A Sichuan man spent 25 years alone in the deep mountains of the Northeast, with his family believing him lost — his hidden life finally came to light. A 24-year-old Sichuan man, Chen Qingsong, eloped with 45-year-old widow He Guilan; 24 years later they were discovered in the mountains, stunning everyone on the scene.
In the autumn of 1999, the village of Heping was thrown into an uproar by news of the elopement. The village, at the foot of the Daba Mountains, had conservative-minded residents who mostly made a living from farming and gathering mountain produce. Chen Qingsong was tall and hardworking, often away quarrying stone, and his parents hoped he would soon start a family. He Guilan's husband had died three years earlier, leaving a son and a daughter; she bore the family's burdens alone. The two first crossed paths in early summer, when Chen helped He clear rocks from her private plot. After that, during the busy farming season, he often lent a hand. Villagers began to talk.
One evening in July, an old cattle herder happened upon the two sitting talking in the woods behind the mountain, and word spread quickly. Chen's mother found her son and told him to stay away from He, but he did not change his ways. One market day, I saw the two gathering herbs together — silent, yet one could sense a different current between them.
In mid-September, tensions boiled over. He's in-laws came to the door to confront her, accusing her of impropriety. Chen stepped forward to take the blame; his father was so angry he beat him with a bamboo switch. Village mediation failed, and the rift could not be mended. He, facing her children's incomprehension and outside pressure, was inwardly tormented. Chen, too, endured the persuasions of relatives and the mockery of workmates.
One dusk, the two decided to flee the village and live in the mountains. After settling the plan, they sold their tools, prepared supplies, and slipped away late on the night of September 27. At dawn the villagers found them gone; a search of the whole village turned up nothing. The Wang family elders blamed the Chens, and the two families quarreled endlessly. Village officials arranged a mountain search, but found no trace. In the end, police assessed the two might have gone elsewhere or met with an accident.
Chen's parents wept daily; He's children faced a hard life. Wang Qiang grew short-tempered, while Wang Xiu, who married into a neighboring county, occasionally asked after her mother but got no leads. Year by year, the tide of migrant work swept over the mountain village; Chen's parents passed away one after another, Wang Qiang grew up, and Wang Xiu, now married far away, sometimes inquired about her mother but found no clues.
Over 24 years, the village saw several generations turn over, and many forgot the old story. In the autumn of 2023, forest survey personnel discovered a mud house in a remote mountain gorge, where Chen Qingsong and He Guilan lived. The two sustained themselves by farming and raising livestock, but had barely set foot off the mountain for years. He missed her children; Chen hid the secret for years. Outwardly together, inwardly a chasm lay between them that could not be crossed.
The forest team notified the Heping village committee, whose secretary alerted Wang Qiang and Wang Xiu overnight. Wang Qiang refused to see his mother; Wang Xiu decided to go into the mountains to visit. At the reunion, mother and daughter wept in each other's arms; Chen admitted he had once prevented He from contacting the children. With the truth laid bare, the atmosphere grew heavy. He was unwilling to return to the crowds; Chen was willing to come down the mountain. In the end they chose to part, each to their own fate.
Chen settled in a town relocation apartment and his life gradually stabilized. Wang Xiu regularly visits her mother in the mountains; He still lives alone in the mud house. The version of the story circulating outside is simple and romantic, but only those who lived it know that the long years were full of compromise, concealment and regret. The mountains sheltered their escape, yet could not smooth the cracks in their hearts. Two life paths briefly intersected, then stretched toward different directions, never to overlap again.
