Under the shadow of epidemic prevention and control, many people’s return to their hometowns has been blocked.
Krypton appointment column planning｜Liu Han
Author | Hou Min, Yu Songye, Zhang Zhao Edit | Chaosheng
This article is produced by xnew entropy
“If you have money but no money, go home for the New Year.”
A simple lyric, but it contains the eagerness of countless wanderers returning home. For Chinese people, the activity of going home for the New Year has been given a special meaning since childhood. The Spring Festival is far from being as simple as taking a few days off. Perhaps throughout our lives, we will not be able to fully understand why there is such a magical power to go home for the New Year.
The Spring Festival is approaching. Since the beginning of winter, sporadic epidemics and local clusters of epidemics have been intertwined in many parts of the country, which has brought greater pressure to epidemic prevention and control. The annual Spring Festival return home will inevitably bring about a large-scale population movement. Taking into account this important factor, various localities advocate “Chinese New Year in situ”, and the National Health and Medical Commission also timely issued a “Negative nucleic acid certificate within 7 days for returning home during the Spring Festival. “Requirements.
Under the shadow of epidemic prevention and control, many people’s return to their hometown has been blocked.
For many young people who are wandering in other places, because of the epidemic or work, reunion with their families has become a luxury this year. However, some people don’t think so. For them, it’s not that they don’t want to go home for the New Year. , But don’t want to face the “cross-examination” during the New Year. This time, it happened to “evade” this hurdle through the epidemic.
No matter what the purpose is, not being able to go home for the New Year this year is their commonality. “Xin Entropy” chatted with 6 “left-behind youths”. Among them, there are teachers who have just graduated for two years but have not been able to go home for the New Year because of the epidemic; there are also Beijing Express who cannot go home due to work. Brother; there are also volunteers who work in the hospital and assist with nucleic acid testing after the local epidemic…
The emergence of the epidemic has completely changed our way of life. This is the trace left by the growth rings of history on ordinary people. The following is their story.
01
“I was so miserable. I graduated only two years ago.
I couldn’t return home for two years because of the epidemic. “
Shanghai Sun Tuan, 23 years old, teaching and training teacher
I work in Shanghai’s Hongkou District and rent a house in Baoshan District. The community where I live has been closed until only one door is left. There is 1 confirmed case in a community not far from me, so I almost dare not go. The supermarket has also stopped socializing, and all grocery shopping and daily necessities are solved through online shopping. Fortunately, Daily Youxian and Jingdong Express can still enter and exit the gate of the community.
My hometown is Hengshui, Hebei, which is also in the hardest-hit area. The community where my parents live has been completely sealed off. I heard my mother said that it is undergoing a national nucleic acid test. Although there is no formal written notice, the neighborhood committee has gone door-to-door verbally. It’s said that if you have a high-risk area at home and work outside, it’s best not to come back this year, as long as you are from Shanghai. My mother called me and offered to persuade me not to go home.
I was so miserable. I graduated only two years ago and couldn’t return home for two years because of the epidemic.
Pedestrians at Shanghai Airport preparing to turn back during the epidemic
I remember that I refunded my ticket on the 29th of the Lunar New Year last year. I really felt the impact of the epidemic. At that time, both Hebei and Shanghai were diagnosed, but no one was wearing a mask on the road. I moved in that afternoon. I went home with bags of flour and rice, hoarding enough daily necessities for a month.
My mother kept wiping tears on the video on the phone, and I was here to comfort her that she was okay and she would be fine. At night, she shed tears while eating while eating alone, and couldn’t help sleeping at night. I wanted to cry. I never thought I would be isolated in Shanghai. Looking at the lights of thousands of houses in the opposite building, I felt lonely, and people across the country began to live in isolation.
I work in the education and training industry. I used to be an offline teacher. Later, because of the epidemic, all the courses in the company were forced to be online. At that time, the courses were super full every day, from 9:30 in the morning to 10:00 in the evening. They were all in class, except for going downstairs to buy vegetables and throwing trash, they were basically isolated from the world. It lasted for about 5 months, and only survived by calling friends. But the only advantage is that when others are unemployed due to the epidemic, I have saved a lot of money, and I can get it one month after graduation.More than 20,000.
Later, because I had too many classes and my body couldn’t stand it, I took the initiative to switch from a front-line teacher to a back-end teaching and research. Although there was a lot of pressure, I was finally able to go to get off work like a normal person from 9 to 6. The salary is a little bit less, but at least people are healthy. The point is that there is no “social desert” anymore. I am so lonely that I often make phone calls at night, and I am too lonely.
It’s also because of the acceleration of the epidemic. I used to think that it was good to go to school in Shanghai and work in Shanghai, but this year I have the idea of going back to the north. As the only daughter of my family, I still want to stay closer to home.
2020 is going too fast. We will see each other slowly in April and May, and life will slowly get on the right track in July and August, and the new year will be ushered in less than half a year. But thinking of celebrating the New Year alone this year, it feels better Last year was much calmer. After all, we still have a long time to live under the shadow of the epidemic. We have to get used to it, because we are a community with a shared future.
02
“It’s been a year since my parents arranged a blind date, it’s so cool”
Beijing Zhang Wen 29 years old Financial migrant worker
The biggest impact of the epidemic on me is that the “blind date” arranged by my parents has been completely shelved.
I have been studying and working in Beijing for 12 years, and I have never found a partner. I have prepared myself to be single, but my parents are conservative in thinking and always feel that I should find someone to live with at this age, so marriage is a big deal. It has become their heart disease for many years. I know they are looking for someone to take care of me, but I really don’t need it.
Last year, in order to escape the boring blind date when they came home during the Chinese New Year, I simply invited them to Beijing for the New Year. I booked tickets for the temple fair and arranged tourist attractions and homestays around Beijing. I was ready to take them to have fun. Thinking of the temple fair being cancelled and all the attractions closed, three people were eating New Year’s Eve dinner in the 60 square meter area I rented, worrying about the epidemic, and spent a special year in Beijing.
Who knows that the epidemic will not end. The old couple was forced to live in Beijing for more than a year. In the middle of May, my dad couldn’t hold it anymore. I went back to live for a month and my mom continued. I stayed to cook for me. When the weather was warm, my mother planted a la carte in the vegetable garden in the community, and made a group of old ladies and vegetable friends to exchange vegetable growing experience. After my father came back, he learned to find Beijing master to play mahjong, but now With the seriousness of the epidemic, my mother stopped growing vegetables, and my father didn’t dare to play Mahjong anymore. Now the old couple basically has no social interaction. They walk to the park and come back every afternoon, which is the only time to go out every day.
I haven’t socialized this year. I used to be arranged for a blind date once or twice a month. Although it was very annoying and could not be pushed off, my world finally became completely clean last year, and the epidemic couldn’t help me. Went out and went on a blind date,It’s great to not be forced to go on a blind date.
Now, the epidemic in Beijing is too close to me. The colleague sitting next to me, who lives in Daxing, is under quarantine. I also just tested negative for nucleic acid. Although I have not been quarantined, I dare not go home with my parents after get off work. I eat at a table, every time I bring the meal to my own house, and try to avoid direct contact and communication at home. The three of us are still slowly adapting to such a family living under the same roof but deliberately keeping a distance. way of communication.
In addition to feelings, everything went well in my work this year. The financial industry is pretty good. The year-end bonus should increase a lot. My small goal this year is the same as last year. I hope my parents are healthy and I can save money in Beijing to buy one. House, as for whether to get married or not, let’s do whatever it takes.
03
“There will be no shortage of express delivery during the Spring Festival this year,
I hope more people understand couriers. “
Beijing Zhang Tao 30 years old courier
After New Year’s Day, I received a message that during the Chinese New Year this year, logistics will not stop and express delivery will be normal. When I saw the news, I was reluctant at first. After all, I have been busy for a year. Even if I may not be able to leave Beijing this year due to the epidemic, it is good to take a few days off during the New Year.
The courier itself is a profession with few holidays. A few days off during the Spring Festival is the biggest hope of the year. Now this hope is gone. I always feel that our couriers are like spinning tops, spinning around every day. There is one day off each week, but it is not always possible. There are too many online shopping festivals now. There are one or two promotion festivals every month. In the next few days, the number of shipments will increase sharply. We can’t stop even if we want to.
When I was delivering express delivery in a certain community, I asked the couriers of two other express delivery companies by the way. The express companies they work for are the same, and they will not be closed this year. It seems that the entire industry is ready for the normal operation of logistics during the Spring Festival this year.
This year, all parts of the country are calling for the New Year in situ, express delivery is not stopped, in order to better serve people who cannot return to their hometown for the New Year, so that they can purchase the New Year’s goods at work.
In a community I am in charge of, there is a customer who works as an e-commerce sideline business. In a recent chat, he said that he will not go home this year. On the one hand, he is afraid that he will be quarantined when he returns to Beijing in the next year. There are a lot of people celebrating the Spring Festival in situ this year, and the demand for that year’s goods will definitely be great. In order to sell more goods, he will not go back to his hometown.
There are also many couriers who have the same idea. They feel that it is better to earn more money in Beijing instead of going home during the New Year. A few years ago, I thought the same way. I used to work overtime during the Spring Festival and I could earn more than 6,000 a week. But now that my parents are getting older and older, I begin to feel that being with my parents is more important.
Of the couriers in Beijing I know, most of them are out-of-towners. Everyone intends to save more money in Beijing while they are young, and then go back to their hometown to start a family and do some small business. For everyone, coming to Beijing is to save money. It is not particularly important that there is no holiday during the New Year.
I have been a courier for nearly 4 years, and I never thought how long I will be, but I still like Beijing. Beijing is worthy of being the capital. White-collar workers are of relatively high quality and are polite to couriers, but occasionally there are headaches for customers.
For the Spring Festival this year, express delivery is definitely indispensable. I just hope that more people can understand couriers.
04
“After signing up for nucleic acid testing volunteers,
I don’t even have the mind to engage in the main business of UP. “
Shenyang Meiqi Xun, 25 years old, hospital publicity office staff
I work in a Chinese medicine hospital in Yuhong District, Shenyang City. Unexpectedly, the three eastern provinces were the first to bear the brunt of the epidemic this winter, and my plan to go home for the New Year was completely ruined.
From late December last year, the whole country has been paying attention to the news of the Shenyang epidemic. Yuhong District, where I work and live, was the area where the epidemic first broke out, and the pressure on epidemic prevention has surged.
On December 24th, Yuhong District was assessed as a medium-risk area. The hospital where I worked also issued an emergency notice, emphasizing that all hospital personnel are not allowed to leave the sinking area, and all large-scale events involving gatherings of people in the hospital were cancelled. , Including the annual meeting that our department has been preparing for a long time.
When the epidemic first broke out, a doctor I was chatting with said: “According to the current situation, it is very likely that the New Year is also forbidden to leave Shen, and you may not be able to return home.” My home is in Fushun. , Close to Shenyang, although I can get home in less than an hour, the epidemic situation is severe and I am mentally prepared not to go home.
Shenyang residents ushered in New Year’s Day under the shadow of the epidemic. On the morning of New Year’s Day, the hospital staff group released information on recruiting nucleic acid testing volunteers. Without hesitation, I decisively signed up.
Volunteers’ work content is to assist the community in completing nucleic acid testing related tasks, and each person will be equipped with a three-level protective clothing. After getting to know it, I started to learn the process of putting on and taking off the three-level protective clothing and the workflow of nucleic acid detection at home.
Shenyang residents collectively do nucleic acid testing
I’m still a B station UP host. During the holidays, I basically stay in my apartment to watch anime or edit videos. Being the UP master of station B is a little fun after work. But after signing up for community nucleic acid testing volunteers on New Year’s Day, I had no intention of doing my UP main business.
I was a little hungry in the afternoon. Because I was on standby where I might be called to work at any time, I hurriedly cooked a bowl of instant noodles. I was afraid that I would not be able to carry it when I was working too late, so I ate another bitten egg.
At seven o’clock in the evening, it was already very dark, and the volunteer group only started to receive news to inform us to arrive at work this night. After the volunteer work had settled, I told my parents about it in the family group. They told me to protect and keep warm.
The job location is allocated nearby, very close to the community where I live. Only when I arrived, we knew that the nucleic acid testing work on that day had ended. What we needed to do was to enter the residents’ nucleic acid testing information, and there was no need to wear protective clothing.
A friend in Beijing told me that their residents passed the nucleic acid test. New Year’s Day is the first national nucleic acid test in Shenyang, so the supporting measures are not very complete. The registration information is filled out by the residents on the paper registration form.
In order to enter information quickly, when we work, we have to check the registration form with one hand and tap the keyboard with the other. In the huge room, there was only the sound of typing on the keyboard one after another.
The registration information is handwritten by the residents themselves, and the handwriting varies. Due to time constraints and heavy tasks, it is necessary to identify quickly and reconfirm after the entry is completed to ensure the accuracy of the information entry, which will test the patience and endurance of the volunteers.
Even if residents are required to fill in carefully and the strokes must be clear, there will still be cases where the ID number is missing, and the name or address is unclear.
After discovering that a resident’s ID number was missing by one, I immediately called the other party but did not connect. I looked at the ID number and found that the other party was a 65-year-old grandfather, who might have been resting long ago. I made a note of the resident’s information so that the community staff can contact each other tomorrow.
Worked continuously for more than 6 hours. During this period, I only ate a little food to support it. It was not until 2:30 in the morning on the 2nd that the volunteer entry work was over. I dragged my exhausted body back home to take a good rest.
A few days ago, the Yuhong District Committee of the Communist Youth League sent a thank you card and a pennant to our volunteers. About 60% of the employees in our hospital have participated in volunteer work. Although I am not a medical staff, I can do my best for the epidemic prevention work and I feel very fulfilled.
Volunteer thank you card Xun Meiqi received
Since the epidemic situation in Shenyang is still on high alert, Liaoning Province has also issued an initiative to celebrate the New Year in situ. Because I have been mentally prepared for a long time, I am not surprised. Instead, I contacted my parents and said that I will not return this year. Home now.
“If you don’t come back, it’s boring for us old people to celebrate the New Year!” My mother said sadly. Parents in the world are the same. My roommate’s parents said exactly the same thing when they learned that she would not go home for the New Year.
My parents and grandma also told me to order less takeaways, try to cook at home, eat more fruits to enhance immunity, and wear masks when working in the hospital and pay attention to protection.
At present, Shenyang has no new additions for more than 20 days. The situation is getting more and more stable, but I will stick to Shenyang. I don’t know how to cook, but fortunately, my girlfriends will stay in Shenyang to celebrate the New Year with me. She is responsible for cooking, I am responsible for buying vegetables, washing dishes, and we are preparing to cook Shouxi pot on New Year’s Eve.
05
“Without half a year’s salary, I forced myself to become an internet celebrity”
Zhuhai Yang Jun 27 years old Data Analyst
Last year, my company moved to Zhuhai, and the annual salary was only paid for 5 months, and when the salary was not paid, I lent another 50,000 yuan to the boss for urgent use, and the money has not yet come back. .
In July last year, the boss suddenly said that there was a project in Zhuhai, and that a project team would be established in Zhuhai. If I didn’t want to, I would be cut off. At that time, I was preparing to study abroad. With eight colleagues each carried two large boxes to Zhuhai.
Scenery taken by Yang Jun when he first arrived in Zhuhai
I planned to do a big job, but two months later, the boss suddenly encountered difficulties in project financing and urgently needed a sum of money, so he soldI hurried back to Beijing with two cars, and never came back again. Only 8 colleagues were left behind. Before I left, they borrowed money from me 3 times totaling 50,000. Other colleagues seemed to have also borrowed money. For him, the boss is also good. Every time I say that I will use it first, so I can’t save myself, but now the boss is still 19 thousand short of giving it, and I haven’t paid my salary in the past few months. All optimists suddenly started to panic.
Because there was nothing wrong with going to work later, when I got more time, I started selling scores online, and I could earn about 5,000 a month. Later, I made Douyin, Station B, and Weibo, and stayed up every day. At one or two o’clock, after a few months, platforms and organizations slowly came to me to settle in. After signing the contract, I started to have a fixed income, and I could get money from Douyin and Station B every month. These The account I deliberately bound is my mother’s bank card, so that she knows that even if my work is temporarily unsuccessful, I still have the ability to support myself, so she can rest assured.
As for my study abroad plan, I am a Buddhist school, because I couldn’t go out for two years after the epidemic. I was anxious at first, and then I gradually got used to it. As long as I can finish my PhD before the age of 40.
Of course, I still insist on reading Japanese for 1 hour a day, but the obsession with going out to study abroad has gradually become less profound. It’s not too late to go out and see the world after the epidemic in the world is over. I I feel that my side business gave me this confidence. My goal this year is to pray that the world will return to normal as soon as possible. My Douyin account can reach 100W fans and 500,000 fans at station B. Save more money and go out for fun.
06
“The epidemic in my hometown has become the best excuse for me not to go home for the New Year”
Zhengzhou Yang Yi 25-year-old individual merchant in the education and training industry
Due to the impact of the epidemic, I cannot go home for the New Year this year. For myself, I do not want to go home from the bottom of my heart. The reason is simple. In 2020, my job is not perfect. I am affected by my self-esteem and I also want to spend this time to reflect. So I am more fortunate not to go back to my hometown this year.
Speaking of, I have never thought that the epidemic in my hometown would be so severe. Even in the worst period of the epidemic last year, there was no case in my hometown, but this year’s sudden epidemic suddenly made my hometown no longer peaceful. Let us young people working outside start to worry about the epidemic in our hometown.
When the epidemic first appeared in my hometown this year, I learned some basic information through the discussion in the small group. At that time, my small family members were called to quarantine and their homes were also sealed.
Up to now, the whole area of my hometown is a high-risk area. According to my own knowledge, the most serious places have begun to put seals on every household, and there are drones patrolling the village during the day to prevent going out. , EpidemicEmotional control is very strict.
As a rural area in Hebei Province where the country’s presence is not high, in the face of this sudden epidemic, my hometown has done a good job. Whenever I see the village committee’s WeChat group sending out xxx to donate a box of instant noodles to the staff on duty at the village entrance, xxx donates 100 yuan to the staff on duty at the village entrance, photos of the village’s uncles spraying disinfectant with farm tools, and links to villagers’ reposting tips on air defense epidemic life , I will be moved for them in a remote city, they love their hometown and relatives with the simplest actions.
Recently, I don’t know if it’s because the company that has been in business for two years is still “prosaic”. I remember that since high school, my family basically understood the choices I made. I chose majors from college, chose entrepreneurship during college, and continued to choose entrepreneurship after graduation. They all respect my choice and I am very grateful for their support.
I myself do work related to the education and training of college students. Due to the epidemic in 2020, students will not start enrolling until June or July. If the school does not start, it means that there is no source of students and no customers. Although the students started enrolling after the epidemic, the reconstruction after the epidemic did not go as smoothly as imagined. Coupled with other reasons, the unsuccessful work still exists objectively.
In this case, I also want to find someone to talk to, but I can’t find anyone to talk to when I rummaged through the WeChat address book. I simply talked to the dog adopted during the epidemic last year about life and dog life. But recently, due to work plans, I had to send the dog away. When I thought about it, it seemed to be lying on the sofa and eating bones. For a dog that has been raised for 9 months, even if I am reluctant to give it up, I still have to give it away. Sometimes the seemingly unfeeling approach may be the best option.
Yang Yi’s pet dog
Finally, I hope that my hometown will return to normal soon.
(This article Sun Tuan, Zhang Wen, Zhang Tao, Xun Meiqi, Yang Jun, Yang Yi are all pseudonyms)