On the evening of January 18, Hu Lei set up a stall on Xiangyang Street, Shapotou District, Zhongwei City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Photo by Beijing News reporter Sui Kun
Hu Lei's home is a one-bedroom, one-living room, a public rental house allocated for him by the local government. The living room was filled with glove boxes, and the bed was covered with crumpled sheets and yellowed quilts drooped beside the bed.
At home, when he is not in a wheelchair, he will lie on the floor as far as possible on the side of his body, put his elbows on the ground, and crawl forward; he will also throw his body forward, put his palms on the ground, and then use the power of his knees to push his body forward slide.
When he was 2 years old, Hu Lei suffered from polio. From then on, his legs became disabled and he had to kneel down to walk. He didn't like to take care of himself either, letting his long hair cover half of his face and leaving a thick black beard on his lips.
His life is simple. When he doesn't go out to do charity work, he rests at home during the day. At night, he goes to set up a stall on Xiangyang Street in Zhongwei City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, selling toys and small handicrafts, and occasionally picking up scraps. According to him, the annual living expenses will not exceed 10,000 yuan.
This person, who is extremely ordinary in the eyes of others, is actually the "kneeling giant" in the words of thousands of netizens. According to media reports, he has been doing charity for 16 years. He has helped more than 500 poor students by selling waste products, selling small handicrafts and the relief funds given to him by kind-hearted people, with a total donation of more than 1 million yuan. He was once named and praised by the People's Daily, and netizens called for him to be named a person who "moved China".
On the way to set up a stall in his electric wheelchair, he sometimes attracts the curious eyes of passers-by. People who are familiar with Hu Lei will introduce him: "Look, that's Hu Lei. He has been sitting in a wheelchair doing charity work."
When I was a child, I was helped by strangers while scavenging, and I fell in love with helping others.
According to Hu Lei and his relatives, Hu Lei had an unfortunate childhood.
In 1995, 2-year-old Hu Lei contracted polio. Hu Lei's father was depressed all day long because of his son's illness, and often got drunk to relieve his sorrow. Later, the drunk Hu Lei's father had an accident on the railway and died unfortunately.
Hu Lei's mother later remarried, leaving Hu Lei with inconvenient legs and feet in the care of his grandparents.
When he was 8 years old, Hu Lei followed the example of the waste pickers on the street and began to make a living by scavenging. Hu Lei goes out after lunch every day, crawls 5 kilometers to pick up waste, and returns home around 6 p.m. "The recycling price of complete beer bottles is the highest, followed by plastic bottles and cardboard cases. A monthly income of tens of yuan is enough."
Hu Lei's fourth uncle Hu Sheng remembered that even after Hu Lei sat in a wheelchair, there was always a big bag hanging on the back of the wheelchair, filled with paper shells and wine bottles, and it always made a pinging sound. "He didn't have scavenging tools at that time. When he saw the empty bottles, he climbed out of the wheelchair, put away the bottles and then climbed into the wheelchair."
Talking about his experience of scavenging as a child, Hu Lei felt that it was "not that bad." He also received help from many people at that time. "Strangers often gave me food and clothes, and some even gave me money directly. As a child, I could actually feel the warmth of society."
What really pained Hu Lei was the death of his grandfather.
Grandpa was not only the person who grew up with Hu Lei, but also the person who shaped Hu Lei’s outlook on life. Grandpa has always been in the habit of helping homeless people. He once said to Hu Lei: "Grandpa and grandma have done good deeds in this life. Even if they can't be with you in the future, someone will definitely come to help you."
In Hu Lei's account, the first time he did charity work was under a bridge. He saw a homeless man who was pitiful, so he took the initiative to give him his clothes and food. Hu Lei's grandfather had passed away at that time. Hu Lei felt that "after my grandfather passed away, I was as pitiful as this homeless man."
Hu Lei said that he fell in love with the sense of accomplishment of helping others. Since then, Hu Lei has been enthusiastic about public welfare.
His public welfare activities have also been featured in major media many times.
In 2021, Xinxiang, Henan Province was hit by heavy rains. Hu Lei purchased two trucks of supplies worth 20,000 yuan and donated them to the disaster area. When the goods were delivered to the donation point, people expressed their gratitude to Hu Lei. Due to a disability in his lower body, Hu Lei could only sit on the ground. He clasped his hands and kept saying: "When the country and people are in trouble, we all have a responsibility!"
In 2021, Hu Lei distributed school supplies to students in a primary school. Video screenshot
November 29, 2021, was Hu Lei’s 28th birthday. He came to the Third Primary School of Sanying Town, Yuanzhou District, Guyuan City, Ningxia, and donated schoolbags, notebooks, erasers and other items totaling 30,450 yuan to 525 rural students. Celebrate your birthday in this special way.
At 2:30 a.m. on December 22, 2023, Hu Lei arrived at the Jishishan disaster area in Gansu Province carrying charity supplies worth more than 50,000 yuan. The supplies included rice, instant noodles, mineral water, gloves, quilts and other daily necessities.
After doing good deeds and getting out of the circle, he declined charity organizations and brokerage companies.
He has been doing charity work for 16 years, but it was in December 2023 that a video that a friend shot of him in February made him famous.
One day in February 2023, Hu Lei and his friend Luo Ji drove a pickup truck with a load of school supplies from Zhongwei, Ningxia to a primary school in Gansu to donate.
Juanzi, a poor girl donated by Hu Lei, couldn't help but burst into tears when she saw him in ragged clothes, slurred speech, and disabled legs.
Luo Ji, who has been doing charity work with Hu Lei all year round, recalled that when distributing supplies, Juanzi shyly handed Hu Lei a bottle of milk distributed by the school. Hu Lei did not shirk and reached out to catch the milk. Then Juanzi came closer and said, "Uncle Hu Lei, thank you."
Luo Ji said that he had an intuition at the time that Juanzi was an emotional little girl, so he raised his mobile phone and pointed the camera at her, taking pictures of her subsequent interaction with Hu Lei.
The video later became popular on the Internet, with tens of millions of views.
Hu Lei recalled that at that time, text messages, phone calls, WeChat messages, and private messages on social platforms came in like a tide. "The phone is shaking and hot." Later, many charity organizations wanted to cooperate with Hu Lei, and the brokerage company also wanted to sign a contract with him to deliver goods live. But Hu Lei declined.
Hu Lei said that he has helped many people, most of whom were poor students like Juanzi. There are many storage cardboard boxes in Hu Lei's home, including one filled with receipts from charities and thank-you letters sent to him by children. For these children, Hu Lei does not want the media to disturb them.
Hu Lei is also worried that the flood of public opinion will overwhelm Juanzi. After the video went viral, Hu Lei found Juanzi's home.
Juanzi's home is a self-built house in the countryside. There are 6 brothers and sisters in the family, all of whom are left-behind children. They usually rely on their grandparents to take care of them. When Hu Lei learned from his grandfather that Juanzi had received targeted help from a charity organization, the two men from the northwest held hands and cried for a long time.
"People are like this. They won't say anything when they are wronged, but they will burst into tears when they hear comfort."
Luo Ji followed Hu Lei through many impoverished primary schools. "Actually, we often encounter scenes like the little girl watching Hu Lei cry. Sometimes we cry with those children. Their lives are really hard, and some There are still holes in the children's winter cotton clothes, and they can only drink a bottle of milk during the Chinese New Year..."
Luo Ji said that Hu Lei may be so keen on charity precisely because he has experienced the suffering in the world.
On the afternoon of January 17, Hu Lei was sitting on the floor at home watching short videos. Photo by Beijing News reporter Sui Kun
"I am not disabled, I have hands and feet"
Hu Lei has been setting up a stall every day for several years.
The preparation for setting up a stall starts with putting on pants, which is also the most time-consuming and labor-intensive part of the entire stall setting up process.
When the weather is cold, Hu Lei wears five layers of pants before going out, from the thinnest cotton pants to bulky cotton pants. He applied it layer by layer.
Because his legs could not be straightened, each layer of Hu Lei's pants was pulled up to his waist in a "Z" shape. Sometimes the pants can no longer be pulled up, only to find that the waistband has just reached the crotch. At this time, he needs to roll on the ground, change from kneeling on the ground to sitting on the ground, and then grit his teeth and pull up his pants.
The reporter offered to help, but Hu Lei refused. "You can help me for a while, but not for a lifetime."
The things Hu Lei sells are small toys and handicrafts. These goods are usually packed in several large cardboard boxes and stacked like building blocks in Hu Lei's living room. Before going out to the stall every night, he would think about the selection and pick out the toys he thought would sell best, then pack them into boxes and put them in his wheelchair.
Hu Lei has two wheelchairs. One is an electric wheelchair and the other is an ordinary wheelchair. The two wheelchairs have a clear division of labor: the former is his car and the latter is his truck. When the two wheelchairs are connected together, they become Hu Lei's transport vehicle.
Every time he goes out to the stall, Hu Lei drives his wheelchair very fast. People who can't walk fast like to go fast.
The place where Hu Lei sells his stall is called Xiangyang Street, which is a lively pedestrian street in the center of Zhongwei. The merchants on the street all know Hu Lei, and they call him "the person who does charity" or "Hu Lei who does charity."
At around 7 p.m., Hu Lei came to the north end of Xiangyang Street and started setting up a stall. He stacked the goods slowly, and each toy had a fixed placement. Hu Lei's goods will be displayed for an hour, from 7 to 8 pm. He enjoyed the process very much and would arrange the goods while video chatting with his friends, talking and laughing.
Because he sells toys, Hu Lei's stall always attracts children. He likes children, and when children come to the stall, he occasionally teases them.
Hu Lei is the "group favorite" on that street. Whenever Hu Lei passes by the door of his store, some bosses will call Hu Lei to stop and give him some small gifts-sometimes it is a cardboard box that can be sold as scrap, sometimes It was firewood for the stove, and the owner of the barbecue restaurant would grill a few skewers of ribs for him every time.
At central defender, Hu Lei is a star and many people have watched his videos. When someone sees Hu Lei, he will come up and ask, "Are you that Hu Lei?" Hu Lei answered "yes" with a smile every time. After confirming their identities, many people held up their mobile phones to record the incident, and while filming, they said, "This is the disabled person Hu Lei who is doing charity work."
Hu Lei is always disappointed when he hears the word "disabled person". He hates being called disabled. He feels that he is self-reliant and more like an able-bodied person than many able-bodied people. Sometimes he would emphasize to the people photographing him, "I am not a disabled person. I have hands and feet, and I work hard to be self-reliant."
Hu Lei worked really hard. Every time he sets out to stall, he will set up his stall until two o'clock in the morning and the crowd has dispersed. Even if it rains or snows, he will still go out as usual. The income from setting up a stall every night is not fixed, and may range from a few hundred to dozens of yuan. "Every month I will leave a few hundred dollars for myself, some money for my grandma, and the rest will be used for charity."
On February 2, it snowed heavily in Zhongwei. Hu Lei was hawking in the white wind and snow, "Selling Barbie dolls, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Little Train." Someone walked by him, stopped and said to the person next to him: " Look, Hu Lei."
A man shouted, "Hu Lei, you are amazing. You are the mascot of our central defender. I admire you very much." Then he stood at attention and saluted him.
On the evening of January 18, passers-by recognized Hu Lei on Xiangyang Street in Zhongwei City and took the initiative to say hello. Photo by Beijing News reporter Sui Kun
“Doing charity can gain the love of many people”
Hu Lei has never been to school since he was a child and is still illiterate.
Hu Lei often asks friends to help him read comments from netizens, and he usually asks friends to do the updates he posts on his social accounts. On the afternoon of January 18, he received a gift from a fan: a smart pen with literacy function. Wherever you don't scratch, the smart pen will read the scratched text.
Hu Lei was so excited that he tore off the newspaper from a box, carefully smoothed out the folds, and wrote the sentence "If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools." As a result, after the smart pen read "If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools." Made a sound.
Hu Lei said that he wanted to learn to read so much, so he crawled into the room and found a picture book for teaching young children how to read. As a result, the smart pen completely stopped working because the font size was too large.
Not going to school is Hu Lei's biggest regret, and it is also the source of his motivation to continue sending school supplies to children in schools for so many years.
He said that he did not want his children to suffer the same hardships again; he said that seeing the grateful eyes of the children could make up for his regrets; he said that if he could go to school, he would have excellent grades, and he would be very smart; He said, "But it's actually very good now."
In the corner of Hu Lei's living room, there are several banners rolled up, and next to them is a stack of certificates and medals nearly half a meter high. The top of the stack is a medal sent by Mutan Primary School, Huangduobao Town, Yuanzhou District, Guyuan City, which reads "To Mr. Hu Lei: Donate to support education, love is as deep as the sea."
Regarding Hu Lei, the praise on the Internet is not one-sided. Some people also questioned him, "Where did he get so much money for charity?"
Hu Lei said that his income mainly comes from social donations, setting up stalls, and occasionally scavenging. "Ten thousand yuan a year is enough for living expenses, and the rest will be used for charity."
What he usually wears most are volunteer cultural shirts distributed for free by charities. Many of them have holes in them, but he still wears them.
The reporter asked, what can you gain from doing charity? Hu Lei answered without hesitation, gained the love of many people, and contributed to the country.
He is grateful for the help given to him by governments at all levels. Hu Lei’s electric wheelchair was donated by the local government, and the washing machine, TV, and water heater at home were also donated by the government. The local government also solved problems such as subsistence allowances, social security, and public rental housing for him.
In the process of doing charity, his mantra is "study hard and contribute to the motherland in the future."
Not being accompanied by his parents since he was a child, Hu Lei knows how to take care of himself better, and he also desires to love and be loved more.
In December 2023, Hu Lei got a girlfriend. "She's not from Zhongwei, she's a very good girl."
Hu Lei's girlfriend was moved after learning about his deeds. She came to find Hu Lei from other places and expressed her willingness to take care of Hu Lei for the rest of her life. Hu Lei also longs for a family, but due to his special circumstances, he hesitates again and again towards girls. Finally, with the girl's insistence, the two finally came together.
Hu Lei said that what touches him most about his girlfriend is that she understands his contribution to charity for so many years.
"Doing charity work all year round is very tiring because a large part of my income has to be invested in charity. But my girlfriend is very supportive of me and said she would join me in charity in the future."
(Hu Sheng, Luo Ji and Juanzi are pseudonyms in the article)
Beijing News reporter Sui Kun