New Life of Hearing-impaired Couple in Changsha

This photo taken by daughter Zhang Yuhan with reporter's camera shows her parents, Zhang Yongsheng and Zhan Jingwen, at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. Though hearing-impaired, Zhang Yongsheng and his wife Zhan Jingwen managed to make their daughter, who also suffers from the same disability, hear at the age of two.

By running a snack stall at a night market and thanks to support from their relatives and friends, the couple managed to afford a cochlear implant for her daughter's left ear and a hearing aid for the daughter's right ear. "It is too expensive to have the similar treatment for me and my wife, and we have already been accustomed to the silent world anyway. What we want is to make sure our daughter can hear."

Earlier this year, when the family's story was spread out by a blogger, they surprisingly received loads of kindness and encouragement from a lot of strangers.

Thanks to the hearing aids donated to them in January, Zhang Yongsheng heard his daughter calling "dad" for the first time on his 32nd birthday. In March, with the help from a cochlear company, the family received cochlear implant surgery in Shanghai. After nearly a month of recuperation, when their cochlear implants were turned on and debugged, the three of the family heard each other's voices for the first time.

Since May, they have been under free hearing and speaking training provided by a rehabilitation center in Changsha. The father and mother also learn to speak from the scratch under the "guidance" of their daughter. Zhang hopes he could one day help other hearing-impaired people to hear the amazing sounds of this world. (Xinhua) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan (L) teaches her father Zhang Yongsheng (R) how to pronounce correctly during supper in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan plays with her father Zhang Yongsheng at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

Zhang Yongsheng looks at the signboard on his snack stall at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhan Jingwen (C) attends a class at a hearing rehabilitation center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhang Yongsheng and his family have a rest at home in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhan Jingwen (C) makes egg puffs for a customer at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan (L) attends a class accompanied by his father Zhang Yongsheng (R) at a child development center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan interacts with her father Zhang Yongsheng during supper in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan attends a class at a hearing rehabilitation center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhang Yongsheng and his family have their cochlear implants turned on and debugged at a cochlear service center in central China's Hunan Province, April 22, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhang Yongsheng (C) greets a hearing-impaired child, a classmate of his daughter Zhang Yuhan (L) of a hearing rehabilitation center, at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhang Yongsheng (C) and Zhan Jingwen (1st L) attend a class at a hearing rehabilitation center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan (L) attends a class accompanied by his father Zhang Yongsheng at a child development center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

Zhang Yongsheng (C) and his wife Zhan Jingwen (R) communicate with a hearing-impaired friend at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Daughter Zhang Yuhan plays with her father Zhang Yongsheng during supper at home in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai) 

Zhang Yongsheng (R) moves his snack stall at Sifangping night market in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, May 15, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)