Can I still make a clay figure if I lose my hands?
In front of a roadside stall near Dujiangyan Scenic Area in Chengdu, Mi Zhou from Shangqiu, Henan Province holds clay figurines for sale with his arms. The clay figurine has no price, allowing customers to "give as they please"; the payment code is silent to avoid embarrassment; he asks others not to give too much, and some will give one or twenty yuan, or thirty or forty yuan...
Mi, 42 years old this year Zhou was forced to have both hands amputated in 2003 after accidentally touching a high-voltage power line. For more than ten years, he traveled around and raised a family of five with small clay figures.
As a man with no hands, all he encountered were "warm-hearted" customers. Customers would help find stalls or watch stalls. Some merchants provided free charging and drinking water... On the edge of the turbulent Min River, goodwill was always embodied.
html At the end of June, a video of Mi Zhou making a clay figure posted by a blogger became very popular on the Internet, with more than 6.8 million likes. Facing the popularity, Mi Zhou took it lightly. He said that the effect of internet celebrity only lasts for half a month or a month. "Just do it according to your own lifestyle."
▲ Mi Zhou is making clay figures in front of the stall
Clay figures without pricing
"Just scan the code, no one will order"
html On July 7, a Red Star News reporter saw in a video posted by a blogger at the end of June, Brother Mi The video of making a clay figure has received more than 6.8 million likes. Mizhou said he heard that more than 500 million people had seen the video. The chain reaction of's video is that for more than a week, there have been endless private messages in the backend of his account; when he goes out to set up a stall, there is always a long queue of customers waiting to buy clay figurines, and there are always people on the third floor of the house watching. On the outer three floors, his stall was wrapped, and Mi Zhou kept squeezing the clay figures with his arms one after another.
Customers seem to deliberately choose clay figurines with simpler shapes and colors. Watching pieces of clay being rubbed back and forth in his arms, and then slowly presented, there were incredulous exclamations from the crowd from time to time.
With more customers, his income will increase. Because he has to support his family, Mi Zhou is naturally very happy. But after long-term exposure to wet clay, his arms developed eczema, peeling, and even cracks. He had to wear a fixed bandage to continue making clay figures.
He calculated that it takes about 10 minutes to make a clay figurine. Even if he starts from 6 pm to 12 pm, he can only make more than 30 people a day.
In the past few days, many customers have come from far away, and he hopes everyone can get one. When he meets someone who wants to buy a few at once, he will try his best to advise everyone, "Just share the process of making it. There are still people who want to buy. Customers who are in a hurry can also buy the finished products with marked prices on the street stalls."
▲ Mi Zhou is making clay figures in front of the stall
Mi Zhou introduced that there is no price for the clay figures made on site. "They give them whatever they think they are worth." Because everyone has a different understanding of the work, and the psychological price is also different. no the same. Therefore, he lets customers bid according to their ability or heart.
In the past few days, many bloggers have come to shoot videos for him. Although they set prices freely, when paying, he will still remind them not to pay too much for deliberate display, "I understand their good intentions."
"If If someone gave me 50 yuan, I would feel embarrassed if I gave him 20 yuan." In order to avoid such embarrassment, Mi Zhou muted the WeChat payment voice since the year before last. "You can just scan the code and leave. I'm not afraid of running orders. "
For more than ten years, I have been making clay figures to support my family.
"It will not expand due to fire."
In 2003, 21-year-old Mi Zhou was forced to amputate his hands because he accidentally touched a high-voltage power line." It was definitely hard to accept at first." After losing his hands, his life fell into trouble, but now that he has a family and a child, he knows he can't "just lie down."
Therefore, Mi Zhou, who is optimistic by nature, slowly adjusted his mentality under the guidance of his family and doctors, first solving his own life problems, and then finding ways to solve the problem of supporting his family. He learned to eat and dress with his arms, and then learned to make clay figures from his master.
The clay figurine master only taught him for a few days and then asked him to go home and practice on his own.Because he lost his hands, the first clay figurines he made all had square heads. He could only slowly explore according to his own conditions. Starting from simply squeezing roses, to making small dolls, he can make more and more clay figurines. Now, it only takes him about 10 minutes to create a variety of cartoon characters.
Mi Zhou has been making clay figurines for more than ten years. He traveled to Changsha, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hainan and other places. A news interview a few years ago made everyone remember this special clay figurine master. Now, he runs an account with more than 1 million fans, and can skillfully broadcast live broadcasts, post "little yellow car" links, etc.
However, making clay figures does not guarantee harvests despite droughts and floods, and one has to depend on the weather for food. Due to the special nature of the clay figurine, the humidity should not be too high as it will not dry out easily; it will not work if it is too dry as the clay figurine will easily crack. If the weather is too cold and his physical condition does not allow it, Mi Zhou always drifts in different cities throughout the year. "In winter, I usually stay in Guangdong, in spring and autumn in the south of the Yangtze River, and in summer, I go to the north or northwest." He said. Like migratory birds, they are looking for a suitable place to survive all year round.
had cracked arms, and it rained for 50 days during the two months he stayed in Guangzhou in the first half of the year, so he couldn't go out. But he smiled and said that God is still very fair, "Look, these days, it rained for 50 days." If you are lucky, don't you make enough?"
said before the accident, "I was young and had many ideas," but he did not continue. "But everything is fine now, I am not so impetuous anymore, and I will think about many things from a different angle." Just like being popular again, Mi Zhou's heart will not be too big. "It won't expand. I can just live my own life." He said that the Internet celebrity effect only lasts for half a month or a month.
▲ Mi Zhou’s video of making clay figurines has gone viral. Screenshot of the video
Citizen: He is a self-reliant craftsman
“Supporting him also heals ourselves”
Mi Zhou’s daily routine is very fixed. He closes his stall at two or three in the morning and goes home, 11 I got up on time to prepare materials, read customer service and logistics information, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon, I was ready to set up the stall again. Although he has no hands, he said that he is no different from others, "I just have to learn slowly, slower than others. For example, you can pick up several dolls at once, but I can't. I have to pick them up one by one and place them one by one." "You need 5 minutes, maybe I need half an hour."
Mi can only go home once or twice a year when changing places. He also wanted his family to be with him, but he knew that he was traveling around and was not suitable to take his wife, let alone his children, with him. The three children also know that he works hard outside, "so he studies very hard."
Mi Zhou thinks that he is just like other migrant workers, "he is also outside all year round." He does not regard himself as a disabled person, nor does he use his status as a disabled person to ask for anything.
▲Mi Zhou
This is Mi Zhou’s third year in Chengdu. He first set up a stall in Jiuyan Bridge, and then went to Dujiangyan. He felt that Dujiangyan was very cool, "especially the 'Blue Tears' (the river under the South Gate Bridge), which was very beautiful." There were also many tourists, so he came here two years in a row.
Having stayed in so many places across the country, Mi Zhou felt that all the people he encountered were kind-hearted. For example, because the stall has to be moved to another place during the season, friends will take the initiative to ask if they want to come over. "Before I came to Dujiangyan this year, my friend was asking if he would like to find a house for me first."
In addition, if it rains, he will The merchants near the stall would let him take shelter from the rain; when he was thirsty, he would be asked to drink water... Although he was alone in a foreign land, he still felt very warm.
It started to rain lightly in Dujiangyan on the evening of July 7. Fan Jiawen, a citizen who came to the scene to support, saw that Brother Mi had not found a suitable stall, so she took her son back and forth to look for it twice on the street. A fellow Henan fellow who came from Pidu District stood guard in front of his battery car.
Ms. Fan said that everyone regarded him as a craftsman. "He did not complain about his physical condition, but relied on himself. To support him is to heal ourselves."
Red Star News reporter Zhang Ling and photographer Wang Qin
Edited by Mange
