"Grandma Horse Legs": Enough to eat, thank you everyone for your concern that your
husband has a monthly retirement salary of more than 2,900 yuan. The family still has two acres of land; the wooden prosthesis has been worn for decades, and I
am
not willing to change it when I
am
used to it.
Before dawn, behind the trash can at the entrance of the village, a thin figure wrapped in a black turban and leaning on a wooden stick appeared.
Neighbors said that she woke up early, pulled out the waste paper shells and plastic bottles from the trash can every day, and piled them up at home after tidying them up.
As a video of "the disabled grandmother suspected of using a horse leg as a prosthesis" went viral on the Internet, Han Xiang, the wife of Zhen Tangshan, a villager in Songjiazhuang Town, Yuxian County, Hebei Province, was called the "horse-leg grandma" desperately sought across the Internet.
More and more people came to offer condolences, but the couple said they did not need assistance.
On the morning of the 16th, a reporter from the Beijing News came to the home of "Grandma Horse Legs" and met the old man.
He broke his leg when he was two or three years old, and put on a prosthesis in his 20s
After the two red doors were opened, there were three main houses facing south. The unshed corn was piled in front of the house. Two brown, long-haired dogs kept barking when they saw strangers.
Han Xiang walked more than a dozen steps forward, took out a handful of dog food from the cloth pocket on the wall of the wing, and sprinkled it into the dog cage.
79-year-old Zhen Tangshan opened the curtain and looked out, "As soon as there is food, the dog stops barking."
Zhen Tangshan was introduced to Han Xiang by a colleague in 1971. He was 8 years older than her.
Zhen Tangshan, born in 1942, worked in an arsenal in the 1970s. At first, he was a temporary worker and had no education, but he worked diligently. He taught himself the theory of semi-automation and later became a formal worker in the factory.
At that time, Han Xiang's right leg had been sawn off due to illness, and a wooden stick was tied to the missing part.
"Her mother's home is far away from mine. There was no car in that era. It took a whole day to walk to visit her parents-in-law."
When her husband was talking with outsiders, Han Xiang always looked at her husband's face and pulled her scarf from time to time, showing a smile on her face.
"She has some deaf ears and bad eyes. In fact, she can't understand what we are talking about." Zhen Tangshan said. Han Xiang doesn't like to talk, her legs and feet are always inflexible, and she doesn't go out most of the time at home. Food, cooking, washing clothes.
Han Xiang can't remember what happened when he was young.
A neighbor who had known her for more than 50 years said that Han Xiang accidentally fell from the kang when she was two or three years old, and broke her leg. Then she developed an infection in her right leg. When she was in her 20s, she had no choice. At the township hospital, saw off his right leg and put on a prosthesis.
"No one knows exactly how old the prosthesis is."
Picking up scraps for decades, selling them to feed stray cats and dogs
The two elderly people were illiterate and did not surf the Internet, and shared an elderly mobile phone with faded buttons.
They don't know or understand the name "grandma with horse legs", why they are called "grandma with horse legs".
"We are obviously wooden legs." Han Xiang lifted the lid of the large kettle on the stove, and the water inside was gurgling with bubbles. Zhen Tangshan laughed, "Which pot is not open or which pot is lifted."
In 2018, a netizen met Han Xiang while passing by Songjiazhuang Town in Yu County. He felt that the old man was pitiful and gave her 100 yuan.
At the beginning of December 2021, this video suddenly went viral on the Internet, and grandma's strong and optimistic smile infected many netizens. Some netizens thought that grandma's prosthesis was made of horse legs, and it fermented into a hot topic of "hunting for grandma with horse legs".
This has aroused the attention of local village officials and related welfare fund organizations, and urged netizens to forward and provide information, and they will provide assistance as soon as possible.
"We are not short of money, thank you for your concern." Zhen Tangshan's tone is firm. "We have children and daughters, and we don’t need help from outsiders. Moreover, we have a monthly retirement salary of more than 2,900 yuan. We also plant two mu of land and can produce every year. 3000 catties of corn, all this is enough to eat and use."
Han Xiang seemed to have heard her husband's words, and pulled off her mask, "I won't pick up the scraps, it's a pity." On the wall were stacked cardboard shells, and plastic bottles of various shapes were packed into nylon bags.
Zhen Tangshan said that his wife has been picking up waste products for decades. In addition to subsidizing the household, she also feeds stray dogs and cats.
Children have bought prostheses, but they are not used to wearing them
Han Xiang swept the cinder into the dustpan and sat on the edge of the bed to continue listening to her husband.
Speaking of the current situation and past experiences of their children, some Qiao Duan Zhen Tangshan will repeat it several times, with a smile on his face that can hardly conceal pride.
"There are three children in our family, but two are twins. The children are one year apart in age. It was hard to raise them back then." Zhen Tangshan recalled that when he went to work, he earned 35 yuan a month, and his wife brought them at home. The child, "she fed this one and then another one, this one cried, just coaxed, that one cried again."
"But my children are fighting. When they go to school, they are among the best in the class." Zhen Tangshan excitedly stretched out two fingers, "At that time, college was rarer than it is now, and my son was admitted to college. On Qingdao, Shandong, there is still sea there."
"The daughters have not left their hometown, they are by their side, and can often see them." Zhen Tangshan said that the temperature was calm, "The children are reassuring, we have no regrets." Han Xiang listened quietly, pinching her hands. The corner of the sheet was rubbed gently.
The prosthesis on Han Xiang's right leg was made by a carpenter in the village. The carpenter was a young man in his twenties, but he passed away the year before.
Zhen Tangshan said that her wife was reluctant to change, and did not want to change. The children had bought prostheses before, and she said that she was not used to wearing them, because the carpenter did a good job back then.
In the online video, Han Xiang's screen is played at a rapid pace, and then set off with a strong rhythm of music. The 71-year-old looks like "hot and wind", walking like flying.
But in reality, Han Xiang is not so full of emotions and speaks very quietly.
She just used to face the outline of Beacon Hill in the distance every morning, picking up something for the little dogs and kittens she was thinking about.
Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin