House

October2024

58.00 （CNY）

This book isa new work created by the famous writer Yuan Min who has been followingandwritingabout MoonlightMama for14 yearsand hasbeenon theplateauseven timestosearch forsponsoredchildren.Theworkfocuses onthethemeofeducationandChina'sborderareasassistance，telingthe touching story of the caring student assistance team represented byMoonlight Mamawho hasbeen silently dedicated for many years，illuminating the growth pathof hundreds of border childrenwitha glimmer of light，and blocking the intergenerational transmissionof poverty througheducation.Mostof these stories take place between caringmothersand sponsored girls，showing women'seffortsto fulfilltheireducational idealsandsocialresponsibilities，as well as the tenaciouscharacter of girlswho take the initiative to break through dificultiesand pursue knowledge，conveying diverse female power in a simple and warm way.

Yuan Min

YuanMin，writer，andseniorpublisher， graduated fromtheDepartmentof ChineseofPekingUniversityand has createdandpublishedmillionsofwordsof novels，essays，reportage，and othermulti genreworks，whichhaveattractedsocial attentionandarewelcomedbyreaders.

BeforearrivinginDanba County， I hadalreadyaddedDekyiLhamoand DolmaLhamoonWeChat，thanks tothecontactcardsMoonlighthad forwardedme.

Iaskediftheystill rememberedme the“Youth Dream Chasers” literary initiativeandessaycontest，and the three-linepoemstheyeachwrote.

Whether or not these two Zang girlsremembered itall， Icertainly did.Thememorieswereasvividas ever.YetDekyiLhamoandDolma Lhamo were no longer the innocent teenagerstheyoncewere.

DekyiLhamo hasalready graduated withadegreeinClinicalWestern Medicine from Chengdu University ofTraditionalChineseMedicine and isnowinterningatYibin People’s Hospital， one step closer toherdream.DolmaLhamo，after beingadmittedtotheDepartment ofHumanitiesand Social Sciences atYibinVocationalandTechnical Collegetostudy Secretarial Major， wentontopursueabachelor's degreeattheCollegeofLiterature at Sichuan Normal University， wheresheearnedherdiploma.

Moonlight，who has been paired with and wholeheartedly supported both girlsas they've grown up， feels moreat easeabout Dekyi Lhamo. \"She'sveryself-disciplined，\" Moonlightsaid，“andholdsherself tohighstandards.\"Butwhenit comes to carefree Dolma Lhamo， Moonlight hashad to put ina bit moreeffort.\"Dolma'sdreamsare like cloudsin the sky， drifting and ever-changing. She wantstobea teacher，andalsoawriter.SoI've had to nudge herabit more.\"

When the two girls heard that I Wantedtolearnmoreabouthow MoonlightMamahadsupported underprivilegedchildrenfrom Hetaoping Village in pursuing their education， they each sentme long WeChatmessages recountingmany ofMoonlight'skinddeedsinthe village.

Dekyi Lhamo'smessage was especiallylonganddeeplyheartfelt Everywordbrimmedwithemotion， revealingtheexcitementand gratitude thatwelledupina little girl's hrart from the mountains upon encounteringanauntiefromafar， astrangerwhocaredforherlikea mother.

I still remember clearly the day MoonlightMamacame.Wewere inournewclassroom，studying the textTheSelfishGiant.

Afterclass，theteachertoldus thatthepersonwho haddonated moneytohelpbuildourschoolwas coming.

The car slowly pulled up to the schoolgate，andallofusstudents linedthepathtowelcomethe guests.

Standing inthemiddleof thecrowd， I saw the people getting out of the car，dressedcsually，withwarmd amiablesmilesontheirfaces.Just seeingthemmadeyoufeelatease.

Among them wasan auntie whose smilewasthebrightestofall.She lookedsoyoung！Andsheworetwo braidedpigtailsandblack-rimmed glassesand greeteduswarmly.

Hersmile melted my heart.When someonetoldmeshewastheone whohaddonatedthemoneytobuild our new school， I was genuinely surprised.Shewasnothinglikethe big bosses I'd seen on TV. To me， shefeltmorelikeakindoldersister from the neighborhood.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony，I became one of the underprivileged studentspairedwithandsponsored bytheAuntiewiththeBraidedHair Iwascompletelystunned.Howhad thegoddessof fortune suddenly chosen me？

Then，AuntiewiththeBraided Hairwalked intoourclassroom. She stepped up to the podium and asked each ofusto drawa picture somethingthatrepresentedour dream.

AlthoughIoftendreamedwhileI slept，the images thatcametome Wereusuallyofmountains，rivers， flowers，grass，cattle，andsheep. Ihadneverreallythoughtabout whatmydreamwas.Tobehonest， Ihadneverencounteredtheideaof a“dream\"before，soIdidn'tknow whattodraw.

I sat there gnawed on my pencil for a long time，trying to think. I vaguelyrememberedapostcard our teacherhad once shownus.It hadadesignonit，soIjuststarted sketching somethingsimilar from memory， not really knowing whatI Wasdrawing.Whentheteachersaw it， they criticized me， saying： \"You can'tjustcopyblindly！Startover！\" ButIstilldidn’tknowwhattodraw Mymindwascompletelyblank. So I hid in theback row，andaround the picture the teacher said was just acopy，Iwrotethewords：Heartto-HeartConnection.Then，inthe center of the drawing，Iwrote：For AuntiesandUncles.

I didn’tknowifthatcountedasa dream.Butatthatmoment，what Itrulywishedforwastohavea \"heart-to-heartconnection”with theauntiewhohelpedbuildour newschool，andwiththeunclesand auntieswhocameto seeus.

Atsomepoint，Auntie with the BraidedHairquietlywalkedoverto meandsoftlyasked，“MayItakea look at your drawing？\"

Her voice was so gentle，I couldn't say no.I let her pick up my picture

Shelookedatitcarefullyand praised me fordoinga good job， but then she gently explained that what I had drawn couldn't really becalledadream.“Adream，\"she said，“canalsobecalleda goal or anaspiration.It'saboutwhatkind ofpersonyouwanttobecomewhen yougrowup，andwhat you hope to do in the future.\"

I shook myhead and said，\"I've neverthoughtaboutitbefore.\"

AuntiewiththeBraidedHairsaid，

Appreciation of Chinese Literature

\"Well， from today on， you can start thinking.Onlybythinkingabout itwill youbemotivatedtowork toward it！

AlthoughInevermanagedtotell herwhatmydreamwasthatday，the word\"dream”planted itself in my heartlikeaseed.

Later， everyone started calling her“MoonlightMama\"because otherunclesandauntiescalled herMoonlight.ButbecauseIwas tooshytoexpressmyself，Inever directlycalledher\"Moonlight Mama\"toherface.Still，fromthat moment，more thana decadeago， whenshegentlytookmysmall， dirtyhandwithherbraidedhair，I silentlyacceptedherasmysecond motherinmyheart.

EverytimeweheardthatMoonlight

Mamawas coming，all ofuswould get excited. We'd put on our Zang robes，holdkhatasinourhands， and stand on our tiptoes，anxiously Watchingtheroadthatledtothe entranceofourvillage.

Once，afterMoonlightMamaand theotherunclesandauntieshad finished meetingwith usat school， DolmaandIcouldn'tbear tosee them leave. We insisted on dragging thembacktoourhome.

Thatnight，MoonlightMamastayed inthesameroomwithus.Beforewe wenttobed，sheaskedDolmaand me，“Would youbewillingto write ashortessayabout your hometown andsubmitittothenational‘Virtue CultureMicro-Essay'competition？\"

When I heard her question， my first thoughtwasthatit'simpossible.

Isaid，\"Idon’tevenreallyknow whatanessayis.HowwouldIwrite one？AndwhatwouldIevenwrite about？\"

MoonlightMamasaid，\"Youcould writeaboutyourhometown！\"

Myhometown？ Ever since we startedwritingcompositionsin school，thetopicI’vewrittenabout mostismyhometown.Anditreally is beautiful.Our“Beauty Valley” hassnowy white pear blossoms， soft pink peach flowers，mountains covered intreesandmeadows， flocksofwhite sheep，black yaks， andgoldensunlightshiningover Zangvillagehomesstrungwith colorful prayer flags.

But could these picturesque scenes， which seem so beautiful in my eyes， reallybe transformedintoanessay？

Under Moonlight Mama's guidance， I beganlearninghowto truly observeand describe myhometown with my heart. The sightsIused totakeforgranted，thelungta flutteringloudly inthe breeze （paper flagsprintedwithsacred images andmantras，alsocalledwindhorse flags），the ever-changingsky that wassometimes stormy， sometimes perfectlyclear，the firstraysof morningsunlightaccompaniedby birdsong，the blazing redcloudsat dusk，andthe herderscrackingtheir whipsastheyreturnedhome.Allof itsuddenlyseemed fulloflife.

That night，Dolma andIeachwrote amicro-essayofnomorethan300 words. We both thought our writing was still pretty rough and childish， butMoonlight Mama said they wereverygood.Sheevenguidedus totweakafewdetailsandhelped us correct a couple of misspelled characters.

After participating in the microessaycompetition，DolmaandI， encouraged by MoonlightMama， wentontotakepartinthe‘Youth DreamChasers\"literaryinitiative andessaycontest.Theeditorial teamevenawardedusthe\"Hope Prize.\"Althoughwecouldn'ttravel to Hangzhou to accept the award inpersonduetoaflashflood， the experience of entering the competition opened my eyesto a biggerworld，andlitaflameof hop inmyheart！

WhatIremembermostvividlywas whenMoonlightMamacameto Hetaoping in the spring of 2012.

Thatyear，Iwasinsixthgrade， about to graduate from primary school.

In Danba， where we Zang people live， it’s common for girls to stop going to school after finishing primary or middle school.They're expected to startworking in the fields，helpingwithfarmchores，and takingcareofthehousehold.Alittle older，and families begin arranging for them to get married.

ButIdidn’twantthatkindoflife. I wanted to keep studying， just like the boys.

MoonlightMama fullysupported mydecision.She told me that girls areno lesscapable thanboys. We can go from primaryschool to middle school， then on tohigh school，university，and evenpursue amaster'sdegreeoradoctorate.

Iaskedher，“What'samaster's degree？What'sadoctorate？\"

MoonlightMama explained，\"A master'sdegreeisonelevelabovea bachelor's，andadoctorateisalevel above that.If youwork hard， maybe onedayyou could becomea PhD yourself.\"

I feltincrediblyinspired.Idon't evenknowwheretheconfidence camefrom，butItoldMoonlight Mama with certainty： “Iwill work hard，nomatterhowharditgets.I'll keep going and never give up. One day，I'llaimtoearnadoctorate！\"

Ialso told her，“For people in the mountains to see a doctor， they havetotravellongdistancesover toughterrainto gettothecounty hospital. Onetime，Iaccompanied mygrandmatoseeadoctor，and thehospitalstafftreatedherreally poorly.She feltsowronged.That's whenI decidedthatIwant tostudy medicineandbecomeadoctor.

Evenbetter，Iwanttobecomea hospitaldirector，soIcanmakesure no patient is ever treated that way again.\"

MoonlightMama praised me for havingambition.Shesaid，“You must keep goingwith your studies It doesn't matter if your family's financial situation is tough，I'll support your schooling. Only by gainingknowledgecanyou change your life and take control of your future.\"

Later，whenIwentawaytotend highschool，MoonlightMama visitedDanbaseveraltimesand alwayscamebymyhousetocheck in. Even though we never got to meetinpersonduring thosevisits， shekept askingmy familyhowI was doing.

WheneverIwashomeonbreakand able to call her， we'd talk endlessly. There was never enough time to say everythingwewanted'to.

MaybeitwasbecauseIwasn'tused to beingaway from home for the firsttime，ormaybeitwasallthe talkabouthowhardhighschool Would be，but not longafterI started， I wanted to give up.

Ipouredoutmyfrustrationsto MoonlightMama，tellingherI wantedtocomehome.Highschool Wasoverwhelming.Theworkload Wastooheavy，andthematerialwas too difficult， and I was struggling to keepup.ButMoonlightMama didn’t scold me.Instead， she gently askedhowI trulyfeltdeepdown. Stepbystep，she guided me to face reality，reflectonmyfuture，and gradually helped me regain my confidenceandcourage.Shealso repeatedlyremindedmyparentsto

Appreciation of Chinese Literature

payextraattentiontomyemotional well-being and to support me through this rough patch.

WithMoonlightMama'spatient reassuranceand thoughtful guidance，I graduallysettled into theunfamiliar environmentand pressedforwardwithdetermination. Myfinalcollegeentranceexam resultsweren'toutstanding，butthey mettheexpectationsIhadset for myself. When it came to fill out my universitypreferences，Ithought ofwhatMoonlightMamahad said： \"You need to have your own judgment on the path to chasing your dreams.\"I followed myheart andchosetostudymedicine，and myfamily supported me. Assoon as the admission results came out， IreachedouttoMoonlightMama. Whenshe heard I'dbeenaccepted intotheClinicalWesternMedicine programatChengduUniversityof TraditionalChineseMedicine，she wasoverjoyed.She said，\"Ididn't even dare ask about your university choices.IwasafraidImight influence you into doing something you didn'ttruly love.\"

After entering university， I was overwhelmedbytheendlessamount ofmaterialtomemorizeand the complexityofhumananatomythatI encountered duringclinical practice Theintricatenervesandcapillaries weredaunting，andthe pressurewas quite immense.

The most nerve-wracking experience，though，wasmyfirst anatomyclass.Iwasreallyscared Accordingtothecustomsofour Zangpeople，we aren'tsupposed to toucha body casually.But I wasstudyingmedicine，focusing onsurgery，andanatomywasa fundamentalcourse.Whenitwas myturntoparticipateforthefirst time，I was so nervous that my whole body was shaking.

Later， we began studying skeletons AsIwalked intothelab，Iwas startledbyahumanskeleton hangingbythe door.Iimmediately screamed inshock，andeveryone laughedatmeforbeingsoscared.

Iclenchedmyhands，feelingcold sweatinmypalms，andachill ran down my spine. In that moment， I begantodoubtwhetherIwascut outfor thisfield，and once again，I feltlost.

Coincidentally，MoonlightMama cameto visit meat school.I couldn'tholdbackandstarted complaining to her：\"Studying medicineisso hard.Peopleused to sayyou'dgobaldandgetdepressed fromit.Ididn'tbelieveit，andnowl really get what they meant.\"

IexpectedMoonlightMamatooffer Words of encouragement or give me one of those speeches about how we can'tbackdownwhenfacedwith challenges.Buttomysurprise，her eyeswere full of sympathy. She pulled meclose，wrappedherarms aroundmyshoulders，and gently stroked myhair，whisperingsotly tome：\"Iunderstand.AndI'veheard thatstudying medicine is tough， especiallyforgirls.It'shard.\"

Hearing her words only stirred up myemotionsmore.Mynose started tofeeltight，andIcouldhardlyhold backmytears.Allthefrustrations and confusion I'd been hiding suddenlycamerushingout.Forall these years，thewarmth I've felt inMoonlightMama'sembracehas neveroncefaded，anditmakesme feelsecure，likeIhavesomeone to leanon.

MoonlightMama thenasked me， \"Do you remember what you said thatspringof2012，whenwewere in Beauty Valley watching the pear blossoms？ We sat under the pear tree，and Iasked youabout your dreams.Doyourememberwhatyou told me？\"

Asshespoke，Moonlightama tookout her phone and showed metheWeChatMomentsshehad sharedatthetime.Itread：“Dekyi Lhamo said，‘When I see patients beingmistreatedatthe hospital， I wantto becomea hospital director whenI growup，to manage those unfriendly，impatientdoctorsand nurses.\"\"

Ofcourse，Iremembered！Driven byasmall sense of justice，Ihad saidthosewordsbackthen.Inever imaginedthatMoonlightMamahad not only recorded them but kept themall theseyears.

MoonlightMama'stendernessand hersilent encouragement reignited myfightingspirit.Theflameof hopebeganto burnagain， and I once again felt the vibrant energy thatcomesfromhavingadream！

I told myself， no success comes easily.Nomatterhowdifficult studyingmedicine may be，I cannot giveup！OnceI’vechosenthe direction formy future，Icannot backdown.Imustmoveforward step by step， with unwavering determination.