Yesterday, the two sisters met at Changlexi Road Police Station and cried in each other's arms. The pictures in this article were taken by reporter Zou Xiongtao. Sister Chen Yali has treasured a photo of her younger sister when she was a child. Rainwater mixed with Chen Yali's tears formed streaks down her face. In order to fulfill her mother's dying wish, for many years, Chen Yali has been searching for her youngest sister who was adopted 50 years ago. After more than ten days of online chatting, the police persuaded a fugitive to surrender. That one-year-old photo of her youngest sister, which had been looked at countless times, eventually became an important clue. Yesterday, 68-year-old Chen Yali and her 51-year-old youngest sister Qiao Yuping cried in each other's arms inside the police station. At that moment, their tears were sweet.
The hometown of Chen Yali is in Hanzhong. According to Chen Yali's recollection, in January 1959, the sixth sibling in the family - the youngest sister Chen Yamming was born. In June of the same year, her father passed away. To support six children, her mother had to go to work and was unable to take care of baby Chen Yamming, so she reluctantly gave the sixth child to a family in Xi'an for adoption. At that time, Chen Yali was already working in Xi'an.
After the youngest sister was adopted, her mother still missed her dearly. Chen Yali, who was in Xi'an, would take time to visit the one-year-old sixth sibling, but did not appear as the eldest sister. At that time, the sixth sibling lived near Erfu Street, while Chen Yali lived on Taihua Road. During this period, Chen Yali visited several times. When the sixth sibling was seven years old, Chen Yali bought cookies that her sister loved and went to visit again, but the adoptive mother of the sixth sibling did not allow Chen Yali to see her sister again. Since then, Chen Yali has never seen her youngest sister again.
In recent years, the five siblings of Chen Yali have married and had children, and their lives have become increasingly better. Now, all five siblings have retired and are enjoying life at home. In 2008, Chen Yali's 82-year-old mother passed away. On her deathbed, the mother kept mentioning the name of the adopted sixth sibling, Chen Yamming, and entrusted the eldest daughter, Chen Yali: "You must find your sister and see how she is doing."
Seeking police assistance to identify more than 20 "Qiao Yuping"s
The adoptive father of the sixth sibling surnamed Qiao, and after being adopted in Xi'an, her name was changed to Qiao Yuping. This information was what Chen Yali learned after multiple inquiries. In May this year, Chen Yali found out that Qiao Yuping's new home was near Changlexi Road in Xincheng District. Thus, she sought help from the Changlexi Road Police Station of the Xincheng Branch of the Xi'an Public Security Bureau.
After receiving the request for help, Deputy Chief Dong Yunfeng of the police station searched for more than 20 target individuals based on the information provided by Chen Yali and asked her to identify them one by one. However, Chen Yali, who hadn't seen her youngest sister for 43 years, was unable to recognize her from the headshots on the population network.
At this point, Chen Yali suddenly remembered that there was a one-inch photo of her youngest sister at the age of one hidden in a thick book at home. This photo was taken before her youngest sister was adopted at the request of her adoptive parents. Chen Yali had looked at this one-inch photo countless times.
After screening the target individuals, Officer Jiao Yunfeng locked onto a "Qiao Yuping" in a neighborhood within his jurisdiction who might be the youngest sister Chen Yali was looking for. Subsequently, he took the photo to the neighborhood committee staff and asked them to subtly inquire about "Qiao Yuping." The answer was that this "Qiao Yuping" was adopted, was 51 years old, had once lived near Erfu Street, and also had some memory of this photo.
Reunion after half a century with tears forming streaks
Deep in Qiao Yuping's memory, her father once told her: she was adopted. Thinking it was just a childhood joke, she didn't pay much attention. Until early August this year, when Officer Jiao Yunfeng called to inquire about the treatment methods for hemorrhoids, she recalled her father's words from the past. Unfortunately, her parents had already passed away. Qiao Yuping could only call her cousin to ask, and her cousin told her that she was adopted from Hanzhong, and her biological father surnamed Chen. This important piece of information also confirmed her sisterly relationship with Chen Yali.
Yesterday morning, before meeting her youngest sister, Chen Yali was still somewhat uneasy sitting in the meeting room of the Changlexi Road Police Station. Subsequently, 51-year-old Qiao Yuping was brought into the meeting room by the police officer, and the moment they saw each other, Chen Yali's eyes quickly moistened: "Sister, I am your elder sister..."
Nowadays, Qiao Yuping also has a happy family; her husband works, and her son is in his second year of university. "Tomorrow, sister will take you back to our hometown to meet the other brothers and sisters. Everyone in the family misses you," the two sisters sat together holding hands, verifying all the familial information they could recall... By reporter Yang Xiaogang.