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53 years ago, qi junsheng, a pla soldier from shan county serving in chongqing, dived into the river three times in a row and saved the lives of three girls, regardless of his personal safety. time has passed, and the boy and girl back then are now gray-haired, but the emotional bond between them that transcends time and space is still warm and tenacious.

on july 9, in qiancaolou natural village, xiaogezi administrative village, zhongxing town, shanxian county, three elderly people in their 60s and an elderly man in his 60s hugged each other and cried.

shi zuoqiong: "uncle qi is our reborn father."

the four old people met in 1971. qi junsheng, 20 years old at the time, was a soldier of the chinese people's liberation army and was performing a mission by the linjiang river one day in july. suddenly, there were calls for help. looking along the sound, qi junsheng found three teenage girls struggling and shouting in the river.

qi junsheng: "i was wearing a military uniform and an armed belt. i didn't take off my shoes or my armed belt. i just threw a hat, put the gun on the cannon, went down, and jumped into the river. rescue."

qi junsheng went into the water three times in a row and rescued all three little girls. then he went back to continue his mission without mentioning the rescue to anyone.

qi junsheng's wife jiang ronghua: "i got married when i was in the army. i didn't know that he saved people later. i didn't know until the good news came that he saved people. this is what we should do. as soldiers, let alone a soldier, he should be saved even if he is not a soldier, you say no."

qi junsheng: "after the second day, their school, parents, and students beat gongs and drums and go to the troops to send letters of thanks."

from then on, the four people established a connection, and they themselves never thought that this connection would last for more than half a century.

in 1975, when qi junsheng was about to retire, wang min and the other two people who had been rescued received the news and came to the army to say goodbye to qi junsheng. when they parted, they left each other's addresses. after returning home, qi junsheng also received letters from wang min and others, but he had his own plans.

qi junsheng: "after i came back, i thought, we have already retired from the army, so this matter should be over. as a person at the scene, anyone would do this, not to mention i was a soldier at the time, so i thought it was over. after that, i didn’t reply to them again, i didn’t reply to them again.”

seeing that they had not received a reply from qi junsheng for a long time, wang min and others had been looking for ways to contact their savior, and they had been searching for more than fifty years.

decades have passed, and the young man who was twenty years old at the time has now entered his seventies, and the three teenage girls are now in their sixties. at the beginning of 2023, li shunxiang, the instructor at that time, sent qi junsheng a photo of the five people from that year, which rekindled qi junsheng's memories.

qi junsheng: "the instructor suggested that you post the photos. post the photos to see how they are doing now. post them on douyin."

the touching story attracted many likes, and the short video platform also pushed the photos to local people in linjiang town for viewing. soon the incident attracted the attention of xiaoshuang, a local.

qi junsheng: "they have a lesbian in linjiang town, yongchuan district. her name is xiaoshuang. she said i'll find it for you. it's our town. i'll find it for you. she said my husband also works in the town, so she called me." i’ll find a husband for you. her husband’s name is xiao lin.”

with the help of xiao lin from linjiang town government, it only took a month to find wang min.

qi junsheng: "wang min told me again in the comment area. uncle qi, i am the wang min who saved you, but i found you. the comment area is still there. wang min found the two of them again, there are three of us now, we talk on the phone, and we often video chat on wechat, haha, it’s all good.”

after more than fifty years, they reconnected with their former savior. wang min and the three of them met together and went to the linjiang river where the incident occurred to reminisce about the past and thank qi junsheng again.

qi junsheng: "since they contacted us, they have asked to come to our place many times. i said, you see, it's not easy anyway. you are so far away, right? if we have the opportunity to meet in the future, let's talk about it later, but i declined many times."

wang min and the others asked again and again to visit qi junsheng, but qi junsheng couldn't keep refusing and finally agreed to meet in july this year. thus, there was the scene at the beginning of the show.

wang min: "after finding our benefactor, i didn't sleep well for several nights. i couldn't sleep all night. i just hoped that the train would go faster and faster. i eagerly wanted to see our benefactor. i was so excited that i hid it in my heart. after decades, i finally got my wish today.”

at this moment, all the waiting and efforts turned into tears and hugs.

qi junsheng: "we will keep communicating with each other in the future. they said i will come again next year. as long as my body allows, i will try my best to pay a return visit." (reporter: liu yangbo)