ABC news today reported about a young Chinese couple who sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online games at Internet cafes. The news report came to light via a southern Chinese news paper. According to Sanxiang City News the couple met each other in a Internet cafe back in 2007 and were since obsessed with online video games. A year later, the couple who are both under 21 had their first born son. The couple apparantly used to travel some 30 Km to visit the Internet cafe leaving behind their infant son.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. The couple did so by selling the girl for RMB 3,000 (less than $500) which they spent entirely on Internet gaming. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
The couple followed this absurd behavior by having another child, a boy and sold him for RMB 30,000. They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done. When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City News reports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.