A family photo of Liu Xiangyu and Yang Suqin [paper.cnwomen.cn]

A great wife and her disabled husband owe their happiness to decades of hard work and China's good policy.

In the 80s, Liu Xiangyu, 18, was a pretty and industrious girl. Yang Suqin, 23, was a boy with an impaired left arm.

At that time, they were both working away from their impoverished hometowns on the same construction site in Huixian County, central China's Henan Province. Liu often helped Yang after she found out he was disabled.

After getting along for over a year, they fell in love. However, Liu's parents didn't approve of her getting married to Yang.

Later, they met again and got married after Liu's parents passed away.

In 1988, Yang was officially hired as a photographer in the Electric Power Bureau in Huixian.

At this time, although they had low incomes and also needed to raise their newborn son, they still lived happily.

Afterwards, they moved from their rental house to their place of work in order to save money.

The work entailed in photography was difficult for Yang, and processing photos in the dark room was particularly tough, as he had only his right hand in use. Thus Liu decided to help her husband.

She began to figure out film processing techniques and gradually grasped all the skills involved. Since then, she has become his all-around assistant.

When the harvest season came in autumn, Liu would follow Yang back to his hometown to gather crops in the fields and she was good at doing farm work. Yang's father often praised her as a rare good wife.

In August 1999, Yang's mother had a sudden heart attack, and Liu looked after her with great care for two months.

Because of her kindness, she received praise from the villagers and was cited by older generations as a role model when cultivating their progeny.

Through decades of hard work, their lives have gradually improved.

They used all their own savings to buy a motorcycle and then Liu learned to ride it and took Yang to interviews.

Over the course of the 30 years since they got married, Liu has taken care of Yang's food and clothing day after day. As Liu put it, she has been his left hand for his entire life.

Nowadays, their family of four generations are leading a harmonious and happy life.

At the end of the interview, they expressed their wishes for their family and country, "the fragrance of flowers comes from the true love of hearts, and the happiness of families is rooted in the prosperity of the motherland."

(Source: paper.cnwomen.cn/Translated and edited by Women of China)

http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/people/others/1812/5093-1.htm