A 12-year-old girl supports four college-age older brothers!!

It sank. Let more Chinese people see her. On August 24, 1998, a special memorial service was held. The deceased, Shen Chunling, was only a 16-year-old girl, yet she enjoyed the highest funeral rites in the village. Her three older brothers wore mourning clothes meant only for their parents' funerals. They knelt in front of the coffin, and the entire village, young and old, spontaneously wore black armbands, crying as they sent her off. However, who would know that this prematurely deceased girl actually had no blood relation to this family? She was just a stepdaughter without even a household registration. After her stepfather was paralyzed and her biological mother ran away, she bravely stayed, using her delicate shoulders to support her four university-student brothers.

In June 1994, after losing her husband, Chunling's mother brought Shen Chunling and her siblings from Zhouji, Fanzelong, Shandong, to Shen Village, Jiaxiang County. Chunling's stepfather, Shen Shuping, was a carpenter and an honest, kind man. His parents were over 70 years old, and he had four sons still in school. The eldest, Shen Jianguo, studied at Xi'an Jiaotong University, while the other three sons attended high school in the county. Despite heavy family burdens, the stepfather had excellent woodworking skills and, combined with the family's frugality, life was not too bad. The entire family warmly welcomed Chunling and her mother. Perhaps because there were no girls in the household, Grandpa, Grandma, and the stepfather all doted on little Chunling, and her brothers affectionately called her 'Xiaolingdang.'

When little Chunling came to her stepfather's home, she was already past school age, but due to her father's death, she could no longer attend school. Upon learning this, her stepfather immediately paid for her schooling. The family already had four children in school, so taking care of Chunling added another burden to him. Luckily, he was hardworking and often went out to construction teams in town to earn extra money during the off-season, which helped support the household expenses. Little Chunling cherished this hard-won chance to study and ranked third in her entire grade during her first semester.

Besides studying, she took on part of the household chores and, in any spare time, helped her brothers wash dirty clothes, helped her stepfather carry wood and operate the saw. Her stepfather boasted to everyone: 'I am blessed in this life; heaven has sent me a good daughter!' However, happy times quickly passed, and a sudden disaster struck from the sky.In the early summer of 1995, the stepfather fell from the third floor while working on a construction team and was paralyzed in bed. A large beam had collapsed, cutting off the family's source of income, and they had taken on heavy debt to pay for the stepfather's treatment. Looking at their bedridden stepfather, the second brother, Shen Jianjun, was the first to suggest dropping out of school, but the father firmly disagreed since he and the third brother were about to take the college entrance exams and his grades were among the top in the school. The third and fourth brothers also wanted to quit school to take on the family's burdens. While the older brothers were arguing and leaving the stepfather in a dilemma, young Chunling volunteered to drop out of school to help her mother support the family. The stepfather cried, and the grandparents kept wiping away tears. The stepfather said with deep sorrow: "Ling'er, I have wronged you. Your older brothers have studied for so many years, and it would be a pity to give up now, so the only one who will bear the burden is you." The three brothers tightly held their little sister's hand and made a promise together at the father's bedside: "No matter who goes to college in the future, we will repay our little sister's favor double." But Chunling's mother, who had just overcome previous hardships, could not bear another disaster. She learned from the doctor that her husband might be paralyzed for life. She completely lost faith in the family and, fearing the heavy burden, decided to leave home with the youngest child. No matter how Chunling begged and tried to persuade her, her mother left the troubled home three months after the stepfather's injury. With her mother gone, another support of the family was lost. The grandparents cried day and night, the stepfather sighed, and the brothers were even more fearful and uneasy. The home was once again engulfed in sorrow. Villagers kindly tried to console Chunling: "There's no one here related to you anymore. You should go back to your grandmother Fan Ze's home, otherwise, you will suffer all your life!" Young Chunling firmly shook her head: "No, I cannot leave. My mother left, but I cannot abandon this family." Chunling called her brothers to the stepfather's bedside and promised each word carefully: "Dad, mom has left because she has no conscience; I will not leave. I want to stay and face this hardship with you. From today on, I am your own daughter." That year, Shen Chunling was only 12 years old. [As long as the brothers succeed, the little sister succeeds.] Chunling kept her word. She took on all the farm work and household chores, living like a true homemaker, rising with the sun and sleeping after sunset, carefully managing every day for the family.Xiao Chunling knew that for this family to get better, her stepfather had to get better first. Therefore, in the midst of busy farm work, she never stopped treating her stepfather. In the summer of 1996, due to the hot weather, her stepfather's condition worsened, and Xiao Chunling decided to take him to Jining City for hospitalization. After taking care of things at home, she set off with a cart. The journey of more than 80 kilometers took her a full two days and one night. By the time she reached the destination, her feet were blistered and her shoulders swollen. To save on accommodation, Chunling stayed in the hospital's bicycle shed. An old man watching the bikes thought she was a beggar and tried to drive her away several times. Chunling had no choice but to tell the truth, and the old man was deeply moved. Not only did he put her cart for sleeping in the innermost spot, but he also specially found a mosquito net for her. Under Chunling's careful care, her stepfather's condition stabilized, and she took him back home. As soon as they returned home, it was time for wheat harvest. Her older brothers were all in school, and her grandparents could only help with cooking or bundling wheat. The over seven acres of wheat could only be managed by Chunling alone. To harvest quickly, she slept in the field for several consecutive days. When she was too exhausted to continue, she would lie down on a wheat bundle to rest for a while and then get up to continue cutting. Because of rush and overwork, Chunling developed blisters on her lips, and her hands and feet bled. She was really at her limit, thinking about the family's food supply! She anxiously broke down crying in the wheat field. Her cries attracted the neighbors, who sympathized with her and helped her finish harvesting the wheat. This difficult harvest secured food for the whole family. Meanwhile, her second brother also achieved great success in his college entrance exam, being admitted to Tongji University in Shanghai with excellent scores. Holding her second brother's admission notice, Chunling seemed to forget her own fatigue, jumping and shouting with joy. Looking at the thin, dark younger sister, their third brother Shen Jianwen, who had failed the exam, could not help but shed sorrowful tears, blaming himself: 'I have failed my little sister. She has suffered so much for us, yet I...' and he broke down crying. Chunling, worried, held her third brother's hand and encouraged him: 'Brother, if you don't pass this year, you can try again next year. Don't be discouraged!' Her words made Shen Jianwen feel even more ashamed. He said he wouldn't repeat the exam and would stay home to help his sister. Chunling refused firmly and cried as she asked her third brother, 'Haven't I endured all the hardships just to let you all study well?'The older brothers were making progress—it meant I was making progress. Why couldn't you understand that?! Third Brother finally listened to his younger sister's advice and decided to repeat a year. The day when Second Brother would go to Shanghai to study was getting closer and closer. The 3,000 yuan tuition and miscellaneous fees weighed heavily on the whole family. In desperation, Xiao Chunling thought of selling blood. The first time she went to the blood station, the doctor didn't allow her to donate because she was too young; the second time, she lied about her age and was allowed to donate 200CC of blood. When she received 400 yuan as “nutrition money,” the worry on her face still didn't disappear. She knew that the 400 yuan was just a drop in the bucket for the 3,000 yuan tuition. So, on the third day, she went to the blood station again. This time, the doctor refused to let her donate no matter what. In a moment of urgency, Xiao Chunling knelt before the doctor and explained the reason for selling blood. The doctor was silent for a long time, then sighed and said: “Alright, just this once. Don't come again; you're still young and growing.” This kind-hearted doctor symbolically drew a small amount of blood from her and even took money out of his own pocket, giving Xiao Chunling 700 yuan. Xiao Chunling was so moved that tears streamed down her face. Back home, Chunling handed all the money to her stepfather. Her stepfather hurriedly asked where she had gotten so much money. Xiao Chunling lied that she had borrowed it. But careful Second Brother understood everything just by looking at her face, which was pale as if drained of all blood. He took her hand, looked at it over and over, and then pulled two blood donation receipts from her pocket. The whole family was shocked! However, this money was still far from half of the tuition. The stepfather decided to sell a piece of old family land foundation, and the grandparents also decided to sell three big poplar trees they had set aside for their coffins. The stepfather disagreed, but the two elders insisted: “Xiao Lingzi has worked so hard for our family. Why would we still need the coffins?” With the entire family's efforts, Second Brother and Third Brother's tuition was finally gathered. To make sure Second Brother Shen Jianjun could go to university decently, Xiao Chunling stayed up several nights sewing new quilts and new cloth shoes for her brother. Before the trip, Chunling went to the station to see Second Brother off. She said: “Second Brother, although our family is poor, we have ambition. You must study hard. Don't worry about the family. Don't let yourself suffer outside either. If you need money, just write home; we'll handle it for you.” Shen Jianjun could no longer hold back. He hugged his little sister tightly in his arms, tears streaming down his face—[You may forget about me, but you cannot forget your sister].When her older brothers went to school, Xiao Chunling began planning how to make money to treat her stepfather's illness and pay her brothers' tuition for the next year. At first, she thought about going to work outside with the village girls, but with three elderly family members at home without anyone to take care of them, she could only find ways to manage at home. After much contemplation, she decided to grow cotton to become wealthy. Growing cotton is different from planting other crops; it not only requires careful management but spraying pesticides is also very dangerous. However, Xiao Chunling calculated in her mind that planting cotton for a year could earn about eight to nine thousand yuan, and she began working without hesitation. She ambitiously planted cotton, but soon, all the cotton in southwestern Shandong was attacked by bollworms. This worried Xiao Chunling greatly; being shorter than the cotton plants, she hurriedly carried a pesticide tank weighing over 20 kilograms to spray the cotton fields. She heard that spraying insects at the hottest time of noon was the most effective, so she chose to apply pesticides when the sun was strongest. The scorching sun made the cotton fields like a giant steamer, making it hard for her to breathe, so she had to spray a row and then step out for fresh air. One noon, due to a leaking pesticide tank, she fainted and was found by villagers and sent home. Upon waking, despite her stepfather's objections, she struggled back to the cotton fields. Her painstaking hard work finally resulted in a bountiful cotton harvest, but because the cotton prices that year were too low, Xiao Chunling still could not save the amount of money she had planned. Being clever, she started thinking creatively about how to make money in any way possible. During the off-season, she helped others harvest locust seeds and willow branches, and also sold straw hats and soybeans. Later, she heard that apples in Sishui were cheap, so she went with an elder from the village to trade fruit there. Every evening after dinner, she pulled the cart on the road, arriving at the apple orchard by dawn, loaded the apples, and rushed back. While adult men pulled a line of carts, she also pulled a line of carts on her own. On the way, while others ate apples to quench their thirst, she did not eat any, even saving the slightly spoiled ones for her stepfather and grandparents. Her fourth brother, Shen Jianhua, seeing his fourteen-year-old sister endure such hardship, felt deeply troubled. He decided to drop out of school and join the army to stay and help his sister. Xiao Chunling, however, supported her brother, secretly encouraging him, saying, "I admire soldiers the most. What success is there in staying at home? Go with peace of mind; I can handle the family's difficulties." After Xiao Chunling's repeated persuasion, her stepfather finally agreed.On the day Fourth Brother went to the army, Xiao Chunling took a big handful of crumpled coins out of her pocket and stuffed them into her brother's hand: 'Brother, this is more than 80 yuan, it's what I saved. Keep it for pocket money, work hard after you get to the army, and strive to come back as an officer.' Shen Jianhua's eyes were wet. The Spring Festival of 1997 was the happiest Spring Festival for Xiao Chunling. Except for Fourth Brother who was in the army, all three brothers had returned, and each of them prepared a New Year gift for their little sister. The eldest brother brought her a new set of clothes, the second brother gave her a red scarf, and even the third brother bought her a box of beauty cream. Xiao Chunling hugged the gifts and ran from the inner room to the outer room, jumping and laughing nonstop. At this moment, she had regained her childlike nature, so innocent and lively. Xiao Chunling's joyful expression moved the whole family, and her stepfather also broke into a smile. He called his sons to the bedside and said, 'The three of you did right! Lingling has suffered enough. In the future, you may forget about me after you become capable, but you cannot forget your little sister.' We will always love you — Little Sister of Family Affection Amid the busy farm work, Chunling never forgot to treat her stepfather's illness. Whenever there was hope, even if the mountains were high and the roads were far, she