There’s a tearful old man in the ward.

In Ward 102 at Nanjing Zijin Hospital, most of the doctors and nurses know that patient Grandpa Zhou is prone to tears. Yet his wife says he wasn’t always like this; before this illness landed him in the hospital, she never saw him cry. What could have possibly triggered such a flood of tears?

Grandson Xiao Zhou is Grandpa Zhou’s cherished treasure. Before Grandpa Zhou fell ill and was hospitalized, Xiao Zhou’s studies and daily life were largely entrusted to him. It was precisely for this reason that the two—grandfather and grandson—developed a deep bond. In October 2020, Grandpa Zhou was admitted to the hospital due to a cerebral hemorrhage and later transferred to Nanjing Zijin Hospital for treatment. In November, the first thing he said upon regaining consciousness was to ask how his grandson had been doing lately.

“The night he woke up was the first time in our 34 years of marriage that I saw him weep uncontrollably,” said Grandpa Zhou’s wife. At the time, Grandpa Zhou was on a video call with his grandson. Through the screen, little Zhou recalled the days when his grandfather had always been there to see him safely to and from school, and confided that his recent exam scores had been uneven, which moved Grandpa Zhou to tears. This, in turn, spurred him to resolve to actively participate in rehabilitation therapy, determined to recover soon and return home.