Finding footing after freedom

Keeping busy

This year, Zhang demolished his old wooden house in the village and used a part of his State compensation to build two new ones－one for his own family and the other for his elder brother, who significantly aided his appeal efforts over the past decades.

Zhang also found a way to occupy his time.

"I don't like staying at home all the time. If so, my life will be meaningless," he said.

At first, he considered working as a security guard, but his sons didn't like the idea of him doing such a job, which would require him to work day and night shifts.

They realized their father was anxious about being idle, so they encouraged him to learn to use Douyin to sell goods last year.

Although Zhang doesn't speak Mandarin well and had no sales experience, his fame due to his acquittal quickly attracted a number of local business vendors willing to work with him to sell agricultural products and daily necessities such as oranges, tissues and scissors.

Initially, Zhang's sons made the short videos, but after he married Wang and mastered some video-making skills, he began shooting them himself. He now has about 460,000 followers and has obtained 8.05 million thumbs-ups on the video-sharing platform.

Zhang said each vendor pays him about 300 yuan if he can sell 100 of their products per day. In his view, his work not only earns him a living, but also makes life fun.

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn