Battle against virus keeps father, daughter apart but draws their hearts closer

Since the Lunar New Year's Day on Jan 25, Cao Aibing, head of a judicial station in Baodi district in Tianjin municipality, has been working around the clock at a busy highway toll station, registering and disinfecting about 500 vehicles and taking the temperature of roughly 700 people every day.

During this period, Cao has relied on instant noodles, which used to be his favorite food, to warm him up on freezing nights. He said he would refrain from eating instant noodles for the rest of his life as long as the epidemic could end soon.

When asked what motivates him to stick to his post for so long, Cao referred to his daughter, whom he affectionately calls his little cotton-wadded jacket. 

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in late January, Cao has been stationed at the poll station, away from his family at home.

More than two weeks into his stint at the poll station, Cao finally got a chance to go home. However, afraid of spreading the virus to his family, he merely left the fruits and vegetables he bought in the basement where he found a note written by his daughter which read "cheer up, dad! Take good care of yourself, don't get infected, take timely rests. Mom and I love you."

Deeply touched by the note, Cao couldn't help but burst into tears. The note made him recall that during the days before the epidemic, he got up early every morning and cooked breakfast for his daughter, who is preparing for this year's national college entrance exam, or Gaokao, the most important exam for Chinese students.

Fully aware that it wasn't the time to go upstairs to hug his daughter, Cao replied to her on WeChat instead, saying "Girl, study hard. Don't worry, dad will protect himself very well, thank you."

For self-motivation, Cao pasted his daughter's note onto the steering wheel of his car, hoping that he could defeat the virus as soon as possible.

Apart from epidemic prevention, Cao also fulfills his duty as a community correction officer. He checks the whereabouts of the individuals subject to community correction on an online location platform and asks them to report their temperatures every day. 

He also sent an open letter to those individuals, encouraging them to take part in the epidemic prevention effort. 

Echoing Cao's call, several of them voluntarily took on the work of disinfection and vehicle registration in their village. They see the work as a way to compensate for their wrongdoings and contribute to society.