Li Chengqun, 14, tells the story of her life in a shack in Ganshui town of Qijiang county, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality on Sept 18, 2011.

Li Chengqun, 14, tells the story of her life in a shack in Ganshui town of Qijiang county, Southwest China's Chongqing municipality on Sept 18, 2011.

Li has just entered a local middle school but her mother does not know this as she left the home four years ago, due to mental illness.

Li's father died of illness in 2009 and she now lives with her sister, uncle and grandmother. The whole family is dependant on her uncle's farming work as her grandmother is too old and fragile to work.

Li said she was very sad when her father died, but she didn't want her grandmother to hear her sorrow so at night she hid under her quilt to cry.

Li helps with family chores at weekends when she comes home from school. Li said she believes she can change her fate by studying hard.

"I had a dream that I can be a nurse when I grow up. If I could have removed hurt from my parents, they would not leave me then," Li said.