导读:在女儿过生日、女儿幼儿园组织亲子活动时,在万家团圆欢度传统佳节的时候,甚至在女儿生病住院之时……越是女儿需要父母陪伴的日子,这对“夫妻列车长”往往忙于工作而缺席。16张小小的请假条,写满了一对普通铁路夫妻对女儿的歉疚和无奈,也道尽了万千铁路家庭的默默奉献与付出。
On Valentine’s Day this year, it was not a love letter but a handful of "leave request" letters that touched the hearts of Chinese netizens.
情人节这一天，感动大批网友的并不是情书，而是一张张催泪的请假条。
The letters were written by a couple who both work as train drivers in central China. These were not their normal leave request letters, however, all of the letters were written to the couple’s five-year-old daughter Chen Yutong.
这些请假条来自一对铁路夫妻。这些请假条并不是普通的写给工作单位的请假条，而是写给他们五岁的女儿陈昱彤。
"Dear sweetie, Spring Festival is just about to start, and with it comes the annual travel rush. Daddy and mummy must work overtime, so we can’t be with you for the holiday," says one letter penned by the girl’s mother Xiao Sanying.
彤彤的母亲肖三英写道：“亲爱的宝贝！因为春节要来了，我们春运要加班，本来答应一起陪你出去玩的，又食言了。爸爸妈妈对你说声对不起。”
The letter was signed off with: "We would like to request leave. I hope we get your approval. Love you, your daddy and mummy."
请假条的最后还写道：“在这里，爸妈提前向你请个假，请予以批准哦。爱你哟，爸爸和妈妈。”
Chinese netizens were moved that the couple wrote such letters to a child.
网友们纷纷被这对夫妻写给女儿的请假条所感动。
"I cried after reading the story. I, too, have to leave my daughter for work in a month," wrote one netizen.
一位网友表示：“听说了这个故事后，我感动地哭了。我也有类似的经历，有时候因为工作原因要离开女儿一个月。”
Being an employee of China’s massive railway system can be exhausting. Even more so during the Spring Festival travel rush, or "Chunyun."
在中国的铁路系统中工作可谓是非常劳累，尤其恰逢春运期间，更是辛苦异常。
It has been estimated that around 356 million train trips would be made during the 40-day Chunyun period that will end on Feb. 21. The city of Wuhan, where Chen’s parents work, is one of the country’s busiest train hubs.
据悉，为期四十天的春运将于2月21日正式结束，期间预计发送旅客3.56亿人次。陈昱彤的父母在武汉工作，是最繁忙的交通枢纽之一。
The couple missed their daughter’s birthday, school events and holidays. Chen’s main carers are her grandparents.
小彤彤平时在爷爷奶奶家生活。这对夫妻已经先后错过了女儿的生日、学校运动会以及假期。
Racked with guilt, the young couple started to write letters requesting their daughter’s permission to take "family leave." Since their first letter, which they wrote on the last day of 2014, 15 more have followed.
彤彤的父母满怀愧疚，后来开始给女儿写请假条，希望得到女儿的准许。第一张请假条写于2014年最后一天，至今为止已积累到了16张。
Chen’s mother, Xiao, explained that the couple started writing letters because there was one day when she could not attend her daughter’s kindergarten sports day.
彤彤的母亲肖三英表示第一张请假条是由于自己失约未能参加女儿幼儿园的亲子运动会而写的。
"She was so sad. But when we were home, I drafted a letter and read it to her. She seemed to understand and came over to hug me and kiss me," Xiao said.
肖三英说道：“当时她特别不开心，回到家之后我写了一张请假条并把没能赶到的原因读给她，她居然听懂了，抱着我亲了半天。”
Chen Gang, the girl’s father, often underscored the point of sacrifice and job dedication in the letters he penned.
彤彤的爸爸陈刚经常在请假条中给女儿强调自己工作和奉献的意义。
"There are so many grandpas, grandmas, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters who take the train to be with their families," Chen said. "My daughter, you need to understand that it is the responsibility of your father and mother to make sure these people get home safe for the New Year holiday."
陈刚写道：“很多的爷爷奶奶、叔叔阿姨、哥哥姐姐都要在春运期间坐火车从全国各地往家里赶，回家和亲人团聚。宝贝你要明白，妈妈和爸爸做的工作，就是要把他们平平安安地送回家和家人团圆。”
The couple’s story is no isolated case, many railway workers today still sacrifice time with their family to work.
当然，这对夫妻的事迹并不是个例，许多铁路工作者都牺牲了自己和家庭团聚的时间，在工作岗位上默默奉献。
Chen said the letters were also a way to show their daughter how important it was to help others.
陈刚表示，这些请假条也能让孩子明白帮助他人是多么重要。
"We want her to understand that her parents were absent because they were helping people," he said.
陈刚提到：“我们就是要让女儿明白，父母不能陪她、经常食言是为了更好地服务旅客。”
Despite all this, Chen and Xiao are not without regrets.
虽然留下种种遗憾，但陈刚和肖三英表示这样做并不后悔。
Their absences have meant that they have missed out on being there for their daughter when she needed them.
他们的远离意味着当女儿需要自己的时候，自己没有办法陪在女儿身边，失去了和女儿一起的快乐时光。
And while it is reassuring that the child’s grandparents are there for her, it means that their daughter is closer to them than her own parents.
当孩子表示爷爷奶奶在身边感到安心时，则意味着相对自己的爸爸妈妈来说，爷爷奶奶是他们更亲近的人。
"One day I went to pick her up from kindergarten and said she wanted her grandma, not me," Xiao said.
肖三英提到，有一次自己去幼儿园接女儿时，女儿喊道她想要奶奶来接，不想看到妈妈。
