In Shahu Town, Hubei Province, 59-year-old Yang Shouyu, known as the "bench mother," is widely praised for her resilience, strength, and good fortune.

At the age of two, Yang was paralyzed from the waist down due to polio. Unable to attend school after the first grade, she educated herself at home. After seeing a person with disabilities using benches to move around on TV, she asked her father to make two for her. From then on, she practiced walking every day by sliding on the benches. Despite bleeding hands and scraped knees, she persevered.

After several years, she could move independently. She learned to cook, do housework, and care for children. Once considered a burden, she became an inspiration.

Yang and her second husband, Li, in Hubei. Photo: Sohu

Yang and her second husband, Li, in Hubei. Photo: Sohu

In 1992, she married Chen Hanqiu, a man disabled by childhood meningitis. They opened a small grocery store. Yang managed the shop and raised poultry, while Chen handled procurement, cultivated vegetables, and worked in the fields. They had two daughters and, through hard work, built a two-story house.

However, in 2005, Chen suddenly passed away from a brain hemorrhage, leaving Yang to care for their two young daughters and her 80-year-old mother-in-law.

Without capital to maintain the store, she switched to shoe and sandal repair. During the slow summer months, she sold ice cream from a three-wheeled vehicle. She grew vegetables and raised dozens of chickens, ducks, and geese to earn extra income to support her children's education.

When advised to let her daughters leave school after middle school for vocational training, she retorted, "They were born disadvantaged. I can't let them suffer more setbacks."

Reaching her breaking point, she called the "Serving You" program on Chutian Television (Wuhan) to share her arduous journey. After the program aired, many people called to express their sympathy and support.

Among them was a man named Li Hongju from Jingzhou, Hubei Province. He called not to offer condolences, but to say, "I want to help you live on."

Li, divorced and estranged from his son, lived a solitary life. Hearing Yang's story, he was deeply moved and wanted to encourage her.

After a period of conversation, he confessed his feelings, but she declined. Undeterred, whenever she felt overwhelmed, he would call at just the right moment, as if they had a telepathic connection.

6 months later, Li expressed his desire to visit. Yang's eldest daughter advised her, "Mom, you have to be clear with him not to be impulsive. If he sincerely wants to be part of our family, then his investment today will be rewarded in the future."

When Li arrived, he brought two large suitcases. Yang tearfully asked, "What do you need from me?" He smiled and replied, "I need you because you can't walk, you're poor, and you have to take care of your mother-in-law. But above all, I need your optimism and resilience in raising your two daughters."

Relatives and neighbors assumed he would soon leave. However, a month later, they registered their marriage, built a new tiled house, and opened a rice mill. Yang's daughters began calling him dad.

"They love their dad's cooking and tell him everything first. I'm like the stepmother; he's the real father," Yang chuckled.

The family relied on the rice mill, shoe repair, and selling vegetables and eggs to support the girls' education. The eldest daughter gained admission to a top school, later becoming a graduate student at a prestigious university, and was then sent to Switzerland for further studies. In 2016, the younger daughter also started university in Beijing.

Li receives a moral exemplar award from the city of Xiandao, Hubei Province. Photo: Sohu

Li receives a moral exemplar award from the city of Xiandao, Hubei Province. Photo: Sohu

Not only a devoted mother, Yang was also a dutiful daughter-in-law. Before passing away, her former mother-in-law tearfully expressed, "I owe you so much in this life."

Later, Yang welcomed Li's mother into their home. Her daughters washed her hair, did her laundry, chatted with her, and bought her snacks. "Dad doesn't treat us as outsiders, so we'll treat grandma like our own," the younger daughter said.

In 2023, Yang and Li's family were recognized as the "Most Beautiful Family in China." On stage, Yang, deeply moved, said, "I don't dare to accept this title, as there are many more beautiful families. But compared to the past, every day now is the most beautiful for me."

Li was also honored as one of "Xiandao's Ten Most Touching Moral Exemplars," an award recognizing the city's most inspiring citizens.

Currently, the eldest daughter is pursuing postdoctoral research in Switzerland with a stable job, while the younger daughter lives and works in Beijing. The lives of the mother and her two daughters, once filled with darkness, are now brimming with light and joy.

"In the past, I wouldn't even dare to dream of this, but now my life is sweeter than any dream," Yang smiled.

Bao Nhien (Sohu)