Fang Yu Photo:Sina Weibo

"They look at you, and their eyes say, 'you have no hope,'" said Fang Yu, a writer with cerebral palsy in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province, to describe how her soul was stung before she was able to set it free from pain and people's slants after becoming enchanted with writing. The 34-year-old woman spent almost 34 years sitting down. Rebelling against life's unfair offer, she used her two toes to write stories of more than 200,000 words in total. 

'Writing, the pain-killer' 

Fang has had to bear the lifelong condition that has affected her movement since she was 40 days old. She was very interested in Chinese characters and writing ever since she was little, and she self-taught herself to read by reading TV subtitles during her adolescence. 

An omnivorous reader, she has consumed Chinese classics by writers such as the Tang Dynasty (618-907) literati Wang Wei, as well as Western literature, of which Fernando Pessoa was one of her favourite authors.

"The first book I read, which I took it quite seriously, was The Dream of the Red Chamber," Fang told the Global Times, explaining how the book, one of China's Four Great Classical Novels, inspired her to become a writer. 

She not only aspired to become a writer herself, but also saw it as a something life saving. 

"I've never seen writing as a profession, but used it for pure expression. Sometimes it is a pain-killer for my mental stress, and in future, I want to use it to earn a living," said Fang. 

Over the past few years, she has written and shared her works - mostly web novel chapters and poems - on platforms such as Sina Weibo and her own WeChat channel Ziyedege (子夜的歌) by using a typing method called "mouse input, a senior version iii."

The typing method that can be used on any computer device was created particularly for disabled people who have difficulty typing. It only requires mouse controls, so since 2006, Fang has been using two toes on her right foot to click on the mouse and write her works.

"The novel was about a story between an inexperienced man - a student - and a woman who has had many love affairs. When I wrote it, I wanted to ask whether one's ruined life can be reversed or not, but no, I guess," said Fang. 

Wang Ran Ji, which shows the writer's delicate sensitivity to the subject of love, is just one among her many works she is looking to publish.

"Only one that has been published can be called a work, I stick to that goal," explained Fang to the Global Times reporter Li Yuche. 

A writer's cul-de-sac 

Fang experienced a major crisis in her writing career in 2019, when the typing method she used for a long time, was discontinued and faded out from the market as many other input designs that target mainstream consumers were introduced.  

Fang was in a desperate situation. Without the typing method, she has to look for the characters she wants on random websites and then copy and paste them to form a sentence. At the time the writer had to face the Shakespearean conundrum of whether or not to be a writer. 

She posted a 600 character-long letter on Sina Weibo looking for the typing method's designers, but saw the sad news that the entrepreneurs who designed it had passed away, one in 2011 and the other in 2018. 

Fang's letter, however, still proved useful. Wang Xiaochuan, CEO of Sogou, a Chinese tech company that offers search engine services, saw her post and was committed to designing a typing method to help her.   

The "dian dian typing method' was born a month after Fang's post. It was supposed to be a gift for Fang, but has become a gift for many other people like her. 

"People are not isolated individuals, but need to be connected with society. We could care less about what she contributes to [society]. That's not that important. What's important is that she can participate, which is the basic rights of a social person," Zhao Yitao, the company's product manager, told media. 

A search for definition  

The self-identity Fang pursues - to be socially defined as an author - has been overshadowed by the fact that many people online see her as an "encouraging figure" or objectifying her as "a touching story." 

Many people with similar life circumstances have reached out to Fang after her story went viral in 2019. But, Fang says she does not want to be a "consolation" for them, as she believes that they can support each other through mutual intellectual sharing. 

In one of her poems for a girl with cerebral palsy - To the girl I meet today - she writes: "turns all suffering into carved jade" and "turn pitifulness into respect, making it become love! Then you can stand up." 

Although Fang has not yet experienced romance, she yearns for it just like any other woman would and so remains confident that she deserves to be loved because of her spiritual abundance. 

"Is it J'adore?" said Fang, mentioning her favourite perfume.

"Yes, I wear it every day, even though I stay at home most of my life."