When you shake the hand of Yan Jiaman, a middle-aged man with a full beard, you can feel the calluses of someone who has worked with his hands his entire life. Sometimes that work has been in a factory, sometimes as a tricycle driver and a street vendor; after his two daughters entered college, he became a drayman trekking across the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province.

Yan Jiman, 47 years old, now has accidently created national buzz due to his strong and muscular body chastened by years of hard work. Tall and modest in manners, the half-naked man often wears a black hat, cropped pants and a pair of black canvas shoes. His abdominal muscles are obvious and strong. He looks like one of those daring and handsome characters in the movies.

But he lives quite differently from the flashy heroes. Every morning, he has to send milk to over 100 residents and at about 7 am, he goes to the Hanzheng Street and delivers goods with his handcart. The daily work ends at 4 pm.

The annual tuition for the two daughters is about 10,000 yuan. His wife works as a cook in a small restaurant, earning a meager 1000 yuan each month; while Yan says he can earn about 3000 yuan a month at best.

The job is arduous and demanding. Sometimes he will carry goods of 500 Kg, seven times his own weight. As he often covers miles and miles to deliver the goods, the shoes wear out easily and he has to buy new ones every three months.

Since 1999 the family home has been rented out to increase the household income. The family now lives in a shabby room of 20 square meters nearby. When asked at what time they would move back into their own house, Yan smiles and says they will not until the children finish college.

Despite certain hardships, Yan finds joy in the smaller things in life.

“March 24 was my birthday. My daughters bought my favorite sweet stuff - oatmeal.” he says, smiling happily.

Yan and his story has already been a national inspiration. China’s Weibo users expressed their admiration for his muscular body, and more to the point, his dedication and commitment to his family.

User i非诚勿扰I wrote: ”His hard work leads to the muscular body. The hard workers are the most beautiful. ”

User 快乐帮主 wrote: “That is what a real man is. Man, you can have no cars, no houses, but you must work like the man and fight for the happiness of the family. For love, man, Fight!”

User 名字改不回去了 wrote：”He is not pulling the cart, but the family. He is not displaying his muscles, but the depth of his life.”

By Xu Xinlei

Contact the writer at xuxinlei@chinadaily.com.cn