A 75-year-old man sits in front of a ring light at midnight.
He carefully swatches lipstick shades on his forearm.
Dabs foundation. Compares undertones. Talks to the camera like any 22-year-old beauty creator would.
Except he's not chasing fame.
He's chasing his grandson's next injection.
From Jiangsu, China. 75 years old.
Better at winged eyeliner than his own daughter, apparently.
By day, he massages his 9-year-old grandson Jingyan — who was diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy at just six months old.
By night, he goes live until 12 AM selling beauty products to strangers on the internet.
Why beauty?
Because no brand wanted to hire a man in his 70s to endorse anything else.
Doctors told his daughter, Zhu Wei, that her baby boy had 18 months to live.
She sat and stared at him. All day. Every day.
That's when grandpa stepped in.
His reason was simple, and it hits like a truck:
"She is my only daughter. If anything happens to her, my whole family will collapse."
So he decided to protect them both.
Zhu didn't know how to care for an SMA child.
So he walked into the rehab ward of a children's hospital… and pretended to be another patient's relative — just to watch the therapists work.
He memorised the massage techniques.
Went home. Practised on Jingyan. Every single day.
Even when he was sick, he wore layers of masks and kept going.
The drug that keeps Jingyan alive — nusinersen — was approved in China in 2019.
The price tag was brutal:
To pay for it, Zhu:
Then in 2021, China's insurance finally covered the drug.
The cost crashed from 1.4 million → 33,000 yuan a year.
A 97% drop. A family pulled back from the edge.
Nine years old.
Goes to school on his good days.
Studies. Plays. Laughs with other kids.
His mother calls Zhu super dad, super grandfather, superman.
And the man himself? He has only one wish left.
To see Jingyan stand on his own. Without support. Just once.
That's what's behind every lipstick swatch at midnight.
That's all for now!
