A "Finding Mom" video went viral online. A five or six-year-old boy, standing in front of a backdrop of yellow earth, sang "Mommy, where did you go?" His eyes were filled with tears, a truly pitiful sight. Kind-hearted netizens helped in the search. Celebrities and influencers posted, "Come home, little boy's mom! Your child misses you!" urging their followers to help. Finally, someone found the mother's address and posted her information online. Just as everyone was cheering for the successful search, for the family reunion, for the child's suffering to finally be over, my doorbell rang. The boy from the video, along with his father, his grandmother, and a crowd of reporters, appeared at my door. 1 The child was even thinner and smaller than in the video. When he saw me open the door, he rushed in wildly and clung to my leg. "Mommy! I finally found you! I looked for you for so long! I was so scared I'd never see you again!" He burst into tears, as if to pour out all the suffering of his search and his longing for his mother. "Mommy, I missed you so much! Grandma and Daddy missed you too! This is great, we're finally all together again!" Not a single reporter on the scene was unmoved. I looked down at the live stream open on my phone. The topic was already number one on the hot search list. And in the camera's lens, I stood, a cold and out-of-place figure in this supposedly heartwarming scene. The audience's comments were a one-sided attack: [This isn't what I imagined. Shouldn't a mother and son cry and hug when they're reunited?] [As a mom, I can't stand seeing kids cry. The way he sang in that video broke my heart. Seeing his mom's reaction makes it even worse.] [Chen Xiaohan, do you even have a heart? Your child is crying his eyes out, and you won't even hug him!] [I say we dox Chen Xiaohan and ruin her reputation! Make it impossible for her to live in the city! Then she'll have to go back with her kid, and the family can be whole again!] ... A reporter shoved a microphone right in my face. "Ms. Chen! Xiao Bao is such a good, sweet boy. How could you have been so cruel as to abandon him back then?" "This video has been trending for days. You didn't even come forward. Don't you feel any guilt?" "This child has been kneeling and hugging you for so long, and you're still completely cold! Ms. Chen, are you a mother? Are you even human?" One heavy accusation after another pushed the atmosphere, both on-site and in the live stream, to a fever pitch. Hundreds of thousands of viewers flooded the stream. I watched the numbers climb, my fists clenched tightly. It's not enough. This still isn't enough! With everyone staring at me, I let out a cold laugh. "What makes you so sure I'm this child's mother?" "My personal information is all over the internet. What makes you think that I, a graduate from the Central University of Finance and Economics, would marry someone from a remote mountain village?" "Let's take a step back. Do you have the child's birth certificate? A marriage certificate? Do they have my name, Chen Xiaohan, written on them?" 2 The online comments paused for a moment. The reporters looked at each other, nonplussed. From the very beginning, they had only heard one side of the story—Xiao Bao's family's side. They had none of the documents I'd asked for. [Wait, I'm kind of convinced. If Chen Xiaohan gave birth to Xiao Bao, she would have had to be pregnant at 18, right? She would have still been in high school!] [Look at their faces! They look identical! If they're not mother and son, I'll eat my keyboard.] [She'll say anything to disown her child. Look at poor Xiao Bao. He's crushed.] [But they had a photo when the search started! It was Chen Xiaohan! She's still trying to lie!] I sneered. "There are plenty of people in the world who look alike. Aren't you afraid you found the wrong mom?" The reporter hesitated, turning to the boy. "Xiao Bao, is she your mommy?" "Could you be mistaken? Chen Xiaohan is only 24. You're 5. If she had you in her senior year of high school, she couldn't have possibly gotten into a top university like CUFE." Xiao Bao immediately stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I'm not wrong! This is my mommy!" He clung to me, refusing to let go. The old woman and Zhang Qiang, who had been silent until now, began their attack. The grandmother wailed for the camera. "Daughter-in-law! I know the city is tempting! But when you married into our family, we asked you, and you agreed!" "We spent money on a wedding banquet for you! We gave you gifts! How can you just disown us like this?" She took out an old phone and played a video. The video quality was poor, blurry, but you could still make out the smiling bride. It was me. Looking closer, you could see the bride's stomach was slightly rounded. She was clearly a few months pregnant. The netizens exploded. [My God! I actually believed her for a second! These honest country people wouldn't lie!] [Look at the kid! Xiao Bao is hysterical! His own mother disowning him... this is too tragic.] [Some people are just born without a human heart. You need to use extreme measures for people like her. Dox her! Now!] ... The grandmother choked on a sob. "Xiaohan, Mom doesn't blame you. Just come home. The whole family needs you." "Look how much the boy misses you! How can you be so heartless?" "The corn at home is all ripe. I promise, you won't go hungry!" Zhang Qiang, in his wheelchair, added painfully, "Wife, the baby and I can't live without you. If there's anything you don't like about me, I'll change! I'll change everything!" "Just come back, and we'll be the happiest family in the world!" I scoffed. "You people are ridiculous." "That video is so blurry you can't even see the person clearly, and you say it's me?" "Do you really think playing the sympathy card will make everyone support you?" "I've already called the police. Harassing a resident... do you think the law doesn't exist?" 3 At my words, their faces changed. The reporter said angrily, "We're just trying to help a child find his family. How can you be so cruel?" The live stream viewers had now swelled to over a million. Even official government media accounts had entered the stream to watch. My heart pounded. I was waiting for the police. Zhang Qiang's eyes darted around, and then he pointed at my chest and shouted. "You're not going to give up, are you?" "You have a birthmark on your chest! A face can look similar, but can a birthmark?" "All you have to do is pull off her shirt, and you'll know if she's my wife!" The stream's chat lit up with gifts and jeers. [Wow, she won't do it. Confirmed: heartless mother.] [A disobedient woman needs to be beaten. Zhang Qiang is too soft on her.] [Someone needs to teach her a lesson for the child's sake. She won't even let her family in!] Zhang Qiang wheeled himself forward and, before I could react, yanked my collar open. He froze. "Where's the birthmark?" The reporters were also stunned. A moment ago, they had been convinced. But now, the "proof" Zhang Qiang spoke of was nowhere to be found. "Mr. Zhang... are you sure you have the right person?" "Do you have any ID, any documents at all?" "Or just tell us the hospital where he was born! With this many people watching, the hospital could check its records!" I, too, looked at the three of them, curious to see how they'd answer. After all, I had searched for years and never found a birth certificate. The old woman trembled, then burst into tears. "What documents! Xiao Bao was born at home!" "We're poor! We live in the mountains! The hospital is too far! We'd never make it in time!" "You city people talk so easily! Have you ever thought about us, the people in the gullies?" "We sold everything we had, spent all our money, just to come here and find you for Xiao Bao's sake!" "How can you say such things? You're breaking our hearts! You're breaking the hearts of all the poor farmers struggling to get by!" The reporter was shamed into silence. Xiao Bao, hearing his grandma, screamed at the camera. "Mommy! I'll save all my yummy food for you! Please come home!" "This family can't be without you! I can't be without you!" Zhang Qiang, seeing his son, also began to cry. "Xiaohan, I won't force you. If you won't admit it, fine. But can you at least let Xiao Bao stay here?" "He's your son! Can you really stand to hear him crying for 'mommy' in his sleep?" "I can live without a wife, but Xiao Bao can't live without a mother!" He kneeled before me. "Wife, if you don't love me anymore, you don't have to come back." "Just let my mom and Xiao Bao stay. I'll go. I won't be a burden. But the child is innocent!" The live stream was now at ten million viewers. The reporter, excited, pushed me to agree. "Ms. Chen, Mr. Zhang has compromised this much! Are you still going to deny it?" "Look at the comments! This is the ending everyone wants!" At that moment, my phone rang. It was my boss. "Chen Xiaohan, that 'finding mom' story is huge. Our clients are calling me about it." "Admit you're the mother. Now. Spin this into a heartwarming story." "Your husband said you don't even have to go back. Just keep the kid." "The stream has ten million viewers! Do it! It's great PR for the company!" "Your promotion or your termination depends on what you do next." He hung up. I glanced at the viewer count, then at the people in front of me. Zhang Qiang, hopeful. The grandmother, weeping. Xiao Bao, who whispered, his voice only for me, "Mommy, you have to be good. Daddy breaks the legs of people who aren't good." I saw the police officers who had just arrived. I pinched the flesh of Xiao Bao's arm, hard, and spoke calmly. "No marriage certificate. No birth certificate. They didn't know the mother's address, and at first, they didn't even know her name. Doesn't that seem strange?" "Am I really so stupid that I would fly 5 hours away to a remote village to get married while I was in high school?" "Or maybe... behind this 'search for mom'... is a much more cruel truth?" "I am not his mother. His mother is already dead!" 4 The moment I finished, Xiao Bao shrieked in pain. He finally let go of me and, just like his father, began to kowtow on the floor. "Mommy, don't curse yourself! Don't say you're dead!" "If you don't want us, we'll go! Just don't curse yourself!" Thud. Thud. Thud. The sound of his small forehead hitting the floor echoed in everyone's hearts. A woman had arrived with the police—Aunty Wang, from the neighborhood committee. She knew my situation better than anyone. But now, she rushed forward, pulling Xiao Bao up, her face a mask of sympathy. "Good boy, don't cry. You tell Aunty what you need. I'm from the committee, I'll help you." She turned to me. "Xiaohan! Can't you just talk to them? Why are you bullying a small child?" "I saw the live stream! They have photos! The boy is a carbon copy of you! And you're still hung up on 'paperwork'? What are you trying to prove? That you're an educated intellectual and they're illiterate?" "They're simple country folk! They don't understand your city ways! All they know is that this child wants his mother!" An officer gently tried to calm her down. Aunty Wang, displeased, quieted down but continued to hug Xiao Bao, glaring at me. This, I supposed, was human nature. Everyone sympathizes with the weak—the harmless child, the disabled man, the old woman. Aunty Wang's words sent the chat into another frenzy. [I'm so disappointed. I thought there was a twist. But the neighborhood committee is on the family's side. It's confirmed. She's the mom.] [That poor boy. His mother is a monster. I hope she gets hit by a car!] [I've seen it all today. Chen Xiaohan's skin is thicker than a city wall! When she's cornered, she curses herself to death. She's ruthless!] ... The officer, "Officer Li," sighed. "Ms. Chen, you called us. But this situation has a massive public profile. We need you to come to the station to cooperate with our investigation." "Of course, if what you're saying is true, we will also issue a formal warning to those spreading rumors." Just then, new "evidence" appeared online. People from the village had posted a "high-definition" photo of the mother. [I was the one who delivered Xiao Bao. This photo was taken right after he was born. Take a look. Is this Chen Xiaohan or not?] The woman in the photo was disheveled, holding a baby. It was much clearer than the wedding video. Aside from the fatigue and messy clothes, she looked identical to me. [When Zhang Qiang was sick, Chen Xiaohan took care of him. I filmed it, I was so moved. I can't believe she's acting like this now.] A short video played, showing the woman from the photo, holding the baby, dutifully caring for a man in a hospital bed. More and more "villagers" posted photos, swearing I had lived there, that I was a hardworking wife, and that this new "city" version of me was a complete, monstrous change. Aunty Wang saw this and puffed up with self-righteousness, blocking the police officers. "Officer Li, don't stop me. I am here representing this community and all good-hearted people!" "I've seen too many women like Chen Xiaohan. Gold-digging, heartless, disgusting!" "Don't tell me you weren't willing! With Zhang Qiang's physical condition, how could you have gotten pregnant if you weren't willing?" "You're an irresponsible animal! You abandon your own child! You're worse than scum!" "Officer Li, the facts are clear! Taking her to the station will just be a slap on the wrist! It won't work on people like her!" "This kind of person needs to be taught a lesson... by society!" The crowd was surging, angry. Officer Li couldn't control the scene and called for backup. Xiao Bao, his eyes red and swollen, stood in front of the crowd. "Don't blame my mommy! It must be because I'm a bad boy that she doesn't want me!" "Mommy, I'll be good! I'll cook and wash clothes! I'll listen to you! Please don't disown me!" He was so "understanding" it was heartbreaking. My own neighbors started trying to convince me. Xiao Bao glanced back at me, a flash of triumph in his teary eyes. He mouthed the words silently: "Mommy. This is the price for not obeying." I couldn't breathe. So this is what it felt like to be completely alone. Even the police were neutralized. Everyone was just waiting for me to give in. Then, a shout from the crowd: "Chen Xiaohan's parents are here!" Two gray-haired, elderly people pushed through. My father marched up to me and slapped me across the face. "You disgrace! Your own son is here, and you still deny him?" "Are you trying to ruin this family's reputation?" I looked at my furious parents, and I smiled. Good. Now everyone was finally here.
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