Perhaps the most important factor in the note was what came after the feelings of regret. The couple had hope in their hearts that someday they would be reunited with their daughter under better circumstances. They jotted down that “if fate should have it,” for whoever found their daughter and the note to meet them again in 10-20 years at the Broken Bridge in Hangzhou on the day of the Qixi Festival, which is basically the Chinese version of Valentine’s Day.
They may not have expected anything to actually come from it, but they clung to that hope and prayed that fate would take their side in the future. And someday, they truly would be reunited with that little girl they were forced to leave behind all those years ago.
Making the Tough Call
Qian and Xu were in a desperate and dangerous situation. They, along with their young child and now their newborn baby, were floating around at sea trying to evade the authorities in China. But the couple knew they couldn’t continue to live that way, and they had to make the hardest decision of their young lives.
When Jingzhi was just five days old, they wrapped her up in her little blankets and took her to the most populated market they could think of in their area – somewhere where they knew someone would find her and help her almost instantly once the market opened. With eyes flooding with tears, they pinned the note to her blankets and left their baby girl at the market.
Words of Sorrow
The young parents wanted anything but to relinquish their daughter to the arms of strangers, but the policy forced their hand. They just didn’t have the resources to care for Jingzhi while also trying to stay under the radar. The note that authorities would find attached to her blankets would reveal how brokenhearted they were about the entire situation.
The words on the note revealed the exact date and time of the child’s birth, along with the name they’d given her, and how terrible they felt about not being able to keep her. When Qian and Xu left the five-day-old at the market, they never expected to lay eyes on her again. Little did they know what fate had in store for them…or maybe they did.
Making Good on Their Promise
When that ten-year mark rolled around, Xu and Qian prepared themselves to make good on their promise. They traveled to the Broken Bridge on the morning of the Qixi Festival, fingers crossed that someone would be there to meet them and show them that everything had turned out just like they’d hoped.
If someone was there, it would mean their daughter was okay and that she’d forgiven them for what they had to do. But after waiting around by the bridge all day, it became apparent that no one was coming. Even though nothing had happened the moment they’d expected, however, not all hope was lost. Something miraculous was still in the cards for the couple.
As Luck Would Have It
While Xu and Qian walked away from the Broken Bridge in Hangzhou with broken hearts, someone from the United States was just moments away, toting the note that they’d written all those years ago. Ruth and Ken had sent their friend who lives in China, Annie, to go meet the couple, eager to find out if they followed through on their words. Unfortunately, Annie arrived just a little too late.
The couple had given up hope and left to travel home just a few moments before she’d gotten to the festival. But they weren’t ready to call it quits just yet. Xu and Qian just felt in their hearts that they would see their baby girl again someday.