The warm-hearted “Uncle Hu” helps 715 abducted children find their way home.

Zeng Wenhao and “Xu Sanwa,” two children who were abducted and sold to distant places, returned home as middle-aged individuals. On December 12, during a reunion ceremony organized by the Criminal Investigation Team of the Public Security Bureau of Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, in collaboration with the Mianyang Women’s Federation, the two met their biological parents.

On December 17, Hu Xiangyu, the instructor of the first squad of the Criminal Investigation Team of the Mianyang Public Security Bureau, told The Paper that Zeng Wenhao had been abducted 38 years ago. In 1986, at just 1 year and 9 months old, Zeng Wenhao was sold from Santai County in Mianyang City to Shandong Province. “Xu Sanwa,” born in 1988, was abducted from Yuechi County in Guang’an City, Sichuan Province, before his parents even had a chance to name him, and it has been 36 years since then.

This was the 36th reunion ceremony held by the “Hu Xiangyu Anti-Abduction Reunion Studio.” According to information provided by the Mianyang Public Security Bureau, since taking over the anti-abduction and family reunion work in 2019, Hu Xiangyu’s team has received over 55,000 requests for help from families across the country, met with more than 3,600 individuals in person, collected and entered over 7,000 DNA biological samples related to abduction cases, and successfully reunited 715 abducted children with their families.

Zeng Wenhao met his parents after 38 years of abduction.

In 2021, the Mianyang Public Security Bureau established a studio named after police officers to enhance efforts in anti-abduction and family reunion work, with Hu Xiangyu being one of them. Hu Xiangyu mentioned that these reunion activities often attract many families seeking their lost children from all over the country. Initially, they did not plan to hold such events, but parents who had not yet found their children expressed a desire for them. They wanted to “share in the joy,” and more importantly, these events receive significant media attention, which they hope will help their children see them. Perhaps next time, it could be their child returning home.

On December 12, Zeng Wenhao and “Xu Sanwa” traveled from afar to Mianyang, Sichuan, to meet their biological parents. After more than 30 years, their hometown had long become a foreign place. Despite repeated communication and phone contact facilitated by the anti-abduction police, they were still somewhat at a loss when faced with the sudden appearance of their biological parents.

Hu Xiangyu noted that the parents who had loved them since childhood suddenly became adoptive parents, and most people needed a process of acceptance. Zeng Wenhao’s situation was particularly evident; when the police first contacted him and asked if he knew his identity, he said he had a rough idea. He had previously gone through a marriage, and during the divorce, his ex-wife mentioned his background, but he did not pay much attention at the time. When the police contacted him to discuss blood sample collection, he immediately recalled what his ex-wife had mentioned.

After the police confirmed that Zeng Wenhao was indeed the abducted child from years ago, he felt bewildered and did not think about immediately returning to Sichuan to meet his parents; instead, he wanted to take some time to “digest” the information. However, after Hu Xiangyu showed him a video of his mother, Lu Fengxia, who had been searching for him across the country for many years, gently touching a photo of him as a child, Zeng Wenhao decided to return to Sichuan to meet his parents.

He expressed surprise at how much effort his parents had put into finding him. On the morning of December 12, Lu Fengxia and her husband finally met their long-missed son, embracing tightly as Lu Fengxia could not hold back her tears.

38 years after being reunited with her abducted son, Lu Fengxia cried out loud.

38 years ago, Lu Fengxia sent her newborn son Zeng Wenhao back to Santai, Mianyang, to be cared for by the elderly while she and her husband, who worked in a geological team, went to work in Liangshan Prefecture at a shoe factory. More than three months later, Zeng Wenhao went missing while playing in the People’s Park of Santai County.

Although a report was filed with the police at the time, due to the limitations of the conditions back then, the police’s repeated searches yielded no results. Since then, Lu Fengxia and her husband embarked on a journey to find their son. Over the past 38 years, they traveled across much of China, from Shandong, Hebei, Guangdong, to Guizhou, sleeping on the streets and under bridges. After retiring, her husband, Zeng Hongwen, bought an SUV, affixed Zeng Wenhao’s information to the vehicle, and continued searching nationwide, finally realizing their dream.

In contrast to Zeng Wenhao, who suddenly discovered his identity as an abducted child, “Xu Sanwa” had heard during middle school that “you are not your parents’ biological child.” He had always longed to understand who he was, but his adoptive parents and sister treated him well, and he hesitated to bring it up. His adoptive mother, a kind person, clearly told him in 2023 that he was “adopted” and that he had been a baby less than a month old when he entered their home. Now married and a father, his adoptive mother believed it was necessary for him to know where his roots lay.

Thus, Xu Sanwa voluntarily went to the relevant department to provide a blood sample. The “Hu Xiangyu Anti-Abduction Reunion Studio” quickly confirmed his mother-son relationship with Lin Qinghua from Guang’an, Sichuan.

Lin Qinghua explained that he was the third child born in the family, so according to rural customs, he was named “Xu Sanwa” at birth. Before she could name him, one day, she carried “Sanwa” in a basket while going out and left him outside the toilet while she went in. When she came out, the child was gone, and despite searching everywhere, she found no trace.

Years ago, her husband, Xu Dengrong, had been using opportunities while working across the country to inquire about Xu Sanwa’s whereabouts. Now, after being bedridden, Xu Dengrong finally received news about Xu Sanwa, leading to a family reunion.

Parents of abducted children refer to successfully finding their children and bringing them back as “coming ashore.” At each reunion ceremony, the main participants are those relatives of abducted children who have not yet “come ashore.” During the reunion ceremony, they offer blessings to the parents and families who have “come ashore” and share in their joy and tears.

Lu Fengxia, once the most enthusiastic “Sister Lu” in the family reunion circle, not only encouraged and helped many families with similar experiences but also brought them together for support. In 2018, she joined several volunteer teams for family reunification, establishing QQ and WeChat groups for seeking relatives. Later, she learned to shoot and edit videos and went live, trying every means to help expand the search for children.

According to police from the Mianyang Public Security Bureau, for 38 years, Lu Fengxia has traveled across the country to find her child. She has repeatedly brought other parents searching for their children to various levels of public security agencies to report their situations, becoming a spokesperson for parents seeking their children. During this time, she has continuously accepted media interviews and gained 35,000 followers on social media platforms like Douyin, earning the title of the “Sichuan version of the Lost Mother.”

In every reunion ceremony, Lu Fengxia almost always participates. In September 2024, Lu Fengxia and her group took a train, passing through several cities in Hebei and Shandong in search of children. On the way, Li Kunpeng’s mother, who was traveling with them, suddenly received a call from the police informing her that her son, who had been missing for 35 years, had been found. Upon hearing this news, the group of parents burst into tears, both for the joy of their companion’s reunion and for their own continued search.

In November 2024, during a national anti-abduction campaign organized by the Ministry of Public Security, Hu Xiangyu, along with experts, used image comparison technology and multiple systems to repeatedly compare and confirm that a man from Shandong, Zhao Mouguo, bore a high resemblance to Zeng Wenhao, successfully reuniting Lu Fengxia with her son who had been missing for 38 years.

On December 12, during the reunion ceremony organized by the “Hu Xiangyu Anti-Abduction Reunion Studio” and the Mianyang Women’s Federation, Lu Fengxia and her husband recognized their son Zeng Wenhao. Similarly, many parents who had not yet “come ashore” traveled from across the country to participate in the reunion ceremony, offering blessings to Lu Fengxia and sharing in her joy, hoping to be seen by the media and more people.

These parents came from nearby areas like Shehong and Jianyang, as well as from Ningxia, Beijing, and Shaanxi. Most of them had been searching for their abducted children for many years, while some had adult “children” looking for their mothers. After the reunion ceremony, these parents surrounded Hu Xiangyu, seeking information about their own searches.

Xiang Hong, who came from Jianyang, held a photo of his mother and told Hu Xiangyu that his mother, Chen Yuying, had appeared in Xi’an in 2014 during a family planning inspection, leaving behind some information, but no further details were available. He suspected she might have changed