"I seem to have become obsessed with delivering newspapers."
In Dongxin Zhuang Village, Shenjiatun Town, the High-tech Zone of Zhangjiakou City, there are 16 natural villages, more than 1,100 households, and over 5,000 villagers including the migrants. In such a big village, blind Jia Cunyu is absolutely a celebrity. He has been on newspapers and TV, and in 2007, he was selected as one of the "Top Ten Warm-hearted People" in Hebei Province.
When he was two years old, one of Jia Cunyu's eyes got sick. A local doctor gave him an injection, but his eye disease was not cured, and he lost sight from then on. The next year, the same thing happened to his other eye, which also lost its vision. After that, color became a word that he kept imagining in his mind.
One day, he heard that no one in the village was delivering newspapers. Sometimes, the newspapers would pile up for several days. So, he went to the village cadres and insisted on taking this job.
Jia Cunyu said: "As long as I am alive, I will keep delivering newspapers!"
In 2010, considering his age and blindness, the village decided not to let him deliver newspapers anymore. When he heard this, he was very anxious and went to the village cadres again, persuading them successfully.
When talking about his motivation for delivering newspapers, he said: "Lei Feng can do good deeds every day, but we cannot leave all the good things to Lei Feng. We should do what we can."
For 48 years, the villagers' houses have been built again and again. But no matter how much changes there are, or how many new families have been added, Jia Cunyu remembers them all in his mind, even the direction of each family's stove.
His biggest wish is to join the Communist Party.
At noon on January 30th, Jia Cunyu picked up the newspapers from the postal agency point, where the newspapers had already been classified.
Jia Cunyu distinguishes newspapers by their format, paper type, paper quality, and number of pages. "Completely by feeling. The format of 'People's Daily' is six or seven centimeters larger than 'Hebei Daily', 'Health Newspaper' is one or two centimeters smaller than 'Hebei Daily'; 'Zhangjiakou Daily' is generally the same size as 'People's Daily', but 'Zhangjiakou Daily' has two fewer pages, 'Zhangjiakou Evening News' is broadsheet." While touching the newspaper, Jia Cunyu smiled and said, "This year, someone subscribed to 'Guangming Daily'. It's similar to 'People's Daily', but I haven't fully figured it out yet."
It was time to go. Jia Cunyu organized the newspapers and envelopes, put them into his schoolbag, and his second younger brother Jia Cunyi handed him an iron cane. As he walked out of the outer room, his mobile phone rang. Jia Cunyu took out his phone and tried to answer it by saying "hello" for a long time, but failed to connect.
The first place he went to was Song Ruibin's house. Song Ruibin's house was very close to his home. After walking out of the door and turning left after ten steps north, he arrived. Song Ruibin was not at home, but his children saw him coming and wanted to help find their father. Jia Cunyu waved his hand and said: "No need." Then, he put down the newspaper and turned around to leave.
On the way back home, small cars were constantly driving through the alleys, but whenever they were the village's cars, they would stop far away to give him way. His iron cane often hit their cars, but the drivers were not angry.
The blind elder brother and the mute younger brother depend on each other for survival.
Jia Cunyu's home is at the far east end of the village. After entering a rusty iron gate, there are two short brick-tiled houses. The house is not very clean, but it looks simple and tidy; a pot of chives protrudes from under the bed, being the only green in the house.
After returning from delivering newspapers, it was already six o'clock. Jia Cunyu started cooking. Today, he would stir-fry two dishes, and the staple food was the steamed bun left over from the morning. He washed and cut vegetables. Although his movements were a bit slow, he was orderly, showing no sign of being blind. As for stir-frying, his younger brother could show off his skills.
Jia Cunyu said: "We two brothers have our own division of labor. Pouring oil into the pot and stir-frying are my younger brother's jobs."
Jia Cunyu said: "Now, the village and the town take special care of us. We don't worry about eating or drinking, and we don't freeze. This piece of clothing was given by the villagers." It was an old uniform of the transportation bureau's management personnel, with a "management" badge still on the sleeve. Jia Cunyu particularly liked wearing this piece of clothing. He said, "The villagers all say that this piece of clothing fits me well, makes me look spirited, so I particularly like to wear it."