United front eases COVID-19 stress (2)

Volunteer Lou Xingmei, shows a neighbor in Jinshan district, Shanghai, how to administer fever medicine. CHINA DAILY

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Deng Yan, 31, from Foshan, Guangdong, said she was touched by the gratitude shown by her neighbor as she didn't expect any feedback when she donated some medicine to her.

Although they are not acquainted, the women are members of their building's WeChat group. The families had never met as the neighbor and her husband work in a different city, but Deng had briefly met the woman's parents-in-law and 10-year-old child in the building's elevator.

"The other day, my neighbor posted a request for help on our building's WeChat group. She needed fever medicine for her child because the medication she had ordered had not yet arrived. Since we live closer than other group members, I sent some to her," Deng said.

As Deng's 3-year-old child has a history of febrile seizures, she stores the medicine at home.

"As a mother, I understood how anxious my neighbor was. Although the fever medicine was really difficult to obtain, it was essential to get some to the child to reduce the fever," Deng said.

The next day, when the neighbor's order of medicine arrived, she immediately sent Deng several packages of the fever treatment.

Deng said: "The response from my neighbor made me feel that helping people is a really good thing. I was touched when she said, 'You have been kind to me, so I want to be kind to you.' We both have children and teaching them by example is the best education."

Recently, Deng also sent medication to others in need via a mutual aid medicine delivery program operated by the tech giant Tencent.

"I can't use all the pills, so when I am able to help, I just help out," she said.