"My little sister, where exactly are you?" Thousands of times Chen Huixiang, an 87-year-old citizen from Nanchang city, in east China's Jiangxi Province, has called this out in tearful dreams.
After seeing granny missing her little sister so much for so many years, granddaughter Liu Chunlai decided to set about finding her great aunt at the end of 2006 in Qichun county in neighboring Hubei Province, the old woman's hometown.
It took a year of hard searching but Liu eventually fulfilled her grandmother's dream. Now the two sisters are happily reunited after 70 years, and they pray that they might be sisters again in the next life.
Wars Separate Sisters
Chen Huixiang's father Chen Shikun was from Qichun. In the 1920s, father Chen and his wife went to Jiujiang port of Jiangxi, in search of work. Soon after that, sisters Chen Huixiang and Chen Jinxiang were born.
Chen Huixiang said her mother passed away early and after that money became so tight that her father asked her and her six-year-old younger sister to work as housemaids for two different families.
In 1938, the Chinese and Japanese troops fought against each other in Jiujiang. The two sisters fled separately with their host families. After that they lost contact with each other completely.At that time the elder sister was 16 and the younger 10.
The granddaughter Liu Chunlai said her grandmother often talked about her missing younger sister. She even cried out her sister's name in tearful dreams. Sometimes her grandmother murmured: "My sister must have hair as grey as mine by now. Where exactly are you?" After seeing her grandmother suffering like this for so many years, Liu decided she had to help.
Setting Out on Lonely Quest
The task wasn't as easy as Liu Chunlai had expected. The only clue she had was the name of the younger sister, Chen Jinxiang; the name of grandma's uncle, Chen Baichun; the old home Chenjia village in Hubei Province and a small bridge in that village. Liu Chunlai thought that if the younger sister was still alive, she would also go back to their old house to find relatives.
At the end of 2006, Liu asked her classmates in Hubei to help search for a senior citizen named Chen Jinxiang. After a month, Liu heard of more than ten old people born between 1927 and 1929 in Qichun, who had the name Chen Jinxiang. However, after careful examination of every piece of information, none of the dates of birth was the same as the one provided by grandmother.
Liu did not want to give up. In November 2007, she set out for Qichun alone. "If there is one clue left, I will not give up." She said.
Fate Brought Sisters Together
In Qichun, Liu came across an old man, who said he knew about Chen Jinxiang. He told her: "Actually, I'm her cousin." The old man then told Liu the address of Chen Jinxiang. Finally, Liu successfully contacted Chen Jinxiang's daughter-in-law.
The second day, when Liu Chunlai met Chen Jinxiang, Chen cried with joy. Liu then brought Chen Jinxiang back to Jiangxi Province where grandma Chen Huixiang lives. When the two sisters finally saw each other after 70 years, tears flowed.
Chen Jinxiang spent three days with her older sister chatting. She told her elder sister that when she ran away with her host family, they were attacked by the Japanese. She then lost contact with her host family. In the 1970s, Chen Jinxiang finally found her relatives thanks to the local media.
"Meeting my sister again and listening to her story is just like experiencing what she experienced in the past 70 years," Chen Huixiang said. "We've decided that if we have next life, we'll still be sisters."
Source: Xinhua
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