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Once the subject of sympathy after his family died, a Chinese man faces scorn for starting a new one
- Lin Shengbin garnered national sympathy after his entire family was killed in a fire set deliberately
- But recent news that he has a new wife and child infuriated the Chinese public
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Mandy Zuoin Shanghai
A man in China who received an outpouring of national sympathy after the shocking death of his family has become the object of scorn after he announced he had fallen in love and was starting a new family.
Lin Shengbin lost his wife and three kids in 2017 when the family domestic helper deliberately set fire to their home in Hangzhou, in eastern China, hoping that she could put it out to curry favour with her employers.
The domestic helper, Mo Huanjing, had been in gambling debt and hoped the scheme would allow her to borrow money.
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Lin was away on a business trip when the incident happened. Mo was sentenced to death in February 2018 for the crime.
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In the aftermath of the fire, the public supported Lin because of his heart-wrenching writings about the loss, his tenacious legal battles for financial compensation and his active engagement in philanthropy. He even started a new business named Tong Zhen Yi Sheng, after the names of the family members who died.
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