Chief reporter of Elephant News Zhao Dan/Wentu
Guo Gangtang, the prototype of the movie "Lost Alone", began to sell vegetables. In Liaocheng, Shandong Province, where he lives, the sign of "Lao Guo Vegetable" has been hung at the local farmers' market.
"I'm going to eat, I'm going to work." On the evening of January 19, Guo Gangtang, half a year after the successful search for a son, revealed the recent situation in an interview with elephant news reporters, on the eve of the Spring Festival in 2022, he has been busy selling vegetables, and currently has four stalls in the local farmers' market, mainly wholesale potatoes, onions and other fresh vegetables.
After the stalls are ready, Guo Gangtang will watch the stalls by himself, probably from the early morning to seven or eight o'clock in the morning. In addition, the work of the volunteer association will continue to be done, and then help other families looking for relatives.
Guo Gangtang, 51, is well known to the public for his 24 years of searching for relatives. He started a family in 1993 and had a son Guo Zhen in 1995, nicknamed Xiao Liu, which means that the birth of the child makes the family revitalized and the life is harmonious.
When he was abducted and sold when he was more than 6 years old, Guo Gangtang began to look for children everywhere, and it was not until July 2020, with the help of the police, that he was reunited with the children who had already joined the work. Respecting the wishes of the children, Xiao Liu continued to live in Henan.
In the six months after the success of the search, Guo Gangtang has gained weight and a lot of smiles, and he can safely shut down and sleep at night. After a period of rest, Guo Gangtang pondered doing something to support his family, and after thinking for a long time, he still felt that it was safer to sell vegetables.
This Spring Festival is the first major festival after Guo Gangtang found Xiao Liu, and he looks forward to the epidemic passing, under the premise of safety, he can spend the festival with his children. "We haven't spent the Spring Festival together for more than 20 years, and we really want to be with our children."
The wet market sells vegetables at stalls
Elephant News: What have you been up to lately?
Guo Gangtang: I was busy selling vegetables.
Elephant News: How?
Guo Gangtang: I made four stalls in the local wholesale market, and the sign hanging is called "Lao Guo Vegetables", which will be served on the afternoon of the 20th, first get some potatoes, onions, green onions and other vegetables that are easy to store.
Elephant News: Who goes to see the food stalls?
Guo Gangtang: In the future, I will go to see the stalls, because I am mainly engaged in wholesale, and I will go to the vegetable market at one or two o'clock in the morning every day, and I may be busy until seven or eight o'clock in the morning.
Elephant News: How did you come up with the idea of selling vegetables?
Guo Gangtang: I want to eat, I want to work, people always have to live, so I got a few stalls to sell vegetables, and I will become a vegetable vendor in the future (laughs).
In fact, in the past, our family has grown vegetables, and I have also sold vegetables, so I thought that we did not have any other skills, so we did it steadily.
Elephant News: Is there any goal in selling vegetables?
Guo Gangtang: I didn't think too much, others can do a good job, we can also do a good job. As long as people are real, don't do a business to earn money from a cow, you should take it slowly.
My idea is to do offline first, the wholesale of the wholesale, the retail of the retail, and then go to the middle and high end, which is roughly like this.
Business is to lose and make money, I have not been in business for a long time, everything starts over.
Hope to spend the Spring Festival with my children
Elephant News: Have you met with your child, Little Six, recently?
Guo Gangtang: In December, I went to Henan to visit Xiao Liu, which we had already agreed to have a meal outside. There are no special circumstances, just very casual agreements. If it is too deliberate, it will still put pressure on the child.
Elephant News: This is the first Spring Festival after finding Xiao Liu, how will you arrange it?
Guo Gangtang: Now because of the epidemic, how the Spring Festival will pass is not good, and nothing can be decided. Of course, I hope that the epidemic will pass, and under the premise of safety, I hope that XiaoLiu Spring Festival can come to Shandong for the New Year. We haven't spent the Spring Festival together for more than 20 years and really want to be with our children.
Elephant News: What does Xiao Liu think about where to spend the Spring Festival?
Guo Gangtang: I haven't communicated with him yet, let's see the epidemic situation. Anyway, we are not separated by mountains and seas, and it is not too late to discuss them at the end.
Elephant News: After you sell vegetables, will the work of the volunteer association continue to be done?
Guo Gangtang: The work continues to be done, we volunteer in the volunteer association, this matter has no income, so I considered doing some business, after all, I can't rely on my lover's salary alone.
Elephant News: I see you're still helping to find family members in the near future?
Guo Gangtang: This matter cannot be stopped.
In 2021, many families are reunited, and I hope that the new year will expand the results of the war, and I also hope that the society will pay more attention to this group, and hope that more family members looking for relatives will "go ashore" and live like me.