Left: Xu Pei and Zhang Wenwen go to work on Tuesday. Right: Zhang Wenwen and Xu Pei leave work on Tuesday. (Photo: Xinhua)

A couple of newlyweds canceled their honeymoon to go fight the coronavirus epidemic glove-in-glove in Central China’s Henan Province.

Yanling Hospital nurses Xu Pei, 23, and Zhang Wenwen, 24, married in September 2021 and planned to honeymoon in January.

The first new COVID-19 cases broke in Henan on December 31, 2021.

"When the day shift ended on January 2, an emergency call reached the hospital, notifying us to support Yuzhou,” said wife Zhang. “I was the first to sign up. When the name list for supporting Yuzhou was announced, I found out that he had signed up, too."

The couple took the bus to Yuzhou together on January 8. Yuzhou and Xuchang, their home city, were both locked down on January 9.

Instead of a honeymoon, Xu and Zhang now work together seven hours a day in protective clothing on nucleic acid testing in Yuzhou. They eat and live on the bus.

"It’s an unforgettable experience in our lives," Xu said, smiling.

The couple and their colleagues had completed four rounds of tests in their assigned communities as of Tuesday.

(Compiled by Yin Yue, edited by Dong Feng)