That night, Yu Yin had a nightmare. She dreamt that she was homeless, a little child wandering alone on the street in the dark. Her father's house didn't welcome her, and her mother's house had no place for her. She stood in the middle of the road, wailing loudly.
In the distance, two bright beams of light shone, accompanied by the roar of car engines. Little Yu Yin wiped away her tears and walked towards the cars. She didn't want to live anymore; she was too tired. With a creak, Yu Yin suddenly woke up.
"What did you dream about that made you cry so bitterly?"
Lu Shurui woke Yu Yin up, wiped away her tears, and gently patted her back.
"I dreamt that I was standing in the middle of the road, homeless, desperately walking towards the oncoming cars..."
"That's a dream. You still have us. You won't be homeless."
Yu Yin rested her head on Lu Shurui's arm, holding his hand, "Shurui, thank you for forming a family with me, and for having four lovely children and loving elders."
"We rely on each other, warm each other, and help each other succeed. Why are you having a nightmare today? You haven't dreamt in a long time."
In the first few years after Yu Yin arrived, she often slept poorly at night and had many dreams. Later, after Kuai Kuai and Man Man were born, her relationship with Lu Shu Rui deepened, and she dreamed less and rarely thought about the past.
"When I talked to Ah Xiang about Yunnan Province, we mentioned that after the educated youth left, they abandoned their children. In every place, there are children who have been abandoned. Some were abandoned by their fathers, some by their mothers, and some by both of them."
Yu Yin thought of that TV series and that song again, and her heart ached terribly.
"It's tough for adults, but what did the children do wrong? They didn't choose to be born, yet they were abandoned at such a young age. Those with relatives on one side are a little better off; at least they can live to adulthood. But for those who become orphans, their fate is anyone's guess."
"Hasn't the local government tried to find a solution?"
Yu Yin felt helpless when she recalled Ah Xiang's words.
“The local government has limited resources, and there are just too many such cases to manage. Think about it, in those years, millions of educated youth went to Yunnan Province, how many of them got married and had children? And so many children were born!”
“The government will send the children to orphanages, but it can’t go all over the country to find them parents.”
At that time, families with limited resources were not many, and most children grew up in orphanages. Yu Yin felt uncomfortable, but there was not much she could do. She would ask A Xiang to donate some money on her behalf when she returned.
At that moment, Yu Yin had the idea of making money. Only with sufficient funds could she provide substantial help to those children. Even decades later, let alone now, the children in Yunnan Province will not have an easy life.
Yu Yin took a few days off to spend some quality time with A Xiang.
"Ah Xiang, what are your plans? Are you going to visit some tourist attractions, or maybe come to our shop, or the farm?"
"If it's convenient, Comrade Lu Shurui, please accompany my family, Yang Shu and the children, to show them around this city. I'd like to visit your farm and dried goods store with you and learn from your experience."
Yu Yin thought it was a good idea; it wasn't easy for the children to come all this way, and she couldn't let them be busy with their affairs. Shu Rui didn't have any projects this winter break, so she could let him accompany Yang Shu and the others, and even if they did things separately, it wouldn't interfere with their schedules.
Yu Yin and Lu Shurui discussed it and thought it was feasible.
Lu Shurui and Ping An'an accompanied Yang Shu and his family on a tour of Shanghai, while Yu Yin and A Xiang discussed how to make money.
Yu Yin accompanied A Xiang on a tour of the dried goods store and also visited the breeding farm. Seeing the lively and adorable piglets and lambs, A Xiang's heart was also filled with warmth.
“Yu Yin, I also want to lease a piece of forest in Yunnan Province to raise livestock. Our conditions are better than yours. The land is bigger, the species are more abundant, and most importantly, it's cheaper. I came here this time to see if the outside world is really that good. Is it worth so many people abandoning their husbands and children, disregarding everything, to leave and return to this prosperous land?”
Ah Xiang's eyes reddened as she thought of her poor cousin, who had left so young.
"Go ahead and wipe it off; what you can't have is always the best!"
“I just can’t accept it. Many girls and boys in our village married educated youth, but when the college entrance examination was reinstated, they took their admission notices and left without looking back. They abandoned their wives, husbands, and children.”
"My cousin, Yunduo, is such a beautiful girl. She can sing and dance, and she's very skillful. She's the best girl in our village. She married an educated youth and had a lovely daughter. The family was living a happy life. But then her husband was allowed to return to the city. He went through the formalities and left without looking back."
Ah Xiang still hates him to the core when she thinks about it now; he was such a scoundrel.
"Not long after he left, Yun Duo found out she was pregnant and wanted to tell him the news, but she sent letter after letter, and they all disappeared without a trace. The address he gave her might be fake, or he might have just ignored the letters."
Ah Xiang took a sip of water, wiped away her tears, and thought of Yun Duo's experience, she couldn't help but want to cry.
"Yun Duo had given up and wanted to live a good life with her child. She really wanted to live a good life. But she didn't expect that she would have a difficult childbirth and lose both her and her baby. The doctor said that she had been worrying too much and had overexerted her body."
“Yinyin, she is still very young, has a four or five-year-old daughter, and elderly parents. She was really determined to live a good life, but she didn’t have the chance.”
Ah Xiang finally broke down in tears; she had been suppressing her emotions for too long.
Yu Yin knew that this was not an isolated case; there were many, many more such cases in places they couldn't see.
Like that TV series, it only depicted a microcosm, a small part. I wonder if those people will regret it in the dead of night. Yu Yin hopes that the TV series will be released as scheduled, so that those people can see the sins they have committed.
Ah Xiang calmed down after a while.
"Yinyin, I've really been holding this in for too long, and I don't know who to confide in. Yunduo grew up following me around, and I still can't get over that hurdle. I really do dream about her every night. There's only so much I can do for her; I can only try my best to take care of her children and parents."
“It’s not just our village, there are many others as well. Those with only one parent are a little better off, at least they can manage to make ends meet, but those abandoned by both parents are in a much worse situation. You know the conditions there, the orphanage is barely surviving.”
Yu Yin could imagine that she had also secretly gone to the orphanage. At that time, she felt that it was better to go to the orphanage than to be kicked around like a ball.
She went to inquire herself, but her qualifications didn't meet the requirements, so they wouldn't accept her.
That time, she had close contact with those children, and she realized how difficult their lives had been. Decades later, their material lives had improved, but their mental state had deteriorated. Most of the children had lifeless eyes, unsure of what the future held for them.
At that moment, the two women had a goal in mind: to do what they could, however small, for those children!
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