A homeless man who found a baby girl in a bin is raising the youngster as his own.
Xiong Jianguo, 50, found his adopted daughter Yanyan seven years ago in Nanchang City, in China’s southeastern Jiangxi Province.
The pair now live under a bridge, and despite their difficult circumstances Jianguo is teaching Yanyan to read and write.
Speaking of when he found her, he said: “I guess she was one of those children that was born to a family who didn’t want a girl.
“I had lifted the top off the rubbish bin and was looking to see if there were any plastic bottles I could sell to recycle when I heard a baby. She was in a box in a blanket and I was absolutely stunned.
“She was so helpless that I bought a bottle and fed her, and I just knew then that I wanted to look after her and raise her. No matter how hard it is, I intend to make sure that I raise her until she is old enough to stand on her own two feet.”
He said that he did not believe an orphanage could give her a good home, although admits that by staying with him with no fixed address she could never have found a school place.
However, despite being barely literate himself, he has enlisted the help of other homeless pals who have managed to teach the girl to read and write and understand basic maths.
She has also reportedly learned numerous poems and sagas she recites to other homeless people under the bridge.
Jianguo said: “She is really bright, she learns very quickly. Life here on the streets is not easy, but she never complains.”
The pair earn enough money to live from recycling, and then together sit down to read books and study under the street light.
A reporter that visited the pair noted that the child had mosquito bites all over her body and admits that they often don’t have enough to eat.
But she said: “Whatever happens, every year on my birthday which is the day dad rescued me I get a small cake, and a trip to a photo studio so that my picture can be taken when I get a birthday present, and so I can have a memory of the day.
