Coming from a poor peasant family in China's northern province of Hebei, Cui Yingjie scraped a living in Beijing working the graveyard shift as a security guard. During the daytime, he roasted sausages on a portable stove mounted on his tricycle for sale.
Between his two jobs as security guard and street vendor, he did not have much sleep while earning a pittance. Much of what he earned went to his parents to help repay debts the family had incurred from his 53-year-old mother's medical bill for heart problems.
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