"Actor Wang Xing is back, when can my son return?" Mr. Hai said helplessly.
Mr. Hai is from Shizuishan, Ningxia. He and his wife, Mrs. Ma, got married around 2014. He recalled that at that time his wife had two children, "We met while working in Xinjiang, she had a son and a daughter. She said that she was previously unable to support the children, and they were raised in an orphanage until they were over 12 years old before she took them back."
Mr. Hai mentioned that perhaps due to the lack of family education from a young age, his son, born in 2001 and named Xiao Yang, barely graduated from junior high school before dropping out to work.
In 2024, Xiao Yang couldn't find a suitable job and spent the first half of the year in his hometown in Guyuan, Ningxia, helping with farm work. In June, he returned alone to their home in Shizuishan, "We usually contact once every week or two, mainly chatting about family matters."
In July, Xiao Yang told his mother that he was applying for a passport, implying he wanted to go abroad. Mr. Hai said, "He told his grandfather and sister too, saying he wanted to go 'wander (play) around'."
Mrs. Ma said, "I scolded him, thinking he should find a proper job instead of going abroad aimlessly."
"I never thought he would actually go abroad, nor did I realize it was so dangerous overseas." Because she had argued with her son, they had blocked each other on WeChat, so they hadn't been in contact for a long time after this call.
"I still found out from my daughter that he went abroad." Mrs. Ma said, "In September 2024, his sister said, 'My brother went to Thailand, asked me to pay his car loan.' On October 25, his sister asked what he was doing in Thailand, the reply was 'don't ask, just don't worry, help with the car loan.'
Xiao Yang's chat records with his sister show that he said, "Tell mom not to worry. Don't do anything useless, just message me on WeChat. I'll reply when I see it, I check it every ten days or so." He didn't reply to messages until November 3.
Mr. Hai said, "I felt something was wrong on September 6, my son sent a location to my friend, showing he was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. At that time, it felt a bit off, but I didn't know the specifics." He tried to video call him, but got no response.
Mr. Hai's friend, Mr. Ma, confirmed that "Xiao Yang initially told me he was going to Thailand to find a job, then he went to Cambodia, and then he lost contact."
On October 25, after contacting his sister, Xiao Yang also reached out to his stepfather, Mr. Hai. Mr. Hai said, "My son told me he was scammed abroad, initially going to Thailand, then transferring to Cambodia. Upon arriving in Cambodia, he realized there was a problem and wanted to return home, but at the airport, he met a Chinese man who took him to eat, and then he was kidnapped."
"I wanted to ask my son for his exact location, but he suddenly said, 'They told me to hang up.'" Mr. Hai said, "I wanted to call the police, but my daughter-in-law was afraid they would harm him, so she didn't let me."
"Before he went abroad, he mortgaged the house and car in Shizuishan. The car was mortgaged for 16,000 yuan, and the house for 80,000 yuan." Mr. Hai said, his son took this money abroad, and then ran into trouble. Previously, the family's financial situation was okay, but now they owe a lot of money, "We are borrowing money everywhere to pay off debts."
"Compared to borrowing money to pay off debts, the most urgent thing now is to rescue him." Mr. Hai said, in November, he contacted his son three times, each time by voice call, "My son said, they forced him to engage in telephone scams, and if he couldn't scam money, he would be beaten. I asked him if the beatings were severe, and he said 'They beat me hard, often.' During one of the calls, my son despairingly said, he couldn't return, the Chinese man in Phnom Penh who took him to eat had sold him for twenty thousand US dollars."
Mr. Hai asked Xiao Yang to inquire with the people controlling him to see if they could "pay to redeem him." Mr. Hai recalled, on November 23, his son called saying, the conditions for his release were "three times the twenty thousand US dollars," "Twenty thousand US dollars we could still manage by taking out loans and borrowing, but sixty thousand US dollars, we simply can't afford." "Many people also advised me, saying even if we pay the ransom, the chances of my son returning are very slim."
On December 28, 2024, Mr. Hai last contacted Xiao Yang, "I wanted to ask him if there were any noticeable buildings around, planning to go to Cambodia to rescue him, but he hinted that people were watching, indicating he dared not reveal."
"I asked him to secretly send a location, but my son said if he did, he would be beaten to death."
"From Phnom Penh airport to the place where he is detained, it takes about two hours. The entire building's windows do not show the outside, and they eat and work all in a two-story building, with about a hundred people in total." Mr. Hai said, this is some useful information he gathered indirectly. After the last call, Xiao Yang has been missing to this day.
"After the incident involving actor Wang Xing drew attention, he returned in just three days. I hope to use the media to draw more attention to my son's situation, so that he might have a chance to return."
Mr. Hai said, "Our family is out of options." They had repeatedly sought help from the Shizuishan Public Security Huinong Sub-bureau, but the police refused to file a case, "They said they can only handle it if there is evidence of the child being coerced or detained. Where can we get such evidence when the child is controlled?"
