On a day, Wan Cailiang, a farmer living in Leshan, Sichuan, received a WeChat message from his son Wan Yongfu.
million Yongfu traveled across the ocean to work more than ten years ago and has not returned home for more than four years. The father and son originally had to call WeChat once a month, but this time the contact was more than a month late.
WeChat content was only a short sentence, but Wan Cailiang was heartbroken: "Dad, something happened to me, it's inconvenient to speak now."
Wan Cailiang quickly sent a few messages to his son, asking about his recent situation, but never received a reply.
He anxiously asked around about his son's situation, and finally heard from a Brazilian Chinese that Wan Yongfu actually became a homeless man in Brazilian .
What happened to Wan Yongfu in the 16 years since he went abroad to work? Why would you rather be a homeless man than return to China?
1. Working overseas and accidentally wandering in a foreign country
million Yongfu was born in a small mountain village in Muchuan County, Leshan, Sichuan Province. He is the only son of his family. After graduating from junior high school, he entered a local technical school.
In 2002, Wan Yongfu, who was 17 years old, graduated from technical school.
At that time, many of his classmates became technical workers with their skills, but Wan Yongfu made a special decision - to be an ocean crew member.
Back then, the Employment Bureau of Muchuan County was recruiting workers who went to sea to fish. As long as you work at sea for a year or two, you could earn tens of thousands of yuan, which was considered a high-paying industry.
Wan Yongfu Village has had experience in going overseas and has earned a lot of money back.
Therefore, Wan Yongfu also wanted to go out and have a chance.
Wan Yongfu's father Wan Cailiang disagreed at first. After all, Wan Yongfu is the only child in the family. What should I do if something happens?
But Wan Yongfu's attitude is very firm. After his repeated requests, Wan Cailiang finally agreed to his son's request and borrowed him a registration fee of 4,000 yuan.
Wan Cailiang has always regretted it very much when he recalled this incident.
He believed that if his attitude was a little firmer at the time, his son might not have gone.
In 2002, Wan Yongfu came to South America with a fishing boat from a domestic fishing company and began his life in ocean fishing.
At the beginning everything went smoothly and the harvest was good.
But half a year later, the fishing company went bankrupt due to poor management, and the crew members also returned home one after another.
However, Wan Cailiang waited for a while, but never waited for Wan Yongfu's figure.
He looked for people to inquire, but got a news that he was hit by the thunder - his son was lost in Uruguay .
After that, he went to the county employment bureau and other places for inquiries many times, but the replies he received were "no news from him." For more than a year, Wan Cailiang was looking for his son and almost fell into despair.
One day later, Wan Cailiang suddenly received a call from his son.
On the phone, Wan Yongfu told him that he went ashore with a friend when he was docking a fishing boat.
At that time, they were lost and their language was not accessible. When they found the pier, the fishing boats had already left, and the two were forced to wander in Uruguay for a while.
They have no passports and no ID cards, and they have become "black households" in the local area.
Fortunately, the kind-hearted Chinese in the local area helped them and found them a job. When working in
, Wan Yongfu learned a little Portuguese .
Later, he heard that he could get a temporary ID card in Brazil, so he smuggled to Brazil.
Since then, he has been living in Brazil and working for local Chinese.
2. Stayed overseas, parents struggled to find children
In 2013, Wan Yongfu once returned to his country and stayed at home for more than a month. This was the only time he returned to China in 16 years.
After returning home, Wan Yongfu told his father that he had worked as a coolie in Brazil for a while and now he has become a chef and works in a Chinese restaurant.
At that time, he seemed very confident about the future and thought about opening his own restaurant in the future.
According to him, if there is an opportunity, it is not a problem to earn 1 million a year.
For this reason, during his return to China, Wan Yongfu went to the city to apply for a chef qualification certificate.
At that time, Wan Cailiang did not have too much doubt about his words.
After all, during the years of working, Wan Yongfu sent money to his family three times, which totaled almost 30,000 yuan. Moreover, every time on the phone, Wan Yongfu reported good news but not bad news. When his
0 million Yongfu returned to China, his Wenzhou female boss also came back together.
Before leaving, the boss came to Leshan for a tour and also met Wan Cailiang and his wife.
She revealed to the two old men that she gave Wan Yongfu a salary of $5,000 a month, but Wan Yongfu was a bit overwhelmed and could not save money.
When Wan Yongfu came home, he didn't have a penny on him.
Before leaving, he borrowed more than 10,000 yuan from his parents and told him to buy gifts for his friends.
The couple did not blame him. In their eyes, it would be enough as long as their son could live a good life.
A month after returning home, his family advised Wan Yongfu to stay in China for development, but he insisted on returning to Brazil, and he couldn't persuade him no matter how hard he tried.
0,000 Cailiang and his wife had no choice but to let him go.
Before leaving, the family took a special family photo. Wan Yongfu in the
photo is full of energy and well-dressed, and looks good.
He promised his parents: If makes money outside, he will definitely go back to his hometown to get married and have children in 2018.
In 2017, Wan Yongfu sent the WeChat message above to his parents. In the next half month, Wan Cailiang had no news about his son.
Later, Wan Cailiang received a friend application on WeChat, and the verification content was "Dad, add me, I am Wan Yongfu".
He quickly passed the friend application and sent a series of messages to the other party, but the other party only sent a sentence "I am, OK".
After that, the father and son never contacted each other again.
At that time, Wan Cailiang and his wife were both worried about their son's situation and were so anxious that they couldn't even eat.
A few days later, a Mr. Zhang, who claimed to be the president of the Jiangsu Association of São Paulo, Brazil, called Wan Cailiang.
During the conversation, he told Wan Cailiang that Wan Yongfu became a homeless man in the local area and made a living by begging for the Chinese.
Local Chinese people generally live a good life with their hard work and down-to-earth qualities. In major shopping malls, shops opened by Chinese people can also be seen everywhere. It is really rare to wander around like Wan Yongfu.
On the other end of the phone, Wan Cailiang couldn't figure it out.
How could my son, who has been making a lot of money in Brazil, suddenly fall to this point?
The local Chinese who knew Wan Yongfu told Mr. Zhang the truth.
It turns out that Wan Yongfu is not a chef in a big restaurant, but just an ordinary worker.
After smuggling into Brazil, he initially pushed a cart to sell fried noodles on the street, and later he went to a fast food restaurant run by Chinese to work.
At that time, his salary was only two or three thousand real , equivalent to 4 or 5,000 yuan, which is considered the minimum wage in the local area.
Not long after returning to China to visit relatives, Wan Yongfu was fired by his boss. After
, he opened a grocery store by himself.
Because he spent money for a long time, he did not save much money.
Later, he met some local gangsters and became addicted to drugs. He soon lost all his money, owed a lot of debts, and was forced to become a homeless man.
Mr. Zhang originally wanted to help Wan Yongfu return to China, but he refused.
He said that he had been working outside for more than ten years, not only did he not make any money, but he also became a homeless man and had no face to go back to face his parents.
After learning about his son's situation, Wan Cailiang and his wife were panicked.
They tried many methods and wanted to bring their son back.
At the beginning, they contacted the Chinese Embassy in Brazil, but because Wan Yongfu himself was unwilling to come back, the embassy was helpless.
Finally, at the suggestion of Mr. Zhang of the Chinese Association, Wan Cailiang decided to go to Brazil in person to bring Wan Yongfu back.
He promised to raise funds from the local Chinese association to provide travel expenses for Wan Cailiang.
On April 20, 2018, a video of Wan Yongfu was circulated online. In the video, he is wearing shabby clothes and slippers, holding a black backpack, and introducing his life experience to the camera.
He said that he had been sleeping on the road for more than a year and made a living by begging on the street.
Relatives and friends sent this video to Wan Cailiang, and it took him a long time to understand his son's situation.
At that time, a reporter went to Wan Cailiang's home to interview the couple.
Facing the reporter, Wan Cailiang said sadly: "My son has not come back yet and his whereabouts have been unknown. I want to go to Brazil to find him. Even if he dies there, he must meet him."
0 Wan Cailiang and his wife are just ordinary farmers and rarely go to the county town.
But in order to find their son, they went to travel agencies many times to inquire about matters related to going abroad.
However, it is not easy to go abroad.
Since neither the couple has a record of going abroad and has no stable income, the travel agency decisively rejected them and said: "In your situation, the consulate found out as soon as you checked it. It is impossible to issue you a visa."
Plus, even if Wan Cailiang went to Brazil, it would be difficult for others to communicate in foreign languages.
In addition, his parents are old and need someone to take care of them. His own health is not good, and he has diabetes and hypertension. What if something happens abroad, what will happen to this family?
In desperation, Wan Cailiang gave up the idea of going abroad.
But he never gave up looking for his son.
The couple relies on farming, raising chickens and ducks a year, and their income is less than 10,000 yuan. They live in a bungalow and wear white-washed old clothes.
But they are not stingy at all on their sons.
million Cailiang said: As long as someone can take his son home, he will recognize it whether it is 30,000 or 50,000. Even if he goes to borrow money, he will definitely admit it and meet him even if he dies.
3. The current situation is in slump, and the return of China is far away
At the beginning of 2020, the new crown epidemic broke out around the world, and Brazil also became a severely affected area. This undoubtedly made Wan Cailiang's journey to find a child even more difficult.
Since 2017, Wan Yongfu has begun a wandering life and has been missing.
It was not until the end of 2020 that Wan Yongfu once again appeared in people's vision in a blogger's video.
Wan Yongfu at this time had messy hair and only had a small backpack with his luggage.
He wanders on the streets and shopping malls, asking for money from every Chinese he meets.
According to local people, he has been begging on the street for a living in recent years. Many people feel sorry for him and will give him 10 or 20 yuan. In this way, he can get hundreds of dollars a day, and making a living will not be a problem.
When asked why he wasn't working, Wan Yongfu said that no one wanted him.
In fact, Wan Yongfu has been wandering for several years at this time, and has become accustomed to the begging life, and can no longer work as steadily as ordinary people.
The local Chinese association once tried to arrange work for Wan Yongfu, but in the end it was a waste of effort.
There are also many kind-hearted Chinese in the area who often help Wan Yongfu and send him some old clothes and food.
With their help, Wan Yongfu also made a video call with his parents.
Facing his parents whom he hadn't seen for six years, he couldn't help but shed tears.
Perhaps it is caused by self-esteem, Wan Yongfu is still unwilling to return to China.
On the one hand, he thinks he doesn't have the courage to go back and face his parents; on the other hand, he still wants to find a job in Brazil and continue to live.
He said that only when his father comes to pick him up will he go back with him.
Today, the epidemic situation in Brazil is still severe, and Wan Yongfu has been wandering.
His journey to return home seems to be far away.
References:
Red Star News "A man who has been working abroad for 16 years has been wandering on the streets of Brazil. His father wants to find his son thousands of miles away: even if he dies, he will meet him"
