Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 1614 Abandoned Baby in Front of Car 4

Chapter 1614: Chapter 1614 Abandoned Baby in Front of Car 4

Lu Jiang dispatched Han Ping and Liu Yan to entertain their guests, while keeping Director Liu behind. "You send someone to find out who was wandering around the car with a basket, then look into which family had a child and abandoned the baby here. Under normal circumstances, the home would be nearby, not far away, unless they intentionally came from a distance."

"Yes, I’ll send someone right away."

Director Liu was about to send someone to investigate when Feng Qingxue stopped him. "Check to see if it was intentional to place the baby under the car in hopes of it getting killed! That would be murder!"

Director Liu was taken aback and suddenly asked, "Leader, can you tell if it’s a girl?"

A large part of the town’s residents had come from rural areas, and as the director of the police station, Director Liu often dealt with the situation below, understanding the feudal mindset of valuing sons over daughters that led to many cases. No matter how the walls proclaimed "Women hold up half the sky," "Gender equality," or "Infanticide is murder," many people couldn’t change their preference for sons over daughters.

Han Ping once conducted a survey: One people’s commune had 127 infant deaths in a year, with 108 being female infants. Even though they were born around the same time, could female infants be inherently weaker than male infants? Clearly not.

So, the cause of death for 108 female infants became apparent.

Some parents always believed that since the child was theirs, they had the right to decide her life or death.

Faced with this situation, Director Liu was also powerless.

Feng Qingxue asked Lu Jiang to prepare hot water. She unravelled her military coat and outer clothing, and cotton jacket, holding the baby in her arms. She was wearing a military coat lined with lambskin, with thermal underwear, cashmere clothes, a marten vest, and army-issued cotton clothing underneath—all fully equipped. Surprisingly, the baby, who seemed only a few days old, instinctively snuggled into her for warmth.

There was nothing in the basket to indicate the baby’s identity. The old swaddling clothes and small ragged blanket were washed clean. Lu Jiang brought warm water and let the baby drink a few sips. He untied the swaddling clothes and looked—a girl infant, indeed.

"Liu Ran, go to the cafeteria and ask for a bowl of rice broth." With no milk or formula, rice broth was the only temporary option for feeding.

Liu Ran nodded and quickly left.

Seeing Feng Qingxue wrapping the baby in the cotton jacket and military coat, with a gentle expression, Director Liu sighed softly. "Thanks to encountering you two leaders, this child was saved."

No matter the circumstances, as long as the baby was healthy and had food to eat, she could survive.

Meanwhile, Director Liu also understood the reasoning behind placing the baby under the car tire.

"What reason?" Feng Qingxue asked, curious if there was something she didn’t know.

In a low voice, Director Liu explained, "There’s a saying—a kind of feudal superstition—that the more miserably a newborn girl dies, the less likely she can come back to haunt her parents, and the parents might have a son next. That’s why many girl infants die tragically—some are drowned, some buried alive, some have their heads smashed, some strangled—the methods are countless."

A chill climbed up Feng Qingxue’s spine, her face pale as paper.

Influenced by the employment of maidservants at the Lu Family, and under Wang Zhenguo’s management, post-liberation slogans of gender equality were well-promoted. Moreover, Wang Zhenguo spoiled his only daughter, making the Wanglou Brigade the one with the highest status for girls in the area. Even so, there were still those who favored sons over daughters privately, let alone elsewhere?

...In the late 80s and early 90s, such situations still existed in rural areas. It was said that the worse a girl infant died, the better, contributing to the reasons for the prevalence of bachelors. Our clan hadn’t married for over four years; more than a dozen bachelors aged 23-29, and some in their early 30s, remained. Only two girls were left, and they were already betrothed.