Click on the video to learn more
How many children do you have when you get married? Some people may say that they will have one, some people will say that they will give birth to two or three, and some people may say that they will not give birth, because it is too difficult to raise a baby. At this moment, if the photographer tells you that in Hefei, Anhui Province, a girl who graduated from a university has given birth to 5 babies in just 7 years, do you think it is incredible? Today the photographer takes you to her house to see her story with her 5 children.
The girl who graduated from college was named Lu Xiaofang.
Mention Lu Xiaofang may be some netizens are not unfamiliar with this name, photographers first met Lu Xiaofang in 2015, when she ran a migrant workers' children's school in rural Hefei, Anhui Province, specifically to absorb the children of migrant workers to school, which once attracted media attention. At that time, she had only one child. Who knows that 6 years later, she is already a mother of 5 children, and the photographer was a bit surprised to hear the news. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang, who runs a primary school for children of migrant workers in 2015, attending class.
The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's four children at home, playing in bed.
Rental housing became a paradise for 5 children
At 4 p.m., on the second floor of a two-story façade building opposite the east gate of hefei's Heping Primary School in Yaohai District, Hefei, three children were playing on the side. Lu Xiaofang's youngest child sat in the cart, Lu Xiaofang sat on the opposite side and fed him a mouthful of porridge, and a little sugar was added to the porridge, and the child ate with relish. Five children, there is no money to buy snacks, when the children are hungry, or want to eat snacks, Lu Xiaofang will make some food herself to fill the child's stomach.
Lu Xiaofang was born in Hefei, but so far does not have her own house in Hefei. This two-storey façade has about 70 or 80 square meters upstairs and a monthly rent of more than 1,000 yuan. The upper floor is divided into three rooms, one for the kitchen, one for the dining room and one for the bedroom. There was only one large bed in the bedroom, and several colorful quilts were messily laid out, just like the big Kang in the north, and Lu Xiaofang and his wife and 5 were crowded on this bed at night. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang taking care of her youngest daughter.
Lu Xiaofang's five children were born in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021, with three boys and two girls. The eldest has entered the first grade of primary school, and the second and third elders have reached the age of entering the large class and the small class. However, except for the eldest, the second and third elders did not go to kindergarten. Lu Xiaofang said that there is no money for her children to go to kindergarten, and then she is currently the only one to take care of 5 children, she can't take care of them at all, and the second and third elders can help her take care of her younger siblings if she doesn't go to kindergarten. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang and the children together.
When Lu Xiaofang went to college, the life she was looking forward to was not like this.
The picture shows Lu Xiaofang in September 2015 at a primary school in the mainland, when Dabao was not yet one year old and was still in his arms.
Lu Xiaofang and her mainland primary school
Lu Xiaofang is a post-80s, a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, who studied at Anhui Agricultural University. Lu Xiaofang likes children very much and has always had the desire to become a teacher. In 2006, after graduating from university, Lu Xiaofang learned that there were less than 20 students in a village-run primary school in rural Hefei, the school's conditions were poor, and the teachers were weak, so she had the idea of volunteering here.
Soon, Lu Xiaofang came to this school without her family in the city. There, most of the villagers are migrant workers, a large number of children stay at home, there is no good educational conditions, parents are anxious, but there has been no way. In July 2006, Lu Xiaofang quietly borrowed a sum of money from relatives and friends, and reached an agreement with the local central primary school to run a trial school for a year, officially taking over the village primary school. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's mainland primary school children in 2015. Most of the children here are left-behind children.
Later, under her repeated mobilization, her parents living in Hefei sold their houses, plus the money her father bought out from the factory, borrowed a little more money, and scraped together a total of 400,000 yuan to rebuild a teaching building on the original site of the village primary school, and the name of the school was changed to a mainland primary school. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's mainland primary school in 2015, and the teaching building behind the children was built by Lu Xiaofang herself.
Three years later, Lu Xiaofang spent another 100,000 yuan to build a movable board house, which was used as a teacher's office and a dormitory for teachers and students, with free accommodation, and a year later she built a canteen to completely solve the problem of children's lunch. Over the past few years, the conditions of the mainland primary school have been greatly improved, and because of this, Lu Xiaofang has exhausted her family property. The picture shows the lunch of children in mainland primary schools in 2015.
In the following ten years, Lu Xiaofang has been guarding the mainland primary school, but because the school has not obtained legal qualifications, it has been saddled with the name of "black school". Until January 2018, after 12 years of persistence, Lu Xiaofang had to stop running a primary school. For various reasons, Lu Xiaofang's family did not get compensation and became nothing.
The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's second and third treasures playing downstairs.
Children are fate, come and stay
After getting on the right track at the mainland primary school, Lu Xiaofang met her husband who volunteered at the mainland primary school, and then the two came together. In November 2014, the two had their first child, a boy. Due to the premature birth of the child, the physical condition has not been very good, so in May 2016, Lu Xiaofang had a second child, also a boy.
When she was in primary school in the mainland, Lu Xiaofang's own parents have been living with her, and her husband has been working in Hefei, gathering less and leaving more, fortunately, the children and parents can take the handle, and the life is still quite good. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang and the child.
The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's bedroom like a big kang, and the whole family sleeps together at night.
Originally, Lu Xiaofang felt that two children were enough, and she did not expect that she was unexpectedly pregnant in 2017. Lu Xiaofang said that she likes children very much, and since she came here, it is fate, so in March 2018, her third child came to her side, which is a daughter. For the same reason, in April 2019 and January 2021, Lu Xiaofang welcomed four treasures and five treasures, respectively, as a boy and a girl.
Speaking of why she has so many children, Lu Xiaofang said that on the one hand, she likes children, on the other hand, several times are accidental pregnancies. "God gives, don't accept it."
Although Lu Xiaofang likes children, the reality of 5 children must be faced. The biggest reality is that parents don't understand that she has so many children, think that she is self-inflicted, and even think that she is not normal. And her in-laws are far away, the father-in-law is bedridden, the mother-in-law takes care of the father-in-law for many years, there is no time to help her take care of the children, and the husband needs to work to support the family. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's two children playing.
The school was gone, Lu Xiaofang returned to the city where she grew up, but there was no home, no job, plus 5 children to take care of, she could not work, so she became a housewife. The picture shows that Lu Xiaofang did not have money to buy snacks, so she boiled porridge to make a tooth sacrifice for her children.
Lu Xiaofang's parents still live in an empty house at the closed Mainland Elementary School. Lu Xiaofang said that in the eyes of her parents, the empty teaching building of the mainland primary school is their only remaining wealth.
The picture shows Lu Xiaofang renting a façade room upstairs and downstairs, with a monthly rent of more than 1,000.
Five thousand yuan is the limit that a family spends a month
After returning to the city, Lu Xiaofang and her children have been renting in a rental house, her husband is responsible for working to support the family, she is responsible for taking care of the children, and the division of labor is extremely simple.
However, how easy is it to take care of 5 children alone? But Lu Xiaofang has her own way, when she is busy, she lets the eldest child help take care of the small one. There are many children, Lu Xiaofang does not dare to buy or have money to buy snacks, "Children can fight for a bottle of mineral water." You can also scramble for a toy you pick up, crying and crying. "The children's snacks are not afforded to buy, Lu Xiaofang will make their own food for the children to eat, boil porridge, pancakes." The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's youngest daughter playing on a cart, and her 5 children are very well-behaved.
The picture shows Lu Xiaofang's wardrobe and the wardrobe piled high with children's clothes.
"5 children and two adults, plus rent, cost 5,000 yuan a month." It is the extreme cost of living for a month for Lu Xiaofang's family of seven. Lu Xiaofang even used "wearing a hundred family clothes and eating a hundred meals" to describe her family's life. Lu Xiaofang said that neighbors, teachers at the children's school, and her own friends took good care of her family, and the clothes and shoes worn by the children were sent by them. There are also many foods that they also send, sometimes some volunteers come to her home to help her with her children, and the local social housing committee often delivers food to her door, Lu Xiaofang said she feels warm every day.
Lu Xiaofang said that she does not have a strong material desire, and the children can eat enough, dress warmly, and go to school. Now the biggest wish is to have a house of its own in the city, even if it is a public rental house. "Buying a house is almost impossible at present, and even if it is a dream to have a public rental house, at least have a home of your own, and you can also save rent money." The picture shows Lu Xiaofang and the child.
"Although the children's current life cannot be compared with other children, their self-care ability and independent living ability can be exercised." Lu Xiaofang said that her family's difficulties are temporary, and she will gradually get better in the future, and she firmly believes that life will be better. The picture shows Lu Xiaofang picking up the boss from school, and Lu Xiaofang rented the house opposite the school, just to facilitate the care of the children.
"So if you could do it all over again, would you still have so many children?" In the face of the photographer's questions, Lu Xiaofang said: "No regrets. "The picture shows the fourth elder who has just woken up, not crying or making trouble.
After reading Lu Xiaofang's story, I don't know how you feel, will you support her lifestyle? Welcome to comment on the message. Wu Fang Text/Figure Original works, it is strictly forbidden to reprint in any form, infringement will be investigated!