My daughter suddenly suffered from septicemia 45 days after she was born. I clutched my 150 yuan pay slip and ran around the county to borrow money to save her life from death. After my husband became addicted to gambling and took away his tuition fees, I carried my daughter on my back to fetch water from wells, wash dishes in restaurants, hold small painting classes on weekends, and protect her dream of singing in my arms. Hemorrhaging from an ectopic pregnancy, being shocked by a car accident, being pointed at and called "the family of a corrupt criminal"... After ten years of gritted teeth, my daughter grew from a sickly cub in a basket to the proprietress of "Zhiyu Jewelry Store" in Shenzhen.
**This is just the story of the first half of my life. **
The emerald wintersweet pendant around my neck now reflects the same light outside the window of the county hospital that supported me from collapse. This is the story of a single mother who protected her daughter with her life and made light out of the mud.
