Yesterday we ran a story about the microblog set up by Yu Jianrong to help reunite kidnapped children with their parents. Today, there is a heartwarming story about the fruit of those efforts: The eight-year-old Peng Wenle was reunited with his father after a student spotted his picture on the microblog. Shanghaiist has translated the report by Phoenix Weekly, which has been following Peng’s story since 2008:
On the fourth day of the Spring Festival, Peng arrived in Pizhou with Shenzhen police officials. They were told by the local police officials that the child was currently being adopted by the woman he now lives with.
On the fifth day of the New Year, just before they arrived at the woman’s home, they found out that little Wenle was unexpected not around at home. He had gone to his adopted grandmother’s house to play. Peng, by then already an emotional wreck, was unsure if he would eventually get to see his son.
One of Peng’s many emotional breakdowns before the eventual reunion with his son.
After yet another sleepless night, local police finally managed to bring the child and his adopted mother to the police station.As the distraught father made his way to the police station, journalist Deng, in his live tweets, reported that Peng was constantly breaking down along the way, hands cold and trembling, smoking one cigarette after another.
At the police station, Peng burst into tears the moment he saw his son. The police had to try to calm him down, telling him he was shocking the child. At this point, the child told the policeman, “That man crying is my dad, I remember him.” All this while, his adopted mother was watching by the side, with tears in her eyes.
And the Wall Street Journal has partially translated a video of the moving reunion:
In 2008, NBC reported on Peng’s case as part of a story about child trafficking in China:
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UPDATE: NPR’s Louisa Lim was the first foreign journalist to interview Peng and his son after their reunion. Listen to her report here.
