under the influence of the times at that time, he went to the countryside after graduating from junior high school to join the team, and met his wife here. After spending some time in the countryside, Ding Shangbiao and his wife began to rush back to Shanghai. But it wasn't until the 80s that the husband and wife returned to Shanghai.
After returning to Shanghai, Ding Shangbiao, who had no savings, no education, and no skills, as the head of the family, could only do the hardest and most tiring work in order to support the family. At this time, he looked at the increasingly prosperous hometown and gradually understood the importance of knowledge, and at this time, he had long lived in the countryside and had long fallen behind the city.
Although Ding Shangbiao came from a poor background and did not receive higher education, he always had a dream of studying abroad. In his spare time, he spent 5 cents on a Japanese school study material, which was printed with the admission information of a Japanese language school. In order to study abroad and change the current situation of poverty in his family, Ding Shangbiao decided to go to Japan to study.
It cost 420,000 yen to study at this language school in Japan, which was equivalent to the salary of Ding Shangbiao and his wife for 15 years at that time. Ding Shangbiao, who had already strengthened his confidence, did not give up because of the high tuition fees, and after running around and raising money everywhere, he finally scraped together enough tuition fees to go to Japan.
When he embarked on the flight to Japan, although Ding Shangbiao was in huge debt and didn't even know where Ahan Town was, his heart was filled with joy when he thought that he would change his fate and lead his family to live a good life. However, what he didn't know was that his departure completely changed his life after that.
After coming to Ahan Town, Ding Shangbiao's dream of studying abroad was completely shattered. It turns out that this is not really an opportunity for foreigners to study abroad, but a trap set by the Japanese government to promote economic development in remote areas. In an area like Ahan, it is difficult for locals to find satisfactory jobs, let alone foreigners who are not familiar with the place, and Ding Shangbiao has once again become a coolie at the bottom of the society.
I made up my mind to send my daughter to study abroad
At this time, Ding Shangbiao was in huge debt, and not only could he not help his family repay the debt, but he had to live a dark life here. After repeated ideological struggles, Ding Shangbiao decided to flee Ahan Town and go to Tokyo in search of more job opportunities.
However, when he came to Ahan Town, Ding Shangbiao applied for a visa for a student student, and if he left Ahan Town, his student visa would be invalid, and he would become a "black household" without legal status. Despite this, he left Aham-cho without hesitation and came to the metropolis of Tokyo.
After coming to Tokyo, because he had no legal identity, he could only do odd jobs everywhere, factories, Chinese restaurants, etc. were all places where Ding Shangbiao worked. In the busy and mediocre work every day, Ding Shangbiao had an idea in his heart: work hard and send his daughter to study abroad.
Because his family has been poor for generations, after returning to Shanghai after joining the queue, Ding Shangbiao understood the important role of knowledge in people's lives. He hopes that his daughter can get out of the narrow world in front of him and pursue a broader sky, and what he has to do is to strive to create better conditions for his daughter, so that her daughter can bravely pursue her dreams and not follow his old path.
With a goal in mind, Lao Ding has unlimited motivation to achieve it. Although he also does low-level work in Tokyo, but because of hardships and hard work, his income is indeed much more than before, he sends most of his income back home every month, although he is worried every day because of the status of "black household", but for the sake of his daughter, he still decided to stay.
When Ding Shangbiao was working in Japan, he could not return to China, and once he returned to China, he would be detained at customs and would never be able to go to Japan. Despite the incomprehension of his family, Ding Shangbiao still insisted on his choice, and when his daughter was 18 years old, Ding Shangbiao specially ordered a song "Holding Hands" for his daughter at Shanghai Radio and Television Station.
Although the father and daughter are thousands of miles apart, a song reveals the father's deep love. Daughter Ding Yan listened to this song and couldn't help but burst into tears, she understood her father's hardships, and she also missed her father who was far away from her.
After 15 years, I finally left Japan and the family was reunited
In 1997, Ding lived up to her father's expectations and was successfully admitted to the State University of New York to major in medicine, but she could only share her joy with her father over the phone. At this time, Ding Shangbiao's family of three is about to be separated, and the day of reunion is far away.
When Ding went to study in the United States, she came to Japan for a stopover, and she and her father were finally able to see each other. Because he does not have a hukou, Ding Shangbiao cannot come to public places such as the airport in a grand manner, and he and his daughter can only meet at the subway station. The father and daughter, who haven't seen each other for 8 years, didn't communicate much when they met, but when they separated, they still left bitter tears.
After coming to the United States to study, her daughter Ding Yan has been persuading her father to return to China with peace of mind, in her opinion, her father no longer has to work so hard for herself, and she can rely on scholarships and part-time jobs to make up for her daily expenses. Ding Shangbiao was very relieved to face his sensible daughter, but he still continued to stay in Japan, he wanted to earn more money for his daughter, so that his daughter could have a way out.
In 2004, at the age of 25, Ding successfully graduated from the State University of New York and came to a large hospital for an internship and began to study for a doctorate in medicine. Seeing his daughter who gradually stabilized, Ding Shangbiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, and he decided to leave the country where he had lived for 15 years and return to the embrace of the motherland, and he would be banned from going to Japan for the rest of his life.
After 15 years of leaving his hometown, Ding Shangbiao has tasted the ups and downs of life. Far away in a foreign land, he is actually missing his hometown and his relatives at home, but for the sake of his daughter, he chooses to pay his youth and hard work, chooses to live in Japan, and lives with tears.
Living in this world, you will experience life and death, parting, poverty and glory, every stop of life is a different journey and scenery, and the only thing that remains unchanged is that people have tears in their eyes, hard and firm to live.
Whether it is for himself, for his parents and children, or for the whole country and society, countless Ding Shangbiao have been on the road, bearing the joys, sorrows, and sorrows given by life.