Easing the burden: 10-year-old Chinese girl tries to help family pay for sister’s cancer treatment by selling sweet potatoes on the street
- Nicknamed ‘Little Mei’ the girl braves cold Shandong winter nights to help the family make some extra money
- The mother is torn because she wished her daughter did not feel the need to sell the sweet potatoes
Most residents in Zibo, a city in eastern China’s Shandong province, were walking fast, trying to find refuge from the cold winter that is part of life in early February.
On some nights, Little Mei was joined by her other sister, “Little Tong”, 5, followed her sister’s lead and thanked the people who had bought their sweet potatoes.
“My mum and dad are in Jinan taking care of my little sister, and I come here to sell sweet potatoes to get some money,” she explained in a Sohu news video. Jinan is the capital of Shandong and is about 110km away from Zibo.
Li Ling, Little Mei’s mother, told the South China Morning Post that her husband Wei Shubin had quit his job and joined her in Jinan to care for their youngest daughter with cancer.
When Wei quit his job, the family lost its sole source of income and have since gone into heavy debt. The family has raised over 52,000 yuan (US$8,250) through crowdfunding, but it is insufficient to cover the total treatment costs.
To help relieve the weight on her parents’ shoulders, Little Mei began selling sweet potatoes after school or during days off.