sell one 's children
Selling men and women is a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is m à in á NY à n à, which means selling one's own children because of life. It comes from stone nodding: Lu Mengxian seeks his wife on the river.
The origin of Idioms
Ming Dynasty's natural fool Shi nodou Lu Mengxian seeks his wife on the river: "besides, in such a barren age, that family does not sell men and women to survive."
Idiom usage
In the old society, the common people sold men and women or barely made a living.
sell one 's children
kill the goose that lays the golden eggs - shā jī qǔ luǎn
Different people have different opinions - rén zhě jiàn rén,zhì zhě jiàn zhì
fill in the gaps to complete a chain - chéng lóng pèi tào
like fans being out of use after autumn - qiū fēng tuán shàn