People recently flocked to the village homes of Li Baizhou and Luo Wansheng in southwest China’s Sichuan province after their longstanding unusual friendship drew public attention following a news report by app.cdsb.com.

Their friendship dates back to 41 years ago. Then, an accident left 26-year-old Li paralyzed in the lower part of the body. Considering the plight of his young wife and their 2-year-old daughter, Li decided to do something to earn a living instead of begging.

He then learned how to weave bamboo and was able to support the family by selling bamboo wares. However, Li divorced his wife in order to free her of the burden when their daughter was 10. Fortunately, a faithful customer and kind friend, Luo, walked into his life and has since been buying his bamboo craft for 31 years.

Though half of Luo’s warehouse was filled with unsold bamboo craft, he still came twice a month to buy from Li.

Their longstanding friendship has thus moved many people. Among them is a woman from Chengdu surnamed Yang who opened a Taobao shop to help Li sell his bamboo wares online.

Volunteers also helped Li’s daughter to open a store on WeChat platform. The daughter is grateful to all these kind-hearted friends and says their bamboo wares now have new markets, instead of bothering Luo. Li’s bamboo wares have not kept up with demand, while Luo’s unsold bamboo craft have all been sold out.