Illustration: Xia Qing/GT
Have you ever heard of a stuffed toy repairer? Meet Liu Haimei from East China's Jiangsu Province. Known as "the doctor of stuffed toys," Liu recently went viral on the internet. Last year, she opened up an online store to repair toys. In less than a year, she has cured more than 200 "patients." Many Chinese netizens found her stories healing and began sharing their own tales with toys. For many Chinese who grow up as the only child in the family, toys are not only their childhood playmates, but also "witnessed" of their growth. Some people in China keep their childhood toys as companions, even after they grew up. New and emerging occupations such as a "stuffed toy repairer" or a "detective for lost pets" are warming people's spirits these days. This social trend shows shifting views for greater humanistic care no longer limited to humans. People now also care a lot about anything they are closely related to, whether pets or objects. In the future, it is believed there will be more and more new professions that will bring care and warmth to people.
