Editor's Note:  

Wu Yiyun is a gastric cancer patient, and fate has been cruel to her: her eldest daughter passed away before reaching one month old, she was later diagnosed with cancer, and four years later, the cancer recurred and metastasized, while her father succumbed to leukemia. Yet fate has also been kind: her husband stood by her unwaveringly, supporting and encouraging her under immense pressure, giving her the courage and strength to fight against fate and disease. After two grueling years of IVF, she risked her life to bring her angelic daughter, Qiqi, into the world. "If you don't let go, I won't give up"—such warmth and devotion truly exist in real life, made even more touching after enduring so much hardship.  

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An ordinary photograph shows a mother who doesn’t look young or particularly beautiful, slightly frail, holding a two- or three-year-old girl. The adorable child and the mother’s overflowing happiness radiate from the image. The little girl’s nickname is Qiqi (奇奇), the qi from qiji (奇迹), meaning "miracle"—and her arrival was nothing short of one. Because her mother is a gastric cancer patient, someone who had her entire stomach removed and has battled cancer for over a decade.  

Wu Yiyun was born in 1979. In the bloom of youth, she married and soon gave birth to a lovely daughter. No one could have foreseen that the baby would pass away suddenly before turning a month old. Misfortune struck again when, soon after, a routine checkup revealed she had gastric cancer. The successive blows devastated her family—financially ruined, emotionally shattered—as fate relentlessly tested her and her loved ones.  

Some relatives and friends urged her husband to abandon her treatment, even suggesting divorce. To them, it seemed like a bottomless pit. But Wu Yiyun’s husband was a man of responsibility. "In sickness and in health"—this was his silent vow to his wife, his unwavering principle. The year was 2005. In February, their child died; in March, she was diagnosed with cancer; and in May, just three days after their first wedding anniversary, she underwent a total gastrectomy.  

Under tremendous pressure, her husband scraped together money from everywhere, standing steadfastly by her side, encouraging her to fight the disease, urging her through surgery and chemotherapy. Because of his refusal to give up on her, Wu Yiyun found the courage and strength to defy fate.  

The pain from the surgery was unimaginable: her legs ached so badly she could barely walk; for the first two or three months after the removal of her stomach, she couldn’t straighten her back, forcing her to train little by little every day. At first, she measured progress in minutes—one minute, two minutes. Day by day, month by month, through persistence, she gradually regained her strength. To ease the financial burden on her husband, who was now the sole breadwinner covering her medical expenses, she opened a small convenience store the year after her surgery, supporting their modest household alongside him despite her fragile health.  

As her body slowly recovered, she felt a newfound strength. The world hadn’t abandoned her—why should she leave it? Her husband had given her not just love, but something even greater: the belief in living. She merely had an illness called "cancer," one that was stubborn and required extra patience and perseverance.  

In 2008, shadows were detected in her lungs, later confirmed as metastatic tumors. But with her resilient optimism, when misfortune struck again, she faced it with surprising calm, as if a lotus had bloomed in her heart.  

She was admitted to Anqing First People’s Hospital. Tragically, her father was diagnosed with leukemia around the same time and placed in the same ward. To spare him additional anguish, she requested their rooms be kept far apart. Many medical staff expressed deep sympathy for the family’s misfortunes, lamenting the cruelty of fate.  

In the end, her father passed away, not yet sixty. It was 2009—by then, she had been fighting cancer for four years. On her long, arduous journey, just when she needed her family’s support the most, her father was gone. The loss grieved her deeply. But she knew her father, like her, had never surrendered. She could still feel the strength of his love—how hard he had fought to live, refusing to give up until his last breath.  

Doctors treated her with chemotherapy and traditional Chinese medicine, and eventually, the lung masses disappeared. Her health improved steadily. Wu Yiyun began participating in social activities and joined Anqing’s Cancer Association, a grassroots organization where most members were cancer patients—and also volunteers, a group of life-loving warriors supporting each other in their fight against the disease.  

As the association’s deputy secretary-general, Wu Yiyun handled new member admissions. She was honored as an "Anti-Cancer Warrior" and "Outstanding Volunteer," while also becoming a key figure in the group’s artistic performances, often participating in charity events. She shared her survival experiences with fellow patients who had lost hope, using her smile to tell them: Cancer is not invincible!  

Embracing life’s challenges, she conceived an even bolder idea—to have a child of her own. Without a stomach, her body couldn’t absorb nutrients like a healthy person’s, leaving her weak and occasionally prone to fainting. When doctors learned of her pregnancy plans, they warned her of the dangers. But she remained determined. She wanted to give her husband a complete family.  

Despite multiple failed IVF attempts, she refused to give up. After two difficult years, she finally risked her life to conceive, and in June 2014, delivered a healthy, adorable baby girl via C-section—Qiqi. Qiqi’s arrival lit up her entire world. She was immersed in boundless happiness; not only had the world not forsaken her, it had blessed her with this little angel. With her daughter, she came to understand deeply: As long as you don’t give up, life will always bloom with its own unique beauty.  

Because of love, we love. In this world, as long as you hold on, life will always reveal its beauty—sometimes, it just takes a little longer.