The Hands of Vendors in a Food Market

By He Fan

One day,we arrived at a food market in Dongshankou,Yuexiu District of Guangzhou.

As we entered the market,we saw a few breakfast stalls at the entrance. Several owners were eating their rice noodles,standing or sitting. On the left lay a stall named Granny He’s Rice Noodle Rolls,and facing it was a stall selling cakes from Northeast China. On the fish stalls,horsehead tilefish,red big eye,mandarin fish,horse mackerel,groupers,and crucian carps were abundant,all iced. You could even see crocodile meats,soft-shelled turtles,and jumping frogs. The frogs were still alive,struggling in the net. Many scorpions were crawling on a brick. They could be used for cooking soup. Eggs were neatly stacked. Stoneground tofu was inscribed neatly with characters. Vegetables looked clean and juicy. Customers picking and choosing fruits kept messing up the fruits that were originally well-arranged,and then the vendors would immediately restore them to their original states. There were more than ten kinds of soy sauce of different brands and flavors on the shelves. Some buyers walked to the market,carrying bags. Some came by bike,with NMR images in the basket which had just been taken from the hospital.

He Zhisen pointed out to me the signboards on the tops of the stalls. Many of them had a business license hanging on one side and a picture of the stall owner’s hands on the other.

This had been the idea of Ma Zengfeng,a student of He Zhisen.

Ma Zengfeng once came to the >market to have an on-the-spot>observation of the vendors’ lives.>As he arrived, he came up to the>vendors to chat with them, but>he was driven off. So he sat down>nearby and drew pictures of these>vendors. After a while, people>came over to watch him drawing.>They acclaimed the life like>pictures and asked him to draw>them one.market to have an on-the-spotobservation of the vendors’ lives.As he arrived, he came up to thevendors to chat with them, buthe was driven off. So he sat downnearby and drew pictures of thesevendors. After a while, peoplecame over to watch him drawing.They acclaimed the life likepictures and asked him to drawthem one.

When Typhoon Ewiniar came,the entire market was flooded. Ma Zengfeng stayed there and helped the vendors move the refrigerators. He spent three months drawing the hands of 108 stallholders in the market.

There was a story behind each pair of hands: The vegetable stall owner’s hands were dry with dirt; the meat stall owner’s hands were greasy with knife wounds; the seafood stall owner’s hands had a salty and fishy smell of the sea. Among these vendors,there were women who wanted to be beautiful,youngsters who dreamed of going to college,people who changed their profession in order to take care of their family,people who loved playing mahjong,parents who were concerned about their daughters’ performance in their college entrance examinations,and couples in a happy marriage lasting for 20 years.

He Zhisen showed me one of the pictures and asked me,“Did you notice the number on this lady’s hand? She was illiterate,and she wrote down how much she earned every day. The amount is 800. She’d earned 800 yuan that day.”

He Zhisen said emotionally,“These vendors are so positive. They only sleep for 4 hours a day,but they are so happy. When we chatted,they often said,‘Don’t pity us. As long as we have this stall,we can make money and afford to send our children to the best schools in Guangzhou.’”

I asked He Zhisen,“What have you learned from your observation in this market?”

He thought for a moment and said,“Positive spirit. It’s a kind of attitude and ability to survive and to seize opportunities in a tough environment. It’s a strength that comes from the bottom up.”

(FromVariables: Seeing Small Trends in the Chinese Society,CITIC Press Group. Translation: Chen Jiani)