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Text: Outstanding Literature and History
Edited by Excellence in Literature and History
●—<前言> —●
In the area around the Yangtze River, there is such a group of people who walk on the river every day without doing anything.
If someone drowns, they will immediately go to catch it, and it seems that they will be paid as much as 18,000 for their righteous and courageous acts.
There was even an astonishing number of 70 or 80 corpses fished out in a week, and if the family members did not give money, they would not give the corpses, and this kind of behavior of "blackmailing corpses to ask for a price" was scolded by everyone for "having no conscience" and making "black money".
But in the face of abuse, they said that they couldn't make much money.
So whose pocket is the money actually in? Is this profession really as lucrative as they say it is?
●—<捞一具尸体将近两万?> —●
In 2015, for Deng Gangming's family, it should have been jubilant.
The eldest son has just finished his wedding and has entered a new stage of his life.
But who would have thought that at this happy moment, a thunderclap blew up the sky of the Deng family - the youngest son Deng Shuchao accidentally chose to end his life and committed suicide by throwing himself into the river.
They knew that Deng Shuchao had always been depressed, but they never expected that he would embark on this desperate road.
Sadness, self-blame, remorse, all complex emotions are intertwined in the hearts of the poor old man.
In desperation, Deng Gangming and his wife could only start preparing for the aftermath and let their son's soul be at peace as soon as possible.
But when they asked professionals to salvage the body, they were asked for 18,000 salvage fees by the lion.
I thought that I could quickly salvage the child ashore and give him a decent last ride.
Who would have thought that this high cost would become a stumbling block on their last journey.
After three days of negotiations, the price dropped to 8,000 yuan, but for Deng Gangming and his wife, it was still an astronomical amount.
With nothing to do, Deng Gangming had to ask for help from the local police station, hoping that the police could be a peacemaker and help him say reasonable things.
Fortunately, the police finally negotiated a more reasonable price between the two parties - 5,400 yuan.
Although this figure is still a huge amount of money for rural families, it can only be reluctantly accepted for the sake of the child's rest.
But this incident was immediately spread on the Internet, and many netizens criticized him for his lack of humanity and empathy.
However, Yang Yuhai said that the seemingly high cost was actually only a few hundred yuan in his hands.
These words may make people understand a little more.
After all, recovering corpses is also an extremely dangerous and hard work, and they are also earning a meager living expenses.
And in that special situation, both sides are in a helpless situation, and both have their own helplessness.
This incident reminds people of the famous tragedy that happened on the Yangtze River: three brave and enthusiastic people unfortunately died in order to save people, but their bodies were held hostage by the corpse salvage team and asked for a price.
Source reference: "Accused of holding the corpse at a price salvage captain: the corpse has been thanked for 30 years" - Legal Evening News 2015.12.10
●—< "If you don't give money, don't give to the corpse"> —●
At that time, several college students went out to play and saw a child accidentally falling into the water, they jumped into the torrent without saying a word.
The rescue operation left three college students in a whirlpool in the water, and their companions were anxious and asked for help.
At this moment, Wang Shouhai, who has rich experience in salvage, appeared nearby.
As soon as Wang Shouhai heard that someone had fallen into the water, he immediately put down the card game in hand, picked up his tools and sailed to the boat.
He carefully searched the raging river and finally recovered the three young and innocent bodies one by one, which should have been a memorable rescue feat.
At this juncture, a phone call abruptly stopped Wang Shouhai's actions.
His boss ordered him not to return the body first, and to ask his family for money first, and the money could be collected to the shore.
$12,000 per body, otherwise the body is not allowed to be handed over.
Although Wang Shouhai had good intentions, he hoped that these children who died bravely could rest in peace as soon as possible.
But under the pressure of his boss, he had to go against his will.
At that time, an enthusiastic citizen passing by witnessed the shocking scene of Wang Shouhai unexpressionlessly dragging his body on the river.
It didn't take long for netizens to express their indignation and condemnation of Wang Shouhai's ruthless treatment of the heroic devotees.
In the next few days, Wang Shouhai lived a life that was worse than death.
The photo snowballed online, and the pressure of public opinion made it difficult for him to regain his former reputation.
He became a street rat for no reason, and was pointed at by the people around him as an extortionist.
It was not until later, when the propaganda department of Yangtze University intervened to investigate the matter, that the truth of the matter finally came out.
It turned out that Wang Shouhai was just a temporary worker at Chen Bo's company, and the actual remuneration for this high-risk salvage work was only 530 yuan.
And the initiator Chen Bo saw the weakness and helplessness of the family members when they were desperate, and the lion opened his mouth to extort a high price, and threw all the pots to Wang Shouhai.
Chen Bo was soon criminally detained by the police, but Wang Shouhai could not regain his reputation for innocence.
Source reference: "The old man picked up 400 bodies in the river in 32 years: I have seen too much and never cried in my life" - Beijing News 2013.12.21
●—<善良不应被诋毁> —●
This profession has endured too much gossip, and although there are black-hearted capitalists, it cannot be denied those kind people who really want to serve the people.
Chen Song is a typical representative of this.
His father is also engaged in this profession, and his son's inheritance of his father's business can be regarded as an explanation of his father's spirit in heaven.
And in his career for so many years, he has saved countless broken families.
The most recent one was the catastrophic flood in Chongqing, and he alone saved as many as 70 corpses.
In addition to him, there is also an excellent professional corpse digger Chen Yangxi.
During this long career, Chen Yangxi personally recovered more than 400 human remains from the water, and every operation was a deep respect for the dignity of life.
Chen Yangxi knows that every salvage is a soothing for the soul of the deceased's family.
His story inspires more attention to water safety and reminds us that while the loss of life is inevitable, respect and understanding can always be transmitted.
It is with dedicated salvage personnel like them that many families can feel a touch of comfort and warmth while losing their loved ones.
Source reference: "French media visited the Yangtze River corpse fisher: 70 corpses were salvaged in a week at most" - Hangzhou Net 2016.4.18
●—<结语> —●
This seemingly simple but risky and stressful job lacks material rewards and often attracts criticism and strange eyes from those around you.
But it is precisely with unsung heroes like Chen Song and Chen Xiyang that the state-run salvage team in the Yangtze River basin can operate for a long time, relaying every lost life back to their hometown.
They interpret a sacred and solemn sense of mission in their ordinary posts, and establish the most beautiful image of salvage for people.