"Takeaway Poet" Wang Jibing: Ordinary people's pens can also write down the weight of life

China News Service, Nanjing, October 11th. Title: "Takeaway Poet" Wang Jibing: Ordinary people's pens can also write down the weight of life.

Reporters Chang Mucheng Ge Yong

Even though his collection of poems won the Lu Xun Literature Award, he still ran around the streets of Kunshan as an ordinary takeaway rider whenever he had time. Wang Jibing, who attended a readers' meeting in Nanjing on the 11th, said that no matter where his destiny leads, he always loves the hot world and writes the heavy weight of life with a pen.

Wang Jibing was born into a poor family and went to work on a construction site in Shenyang when he was a teenager. He once dreamed of walking fast on the scaffolding, but in reality he could only connect bricks and pass mortar on the ground, which made him confused for a time.

In order to relieve his depression, he worked for the owner of a used bookstall every night in exchange for the opportunity to read for free. After getting married, the family once built a wooden house on the water to live in. On a stormy night, the wooden house was crumbling. The light from the neighbor's flashlight fell on the transparent roof, and a little warmth was deeply imprinted in his heart.

"In my life dictionary, there is no word 'endurance'." Wang Jibing said that even if he lived on the streets and relied on scavenging for a living, he did not feel that he was doing it by force. The pen name "Scavenging" came from this period of time.

When he was a boy, Wang Jibing once wrote down his wish in his notebook: to become a great writer. In 1992, his novels were published in publications such as "Youth" and "Hundred Gardens".

His family did not support his writing, so Wang Jibing silently persisted and protected the love in his heart. "There is no persistence in something I love. If I am not allowed to write, I have to grit my teeth and persist." In 2022, the poem "Man in a Hurry" became popular across the Internet, with more than 27 million reads, making the public aware of this "takeaway poet."

He compared writing to tending cotton fields, and words are like picking cotton, delivering softness and warmth to readers. "I'm not a blacksmith, I can't make a sharp knife." Wang Jibing's original intention in writing "Flying Low" was to hope that readers would be more tolerant and have less negative reviews.

After "Flying Low" won the Lu Xun Literature Award, reviews on the Internet were polarized. Wang Jibing faced the controversy calmly: "I am willing to be a rock on the seashore. The stronger the wind and waves, the more they will wash me away."

Many writers hope to get rid of their labels, but Wang Jibing is grateful for the title of "takeaway poet". "If I keep my head down, it's not because I'm complacent, but because I'm carrying a debt of gratitude." Entrustment from all parties encouraged him to continue to speak out for workers in the new employment form.

"My life is like a quiet flowing river. Life gives me cliffs, and I give life waterfalls; life gives me rocks, and I walk around them calmly." In Wang Jibing's eyes, the pen in the hands of ordinary people can also catch all the weight of life, and continue to write warmth and hope in the world of fireworks.