China coronavirus: Covid-19 nucleic test database reunites estranged father and son after 8 years
- The father and son had quarrelled over the latter’s online gaming addiction prompting him to leave home
- They found each other by chance after a Covid-19 nucleic test
A migrant worker in central China has been reunited with his estranged son after eight years, thanks to the help of a coronavirus nucleic acid test checking system.
The father, surnamed Zhang, is from a village in Luohe, Henan province, central China, said his son had been missing after an argument with him and his wife, who were angry at him for his addiction to online games, the Dahe News reported.
The junior Zhang, 33 years this year, is the only child of his parents. He had severed ties with all his family members since leaving home.
01:40
Map of childhood village leads abducted man in China to find his biological family 33 years later
The senior Zhang reported his son as missing to the police and spent months searching for him in internet bars and small restaurants where the son had worked but could not locate him.
“It was like he evaporated from the world,” the father said. “We were concerned that he had an accident. We had nightmares every night. His mother was crying at home every day.”
The senior Zhang said the couple dared not talk with other people about their son as they might ask about their son’s disappearance.
For the past eight years, the father worked in Zhengzhou, the province’s capital, as a construction worker. He used all his spare time to look for his son as he believed the junior Zhang was somewhere in the city where he once had worked as a restaurant waiter.