A ragged cub at the beginning

The two of them got off topic, so they got back to the point. In fact, it is not uncommon for people to strangle or drown baby girls when they see them. This happens in every village and even town.

Du Yun talked about an incident that happened two days ago. An old man who was dumping nightshades found a dead baby girl in a dung bucket. Moreover, the baby was not thrown in after she died. He was so frightened that he even knocked over the dung bucket. It was a hot day, and the smell could be smelled from several streets away.

After burning wood ash and sweeping and flushing for most of the day, the water was barely diluted, but the people living nearby were still miserable and wanted to vomit all day. It was even more difficult for businessmen, and almost no one was willing to pass by there.

Tang Xu frowned when he heard this. This guy didn't even treat the child as a human being.

Du Yun sighed, "There are too many such cases. A family with good health may give birth to seven or eight children. They can't afford to raise them, so the better ones are given away or thrown into Taoist temples or on the streets. The worse ones are thrown directly into the mountains, rivers, toilets, or mass graves. It's not just girls, some boys are abandoned too."

The more Tang Xu listened, the more uncomfortable he felt. If he was thrown to a Taoist temple or something like that, he could still survive. But if he was thrown to the mountains, he would just be fed to wild boars. Starving to death or being bitten to death would be too cruel! The worst would be to throw him into a toilet! He didn't even have time to see the world, and he left with a dirty body.

She said angrily, "Is there no way? Don't let them abandon the child! Those who abandon the child should be arrested for abandonment or murder!"

Du Yun shook his head. "They can't afford it. If the people don't report this kind of thing, the government won't investigate it. It's hard to manage it in a unified way."

Tang Xu couldn't help but raise his voice, "If you can't afford to raise the baby, don't give birth to it. If you give birth to it, you will kill the baby! What did the child do wrong!"

"Don't be angry." Du Yun held her in his arms and patted her back gently. "I'll have someone send her back tomorrow and then ask someone to talk to the village chief."

"Is there no other way?" Tang Xu felt uncomfortable. She felt heartbroken just thinking about those children who died in toilets, in the mouths of wild beasts, or drowned.

"I have sent people to notify each village not to kill babies anymore. Otherwise they will be arrested and forced to do hard labor," said Du Yun.

This method cannot be avoided, but we can't just stay in the village and watch over those children. Tang Xu bit his finger. They can't afford to raise them. They are short of money. What if I give them money? Maybe it doesn't cost much. "If I pay, those who give birth to daughters can come and get one or two silver coins. After that, every year they bring their children here, they can give five hundred coins. Do you think it will be useful?"

Du Yun hesitated for a while, "Maybe it's possible, but what about the boy?"

Tang Xu thought about it for a while. If both boys and girls were given, it would be like encouraging childbirth. The birth rate was already very low, and having too many children would be a burden. She said, "If there are more than three boys in the family and you really can't afford to raise them, you can come and get one."

Du Yun nodded, "Try it first, and change it if it doesn't work."

"I will find another way to make more money," said Tang Xu.

"Before this, I was thinking, maybe you can take in some girls and teach them some survival skills. For example, learn martial arts, and then recommend them to the homes of wealthy families to help protect those young ladies. This is also a way out." Du Yun looked down at her, "What do you think?"

Tang Xu sat up and said excitedly, "What a great idea! I think it can work! Why didn't I think of it! The girls I sponsor can start teaching when they are five or six years old. After they can make money, we will take some commissions and use them to sponsor future children! That's great!"

"Are you happy?" Du Yun tapped her nose, as if making fun of her depressed look just now.

Tang Xu wrinkled his nose and smiled.

Jiang Qiu returned, and the people sent by Du Yun reprimanded the village chief and strictly prohibited the private killing of babies, otherwise they would be arrested.

After giving a beating, he gave a sweet treat by saying that if I gave birth to a daughter, I could go to the Qingyang Kindergarten in the town to get money every year, and the better I raised her, the more money I would get.

When Jiang Qiu got home, she endured the anger of the whole family. She hurriedly took out the one or two taels of silver as Tang Xu taught her, and said that she would be able to receive the money every year in the future.

The family was silent, as they had never heard of such a good thing as having a daughter. The mother-in-law even took the money and cooked her a bowl of noodles, asking her to take good care of the child.

This method was like a carrot dropped in front of a donkey. It really attracted many people to come and claim their money. After receiving the silver, they all smiled from ear to ear.

Tang Xu spent a lot of money, and fortunately now there is money coming in every day, so it is not too tight. Du Yun wanted to give her money, but she declined, saying that she would tell him if she needed it in the future.

That alone is not enough.

Tang Xu decided to publish a book to record some children's stories. She had already thought of the first story in the book.

To borrow a statement I saw on the Internet before, when a woman becomes pregnant, the young girl next to Avalokitesvara will lead a group of children and secretly watch her on the clouds.

If the children like a pregnant woman, they will jump into her belly. If there are many children who like her, they will fight, so some children will be born with birthmarks.

Many people regard birthmarks as a bad omen. However, in the stories Tang Xu has read, birthmarks are beautified. They are the result of the efforts children have made to come into their mother's womb and are their medals.

At the end of the story, if parents do not cherish their children, hurt or abuse them, the maiden around Guanyin Bodhisattva will give her a mark, and if she does not bring her children to see her next time she is pregnant, she may never have children again.

This story inevitably exploits faith, but Tang Xu still drew it.

She drew the children to be chubby and cute, and the fights in the sky looked cute and funny. They spanked and rubbed their faces, and the places where they were spanked were the places she had seen that were easy to leave birthmarks.

Du Yun felt soft-hearted after watching it, and couldn't help but start to imagine that if Tang Xu was pregnant, the children in the sky would definitely fight fiercely.

Because it was a picture book, the printing price was not cheap. Tang Xu didn't dare to choose color pictures at all, because he really couldn't afford it.

As soon as the book came out, she took advantage of the summer vacation to go to a dental clinic and hire a few literate and eloquent people to go to various villages to read the book and tell it to the children.

She didn't know how many people would remember this and just wanted to do more, even if only one child could survive.

The weather was too hot and a worker in the kindergarten had heat stroke. When Tang Xu heard about it, he immediately took Banxia to see a doctor. Fortunately, the condition was not serious and she woke up after acupuncture.

"Go back and rest first, and come back when you're ready. You will still get your wages." Tang Xu said to the worker.

"No, no, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. I can work! I can't take your money for nothing." The worker refused hastily. Not wanting to take money for nothing was one thing, but what if Foreman Tao thought he was not in good health and didn't want to take him with him next time?

"Go back and have a rest, and come back the day after tomorrow." The potter said.

"You'll need me the day after tomorrow, right? I'm usually very strong. I don't know what happened to me today." The worker scratched his head embarrassedly.

"Yes, you go back and rest, it's okay, it's too hot." The potter waved his hand.

"It's too hot. Let people take a rest during the hottest time of the day, otherwise no one can bear it." Tang Xu suggested.

"That might not be enough time..." The potter frowned.

"Well," Tang Xu was a little embarrassed, but still said, "Let's take a rest. It would be bad if something serious happened."

"I'll prepare some herbal tea to relieve the heat. Let's boil it for them to drink every day." Banxia suddenly said.

"Okay, okay, thank you for your help, Banxia!" Tang Xu rubbed Banxia's little face, but she pushed him away with disgust.