The rest he used to pay back debts and buy medicine for his wife.

After settling down to the basic needs of living, Xu started to grow vegetables such as radishes, cabbages and pumpkins, and kept chicken and fish to provide his wife with pollutant-free food.

Since Xu moved to the countryside, his life has become simpler than ever: wake up around 5 am and prepare breakfast for two, prepare Chinese herbal medicine for his wife, then help her dress and carry her to the nearby forest to breathe early morning air.

Xu then starts working in the field, with his wife standing or sitting nearby so they can chat.

He even learned foot massage and treats his wife for one hour every day.

Not only is she still alive four years later, her health has even improved.

She visits the hospital once a month for an injection, and takes Chinese medicine twice a day.

"Inhibiting the development of cancer cells is the best result we can expect," he said.

Medical treatment costs around 7,000 yuan a month - a big expenditure for a couple that has no regular income. But they have found a new source of income from raising 2,000 chickens that produce 800 eggs every day.

"My chicken eggs are free-range, corn-fed eggs, which usually sell for 2 yuan per 500 grams in the supermarket. My price is 1.2 yuan," he said.

However, because Xu spends most of his time with his wife, he has no time to go to the market to promote his products.

"We once had huge quantities of eggs at home and couldn't find anyone to buy them," he said.

A netizen who discovered Xu's situation posted an article on a local forum.

Other netizens were touched and drove to Xu's farm to buy the eggs.

"I've sold about 700 boxes of eggs since the New Year Festival," Xu said.

Each box contains 60 eggs.

"I am grateful for their help," he said.

With sales of the eggs, the couple earns around 10,000 yuan a month, which can cover medical expenditures and daily life.

"Now is the peak egg-laying season, but after April I need to try another method to earn money," he said.

Now, Xu's wife can walk around and even help him with simple work such as cooking, washing clothes and picking up eggs in the farm.

"I'm the luckiest woman in the world to meet a husband like him," she said with a smile.

"We made a troth that we would be a couple again in our next lives," said her husband.