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Xiao Liu is a sanitation (卫生设施体系，卫生设备）worker in a restaurant, a much honored one. She has been awarded for her “excellent work and satisfactory service” by the National Tourism Administration four times since she took the job six years ago.

Her job seems simple. Every morning, she is required to clean two washrooms, two bathrooms, two locker rooms, the balcony and the corridor. But it is hard and demanding work, especially for a girl who suffers from heart disease. “I usually have to come at 8:30—half an hour before the working time begins, and start to bustle in and out without a break,” says Liu. At 11 o’clock—the opening time of the restaurant, everything is washed up. So is she. Then she stands in front of the washrooms to greet every guest with a smile, help them and do the cleaning whenever it is necessary.

“It is unusual work for such a young woman,” says the manager of the restaurant. “It is not only the hard work but also the psychological pressure that she has to stand.”

“I felt very ashamed and humble（谦虚的，卑微的） when I stood in front of the washroom on my first working day,” recalls Liu. Then only 17 years old she blushed （羞愧，尴尬，涨红了脸）whenever a guest came. Her colleagues poked fun at

（拿...寻开心，奚落...)her and her friends called her a fool. “Because of my work, they think I am inferior（较差的，次的，劣质的，级别低的） and can only work in the washrooms. But I am not,” she says. And the young woman, who had been eager to do everything well since she was a child, vowed（v,发誓，n,誓言，誓约） to prove it.

Four year ago, she was honored as Excellent Sanitation Worker by the National Tourism Administration. It was the happiest day of her life. “Standing on the stage, I cried, because it is not only a prize, but a kind of understanding and recognition,” Liu says.

In spite of the heavy work during the daytime, Liu spends every night learning from her sister’s textbooks. “Sometimes I read till 3 o’clock in the morning and get up at 6 to go to work,” she says. Two yeas ago, she passed the entrance examination for the “Worker College,” and this year, she obtained a diploma in finance. Her thesis was selected for excellence and was honored at the commencement. (380 words)