Touching Campus Story: Planting the Sun in Your Heart
Last summer, I participated as a volunteer in the “Planting the Sun” summer program, dedicated to caring for left-behind children.
My classmates and I arrived in a small town called Luodian. There were many left-behind children there, and we helped them with their homework, played games with them, and most importantly, focused on their mental health.
It was there that I met 12-year-old Aqiang. His parents worked at a water station in Guangzhou, and even during the New Year, they rarely came back, leaving Aqiang to live with his over-seventy-year-old grandfather. Aqiang was quieter than the other children. His lips were tightly shut, and his eyes were as clear as a distant, serene lake, but his gaze was empty and helpless, filled with an inexplicable sadness and loneliness for his age.
When I walked into Aqiang’s yard, I was stunned: the earthen walls had collapsed, with stones and dirt scattered carelessly; wild grass grew wildly, as if it had gone mad; in the middle of the yard was a small vegetable garden, barely the size of a palm, with a few sunflowers, sparsely planted, like sickly girls, frail and weak.
Inside the house, the room was small, with walls blackened by smoke, resembling an old photograph, bearing the faded and bleak marks of time.
The roof was covered with a web of soot, crisscrossed like a spider’s web. A few simple pieces of furniture were covered in thick dust, and dishes were piled haphazardly in a white iron basin. My heart suddenly felt as though it had fallen into a bottomless abyss, heavy and sinking.
Seeing me enter, Aqiang jumped up from his stool, his mouth forming a round “O,” but he still didn’t speak. He silently dragged a wooden stool from the corner, vigorously wiping it with his sleeve a few times, and gestured for me to sit down.
I thanked him and had just sat down when an indescribable smell overwhelmed me, nearly causing me to faint. I quickly stood up and said, “The sunlight outside is so nice. Let’s open the window and go out to bask in the sun.”
Aqiang remained silent but obediently moved the stool, opened the window, and I took his hand as we went outside. My gaze fell on the few skinny sunflowers.
I smiled and said, “Ah, these must have been planted by Aqiang. You’re really capable!”
Aqiang lightly nodded, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, like a shooting star across the vast sky, vanishing in an instant.
I said, “Aqiang, planting them isn’t enough; you need to take care of them too. Come on, let’s find a hoe and weed your sunflowers together.”
Aqiang pursed his lips tightly, turned around, and went into the house to fetch a hoe and handed it to me. I squatted down, carefully weeding, afraid of harming the slender sunflowers. Aqiang sensibly gathered the weeds, running and jumping as he threw them out of the yard.
Ten minutes later, the weeds in the small vegetable garden were gone, and it looked clean and neat.
“Aqiang, there are too many wild grasses, and they grow especially vigorously. They’ll compete with your sunflowers for nutrients. Let’s just pull them out too,” I said, and then started working. Aqiang still didn’t speak, but he worked hard to pull out the weeds. To pull out a particularly strong one, he fell backward, his little feet sticking out at an awkward angle.
Seeing his funny appearance, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Aqiang laughed too, his laughter crisp like the sound of wind chimes, our laughter swirling in the wind, echoing, filling the air with a sweet and joyful aroma. At that moment, Aqiang’s eyes were bright, and his forehead and face glowed with radiant light.
The entire morning, we cleared all the weeds in the yard. We were exhausted, our bodies limp, feeling like we were about to fall apart. I gasped for breath and said, “If you clear the weeds, you can plant something useful, and they will grow vigorously under the sunlight.”
Aqiang silently nodded.
A few days later, when I visited Aqiang’s home again, I found that the ground in the yard had been turned over. I smiled and exclaimed, “Wow, Aqiang, you’re really something! What are you planning to plant?”
Aqiang shyly smiled, “Sunflowers.”
“Why not plant some vegetables?” I asked, puzzled.
Aqiang raised his little face, “Sunflowers bloom with golden flowers and follow the sun, like smiling faces. They’re beautiful!” He was surprised himself by how much he had said, and he shyly lowered his head.
“I like sunflowers too. I like their character; no matter what environment they grow in, they always spread their smiles, blooming wholeheartedly, following the sun, growing tenaciously… We should all be like sunflowers, letting the sunlight fill every corner of our hearts.”
Aqiang thoughtfully nodded.
A few days later, I visited Aqiang’s home again. The house was much cleaner and tidier; the dust was gone, and the spider web-like soot was gone too. The unpleasant smell had also disappeared. Aqiang’s grandfather happened to be home, and the old man, with his toothless mouth, said to me, “Young lady, ever since you came, my grandson seems like a different person, very diligent.”
In the afternoon, I bought a few bags of white powder, and with a few classmates, we repainted Aqiang’s home. Finally, we also covered the ceiling with white paper. Aqiang, like a happy little bird, flew in and out, busy handing us things. Although the house wasn’t particularly white, it looked much brighter.
Aqiang gradually became more talkative, and he often came to find me, asking me all sorts of questions, “Is Guangzhou big? Is Yuexiu District beautiful?” I opened my computer and found pictures of Guangzhou, which Aqiang watched with great interest. As he watched, he became quiet, and tears started to roll down his cheeks.
I took out my phone and handed it to him, “Give your mom a call.”
Aqiang looked at me gratefully, took the phone, and quickly connected the call. “Mom!” he called out just once, and the person on the other end said, “Aqiang, Mom’s busy here, delivering water to someone. You need to listen to Grandpa.” The call ended abruptly.
Aqiang put down the phone and burst into tears, running out.
I found him sitting quietly by the pond in the town. He didn’t speak. After a while, he pointed, “Sister, look!” Following his finger, I saw across the pond a large field of sunflowers, each one tall and sturdy, their golden flowers in full bloom, shining with dazzling golden light. “Sister, I want to be a sunflower too because now there’s sunshine in my heart.” Seeing Aqiang’s bright and sunny face, I felt comforted and hugged him tightly.
A few days later, the summer program ended. Aqiang took my hand and led me to his yard. The sunflowers had grown much stronger, just beginning to bud, bathed in the charming sunlight. Their leaves, like green fans, spread freely, looking so lovely.
Aqiang smiled and said, “Sister, when they ripen, I’ll definitely send you a bag of sunflower seeds.” I smiled, but tears flowed freely. Through the blurry tears, I seemed to see a sunflower, smiling, following the sun, growing tenaciously, growing…
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
