Abduhaliq is holding a wad of wrinkled small notes.
A football that sells about 40 yuan (less than 6 U.S. dollars) may be nothing to a city boy, but for Abduhaliq, it means more than three months' pocket money. So when he handed 35 wrinkled small changes to his teacher Abdunebijan, asking him to buy a football, the man was touched by the kid's passion for an athletic dream.
Actually the story began during the winter vacation at Ercun Primary School in Yecheng County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, when the eight-year-old boy asked his teacher how much a football costs. The man told the kid that he needs around 40 yuan and he has to save his pocket money for it.
The man did not take it seriously and almost forgot it, and so he admitted he was surprised and a bit confused when the boy returned with 34 one-yuan notes and one five-yuan note three months later.
The teacher felt a bit guilty for neglecting the kid' s passion. "I didn't think he would be serious when I told him I would buy one for him as long as he could save that money," said the man, also coach of the school's football team. He has decided to recruit the second grader.
"The boy was overwhelmingly delighted. It was like a dream coming true," said the teacher.
Abdunebijan was so moved by the boy's expectant eyes when the boy handed him the handful of small changes that he posted some pictures of the boy on WeChat, a leading social networking platform in China.
Abduhaliq's small notes, including 35 one-yuan notes and one five-yuan note.
In the pictures, the boy is holding a wad of wrinkled small notes while looking at the camera with a big smile.
The posting was soon forwarded to other social networks and attracted a lot of attention. Some netizens proposed to donate footballs to the boy and the school, and some offered to provide other football equipment.
Among them was football commentator Dong Lu, who contacted Abdunebijan and promised to provide football shirts, sneakers and footballs to the school as early as possible.
Actually, Abdunebijan has had no time to take care of the football team since long ago as he is also teaching Chinese and Science classes apart from PE due to the lack of teachers at the school.
There are around 480 pupils but only 23 teachers at Ercun Primary School. "Every teacher has to overwork, which leaves me less time for football training," said Abdunebijan.
Among the seven schools in Bexerik township, where Ercun is located, only two schools have football teams. The football team in Ercun Primary School was established four years ago. It has more than 20 members.
Abdunebijan thumbs up to Abduhaliq.
Abdunebijan was the first PE teacher in the school. Before that, he founded the first student football team in Yecheng county when he was working in another school.
But experience does not mean there are no difficulties, for "there was neither standard football field, nor standard shirts or shoes for the sport when I founded the team in Ercun."
However, all these difficulties had not dampened the pupils' enthusiasm for football. They built a simple football field on an uneven open ground with the help of teachers. Abdunebijan even bought sports shirts for the team with his own money.
"They just love playing football, and would stay at school for training after the class is over," said Abdunebijan.
He has decided to increase the training time since he was touched by the passionate boy.
(Photos are from Abdunebijan's personal social network WeChat account.)
