Seeing the middle-aged man in front of her, Grandma Xulan Ying felt a bit estranged. Instinctively, she hugged Li Jinwu's shoulders and brushed the hair off his head until she saw the scar on the top of his head. "Yes, yes," the old lady nodded vigorously and pulled Li Jinwu tightly into her arms. Li Jinwu was also in tears, like a child leaning in his mother's arms, shouting out the word "Mom" that had been buried in his heart for 52 years.
Taoyuan Village in Guabu Town, Liuhe District, Nanjing, is where Li Jinwu was born. He hadn't seen this village with only a few dozen households for half a century. Although he didn't even know this small town was in Nanjing before, every scene and object here was deeply engraved in his heart. In 1959, due to poverty, his father sent him and his 3-year-younger sister to Shanghai. Since then, both sides have been searching for each other for more than 50 years. They never expected that they would connect online just before the New Year. And yesterday, Li Jinwu finally returned home with his family.
A family portrait taken after 52 years. The third from the left in the second row is Xu Lan Ying, and to her left is Li Jinwu (photo provided by Duan).
For a long time, their family could barely make ends meet, let alone afford to search for their second and third children. The arguments between Li Tingru and Xu Lan Ying increased more and more. A few decades ago, Li Tingru moved out of the house and lived with one of his daughters in Nanjing. He lived in guilt and regret all his life and eventually passed away in 1999.
This phone call was answered by Li Jinmei's daughter. "I couldn't believe my ears." Although the person on the other end of the line had not yet been confirmed as Li Jinwu, Li Jinmei was already overjoyed. She further confirmed through an online video call, "He remembers the pond at our doorstep, the small hill behind our house, and the names of his childhood playmates..." In addition to the highly matching information, Li Jinmei looked at the screen and found the person resembled her elder brother Li Jinyuan more and more, "almost like twins." Unable to contain her excitement, Li Jinmei invited her mother and siblings to confirm repeatedly. By that evening, they had determined that this was the Li Jinwu they were looking for. Grandma Xu Lan Ying was so excited that her hands trembled and tears streamed down her face.
Three years ago, Li Jinmei asked her daughter to post a message on the "China Reunion Network." To keep up with the information, she bought a computer despite her financial constraints, but in the following three years, "not a single person came looking."
The siblings were sent to an orphanage
The villagers who had been waiting eagerly set off firecrackers prepared in advance as soon as the family arrived, which lasted for more than 20 minutes. However, Li Jinwu, who was anxiously awaiting reunion, no longer noticed the noise around him. Guided by the villagers, he rushed straight into his own courtyard—where his sleepless mother and more than 20 family members were waiting inside.
Initially, they planned to leave at 9:00 am, but yesterday morning at 6:30, Li Zhanqiang, his son, woke up first. Checking his parents' room, he found they had woken up earlier than him. After hastily eating breakfast, the entire Li Jinwu family immediately set off.
In 2003, the third generation of the Li family gradually entered the workforce, improving the family situation. With increasing age, Grandma Xu Lan Ying's longing for her children grew stronger. That year, the two youngest daughters of the family—Li Jinmei and Li Jinxia—decided to officially embark on the journey to find their relatives. Initially, they went to the urban areas of Nanjing and Shanghai to search but found no leads.
From then on, Xu Lan Ying began her journey to find her lost children. As Li Jinmei put it: "For our brother and sister, Mom has thought about them her whole life, and also resented it her whole life."
One day, during winter break, Li Jinwu's university-student nephew returned home. Knowing that his uncle had been searching for his biological mother for many years, he offered to "help you look online." A week ago, the nephew found the "China Family Search Network" and, after flipping through dozens of pages of missing person information, suddenly spotted a piece of information from Liuhe, Nanjing, looking for "Li Jinwu." The nephew cautiously asked his uncle, "Do you have a six-inch scar on the upper left side of your head?" Upon hearing this, Li Jinwu's heart raced. Indeed, he had a scar on his head from a boil. Following the contact information in the missing person notice, Li Jinwu made the call.
Both families suppressed their eagerness and set the meeting date for January 25, the third day of the Chinese New Year. On the afternoon of the second day, Li Jinwu packed the millet he personally grew along with other local specialties and, together with his wife, son, daughter, grandson, and granddaughter-in-law, a total of ten people, set off in his son Li Zhanqiang's car on the "journey back home." Originally planning to rest overnight in Shandong, they drove non-stop all the way to Anhui before stopping. That night, Li Jinwu hardly closed his eyes.
Since their first meeting in the morning, Li Jinwu has been chatting with his mother and siblings without pause, talking about things from his childhood, his experiences afterward... All the words he had bottled up for half a lifetime, he wanted to pour out. Li Jinwu said he plans to stay two days at his mother's house in Liuhe, then go sightseeing in Nanjing with his families from Hebei and Liuhe.
However, there is still one regret in this family's heart: their eldest daughter, Li Jinyu, is still missing. They hope to find this last wandering family member through the Express newspaper. Hotline number: 96060. (Tip fee for informant: 80 yuan)