¡¡¡¡TURNING ON A NEW LEAF
The quake disaster somehow helped Chen Yan, 37, find his true love.
The Chengdu-based businessman and volunteer lifted 29 students from the
ruins of toppled schools in Dujiangyan. He was since known as "China's No. 1
volunteer".
One of the girls he brought out died later in hospital, but her cousin Peng
Lu, a hotel waitress in Mianzhu, fell in love with him.
The couple chose Tuesday as their wedding day. "We all suffered heartbreaks
last year," Chen said at the wedding starting at 14:28, the exact time the
earthquake hit. "We hope 2009 would bring us happiness and laughter."
Seven of the students he saved also attended the wedding reception.
One of the students, 19-year-old Xue Xiao, is studying at a foreign
language school in Chengdu and has received an offer from a university in
Florida. Many Chinese still remember him as the "Coke boy" -- his plea "Give me
a Coke, iced please" uttered from the ruins and broadcast live, amused millions
of teary TV viewers.
One of the rescuers bought him a coke. The empty tin, bearing Xue's
signature, has been collected into a private museum that opened Monday in
Chengdu.
"I want to major in economics," said Xue, who has lost an arm. "I want to
be a businessman and philanthropist, just like Li Ka-shing."
He wrote a letter to his dead classmates, and burnt it hoping they could
"read" it. "I miss you so much, and hope you are all having fun there... I'll do
my best and won't let you down," he wrote.
For bereaved parents like Huang Changrong, however, it is hard to let
bygones be bygones. "Every time I close my eyes, she'd be there: in her
sportswear and her face radiating with vitality," she said.
She wrote her dead daughter a letter, "Please rest in peace. Mom and dad
are doing fine here. Every time I see your little brother, I feel it's you
again... Yes, I still cry when I miss you. What else can I do? But after all,
the quake disaster is an act of God, not human."
Special Report: 1st Anniversary of Wenchuan
Earthquake
