"It's really too pitiful. Otherwise, the child would have been frozen to death in the field." Zuo Guichao picked up the child and walked home. At this time, his wife Liu Tingfang was still sleeping. When her husband came back with a baby boy, it gave her quite a shock. Liu Tingfang felt that her husband's act of bringing this abandoned infant home was somewhat rash, but no matter what, the child's life must be saved quickly.
Zuo Guichao informed the reporter that on July 4th this year, he took Xiao Zhengke to the provincial hospital in Jinan for congenital heart disease surgery. "Xiao Zhengke stayed in the hospital for a month, and just the medical expenses cost more than 70,000 yuan, with a daily maximum expense of over 5,000 yuan," said Zuo Guichao. In order to treat the child, they didn't even have time to plant their two acres of land, and the medical expenses were borrowed from relatives and friends. Currently, to treat the child, they have already spent more than 100,000 yuan. Xiao Zhengke is with his adoptive parents, Zuo Guichao and Liu Tingfang.
Reported by our journalists Liu Haimeng and Wang Xiao
"We don't have anything valuable at home except for the electric tricycle we use to sell vegetables," Zuo Guichao chuckled as he talked about the state of his home, "As long as the child is fine, it doesn't matter!"
They sold everything to treat the child
Last winter, one morning, an abandoned baby boy in the vegetable field changed the lives of Zuo Guichao and his wife in Xipanshigou Village, Jinling Town, Cangshan County. When the baby boy was gasping for breath in the cold winter, the couple's compassion pulled him back from the brink of death. Unfortunately, the baby had congenital heart disease. Despite many people around them thinking the couple was "lacking common sense", they did not give up. This almost destitute family overcame numerous difficulties to save this unfamiliar child.
At 1 p.m. on the 17th, our journalist contacted Zuo Xingmin, the party secretary of Xipanshigou Village, Jinling Town, Cangshan County. Zuo Xingmin told the reporter that Zuo Guichao indeed picked up a child last year. Initially, the villagers didn't know about it until he started borrowing money everywhere to treat the child, then everyone found out the child was unwell. "After he finished the surgery in Jinan, he cried and came to ask me for help. Their family was originally not affluent, now they are borrowing money everywhere to treat the child, the family situation is indeed difficult."
Not long after taking Xiao Zhengke home, the couple discovered that the child often had fevers and difficulty breathing. They took the child to the hospital for examination, and the diagnosis was congenital heart disease. This news made the couple feel uneasy. What should they do? "Although we've only adopted this child for a short time, we already have feelings for him. Since there's an edge between us and this child, we must save him," said Zuo Guichao. He took the child to see doctors in Linyi, Jinan, and other places.
Zuo Guichao is a farmer who earns a living by growing crops and selling vegetables. The couple has two daughters; the elder daughter is 19 years old and works in town, while the younger daughter is still in school. For such a farming household with an annual income of only a few thousand yuan, adopting this fragile abandoned infant is very strenuous. The couple saves every penny, using the money saved to buy formula for Xiao Zhengke.
Zuo Guichao, 44 years old, is an honest and hardworking farmer from Xipanshigou Village. Xiao Zhengke was picked up in his vegetable garden on December 28th last year.
Upon entering the house, cries of a baby could be heard from inside. Liu Tingfang, Zuo Guichao's wife, who was washing clothes in the courtyard, quickly stopped her work and ran into the house to pick up the child. "The child's name is Zuo Zhengke, and now he is our treasure," Liu Tingfang said while stroking the child's head.
Picked up an abandoned baby in the vegetable field in winter
"That day I got up early, went to the vegetable field to pull cabbage to sell at the market. As soon as I entered the vegetable field, I heard a child crying. Following the sound of the child's cry, I found him in the cabbage field. His face was already purple from crying," Zuo Guichao recalled when talking about how he found the child.
The news that Zuo Guichao and his wife picked up a sick child spread through the village, and everyone said they were "lacking common sense." "Their own family originally has two children, and it's not wealthy, relying on farming to live. Now they are raising a baby with heart disease, spending so much money on treatment, how will they maintain their livelihood in the future?" expressed villager Ci Changyin.
The couple's wish is for the child to recover soon
"Our biggest wish now is for the child to recover soon and grow up healthy," Zuo Guichao told the reporter. According to the doctor, after congenital heart disease surgery, the child's condition will gradually stabilize when he grows to three or four years old. Liu Tingfang said: "As the days go by, we have developed feelings for the child. As long as he has a breath left, we won't abandon him, we won't give up on him."
"Since I learned about Zuo Guichao's situation, I helped him contact the town's Civil Affairs Bureau and the county Health Bureau and other relevant departments, and they donated money to his family. In addition, after multiple efforts, we successfully processed the low-income assistance procedures for Zuo Guichao," said Zuo Xingmin.
At 8:30 a.m. on the 17th, our journalist visited Zuo Guichao's home in Xipanshigou Village, Jinling Town, Cangshan County.