The 'Big C' is a scary thing. It can shake you and bring you down for good, or you can choose to face it head-on. Zhang Yanjie, 46, chose the latter. But not just that, she chose to continue doing what she has been doing for the past 12 years: help poor rural children in China get financial aid for education.

"Although physically my health is getting worse; emotionally, I feel happier. This is because every time I get to help a child, I feel happy for several days. And the more children I get to help, the happier I get," Zhang told CGTN.

"This is why I sometimes want to thank these children for giving me this spiritual support... If it weren't for them, I might not have been this strong, and might not even have made it past the first stage of cancer."

Zhang has faced three life-threatening incidents in the past decade. In 2010, she was hit by advanced-stage breast cancer. Nine years later, she met with a car accident. And in August 2020, her cancer metastasized.

When we caught up with her in March 2021, it was just over two weeks after her final round of chemotherapy.

"Truth be told, I sometimes wonder, having gone through so much harsh treatment when I was ill, not to mention being afraid of death... it might be better if I die instead. Because then, I would be free from suffering from the pain of constant treatment," she said unabashedly.

"But then I would think, if I don't get stronger, what will happen to these children? There are so many who are still unable to get out of their shadows. I can't die yet, I have to stand up for them."

Zhang: 'I'm a living example of what's possible'

Zhang and her husband Li Yousheng connect donors to children in need via their non-profit organization Bazhong Rabbit Love Aid Team.

Since 2009, they've helped provide financial aid – in the form of tuition fees or living expenses – to 1,568 students. More than 300 have graduated from college since.

Zhang sees this as a step forward in fighting intergenerational poverty.

"See, I was born in a poor household and was the youngest of many siblings. Back then, I really wanted to study but often dropped out of school because we couldn't afford the fees. You could say that my teachers were my saviors – they helped pay for my tuition fees," she said.

"And it's also because of their moral support that I managed to graduate from college. So now, whenever I see children who are in trouble, I would share with them my journey, and hopefully inspire them in some way."

Zhang sees herself as a living example of what's possible – to be able to get out of poverty and be able to contribute to society. Before turning to volunteering full-time (because of her illness), she was a substitute teacher. And that was how she met her husband Li, who is still a teacher.

Beyond financial aid, Zhang also encourages children and provides them with psychological counselling.

Many of the children Zhang and her husband Li have helped are 'left behind children': they who remain in rural China while their parents are away working in cities, often for long periods of time on end.

"When confidence of these children is boosted, and when they have financial guarantees, all they have to focus on is their studies."

While Zhang and her husband Li are the main people behind this charity act, they have also since mobilized thousands of volunteers to be part of their movement.

When mentioned that these children must be thankful to Zhang, she instead said: "I don't need the children to be grateful to me."

"What I hope for the most is for them to be grateful to society, for them to feel that there are still many good people out there... that when they grow up, they will also want to give back to society and help others when others are in need. That would be the biggest reward for me."

Given her background and the assistance she has received along the way to complete her education, Zhang believes in the power of collective strength – where each and everyone's "small difficulty" can be solved if people roped in to help. 

"Many say the children should thank me. Rather, I would like to say: I should thank the children instead for giving me so many reasons to continue to live on. They have accepted me, allowing me into their lives. From these I have gained happiness... I am still alive."

Ultimately, to Zhang, life really is not so much about length.

"Everyone will grow old and die one day. It's about how I can do something meaningful in this short span of a lifetime," she said.

But she added that she never quite understood the true meaning of the above as a child – not until she was diagnosed with cancer twice and has built connections with the children that she realized this.

"I didn't live this life in vain," she said.

(This story is part of a special series, "Men of the People," which tells the stories of members of the Communist Party of China.)