父母隔离，家中空空如也

 

我1月10日回到武汉两个月来，发生了许多事。现在我终于可以坐下来聊聊了。

 

I came back to Wuhan on January 10th and within these two months a lot of things happened and now I could finally sit down and talk about it.

 

我亲眼看着爸爸关上门。那个晚上很冷，寂静无声，我独自在家。我的父母因为连续多日发烧，有了新冠肺炎的症状，不得不离开。那是1月31日，武汉封闭的第七天。

 

I watched my Dad close the door. It was a really cold night in dead silence and I was all alone at home. My parents left because they had been running fever for several days and they were showing other symptoms of COVID-19. It was January 31st, the 7th day of Wuhan lockdown.

 

我在武汉出生长大，直到18岁，然后考入了北京的清华大学。武汉是个好地方，生活丰富多彩。我在北京总是馋武汉的热干面，还有街上人们大嗓门地用方言聊天。

 

I was born and bred in Wuhan for 18 years before I moved to Beijing two years ago to study at Tsinghua University. Wuhan is a lovely city where people lead a vibrant life. In Beijing, I would always crave for the Hot Dry Noodles back home, Re Gan Mian and really loud conversations in Wuhan dialect popping up on the street.

 

但1月31日，我站在家里，空空如也。我回家过春节之前，还跟父母聊过，要趁着春节好好拍张全家福。

 

But when I stood at home on the 31st of January, all that was gone. Before I arrived home for the Spring Festival, my parents and I had talked about making sure that we took a really good family photo during the Spring Festival holiday.

 

新冠病毒之所以有些可怕，是因为对人群的无差异感染，但也不完全是这样。种种证据显示，老年人更易受影响，我不禁担心父母能否挺过来，我们还能不能拍全家福。

 

The virus we now know as COVID-19 is somehow fearsome partly because it does not discriminate in choosing who it infects. But that is only partly true. All the evidence suggest that it can be merciless to older people, so I was wondering whether my parents would make it and whether we would ever take photos.

 

“00后”一夜成长，担负责任

 

他们离家那晚，我一直在哭。他们在医院安顿下来之前，我也几乎没有睡。我第一次如此孤单。

 

When they left home I cried the whole night and I hardly got any sleep before I knew that they had settled down in the hospital. This was the first time in my life that I was all alone.

 

但我也是有独立的能力的。我会做饭、会洗衣服，当然还会像年轻人一样网购。但我那时意识到没有关爱我的父母，我不知道该怎么生活。

 

But don't get me wrong: I can be really independent. I can cook, I can do the laundry, and of course like any young Chinese people, I can buy things online. But I had no idea how to live without my caring parents.

 

他们离家第二天给我打电话问我怎么样。我们视频聊天了。我看到妈妈戴着氧气面罩躺在病床上，爸爸一说话就喘粗气。那时我就意识到，一定得自立。

 

On their second day away my parents called and asked me how I was. We talked using FaceTime, and the moment I saw mom lying there with an oxygen mask and my dad could not talk without breathing heavily, I realized that I had to live on my own.

 

多年来，我父母支撑起来的这个家现在落到了我肩上。我只能照顾好自己，不要让他们治疗的时候为我担心。这也是我第一次意识到自己有多爱他们。这段时间以来，我发现有好多人跟我有类似的经历。

 

The responsibility for our family that lain on my parents' shoulders for years had now passed onto mine. The only thing I could do is to take care of myself and make sure they wouldn't worry about me when they were having treatment. And this is also the first time that I realized how much I love them. Over days and weeks I discovered there are many others who had experiences similar to mine.

 

自己发烧，入院“观察”

 

我父母入院后两周，我自己也发烧了，接受了隔离，要医学观察14天。幸好我只是细菌感染，不是新冠肺炎。

 

About two weeks after my parents went into hospital, I came across a fever and I had to go into quarantine and be put under medical observations for 14 days. Fortunately, my illness turned out to be due to a bacterial infections but not COVID-19.

 

接受隔离的人们自然都很焦虑。我和其他病人接受隔离时，想到要完全与世隔绝就非常不安，不禁担心自己会不会死在这。

 

Not surprisingly, those under quarantine were extremely anxious. On the day I and some other patients arrived, some of us felt extremely uneasy about being totally isolated and began to wonder whether this was where we would die.

 

当时很混乱，医护人手不足，物资也紧缺。虽然医生护士都全副武装，他们布满血丝的眼睛还是透出了疲惫。

 

Everything was hectic, there seemed to be a shortage of medical staff and materials were in short supply. Even though the doctors and nurses were covered from head to toe, I could see how tired they were when I looked into their bloodshot eyes.

 

他们为了接纳新病人要准备一整天，如果有缺漏还会非常抱歉。绝大多数病人都很理解，当然也有不理解的，还大声抱怨。但医护人员总能尽力冷静应对。

 

They would work a whole day preparing for new patients and seemed incredibly apologetic for not having everything that was needed. Most of the patients were really understanding, but of course there were those who were not, and complained loudly, but all the doctors and nurses tried their best to deal with it in a calming way.

 

他们都是上海、广州或其他城市来支援的，有的只比我大三四岁。

 

And they are all from other cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, and some of them are just three or four years older than me.

 

热干面里的温暖

 

最难忘的一件事就是有一天午餐加了热干面。我看到热干面就特别开心，对武汉人来说，热干面就是生活的一部分，但是封闭之后就买不到了，大家都非常想吃。

 

One thing I would not forget is that one day apart from our lunch set, we had Hot Dry Noodles. I was extremely happy when I saw the Hot Dry Noodles. Because for Wuhan people, Hot Dry Noodles was an indispensable part of our daily life. But after the lockdown, we were not able to buy any and we missed it so much.

 

后来我知道是一位深圳的志愿者，听说我们喜欢热干面，就给我们准备了。他希望能让我们有家的温暖。医护人员肯定都筋疲力尽了，也都很担心被感染，但他们没有表现出来。

 

Then I knew that it was a volunteer from Shenzhen who happened to know that we all loved Hot Dry Noodles and prepared that for us. He hoped that this would make us feel at home. I'm sure that all these medical workers were exhausted, and I'm sure they must have been afraid of being infected, but they did not show it.

 

隔离结束后，病人都衷心感谢了所有工作人员。但工作人员的回复都是一样的，"这是我们的职责"。

 

When the quarantine was over, every patient effusively thanked the workers for what they had done, but the answer they received was exactly the same: "That's what we're here for."

 

三岁唱国歌，“万众一心”是从小的记忆

 

中国人民面对挑战，总能团结起来。我是00后，2000年出生。三岁时我就会唱国歌，第一次听到了万众一心，有的语言里会翻译成“无数人同一颗心”。

 

Chinese have always demonstrated a strong sense of unity in the face of challenges. I'm a real Generation Z girl who was born in 2000. At the age of three, I could sing the national anthem and first encountered the word Wan Zhong Yi Xin, which in at least one translation is rendered as "millions of hearts with one mind".

 

8岁时，我第一次知道了“一方有难，八方支援”，就是大家一起援助的意思。那时全国上下齐心协力，支援地震后的汶川。

 

At the age of 8 I first learned the meaning of "Yi Fang You Nan, Ba Fang ZhiYuan", referring to helps from all directions, when I saw people tried their best to save others' lives in Wenchuan earthquake.

 

但直到现在，我20岁了，才真的理解了这些词的含义。中国人民齐心协力对抗新冠，全国各地的医护人员纷纷驰援武汉。各个城市也都支援物资、食品。最重要的是，几亿人待在家里，避免病毒扩散。

 

It's only now, at the age of 20, that I fully appreciate what those words mean. Chinese people have all stood up as one to fight COVID-19. Medical workers from all over the country descended on Wuhan to save others' lives. Resources including food are sent to the city from all over China. And, most importantly, hundreds of millions of people stayed at home to prevent the virus from spreading.

 

祖国人民齐心协力，我非常骄傲。面对疾病、死亡和未知，我们都会恐惧。看到他人受苦，我们也会心生同情。

 

I am so proud that people in my country have all joined in this collective effort. It's natural to fear illness, death, and uncertainty, and it's also natural to feel compassion when we see others suffering.

 

正是对他人的爱，让最胆小的人也能成为最勇敢的战士，承担最重大的责任，甚至舍己救人。在对抗新冠疫情的战斗中，我在医护人员、志愿者、饭店老板、公交司机以及无数人身上看到了这份爱。

 

It is the love towards the others that turns the most timid of souls into strongest warriors, ready to bear the toughest responsibilities and even at risk to their lives to save others. In this fight against COVID-19, I saw this love shining in medical people, volunteers, restaurant owners, bus drivers, and countless others.

 

我们现在的经历固然很可怕，面对这场疫情，我依然选择乐观。因为我看到全世界人民万众一心，一起帮助他人。正是有了这些人，我才认为我们终有一天会战胜新冠疫情。

 

What we are living through now is undoubtedly horrible, with a pandemic the likes of which hasn't been seen in more than 100 years. But I still choose to be optimistic. Because I see Wan Zhong Yi Xin around the world that people are working together to try to help others and with them I think we can look forward to the day that COVID-19 is finally defeated.

 

父母归来，全家福提上日程

 

我现在还很享受坐在桌前，跟朋友和老师一起上网课。看到感染人数下降我也非常开心。

 

Now I have begun to enjoy sitting in front of my desk, taking courses online with my dearest friends and teachers and I'm overjoyed to see the number of infected people finally fall.

 

春天到了，爸爸妈妈也痊愈出院了，家里暖和了不少。我们还要去照全家福呢。

 

Spring is here. Mom and dad are finally home and are fully recovered. The home of ours is a lot warmer now. And we still have a family photo that we have to take.