Our reporters Chen Qingbing, Zhou Siyu, Jiang Biao
What is the silent world like?
Someone answered, it is a world of black and white.
A sincere "I thank you so much", and a sarcastic "I 'thank' you", both mean the same thing to a deaf person.
In their eyes, all "thanks" are good intentions, and there are no other meanings such as banter, sarcasm, etc.
Because of this, misunderstandings and contradictions can be easily hidden in the silent zone between black and white.
Who can bring them a ray of light to illuminate the silent zone, so that the deaf can see the world clearly and be heard at the same time?
In 2020, as the first deaf person in China to pass the legal professional qualification examination, Tan Ting raised her hand among the nearly 30 million deaf people in the country among the 162,000 who passed the exam.
"Public law is a life's work"
"My mission is to bring the voice of justice to the silent corner."
After three years of preparation for the exam, after successfully passing the law exam, Tan Ting repeatedly mentioned this sentence in the face of overwhelming interviews and countless dazzling spotlights.
However, some people also questioned: "She can't even appear in court, so how can you talk about justice?"
Even she herself had asked her teacher Tang Shuai for help with a legal professional qualification certificate.
"After I pass the exam, what can I do? I can't even appear in court." Although Tan Ting can speak, she needs to rely on mobile phone voice transcription to communicate smoothly because of her hearing impairment.
Tang Shuai is the first sign language lawyer in China to provide legal services for the deaf. He is well aware of the difficulties in obtaining public legal services for the deaf today.
How to get divorced?
How can I get someone to pay me back?
Because they do not know the law, some simple problems can become a great trouble in the life of the deaf.
Tang Shuai replied to Tan Ting: "Appearing in court only takes a few minutes, but popularizing the law is a lifetime's work. The significance of popularizing the law is far greater than appearing in court. You are a spark, which can not only popularize legal knowledge for the deaf group, but also drive more people to do it. Legal services for deaf people."
A spark, Tan Ting remembered.
She registered an account on the short video platform and regularly launched short videos and live broadcasts of French popularization.
More and more deaf people find Tan Ting.
Now, there are nearly 4,000 WeChat friends in Tan Ting's mobile phone, all of whom are deaf people who seek her advice.
And the number of people she has helped is far greater than this number.
Many deaf people work during the day and only have time for consultation at night, so Tan Ting often needs to answer video calls at night.
When the number of inquiries is the largest, there are dozens of calls a day.
In front of the camera, the two communicated silently.
Sometimes tens of minutes, sometimes hours.
Although there is no fee for the consultation, she is not burdened by the extra work.
"How can this be a burden? Every time I help others, I am very happy!" When she said this, a warm and hearty smile appeared on her face.
Tan Ting shared a recent consultation case.
A deaf person borrowed money for a friend on a lending platform because he listened to his friend's words, thinking that the money would be repaid directly by his friend and had nothing to do with him.
When the deaf people found out about the problem, they were also threatened by their friends, "If you get a lawyer, you are an accomplice."
The deaf find Tan Ting.
Tan Ting immediately contacted the lawyer in the law firm to help him win the lawsuit, and the money was finally compensated by his friend.
Faced with deaf friends who were "taken advantage of" by others because they did not understand the law, Tan Ting was anxious for them from the bottom of her heart.
"Deaf friends actually need the popularization of legal knowledge. Last time, a friend came to thank me specially, saying that if it weren't for me, he would not know that high-altitude throwing is illegal."
The people Tan Ting has helped before are now studying law with her.
Last month, a deaf person living in Jiangsu stayed in Tan Ting's live broadcast room and asked her if she still had an impression of herself.
After he said his name, Tan Ting asked in sign language in surprise, "It's been so long, do you still remember me?"
The deaf man also immediately replied: "You helped me, of course I remember. I am very grateful to you, I will come to Chongqing to invite you to dinner if I have the opportunity."
It turned out that the deaf man encountered a robbery in 2018. Due to his limited education and inconvenient communication, he was unable to explain the cause and effect of the incident to the police.
He contacted Tan Ting after several hours of communication, and Tan Ting helped him write the story and asked him to print it out and hand it to the police, and successfully filed a case.
When deaf friends are moved by Tan Ting's seriousness, Tan Ting is also always moved by their sincerity.
"Deaf friends are very simple, some will send me the fruits they grow at home, and some will always remember me like this. These small actions have become the driving force for me to persevere."
The efforts of Tan Ting and her colleagues have also paid off.
Tang Shuai said that the questions everyone asks in the live broadcast room are different. In the past, they might ask how to get a divorce, but now they will ask how the property of the husband and wife will be divided after the divorce.
"Knowledge can change destiny"
As the first deaf person in China to pass the law test, Tan Ting is regarded as a "student tyrant" in the eyes of many people.
Hearing this title, Tan Ting laughed and hurriedly denied it.
She was born in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and lost her hearing at the age of 8 due to a medical accident.
At that time, she had not finished the second grade, and could only watch other children go to school with schoolbags at home every day.
"When can I go to school?" she asked her parents repeatedly.
Parents always say, "You can go after you finish taking the medicine."
One day, two days, one month, two months... Although she was still young, she gradually understood that the school might not be able to go back.
"During that time, I often had nightmares. I dreamed that I went to school with my schoolbag on my back, but I couldn't hear everyone talking and was kicked out by the principal." Tan Ting said that she felt very uncomfortable every day at that time.
A small "Xinhua Dictionary" became her hope.
She flips through the dictionary every day and learns to read by herself with Pinyin.
When she was 13 years old, her parents learned that there was a special education school in Xichang, so they sent Tan Ting to learn grammar and sign language.
At first, she was required to start in second grade, but she insisted on taking fifth grade courses.
She felt that she was too old to go to the second grade.
Neither the teacher nor her father agreed, and she tried every means to "protest".
Her father couldn't beat her, so he asked the teacher to intercede and let Tan Ting go to fifth grade.
Although she couldn't keep up at first, she devoted all her time in her life to studying and successfully became the first in her class.
"Reading must be hard work. If I don't run, who will run for me?" When she said this, a warm smile appeared on her face again.
Later, when Tan Ting transferred to Leshan Special Education School, she was able to jump from the seventh grade to the first grade.
During her studies, she has been speeding up.
The thirst for knowledge is one aspect, and the other reason is that she "doesn't want her parents to work too hard. Although there is no tuition fee for studying, living expenses and travel expenses are also money."
Her family was not rich.
My father drove a tractor and worked as a carpenter; my mother, besides growing and selling vegetables, also worked hard for the house.
"Although my family's economic conditions are not good and my parents' educational level is not high, they have always been very supportive of my studies. They believe that girls should be self-reliant, learn more knowledge and become financially independent." Tan Ting said.
In 2013, she entered the special education major of Chongqing Normal University through the college entrance examination.
Among the 4 candidates in the same grade, only she was admitted to the undergraduate degree.
It was also that year that her father died.
"At that time, my whole body was dead. I collapsed to the point of crying, and I fainted directly." Tan Ting said.
Her father passed away, but Tan Ting knew that her studies would continue, and she had to continue.
Among the deaf people she contacts, deaf women are often looked down upon, and marriage is considered their best destination.
Some people are illiterate and don't understand what "getting a certificate" means, so they are taken to the Civil Affairs Bureau by their family members and signed on the marriage certificate in a confused way.
But along with Tan Ting, her father never hesitated about her future.
"Knowledge can change destiny." This sentence has been deeply imprinted in Tan Ting's heart.
The Dilemma of "China's First Sign Language Lawyers"
In 2017, Tan Ting graduated from university, her first consideration was whether to become a teacher.
In the same year, Tang Shuai's mood fell into a low ebb, and the title of "China's No. 1 Sign Language Lawyer" overwhelmed him.
Tang Shuai can be the first, but he doesn't want to be the only one.
But the reality is that he is both the first and the only one, and many deaf people will find a way to find him when handling cases.
He thought about change and once sent a group of young lawyers to learn sign language, hoping to cultivate more practitioners who understand both law and sign language.
"After half a year, I found that if they learned it, they didn't learn it." Tang Shuai explained, "First of all, sign language is divided into 'Mandarin version' and 'Dialect version'. If you only master grammatical sign language, you may not be able to master natural sign language. Sign language people communicate. Second, they don’t understand deaf thinking, and it’s useless to know sign language.”
Tang Shuai is proficient in sign language because his parents are deaf.
"My original intention came from my parents, and I have empathy for the deaf community."
Deaf friends call Tang Shuai, not "Lawyer Tang", but "Master Tang".
Tang Shuai explained that because most deaf people could not distinguish the two identities of lawyers and judges at that time, they simply "combined the two into one", referred to as "Mage".
"On the one hand, you can see that they respect me, and on the other hand, you can see how much they need help." Tang Shuai said helplessly, "but I'm just an ordinary person, and I can't help all deaf people."
Late one night, after his busy work, an astonishing thought suddenly flashed into Tang Shuai's mind: "Why not let deaf people study law? Only deaf people understand deaf people best!"
Just do it.
The next day, Tang Shuai used all his resources in the industry to contact 4 top law schools in China, trying to find out the deaf people who are studying law.
But he was disappointed to find that none of the schools admitted deaf people to the law program.
It is difficult for a deaf person to get an undergraduate degree. Even if they choose a major in law, who will teach them?
"I'll do it myself." Tang Shuai started his second attempt, recruiting paralegals for the deaf across the country in 2017.
Tang Shuai may not have imagined that what he did for the deaf was like a stone thrown into the water, causing ripples.
Tan Ting is a "wave" affected by "Ripple".
She had read relevant reports and knew that there was a lawyer Tang Shuai who had been speaking for the deaf, but she never thought that she would have an intersection with him.
She saw job postings online and signed up with surprise.
"I thought at the time that Lawyer Tang is so powerful and speaks for us deaf people. I want to learn from him." Tan Ting said.
That year, Tang Shuai recruited a total of 30 deaf paralegals, and Tan Ting was one of them.
The beginning of preparing for the exam is like "listening to the scriptures"
At the beginning, Tan Ting did not think about taking the law exam or engaging in related occupations.
It was not Tang Shuai who changed her, but groups of deaf people who came to Tang Shuai for consultation.
"Sometimes I see them anxious, and I am anxious too. I really want to help them, but I don't understand the questions they ask." Tan Ting said, seeing all the deaf people around Lawyer Tang alone, she couldn't wait "Tear down" lawyer Tang into several, "one deaf person will be divided into one lawyer Tang".
Seeing deaf sign language lawyers as their "life-saving straws", Tan Ting is eager to learn legal knowledge and help them.
Tan Ting knows that passing the legal exam is the only way to achieve this goal.
But even for able-bodied people, the forensic examination is not easy.
She not only does not understand the law, but also does not understand the logic of the law.
Open the video and open the book, Tan Ting initially felt that she was "listening to heaven".
For example, when she saw the word "legal person", she thought it was a specific person.
Later, when I checked the information online, I realized that the "legal person" is an organization, not a person.
The hardest thing to understand is the logic behind the law, for example, why do lawyers defend bad guys?
Through study, she realized that "even criminal suspects have the right to be protected by law".
Speaking of these easygoing people now, she has made unimaginable efforts in the past three years.
She works and studies while she wakes up at 6 and goes to bed at 11.
"I basically learn by watching videos. Videos with subtitles are easy to handle. Without subtitles, I can only read the book by myself. If I can't understand the book, I can only watch it again and again." Tan Ting said.
Netizen Xiaoye, who had been preparing for the forensic exam for two years, was deeply moved by Tan Ting's deeds.
He said that the number of subjects in the law test is large and the content is large, and it is often necessary to open the video at 2x and 3x speed to finish the content quickly.
"We did this because there were subtitles, and it was easy to understand the meaning. I can't imagine how Tan Ting could digest these jerky contents over and over again in front of the video." Xiaoye said.
In the first year, Tan Ting's subjective questions were poor by 10 points, and in the second year by 4 points.
Although she is one step closer to her goal every year, in the third year, fate played a joke on her again.
A week before the exam, Tan Ting's mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
She wanted to give up the exam, but her mother insisted she take it.
Every time she talks about her mother, Tan Ting, who calls herself a "little sun", still can't help crying.
While weeping, she recalled: "My mother, who has lived in Daliangshan all her life, knew what a hamburger looked like for the first time when she was seeking a doctor. She was very surprised when she saw high-rise buildings."
This year, Tan Ting has her own daughter, which makes her more aware of her mother's hard work and more grateful for her mother's support.
Father, mother, Tang Shuai, deaf friends... On the way, Tan Ting was not running alone.
It is also because of the countless support and love that she has received along the way, now she will patiently answer when she receives one after another inquiries.
"Tan Ting's success has given me a lot of confidence and made me feel that someone can continue to do this. At the same time, it has also given confidence to many deaf people, giving them one more channel to speak out, and there are also role models to learn from." Tang handsome said.
From 2017 to the present, Tan Ting, who came to the law firm in the face of the "Light of Justice", eventually became a beam of light.
This beam of light is even more special, shining directly into the silent zone of the deaf community.
She traded her possibility for a bigger possibility.
More and more "Tan Ting" will appear
Tan Ting was like a lever that moved a boulder.
This boulder is not just causing ripples, but bigger waves that will affect more people.
Tan Ting passed the law test at the moment when the boulder fell into the water.
A lot of things that were previously unthinkable have happened.
Tang Shuai took the initiative to contact his alma mater, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, hoping to cultivate a group of new-era compound legal talents who understand both law and sign language at the school level.
"Tan Ting is the basis for me to do this. I can boldly say that this is necessary and feasible." Tang Shuai said.
In January 2021, the 2020 Excellent Public Legal Service Talent Experimental Class of Southwest University of Political Science and Law was officially opened.
This is not a temporary interest class.
The experimental class is a fixed major with a 4-year schooling system. Students need to choose the best of the best. Only 40 students are selected to study in the class among thousands of freshmen.
Tan Ting and Tang Shuai are currently external teachers of the experimental class.
Tang Shuai said with a smile: "The students in the experimental class need to take 16 credits in sign language. If they fail the sign language test, they will not be able to graduate."
Tan Ting, who went to teach the students, was very happy.
"They're all better than me. Seeing more and more great people helping the deaf makes me more empowered."
As a student of the first experimental class, 20-year-old Ma Wenrui was also infected by Tan Ting's enthusiasm and deeds.
"Before entering the experimental class, my parents and I watched Mr. Tan Ting's video and were deeply moved. When I knew that she would come to teach us, I was also very excited." Ma Wenrui said.
Teacher Tan Ting was also well received by the students in the class.
She is cheerful and enthusiastic, and can quickly close the distance with students. She never hesitates to encourage and praise students, and she always answers questions. Her classes are always "lively and lively".
In the process of teaching sign language, she often tells her students how deaf people think and how to communicate effectively with deaf people.
"Promoting public legal services is my original intention. After entering this class, I am more clear about my mission. I hope I can let more hearing-impaired people know the law, understand the law, abide by the law, and use it." Ma Wenrui said.
In addition, the Disabled Persons’ Federation of Dadukou District, Chongqing City, where Tang Shuai Law Firm is located, also took the initiative to contact Tang Shuai, hoping to purchase their legal popularization services, so that sign language law popularization can reach more deaf groups, and also proposed to provide legal services for the extremely poor deaf groups. Provide certain financial support.
Over the past few years, more and more people and institutions have been involved, and they have jointly held the "same umbrella" to provide more precise legal services for the deaf.
Tang Shuai is no longer the only sign language lawyer in China.
In the near future, Tan Ting will no longer be the only deaf lawyer in China.
Now, an assistant of the law firm has passed the objective test of the law test and is expected to become the second deaf lawyer in China.
"Of course, two sign language lawyers are far from enough. If 10,000 deaf people need one sign language lawyer, I hope that one day, there will be 3,000 sign language lawyers and 3,000 sign language prosecutors in society. , 3,000 sign language judges." Tang Shuai said.
Regarding the future, Ma Wenrui, who is a sophomore, also knows that there are many challenges ahead, but she believes: "Challenge also means a direction, so that we can know where we should work, not to mention teachers like Tan Ting. An example gives us strength. She can become a lawyer under such difficult conditions, why should we not work hard for these 30 million deaf people?"
(Participating in the writing: Tang Yi, Li Aibin, Zhou Wenchong)
Hosts of this issue: Huang Zhen, Liu Jinhai