18-year-old has piggybacked classmate with muscle atrophy for 3 years

The touching story of an 18-year-old high school student who’s been piggybacking his 19-year-old classmate suffering from muscle atrophy around campus for the past three years has made waves online.

Xie Xu, standing 173 meters tall and weighing 75 kilos, has been voluntarily taking care of his classmate Zhang Chi since Zhang arrived at Daxu High School in Xuzhou city as a year one student.

Xie carries Zhang to school from their dorm, helps him wash his clothes and fetches his three meals every day. Occasionally, he carries Zhang to the cafeteria for breakfast as well.

Xie told reporters that he carries Zhang back and forth at least a dozen times every day, and does it more than two hundred days per year.

Currently, Xie and Zhang are year three students at their high school. They’ve remained the top students of their class for the past three years.
Xie bade temporal farewell to Zhang to have an interview at the Nanjing Polytechnic Institute on April 23. He’ll finish high school early if he’s admitted to the school. In another 47 days, Zhang will sit in for gaokao, China’s intensive college entrance exam.

“The story of the two students is so inspiring and touching. They aren’t family, but [Xie] has been doing this for three years. He’s the most beautiful student. He also exerts positive influence on other students, who readily help Zhang. With their assistance, Zhang has never missed out on one single class, ” Guo Chunxi, the vice headmaster of Daxu High School remarked.

Xie and Zhang’s friendship has tugged on the heartstrings of web users who also wished them the best of luck in their future life.
Web user 习惯不曾习惯的习惯 wrote: “We should learn from their friendship. In today’s society, Zhang’s dedication is especially precious.”
“He’s the most beautiful student in China,” user 快乐使者 said.
“Piggybacking once isn’t hard at all, but what amazes us is that he’s stuck to it for so long! Good job!” commented user 叫我老罗
By Lucy Liu
[Image via Tencent news // Weibo]