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 from when she was a child. Rainwater mixed with Chen Yali's tears as she wept. In order to fulfill her mother’s dying wish, for many years Chen Yali searched everywhere for her younger sister who had been adopted 50 years ago. A police officer persuaded an escapee to surrender after more than ten days of online chatting. That repeatedly viewed one-year-old photo of her younger sister eventually became an important clue. Yesterday, 68-year-old Chen Yali and her 51-year-old younger sister Qiao Yuping cried in each other's arms inside the police station. At that moment, their tears were sweet.
Close yet distant, the sisters struggled to reunite.
Chen Yali’s hometown is in Hanzhong. According to Chen Yali’s recollection, in January 1959, the sixth sibling in the family—her younger sister Chen Yameng—was born. In June of the same year, her father passed away. To support six children, her mother had to go to work and could not take care of baby Chen Yameng. Reluctantly, they gave up their sixth child to be adopted by a family in Xi'an city. At that time, Chen Yali was already working in Xi'an.
After the younger sister was adopted, her mother still missed her very much. Chen Yali, who was in Xi'an, would find time to visit the one-year-old sixth sister, but did not appear as the elder sister. At that time, the sixth sister's home was near Erfu Street, while Chen Yali lived on Taihua Road. During this period, Chen Yali visited several times. When the sixth sister was seven years old, Chen Yali bought cookies that her sister loved and went to visit again, but the adoptive mother did not allow Chen Yali to see her sister anymore. From then on, Chen Yali never saw her younger sister again.
In the following years, the five siblings of Chen Yali married and had children, and their lives became better and better. Now, all five siblings have retired and are enjoying their lives. In 2008, Chen Yali’s 82-year-old mother passed away. On her deathbed, her mother kept mentioning the name of the sixth sister Chen Yameng who had been adopted, and entrusted the eldest daughter Chen Yali with a final wish: to definitely find her sister and see how she was living.
Seeking police help to identify more than twenty "Qiao Yuping"
The adoptive father of the sixth sister surnamed Qiao. After being adopted to 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 through various means that Qiao Yuping's new home was near Changlexi Road in Xin Cheng District. Thus, she sought help from the Changlexi Road Police Station of the Xincheng Branch of the Xi'an Municipal Public Security Bureau.
After receiving the request for help, Deputy Chief Dong Yunfeng of the police station used the information provided by Chen Yali to search for more than twenty target individuals on the population network, asking Chen Yali to identify them one by one. However, Chen Yali, who hadn't seen her younger sister for 43 years, couldn't recognize which one was her younger sister from the headshots on the population network.
At this point, Chen Yali suddenly remembered that there was a thick book at home where a one-inch photo of her younger sister at the age of one was tucked between the pages. This photo was taken before the younger sister was adopted, as requested by 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 residential area within his jurisdiction who might be the younger sister Chen Yali was looking for. Subsequently, he took this photo to the neighborhood committee staff and asked them to subtly inquire about "Qiao Yuping." The answer was that this "Qiao Yuping" was adopted, she was 51 years old, had once lived near Erfu Street, and also had some memory of this photo.
Reunion after half a century, tears streaming down
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 attention to it. Until early August this year, when Officer Jiao Yunfeng called to ask about hemorrhoid treatment methods, she recalled her father's past words. Unfortunately, her parents had already passed away. Qiao Yuping could only call her cousin to inquire, 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.
This morning, before seeing her younger 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. The moment they saw each other, Chen Yali's eyes quickly moistened: "Sister, I am your older sister..."
Now, Qiao Yuping also has a happy family; her husband works, and her son is currently in his second year of university. "Tomorrow, sister will take you back to our hometown to see the other brothers and sisters. Everyone in the family misses you," said the two sisters holding hands and sitting together, verifying every piece of familial information they could remember... By reporter Yang Xiaogang