The "post-80s" girl with a disability in the lower limbs "walked" out of the road of common prosperity by relying on a pair of cloth shoes

Zhang Qiqi sorted out the cloth shoes that were displayed by Xiang Jing

(New Year grassroots) The "post-80s" girl with a disability in the lower limbs "walked" out of the road of common prosperity by relying on a pair of cloth shoes

Shaoxing, February 11 (Reporter Xiang Jing) "Prepared 1,000 pairs of new cloth shoes, in two days to test the water live." At the beginning of the new year, Zhang Qiqi was busy learning to "live stream with goods" and hoped that the old cloth shoes would "go out of the circle" on the Internet.

If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you would never have thought that this confident "post-80s" girl is - congenital lower limb disability.

The mission of Zhejiang Province to build a demonstration zone for common prosperity is the common expectation of all people, including the disabled group. At present, there are 3.12 million people with disabilities in the province, and the number of licensed disabled people exceeds 1.36 million.

Zhang Qiqi was born in a "cloth shoe family" in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the "hometown of textiles", from choosing employment to inheriting cloth shoe making skills, "touching the net" to selling shoe soles, from personal entrepreneurship to driving the employment of the disabled around... For more than 30 years, she has stepped on difficulties and misfortunes and "walked" the road of common prosperity by relying on a pair of cloth shoes.

Zhang Qiqi showed reporters the innovative spring cloth shoes Xiang Jing photographed

Physical disability Love is not mutilated

Unlike ordinary people, Zhang Qiqi was born with hypochondriasis, which led to deformities in the lower limbs. "The older you get, the more different you are from others." Zhang Qiqi recalled that this was her initial impression of herself.

Around the 1990s, her parents took her around to seek medical treatment, but due to family economic conditions and other factors, she was eventually unable to cure her.

Shaoxing Disabled People's Entrepreneurship and Employment Incubation Base Xiang Jing photo

Unfortunately, she was optimistic.

"In my memory, my parents never thought I was special. What to do at any age will encourage me to do it. After entering the school, the teachers and classmates were also very friendly to me. Zhang Qiqi believes that the positive atmosphere of home and school has played a crucial positive impact on her personality.

Ligushe Village, Doumen Street, where Zhang Qiqi is located, is located at the junction of urban and rural areas in the north of Shaoxing, which is the "hometown of old cloth shoes". His grandparents all made a living by producing cloth shoes, and Zhang Qiqi was familiar with the craft of cloth shoes from an early age, and would help the family paste cloth boards every summer vacation.

Traditional cloth shoe making process shows Xiang Jing photo

In 2004, Zhang Qiqi chose to study in Hubei University, focusing on the field of pharmacy. Because of the relevant policy subsidies of the state to encourage the disabled to go to college, she can receive a scholarship of 10,000 yuan per year.

"At that time, I thought that I was a 'sick child' since I was a child, and I should know more about medicine. And I would love to see the outside world, and if I don't go out of college, I may never have the opportunity to go out again. "Medicine made her clear and accept her condition, but after graduation, she encountered many obstacles in finding a job, and finally chose to return to the textile industry."

Under the matchmaking of Shaoxing Disabled Persons' Federation, Zhang Qiqi successfully entered a local garment foreign trade enterprise in 2007. From processing documents and learning to copy to handing over and negotiating business with customers, in more than 10 years, she has transformed from a business "little white" to a sales manager.

Although he is crippled, he is determined and strong. Zhang Qiqi grew up, love is not broken, which also laid the foundation for her later entrepreneurship.

The sole of a traditional cloth shoe is photographed by Xiang Jing

Find ways to make old cloth shoes "not dead"

The times continue to impact, and the traditional cloth shoe market is gradually shrinking. Zhang Qiqi frankly said that the family workshop opened by his parents almost fell into a "half-dead" stalemate, and the business fell to a low point.

In 2014, Zhang Qiqi, who "understands the market", keenly smelled this crisis and decided to let the old cloth shoes "touch the net" and expand the sales market.

"General shoes are rubber soles, and cloth shoes are breathable, coldproof, and foot-raising, and there are many advantages, and the network may be able to find the cloth shoe market." Subsequently, Zhang Qiqi settled the product into a wholesale platform through the form of individual industrial and commercial households, his parents did technical guidance, his lover did production management, and Zhang Qiqi did the "command" of network sales.

"Cloth shoes, insoles, soles (i.e. mille-feuille soles), handmade, mechanical, all on the Internet. Testing the waters, I found that it was the sole that sold the best. Zhang Qiqi revealed that in 2021, the sole alone sold 300,000 pairs.

The sole accounts for 80% of the craft of a pair of cloth shoes. The "big sale" of the sole makes Zhang Qiqi feel the charm of the old craft more and more.

Two years ago, the Shaoxing Disabled Entrepreneurship and Employment Incubation Base made Zhang Qiqi's "cloth shoe dream" set sail again. It is understood that the base provides 18 shops along the street of 2300 square meters free of charge for the disabled to start their own business projects.

Zhang Qiqi successfully applied to settle in the base and founded Shaoxing Anqi Shoes Co., Ltd. At this point, she devoted herself to the cause of cloth shoes, and also applied for the production of handmade cloth shoes as an intangible cultural heritage project in Yuecheng District of Shaoxing City.

Paste making, cloth beating, cutting, hemming, nadi... In the "Cloth Shoe Variety Hall", an entrepreneurial base of more than 60 square meters, more than ten processes of cloth shoe production are displayed, which are carefully sorted out by Zhang Qiqi for more than a month. She is here almost every day to connect with customers and negotiate business.

"The incubation base is a new platform for foreign exchanges and a new window for inheriting skills." In Zhang Qiqi's view, children who come out of the "cloth shoe family" must better inherit this "root vein". The application for intangible cultural heritage is not only to prove the exquisite craftsmanship of the old craft, but also to call for this "marginal product", which needs the joint protection of the government and all sectors of society.

Zhang Qiqi entrepreneurial space display Xiang Jing photo

Willing to be the "leading big sister" of the disabled around

In addition to being slow to move, Zhang Qiqi has always believed that she is no different from ordinary people; although her lower limbs are disabled, cloth shoes have given her new life force.

Employment and entrepreneurship is a key path for disabled people to become self-reliant. Zhejiang Province proposes that by 2025, it will upgrade and standardize 100 employment and entrepreneurship bases for the disabled and 1,000 employment and entrepreneurship sites; more than 50,000 new disabled people will be employed, and more than 5,000 new public welfare posts for the disabled will be added.

In the face of the vision of common prosperity of "no one can be less", Zhang Qiqi said bluntly, "I have gained too much love when I grew up, and now I want to give back to the society and be the 'leading big sister' of the employment of the disabled around me." ”

The sole is a craft, not limited by time or space. Zhang Qiqi thought that he could mobilize the disabled people who had labor around them to take the soles of their shoes, so that they could also earn money at home.

After simplifying the process, in 2021, she walked into a number of local "homes for the disabled" with needles, threads, cloth and other materials, and taught the disabled to make cloth and na soles by hand. However, the hole in the sole of the shoe is relatively dense, and some disabled people cannot complete it because it is difficult to concentrate.

"After we discussed, we changed the dense holes into circle holes, and after the sequence, they were gradually able to complete." Zhang Qiqi confessed, "From their smiles, I feel how meaningful it is to sell the soles of their shoes and they get paid." ”

"The soles of the shoes of friends of the disabled will be used as public welfare funds, mainly to assist the employment of the disabled." Zhang Qiqi already has a long-term plan in mind, "As long as there is a market, there is a future." They take the soles of the shoes, I pick the burden of sales, and together we do a good job in this business. ”

Green, pink, yellow... Before the Spring Festival this year, in the cloth shoe production factory, a pair of spring cloth shoes that break through the traditional black and bright colors will be stepped up and will soon be launched on the "live broadcast terminal".

Zhang Qiqi revealed that the live broadcast machine has been debugged, the live broadcast team has been prepared, she hopes to make cloth shoes to a younger market through young sales, "After understanding this platform, I can explore the home sales model for the disabled and take everyone to get rich together." (End)