Forty Years Later, I Found Out My Grandson Was Already in High School

In 1969, eighteen-year-old Beijing youth Chen Weiguo was sent to the countryside in Mizhi, northern Shaanxi, where he fell in love with Tian Xiulian, the village chief’s daughter. The night they pledged themselves to each other in a cave dwelling, they promised to stay true for the rest of their lives.

But her father stood in their way, and Chen Weiguo was forced to leave and join the army. Tian Xiulian was pregnant with his child, but was forced to marry the son of a commune official. Their 134 love letters were intercepted, and from then on they were separated, each believing the other had changed.

Chen Weiguo was disabled while rescuing people during the Tangshan earthquake. After returning to Beijing, he lived out his days alone, never marrying in the forty years since his first love. Tian Xiulian raised her son alone amid domestic abuse, cried herself blind, and spent her whole life holding on to that promise.

In 2013, sixty-two-year-old Chen Weiguo returned to Mizhi and finally learned the truth: the woman had never betrayed him. She had borne his child, suffered countless torments, and waited for him for forty-four years!

The moment he pushed open the courtyard gate, she turned around, her hair graying at the temples. “Weiguo, you finally came.” Tears streamed down his face. “Xiulian, I’m sorry. I’m too late.”

What shocked him even more was that his son was already forty-three, and his grandson was in high school!

This is a story about staying true, about waiting for half a century to prove that true love can withstand the test of time. Some people are separated by distance and weather countless storms; others reunite in their twilight years and find sweetness for the rest of their lives.