An impoverished old rural man whose wife had drowned early in their marriage; a dilapidated adobe house was his only property.
"I'm still young, I can take care of myself!" Chen Yan immediately smiled and consoled her grandfather, but soon, her smile was filled with tears. "I'm just afraid that as this illness progresses, I won't even be able to work. What will Grandpa and I do then?" At this point, Chen Yan began to choke up.
Relying on collecting scrap to raise the child.
"As soon as I think about these two, I want to cry!" Hu Changxiu said, "In daily life, when we see they're lacking something, neighbors around will help out, sending some rice, oil, and vegetables! But the most critical issue is the child's illness, and for this, we are also powerless!"
On a winter dawn in 1993, 68-year-old Chen Daojin suddenly woke up to the sound of a baby crying outside his door. "None of my neighbors have newborns," puzzled and confused, he quickly put on a cotton coat and went out to check. As soon as he opened the door, he was shocked. He saw a frail infant girl lying on the bluestone slab at his doorstep, her face turning blue.
An infant girl suffering from congenital heart disease was abandoned by her biological parents right after birth.
The adobe house has only two rooms in total, one of which is Chen Yan's bedroom. Chen Lao Han's bed is placed in a corner of the living room. There isn't a single decent piece of furniture in the house; a palm-sized broken TV is the only electrical appliance in the home. The most numerous items in the house are the various cardboard boxes and wine bottles collected by Chen Daojin.
For 19 years, Chen Daojin managed to raise the child solely by collecting scrap, along with the later meager low-income assistance. However, watching little Chen Yan grow day by day, he himself was aging continuously. What worried Chen Daojin the most was that Chen Yan's heart condition was becoming increasingly severe.
By Su Zhuoman, our reporter Li Houxiang / text Ma Qibing / photo
In Jiedun Village, Suzhou Town, Chaohu City, whenever villagers were asked about Chen Daojin and Chen Yan, these two grandfathers and granddaughter, they couldn't help but shed sympathetic tears.
During the conversation, Old Man Chen listened silently beside his granddaughter, wiping away tears and muttering repeatedly, "When I die, what will you do, child?"
The grandfather and granddaughter have relied on each other for survival for 19 years.
How many years will it take to save up for the surgery? ○ Talking about Chen Yan's condition made Chen Daojin worry.
Looking at this unfortunate grandfather and granddaughter, everyone present sighed deeply. Spring has arrived, and the cold days are about to pass. If there are kind-hearted people willing to lend a hand to help this grandfather and granddaughter, please call our hotline: 96511, or contact Chen Yan directly: 18756518207.
Chen Daojin didn't have time to think much before quickly bringing the baby girl inside.
"If not for my illness, I would definitely make sure my grandpa lives better!" Chen Yan told reporters that after graduating from junior high school, due to the family's poor conditions, she gave up the opportunity to continue studying and started working at a wool sweater factory in town. Now, she earns nearly 1000 yuan per month. "When I get paid, I buy some pastries for grandpa, but every time I think about my illness, grandpa always scolds me for wasting money and refuses to eat in anger."
On the afternoon of February 5th, our reporting team arrived at Jiedun Village in Suzhou Town. Hearing that reporters were coming to interview Chen Yan, many villagers enthusiastically offered to guide us. From afar, we noticed an extremely dilapidated adobe house standing out among the well-built rural houses. Villagers pointed at the adobe house and said that was where Chen Daojin and his granddaughter lived.
"You yourself have difficulty surviving, and the child has serious heart disease, so it might be better..." A neighbor suggested that Chen Daojin use the same method to secretly send the baby girl to someone else's doorstep elsewhere. "In such cold weather, if the child gets frostbite, what will you do?" For this suggestion, Chen Daojin stubbornly refused.
However, not long after, some neighbors reminded him that the child's complexion seemed abnormal. Indeed, upon examination, it was found that the child suffered from congenital heart disease.
"The baby was wrapped in a very thin blanket and wore only a torn undershirt." Chen Daojin recalled that those days, it was especially cold, and the ice in the pond by the door could bear people walking on it. When he first saw the baby's purple face, he thought it was due to freezing.
Nineteen years ago, when the nearly seventy-year-old Chen Daojin found a crying baby girl at his doorstep, he could have sent her away using the same method. But he did not do so. For 19 years, while farming and collecting scrap, he struggled to raise the child. Now, what worries Chen Daojin is that he is getting older and weaker, while the child's condition is worsening.
After adopting the child, the already destitute Chen Daojin, in order to let the child drink milk powder, had no choice but to take up a side job - collecting scrap while farming. Afterward, people often saw a frail old man at the village entrance and in town carrying a swaddled baby while picking up all sorts of scrap.
"For 19 years, it has been just these two grandfather and granddaughter relying on each other." Hu Changxiu told reporters, "We haven't seen his two sons for decades! His eldest son's wife passed away from illness early on, and because of business failure, he owes others a lot of debt and hasn't dared to return home for years. His younger son had a child but later died in a car accident. He divorced his wife, and now, no one knows where he is drifting."
You need to wear rubber shoes at home on rainy days.
Reporters noticed that Chen Yan's face, nose, and lips were all purplish, and the terminal joints of her hands were much larger than normal. According to the doctor's examination, apart from congenital heart disease, Chen Yan also suffers from severe tetralogy of Fallot. "The doctor said surgery needs to be done as soon as possible, but with over ten thousand yuan for the surgery fees, how many years will it take for me to save up?" Chen Yan sighed.
The indoor light was originally dim, but through the cracks on the wall and the holes in the roof, beams of light shone in sharply, forming spotty patches on the ground. Some of the cracks on the wall extended from the ceiling to the floor, wide enough for an adult to insert their hand.
Villager Hu Changxiu told reporters that in the village, Chen Daojin used to be a person of considerable prestige. Due to his hardworking nature, he became one of the few party members in the village when he was young and subsequently became a village cadre.
However, fate did not favor him. At the age of thirty-something, Chen Daojin's wife unfortunately drowned, leaving behind two young sons. Years later, Chen Daojin worked hard alone to raise his two sons, but as adults, neither son improved their father's life at all.
This house is at least over thirty years old!" Neighbor Hu Changxiu pointed at the uneven mud floor and told reporters, "Fortunately, it's sunny today, and the ground is dry. On rainy days, they have to wear rubber shoes inside the house."