Zhang Pengjun and Li Jinghui do a live broadcast in Wuhan.

Zhang Pengjun and Li Jinghui are both reporters with China Central Television (CCTV)'s News New Media Center. This year, the couple stayed in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, for 92 days as they reported from the front line on Wuhan's efforts to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As she recalls the days she was "fighting on the battlefield" with her husband, Li tells Women of China, "It was our tough, but sweet, memory."

Li Jinghui reports news at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University.

Fighting, Winning with Wuhan 

Before this year's Spring Festival, a short documentary, entitled "Forgive You," was broadcast. Zhang and Li both participated in shooting that film. "Forgive You" depicted how people at different posts, such as a train driver and an armed police soldier, chose to continue working during the Chinese New Year holiday instead of gathering with their families. Zhang and Li never expected they would have to make a similar choice — during 2020 Spring Festival — when they were working on the film.

On January 24, Chinese New Year's Eve, Li's parents waited in their home, in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, for their daughter to visit and celebrate Spring Festival. The following day, they received a call from Li. "I believe our family is understanding in a special occasion, aren't we?" Li asked her parents. She was calling on her cellphone as she was riding a train from Beijing to Wuhan. Her parents soon figured out what was going on. They asked, "You are going to Wuhan, right? Is Pengjun with you?"

Zhang Pengjun reports from the Central Hospital of Wuhan.

Recalls Li: "When I decided to study journalism as my major in university, my parents told me it would be a meaningful, but tiring, job to be a reporter. Regardless of good things or bad things, I have to be at the spot." Li said she was moved by her parents because they always supported her when she decided to report on the front line. This time was no exception. Li's parents reminded her, and her husband, to protect and take care of themselves. They were sure the young couple would complete their assignment.

There was a period of time when Zhang entered isolation wards almost daily. He reported on doctors and nurses who were doing their best to save COVID-19 patients. But Zhang encountered a few "accidents." For example, a doctor whom he had interviewed one day developed a fever. Zhang, as a close contact, had to receive a nucleic acid test (NAT) to check whether he had been infected with the coronavirus. Fortunately, the doctor was simply catching a cold, and Zhang was alright. On another day, Zhang accidentally touched his eyes with his goggles when he was taking off the goggles after he exited an isolation ward. To avoid being infected with the virus (from the potentially contaminated goggles), a nurse used saline water to wash Zhang's eyes. That scene was recorded and posted on Weibo, and it aroused the concern of countless netizens.

Li Jinghui accompanies Zhang Pengjun as he receives a checkup. They pose for their first photo after they arrived in Wuhan.

"We lived in separate rooms when we were in Wuhan. My husband went to the virus-polluted 'red zone' frequently, so he chose not to live with me to avoid the risk of infecting me with the virus. Although we were in the same apartment building, I was living on Floor 6 and he was living on Floor 15. We could be 'connected' by an elevator, but we had to stay apart from each other," Li recalled. It was not until she accompanied Zhang, as he was going to hospital to receive a check-up, that Li had the precious opportunity to pose for a photo — with her husband — while they were in Wuhan. "It was during those days that we realized we could face the virus, or even face the threat of death. The best news for me was that my husband was fine," Li said, with tears in her eyes.

In Zhang's eyes, his wife was the slimmest member of CCTV's reporting team in Wuhan. Li seemed to be weak, but, in fact, she was courageous and strong when coping with difficulties. When the two hospitals, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, were being constructed, Li went to the construction sites to complete livestreaming reports. She took masks and boxes of food to the doctors and nurses. Her kind deeds won her praise from many netizens, who called Li "little sister who brings warmth to others."

Zhang and Li promised each other they would take care of the other if he or she fell ill. Li had been wearing a badge, with the logo of CCTV News, since she began reporting on the fight against COVID-19 in Wuhan. She had interviewed a doctor who had traveled from Shaanxi Province to support Wuhan's fight. After the doctor finished his assignment and was about to return to Xi'an, Li asked the doctor to deliver her badge to her parents. Li hoped her parents would know she and her husband were fine after they received her badge. "Family was our backup, and gave us strength when we were in Wuhan," Li said.

The couple returns to Beijing.

Companions in Marriage, Career

Zhang and Li are intimate companions in both marriage and career. Li met Zhang on December 1, 2013. She remembers it was a snowy day. "I was in third year when I was an undergraduate student at the School of Journalism and Communication, under Lanzhou University. At that time, Pengjun was a CCTV reporter who worked in Gansu Province (in Northwest China). I met him when he was interviewing an elderly couple, who opened a small reading room for children from migrant workers' families. My classmates and I also visited the couple, because we wanted to shoot a video for them," Li recalled.

Zhang and Li wed in 2018. They originally planned to host their wedding ceremony in Lanzhou (capital of Gansu Province) that year. However, they postponed the ceremony, in part because they were busy reporting on breaking news, including a severe flood in Gansu.

In August last year, Li became a reporter with CCTV's News New Media Center, and she relocated to Beijing. Zhang was also posted in Beijing. After they returned from Wuhan, the couple were assigned to report on this year's "two sessions," the third sessions of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The "two sessions" were held in late May. Li was one of the reporters who covered the CPPCC session. She noticed many of the CPPCC national committee members from Hubei Province, especially from Wuhan, expressed gratitude to people from across the country, who had supported their efforts to combat COVID-19. They bowed before they gave a speech. Li was deeply touched."

During the 'two sessions' this special year, NPC deputies and CPPCC national committee members raised a lot of proposals and suggestions focusing on detailed topics or problems, for example, how to help small and mediumsized enterprises boost development? How to solve college students' and migrant workers' difficulties in employment? Attendees to the 'two sessions' showed a great sense of mission," Li said.

Zhang and Li were very happy in the middle of May, because their small family was named, by the All-China Women's Federation, a "National Most Beautiful AntiEpidemic Family." Li said the honorable title was "the most beautiful gift" they received after they returned home from Wuhan.

Zhang Pengjun and Li Jinghui exchange their microphones as special "gifts" during their wedding ceremony.

Photos provided by Li Jinghui

(Women of China English Monthly July 2020 issue)