A Good-Hearted Taxi Driver Helps Return an Elderly Man Home
The recent "Little Yueyue" incident in Guangdong struck a painful chord in society and provoked thoughts on morality and compassion. However, yesterday, two elderly individuals who got lost in Xi'an were both helped home by kind-hearted strangers, showing us that this society is not short of care: An elderly man from Weinan named Li Changchun accidentally came to Xi'an while eating breakfast at his doorstep. He was then sent back home in Weinan by a good-hearted taxi driver who refused a thousand-yuan gratuity from the family, saying, "I can rest easy after delivering the person home."
Another elderly man from Xi'an named Sun Mingcai wandered 16.5 kilometers away from home to Yuhuazhai during morning exercise and was finally assisted by a 24-year-old young man holding an umbrella for over an hour to stop cars for him. A taxi driver specially halted his operations to send the elderly man home, and through their "relay of kindness," they safely returned the elderly man home.
Taxi driver Ma Suimin said, "If your own parents lying in the rain were left unattended, how would you feel?" Only sincere emotion can prevent hearts from becoming indifferent. Only good deeds can prevent tragedies from happening again.
"She was eating tofu pudding at the door, but somehow ended up in Xi'an. Luckily, she met a kind-hearted taxi driver who sent her back." Pei Yulan, who lives on Dongfeng Street in Weinan, praised the warm-hearted taxi drivers in Xi'an when talking about her husband's getting lost.
While having breakfast, her husband had already taken a taxi to Xi'an
In the morning, Pei Yulan told reporters at her home in Honghua Community on Dongfeng Street in Weinan that around 8 a.m. on October 22, her husband was eating tofu pudding at the entrance of the residential area, and she was exercising not far from the gate. When she went out to call him home, he was nowhere to be seen.
Pei Yulan's husband, Li Changchun, is 75 years old. He suffered from cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage many years ago, which led to memory decline, slow leg movements, and inconvenience in action. Therefore, the family usually did not let him go out far. Li Changchun's son, Li Jiefeng, said that when they heard his father was missing, the whole family was very worried. They learned from the cleaner at the entrance of the residential area that the elderly man had taken a taxi and headed west. He asked his mother to stay home and wait for calls, while he and his sister separately searched at the long-distance bus station and train station, but found nothing. They then started asking along the streets.
"At 11:30 a.m., I was still asking people on the street when I received a call from a police officer in Xi'an, saying my father was in the northern suburb of Xi'an because he got lost and was brought to the police station by a taxi driver." Around noon, Li Jiefeng and his sister waited at the west exit of the Xitong Expressway in Weinan and felt relieved when they saw the taxi with license plate number Shaan AU4797 coming from Xi'an.
The elderly man claimed he went to Xi'an to "find a student" but gave the wrong number and address
Taxi driver Li Qiankun told them that on the morning of that day, after sending passengers to the site of the World Horticultural Exposition, he drove out and saw an elderly man with a cane hailing a taxi when he reached the Baqiao Street area, so he stopped. The elderly man said he was going to the northern suburb. Li Qiankun asked the elderly man why he was out alone at such an old age, and the elderly man did not answer, making him somewhat worried. Then he asked where in the northern suburb the elderly man was going, and the elderly man replied that he was going to the Public Security Department to find a student from more than 20 years ago. But when the car arrived at the entrance of the Public Security Department, the elderly man said it was the wrong place and could not give the correct location.
Li Qiankun dialed the phone number given by the elderly man, but it couldn't get through. Helpless, Li Qiankun drove the car to the Mingguang Road Police Station of the Economic Development Branch of the Xi'an Public Security Bureau, where they managed to contact his family with the help of the police.
Police Officer Li Fengjun from the Mingguang Road Police Station said that when the taxi driver brought the elderly man, the elderly man said he lived in Weinan and came to Xi'an to find his student. The police looked up the information of the elderly man and his family online using the name provided by the elderly man. However, when they dialed the phone number given by the elderly man, it also couldn’t get through. Later, they managed to contact the elderly man’s family by repeatedly testing combinations of the numbers.
Li Jiefeng said that his father taught physics at No. 86 Middle School in Xi'an in the 1960s and retired in 1992. Although his father's memory declined due to illness, he remembered some students' information clearly. This time, he wanted to find a student who had transferred from the Provincial Public Security Department to the Safety Department, possibly mistakenly stating the workplace.
The taxi driver refused a thousand-yuan gratuity and only charged for the fare
"Nowadays, many people don't dare to intervene when they see an elderly person in trouble, but Master Li sent my father from Xi'an to Weinan, and we are really grateful!" To express gratitude, when Li Qiankun left Weinan that day, Li Jiefeng gave him one thousand yuan as a reward, but Li Qiankun firmly refused and only accepted the fare.
When interviewed by the reporter yesterday afternoon, Li Qiankun said, "It's nothing, everyone has elderly relatives. This isn't doing a good deed; I just couldn't leave the elderly person on the street. I can rest easy after safely delivering him home."
Li Qiankun said that he is 24 years old, from Shangluo, and has been driving in Xi'an for more than four years. Now, he is a taxi driver for Xi'an Yahui Taxi Company's Second Division.
Two warm-hearted individuals performed a "relay of kindness" to return an 85-year-old Xi'an elder who was lost for a day and night back home.
When the taxi with license plate number Shaan AT0635 carried the 85-year-old Sun Mingcai into the gate of the Construction Bank Residential Compound on University East Road in Xi'an, his son and wife, who had been waiting at the gate for a long time, were moved to tears. Early yesterday morning, a young man hailed a taxi for him, and the taxi driver stopped his operation to send him home. These two warm-hearted individuals used the "relay of kindness" method to return the Xi'an elder who was 16.5 kilometers away from home after being lost for a day and night.
The young man held an umbrella for the elderly man and hailed a taxi, and the taxi driver voluntarily sent the elderly man home.
Geng Xiaobo, a milling worker at Xi'an Hongbo Mechanical Manufacturing Co., Ltd., introduced that on his way back from sending his wife to work, he discovered the elderly man lying beside a trash can next to the curb at the entrance of Yingfazhai Village on West Third Ring Road in Xi'an. When he shook the elderly man, there was no response at first, but after shaking him again, the elderly man woke up with a groan.
"At that time, none of the vehicles passing on the Third Ring Road or pedestrians nearby came over to ask." According to Geng Xiaobo's introduction, the elderly man was already soaked to the skin, and his face was blue. The elderly man said he was 85 years old and lived in the Construction Bank Residential Compound on University East Road in Xi'an. He fell here while exercising in the morning. It was raining at the time, so he quickly went home to fetch an umbrella, hugged the elderly man in his arms, and prepared to hail a taxi to send him home. Geng Xiaobo said that from 6:50 a.m. to 7:50 a.m., no car stopped, including two taxis. After the third taxi passed, feeling disappointed, he noticed that the taxi with license plate number Shaan AT0635, after traveling over 100 meters, reversed back to him. "When I saw a young man holding an elderly man on the side of the road, I quickly reversed my car," taxi driver Ma Suimin introduced. At that time, he had just finished sending candidates from the Fishhuaizhai Traffic Police Brigade Examination Site. "At that time, the elderly man was freezing badly, and after getting in the car, the warm air made him recover slightly," Ma Suimin said. After confirming through the telephone number provided by the elderly man, he decided to send the elderly man home and exchanged phone numbers with Geng Xiaobo, agreeing to notify each other once the elderly man arrived home.
"The rain kept falling, I don't know how he endured"
Yesterday morning at 8:05, the elderly man was sent home by taxi driver Ma Suimin.
Sun Mingcai's wife, Ms. Shang, introduced that at 9 a.m. on October 22, Sun Mingcai said he would go out for a walk. Because she had things to do at the time, when she realized it, he was already gone. By 6 p.m., he still hadn't come home, so the whole family became anxious and searched everywhere he often exercised and among his friends. Finally, they had no choice but to report to the local police station. Seeing Sun Mingcai return drenched, she felt heartbroken. From the evening of the 22nd to the morning of the next day, the rain kept falling, and she didn't know how he managed to endure.
Zhang Yongbo, General Manager of the Retirement Department of the Shaanxi Branch of the Construction Bank of China, introduced that Sun Mingcai had served as Deputy Secretary of the Lhasa Municipal Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Deputy Governor of the Shaanxi Branch of the Construction Bank of China. After receiving the news of his disappearance from his family, the unit mobilized employees to search everywhere.
"This is what I should do, everyone has parents"
At 10 a.m. yesterday, after learning about the matter, Bai Jianwei, the executive manager of Xi'an Tiancheng Taxi Company where Ma Suimin works, said that in addition to requiring all drivers in the fleet to learn from Ma Suimin regarding the incident of stopping to send the elderly man home, the company will also give a certain reward.
When talking about his actions in the morning, Ma Suimin said that he just did what a person should do, everyone has parents. If you think about it, if your own parents lying in the rain were left unattended, how would you feel?
After hearing that he stopped to send the elderly man home, his wife said to him, "If the operation doesn't meet the target, take money home!" which moved him.
Geng Xiaobo said that originally he had some hesitation, but when he saw the elderly man's face turn blue from the cold rain, all complaints disappeared. On this rainy morning, he just wanted to help this elderly man. The good-hearted taxi driver Ma Suimin's actions made him feel that there are still good-hearted people in this world. Reporter Chen Sici