Wang Yijun reads the reply to her letter from Zhong Nanshan. [Photo/IC]

Wang Yijun, a 12-year-old girl from Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, who wants to devote her life to medicine and treating others, received a huge lift when she recently received an unexpected reply from a top respiratory disease expert in China, according to local media reports on Sept 3.

The girl wrote a letter seven months ago to Zhong Nanshan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, saying that she wanted to be a doctor. Now, after almost half a year waiting, she finally got Zhong's reply, which lifted her spirits immeasurably.

In February this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging across the country, Zhong – who was taking a leading role in the fight against the disease –  was frequently to be seen in the media.

The schoolgirl, watching this, was moved by his bravery and selfless devotion.

Then, when Wang's class assigned everyone the task of writing a composition on a "salute to the medical staff", she acted.

Her idea was to divide her composition into two parts: one, a salute to Zhong Nanshan, the other a vow to study hard and become a doctor in the future.

The composition scored top marks from the teacher, but the girl didn't get a reply from the epidemiologist.

"I never actually thought Grandpa Zhong would write back to me. It was more about expressing my respect," she said.

However, to her utter surprise, she received the letter from Zhong one day in late August. When Wang opened the letter, tears of joy came to her eyes. In the note, Zhong wrote neatly with a brush pen, highly praising the girl's ambitions and encouraging her to pursue her dream.

To top it off, she also got a photo of Zhong with the letter.

"The photo was taken to verify the authenticity of the letter. Grandpa Zhong was so thoughtful," Wang said.

The letter from Zhong Nanshan, a prominent respiratory disease expert in China, to a  12-year-old girl from Quzhou. [Photo/IC]