"Eighteen thousand is too expensive, we just can't afford it! ”
On December 3, 2015, Deng Gangming, who had just finished his eldest son's wedding, received the news that his youngest son Deng Shuchao committed suicide by jumping into the Jinsha River.
They hoped that their son could be buried as soon as possible, but the salvage fee of 18,000 yuan stumped Deng Gangming and his wife. As a last resort, the two came to the police station and wanted to ask ** to negotiate with the salvage team to see if the salvage fee could be reduced.
As soon as the news came out, the words "valuable corpse collection" became a hot search again, and the profession of "corpse collector" also entered people's field of vision again.
The person who recovered the body of their youngest son for Deng Gangming and his wife was Yang Yuhai. He and several others formed a private corpse** group.
When Deng Gangming and his wife found Yang Yuhai, Yang Yuhai's asking price was 18,000 yuan, but Deng Gangming was only willing to give 1,200 yuan. The two sides held talks for three days. Deng Gangming kept telling Yang Yuhai about the difficulties at home. In the end, Yang Yuhai lowered the ** of the corpse by eight thousand.
During this period, Deng Gangming's son's body was soaked in water.
But Deng Gangming couldn't afford this 8,000 yuan.
As a last resort, Deng Gangming found the police station and asked the police comrades to help talk. Subsequently, under the coordination of **, Yang Yuhai agreed to salvage the body of Deng Gangming's son for 5,400 yuan.
And this matter once appeared on the hot search. Netizens accused Yang Yuhai of "making money from dead people" and "holding corpses to bargain".
Yang Yuhai responded that a total of 9 people participated in the collection of corpses at that time, and the money distributed to each person was a few hundred yuan per person. How did the sky-high price come about?
He did so for decades, salvaged hundreds of bodies, and never had an argument with his family.
Yang Yuhai's behavior is also reminiscent of the famous incident that occurred on the Yangtze River in 2009, when a hero sacrificed his life to save people, but was taken hostage and demanded a price.
In 2009, a business card ** "The Price of Holding a Corpse" was published and won the highest honor in China's photography industry - Golden Lens Award. While this ** sparked heated discussions among netizens, it also pushed the profession of collecting corpses to the forefront.
On the afternoon of October 24, 2009, three college students jumped into the river to rescue children who had fallen into the water.
Vaguely frightened, the companions begged the fishermen who could swim to come to their rescue.
At that time, Wang Shouhai, who had many years of experience in collecting corpses, was playing cards in the village when he heard Chen Xing shouting to him: "Stop playing, there is a college student by the river who has fallen into the water, go and save people." "People! ”
When Wang Shouhai heard this, he hurriedly rushed out, took a special fishing hook, and got on the fishing boat.
Wang Shouhai entered the river by boat and fished in the river with a hook for a long time before he recovered a corpse. Just as he was dragging the body back, he received **.
* On the other end is Chen Bo, the owner of the "Jingjiang Yangtze River Salvage Company". He ordered Wang Shouhai to pay 12,000 yuan per person, and if he didn't pay, he was not allowed to fish.
After Wang Shouhai received the **, he dragged the body on the river for half an hour before starting the salvage work again.
This scene happened to be filmed by reporters and released.
For a time, people accused Wang Shouhai of being selfish and refusing to pull the body ashore because he could not see the money. Besides, the person who was killed is a hero, how can he earn the money of a hero?
A few days later, this ** continued to circulate on the Internet, and ** also reported the news that Wang Shouhai "held the corpse and asked for a price". Even Wang Shouhai's son called him to ask what happened.
He didn't understand how his father, a good man who had never fought or robbed all his life, had become a street rat overnight.
Wang Shouhai felt very aggrieved. He is equivalent to working for Chen Bo and only listens to his boss. At that time, it was Chen Bo who asked him to suspend the salvage until the money arrived.
Specifically, Wang Shouhai did not know how Chen Bo negotiated with the three college student schools at that time, and what happened in the process. He inexplicably took responsibility for not saving the students.
He said he actually received only 530 yuan for this salvage, including 30 yuan in hook money. In addition, the people who participated in the salvage at the same time only received 500 yuan each.
When he knew that the corpses were heroes, he donated 500 yuan.
As for the questioned **, Wang Shouhai was wearing a white shirt and holding the corpse to negotiate with teachers and students. This is purely my own interpretation.
In general, salvage operations are carried out by two vessels. After the body was recovered, in order to prevent it from slipping off again, the hands and feet were quickly tied with ropes, and then slowly led to the shore. At that time, Wang Shouhai was directing the personnel involved in the collection of the body, asking them to cooperate in salvaging the body ashore.
In the carcass fishing industry, there is also a rule that "no carcasses are allowed to be touched on board". Because most people thought that the corpse was unlucky, Wang Shouhai could not put the corpse on the boat, so he could only tow it to the shore first.
In addition, after the body is soaked in water, the weight increases, sometimes reaching more than 200 kilograms. In the early years, putting such a heavy body on a small wooden boat could easily cause a capsizing accident.
Therefore, Wang Shouhai knew from the first time he recovered the body that the body could not be put on the ship.
This series of normal operations was interpreted by ** who did not know the truth as disrespect for the hero. Later, Wang Shouhai was "rehabilitated" under the explanation of Li Yuquan, who was still in charge of the propaganda work of Yangtze University at that time.
Not only Wang Shouhai, but most of the people who dig up corpses will not open too high ** when they do this.
Chen Xiyang, who is in his 70s, is a veteran corpse collector on the Yangtze River in Wuhan. He has been in the industry for more than 40 years.
In the early 80s of the 20th century, Chen Xiyang was wandering by the river. Suddenly, an old man stopped him and asked, "Would you like to work with us to recover the body?" That's a good thing, and you can make some extra money. ”
Perhaps it was the phrase "accumulating virtue and doing good" that moved him, Chen Xiyang actually agreed to learn to salvage the body with the old man.
When getting along with the old man, Chen Xiyang learned that the old man's surname was Ding and he was the inheritor of the private charity "Peixin Shan Tang".
Wuhan folk have always circulated the legend of "wandering corpses stop Yangluo". In other words, many of the corpses that floated down from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River would remain in Yangluo.
During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Lei Chaoding and Lei Chaofu of Yangluo founded "Peixin Shantang" and hired fishermen with good water quality in the surrounding areas to salvage the corpses. From 1913 to 1918 alone, more than 1,100 corpses were recovered from Pei Xin Shantang. tools, which continued until the ...... of 1957
After listening to Lao Ding's story of Peixin Shantang, Chen Xiyang also had an understanding of this profession, and the words "accumulating virtue and doing good" have also become his professional beliefs.
Like all those who beat corpses, when Chen Xiyang went to salvage the corpse for the first time and saw the swollen corpse that did not look like a human and exuded a foul smell, Chen Xiyang couldn't help but vomit. Come out.
But when he thought that the stinky corpse was the last consolation for his family, he persevered.
Decades have passed, and Chen Xiyang's corpse collection skills have long been perfected.
In July 2010, Xiao Liu, who was in his 20s, was swimming in the Yangtze River and was swept away by the turbulent current. Xiao Liu's parents were devastated when they learned about it. After searching for several days without results, they found Chen Xiyang.
Chen Xiyang looked at Liu's father and Liu's mother, who were crying and red-eyed, and agreed without saying a word. He searched the river for two days with salvage tools before finding Xiao Liu's body.
Subsequently, in order to thank Chen Xiyang, Xiao Liu's parents gave him a thank you fee.
Chen Xiyang said that he has worked in this industry for decades, and he really does not put making money first. We Chinese believe in entering the soil for peace and returning to the roots. Since he has this technique, he can also help if he can.
In 2013, Chen Xiyang found a floating corpse on the river. After he fished it up, he judged the time of death of the corpse based on experience and sent the corpse to the funeral home.
It just so happened that the children of this corpse were frantically searching for their missing father. After receiving the notice from the funeral home to claim the body, the children rushed to the scene to conduct a DNA comparison with the body. The results of the examination showed that the deceased was the deceased. The father of the family, Lao Li.
After seeing Lao Li's body, the family said to Chen Xiyang excitedly: "You are the great benefactor of our family, without you, we will not see the last side of our father." After speaking, they took the initiative to take out 1,000 yuan to thank Chen Xiyang. 。
Many people think that there are not many people in this field, and they get as much as their families want.
But Chen Xiyang said that he has not been in this business for decades and has never asked his family for money. Now when the police station asks him to recover the body, he will be paid 400 yuan, compared to yuan in previous years. Sometimes, in order to express their gratitude to him, his family will give him more, but at most it is more than a thousand, which is not as outrageous as the rumors outside.
Since Wang Shouhai and Chen Xiyang are salvaged according to their conscience, what is the inside story behind the "corpse asking price" in 2008?
In the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins, people often drown. In order to find the body, the family begged the grandparents to report it. It was Chen Bo who saw the huge business opportunity behind the salvage of the corpse and established the "Jingzhou Yangtze River Salvage Company".
It is said to be a scrap company, but in fact it is just a handbag company. Chen Bo himself does not recover corpses, but his elder brother Chen Xinghui and Chen Xing have a group of friends who can salvage corpses. In this way, Chen Xing and his friends became Chen Bo's temporary employees.
Chen Bo knew that someone in his family had drowned, and his family was grief-stricken and just wanted to find the body as soon as possible, no matter how much it cost.
It was precisely because of this mentality that Chen Bo opened his mouth to offer his family a sky-high price in exchange for the corpse.
However, it is gratifying that the incident of three college students falling into the water has also exposed the shady scenes of Chen Bo's company. Chen Bo himself was detained for 15 days by the public security authorities on suspicion of extortion.
Perhaps a lot of people will feel very angry. How can a black-hearted boss be allowed to make such crazy money? Isn't there an official salvage team officially?
Yes, but it's really not much, if not very little.
Chen Song is a professional corpse fisherman and the only member of the Chaoyang River salvage team in Jiangbei District, Chongqing. Speaking of this salvage team, it is still a bit historical. It existed before the founding of the People's Republic of China and was subordinate to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
When Chen Song first joined the salvage team, there were three people. Now, he is the only one who is still holding on. The other two felt that the conditions on the boat were difficult and they could not make much money, so they went ashore to find other livelihoods.
Chen Song has lived a life on a ship since he joined the salvage team. The only person who accompanies him on weekdays is a local dog named "Little Yellow".
On days when there were no corpses, Chen Song either sat on the bow of the boat and watched the river rise and fall, or watched TV dramas to pass the time.
In the summer, more and more people drowned, and Chen Song became busy.
In 2000, when Chongqing was hit by heavy rains, Chen Song also set a record of 70 bodies recovered in a week. However, the recovery of corpses is both a technical and a conscience.
In order to prevent the family from being too sad after seeing the body, Chen Song would clean up the body after salvaging the body and then hand it over to the family.
He stated that it was a sign of respect for the deceased.
Like Chen Xiyang and Wang Shouhai, Chen Song's income is not high. His salary is piece-rated. For every body recovered, the civil affairs department will give him a subsidy of 500 yuan. If a family member files a claim, most of the family members will take the initiative to negotiate with Chen Song and give him a hard-won fee.
Chen Song is also from the grassroots and never asks for ** from his family. The average family only needs 500 yuan, and the economic conditions are good.
In winter, there are few floating corpses on the river, and Chen Song sometimes has no income for a month or two. However, in Chen Song's eyes, making money is not the first priority.
His role as a corpse finder is more of a feeling and belief in doing good. It is this belief that turns a person into a team.
The simple Chen Song does not agree with the "sky-high corpse collection fee". In his opinion, this behavior is undoubtedly extortion.
But from a legal point of view, does this count as extortion?
Jiang Jian, a lawyer and law teacher at Sichuan Normal University, also expressed this opinion about Yang Yuhai's behavior: they believe that Yang Yuhai detained the body and demanded 180,000 yuan salvage fee. While this behavior is not very ethical, it does not constitute legal extortion. Extortion crimes.
Because the carcass fishing industry itself is very risky, it is considered an "unlucky" business in the eyes of people. Even insurance companies don't cover them. As a result, fishermen can charge carcasses for fishing.
However, there is no unified standard for how to set the ** for the transportation of corpses. The collector of the corpse charges the family according to his conscience.
However, the biggest difficulty faced by the corpse collectors and even the corpse collection industry is not the problem of fees, but the lack of ** people.
Today, the young collectors are in their 40s. Because they have been dealing with corpses for many years, the fox odor has long been ingrained in their bodies and cannot be washed off. Most young people in their twenties and thirties are reluctant to engage in this industry when they see that their seniors have an average income and an unglamorous appearance.
Although people like Chen Bo have caused some chaos in the corpse collection industry, we cannot deny that corpse collectors are also ordinary people, and they also need to support their families. There is no need to turn the corpse collector into a saint. 。
Perhaps, when the corpse collection industry, like other industries, had a complete set of rules and regulations, people would not have so many prejudices and controversies about the corpse collectors.
Death is a topic that we all can't avoid. Now embalmers and corpse organizers have become a profession. In fact, the same is true for the corpse collectors. They give dignity to the deceased and should be respected.
After all, life and death are major events, and you can't **.