Heilongjiang

In Heilongjiang Province, a boy whose parents passed away one after another, despite consistently excellent grades, couldn't continue his education due to lack of funds. He knelt before the principal, weeping, pleading, "Principal, please help me continue my studies." Unexpectedly, the principal immediately agreed. Seven years later, the boy graduated and became a teacher, wanting to repay the principal, only to discover that the principal had secretly moved away, deliberately keeping it a secret from him.

This boy, Wang Zhenyu, was born in 1992 into a rural family in Jixi, Heilongjiang. His parents were farmers, and his grandmother doted on him. From a young age, he was determined to study hard, hoping to one day provide a better life for his family.

Unfortunately, fate intervened.

In 2008, at the age of 16, Wang Zhenyu's parents passed away due to illness, leaving him and his younger siblings to live with their grandmother. Two years later, his grandmother also passed away, leaving the three siblings orphans. Although their aunt took them in, her family was already struggling financially, and Wang Zhenyu, not wanting to burden her further, went to work elsewhere.

Unable to afford a train ticket, he hopped onto trains, wandering from place to place to Changchun, Dalian, and Harbin. Too young to find work, he was forced to survive on leftovers and spend the nights in waiting rooms.

After two months of wandering, he finally realized that only education could change his fate.

But where would he get the tuition and living expenses? After much thought, he remembered someone—his middle school principal, Zhang Hongsheng.

Knowing the principal had a habit of jogging in the morning, Wang Zhenyu waited by the roadside before dawn. When Principal Zhang approached, he knelt down with a thud and burst into tears.

The principal was startled and quickly helped him up, anxiously asking, "Child, what's wrong? Get up, tell me slowly."

Wang Zhenyu cried for over ten minutes before slowly calming down. With red eyes and a choked sob, he said to the principal, "Principal, please help me with my studies. If I don't go to school, my life is truly over."

Looking at the ragged, desperate child before him, Zhang Hongsheng felt deeply distressed and immediately nodded in agreement: "Okay, child, as long as you're willing to study hard, I'll find a way to cover the tuition and living expenses."

At the time, Wang Zhenyu didn't know that the principal's family was also struggling financially. The school hadn't paid salaries for several months, and the principal had two children; his younger son suffered from mental illness and needed medication year-round, making their already meager existence difficult.

But the principal never mentioned these hardships to Wang Zhenyu. Every time they saw him, they would only say one thing: "Study hard, don't worry about anything else."

To earn more money to support Wang Zhenyu's education, for four whole years, the principal traveled over 40 kilometers daily to teach at another school, teaching more than 40 classes a week. He was exhausted, but never complained. When money was tight, he borrowed from relatives and friends, never letting Wang Zhenyu suffer any hardship, even giving him a fixed 50 yuan allowance every month.

The successive losses of loved ones made Wang Zhenyu extremely insecure and sensitive. Once, he told his deskmate, "I don't want to live anymore."

Everyone initially thought he was just saying it in anger, but unexpectedly, he disappeared in the blink of an eye. The teachers and principal frantically searched everywhere, finally finding him on the school's rooftop.

The principal rushed over and gently said to him, "Zhenyu, you're a man, you have to stand up. This little hardship is nothing. We must be strong in life, we can't let difficulties defeat us."

These words pulled Wang Zhenyu back from the brink of collapse.

From then on, he gradually calmed down and focused on his studies. Every week, the principal would invite him to his home, cook him a hot meal, and help him recover.

One particularly cold winter, Wang Zhenyu went to the principal's house as usual on the weekend. In the afternoon, the principal's youngest son suddenly fell ill, smashing things around the house. The principal and his wife frantically tried to calm the child, finally managing to get him into a room.

Wang Zhenyu silently cleaned up the broken glass on the floor, feeling both guilty and distressed, realizing he had caused the principal's family too much trouble. He quietly got up to leave.

Just as he reached the bus stop, he heard someone shout behind him, "Zhenyu, wait!"

He turned around and froze.

In temperatures below -20 degrees Celsius, the principal, dressed only in thermal underwear with a casually draped jacket and slippers, ran breathlessly towards him.

Before Wang Zhenyu could speak, the principal pulled 20 yuan from his pocket and insisted on handing it to him: "Take this, use it on the way. Don't worry about the mess at home."

Wang Zhenyu quickly said, "I don't want it."

The principal, impatient, retorted, "You must take it!"

After some back and forth, Wang Zhenyu finally gave in and accepted. Holding the 20 yuan, still warm from the principal's touch, tears streamed down his face.

In 2014, with four years of the principal's support and companionship, Wang Zhenyu successfully gained admission to Harbin Normal University. The principal borrowed money from various sources to help him with tuition and living expenses and personally accompanied him to the university for registration.

In 2018, Wang Zhenyu graduated from university and fulfilled his dream of becoming a teacher. He received his first month's salary, eager to repay the principal, but couldn't find him anywhere.

Later, he inquired around and learned that the principal had sold his house and deliberately moved to avoid him, all to help him raise his university tuition, so as not to receive anything in return.

When Wang Zhenyu finally found the principal, his eyes reddened as he tried to hand him his salary, but the principal refused to accept it, saying only, "You still have younger siblings to take care of. Seeing you succeed now makes me very proud."

At that moment, Wang Zhenyu could no longer hold back, hugging the principal and bursting into tears, choking out, "Dad, I'll take care of you from now on!"

The principal hugged him tightly. Over the years, he had long regarded this unfortunate child as his own son.

Later, after becoming a teacher himself, Wang Zhenyu always remembered the principal's teachings and continued to pass on that kindness. He scrimped and saved, sponsoring twelve students from impoverished families. Just as the principal had cared for him years before, he quietly paid their tuition, provided living expenses, bought them stationery and nutritional supplements, and patiently comforted those who were self-conscious and upset, accompanying them as they studied and grew.

He often said that the greatest success in education is not in cultivating a large number of talented individuals, but in passing on kindness from generation to generation, ensuring that warmth continues.

Principal Zhang, full of love, changed a child's destiny with his kindness; Wang Zhenyu, who knows how to be grateful, has also taken up this warmth, continuing to illuminate the lives of many more children. Thumbs up for this wonderful principal, Zhang Hongsheng, and thumbs up for Wang Zhenyu, who continues to spread kindness!