Hu Zaizhong hears family members singing birthday song at his birthday banquet at Xuejiawan Village, Liulin County, Lyuliang City of north China's Shanxi Province, on April 24, 2021. Hu Zaizhong, who has just turned 100, vividly remembers his wishes at different stages of his life: having decent food and clothing in his early days, teaching as many pupils as he could in his prime age, and enjoying quality time with his family for late years. Nonetheless, Hu made a new wish before blowing the candles on his birthday cake. All members of Hu's extended family flocked home on April 24, 2021 on the occasion of his centennial birthday. At his birthday banquet, Hu recounted his six earlier whishes: a bowl of fine flour, a piece of new clothes, a house made of bricks and tiles, a car, a trip, and a family reunion, all of which have come true, one after another, throughout the years. Born to a peasant's family, Hu had to labor arduously all year long but still have to live in a shabby cave dwelling without decent food and clothing. Later on Hu grew into a village teacher, for which occupation he had to travel over 20 kilometers on foot to teach at a school by the Yellow River for a salary inadequate to repair his leaking cave dwelling. Still, Hu counts himself a lucky one as all his children have promising careers now, and treat him very well after his retirement. They took Hu to quite a few places of interests over the years, and all of them are now part of his pleasant memories. "I look forward to each holiday when my offspring are able to visit me." "I want nothing else but a few more years of life, so that I may witness even greater changes to my hometown," Hu, surrounded by all his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, named his seventh wish. [Photo by Liu Liangliang/Xinhua]

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