It was an ordinary year in the 90s of the last century, our village was still very poor, and everyone lived a simple and simple life. At that time, the state was vigorously promoting the family planning policy, and in order to control the population, each village was equipped with a full-time family planning commissioner. The family planning commission of our village is Zhang Tiezhu.
Zhang Tiezhu was only in his early twenties at the time, not tall, but he exuded an imposing momentum. He combed his hair neatly, wore straight clothes, and straightened his waist. A pair of sharp eyes that seem to be able to see through people. He spoke crisply and neatly, and his tone was ruthless. The people of the village were in awe of him.
"This family planning commission in our village is really not built, staring at us all day and night, for fear that we will secretly give birth to a son!"
"But no, I heard that he arrested Wang's second sister-in-law again two days ago, and he didn't let her get pregnant. "
Zhang Tiezhu was sitting in his humble office, looking down at the family planning file in his hand. On the wall are all kinds of family planning propaganda posters, with eye-catching slogans: "Overpopulation, it is better to marry later and have children later!" Stacks of forms and documents are piled up on the desk, and a worn-out telephone is placed on a small cabinet next to it.
Zhang Tiezhu opened a file, on which was the name of Wang's second sister-in-law. His brow furrowed, his face full of seriousness. As a family planning commissioner, he was given the power to enforce the law and had to strictly control the birth situation in his jurisdiction.
Outside the window, the morning sun was warm and warm, but Zhang Tiezhu was unaware. He was engrossed in his work, meticulously checking the data. Suddenly, the phone rang. He picked up the phone and said in a stiff tone: "Hey, Zhang Tiezhu." "
Zhang Tiezhu frowned: "Don't you already have two children in your family? According to the policy, this child can't be wanted!"
"Accidents, how can there be so many accidents!" Zhang Tiezhu was furious, "You beat the child for me, I'll go to the ward round next month, if there is still one, don't blame me for being rude!"
With that, he hung up the phone violently. Zhang Tiezhu took a deep breath, and a resolute look resurfaced on his face. As a population and family planning cadre, he will never back down!
The people in the village respected and feared Zhang Tiezhu. Some people secretly cursed him as a "murderer", but no one dared to resist in front of him. Zhang Tiezhu turned a blind eye to this, and he felt that he was contributing to the development of the country and the village.
Despite his tough attitude at work, Zhang Tiezhu's family life is quite happy. His wife, Zhang Dahua, was a meek and virtuous woman who obeyed her husband's words. They have a seven-year-old daughter, Xiaohong, who is a lively and lovely child.
Every day when he comes home from work, Zhang Tiezhu will leave the day's hard work behind. He would patiently accompany his daughter to her homework or take her out of the village to play. Sometimes, he will also take the initiative to share the housework and help Zhang Dahua wash vegetables and cook. The family of three is happy and happy, and there is a bit of petty bourgeoisie.
But there is a problem that has always plagued Zhang Tiezhu, that is, Zhang Dahua has always wanted a son. According to the traditional concept at the time, it was a pity not to have a son. However, as a member of the family planning committee, Zhang Tiezhu could not violate his principles. Whenever his wife hinted at the issue, he always avoided the topic without saying a word.
The pressure at work is increasing day by day. Higher-level departments have increased the intensity of family planning law enforcement year by year, and they have also set strict requirements for grassroots cadres like Zhang Tiezhu. He had to become more and more severe, and he was not soft on women who were pregnant and had more than one child.
Once, Zhang Tiezhu made a ward round and found that Li Sanjia's daughter-in-law was secretly pregnant. According to the regulations, he confiscated her family planning certificate on the spot and forcibly ordered her to kill the child. The young daughter-in-law fell to the ground crying, and several family members pleaded for mercy, but Zhang Tiezhu ignored it.
A week later, Zhang Tiezhu came to the door again and found that the young woman had not yet undergone surgery. So he decisively ordered the workers to demolish her family's cave, and sternly warned that if the children were not killed again, their farming quotas would be confiscated. Eventually, the poor woman was forced to have an abortion.
Whenever this kind of thing happens, Zhang Tiezhu's heart is always very conflicted. On the one hand, he felt that he was serving the country's policies and safeguarding the overall situation; On the other hand, he often feels guilty and remorseful for what he has done.
"Am I doing the right thing?" Sometimes, when Zhang Tiezhu sits alone in the office, such a question will arise in his heart.
He remembered what a simple and kind child he used to be, and his parents brought him up with hard work. But for the sake of this job, for the sake of the so-called "career", he had to become ruthless and hurt others.
Some nights, Zhang Tiezhu would be awakened by nightmares. In the dream, the women he forced to have an abortion stared at him with resentment, and the cries of the children echoed in his ears. He would wake up with a cold sweat on his forehead.
But in any case, in the eyes of others, he has always been the cold, stern, and hard-hearted family planning commissioner who is absolutely obedient to the policy. And in the gossip of the villagers, his image is that of a "bullish" guy.
As time passed, Zhang Tiezhu became more and more strict in the process of law enforcement, and even a little excessive and paranoid. Once, when he learned that the four families of the village were pregnant with twins, he immediately ordered them to kill one.
"How can this be? Twins are a gift from heaven!" Wang Si and his wife were in great pain, but Zhang Tiezhu showed no mercy.
"If you don't kill one, don't want to stay in this village!" Zhang Tiezhu said coldly.
In the end, at his insistence, the Wang Si family could only give birth to one child, and the other was forced to be killed. A pair of new parents who should have been jubilant were cast a shadow under Zhang Tiezhu's strict law enforcement.
These incidents gradually caused discontent in the village. Everyone began to secretly abuse Zhang Tiezhu, thinking that he was simply a "murderer".
One day, a group of angry villagers came to Zhang Tiezhu's house en masse, shouting the slogan "Down with Zhang Tiezhu". They trampled the small garden in front of Zhang Tiezhu's house into a mess.
Zhang Tiezhu's eyes widened in anger and he rushed out of the house to drive away the crowd. "What are you doing? This is undermining public order!"
"You're the culprit! You're forcing us to have abortions, you're a murderer!" Someone in the crowd roared.
The conflict between the two sides soon escalated. The villagers began to pick up the bricks and stones at hand and threw them at Zhang Tiezhu's house, and the glass was smashed to the ground. Zhang Dahua and Xiaohong were so frightened that they hid in the house and didn't dare to come out.
Zhang Tiezhu was furious, picked up a stick and swung it at the crowd. Fierce clashes broke out between the two sides at the door, and the fight lasted more than an hour.
Eventually, the village party cadres and militia arrived and managed to quell the clashes. But Zhang Tiezhu was covered in injuries, and his home was also smashed into a mess. Since then, he has been unable to work and live in the village anymore.
In the aftermath of the riots, higher-level authorities conducted a thorough investigation of Zhang's law enforcement methods. Soon, he was dismissed from his post as a family planning commissioner and relegated to a small post in his hometown.
When Zhang Tiezhu received the dismissal notice, he was conflicted. On the one hand, he felt that he was only carrying out the orders of his superiors and contributing to the country's family planning policy; On the other hand, he also realized that his actions were too absolute and simplistic, and that he had hurt many innocent people.
However, being temporarily dismissed from the work of the Family Planning Commission is also a relief for Zhang Tiezhu. He could finally get rid of the job that had left him torn up by contradictions.
"I just blindly carried out the orders, but ignored the feelings of ordinary people. Zhang Tiezhu thought, "I seem to treat them all as tasks and numbers, rather than flesh and blood people." "
He began to realize that reproductive freedom was a fundamental right of every human being, and that the country's policies should not be so harsh. In contrast, more attention should be paid to publicity and education, so that the people consciously abide by it.
"If I had done more ideological work and communicated with everyone with heart and affection, maybe it wouldn't have come to that point. Zhang Tiezhu sighed.
After spending some time at home, Zhang Tiezhu began to look for a new way out. He realized that it was difficult to support his family by relying solely on that small job with a basic salary.
That's when an opportunity presented itself. A new farm in the village is hiring workers, and the pay is quite good. After some consideration, Zhang Tiezhu did not hesitate to sign up.
During the interview, the director asked him why he gave up his official position to come here. Zhang Tiezhu said sincerely: "There were many problems in my previous work and hurt many people. I hope to atone for my sins and start anew through real labor. "
With this sincerity, Zhang Tiezhu was finally hired by the farm. Since then, he has completely gotten rid of his past job and started a new life.