Author: Zhou Wenping Editor: Jia Fangfang
Source: Marriage & Family Magazine
01
Taiwanese couples teach in the mainland
Huang Baiqin and Yao Jialing are a couple of Taiwanese compatriots.
In 2017, they took their two sons to Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, to settle down. Both husband and wife are doctors, and with a common dream of education, they applied together to become university teachers at Fujian Sunshine University.
Many people may wonder why the couple would teach at the same school. They can indeed have more options. "In the end, we both decided to work together so that we could support each other and discuss problems with each other." Huang Baiqin thinks more about taking care of his wife. "The most important thing is that we can get along day and night and have more topics." Yao Jialing smiled heartily.
The husband and wife are in the same department and teach the same batch of students. The students loved the Ph.D. couple very much. Huang Baiqin was serious in class, but after class, he played basketball with students and chatted together.
The students gradually regarded him as a friend and opened up to him: "Teacher, why are you murdering us in class? "The teacher didn't mean to kill you, he wanted to put a little pressure on you and stimulate your potential." Huang Baiqin said earnestly. It dawned on the children. Under the guidance of Huang Baiqin, many students decided to go to graduate school and continue their studies.
Sunshine College belongs to the three colleges, and the students' scores in the college entrance examination are not high, so they lack confidence when preparing for the graduate school entrance examination. Seeing this, Yao Jialing invited the students to eat and chat together, encouraging them: "The college entrance examination doesn't mean anything, don't deny yourself because of the past." "After listening to the teacher's encouragement, the children were more confident.
In March this year, when the results of the postgraduate entrance examination were announced, the two students called the couple as soon as possible to report the good news. "Teacher, I was admitted to Fujian Normal University!" "Teacher, I was admitted to Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University!"
Hearing the good news, the couple was happier than being admitted to graduate school. "In addition to the parents, they also told us the good news as soon as possible, which made us very happy." Huang Baiqin said that as a teacher, he does not ask his students to have anything in return, but only wants to see them continue to improve and have a better future.
In the hotel management major of the School of Economics and Management of Sunshine College, for the first time, someone was admitted to graduate school, and a total of 4 students in the school were successfully admitted to the graduate school, two of whom were students of Huang Baiqin and his wife. They studied with the couple from their freshman year to their senior year.
To be able to make a contribution to education in the mainland, the couple is both relieved and excited. They care about each student, not only on the dynamics of students' thoughts, but also on teaching methods together. In life, they are loving companions; At work, they go hand in hand.
With two young sons to take care of, the couple had to work together. Sometimes, it was originally an innovation and entrepreneurship competition organized by Yao Jialing, but because he had to take care of the children, Huang Baiqin took the place of his wife to guide the students. Sometimes, when Huang Baiqin goes out, Yao Jialing will also take classes for him. One of the advantages of teaching at a university is that you don't have to sit in shifts, and you can take turns picking up and dropping off your children to and from school.
"Dad, why are we studying?" Sometimes, children will inevitably get bored with learning, and Shangyu and Shangyou are no exception. At this time, Huang Baiqin used his personal experience to tell the child: "You see, whether it is after school at 4 o'clock or 5 o'clock, your parents can come to pick you up." Do other children's parents often come to pick them up? The two sons shook their heads.
"Any idea why?" Listening to their father's question, the two children winked curiously. "It is precisely because my parents have loved reading since childhood that they can choose such a job with relatively free time. We can do scientific research at night and control our own time, unlike many jobs where we have to be watched by our bosses. Dad is not saying that other jobs are not good, but it is possible to find the job you yearn for by studying hard, and the probability of being involuntary will be smaller. ”
Listening to Huang Baiqin's words, Yao Jialing couldn't help laughing at him: "Children are so young, can they understand such a profound truth?" "Who doesn't understand? I know that because my parents are PhDs, I can become university teachers, and I also have to study hard! Xiao Yu hurriedly answered. Xiao You did not show weakness, and said loudly: "Today, some children asked me: Why can your father accompany you to play basketball, but my father always has no time to accompany me?" ”
The couple looked at each other and smiled, and asked their son, "Then how did you tell him?" "I told him because my dad was a college teacher." Seeing their son's proud little face raised, the couple smiled with relief.
In their eyes, every parent is great, and every job has its meaning, but teaching and educating people is a dream shared by the couple. It was for this dream that the couple crossed the strait from Taiwan to the mainland.
02
Share weal and woe, and manage a happy life together
Huang Baiqin and Yao Jialing studied at Yuan Ze University in Taiwan and were classmates in the doctoral class. They are in the same research group and study with the same mentor. Huang Baiqin is mature and steady, and Yao Jialing is quiet and virtuous. In getting along day and night, the two had a good impression of each other, but neither of them pierced the last layer of window paper.
Although the days of immersion in literature and scientific research are fulfilling, they are also boring and monotonous, and I have to study until almost 10 o'clock every night before I get out of class. One day in the second year of his Ph.D., Huang Baiqin learned that the movie "Transformers" premiered at 12 midnight, so he wanted to invite Yao Jialing to watch it together.
What he didn't expect was that Yao Jialing agreed very happily. The two young people are like birds imprisoned in a cage, and they can finally let themselves go. The two excited hearts are also getting closer and closer after a movie.
Two academic talents fall in love and have a unique romance. After getting along for less than half a year, Huang Baiqin proposed to Yao Jialing that he wanted to get married. Although Yao Jialing also likes Huang Baiqin, she didn't know how to deal with this sudden proposal, so she simply said: "Then you can talk to my dad!" ”
Go for it! In order to hug the beauty, Huang Baiqin drove for more than two hours to Yao Jialing's house. He explained his situation to his future father-in-law very frankly, and then said bluntly: "Can you marry your daughter to me?" "Yao's father is very open-minded, especially when he learns that Huang Baiqin is also a doctor, and he feels that he is a good match for his daughter.
"When do you want to get married?" Yao's father asked Huang Baiqin. It turned out that Yao's father was a Hakka, and they had a custom that they could not marry their daughters in a row within half a year, but they could marry daughters in a row within the same month. Because the youngest daughter has decided to get married next month, if Yao Jialing wants to get married, if she is not next month, she will have to wait for half a year.
"Then we'll get married next month." Huang Baiqin didn't discuss it with his parents, and he gave a lifelong event. A week later, the parents met and finalized their marriage.
On December 24, 2011, Huang Baiqin and Yao Jialing entered the palace of marriage. Love is beautiful, but life after marriage is busy. The couple had to take classes, work on papers, and cope with exams. The birth of his eldest son Shangyu in 2012 made Huang Baiqin feel that the burden on his body was heavier. In addition to studying, he also found a part-time job to earn money to support his family.
In July 2013, his youngest son, Shangyou, came to earth two weeks early. At this time, Huang Baiqin was on a business trip to the mainland. When he came back a few days later, he was in a trance: he had another son. He knows that it is hard for him to make money outside, and it is even more difficult for his wife to give birth at home.
But Yao Jialing didn't complain at all, and told him the jokes about giving birth. It turned out that after the birth of the youngest son, the father-in-law held him and followed by the Indonesian maid. Many people in the hospital misunderstood that this was a child born to a father-in-law and a maid.
"This is my daughter's child, and my son-in-law is on a business trip." So that the father-in-law had to explain when he saw someone. Huang Baiqin felt both funny and sad when he heard it, and he was grateful to his father-in-law from the bottom of his heart and felt sorry for his wife. He can only use his practical actions to make more money and take on the responsibility of being a man.
Huang Baiqin is in charge of overseas recruitment, has been to all over the world, and has also seen the customs of various countries. In this process, he was particularly impressed by the sincerity and friendliness of the mainland compatriots. He often goes to Shandong Weifang University, Shandong University of Science and Technology and other colleges and universities to recruit students. The mainland compatriots are not only enthusiastic, but also very honest, "these schools are very supportive of my work, and I will give a few places when I promise them."
It was these five years of enrollment work that made Huang Baiqin understand more about the mainland and fall in love with it. In 2017, he graduated with a Ph.D. At that time, many private universities in Taiwan closed down, and there was a surplus of doctoral students, so they could only be demoted and reduced in salary after graduation. Huang Baiqin learned that many seniors have come to the mainland one after another to work in Wenzhou, Guangzhou, Fujian and other places, and they have developed well.
"Why don't we go to the mainland to develop as well?" Huang Baiqin told his wife what he thought in his heart. "Yes!" Yao enjoys teaching and concentrating on research, but in Taiwan she can only work as a university administrator. So, she very much agreed with her husband's proposal.
"You have to think clearly." Knowing that the couple were going to work in the mainland, the parents were initially worried. Huang Baiqin told them that they did not have the job they wanted in Taiwan, and that the mainland was developing rapidly, and that it should not be a problem for the whole family to live in the mainland together.
Huang's father, whose ancestral home was Quanzhou, Fujian, was previously engaged in the textile industry and often came to the mainland as a Taiwanese businessman. Therefore, he is well aware of the rapid changes in the mainland. In the end, both parents were very much in favor of their development on the mainland.
03
Take root in the mainland and help the integrated development of the two sides of the strait
Huang Baiqin and Yao Jialing are the first Taiwanese doctoral teacher couple in Fujian Province to work and live in mainland China with their children. "Because there was no precedent, there were some troubles at first when it came to applying for children's schooling, vaccinations, residence permits, etc., but then it became more and more smooth." Huang Baiqin is very grateful to the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office and leaders at all levels for their concern. With everyone's help, the two children successfully enrolled in school, and the family took root in Fuzhou.
"At first, I had the attitude of giving it a try, but I didn't expect to gradually fall in love with this city full of true feelings." Yao Jialing said, "The living environment and eating habits of Fujian and Taiwan are similar, and Taiwan to Fuzhou is only the distance from Taipei to Kaohsiung. The old man missed us and came to live for a while, just like we went to Xiamen and Quanzhou. ”
In the eyes of the two children, Taiwan is a place where they only go back during the winter and summer vacations. They were never treated differently at school and were able to play with every child.
Huang Baiqin often said to his two sons: "You are Taiwanese, but also Chinese, and you must not forget your roots or your roots at any time." He believes that children's growth needs the nourishment of traditional culture, and in the mainland, they can better learn the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
In recent years, the Taiwan authorities have engaged in "de-Sinicization" and have even removed Chinese history from textbooks and replaced it with the history of Japan and South Korea. "Why do we Chinese study foreign history? The two sides of the Taiwan Strait have the same root and origin, and history cannot be tampered with at will, and must be truthfully presented to the next generation. Huang Baiqin felt more and more that it was right to bring his children to the mainland.
Every holiday, the couple will take their children to walk around the country and have a look. They have been to Fuzhou Sanfang and Seven Alleys, Nanping Wuyi Mountain and other places, so that children can immerse themselves in the scene, touch history, and perceive culture; They have also been to the Bird's Nest in Beijing, the Summer Palace, and the Ice and Snow World in Harbin...... They want their children to see that this is our motherland, how vast it is and how prosperous it is.
During the release of the movie "Changjin Lake", the couple took their children to watch it together, so that the children could understand the history of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea. Huang Baiqin told the children: "Our current happy life was bought with the blood of revolutionary martyrs. In his opinion, children should understand Chinese history and culture, and they should never forget their roots.
Mr. and Mrs. Huang Baiqin hope that their children will love learning, but they never force their children to learn this or that, and only sign up for them if they are interested. The two children are very self-disciplined and study well.
Once, seeing that the classmates all had mobile phones, they wanted it too. Huang Baiqin wanted to wait for the children to enter junior high school before buying them, but Yao Jialing wanted to meet the children's requirements. "Listen to my wife!" Huang Baiqin is well versed in the way of family management, and every time he encounters a disagreement, he will let his wife go.
At the same time, Huang Baiqin told his sons: "We can't stare at you every day, we have to control the time of playing with mobile phones." In his opinion, the more trust parents have, the more self-discipline their children will be. Teaching by example is better than words, Huang Baiqin and Yao Jialing never play games, except for occasionally watching TV, they just read books and do scientific research.
This warm and beautiful family of four was selected as the "Most Beautiful Family" in the country in May 2023. When the couple learned about it, they said modestly: "There are many wonderful families around us, and we are just ordinary families. "At Sunshine Academy, all the teachers and students are happy for them.
The "Most Beautiful Family" in the country is a good incentive. In addition to doing their own work and running their families well, the couple also actively acted as "ferrymen" for cross-strait talent exchanges and contributed to the integrated development of the two sides of the strait.
Many Taiwanese young people come to the mainland to work, and the couple will help. From applying for a residence permit, arranging for a spouse to work, and children going to school, to taking a taxi, sending express delivery, downloading and using Alipay, and other trivial matters in life, they enthusiastically help Taiwanese villagers become familiar with and integrate into mainland life as soon as possible. Their home has also become a gathering place for Taiwan compatriots, and everyone discussed how to embrace the opportunities of the mainland.
Every March, the couple also participates in a tree-planting activity in Fuzhou with young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. On March 15 this year, in a vacant lot not far from the gate of the Fuzhou Strait Youth Exchange Camp, Yao Jialing supported the tree, Huang Baiqin cultivated the soil, and after a while, a crape myrtle stood on the ground. "The young people on both sides of the strait plant trees together, contribute together, and sweat together, which feels like the two sides of the strait are fused together." Huang Baiqin looked at the young people on both sides of the strait who were busy and happy, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
In order to better promote exchanges, Huang Baiqin often organizes young people from both sides of the strait to play basketball together. During the Dragon Boat Festival, Huang Baiqin, as the captain, also organized a dragon boat race. "Exchanging feelings in the competition, enhancing friendship through fun, Taiwan and the mainland continue to integrate, and the deep affection is self-evident, and the two sides of the strait will eventually become one family." Huang Baiqin is full of confidence in the future.
This article was excerpted from the June 2024 issue of Marriage & Family magazine
Original title: "Coming from Dreams, Taking Root, the Beautiful Life of Taiwanese Doctor and Wife in the Mainland"