WANG ZUOBING, who made a living selling barbecued meat on Xinzhou Street 7, Futian, was a man with a long history of helping others.
Early Wednesday, as he tried to help yet another victim, he lost his life but became a hero in a city where barbecue vendors are cursed for making the city dirty.
He was stabbed to death after trying to nab a robber near his barbecue stall early Wednesday.
Wang was born in a farmers’ family in Wushan County, Chongqing Municipality, in 1976. Although he was the youngest of six siblings, he took the best care of the family, one of his brothers recalled.
His eldest brother was a wastrel who spent the family’s savings on gambling and prostitution. His wife committed suicide 14 years ago, leaving behind two sons, the youngest fi ve months old. Wang, who was the only unmarried brother, took up the burden of raising the two kids after the death of their mother. He also supported his own mother, as his impoverished brothers had their own families to take care of. Wang moved to Guangdong after graduating from high school, in search of a better life for his mother, nephews and himself.
He didn’t fi nd a good job in Zhanjiang City. After spending all his money, he worked in a construction site as a laborer for about a month. With the 500 yuan (US$65.79) he earned, he moved to Dongguan, hoping hecould be luckier. Three years ago, he came to Shenzhen and started to sell barbecued food in Xinzhou.
His brothers urged him many times to marry but he always refused, saying he had to pay his nephews school fees, and would not marry until he had enough money.
“From the moment I fi rst knew him, I knew he was a very responsible person,” said his fi ancee Yang Jiuqin, from Guizhou. He was not only a good son and good brother, but also a brave man who always fought against injustice and crimes, Yang said.
Last year, a robbery also happened near Wang’s barbecue stand. After hearing a cry for help, Wang raced to help the victim. When he returned, the food on the stove was charred and the buyers had left, but he told Yang happily that he had apprehended the robber.
The couple had planned to marry next month. “I want to make more money so we can build a house and start a small business in my hometown. I don’t want you to suffer,” Yang recalled Wang as saying just hours before he was killed. Media reports in Chongqing said Wang would be buried in a revolutionary martyrs cemetery in his hometown, Wushan County. (Lin Min)