Veteran Party member Qin Haibao has stuck to his village mail and newspaper station for 34 years as faithfully as ever
In Qinjiaying Village, Shangcheng Town, Cheng'an County, people often see a thin, hale and hearty old man walking through the lanes and into homes to deliver newspapers, periodicals and letters to everyone. He is Qin Haibao, a 67-year-old veteran Party member.
No pay, just service
Qinjiaying Village has about 4,500 residents and is a large administrative village in western Cheng'an County. Before 1982, mail and newspapers for the village were delivered by postmen to the home of the village Party branch secretary, and then distributed by the village. But with a big village and many affairs, the village Party branch secretary often could not attend to everything. With the support of the county postal bureau, the village planned to set up a mail and newspaper station, but two farming households in a row quit after only a few days. The village committee then set its sights on Qin Haibao's home at the head of the village beside the provincial highway, a convenient location.
One day in the spring of 1982, the village Party branch secretary and the accountant came together to Qin Haibao's home to seek his opinion. The village Party branch secretary said frankly: "The village is in financial difficulty, and there is no subsidy for the mail and newspaper station." Old Qin readily agreed: "I am a Party member. I do not seek pay. I just want to support the village's work and serve everyone." Just like that, Qin Haibao began walking through the lanes and into homes to deliver newspapers, letters and periodicals to the villagers.
Meticulous in delivery work
In the summer of 1990, the village mail and newspaper station received an ordinary letter signed "Qin Haijun." After it was announced over the loudspeaker, a young man came to claim it, but after opening and reading it he found the letter was not his and returned it to the station. Through several days of visits and checks of relevant records, Qin Haibao found that a young man in the village who worked in another township was also named Qin Haijun. After many twists and turns, Qin Haibao finally found the letter's true owner.
Every July and August is the time when admission notices from colleges and secondary specialized schools arrive in concentrated batches, and Qin Haibao is especially careful with these. In addition to announcing them for pickup over the loudspeaker, he also takes the initiative to deliver them in person. One year, the station received an admission notice addressed to someone named "Zhang Haiying," and after repeated loudspeaker announcements no one came to claim it. Qin Haibao then used his lunch breaks and the time after dinner to knock on villagers' doors and ask around, and finally learned that she was the daughter of a man who worked away from home year-round. When he handed the notice to Zhang Haiying, she said: "Thank you so much. I even kept going to the school to ask, but I never expected it had been mailed to the village. I really put you to trouble!"
After villagers replaced their second-generation ID cards, the post office sent more than a thousand ID cards. Old Qin, through loudspeaker announcements and with the help of village officials, safely distributed all of them to the villagers.
Willing to take responsibility and widely praised
The work at the mail and newspaper station is specific and complicated, and the postman's daily arrival time in the village is not fixed, so someone must always be at home on duty. During spring plowing, summer harvest and the busy autumn season, in order not to put the postman in a difficult position, Qin Haibao often went to work in the fields only after receiving the mail.
In recent years, villagers have attached importance to scientific and technological information, more households have subscribed to newspapers and periodicals, and more and more people shop online, so the business requiring signed receipt has increased. Qin Haibao always warmly receives those who come to his home to pick up items or read newspapers and periodicals.
Over the decades, the village mail and newspaper station has received a cumulative total of hundreds of thousands of newspapers and periodicals, telegrams, registered letters, parcel notices, money orders and ordinary letters, and there has never been a delivery error. Qin Haibao's hard work has earned him the trust and praise of the villagers.
Now, Qin Haibao is nearly seventy years old, and some villagers have advised him: "It's time to enjoy a comfortable life!" But he says: "As long as the village committee supports me and the villagers trust me, I am willing to continue serving everyone!"
Qinjiaying Village, Cheng'an County Zhao Guishu Qin Xianglin