More than three decades ago, Yang Xiaoyue left his hometown, in East China's Anhui Province, to settle down in Shanghai. There, he got married and started a family. Shanghai has become a home away from home for Yang. He and his wife, Yuan Chenghong, have two children, a son and daughter, and they sell river fish in a market in Xuhui District. The couple has provided fish, for free, to elderly people and families coping with difficulties. Throughout the years, Yang and his family have adhered to the principle of "walking on a right path, and being good people."

His Hometown

Yang's father died when Yang was 2 years old. Yang and his siblings were raised mainly by their mother. When Yang was living in Anhui, during his childhood, he said people in his hometown could easily catch fish when farmland flooded during rainy season. Most of the children in the area learned to swim when they were 4 or 5.

Yang once caught a bighead fish, which weighed almost 4 kilograms. Unfortunately, the fish's gallbladder ruptured when the fish was being cooked. Yang says that was the most bitter fish he has ever eaten. In another experience, Yang and his brother added sugar, which they had mistaken for salt, when they were cooking a rice-field eel they had caught. Yang says that was the sweetest fish he has ever tasted.

Yang says, even though the family was poor, his mother always reminded him to do good things, and to help people in need. "When I was relocating from Anhui to Shanghai, Mom told me to do my best, walk on a right path, and be a good person," Yang recalls.

In Shanghai

In 1992, two years after Yang relocated to Shanghai, he opened a fish stall in Yishan food market, in Xuhui District. He married Yuan in 2001. The couple are honest businesspeople.

Once, a customer told them the fish he had purchased from their stall had not tasted right. Since receiving that feedback, the couple steams a fish to ensure it tastes right every time before they sell fish to the public. In Yang's opinion, customers come to his stall because they believe he will sell good-quality fish. Yang's goal is to ensure his customers have good fish.

Yang is busy working in the market every day. He enjoys his job. "I actually do a favor for others, if I run my business well," he says. Yang's fish stall is popular. Some customers continue buying his fish even after they move from the neighborhood.

'Nameless Grass'

By the end of their first year of operating the stall, Yang and Yuan had saved about 10,000 yuan (US $1,429). One day, in 2002, Yang saw a notice, which called for donations to help impoverished households, as he passed by the village committee office of Tianlin, near their market. He donated 50 yuan (US $7.14), and then asked himself: "What else can I do for residents in my community?"

Yang and Yuan discussed the matter. Eventually, they wrote a letter to Tianlin's village committee, indicating they wanted to provide fish, for free, to families living with special difficulties. "We hope to do our part to help people in difficulty. We used to live a poor life as well. The fish we offer are not expensive, of course, but those who receive it will probably feel the warmth from our community," Yang explains.

Since 2002, Yang and Yuan have provided fish to the disabled, the elderly living alone, and patients suffering from serious diseases in Tianlin. In addition to providing fresh, good-quality fish, they have also taken agricultural products from Yang's hometown, and have provided those products to people in difficulty.

"As long as one is warmhearted, he/she can bring warmth to others, wherever he/she is," Yang says. He and his wife have joined a team of volunteers in Tianlin. They sometimes visit the community's nursing home. Yang shares tips on how to select good-quality fish.

Yuan is an executive committee member of a grass-roots women's federation, in Xuhui District. She is an understanding sister, who does her best to help women who have relocated from their hometowns to Shanghai. She often takes part in charitable activities. For example, she once donated 1,500 yuan (US $214) to children in Yuanyang, a county in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Yuan has been named a March 8th Red-Banner Holder in Shanghai. Last year, her family was selected a National Most Beautiful Family.

Yang also writes poetry. In one poem, he wrote: "At 28, I decided to leave my town, to be a warmhearted person who sells his fish. So far, I have walked to see this world, like a nameless grass, bringing vigor to wherever I take my root." Yang says the most important virtue he learned from his mother is "being kind and honest." He is determined to pass that virtue to his offspring.

(Source: The Department of Family and Children's Affairs of the All-China Women's Federation/Women of China English Monthly May 2023 issue)