A Father Who Refused Leave His Daughter Behind (Part 3)

August 26th, 2023:

Fu Xiong's daughter, exiting the factory front gate

In November 2008, Fu Xiong’s wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The birth of their daughter felt like a star lighting up Fu Xing’s world. He made up his mind that he “would do everything to ensure [his] daughter became the happiest person on Earth.” The abrupt end to his 10-day paternity leave, however, soon extinguished the flame of hope. Fu had to say goodbye to his daughter, not yet a month old, and return to Shenzhen, to his place on the assembly line. Holding his sleeping daughter, he gently touched her little hand – soft like cotton – and rubbed it softly against his rough cheek. Tears streamed down his face – not just from sorrow and reluctance, but more from a deep sense of guilt. “I thought, you know, I couldn’t, I’m unable to keep my wife and daughter by my side. And that was on me.”

When their daughter was three months old, Xiao Ling’s maternity leave ended as well. Xiao Ling couldn’t bear to leave her daughter, still nursing, behind. She wanted to bring the baby with her to Shenzhen, and the couple discussed the possibility for a long time. “We realized that balancing work and childcare was basically impossible. So Xiao Ling applied for unpaid leave from the factory.

Seeing their daughter, who was still nursing, Xiao Ling couldn’t bear to leave her behind. She wanted to bring the baby with her to Shenzhen, and the couple discussed the possibility for a long time. In the end, they realized that balancing work and childcare was impossible. Xiao Ling applied for unpaid leave from the factory, but when their daughter turned six months old, she made the painful decision to leave the child in the care of her grandparents and return to work in Shenzhen. Their daughter, just six months old, became one of China’s millions of left-behind children.

A left-behind child refers to a minor under the age of 16 who is left in the care of others (typically a grandparent) in a rural hometown because one or both parents have migrated away from the hometown for work. Growing up in an environment lacking parental companionship, care, or communication, it’s hard to imagine how these children’s personalities, psychology, and values develop. The 2023 Rural Education Development Report documented 9.02 million left-behind children in China in 2023, a significant decrease from 22 million in 2012, but still a staggering and heartbreaking number. Of greater concern is the fact that the research institution producing the report – China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) – adopted a more restricted definition of left-behind children in 2023 than in 2012, meaning that many children separated from their migrant worker parents were not qualified to be considered as left-behind. “Numbers lie.”

The thought their daughter was a left-behind child kept Fu Xing and Xiao Ling awake at night. They worked tirelessly, “never daring to lose any opportunity to save a little more money, while always looking forward to the Chinese New Year. New Year was when we could return home, stay for a week in our hometown, and to spend time with our daughter. That was it. Year after year after year, and time passed without you noticing.” Over the years, their daughter waited with eager anticipation for her parents’ arrival. She was ecstatic when her parents arrived and torn apart when they kissed her good-bye. This scene played out in Fu Xing’s life countless times.

“One year, right after the Spring Festival, my wife and I said goodbye to our parents and daughter, and we were just boarding the bus back to the city. The bus station was fairly far away from our home, and our parents and daughter walked that long distance with us. We parted when the bus came. The bus didn’t stay for long. A few minutes, maybe? But after the bus started moving again, after it’s moved over a fair distance, I think, we saw our daughter from the window, chasing after the bus and crying out with all her strength, and her grandmother chasing after her. She ran for a very long distance, very very long.” She ran for what seemed like an eternity, hoping her parents would either stay at home or take her with them to the city. Her small figure grew ever smaller in the distance, her body frail against the backdrop of the departing bus. “I turned my head away. I couldn’t bring myself to look back. The sound of my daughter’s cries were desperate. ‘Mama, Papa, Mama, Papa…’ It tore our hearts to pieces. This was the kind of pain that can only be fully understood by parents, perhaps.”

“I made a silent vow: I would bring his daughter to Shenzhen, to be with us. I started researching Shenzhen’s education policies, looking into elementary school admission procedures. I asked about tuition fees and other eligibility requirements at every school I could find.” Fu Xiong scoured the city for a suitable school, visiting almost every elementary school in Shenzhen. At the factory, he took on more responsibilities and, together with his wife, saved as much as they could, cutting back on all unnecessary expenses to save for their daughter’s tuition. He also applied to the factory for a larger dormitory. Finally, in the summer of 2015, they brought their daughter, who had started first grade, to their “home” in Shenzhen. They enrolled her in a private school in Longhua. That same year, Xiao Ling became pregnant with their second child.

With their daughter now in Shenzhen, and with a new baby in her belly, Xiao Ling had to adjust her work schedule, which meant a significant reduction in their household income. Their daughter’s tuition was over 30,000 yuan a year, and combined with the cost of living for the family of three, the financial pressure on Fu Xiong was immense. “Yet being able to see my daughter every day, to watch her grow and develop, made all the hardship and exhaustion worthwhile.”

Fu Xiong had always hoped his daughter could attend a public school in Shenzhen. Not only would there be no tuition fees, but the quality of education was also better. So, he kept a close eye on Shenzhen’s education policies. In 2022, the Shenzhen Education Bureau established a new public school in Longhua District, called Huazhong Normal University Affiliated School. Fu Xiong and his wife had been enrolled in and paying into the social security program through their factory jobs for years, and by accumulating enough “credit points” in the social security system, they met the eligibility requirements to apply to this school. Their daughter was successfully admitted. The following year, Fu Xiong brought his parents to Shenzhen to help care for their two children.

This, indeed, was a happy ending.