What about family relations? When Wu was named to go to Xinjiang, she first went back to Nanjing to say farewell to her family. All were very happy to see her because they had been waiting for a long time. When she announced her destination so far from home, the smiles changed into reproaches; nobody agreed. Wu had already undergone a surgical operation and they argued that her health would be subjected to too hard a test. She held her position and allowed her mother to accompany her to the station under the condition that there would be no tears. However, her mother was confined to her bed for three days after her daughter left.

Ten days after the birth of Wu's son, her mother arrived in Xinjiang to help her. Three months later, the grandmother took the baby back to Nanjing, where he grew up without ever seeing his mother. Wu's daughter was then born in Nanjing. When the baby reached "100 days" (a special age for the Chinese), Wu returned to Turpan, leaving her child who had started calling her aunt "Mom." This girl, now married, says that her mother never once changed her diaper. Wu's work place had suggested that she bring her children to Turpan, but Wu answered that she could not maintain an excellent standard of work while caring for two children. Wu Mingzhu didn't attend either of her children's weddings. She admitted, laughingly, but it seemed that she spoke from the heart: "I like my melons more than I like my children."

The woman of science said she succeeded, thanks to support from five sources. First, the support of the neighbourhood farmers. In spring 1957, she and a team of people went to attend training on the culture of melons. One day, she decided to return to Turpan for personal reasons and left without telling anyone. They were all extremely worried, and after a sleepless night, the whole group left to search for her. When they found her, they cried tears of joy. Support also came from the authorities: the directors of the Institute helped her with her research and studies, and the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region provided her with the necessary equipment and facilities. Other countries, including the United States with which collaboration is very enriching, and Japan, receive Wu's students for their doctorate degrees. Experience and the fruit of research are shared. The United States taught Wu, who goes there often, as to Israel and Japan, to treat a melon disease. The research funds come only from China: Xinjiang in the beginning, then the Hami Research Centre on Melon under the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Xinjiang. With Taiwan and Shanghai also there is close cooperation. "Grandmother Melon," as the Uyghurs call her, went back and forth between Xinjiang and Hainan for years "because the conditions of research offered by this insular province were favourable," she explained. Wu emphasized the support from her immediate collaborators, her colleagues, and disciples. Nevertheless, Wu has one regret: neglecting her husband, without whom she would never have made a success of her career.

Yang Qiyou arrived at Xinjiang in 1956, leaving behind his university in Jiangsu to follow his wife. He started teaching at the Urumqi University. Wu did not cook; he did. He even took the meals to her work place. "He took care of me more than I did of him," she confessed, "and he shared the work of the farmers to support me." In 1982, as his health declined without apparent reason, Yang returned to Jiangsu but Wu did not follow him. It was stomach cancer, and the disease became fatal in 1986. When his wife asked him whether it was because of her he had gone to Xinjiang, he denied it, adding that it was his own choice. He had taught four years in Nanjing but 20 in Urumqi, without a chance of promotion or title. "He had only these two words: feng xian ('devotion' in English)," Wu stated. I did not dare ask her whether she would live the same life if she could start again, because I supposed that one never disavows a choice made with passion. After Yang Qiyou's death, Wu returned to Xinjiang – which she made her motherland – with the intention of working as hard as two people. She lives simply, and eats and dresses soberly.

I suspected that Wu had received some honours during her half-century career. Through questions and prompting, I ended up knowing that her greater honour consisted in becoming a member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1953; her eyes shone with pride when she told me that. In the 1980s, she received the "March Eighth" (San Ba) Prize created by Mao Zedong for the women, then the Prize of Special Contribution of Youth; she was appointed "Model Worker" and "Hard-Working Avant-Garde." A grant of 100 yuan per month for life to the "Young Researcher" was allotted to her. Wu saw her name on the list of the "Ten Elite People" of China. In 1999, she was named academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. A national prize of Scientific Work in 2003, a scientific prize of Progress and the appointment of Model Worker of Ethnic Groups were also allotted to her, and probably others. In which year? She didn't remember, she said….