A few days ago, a customer received two cheerful plush toy horses sent from Yiwu, known as China’s free market city. One horse was normal, but the second one had its mouth stitched upside down. This made the red horse look sad and helpless instead of happy, and it struck an emotional chord in China’s netizens.

Once the customer posted a picture of the newly dubbed Cry-Cry Horse, the manager of the shop it was bought from sensed an opportunity in front of her eyes to turn a mistake into profit, so she ramped up the production of the melancholy horse. Now sales of the horse, which were 400 per day before the posting, have surged to 15,000 per day, and she is struggling to keep up with the demand for Lunar New Year sales.

Some people online are saying the Cry-Cry Horse is like an ancient Chinese proverb about a man who lost a horse, then went to look for it, and came back with more horses. Instead of focusing on setbacks, the Cry-Cry Horse shows that a loss may be a blessing in disguise.