For several days, the sky in Pingjiang County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province, has been overcast. The continuous drizzle and the Grain Rain solar term blend together, as if echoing the vibrant scene of “rain bringing forth a hundred grains.” However, just four days ago, on April 15th, 9-year-old Chenchen (pseudonym) chose to end his young life. “I also want to go with him and lie with him in the funeral home.” Recalling the child, Mr. Yang, Chenchen’s father, had tears in his eyes. “I don’t know how to face all this.” He said helplessly.
“‘Bang,’ the child fell down.”
Everything came too suddenly, and the once happy family encountered a separation of life and death.
“Mom, make me breakfast, and I’ll go to school myself.” This was the last request Chenchen made to his mother before leaving on April 15th. Jianqing Furong School in Pingjiang County, where Chenchen attended, was just across the street from his home, about a few minutes’ walk. Although she didn’t say anything, Chenchen’s mother, feeling uneasy, chose to follow him quietly after he left.
After walking with the child for a while in the community and not finding anything unusual, Chenchen’s mother decided to go back home. But perhaps it was a mother-child connection; on the way home, she felt something was wrong, so she walked around the community again. Not finding the child, she went back home. Just as she was thinking that she was probably being too suspicious, she heard a “‘Bang,’ and the child fell from the building” as she reached the door.
Chenchen’s mother felt the sky had fallen, and Mr. Yang, who received the call, was also stunned. He couldn’t remember how he got to the scene, only that the child’s small body was lying on the ground. “I could only hold his body and cry, and keep crying.”
The public housing area where Chenchen lived was originally a self-built house in the countryside. Photo by Jia Bo, a reporter from Dimension News.
“Copying ten thousand times”
Through the surveillance cameras installed on the roof, Mr. Yang saw the last few minutes of Chenchen’s life. Chenchen first went to the roof, walked around, put down his schoolbag, and then kept pacing on the roof. He first walked onto the low wall on the roof, ran a few steps towards the edge, then stopped and turned back to stand in front of his schoolbag. About 30 seconds later, Chenchen jumped onto the low wall again, then walked straight to the edge of the roof and disappeared from the surveillance footage…
Why did the child choose death rather than go to school? Mr. Yang urgently wanted to get an answer.
“After the child’s accident, we watched more than 20 hours of surveillance footage at the school, about a week’s worth of content. I saw Chenchen always being scolded by the teacher, being punished 13 times in a week, often being hit, and being made to stand for 4 classes one day.” Mr. Yang still couldn’t understand what big mistake the child had made to deserve such punishment. Mr. Yang also learned from Chenchen’s mother that the child had been punished to copy “grading” ten thousand times, and she had wanted to find an opportunity to ask the teacher, but now it seemed meaningless. These days, Mr. Yang often has to look through Chenchen’s homework book, “The whole book is written with the words ‘grading’.” Looking at his child’s handwriting, his hands couldn’t stop trembling.
Chenchen’s copybook. Photo by Jia Bo, a reporter from Dimension News.
Mr. Yang works in the decoration industry and often travels around Hunan Province. Chenchen is the eldest son in the family, and there is also a five-year-old younger brother, and his wife is a full-time mother. For families with children, academics are always a topic that cannot be avoided. Mr. Yang told the reporter that Chenchen’s academic performance was probably at the middle level in the class, “The scores are around 80 points, and sometimes there are scores in the 70s. Although we also pay attention to the child’s academics, I remember that I only got impatient with Chenchen 2 or 3 times.”
On March 22nd before the incident, Chenchen said he had a stomachache and didn’t want to go to school. “Chenchen’s mother took the child’s temperature and felt that there was nothing wrong, but the child was still persistent, so he called me. I thought it was Friday, so I told my wife, ‘Why don’t we let the child relax and give him a short vacation.'” According to Mr. Yang’s memory, this was the only time before the incident that the child expressed that he didn’t want to go to school.
The roof where Chenchen fell. Photo by Jia Bo, a reporter from Dimension News.
“He said he wanted to be a policeman when he grew up.”
Mr. Yang told the reporter that Chenchen was a cheerful child with a gentle personality, and he was also very obedient. He would help his mother clean up the dishes after every meal, and sometimes he would sweep the floor and wipe the floor, and coax his younger brother to play. Chenchen also got along well with his classmates and never caused trouble. He loved playing basketball the most, often playing basketball with classmates and friends in the basketball court in the yard, and sometimes he would ride a bicycle.
A basketball court under Chenchen’s house. Photo by Jia Bo, a reporter from Dimension News.
Chenchen lived with his maternal grandparents since he was a child. Even now that his studies are busy, he would occasionally stay at his maternal grandparents’ house for a night on weekends. He had less contact with his paternal grandparents, but they were also very close, and he was the apple of everyone’s eye.
Now, the four elders are all waiting in the funeral home, waiting for the final result.
Pingjiang County Funeral Home, Chenchen’s paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents are waiting for the final result here. Photo by Jia Bo, a reporter from Dimension News.
Talking about Chenchen’s past, Mr. Yang was once lost in memories and found it difficult to pull himself out. “I owe the child too much. Because I was busy working to earn money, I came home less often, sometimes only once or twice a month. I didn’t take him out to play much, and the farthest I went was not outside Hunan Province. Most of the time, I just went to climb mountains. The child often told me that he wanted to be a policeman and a firefighter when he grew up. He was a very well-behaved child.”
It’s just a pity that all the plans and visions were cut short after the loud noise of the fall from the building. “I don’t know how I’ve been doing this week. As soon as I lie down, I feel the child lying beside me, and my mind is full of the child’s appearance.” Mr. Yang said, “He was just an ordinary child who was growing up well, and even if his academics weren’t so outstanding, he shouldn’t have had this kind of experience…”
“Waiting for justice”
On the evening of April 18th, the Education Bureau of Pingjiang County issued a statement regarding Chenchen’s fall—”After the incident, the County Party Committee’s Political and Legal Committee and the public security, education, and local townships (streets) and other departments and units formed a joint investigation team to conduct an investigation and handle the matter immediately. Currently, the cause of the accident is being investigated in detail and in depth, and the relevant follow-up work is being carried out in accordance with the law and regulations.”
“I am not reconciled now, and the heartache cannot be described in words. My tears just keep flowing when I think of the child.” Mr. Yang cried several times uncontrollably, “The child is still lying in the funeral home and cannot be buried. I don’t know how much courage he had to choose to end his life. I would rather die too, and rather lie beside him in the cold funeral home and be with him.”
The child’s physical punishment is a hurdle that the Yang family cannot avoid. “When we were reviewing the surveillance footage at the school, the school leaders also received us. To be honest, the attitude was also quite sincere, but the homeroom teacher never showed up, neither explaining nor apologizing.” Mr. Yang told the reporter that the school told him “to wait for the results and can accept judicial intervention.” Mr. Yang also decided to wait, “I am now waiting for a result, waiting for justice. I believe the investigation team will give me an explanation in the end, and I am also willing to believe that the final (investigation team) will give me and the child an account.”
The school where Chenchen attended. Photo by Jia Bo, a reporter from Dimension News.
“I don’t have the ‘courage’ to accompany Chenchen, but I must have the ‘courage’ to continue on the next journey and face an unknown future.” Mr. Yang told the reporter that they, the couple, will raise their young son well and let him grow up healthy. When the matter of Chenchen has a result, the family plans to live in other cities. He hopes to go to a distant city, so far that it can erase the memory of this pain.
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