“The baby’s out! It’s a boy! Congratulations!”said the midwife as she happily brought the baby to his mother. Suddenly, she noticed that something was not right. The midwife took a closer look and shouted in surprise,“Mrs. Cheng! There is something wrong with his legs!”The mother lying in bed saw the baby’s deformed legs and fainted with fright. After she regained consciousness, she started to cry and told the midwife,“Please kill the baby. We cannot afford to raise him!” Hearing this, the baby’s Grandpa and Aunt shouted,“No way! He is a child of our family. We will raise him by any means! Let him live!”

The child was named Cheng Feng-Hsi, and he grew up in a tiny village in Kouhu Township, Yunlin County. As he was born with a pair of deformed legs, he could not walk like a normal person. He could only crawl around slowly. As Cheng came from a very poor family, he was frequently made fun of. But he did not give in to fate. Instead, he bravely took on the challenges that life threw at him.

When Cheng turned six years old, his family became too poor to feed him. So, his parents asked an old street performer to take Cheng away, hoping that he could somehow earn a living by performing. After wandering about for a few years, the old street performer died, and Cheng had to return to his home in Kouhu.

After that, Cheng and his older brother tried to rear ducks on the outskirts of town to make a living. Unfortunately, a typhoon came and washed the ducks away. Cheng desperately tried to save the ducks, and almost drowned himself. Luckily, his dad and older brother arrived in time to save him.

Cheng only began attending elementary school when he was nine. His school was very far away and he had to crawl all the way there. But Cheng did not mind the hardship. Rain or shine, Cheng always turned up for class and studied diligently, for he wanted to go to college to change his destiny.

In the end, he successfully made it into the Faculty of Law at National Chung Hsing University, and became a college student. During those days, making it into college was a big deal. The hardship that he went through made people respect him even more.

“A Boat in a Stormy Sea”is Cheng Feng-Hsi’s autobiography. He regarded himself as a tiny boat in a stormy sea. Though he felt lonely, he never felt lost. Cheng’s story teaches us that if someone without legs can make his own success, normal people like ourselves can too.

After graduating from college, Cheng married Wu Ji-Zhao, and they both taught at Kouhu Middle School. Sadly, not long after he got married, Cheng passed away due to liver cancer. He died at the young age of thirty-one. In order to commemorate his spirit, Madam Wu Ji-Zhao established the Cheng Feng-Hsi Foundation to help others like him to deal with life’s challenges.

　　「生出來了！是個男孩子！恭喜！」產婆開心地把嬰兒抱給媽媽時，卻發現這個孩子好像不太一樣，產婆仔細一看，才吃驚地大叫：「鄭太太，他的腳……有問題！」躺在床上的媽媽一看到兒子的雙腳畸形，就嚇得昏倒了。等她醒過來後，一邊流著眼淚，一邊拜託產婆：「快把他壓死，我們養不起這樣的孩子！」爺爺和二嬸在旁邊大聲反對：「不行！他是我們家的孩子，再苦也養得起他！讓他活下來吧！」
　　這個孩子名叫鄭豐喜，出生在雲林縣口湖鄉的一個小村子裡，他的雙腳天生畸形，沒有辦法走路，只能慢慢地在地上爬；同時家裡十分貧窮，常常受到別人的冷嘲熱諷，但是他不會因為這樣就怨天尤人，反而願意勇敢地面對坎坷的命運。
　　鄭豐喜六歲時，因為家裡實在太窮了，父母只好把他交給賣藝的老伯帶走，到處靠表演賺一點兒錢。過了一段流浪的日子後，老伯去世，他才又回到口湖的家中。
　　接著，鄭豐喜和哥哥在郊外養鴨子，想辦法賺錢生活下去。有一次，颳起颱風，狂風大雨把鴨子沖走了，鄭豐喜為了搶救鴨子，自己也差點淹死，幸好爸爸和哥哥及時趕到，救了他一命。
　　鄭豐喜九歲才念國小一年級，學校離他家很遠，他只能爬著去上學，可是他一點兒也不覺得辛苦，不管晴天雨天，一直都努力地學習，因為他一心想要讀大學，改變自己的命運。
　　最後，他終於考上中興大學法律系，成為大學生。當時能讀大學，是一件很了不起的事，再加上他坎坷的遭遇，更讓人敬佩。
　　汪洋中的一條船，是鄭豐喜的自傳，他認為自己好像是大海中的一條船，雖然孤單，卻不絕望；因為沒有雙腳的他，都可以靠著雙手，走出自己的路，更不用說是好手好腳的我們了。
　　鄭豐喜大學畢業後，和吳繼釗女士結婚，一起在雲林縣口湖國中教書。但是結婚之後沒有多久，鄭豐喜不幸因肝癌去世，一生只有短短三十一年。吳繼釗女士為了紀念他的精神，成立鄭豐喜基金會，希望能幫助更多身心障礙的人，勇敢地面對坎坷的命運。