Chapter 121
Two days later, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law returned from the welfare home. They both looked pale and disheveled, especially the child's mother, who looked like a walking corpse. As soon as she arrived at the door of the Wu family, she closed her eyes and fell to the ground.
That night, things got really serious. From the moment they walked into the alley, many people were watching. When they saw her fall to the ground, they all ran over. Some helped to support her, some pressed her philtrum and the tiger's mouth, and some went forward to knock on the Wu family's door.
When Aunt Wu and Uncle Wu came out to open the door, she slowly woke up and burst into heartbreaking cries: "Ah!!! My child!! They took my child away!!!"
The sound was so miserable that it made everyone who heard it feel sad.
No one quite understood what had happened, so they could only comfort her and help her inside.
She was so emotional that her limbs were weak and she was almost carried into the house. Tears kept flowing and she muttered to herself: "How could they do this? How could they take my child away? My child is not even weaned yet, how is she going to survive!"
Her eyes were full of despair and helplessness, which made people feel distressed. The neighbors gathered outside the yard and talked in low voices, fearing that something really happened so that they could help send her to the hospital.
Listening to the crying in the yard, everyone sighed and could only shake their heads helplessly. The country has its own laws, and there was nothing they could do after being caught. After all, no one had expected that they could be chased from such a distant county to the capital.
It was inconvenient for a child like Su Miao to join in such an occasion. He only knew that the crying lasted for a long time that day, and after that, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law never appeared again.
It was not until later when the gossip squad held a meeting that she heard about this again.
Aunt Zhang looked sympathetic and said, "How tragic! That little child was taken away by the family planning agency."
Others kept asking, "Took him away? Where? How could they take the child away?"
Aunt Zhang replied, "The county issued its own notice, saying that family planning is facing a critical situation. In order to strictly implement the policy of 'controlling population size and improving population quality,' those who can't pay the fine in full will need to choose one of their extra children for social adjustment."
No one had heard of this word, and they all urged Aunt Zhang to explain it in detail.
Aunt Zhang had heard it from others, so she couldn't possibly memorize every word of the policy. She could only give a rough idea of what it meant: "Oh! If you have too many children and can't afford to pay, then we'll take one away and send it to an orphanage or a childless family to raise!"
"Fuck! That's bullshit! Why send the child to an orphanage when you can just raise him at home? Wouldn't that just take up even more social resources? It's totally putting the cart before the horse!"
"That's right! Oh my! Every child is a piece of flesh that falls from its mother! It's really damn shameless to snatch the children away!"
"Hey! Does this count as child trafficking? Can we sue them?"
Aunt Zhang shook her head compassionately: "There are policies and regulations to support it. No matter how much you make a fuss, it's useless. The Wu family and several relatives have run around to many departments.
The final conclusion was that the child had been sent away and would definitely not be returned, so the county considered the punishment for the family complete. As long as they didn't have any more children, they wouldn't be fined again. They didn't have to hide anymore and could go home peacefully.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment and could only say, "Ah... this... can be considered a blessing in disguise. At least the remaining children don't have to run around."
"Yes, I can live a peaceful life from now on. I think her children are all sensible and will definitely have a bright future. I will raise them slowly and they will finally have a happy life after all the hard work."
Seeing that everyone seemed to have accepted it, Aunt Wang was particularly confused: "No! What's the meaning of a blessing in disguise? Now they are trying to steal the child! Cutting off human flesh and blood will be punished by heaven! Is this really the way it is?"
Grandpa Lin said, "What else can we do? If they hadn't been making such a fuss, the other children might have been taken away. This is already the best possible outcome. Oh! The people shouldn't fight against the officials. Let's keep our voices down!"
An older woman looked around, leaned over, and whispered, "I know about the social transfer programs in those counties. Families without children can go to welfare institutions and pay a fee. The healthier, younger, and better-looking the child, the higher the deposit you have to pay!"
This statement caused another cry of surprise: "Ah! Isn't that selling children?"
"Shh!!! Just know it, why tell it out loud? Don't spread it out!"
Everyone patted their chests and was thankful that there was no such policy in the city at present. This was simply too appalling.
In the years that followed, Su Miao could never forget this incident, and would occasionally hear people from the Wu family talk about the current situation of that family.
After being exempted from punishment, the other children in the family were taken back home to be raised. The couple raised four children by farming and doing small business.
Because of their turbulent childhood, the four children were more obedient and sensible than other children of the same age. They studied and lived very seriously and hard, and all of them finished high school.
But the common worry of this family is the little sister who was taken away.
Over the years, they have never given up the search, but because the family planning policy has been ongoing, the relevant units have always made excuses based on regulations.
It was not until the opening of the "two-child" policy more than 30 years later that they finally saw hope.
They sued the family planning official who was in charge of the matter to the Letters and Calls Bureau, not asking for any compensation, but only hoping to get some clues about the child and know whether she was doing well.
However, they did not expect that their appeal would be rejected on the grounds that social adjustment of excess children was a decision made based on the severe situation and policy of family planning at that time.
However, no records were kept of the whereabouts of the children who were uniformly transferred through social adjustments across the county at that time, so their letters and visits were not accepted.
After this incident was spread, it caused an uproar in society, and many people angrily denounced the relevant departments for "ignoring the demands of the masses and administrative inaction."
Under pressure, things finally took a turn for the better. Staff from the local health bureau, town government, and police station went to the family to understand the situation. Town government staff also promised to help find the child's whereabouts.
But after all, several decades have passed, and many of the veteran cadres involved in the incident have passed away. Without any archives, finding people is extremely difficult.
The elderly couple saved their DNA in the system, hoping to find their child one day.
But as time went by, the investigation progressed very slowly.
Until a few years later, the couple died one after another, and they never saw the child again.
The implementation of family planning has effectively controlled the population and created favorable conditions for the rapid development of my country's social economy.
However, the control of the limits of punishment, the traditional culture passed down for thousands of years, and the collision between human rights and national conditions have also become a major social contradiction in the past few decades.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
