Love from Sixty Moms

Text by Li Qing

Photos by Zou Bin

“Roasted pork with cauliflowers tastes yummy,” said Tiantian (pseudonym), a 12-year-old girl, at 7:30 pm on November 20, 2020, while sitting at a dining table and enjoying her hot meal in a thermal food container. Apart from the abovementioned dish, she also had roasted beef with carrots, fried pork shreds with bean curd sheets, and sautéed pakchoi, which are all her favorite.

This special dinner was prepared especially for Tiantian by a community resident named Han Ting. Besides these delicious dishes, Han Ting also brought some milk, fruit, and cakes for the girl…

Tiantian has been having such dinners for over a month. Every evening on her way back home from school, Tiantian will receive a heavy thermal food container at the gate of her community. The container is filled with her favorite dishes cooked by 60 loving moms in the community, who are all strangers to her.

The food is put in a thermal food container 飯菜裝入保溫盒

“花菜燒肉真好吃。”2020年11月20日晚7時30分，12歲的甜甜（化名）坐在餐桌前，大口吃著熱氣騰騰的晚餐。桌上的保溫飯盒里，有胡蘿卜燒牛肉、花菜燒肉、千張炒肉絲、清炒小白菜，都是甜甜愛吃的。

這份特別的晚餐，是社區居民韓婷為甜甜專門烹制的，除了可口的飯菜外，韓婷還給她準備了牛奶、水果、蛋糕……

這樣的晚餐，甜甜已經吃了一個多月了。每天晚上放學回家的路上，她都會經過社區，取走一個沉甸甸的保溫飯盒，里面裝滿了她愛吃的飯菜，為她做飯的是社區里60 位陌生的愛心媽媽。

愛心媽媽送來暖心餐

20日下午5 時許，韓婷處理好手頭的工作，向領導說明情況后，匆匆忙忙往家里趕。約半小時后，她回到家中，家人已幫忙買好了菜。她擼起袖子，洗菜、切菜、烹炒，很快做好前述4 個菜。

韓婷拎著飯菜，一路小跑來到社區，社區書記陳麗娟站在社區門口等她。

天色越來越暗，韓婷幾次站在社區門口張望，直到7 時許，一個身著校服的小女孩在夜色中走近。“甜甜，快進來。”兩人熱情招呼，陳麗娟幫她拿書包，韓婷拿起保溫飯盒，陪著這個叫甜甜的小女孩回家。打開房門，韓婷擰開保溫飯盒的蓋子，站在旁邊看著甜甜吃。

甜甜抬頭看著兩位“媽媽”，不好意思地笑了，臉上寫滿了感激。韓婷仔細檢查門窗，叮囑甜甜晚上一定要記得反鎖房門，注意安全。

12 歲女孩獨自生活

12 歲的甜甜家住武昌區長江紫都社區，今年讀初一。跟別的孩子不一樣，她獨自撐起一個家——爸爸幾年前患病去世；去年，媽媽因嚴重的精神疾病被送入醫院長期封閉治療，無法外出。一人一個家，讓她比同齡的孩子更加成熟懂事。

“有一次我們發現她晚上在路邊的小餐館吃炒飯。”社區群干說。前不久，群干幾次巡查發現甜甜獨自一人在家。

Warm Dishes from Loving Moms

At 5 pm on November 20, after completing her work, Han Ting left her office and arrived at home 30 minutes later, her family had already bought the ingredients needed. She rolled up her sleeves and began to wash the vegetables, then cut them into pieces and cooked them. Soon, the four dishes were done.

After that, Han Ting went to the community center with the prepared dishes quickly. Ms. Chen Lijuan, the Secretary of the community, was waiting for her at the gate.

It was getting darker and darker, Han Ting looked around at the gate for Tiantian several times, but in vain.

At about 7 pm, a little girl in school uniform was coming near in the darkness. “Tiantian, be quick,” the two moms greeted the girl warm-heartedly. Chen Lijuan helped Tiantian carry her schoolbag, Han Ting took the food container, and they accompanied the girl back home. When they arrived and Tiantian opened the door, Han Ting opened the lid of the container for Tiantian immediately and then stood aside, watching the girl enjoy her meal. Looking up at the two moms, Tiantian was filled with gratitude and smiled shyly. When Tiantan finished her dinner, Han Ting checked the door and windows carefully and reminded Tiantian to double lock her door for her own security.

A 12-year-old Girl Lives Alone

The 12-year-old Tiantian, a middle school freshman, lives at Changjiang Zidu Community in Wuchang District, Wuhan. Different from other students, Tiantian has to support her life all by herself, for her father died from illness a few years ago and her mother was sent to a hospital last year for long-term enclosed treatment due to her serious mental illness. Being alone, Tiantian has become more mature and thoughtful than her peers.

“We once noticed that she was eating fried rice for supper in a small roadside restaurant,” said a community worker, who some time ago found that Tiantian was living alone at home when patrolling in the community.

So, on one evening in early October, Chen Lijuan came to visit Tiantian. Seeing the empty fridge and clean cooking utensils, Chen knew that Tiantian had hardly cooked for herself at home.

Tiantian told Chen that it was very late when she got back from school, and she had homework to do, so she usually had some instant noodles or snacks for supper. As her relatives all lived afar from her, she never thought of asking for help from them, for fear it might bring them troubles.

Seeing the child’s unhealthy face, Chen felt a pang in her heart. “My child is her age, but is much stronger,” said Chen. Though Tiantian was busy with her schoolwork, the thoughtful girl still managed to keep her home clean and tidy. This made Chen both pleased and sorry for the girl’s conditions, so Chen was determined to help her.

Tiantian (middle) is taking her meal 甜甜（中）接過飯菜

10月上旬的一天晚上，陳麗娟上門看望甜甜，她一看空蕩蕩的冰箱和干凈的廚具，就明白甜甜幾乎沒有在家里開火做飯。

甜甜告訴她，晚上放學回家后本來就很晚，還要做作業，所以就用泡面、零食當晚飯，親友們都不在附近，她也不想麻煩別人。

看到這個孩子消瘦的臉龐，陳麗娟心頭一陣難受。“我的孩子和她年齡相仿，但她們的健康狀況差別太大了。”陳麗娟說。盡管學習緊張，但懂事的甜甜依然把家里收拾得整整齊齊，讓她既欣慰又辛酸，決心要幫這孩子一把。

60 位媽媽輪班做飯

“早餐好說，中餐我們也協調她在學校食堂免費吃，就是晚餐不好解決。”陳麗娟說，甜甜當前最需要的，就是準時吃上營養可口的晚餐。“我把想法和社區里的幾位熱心媽媽一說，大家都表示支持。”幾天后，有60 位居民向社區表示愿意幫忙。

60 Moms Cooking in Turn

“It is easy to deal with breakfast. We could also help Tiantian get free lunches at her school canteen. But for supper, that’s a big problem,” said Chen Lijuan. “At present, what Tiantian needs most is a timely, delicious, and healthy dinner.” When Chen exchanged her idea with some warm-hearted moms of the community, they all expressed their support for this suggestion. A few days later, a total of 60 residents expressed their willingness to help the girl.

On October 13, over 30 moms gathered at the community office to discuss how to help Tiantian enjoy a home-cooked supper. In the end, they decided that all the moms would be divided into groups of seven, with each group responsible for doing the cooking for one week and each group member doing one supper. They all promised that they would be responsible for the quality and safety of the dishes. They also reached various agreements as to the standard of the dinner, for example: the dinner should contain at least two meat dishes and one vegetable dish; it should be prepared beforehand so that Tiantian can have the meal right after school; they should avoid cooking the same dish twice within a week; no take-away food is allowed…

“None of these moms knew Tiantian before,” said Chen Lijuan. In order to learn more about Tiantian’s living habits and food preferences, some moms even waited at the community gate after their group meeting to have a talk with Tiantian when she’s back from school.

“I first asked her what she likes and dislikes,” said Ms. Zhou, one of the 60 moms. Learning that Tiantian does not like fish and dishes that are too spicy, Ms. Zhou kept it in mind.

Chen Lijuan said that all the moms had been very cooperative and set aside the time for cooking. They put off social engagements, some living far away would even drive back to the community, just to cook dinner for the girl.

The Loving Dinner Continues

This dinner activity started on October 19, and has now gone on for over a month. On the schedule form are the names and contact information of the moms on duty each day.

Leafing through the photos of previous meals, one will find that nearly all the meals surpassed the dinner standard they set beforehand. More than the standard two meat and one vegetable dishes, all the moms had cooked four dishes instead. “One mom even cooked five dishes, saying that she herself would be full seeing the little girl having the dinner,” recalled Chen Lijuan emotionally. In the eyes of all the moms, Tiantian was their own daughter.

Almost all the moms would bring fruit, milk, and bread as well when they delivered the meals to Tiantian, which seems to have become an unwritten rule.

“I’m stuffed every evening. It seems that I’m putting on weight these days,” said Tiantian beamingly. Though she does not know the names of these moms, she is grateful to them all.

A few days ago, a mom named Yan Ni wrote a letter to Tiantian after delivering her meal, which read: “Though we have never met each other before, I admire your strong will from the bottom of my heart. We, the group of moms, would like to take care of you, and love you all the way.”

According to Chen Lijuan, when the 60 moms complete their turns of duty, they will work on shifts again. “As long as Tiantian needs it, the loving dinner will be continued,” said Chen.

(Translation: Liu Jie)

A mom is cooking dinner for Tiantian 愛心媽媽烹制晚餐

10月13日，30 多位愛心媽媽來到社區，聚在一起商量：如何做好愛心晚餐，讓甜甜吃飽吃好。大家最后達成共識：按照7 人一組、每組負責一周來排班，每人負責一天晚餐。大家承諾，要對菜品質量負責，確保衛生安全。此外，大家還就晚餐標準達成多項一致：至少要兩葷一素，要提前將飯菜做好等甜甜，一周內要避免菜品重復，不允許點外賣……

“這些愛心媽媽都不認識甜甜。”陳麗娟說，為了摸清甜甜的生活習慣和飲食愛好，當天會議結束后，不少愛心媽媽還主動在社區等著甜甜放學，想與她有近距離交流。

“我首先就問她喜歡吃什么、不愛吃什么。”愛心媽媽周女士說。得知她不愛吃魚、不想吃得太辣，周女士就默默記在心里。

陳麗娟回憶，所有的愛心媽媽都非常配合，大家自覺把時間騰出來，有應酬的推掉，住得遠的開車回社區，只為給這個素不相識的孩子做上一餐飯。

愛心還在進行中

這個愛心活動從10月19日開始，表上有每天值班的愛心媽媽的姓名和聯系方式，愛心晚餐已經整整提供了一個多月。

翻看以前的送餐照片就會發現，幾乎所有的晚餐都會超標：按照標準是兩葷一素，但實際上愛心媽媽們都準備了四個菜品。“有一位愛心媽媽送了5 個菜，她說孩子吃了，自己也就飽了。”陳麗娟感動地說，在她們的眼中，甜甜是大家共同的孩子。

幾乎所有的愛心媽媽在送餐的同時，還會送上水果、牛奶、面包等，這似乎也成了一個不成文的規定。

“每天晚上都吃得很飽，這段時間都感覺長胖了。”甜甜笑著說，她叫不出愛心媽媽的名字，但她心里充滿感激。

幾天前，愛心媽媽晏妮在送餐后，還特別給甜甜寫了一封信：雖然我們素未謀面，但我從心底為你的堅強點贊，我們這群“媽媽”愿意一直關心、愛護你。

陳麗娟說，待60 位愛心媽媽值班結束后，將再次輪班。“只要甜甜有需要，愛心餐就會一直持續供應。”