Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 822 The Port (Part 1)

"Here, there used to be a row of fences running horizontally, with large gaps. People from Myanmar would hawk their wares through the fences. They mainly sold local handicrafts, and it was quite lively. Many tourists liked to buy things from them."

Li Xia pointed to a three-meter-high border barrier sealed with fine barbed wire and continued with a smile: "Travelers all think that things bought from border residents are more authentic and must be foreign goods. Little do they know that those things are actually made in China, and after going around in circles, they still end up back in our own hands. To be honest, these handicrafts would only cost a few yuan here, but when they are handed over to us by border residents through the fence, the price is more than ten times higher."

Although this was Zhang Yang and Xiao Zhao's second time visiting the border, this time they were accompanied by Li Xia, who was practically a local, so they were able to hear a lot of interesting stories.

Xiao Zhao turned to look at the armed police officers standing guard not far away and joked, "Brother Li, is it considered smuggling for border residents to conduct cross-border transactions? They're right next to each other, and the police don't care?"

Upon hearing the word "smuggling," Li Xia's expression hardened, but he quickly recovered and said calmly, "The government usually turns a blind eye to ordinary people earning a living; they won't interfere."

Zhang Yang, who has many years of interviewing experience, noticed the change in Li Xia's emotions, but she did not press for details, as everyone has their own story.

"Brother Xia, look over there, what's that kid squatting there? Is he selling things too?" Xiao Zhao pointed to a small corner of the barbed wire fence that had been pried open by someone. The gap was just big enough for a child's hand to stick in and out.

Li Xia glanced at it and shook his head: "Since the pandemic, the border residents who sell goods have all been driven away. This kid is probably just trying to beg us for money."

Just then, a call came from the other side of the barbed wire fence.

The skinny little boy squatting down said in broken Chinese, "Big brother/sister, please give me some money. I've been starving for days."

Xiao Zhao hadn't seen a beggar in years, but when he heard the child begging, he couldn't help but go over.

A little boy, with a loose shirt covering his body and pants covering half of his buttocks, squatted on the other side of the barbed wire fence, wiping his nose with the sleeve of one hand, while his other hand barely reached out through a small hole.

"Big brother, please give me some money, I'm so hungry."

When Xiao Zhao took out his money, Li Xia stopped him: "Xiao Zhao, I know you mean well, but this will only encourage this kind of behavior, which is not a good thing."

Young Zhao was completely baffled.

"Brother Xia, why? It's just a little money, why isn't it a good thing?" Xiao Zhao asked with a puzzled look.

“Most of these children are being directed by adults; they are forced to beg for money. If we give them money today, these adults will think that sending the children out to beg is a profitable option, which will only lead more children into this predicament.”

After a pause, Li Xia glanced at Zhang Yang standing to the side. Seeing that the other man's expression was calm, he continued, "Do you remember the news from the early years in our China about those children who were trafficked, disabled to gain sympathy, and then used as beggars to make money? Look at all these people around here, but not many of them give you money."

It was around 10 a.m., and there were many people coming and going near the port, men, women, young and old, local business people and tourists from other places, but no one was as interested in the children on the other side of the barbed wire as Xiao Zhao.

Perhaps the abuse of children in the past had such a great impact that it depleted too much of the public's sympathy.

“Brother Xia, I know what you’re saying. But I’ll feel more at ease if I give him the money. At the very least, the kid can have a decent meal tonight.” After hearing Li Xia’s explanation, Xiao Zhao laughed easily. “Well, Sister Yang taught me that.”

Upon hearing this, Li Xia suddenly realized that he and his colleague were a reporter and a photographer, so how could they not know about such things? He felt somewhat ashamed.

Xiao Zhao took out a twenty-yuan Chinese banknote and placed it in the child's small hand, which was covered in black mud.

From beginning to end, Zhang Yang simply watched without saying a word. Seeing the child happily clutching the money and dancing with joy, a slight smile appeared on her lips before she quietly turned and left. "Deliberately crippling a child to beg—it's cruel to even think about. Thankfully, our country is strong now, and this phenomenon has disappeared," Li Xia remarked with a touch of melancholy, recalling his own impoverished childhood.

"And another thing," Xiao Zhao replied seriously, while squatting in front of the barbed wire fence, making faces and teasing the little boy opposite him.

"Still? That's impossible. I haven't seen any beggars on the street in ages. Old ones, young ones, I haven't seen many." Li Xia didn't believe it, squinting his eyes and making a judgment that any normal person would make. "Doing this now would cause public outrage. With the current strength of our police force, if they catch someone, they'll be put in a cage for quite a while. It's not worth it."

"It's not cost-effective, so now they all go door-to-door to rent disabled children. Some of the more frequent ones will even sign a written contract with the child's parents, establishing a so-called labor relationship, the kind where wages are paid on time, and they have to sign and put their fingerprints on it at the end." Xiao Zhao stood up, supporting himself on his knees, and patted the dust off his thighs.

For a moment, Li Xia realized that he had underestimated this young man, thinking he was no different from those who had nothing to do after eating and drinking their fill and liked to wander around.

Seeing how frankly Xiao Zhao spoke at this moment, it was clear that he had truly experienced it.

"Huh? Where's Sister Yang? Sister Yang, wait for me!" In the blink of an eye, Xiao Zhao chased after Zhang Yang in the direction she had left.

"Thank you, big brother. I wish you wealth every day."

The still broken Chinese sounded in Li Xia's ears. He looked down and saw the little boy holding twenty yuan with a bright smile on his face. Although his Chinese was broken, he was very generous with his gratitude.

He'd seen many children from this country across the street while smuggling; they were precocious. They were involved in all sorts of theft, robbery, and disgusting activities. At seven or eight years old, they were already standing on the roadside, trying to sell prostitutes to adults from China.

For some reason, this time, when I came with Zhang Yang and the others, I found myself to have some of the cuteness that children should have.

Is this a problem with my own state of mind?

At this moment, Li Xia vaguely recalled that the reason why China was cracking down on these illegal acts of trafficking and maiming children, forcing them to beg on the streets, was because a reporter from a southern newspaper first ignited a fire in the media, which then spread throughout the whole of China.

He had to admit that when he first met Zhang Yang at a local law firm in Anxi, he assumed that Zhang Yang was just like him, someone who had come to find connections to reunite with his relatives who were stranded in northern Myanmar.

Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that the other party was a reporter from Donghai Province. He had come all this way because he wanted to help a woman he didn't know find her only son.

According to Xiao Zhao's confession, this was not the first time they had done this.

The man whose name contains the character for "hero" still can't believe that in such a profit-driven society, there are still such pure and good people.

He was curious and wanted to see for himself, so he volunteered to join the group.

"Brother, money isn't everything!"

"Silly brother, money is of course omnipotent."

For some reason, a conversation he had with his younger brother a few years ago suddenly popped into Li Xia's mind.

He shook his head to dispel the memories and quickly followed.

(End of this chapter)