Invisible Stories During the Epidemic
2021/04/08
Here are some texts and images that I collected on social media (WeChat and Weibo) during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Due to the immense flow of information on social media at that time, most of the sources and authors are no longer verifiable. Please contact me if there are any copyright issues.
Farmer’s Son
Photo taken in Putian
1.
Text recorded on 31 January 2020; probably from Weibo; author unknown
“下午去超市做必需补给，路过草莓大棚，妈妈要下车买草莓。我特别反对，那个摊主抱袖缩在棚屋里，蓬头垢面，没戴口罩。但我妈还是去买了。全程没有对话，摊主掩着口鼻比划价格，眼神示意用胶带贴在木板上的收款码。做完这些他立刻后退，缩进低矮的棚屋，脚下传来叮叮的声响——只有一只脚，穿着棉鞋，另一条裤管小腿以下是空的，一根金属支架和一块支撑地面的方形铁片就是义肢。到家我就举着酒精喷雾给我妈还有购物袋疯狂消毒。又听她说，这个摊主在本地种草莓多年，残疾不便，从没回过老家。今年生意肯定特别差，多少帮一点。我为刚才的嫌弃十分内疚。他没戴口罩不是不想戴，他也尽己所能避免直接接触。人在这种时刻不能想当然地去为对方设定正确的预期。问何不食肉糜。[…] 生命当前，体面是最无用的点缀。[…]”
Translation:
“One afternoon I went to the supermarket with my mom to buy some necessary supplies. We passed by a strawberry stall, my mother wanted to get out of the car to buy some, to which I firmly objected. The stall owner was cowering in the corner like hugging himself, he looked disheveled, and (most importantly) no mask on. But my mom went to the stall anyway. They didn’t speak a word throughout, the stall owner covered his mouth and nose and then pointed to the payment QR code which was taped to a wooden board. After doing this he immediately backed up, with a clanking sound coming from under his feet — only one foot wearing cotton shoe, the other trouser leg was empty below the calf, the prosthetic leg was made of a metal brace and a square piece of iron supporting the ground. Immediately after arriving home, I used the spray to disinfect (the clothes of) my mom and the shopping bags. My mom said that the stall owner had been growing strawberries near our city for many years and had never been back home because of his disability, this year his business must be particularly bad, so she just wanted to help him a little. I felt very guilty for my dislike earlier. He didn’t wear a mask not because he didn’t want to, and he did everything he could to avoid direct contact. One can’t take for granted his personal expectations for others at a time like this — ‘Let them eat cake’. [...] When life is in a vulnerable situation, decency is the most useless embellishment. [...]” (My translation)
2.
Image recorded on 28 January 2020; author unknown
Text on the banner: Those who have a fever but don’t tell anyone else are the class enemy lurking among the people.
3.
Image recorded on 6 February 2020
4.
Image recorded on 26 January 2020; from Weibo
From left to right:
Secretary General of Hubei Provincial Government (annotation: wearing a mask but showing his nose); Secretary of Hubei Provincial Party Committee of CCP (annotation: the only one in the conference not wearing a mask); Mayor of Wuhan City (annotation: the mask was on backwards)
5.
Text recorded on 4 February 2020; from Weibo; author unknown
“我认为自己还是个理智的人，不那么容易崩溃的人，但是我失眠了，失眠了几个晚上了，所以干脆记点东西吧。
现在我住在武汉的解放大道旁，今天凌晨四点十分，有个中年男人大吼了几声把我从迷糊状态弄清醒了。他没有哭天抢地，吼的是‘混蛋！’‘混蛋！’‘谁有**电话给一个啊！’我没太听清，他吼了几声就归于平静了。我知道这是在无数遍120、110、市长热线、各医院急救电话都忙或者无能为力之后的无助发泄，又一个家庭陷入了无助、彷徨、绝望、悲恸之中，我能切身体会而又不能真正切身体会，既替他感到难受又庆幸自己至少还活着。
今年这年过得可谓是五味杂陈，年前还计划旅游过年，把父母送出去玩，票提前抢了。一月中旬出差时就听说有这个病爆出来，当时没怎么在意，给家里打电话嘱咐了两句。其实按照现在爆出来的消息，那个时候可能已经传染开了。回来后新闻逐渐增多，但还是在正常上班，偶尔跟同事调侃，大家普遍并不很紧张。后来感觉事态越来越严重，我就查网上信息，要准备些啥，去药房买口罩时被告知N95已经没有，只有一次性医用的，货还不多。我意识到有些严重了，后悔自己的大意，赶紧买了几包，并打电话给亲戚朋友，有些人还以为我在开玩笑。
[…]
就说我本人接触的吧，因为政府封城，快递停了，外卖抢不到，只能通过各种渠道解决生活生计。一个不认识的卖水果的，到现在我也不知道他姓啥，在一个微信群里加了他，本来就想买点水果，结果他主动说家里有没有困难？可以帮忙老人带菜，不收报酬，我就让他帮忙带了点菜，后来他就帮我去超市买菜，还发了视频过来！他说包装他都用酒精消毒了，嘱咐拿到之后再消毒处理！我现在门都不太敢出了，一个素昧平生的人热心帮你，心里还是挺暖的。后来跟他聊起来，我才知道他现在的‘主业’其实是志愿者，前期一直在为各大医院筹集物资，运输物资，他们组织了一个民间志愿者服务队，说最近政府、部队接管了物资筹备才有空回归自己的主业。[…]
还有一个卖菜的，当然她是想赚钱，想把菜卖出去，这是正常的。她住在郊区，有菜棚。她自己组了一个送菜群，满足各种人的不同需求，甚至自己没有的她去单独买回来再给需要的人，态度超好，赢得无数赞。她一天下来各个小区转，一家人累的话都不想说。她说她们一家以前有难社会帮了她们，现在就当是回馈社会吧。
我真不知道怎么来形容这些人，我只知道这是我经历的真事，这就是正能量，他们也是英雄。”
Translation:
“I think I’m rather a rational person that doesn’t break down so easily. But I’ve had insomnia for a few nights now. So why not just write something down?
I live by Jiefang Avenue in Wuhan, and at 4:10 this morning, a middle-aged man yelled a few times in the street, which woke me up from my dazed state. He didn’t cry, he yelled ‘Asshole!’ ‘Bastard!’ ‘Who can give me the **phone number!’ I didn’t clearly hear him, he yelled a few times and then calmed down. I knew he was letting off steam probably after countless times of calling 120, 110, the Mayor’s hotline and hospital emergencies but with no response. Here is another family fell into a helpless, uncertain, desperate, mourning situation, which I can comprehend and can not really comprehend. I feel bad for him but also glad that I’m at least alive.
This year’s Spring Festival is really bittersweet. Not long ago I bought tickets in advance, wishing to travel with my parents during the new year vacation. In the middle of January when I was on a business trip I heard that the disease broke out, but I didn’t care much, I just called home to inform others. In fact, according to the information revealed now, the virus perhaps had already been massively contagious at that time. After I came back, the news about this topic gradually increased, but I was still working normally and occasionally chatted with my colleagues about it, we were generally not very nervous. Later, I felt that the situation was getting more and more serious, so I did some online searches to know how and what to prepare. When I went to the pharmacy to buy masks, I was told that N95 was no longer available, and only some disposable medical masks were left, and there were not many of them. I realized that the situation was a bit critical and regretted my carelessness. I hurriedly bought a few packs and called my relatives and friends, some of whom thought I was joking.
[…]
Let’s talk about my personal experiences. Because the city is quarantined by the government, the courier service is not in business and the food delivery industry also faces a shortage of supply. Thus we have to solve the livelihood problems through various personal channels. There is a fruit seller whose surname I still don’t know, I added him in a WeChat group. I was only going to buy some fruit, but he took the initiative to ask me if there were any difficulties at home, he could help to buy food for the elderly for free. So I let him help buy some vegetables. Then he went to the supermarket, and even sent some videos over! He said he used the alcohol sprayer to disinfect the bags, and suggested me to disinfect them again after I got them! I do not dare to go out now, but a person who has never met you is eager to help you, which makes me feel quite warm. Later when I talked to him, I learned that his current ‘main job’ was actually a volunteer. They organized a civilian volunteer service team which had been collecting and transporting supplies for major hospitals in the early days. Since the government and the army took over the supply of goods recently, they were then free to return to their main business. […]
There is also a vegetable seller, of course her first intention was to make some money, which is normal. She lives in the suburbs and has a vegetable shed. She set up a delivery group of her own on WeChat, to meet different needs of a variety of families. Even when someone wanted to buy vegetables she didn’t sell, she would go to the supermarket to buy them back individually and then gave them to the person who ordered. Besides, her attitude was always superb, which won numerous praise. She worked in various communities, in the end of the day her family would even be too tired to make small talk. She said her family had been in trouble before, and it was the society that helped them, and now she was giving back to the society.
I really don’t know how to describe these people, I just know that they are all real, this is what I experienced. This is the positive energy, they are heroes too.” (My translation, with minor changes to make sentences more fluent)
6.
Image recorded on 1 February 2020; from Weibo
Text in the weibo:
Many people don’t know how to distinguish between disposable masks and N95 masks
What those doctors on the left wear is the disposable mask
The leaders on the right all wear N95
7.
Image recorded on 30 January 2020; from Weibo; author unknown
Text in the weibo: Just five months ago you (The People’s Daily) were still urging Hong Kong people to take off their masks, now all Chinese people wear masks.
8.
Image recorded on 3 February 2020; from my personal WeChat
Text in the banner: Life or money? Don’t go to Putian if you want to survive!
9.
Image recorded on 23 January 2020; from my personal WeChat Moments
Text in the pengyouquan:
“The leaders of Tongji Hospital and Xiehe Hospital did an extremely moving and tragic thing: they unite with all hospitals in Wuhan, bypassing the Wuhan Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission, and openly ask the society for help. (I can’t imagine) how desperate they are to make such heartbreaking pleas for their brothers and sisters at the risk of ending their careers.”
10.
Image from Weibo; author unknown
Text in the tag:
Keep fighting! China!
Support materials from the Bureau of Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) of Japan to universities in Hubei
Separated by millions of mountains and rivers, we still share the same sky (literal meaning of this verse: the mountains and rivers are in different places, the wind and the moon are under the same sky)
The last one
Image recorded on 6 February 2020; fromWeibo
你能做到吗？你听明白了吗？
Can you do it? Do you understand it?
