One of 60 million: life as a ‘left-behind’ child in China
China has a lost generation of ‘left-behind’ children, mostly the offspring of migrant workers forced to leave villages for cities in search of jobs. Huang Yuzhong was just 8 years old when his parents went. This is his story
The day that changed Huang Yuzhong’s life forever started normally enough. It was in the middle of March 2005 when he was a few months shy of his eighth birthday.
On that spring morning, the boy awoke in his upstairs bedroom to a cold grey day, usual weather for that time of year. But his parents were nowhere to be seen in their house, a rather tall building constructed in traditional Miao style, perched along the mountain slope, further up in the village.
Over the breakfast table, he asked his hunched-backed grandma about his parents.
“Went out to the city,” his grandma replied, blinking. “They went out to make money to buy you sweets,” she added with a smile, her eyes red with tears.
He burst into tears, drumming his fists on the table in anger. “Don’t cry! Eat, eat,” said his grandma. She placed a bowl of sticky rice and two tea eggs in front of him.
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Seeing the goodies through his blurred vision, Yuzhong stopped crying. His usual morning fare consisted of left-over rice with hot water. The boy started to eat greedily.