Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 807 806 The Child Is Gone
After having breakfast, Tang Zhitong saw the children stealing wheat on his way to Wang Bo's production brigade.

Although education is not free, primary education has been basically universalized in the city. Most of the few school-age children who do not attend school are because they cannot learn the material and their families want to save the money.

In contrast, the number of out-of-school children has increased in rural areas in recent years.

Although everyone knows that studying can help people escape poverty and change their destiny, the real difficulties they face are undeniable.

On one hand, they paid money but did not participate in or participated less in the production team's production and relied on their families for support; on the other hand, they worked in the fields to earn work points, which, although less, were enough to support themselves, and they could even receive a few yuan in dividends at the end of the year.

Between anticipated benefits and immediate benefits, many parents choose the latter.

Tang Zhitong did not stop the child from stealing wheat. Others might not have agreed, but Tang Zhitong saw it as a desperate act of starvation and an act of emergency.

Besides, these children didn't have many ears of wheat in their hands; each of them only had about ten ears.

The children were initially timid when they saw Tang Zhitong, afraid that he would scold them. But after seeing Tang Zhitong's smiling face, they became bolder. They walked out of the wheat field, leaving one to keep watch and observe whether any militiamen were approaching, while the other children searched for dry grass and dead branches around them.

Light dry grass and twigs, put the wheat in the fire to roast it slightly, and when you take it out, the awns are charred and the surface of the wheat ears is black.

Place the wheat ears in your palm, rub your hands together, open them, and blow away the husks. A handful of sweet wheat grains will remain in your hand.

Pouring the dark gray wheat grains into their mouths and chewing them gently, the unique sweetness of the unripe wheat grains explodes in their mouths. Swallowing them in one gulp can quickly replenish their energy. For these children, these few ears of wheat are probably even tastier than Snickers bars.

Before they had even finished eating, some militiamen noticed something was wrong and ran over.

The children didn't have time to put out the fire, so they scattered with their ears of wheat.

Tang Zhitong stood his bicycle upright and stepped on the fire to extinguish it. It meant that the wheat was not yet ripe. When the golden wheat fields stretched for miles, this little spark could probably make half a year's hard work worthwhile.

Tang Zhitong also picked up two ears of wheat that hadn't been picked up in time from the small fire.

The militiamen arrived panting, having run all the way. Seeing that the children were nowhere to be seen, they complained to Tang Zhitong, "Comrade, why didn't you stop those little rascals from stealing wheat?"

Looking at the militiaman's thin and bony figure, Tang Zhitong couldn't bring himself to argue with him. He even took out a cigarette and offered it to him, saying, "They're hungry too. They'll get a beating when they get back."

"It's good that you got beaten up. I'm afraid if you don't beat them up, they'll come back to steal again tomorrow." The militiaman took the cigarette from Tang Zhitong and kicked some dirt to cover up the ashes that Tang Zhitong had just stomped out.

"Then you should catch them and beat them up tomorrow." Tang Zhitong took out a match and lit it for the militiamen.

Your position determines your perspective; your location determines your thinking.

From the children's perspective, this wheat was grown with great effort by their relatives, yet they themselves couldn't get enough to eat. It's unreasonable and unfair.

From the perspective of the militia, he had a duty to not stand by and watch the collective property be stolen.

In Tang Zhitong's view, neither of them was wrong.

"It would be good if we could catch them. They're all starving, yet they run faster than rabbits." The militiaman didn't seem inclined to investigate further, muttering to himself, clearly not a heartless man.

Tang Zhitong smiled and said he wouldn't get involved in this matter. However, the wheat here looked alright; at least it hadn't turned yellow yet. Hopefully, they'll have a good harvest this year.

"Try it, and wipe the dust off your mouth and hands later." Since there was no one else around, Tang Zhitong divided the wheat ears he had just picked up with half of the militiamen.

Tang Zhitong hadn't eaten this for years, and he was really craving it.

When we were little, every time we went out to graze, some kids would pluck a few ears of grass and burn them to eat as snacks.

The more particular children would choose to pluck wheat from their own field, while the less particular ones would pluck wheat from other people's fields.

Those who steal other people's wheat will inevitably be scolded by the owner after being caught, and some may even be blocked at the child's door and yelled at.

When asked about the reason, Tang Zhitong felt there was only one: poverty.

Some might say, "How much does a few ears of wheat cost?" But people are only complaining because they cherish food and love the land.

Bah! How much love can cattle and horses have for their work? Let alone farmers who have to get up at four or five in the morning every day to tend to the land.

Given any other option, very few farmers would choose to cultivate that small plot of land.

Decades later, those who are still tending the land are simply unable to bear seeing the farmland idle and wasting it, and they are just habitually planting something. Moreover, most of these people are from the post-50s and post-60s generations.

As these elderly people get older, many farmlands in hilly areas will likely be left idle, because most of those born in the 1970s and 1980s have chosen to move to the city to work like beasts of burden and have no idea how to farm.

By then, the water conservancy facilities built during the commune period had been almost completely destroyed, making it unrealistic to rebuild them.

If the weather is favorable, things will be fine, but if there are consecutive years of natural disasters and food shortages occur, the consequences will be unimaginable.

After the two finished eating the roasted wheat, they cleaned up the crime scene. The militia continued their patrol, while Tang Zhitong rode his bicycle to find Wang Bo.

Tang Zhitong knew Wang Bo, but Wang Bo did not know Tang Zhitong.

Having heard so much about each other, this was the first time the two had ever met.

When Tang Zhitong arrived, Wang Bo had just finished a surgery.

After emerging from the makeshift "operating room," Wang Bo carried a basin containing the surgical instruments he had just used. Upon seeing Tang Zhitong, Wang Bo assumed he was there to interview him and said apologetically, "Reporter, I'm sorry, I need to wash and steam these first, as I'll need them later."

"Okay, you go ahead and get busy." Tang Zhitong smiled, not arguing. Barefoot doctors who put their work first are admirable. While Wang Bo went back inside to deal with the surgical instruments, Tang Zhitong waited in the yard. At that moment, two people came out of the operating room.

Tang Zhitong was somewhat taken aback after recognizing who it was.

Chu Chunxue was being supported by a middle-aged or elderly woman. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her face and lips were pale. Looking at her stomach, it was already shrunken.

“You…” Tang Zhitong stood there, stunned, not knowing what to say.

Chu Chunxue was also surprised to see Tang Zhitong. She didn't expect to run into her neighbor here. She wanted to laugh but couldn't. However, she still said, "She miscarried. Doctor Wang said it couldn't be saved."

"This is such a mess." Faced with this situation, even Tang Zhitong, who is usually eloquent, didn't know how to offer any advice.

"That's fine, it saves her from suffering with me." Chu Chunxue's lips curled up slightly, but tears slid down her cheeks.

"Sigh, don't stand there, go back and rest." Seeing Chu Chunxue like this, Tang Zhitong felt bad too. Of the Liu family, he only had a good impression of Chu Chunxue.

Although Chu Chunxue was not divorced at this time, she probably couldn't live with Liu Chengzhi anymore. As a neighbor for many years, Tang Zhitong took out the food coupons that Zhang Guifang had prepared for her before she went to work at the grassroots level and stuffed them all into Chu Chunxue's hands: "Take these food coupons and keep them to nourish your body."

Chu Chunxue opened her mouth, wanting to decline, but in the end she didn't say anything. She clutched the food coupons in her hand and said, "Thank you, brother."

"Don't be so polite, go on your way. Don't overthink things when you get back, look forward, there's a long road ahead." Tang Zhitong took two steps to the side, making way for Chu Chunxue and the other person to leave.

Wang Bo cleaned the surgical instruments and put them in a steamer. After they came out, he still didn't seem to want to be interviewed. He spoke again, saying, "Comrade, please wait a little longer. I still need to process the things that were cleaned out during the surgery."

"I'll go with them." Tang Zhitong was feeling a bit depressed after what happened with Chu Chunxue, and was thinking of going out for a walk.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate? I'm worried it might scare you." Hearing Tang Zhitong's suggestion, Wang Bo hesitated. Those were all human tissues, and most people couldn't withstand that kind of visual impact.

"It's alright, I'll just not watch it." Tang Zhitong said, picking up a shovel and a hoe from the yard and carrying them on his shoulder.

Tang Zhitong knew what Wang Bo was talking about. Chu Chunxue had been pregnant for some time and was already showing. This induced abortion might result in some pieces of flesh being lost.

Tang Zhitong carrying the farm tools was also a test; he was afraid Wang Bo would take those things to the canteen...

Fortunately, Wang Bo didn't mean it that way. Seeing that Tang Zhitong was stubborn, he shook his head and said nothing more. Then he took a wooden bucket out of the house, hooked it with a carrying pole, and hooked a water bucket with a little bit of water on the other side of the carrying pole as a counterweight.

Wang Bo walked in front, with Tang Zhitong following behind.

To minimize Tang Zhitong's discomfort, Wang Bo thoughtfully moved the bucket of blood-stained water in front of him.

Wang Bo's destination was a dry riverbed. He put down his carrying pole, took the hoe from Tang Zhitong, and began digging a hole.

While Wang Bo was digging the pit, Tang Zhitong looked at the riverbed in front of him. There were several traces of human disturbance and then covering up, which seemed to be the same thing that Wang Bo was about to do.

Not all children are like "Little Li." Children who die young in ordinary families are not buried in the ancestral graveyard. This place is probably the burial ground for those children who died young.

Neither of them spoke. After Wang Bo dug out the pit, Tang Zhitong stepped forward and used a shovel to dig out the soil.

When the pit was about 50 or 60 centimeters deep, Wang Bo poured the filth from the wooden bucket into it, then used the small half-bucket of water to wash the bloodstains in the other bucket, and poured the sewage into it as well.

"Give me the shovel and bury it." Only after doing all this did Wang Bo speak.

"Let me do it." Tang Zhitong witnessed the whole process. What was poured in was not minced meat, but a complete fetus. This proved that Chu Chunxue was not lying and that she really had miscarried because she couldn't save the baby.

As Tang Zhitong buried the unborn child, she thought to herself, "It seems that Chu Chunxue and Liu Chengzhi's relationship has really come to an end. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing..."

After the excavated soil was backfilled, a small mound of soil bulged out of the ground.

In a few days, the mound will be flattened by the wind. If it rains or floods again, I'm afraid no one will know that they once tried to come into this world.
"Are miscarriages common?" Tang Zhitong finally asked on the way back.

Tang Zhitong wasn't prying into people's privacy; she just wanted to know how many people had voluntary abortions, because the difference between voluntary and involuntary abortions is huge.

Wang Bo glanced at Tang Zhitong, but acted as if he hadn't heard her and didn't respond at all. The surgery could be done, but some information couldn't be revealed casually.

Seeing that Wang Bo was avoiding the topic, Tang Zhitong could only speak again and say, "My name is Tang Zhitong, and I am a friend of Director Yan Xiongfei."

"Ah? Comrade Tang, hello. I'm not comfortable saying anything about this, it's not something to be proud of, so let's not report it." Wang Bo was somewhat surprised to hear Yan Xiongfei's name, but even though Tang Zhitong mentioned Yan Xiongfei's name, Wang Bo was still unwilling to say more.

Wang Bo recognized the name Tang Zhitong, but couldn't quite place where he had seen it before.

"I'm not a reporter, and I'm not here to interview you. I'm here on behalf of the editorial team of the 'Handbook' to learn about the work of barefoot doctors, the medical security of the members, and to see if there's anything that needs improvement." Tang Zhitong didn't hide anything and stated his purpose clearly.

"Ah?! Teacher Tang...!" Upon hearing Tang Zhitong's words, Wang Bo suddenly remembered seeing the name "Tang Zhitong" somewhere before—it was in the list of editors and reviewers of the "Handbook"!
During my studies in Beijing, some classmates were curious about what kind of person could appear on both lists. I never expected to see them today, and they are so young!
"Teacher Tang, look at me, how can I let you do such rough work? Give it to me, I'll carry it." Wang Bo realized this and, somewhat flustered, reached out to Tang Zhitong for the shovel and hoe while carrying the carrying pole.

"Alright, I'm not seventy or eighty yet. My age is obvious, you can probably guess from my appearance. I'm just a handyman in the compilation team, so don't be nervous." Tang Zhitong smiled at Wang Bo, not handing him the farm tools, but he was still quite satisfied with him. How many students can remember the name of the textbook compiler?
Although Tang Zhitong said that, Wang Bo didn't dare to ignore it and answered Tang Zhitong's question: "That's where the village buries children who died young. There are a few every year, and there have been more in the last two years. There aren't many miscarriages because there have been almost no pregnancies in the village in the last two years."

Tang Zhitong nodded. It seemed that even if a miscarriage occurred, it wasn't because the person didn't want the child, but because, like Chu Chunxue, they simply couldn't keep the baby and had to miscarry. That meant that the most basic public order and good morals still existed.

However, the problem revealed by Wang Bo's words was even more serious.

Whether in times of food scarcity or abundance, the consequences of not getting pregnant are far more severe than those of miscarriage.

Although the "Universe 25" project uses rats, it reflects biological instincts. Who knows if human society will ever face such a day?
Back at the production team clinic, the two did not discuss the miscarriage issue again, but instead communicated about common illnesses among the villagers, treatment methods and recovery periods, as well as medical expenses.

(End of this chapter)