Du Hongfang, a woman delivery worker in Beijing, sorts out parcels at a roadside booth. [China Women's News]

Du Hongfang, a woman from Qingyang City, Northwest China's Gansu Province, has worked as a delivery worker of Best Express in Beijing for three years. Her happiest moments are when she receives words of thanks for handing over deliveries to customers without any mistakes.

Du came to Beijing for employment in 2017. Of medium height, she has dark skin and strong arms. At first, she just helped her husband deliver the express packages. Then, she decided to become a delivery worker herself.

"It is an arduous job with higher payment and freer working hours compared to working as a salesperson in a supermarket," said Du in explaining why she chose this job.

However, to do a good job was not as simple as she thought. Delivering items may seem simple, but it's actually bothersome.

On her first day of work, Du was told that she sent a package to the wrong address, but she couldn't remember making any mistake. In the end, the customer did not acknowledge her effort. If a delivery worker receives a complaint, he or she may be fined, so Du paid out of her own pocket to compensate the customer.

Since then, she tells herself that she must remember the mail number, house number, and customer's name. These three pieces of information have always been unforgettable in her mind. She can now recognize the residents at a glance in the several communities she serves. 

Her husband works in a community three kilometers away. Sometimes he asks Du to wait for him to get off work, and the two of them take a three-wheeled taxi back home. Sometimes she walks back home through the streets and alleys alone.

"Everyone has a dream. I just hope that I can earn more money, help my parents and in-laws, and enable my children to study well," Du said.

Far away from home, she can only connect with them via video links to relieve homesickness. When chatting with her parents and children, she often feels that all her fatigue has disappeared.

The COVID-19 outbreak changed her way of working. She used to make deliveries door-to-door inside the residential buildings, but she has to wait for the customer to pick up their parcels at a roadside booth outside the gate of the community at present. 

Despite the fact that Du doesn't need to shuttle along corridors as much anymore, her working hours having been prolonged. Standing outside the residential area all day, she never forgets her responsibilities. On rainy days, she protects the parcels from getting wet.

For the past three years, the woman delivery worker has always been serving a designated community. She is familiar with more than half of the residents and is able to quickly distinguish their packages from the others.

"It seems that delivering is a physical task, but in fact, it requires one's brain. Some fragile express parcels and some large ones must be classified, and the delivery worker should know which customer they belong to," she said, adding that carelessness can lead to mistakes and one must be more cautious while delivering express packages during the epidemic.

"She is very serious about her work and keeps a positive attitude in service," said a local woman in her 60s.

Sometimes Du helped the residents buy daily necessities during the epidemic. "It is also a kind of happiness to feel being needed," Du said.

In order to save costs and ensure the accuracy of delivery, she sometimes has to wait for the customers until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening. Du often feels tired but fulfilled.

"I just do my job, but the residents of the community are very considerate to me," Du said. She is not afraid of busyness and hardship; she just hopes to be understood and respected. She feels at ease whenever receiving words of thanks.

"I remember once on a rainy day, a grandmother insisted on helping me make deliveries so I could go home early," Du said, adding that mutual help between people can warm one's heart and bring strength, and that she will continue to better serve her customers.  

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)