Recently, there is a video in Hechi, Guangxi, which has attracted widespread attention. In the video, a man born in the "85s" is setting up a stall with 22 children.
When passers-by asked him if these children were all his children, he answered confidently: "It's all my children." ”
However, when passers-by confirmed with one of the children, the child said, "He's not my father." ”
What's going on? Could he be a liar or a trafficker?
The person who shot the video was not at ease, and after following them home, he learned that among the 22 children, 20 children were not his own! It is the orphaned and disabled children he has adopted one after another in his 13 years of poverty alleviation work.
To this, his response was particularly simple: "There is no one to take care of, then I will take care of it." ”
01
"Single dad" married with 10 children
The man, who claimed to be the father of 22 children, was born in 1985 in an ordinary rural family in Bama, Hechi, Guangxi.
From a poor family, he has felt the warmth and coldness of life since he was a child, so he made up his mind early on to change his fate by studying.
In 2010, Chen Yongfu was admitted to the Bama County Procuratorate and became a judicial policeman.
That year, when he was sent to Powan Village, Suolio Township, the county, as a new rural construction instructor, he learned that Yang Sheng, a 9-year-old elementary school student, had drowned while rescuing two companions who had fallen into the water.
Yang Sheng's parents were also under tremendous financial pressure when they were suffering from the loss of their child.
In order to soothe the hearts of the little hero's parents, he spent half a year's salary, ran for 4 months, and paid them the highest compensation of 250,000 yuan. This is also the first case of compensation after Guangxi increased the amount of compensation for righteous and courageous insurance.
Looking at the moved Yang Sheng's parents, Chen Yongfu felt for the first time that his personal enthusiasm and persistence could bring light and hope to those who were trapped in life, and thus embarked on a "public welfare road" that moved countless people.
In 2011, he found two poor and seriously ill children and eight orphans who were undercared for. When he looked at the child who should be as delicate as a flower and bones, but his eyes were dull under the pressure of survival, his heart was touched fiercely.
He doesn't want to be just a passing child in the wind and rain of life. He began to do what he could, taking the child around to seek medical treatment at his own expense.
But he has just been working for a short time, and his salary is meager, so he can't support the medical expenses of his two children. But looking at the sick and weak child, he couldn't say anything to give up.
One man is short, but many people are long. With the mentality of giving it a try, he decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on the Internet.
He truthfully recorded the children's situation and wrote a log of "Life and Death Rescue, Calling for Assistance to Poor and Seriously Ill Children", which was forwarded by a large number of netizens in QQ space, and received loving assistance from netizens from Tiannan and Haibei.
2 impoverished and seriously ill children, so they received timely treatment and regained their health.
In this process, he made a decision that surprised others, that is, to take care of these 10 children who had no one to take care of them.
In this way, he went from a bachelor who didn't even have a girlfriend to a "single father" with 10 children.
These 10 poor children who seem to have been forgotten by time, from now on, have a family that is not related by blood, but can protect them better than their relatives, and they also have siblings who can watch and help each other.
It's just that after achieving the happiness of the children, his happiness is delayed. In the blind date market, many girls were so frightened that they didn't even dare to meet each other when they heard that he was with 10 children.
Just when he thought he was going to be single for the rest of his life, he met his current wife, He Weishuang.
Although at first, she didn't understand him very well. But as she came into contact with the children, perhaps it was their innocent enthusiasm that moved her as a medical worker. She went from questioning to understanding and eventually became a family.
In 2013, Chen Yongfu took 10 children and successfully proposed to He Weishuang, the most beautiful, kindest and bravest in their hearts. Since then, the children have parents who love them.
After getting married, He Weishuang practiced the vow of "supporting each other and loving each other" when he got married. She quit her job and returned to Bama with her husband, who took on the burden of raising the children.
02
With a monthly salary of seven or eight thousand, he supports the lives of 22 children
How much does it cost to raise a child in an average family?
The 2024 edition of the China Fertility Cost Report concludes that the average cost of raising children aged 0-17 in families across the country is 538,000 yuan.
Chen Yongfu raised 22 children!
After getting married, the couple gave birth to two children, and adopted 10 orphaned and disabled children who also needed help, forming a large family of 24 people.
Although they are under a lot of financial pressure, Chen Yongfu said: "When I saw the helpless eyes of the children, I couldn't help but want to come forward to help." It is one that can help one. ”
"There's no one to take care of, so I'll take care of it." This promise is easy to say, but it is difficult to stick to it.
These 22 children have a large age difference, and their physical and intellectual states are also different. Correspondingly, each has different needs for life. Chen Yongfu did not simply take care of them. He wants to do his best to provide children with a path that ordinary family children would follow.
But he also understands that he can't support them for the rest of his life. It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish, and he began to tailor various kinds of education to the children according to their own situation.
For those children with intellectual and physical disabilities, he taught them various basic skills to live alone, taught them the principles of being a person and doing things, and developed the habit of reading and learning. I hope that when they grow up and become adults, they will be able to hold up a piece of the sky for themselves with their hands.
For those healthy children, he has more expectations for his son to become a dragon and his daughter to become a phoenix. I hope that they can change their destiny by reading books like themselves.
Although the couple is budgeting every day, in order to achieve these goals, the normal monthly expenses of this large family with 22 children to raise are at least 20,000 yuan. As ordinary grassroots civil servants, the combined monthly salary of the couple is only seven or eight thousand.
Unable to make ends meet and stretched thin, it is the norm at home.
How can we increase income and ensure the quality of life for our children? It is a real problem that the couple has to face every day when they open their eyes.
Before he got help from the society, he tried his best to open up a side business and strive to open up sources and reduce expenditure.
After getting off work, he took his wife and children to open up the wasteland and farm, raise chickens and ducks, and try his best to work in exchange for the food rations of the whole family.
In the evening, when the market is busy, take the children out to set up a stall and earn some living expenses. When I can't go out of the stall, I pick up waste and sell it in the streets and alleys with my children.
Someone asked him: "As a civil servant with a decent job, don't you feel ashamed and embarrassed to pick up waste and go out of a stall like this?" ”
He said frankly: "What is the shame of relying on your own hands to legally subsidize the family and create better living conditions for the children? ”
This alternative education method lets children know that every vegetable and every meal is not easy to come by. I understand that "people are not short of ambition" is not only an idiom, but also realize the truth that life is created by their own hands.
The reason why we want to educate our children in this way, Chen Yongfu said, is because "our children are sick, disabled, and mentally retarded...... It's all people don't want. We can't support them for the rest of our lives, we have to teach them to live independently. The point is to teach him not to give up on himself, to face his own shortcomings bravely, and to go out into society bravely. ”
03
There's always someone who is sewing and mending
It is gratifying that after learning the real situation of his family, the relevant departments approved two sets of low-rent houses with preferential rents for the children, which solved their housing problems. The education department has also made special arrangements to solve the problem of children going to the county seat to study, so that school-age children can have books to read and go to school.
It is said that the best school district room is the study room at home.
Although Chen Yongfu's house does not have a special study room, there are stacks of books on both sides of the small living room, so that children can read at any time.
Under the influence of this reading atmosphere, the 2-year-old children in the family will hold the book and read along with their older siblings. When I go out to play, I will skillfully follow my older siblings and choose my favorite books in the bookstore.
In this rich learning atmosphere, in 2014, the first college student came out of the family.
The children, who have grown up, have not forgotten their siblings at home, and they have fed back their salaries to the family, hoping to relieve the burden on the shoulders of their adoptive parents.
With the spread of Chen Yongfu's deeds, many caring people have also come to offer their love. If you have abundant funds, you will send support money to the children; If the space is spacious, there will be a place for children to play the space; Those who have the knowledge and skills will volunteer to make up lessons for the children......
The convergence of love from all directions made the burden on Chen Yongfu's shoulders much lighter. But he did not enjoy these help and care with peace of mind, and still took the children to grow vegetables, raise livestock, set up stalls, and pick up waste as always.
They also regularly send surplus supplies to others in need to do what they can.
Chen Yongfu also took his children to volunteer to clean the corridors of the rented low-rent housing community. In his own way, he hopes to make children useful people in society.
This simple expectation allows the children to innocently and enthusiastically feel the rain and sunshine brought by life, and bloom with their own brilliance.
Now, Chen's father has also opened his own short video account, and he will shoot some children's daily life.
He will also accept donations from caring people in the comment area, carefully record every expense, and publicize it in his account. The breakfast fee of 3 yuan will also be explained separately.
For those who questioned him, he said: "It doesn't matter, the key is that I want to raise these children well...... The heart is steady. After all, showmanship may only last for a short time, and I've been living like this for 13 years. ”
Over the years, people's love seems to be becoming more and more indifferent after being "consumed" in various ways. But there are always people who are willing to step up and help those who need protection. Driven by their personal involvement, the thin ice in people's hearts was melted. Let those who need help be given the light of salvation in the darkness.
Although the power of each ordinary person is limited, trickle of water can merge into the ocean. A single heart can also be connected together to illuminate the hope of one party. As long as these loves are not extinguished, no matter how tattered the world is, there will always be a day when spring blooms in the sewing of these caring people.
Just like Chen Yongfu expects: "As long as our volunteers exist, the lives of the people who are helped will always be improved, and they will definitely give back to the society and help more people in the future." ”