A FEMALE migrant worker who has taken care of her paralyzed mother-in-law without complaining for the past 15 years has greatly touched Shenzhen people with her dedication.

    Li Chuanmei, 37, from a village in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, came to Shenzhen seeking a better life for her impoverished family in 2003, a Shenzhen Special Zone Daily report said.

    In 2003, Li decided to work in Shenzhen to pay off a large debt incurred by the family for medical treatment for her father-in-law who had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. She had a daughter who was still too young to live without her mother while her paralyzed mother-in-law had been totally dependent on her for the past 11 years. Her mother had died many years ago and her father was living in another village.

    After careful thought, Li left her daughter with her relatives at home and took her mother-in-law to Shenzhen, the paper said.

    “I love my daughter, but my mother-in-law is just like a child. She is blind and deaf; she cannot speak or move herself. She is totally dependent on me which made it difficult to leave her behind. But I could not take both with me to Shenzhen,” said Li.

    She walked more than 10 kilometers with her mother-in-law on her back to a long-distance bus station, where they rode to Shenzhen thousands of kilometers away. She had to put up with her mother-in-law’s volatile temper on board the bus with other passengers looking. It was embarrassing for everyone.

    “I wasn’t mad at her and I cannot be mad at her because of her physical condition,” the Daily quoted her as saying.

    She rented a room in Xuexiang Village in Buji Subdistrict where she worked for a grocery store in a Xuexiang wet market. When she was not working, Li spent her time taking care of her mother-in-law. Her love for and dedication to her mother-in-law greatly impressed the neighbors, who frequently offered to help. Her employer also raised her salary after hearing of her plight.

    Li took up all domestic responsibilities — including taking care of her sick parents-in-law and an 80-year-old grandmother-in-law — shortly after her marriage to Xiang Jiapei in 1992. Xiang went to Shenzhen to try to make some money to support the family.

    She was attracted to Xiang by his character of love and respect for seniors. Li insisted on marrying Xiang despite strong opposition from her family as Xiang’s family was financially strapped. “He is poor but he is a good man with high morality,” she said, adding that money could buy anything but love and happiness. “I am happy in the family, being with Xiang and his parents.” Xiang is now working in Yunnan Province.

    Li had to do all the farm work herself while taking care of his mother- and father-in-law who has also been in poor health for years.

    Li was forced to leave Shenzhen in early 2006 when her rent was increased and became unaffordable on her meager income.

    A Bao’an school learned of her situation and the school authorities offered her a job doing logistics work at the school campus with a low-rent dormitory provided for Li and her mother-in-law. The school also paid for their travel expenses from Chongqing to Shenzhen.

    “Li is a great woman who deserves our respect. We should help her in any way we can,” said Zhang Yi, the school principal.

    Li’s character is no secret to villagers in the Wanzhou area in Chongqing. “She is a good daughter and a caring daughter-in-law. She hasn’t complained even once in the face of such a difficult situation for 15 years after she married Xiang at 22,” said Xiong Deju, Li’s neighbor for 15 years.

    (Wei Jie)