A 65-year-old sanitation worker in Beijing recently published a 300,000-word novel on the internet after composing it over the course of 20 years.

According to the author, Zhu Zhaoshi, the novel, which he started in 1996, was based on his own love story with his wife. He said that he had shed tears while penning his story.

Zhu showed his talent in writing when he was a child. For example, while he was at school, a teacher thought he had plagiarized an article he composed at the age of 13 because it was so good.

Though Zhu loved reading and writing, he couldn't pursue it as a career, as his family's poor economic situation meant he had to work from a young age. After graduated from high school, he went on to work in construction.

“I was lonely at that time. My co-workers just drank and played cards after work, which I found pretty boring. So I picked up writing again," he explained.

Coming to Beijing in 2016, Zhu now works as a sanitation worker. After a hard day of work, he comes to his little paradise, a deserted yard on Xiangshan road, to write. “This place is flooded with light, and it is quiet and warm,” he said with a smile.

“He writes for hours after dinner. After we go to bed, he is still writing. We admire his spirit,” said one of Zhu’s colleagues.

“Though sanitation work is a dirty business, the workers here still carry the beauty of the world,” Zhu said, adding that he plans to compose another novel based on the life of sanitation workers as a tribute to his 3-year career in Beijing.