A 51-year-old billionaire from southeastern China has offered a 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) bounty to find his long-lost son, but is fed up with strangers claiming his child is his. he said.
Xie Yue, an entrepreneur from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has been inundated with people requesting DNA tests, including a man just 10 years his junior who wants to call him “dad.” ing.
In December last year, he said he was willing to pay a reward to anyone who could provide clues as to the whereabouts of Xie Haonan, who was born in 1998 and disappeared in Shenzhen when he was just three years old.
Xie said the huge sum has attracted widespread attention, including harassment from many people who are “not making a living from honest labor.”
“I get about eight or nine calls a day from people who call me directly to my dad,” he said.
“A 41-year-old man came into my office and said he was my son and wanted a DNA test. I’m only 51 years old, so I’m his father. It’s impossible,” Xie said.
“This has seriously affected my personal life and work,” he added.
He initially said he welcomed potential candidates to visit and offered to take back some of their train fares if they showed their tickets and ID. But it was taking up too much time.
“Please don’t come and take a DNA test with me. From now on, I will not respond to people with ‘Haonan dreams’,” Xie said in a Douyin video on January 3.
“Haonan’s Dream” refers to the people to whom Mr. Xie is tasked with the duplicitous mission of inheriting his wealth.
Mainland media reported that Mr. Xie, who owns companies and real estate, could afford to pay a 10 million yuan reward for tips that led to the search for his son.
He said he was confident that with the help of police, his son, now 25, would be found by the end of this year. He also said he respects the young man’s wishes and does not intend to disrupt his life.
“After I found my child, I have no intention of changing his living conditions,” Xie said. “If he wants to live with me, he will be welcome. If he wants to stay with his current family, I will respect his choice,” he said.
Last December, the story of another long-lost son went viral on mainland social media after his father, who runs a large manufacturing business in northern Hebei province, gifted his son three properties after being reunited. .
In 2021, the man who inspired the 2015 film loss and love After starting a nationwide search on his motorcycle, he was reunited with his kidnapped son for the first time in 24 years.