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the recently popular movie "wild child" is based on the real events of "wandering brothers". it tells the story of "thief brother" ma liang (played by wang junkai) and "orphan brother" xuanxuan (played by guan zixie) who depend on each other in the wind and rain. it not only aroused the audience's attention and reflection on "children in social distress", but also made many people think about the similarities and differences between the experiences of "wandering brothers" in reality and the artistic presentation of the character stories in the movie.

the true story of "wandering brothers" dates back to 2017, when the weinan police in shaanxi cracked a series of thefts. two people involved in the case, one was 21-year-old ma liang (pseudonym) who was responsible for the theft, and the other was an 8-year-old boy xuanxuan (pseudonym) who was responsible for selling the stolen goods.

the most puzzling thing about the whole incident is why two children who are not related by blood and are 13 years apart in age would live wandering together?

in fact, this is related to their common growth experience. both of them are "de facto orphans" (minors whose parents are still alive but cannot actually provide financial support and care), which has become their emotional connection and resonance.

"wild child" focuses more on the portrayal of xuanxuan's family, which is similar to the real-life prototype - xuanxuan's parents gave birth to him when they were very young, and later each had a new family and children. when they broke up, they threw the child to their elderly grandfather.

xuanxuan's sister had a similar experience, and her grandfather could only rely on collecting waste in the urban village to support his two children and his disabled wife. as a result, xuanxuan did not go to school until he was 8 years old. he could only wander around and suffer from hunger and cold all day long.

ma liang's past is only shown in some flashbacks in the film, which is rather obscure. in fact, ma liang's parents are still alive, but his mother abandoned him and left the family when he was very young. after his mother left, ma liang's father also went out to work, and he and his sister once lived with relatives.

at the beginning, the mother and the siblings had some intermittent contact, and ma liang even lived with his mother for a while, but later his mother started a new family and ma liang returned to his father. he became more and more taciturn and was unwilling to go to school anymore.

in fact, ma liang's father is not as indifferent to his child as xuanxuan's father, but he has been working away from home for many years, and it has become increasingly difficult for father and son to communicate. when they return home, they have nothing to say to each other.

when he was fourteen or fifteen years old, ma liang started to run away from home. he would be away for a while and then come back. later, he basically never went home.

in xuanxuan's grandfather's opinion, his grandson is willing to stay with his brother because ma liang can buy delicious food for xuanxuan and let him play with his mobile phone.

but in fact, two lonely hearts met, xuanxuan met ma liang, and the two children with similar family backgrounds may have provided each other with warmth and companionship.

in the movie "wild child", two people found an abandoned house, picked up some furniture from the recycling station, and started living in the house.

in reality, their living conditions are even worse, and it can be said that they "live under the sky and on the ground". they can only lay a tattered door panel among the dead branches and leaves in the woods outside the urban village, and cover themselves with a thin, torn quilt. this is their home.

this brother who had no blood relationship with him took good care of xuanxuan, telling him stories and singing to him at night. in winter, they would snuggle up to each other beside the snow piles and lie on the wasteland to count the stars.

before ma liang met xuanxuan, he often stayed in a place for a short period of time and then left, but after arriving in weinan, he stayed there for an abnormally long time.

just like what was shown in the movie, ma liang actually tried to leave, such as hiding behind a wall and pretending to leave, but his younger brother would look for him while calling him brother; another time, ma liang was running in front and his younger brother was crying and chasing him from behind, and he really couldn't bear it and had to stop, and his younger brother hugged him.

when asked why he didn't leave, ma liang said that when his mother left him, he and xuanxuan were about the same age, and his mother left without looking back.

maybe when he looked at xuanxuan he was like seeing his childhood self, and he wanted to make up for the pain and regret he felt at that time.

at the end of the movie, xuanxuan was successfully enrolled in school. the movie focused on ma liang's efforts to find a school for xuanxuan. in reality, thanks to the efforts of zhou jiao, the police officer in charge of the case, xuanxuan found a school that made an exception to admit him and waived his textbook fees, miscellaneous fees, and meal expenses.