Home Obsession: The Way Back Home Under The Epidemic Situation

On January 28, 2021 Spring Festival transportation kicked off. Some of the vagrants set foot on the way back home.

What is different from the previous years is that before the spring festival sports, sporadic cases and clustering epidemic in some areas increased significantly, which made the epidemic prevention and control measures continuously increased, and also made the return road of people more ups and downs.

Home obsession

Jia Xiang was originally a determined not to go home for the Chinese new year, but on January 26, he bought a ticket to go home.

According to Jia Xiang, the decision not to go home for the new year was made two days after the state advocated the local new year. "Although I really want to go home, my family is worried about the risks on the road, and the procedures are complicated. I only have seven days' vacation, even if it is."

Jia Xiang, who decided not to go home, soon planned to spend his Spring Festival holiday in Qingdao. But a week later, Jia Xiang changed his destination from Qingdao to his hometown of Lanzhou. "In the evening video, I saw that my grandparents were still expecting me to go home, although they were persuading me not to go home." Jia Xiang tentatively put forward, "it's OK. I'm going home. I've already made a reservation." I didn't expect that "one second my grandparents were still persuading me not to go home. The next second I immediately said that I would go to the market to buy some pork and some good dishes for the Spring Festival." Jia Xiang said that at that moment, he felt "going home anyway".

Like Jia Xiang, Lin Jing, who thinks he should go home for the Spring Festival, is not so smooth.

At 7:30 p.m. on January 25, Lin Jing's high-speed rail arrived at Jiuquan south station. "There are very few people with suitcases. All people are divided into two groups: outside the province and inside the province. If you arrive in the province, you can directly leave the station. Outside the province, you need to register the detailed information and negative certificate of nucleic acid test. If you don't do nucleic acid, you need to register and make up. " Recalling the moment when she just arrived at her hometown, Lin Jing saw her parents waiting at the exit of the station. When she was calm, she suddenly felt waves. "It should be right to go home."

But in fact, "this family almost can't go back." Lin Jing, a graduate student about to graduate, started her happy winter vacation in mid December 2020 because her internship in Beijing was postponed to February 6. I didn't expect that this delay has laid a hidden danger for going home smoothly.

According to Lin Jing, when the number of confirmed cases in Hebei Province increased sharply, she did not have any awareness of prevention. "The national prevention and control is so strict, and the vaccination is also promoting. I think it is very safe." When the school teacher called to urge Lin Jing to go home quickly, she didn't think so and decided to stick to it for a while. However, the situation changed very quickly. Since January 12, new confirmed cases will be added almost every day in Beijing, and staying in Beijing for the Spring Festival has gradually become the general trend. Eager to go home, Lin Jing decided to leave Beijing early on January 24.

Lin Jing said that in order to be able to go home smoothly, every time the epidemic prevention and control policy is changed, he will discuss with his best friend in the rental room, and even pick out every word to find out the scope, object, time, etc. of the policy.

But the way home seems increasingly uncertain. First of all, Lin Jing's hometown issued a notice saying that it would take 72 hours to get a negative nucleic acid certificate outside the province. After that, a staff member of the local health commission said that the returnees from other provinces should be isolated at home together with their families for 14 days. Worried that she would bring trouble to her family, Lin Jing had the idea of "or don't go back" for the first time.

"But this idea is only for a moment. I still have high expectations for going home." On January 22, Lin Jing returned from Beijing to Tianjin, where her school is located. She called the county government, the health commission and the community in her hometown to confirm that it was only home health monitoring, not isolation of the whole family. Lin Jing quickly went to the hospital to do a nucleic acid test certificate, began to buy gifts for home.

On the evening of January 23, Lin Jing, who was busy packing her suitcase, received a video phone call from her family. Her sister said, "if you don't come back, we will all be affected if you come back. Your brother-in-law will stay at home for 14 days and can't go to work."

"My mood is like a roller coaster. In the morning, I was also happy to do nucleic acid testing. At night, I was told by my family that you don't want to come back." Lin Jing's mood broke down, and the call ended in a sob.

Lin Jing believes that she can understand the epidemic prevention policy very well, but the huge psychological gap still makes her feel sad. After a big cry, Lin Jing returned her ticket and made an appointment with her friends for the new year.

However, Lin Jing finally returned home. After the night that was flooded with tears, Lin Jing was persuaded by the whole family in turn. However, the theme of persuasion turned to "come back, we're just too nervous about the situation." Although Lin Jing has made it clear that she won't go home for the Spring Festival, she has compromised at the moment when her family wants to buy a good ticket for her.

"Going home seems to be a kind of obsession. I can suppress it, but once it's stimulated, it will jump out." Lin Jing said.

Stay in Beijing for Spring Festival

However, more Beipiao chose to stay in Beijing. Anning finally chose to stay in Beijing for the new year, but it was not easy to make this decision.

On January 12, Anning, who did not grab a ticket, decided to buy a ticket for the Spring Festival in 2021 by buying more stops. However, with the repeated epidemic situation in China, the cashing of this ticket has become out of reach.

According to the chat records of the family group shared by Anning, since January 10, Anning has been sharing the epidemic situation and policy dynamics with family members every day to discuss the possibility of going home. Each conversation is basically ended with a similar sentence: "if you can go back, if you can't, you can't go back.". Anning's younger sister once joked in the group: "the pig's hoof fight entered the countdown."

Until January 20, the family group painting style suddenly changed. On the afternoon of January 19, the National Health Commission issued the "work plan for the prevention and control of new crown pneumonia in rural areas in winter and spring". It was proposed that returning personnel must return home with the negative results of NCV nucleic acid test within 7 days, and implement 14 day home health monitoring.

"This is a big turn. Although the state says that it is home-based health monitoring, local implementation has great flexibility. Only 7 days off, but to monitor 14 days at home, can I go to work normally after 7 days? These policy flexibility has created a bad expectation for me to go home. " Anning said that at that time, he began to worry about whether he could go home or not. He was hung up and down in his heart.

On January 26, Anning's father sent a tremolo video of "Celebrating the new year in situ". Anning said that he opened it and then laughed. After laughing, he understood, "my family understands the urgency of going home, but also supports me not to go home." On this day, Anning officially decided to refund the ticket and stay in Beijing for the new year.

"Can't go home, just think of is sad, later think of more helpless, and then also calm." Anning, who made the final decision, bought some gifts and sent them home. "This is also a kind of compensation."

Referring to the most important determinant of staying in Beijing for the Chinese new year, Anning said her biggest concern was that, as last year, she would face a lot of uncertainty when she returned to work after returning to her hometown once the epidemic was serious. "I really wanted to go to work last year. All public transport and taxis to the station were suspended and no cars could be found to go to the station. After two layers of cumbersome registration procedures, we finally got to the control intersection in a private car with a relative. We were told that once we went out, we could not return. "

Worrying about the recurrence of the epidemic is also one of the key reasons why Qi Rui chose to stay in Beijing for the new year.

Qirui works in a state-owned enterprise near the Olympic Park. Compared with Anning, Qirui quietly accepted to stay in Beijing for the new year as early as January 15.

"No one will pay for you this year." Qi Rui believes that the outbreak of the epidemic last year was very sudden, although forced to stay in his hometown and later isolation caused absenteeism, but the unit will guarantee your basic salary. But this year it's definitely not.

"I really want to go home. But after careful analysis and weighing the pros and cons, you have to accept it. " At first, he says, he's fidgety when he decides not to go home, but "after a struggle, it's time to look ahead.".

Qi Rui, who has changed his mind, has done his family's ideological work and plans to return home after the epidemic situation improves in April and may. He has already made his own arrangements for the Spring Festival holiday. Anning is also the same, "in fact, time is very fast, and friends to make an appointment, their own arrangements for sports and learning schedule, 7 days passed."

Qirui also said with a smile: "before the new year, I have eaten the new year's products. My mother sent me a lot of food. It's all here. "

Where the heart is, the year is. As many left behind joked: "was forced marriage? Are you on a blind date? The only way to solve the problem is to stay behind. "

(Jia Xiang, Lin Jing, Anning and Qi Rui are pseudonyms)