In the corner of the earthquake memorial, there is a vintage motorcycle held up by a bracket and suspended above the ground.
On the wall behind it, there are many photos from the earthquake period, including one that once became popular on the Internet and became famous.
The photo shows two people riding on a motorcycle, with the man on the ground, hands gripping the handle, and looking sideways at the person behind him.
The woman was tied behind the man's back with a rope, and she was tightly wrapped in red, and the rope made a visible dent in the clothes on her back.
Looking closely, the woman's legs were weak, and her feet were not placed on the pedals, but hung on the sides of the car...
The photograph, titled "The Last Dignity to the Wife," was already dead in the earthquake.
And men have only one idea - to carry their wives home even at the risk of death.
Fifteen years ago, their story touched the Chinese people, but now it is revealed that the man Wu Jiafang flashed marriage half a year after his wife's death. Directly reversed the plot.
What the hell is going on here? And now what happened to him?
Take her home with dignity
Wu Jiafang, a native of Mianzhu County, Sichuan Province, met his wife Shi Huaqiong at the construction site.
When they were young, the two worked at the same construction site, and because Shi Huaqiong was born beautifully, Wu Jiafang quickly liked her, and Shi Huaqiong also had a good impression of the down-to-earth and capable Wu Jiafang.
The two slowly came together, and after they got married, they soon had a son.
After marriage, Wu Jiafang planted her favorite southeast, northwest flower (scientific name vermilion red) for her wife in front of the house and behind the house, red like a trumpet, blooming in the four directions of southeast, southwest and northwest.
And Shi Huaqiong also understood her husband's hard work, and spent 700 yuan to buy him a motorcycle.
He would use the motorcycle to drive her to visit friends and relatives, go grocery shopping, and then drive her home.
However, the sky did not go as expected, at that time, Wu Jiafang never imagined that the last time he took his wife home, he would actually carry her body...
On May 12, 2008, Wu Jiafang finished lunch as usual and prepared to go to work.
His wife thought it was time to pay the bill, so she asked him to drive her to the town's business hall.
She loves beauty and deliberately wears a red hairpin before going out.
After that, the two people waved goodbye, but when Wu Jiafang just arrived at the construction site, he suddenly noticed that the ground was shaking violently, and the noisy shouts of the workers were heard in his ears:
"Not good, earthquake!" "Run, run... Fast! ”。
Everyone retreated out in confusion, and Wu Jiafang also ran. He stopped in the middle of the small square, watching the factory building collapse and the earth crack, and he was suddenly lost.
"What about my wife and son? Will it be dangerous? He thought as he searched for a car.
Fortunately, the motorcycle was fine, so he rolled over and rode to his home.
The houses that were good when they came were now in ruins, and the steel bars that broke after the walls collapsed were everywhere. The more Wu Jiafang rushed home, the more worried he became, and his cycling hands were shaking.
As soon as he arrived home, he saw his son standing in the open space crying: "Mother hasn't come back yet, mother..."
An uneasy mood surged into Wu Jiafang's heart, and after he settled his son, he turned around and rushed to the business hall.
But he searched for a long time and found no trace of his wife.
The nearby teahouse has long been in ruins, and there are many people standing around, some moving broken walls to save people, others shouting the names of their relatives.
In a panic, he asked if anyone had seen his wife, Shi Huaqiong, but no one knew.
Someone pointed him in a direction, "There are many people killed over there, you go and take a look." ”
Wu Jiafang walked around the edge of the ruins and saw the red hairpin his wife wore in the morning under a prefabricated board in a corner.
He desperately dug through the messy pieces next to him, and soon his wife's face was exposed.
He did not have time to grieve, continued to use his hands to remove the rubble and bricks, climbed into the space under the prefabricated panels, and pushed his wife's body out little by little with his body.
Wu Jiafang thought that there was still a son waiting for him at home, so she built a simple shed on the spot and placed his wife's body in it to prevent her from being rained.
He returned there the next day to bring his wife home. With the help of everyone, he tied her behind him and carried his wife's body back on a motorcycle.
On the way, Wu Jiafang stopped several times to check whether his wife had been scratched or slipped, and this scene happened to be filmed by reporters who came to record the scene after the earthquake.
And named the photo "The Last Dignity to the Wife".
In the following period, the photo went viral on the Internet, and Wu Jiafang became a little red, and his name began to be widely known.
During that time, Wu Jiafang became a recognized good man with great affection, and even began to write to him to confess to him.
But the dead wife's body is not cold, how can he let go?
After he burned the first letter, he found that more and more people wrote to him, and some people texted him and called to confess. He either rejected the other person's kindness or did not reply.
In this way, Wu Jiafang's straightforwardness and sincerity and loyalty to marriage and wife add another layer of beautification to everyone's good man filter.
However, on October 16, 2008, Wu Jiafang received a phone call from a strange woman, which completely changed his state in the past few months.
Flash marriage half a year later
The woman who called was Liu Rurong, she was different from the previous woman, and she did not come up to confess directly, but first asked about the local disaster and the situation of the villagers.
Wu Jiafang felt that the other party was still more compatible with herself, so she talked on the phone almost every day for a week or two in a row.
The two got to know each other a lot over the phone, Liu Rurong is a Chengdu native who works hard in Shenzhen, not only has to go to work, but also often cares about Wu Jiafang's body.
One day, when Liu Rurong called again, she said that she wanted to go to Mianzhu to see Wu Jiafang.
Wu Jiafang was excited, but also a little apprehensive.
The night before Liu Rurong arrived, he went to sit at his deceased wife's grave for a long time. He wanted to ask himself if he should do this, and whether he could do it.
It's a pity that this is just an earthen grave and does not give him an answer.
The next day, he rode a motorcycle and changed buses, and after several rounds, he finally met Liu Rurong at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport.
Wu Jiafang's pursuit by various girls has long been no secret in the village. When he took Liu Rurong back, his family and relatives were very enthusiastic about this woman who had traveled thousands of miles.
Even the mother of his deceased wife Shi Huaqiong was very kind, and at the same time praised Liu Rurong.
So Wu Jiafang proposed: "Let's get married!" ”
At this time, the two have only been in online dating for a few weeks, and have been facing each other for 9 days, from meeting to deciding to get married, but only 2 months.
It is only half a year before the 5.12 earthquake.
A month after Mianzhu received their marriage certificate, they returned to Shenzhen together to attend a group wedding held by the Nanshan District Women's Federation.
Because of this wedding, the news of Wu Jiafang's remarriage quickly spread on the Internet, and he was once again pushed into the limelight of public opinion.
Most people expressed their blessings, but a small number of people saw that he was in a hurry to remarry after only half a year, expressed disappointment, and began to question his loyalty and doubts his intentions.
In the face of public doubts, Wu Jiafang said: "I will never forget the good of my deceased wife, and I will also be good to my current wife." ”
At that time, Wu Jiafang and Liu Rurong were full of expectations for this marriage and were extremely firm.
But after all, it is a flash marriage, can the relationship between the two go a long way? It's hard to be sure.
Monument repair: no longer expect love
In the end, it was a marriage that was married in a hurry, and many things were far more complicated than they thought.
In fact, Liu Rurong originally fancy Wu Jiafang's heavy feelings for his deceased wife, and after marriage, Wu Jiafang was still used to going to that grave to talk, and she didn't feel awkward at first.
But his husband always has another person in his heart, even if the other party is no longer alive, it is difficult to accept. Over time, the two sides had a disagreement and began to quarrel.
Coupled with the constant pressure of public opinion, their marriage was finally completely unsustainable after more than two years.
At the time of divorce, Liu Rurong proposed to let Wu Jiafang return the 40,000 yuan she paid when she repaired her house in her hometown, but Wu Jiafang couldn't take this money at that time.
Fortunately, the owner of a detective company was willing to lend him money, and after completing the divorce procedures, he began to work to settle debts and work for the boss of the detective company.
Because of the kindness of his boss, after paying off the debt, he continued to work for the other party for three years.
Later, he chose to return to the village to live, always feeling that he could still protect his deceased wife.
However, after returning to the village, Wu Jiafang was a little in a trance, and after being busy for most of his life, he actually returned to this place.
He looked at the weeds in his yard and his deceased wife's grave, trying to earn money to lay the ground of the yard dam and install a gate.
I also want to repair my deceased wife's grave and erect a stone monument for her. These require money, so it's stressful.
He smoked to relieve his stress, and early in the morning he would go to the roof of the bungalow to blow the wind and see his deceased wife's grave.
When asked the first thing he wanted to do if he had money, he said without hesitation: "Erect a monument to his deceased wife."
Now, more than a decade after the 2008 earthquake, he has repaired his wife's grave, erected a tombstone, and planted a piece of southeast, northwest flowers that she loves in front of the grave.
Wu Jiafang has been interviewed many times in the past ten years, and when asked in 2018 whether he still expects love, he replied:
"I look forward to love, I don't know if the love period is not expecting me."
When faced with this question again in 2022, his answer was hesitant, it seems that he has stopped looking forward to love.