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Jimu News reporter Yang Jinying

On August 23, 41-year-old Li Xuemei, a parent who was looking for her child, was buried in Heyuan, Guangdong. Chen Xiaorong, who had worked with Li Xuemei to find her child, came to see her off and said, "We will continue to help her find her child."

In 2015, Li Xuemei's 5-year-old son Liu Jiazhu went missing; in 2016, her youngest daughter was diagnosed with autism; in May 2022, Li Xuemei was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Her life journey was full of ups and downs, but despite this, this strong mother never gave up. In the last moments of her life, she was still thinking about her son who had not been found, and left a message on a handwritten note, hoping that her family would continue to pay attention to Jiazhu and find him.

Over the past 9 years, Chen Xiaorong has accompanied Li Xuemei all over the world. After Chen Xiaorong's child was found, she still cared about this friend who was like a sister to her. Now that Jiazhu has passed away, what Chen Xiaorong hopes most is that Jiazhu will return home as soon as possible.

Traveling all over the world in search of son for 9 years

Mid-Autumn Festival means reunion for many families, but for Li Xuemei it means a nightmare of separation. On September 26, 2015, just before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Xuemei, who was working away from home, called her 5-year-old son Liu Jiazhu in Heyuan to ask if he had any mooncakes. Unexpectedly, the person who answered the phone was the child's father Liu Dong (pseudonym), who said, "Jiazhu is missing."

After returning to Heyuan, Li Xuemei learned from her family and neighbors that at about 12 noon that day, Liu Jiazhu and three children from the neighbor's family were playing on the grass behind the house. They were thirsty, and two of the older children suggested going home to get water for their younger brothers. But when they returned to the grass with water, Liu Jiazhu and another boy named Luo were nowhere to be seen.

According to Liu Dong's description, Liu Jiazhu was wearing a white striped short-sleeved shirt and turquoise shorts on the day he disappeared. He had a dark complexion, a thin body, and a small scar left by laser surgery on his left ribs.

Liu Jiazhu's Notice of Searching for Relatives

Since the day her child went missing, Li Xuemei has never given up searching for her child. She frequently participates in activities organized by parents who are looking for their children, and has traveled throughout Guangdong Province, as well as to Sichuan, Beijing, and Northeast China.

Chen Xiaorong met Li Xuemei during one of the activities to find relatives. His first impression of her was that she was cheerful, positive and loved to act like a spoiled child. As parents looking for relatives, they regarded each other as sisters and traveled around the world together to find their children.

Unfortunately, the hemp rope breaks at the thinnest part. In the second year after Liu Jiazhu went missing, Li Xuemei's little daughter was diagnosed with autism. Gradually, Li Xuemei became less talkative. "She doesn't talk much. Her family is poor and she keeps her suffering to herself." Ms. Sun, a Weibo anti-trafficking volunteer who has helped Li Xuemei find her relatives for many years, told Jimu News, "She is a person who doesn't want to bother others. Sometimes when she comes to chat with me, she will ask if she is bothering me."

Unfortunately, she suffered from cancer but never stopped looking for her son

In May 2022, when Li Xuemei went to the hospital for a physical examination, she learned the bad news that she was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Since she became ill, she has received very little formal treatment in the hospital. On the one hand, Li Xuemei's physical reaction was not serious in the early stage of diagnosis; on the other hand, given the poor conditions at home, she hoped to save as much as possible.

Even though she was seriously ill, Li Xuemei did not stop looking for Jiazhu. She knew that her days were numbered and her last wish was to see her son again. For this reason, she changed the name of her social media account to "寻儿刘家住(朱)", hoping that Liu Jiazhu could really come home and live there.

Li Xuemei's social account was still calling for her son to come home in July this year

Until December 2023, Li Xuemei and Chen Xiaorong went to Zhanjiang to participate in a family search activity. After the event, she did not go home, but went to Nanjing to find her child and seek medical treatment. Unexpectedly, during this trip, Li Xuemei caught a cold, and her health deteriorated.

Since the beginning of this year, both volunteers and parents looking for their relatives have raised funds for Li Xuemei's medical treatment many times, but ultimately this failed to save her life.

At the end of July this year, Li Xuemei was seriously ill and entered the ICU. After Chen Xiaorong learned about it, he rushed from Guangzhou to Heyuan to visit her on August 17. This was also the last time they met. At that time, Li Xuemei was very thin, and the pain made her body ache and her cheeks sunken.

"As soon as she saw me, she held my hand and cried." Chen Xiaorong recalled the scene at that time and choked up for a while. "She was actually speechless, but I knew what she wanted to say. She was still thinking about her child."

Chen Xiaorong knew that this might be the last time of Li Xuemei's life, so after returning home, she once again helped to post Liu Jiazhu's missing person information online. Many parents and volunteers who were looking for their relatives also did their best to forward it, and Ms. Sun also set Liu Jiazhu's missing person poster to the top of her circle of friends.

"I will continue to help her find the child"

Unfortunately, the miracle did not happen. At about 11:35 on August 19, Li Xuemei died of illness. According to her sister-in-law, Ms. He, in the last stage of her life, Li Xuemei was unable to speak. The nurse gave her a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote a line of words on the note. The handwriting was very sloppy. "We could hardly recognize it. We could only guess that it roughly meant that she hoped her brother would continue to pay attention to Jiazhu and find him."

Ms. Sun was heartbroken when she heard the news of Li Xuemei's death. "I told her before that when she got better, she would come to Qinghai to spend the summer, where it would be cooler, and she agreed," she said. "I didn't expect that we would be separated so soon."

Chen Xiaorong burst into tears after hearing the news. She told reporters that the day after Li Xuemei's death, July 17 of the lunar calendar, was Liu Jiazhu's 14th birthday.

Photos of Liu Jiazhu when he was young

Since her son went missing, Li Xuemei would post a message on WeChat Moments every year on this day, wishing "Happy Birthday to my baby Jiazhu". But starting this year, this "Happy Birthday" will be absent forever.

On August 23, Li Xuemei was buried in her hometown of Heyuan. Chen Xiaorong was there to see her off. Xu Jianfeng was also there to see Li Xuemei off - he was also a child who was being sought, but his biological mother died of illness before she could meet him, which made him feel more empathy for Li Xuemei.

Chen Xiaorong said that he would continue to help Li Xuemei find her child and fulfill her last wish.