"He trusts me the most," said Chen Mengzhen, guarding Zhao Wenlong
"Chen Mengzhen is a very unique person. I hoped she would win the lawsuit and leave, because if she stayed, she would definitely suffer poverty and suffering. However, based on her 30 years of perseverance, she has indeed fallen in love with this man." Wang Wenli, 88, said in the Jinshan District nursing home, which is an hour and a half drive from the center of Shanghai.
After filming "Mao Mao Complaints", director Wang Wenli and Mao Mao's family became friends. She told reporters about the follow-up of this past story. Photo by Xie Feijun
Recently, there has been a wave of nostalgia online: in 1993, a 26 year old Hunan girl named Chen Mengzhen went to Shanghai to recognize her ex boyfriend Zhao Wenlong while holding her infant daughter Mao Mao Mao. Despite being disabled by polio since childhood, he refused to recognize her. As a last resort, Chen Mengzhen filed a lawsuit against him in court. The paternity test showed that Zhao Wenlong was Mao Mao's biological father. Upon learning the result, he changed his previous indifferent attitude and requested forgiveness from Chen Mengzhen to form a family with her. Due to Zhao Wenlong's leg disability, some people speculate that this Hunan woman came for Shanghai household registration, believing that their marriage will not last long.
This convoluted story that happens to ordinary people is known to many Shanghai residents because the documentary "Mao Mao Confession" is directed by Wang Wenli. In the past 30 years, she has been in contact with the Mao family and has been recognized and questioned multiple times in public places such as hospitals where she is seeking medical treatment and Huangpu River ferries: are you the director of Mao's Complaint? How is the Maomao family doing?
How is the Maomao family doing? In this summer 30 years later, the reporter found Wang Wenli and Chen Mengzhen to listen to their account of the follow-up of this past event——
Chen Mengzhen's married life, as Wang Wenli once said, "has suffered a lot," but she has also achieved great success - Zhao Wenlong needs someone to accompany him around 24 hours due to illness, and Chen Mengzhen stays by him all day. Only when the long-term care insurance staff come to provide home service can she take the time to go out and work part-time to subsidize her family; Mao Mao received help from kind-hearted people in his third year of high school and applied to study in the United States. After graduating from graduate school, he settled in the United States.
achievement
In Wang Wenli's heart, he and the Mao family were no longer in an interview or being interviewed relationship, but rather friends who talked about everything. Since the filming and broadcast of "Mao Mao Complaint" in 1993, she has maintained a long-term connection with this family. Every Spring Festival, Mao Mao's family visits her house to pay their respects. Wang Wenli has never been absent from important matters of this small family.
After marriage, Zhao Wenlong loved his wife and daughter very much. He would voluntarily hand over all his income to Chen Mengzhen and also take on many responsibilities of taking care of Mao Mao. After Mao Mao grew older, the father and daughter would also unite to "complain" to Wang Wenli, counting the severity of Chen Mengzhen at home. Originally, in the Mao family, it has always been a combination of "loving father and strict mother".
Wang Wenli has always known that Chen Mengzhen's life is not easy. She, who has not studied for a few years, supported the family's life with hard physical work for many years after marriage. She has worked as a caregiver at a Maomao daycare center, as a dishwasher at a fast food restaurant, a salesperson at a supermarket, and a domestic hourly worker, among others. "Mao Mao needs money for reading, Mao Mao's father needs money for medical treatment, and her schedule is always very full."
Five years ago, Wang Wenli and his wife moved to a nursing home in Jinshan District, Shanghai. Before leaving, she specifically instructed Chen Mengzhen: Jinshan has a long road and inconvenient transportation, so there is no need to visit specifically in the future. Just call when you have time. In the winter of 2021, Wang Wenli called Chen Mengzhen and said, "You work very hard all year round. Do you want to come to the nursing home to rest for a few days during the Spring Festival?" She only then learned that Zhao Wenlong's physical condition had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Due to suffering from manic disorder and senile dementia, he couldn't leave people for a moment.
After listening, Wang Wenli remained silent for a long time. She couldn't help but sigh on the phone: Mao Mao has grown up. I thought you could relax a bit, but I didn't expect Zhao Wenlong to be like this again. You are really unlucky! Unexpectedly, on the other end of the phone, it was Chen Mengzhen's cheerful voice: Teacher Wang, don't you think I have also achieved a lot? Mao Mao has grown up and can now rely on himself, and I ultimately did not, as some people say, "leave for the sake of Shanghai household registration.".
At this moment, Wang Wenli realized that the unintentional comments of others, although they had been around for nearly 30 years, had always been engraved in Chen Mengzhen's heart.
brave
Wang Wenli still vividly remembers that when he first met Chen Mengzhen, a male colleague who went to shoot a documentary exclaimed, "A girl from a rural area in Hunan dares to venture into Shanghai with her illegitimate daughter. It's really not easy!"
Faced with the camera, Chen Mengzhen expressed herself clearly, without any hesitation in her eyes. Screenshots of the documentary "Fury Complaints"
In front of the camera, Chen Mengzhen was thin and small, with disheveled hair. She struggled to hold the child, but her expression was clear and clear, with no hesitation in her eyes. During the follow-up visit, Wang Wenli asked himself more than once: If you were Mao Mao's mother, would you dare to take such a path?
In fact, after Chen Mengzhen became pregnant in April 1992, Zhao Wenlong believed that the child was not his. The two of them argued for a long time about this, and even went to the hospital to prepare for an abortion. However, when they walked to the hospital gate, Chen Mengzhen asked again: Do you admit that the child is yours? Seeing Zhao Wenlong silent and not answering, Chen Mengzhen changed her mind and decided to give birth to the child to prove her innocence. So, when the child was six months old in her belly, she returned to her hometown in Hunan alone. In that era, it was inevitable for her family to be puzzled and neighbors to have different opinions, but she insisted on giving birth to the child.
Three months later, Chen Mengzhen went to Shanghai with her child to find Zhao Wenlong to recognize her family. Faced with Zhao Wenlong's various evasions, she began the process of "reporting a complaint". Coincidentally, this news clue circulated to Wang Wenli, who was planning to shoot a documentary about the wave of migrant workers at that time.
The most gripping part of the documentary "Mao Mao's Complaint" is the factual record of the day of the verdict: on July 12, 1993, Chen Mengzhen walked towards the court under the scorching sun with an umbrella in one hand and Mao Mao in the other, and Zhao Wenlong slowly followed. After taking his seat, he sat down with his right arm slung over the back of the chair, looking carefree, while Chen Mengzhen calmly sat on the other end of the bench. When the judge pronounced Mao Mao as Zhao Wenlong's biological child, Zhao Wenlong was initially expressionless and shouted twice before he came to his senses: "Is this appraisal legally responsible?" As he signed the verdict, Chen Mengzhen burst into a dimple and said, "I'm innocent."
In Wang Wenli's view, the Maomao family who went to court were all real and brave screenshots of the documentary "Maomao Complaints"
After many years, these details have frozen in Wang Wenli's mind, and what she admires the most is their bravery. "Of course, Chen Mengzhen was brave, and Zhao Wenlong, who had a huge contrast before and after the judgment, was also brave." In Wang Wenli's view, the reason why Zhao Wenlong initially showed resistance to the mother and daughter, and confidently said many hurtful words was because he did not believe that it was his own child. Faced with such a cold and indifferent Zhao Wenlong, Wang Wenli never attempted to preach simply, but sincerely said to him, "How could you do this? If I were in your position, I couldn't bear it." Although Zhao Wenlong did not change his mind at the time, when the appraisal results came out, he wrote a letter of repentance to Chen Mengzhen, asking Wang Wenli to deliver it.
From a female perspective, Wang Wenli hopes that Chen Mengzhen will leave after winning the lawsuit, because marrying Zhao Wenlong is a visible hardship. But Chen Mengzhen chose to forgive and agreed to his marriage request.
Reluctant to part
In Wang Wenli's view, Chen Mengzhen's marriage to Zhao Wenlong brought Zhao Wenlong a new life and hope, but Zhao Wenlong's parents have never been able to accept it. Living under the same roof for many years, Zhao's father couldn't warm the hearts of the old couple. He regarded "the wood that floats on the door cannot be picked" as a wise saying, and in the shared kitchen, he would also throw the pots washed by Chen Mengzhen on the ground.
Wang Wenli vividly remembers that about three years after their marriage, she received a crying phone call from Chen Mengzhen, saying that she really couldn't hold on anymore and wanted to return to Hunan. But in fact, she couldn't let go at all. "What should Mao Mao do, what should Zhao Wenlong do?" She couldn't leave this home.
On Mao Mao's 10th birthday, the family was eating cake at home. Screenshot of a 20-year follow-up video of "Mao Mao's Complaint"
As time goes by, this family becomes increasingly difficult to leave behind. Zhao Wenlong now needs care just like infants and young children. In the past few days, due to Chen Mengzhen's unwillingness for reporters to come to our doorstep, we had intermittent phone calls for four to five hours. Almost every time, we stopped because Zhao Wenlong had new needs, including: "He's making a fuss, I need to go see him", "He's starting to spit, maybe he's going to pee", "He's got feces on his body, I need to deal with it immediately"
In fact, Zhao Wenlong has had problems with his body since 2001, including hypertension, diabetes, thyroid surgery and prostate surgery, and was diagnosed with manic disorder and senile dementia. After experiencing the COVID-19 last year, although people were saved, they were unconscious of urination and defecation. Zhao Wenlong would shout and scream whenever he felt unwell, and the caregivers he paid for also expressed that he couldn't keep up. For her family, the only relief was to send the patient to a mental health center, but Chen Mengzhen couldn't bear to part with it.
She muttered to the reporter: During the years when Zhao Wenlong was clear headed, he could always pay attention to her inner needs. For example, knowing that she wants to go back to her hometown to see her parents, but can't let go of her family affairs in Shanghai, Zhao Wenlong will secretly go to the railway station to buy the ticket, and then inform Chen Mengzhen to hurry home and pack up things to start. And he has told Chen Mengzhen more than once: it seems that no one in this world would want me, only you wouldn't.
"He trusts me so much, do you think I can send him to a mental hospital?"
Anterior pathway
In Chen Mengzhen's words, these 30 years have passed quickly. "I make my own choices, take responsibility for them, and I don't regret them. If life were to happen again, it should be the same.".
Journalists and Wang Wenli are both curious: What has supported Chen Mengzhen's 30-year persistence?
"Did Teacher Wang initially think that I had a different plan?"
"No, no," the reporter quickly explained, "Teacher Wang told me with certainty that your persistence must include love, but she doesn't know what attracted you."
The other end of the phone suddenly fell silent, and Chen Mengzhen, who spoke at a faster pace, took a deep breath and slowed down her pace. "I am a person with my own opinions. Zhao Wenlong and I got together not because of Teacher Wang, but also because of the TV program. I am not a fool, let alone considering my household registration. I just have a fate with him. The first time I saw him, I thought he was gentle and gave people a very comfortable feeling."
Chen Mengzhen said that she had been holding back these words for 30 years and had never said them to anyone. "Before I arrived in Shanghai, the ending was already in my heart. He was the person, his personality, and I knew him best. I had anticipated his initial struggles, evasion, and unreasonable behavior," said Chen Mengzhen. As a result, although she was living in a difficult situation with her child at the time, her heart remained calm.
"I haven't said it for so many years because I'm afraid everyone won't understand." She still remembers that on the day she settled down at the end of 2000, a staff member of the Disabled Persons' Federation reminded Zhao Wenlong that as soon as her household registration was registered, she would run away. These little moments have silently influenced Chen Mengzhen for 30 years, and now she seems more afraid of being noticed, discussed, and misunderstood than ever before. She has told reporters more than once that she has watched a lot of self media reposts recently, but she only wants to live quietly and not be disturbed by anyone.
"When some people criticized Chen Mengzhen back then, she remembered very clearly that if she didn't leave, she wanted to prove it to others. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage, because some words didn't need to be taken seriously," said Wang Wenli.
Screenshot of a 20-year follow-up video of Chen Mengzhen and Mao Mao's video chat on "Mao Mao's Complaint"
Now, Chen Mengzhen doesn't know how to go in the future. But one thing is for sure, she doesn't want Maomao to be affected by them in any way.
Mao Mao settled in the United States after graduating from graduate school. In the Spring Festival of 2023, she returned to China to accompany her parents for several months and also visited Wang Wenli in Jinshan. Nowadays, she can provide some financial assistance to her family, but Chen Mengzhen does not want her daughter to get involved. This is a mother's simple emotion towards her daughter. She stubbornly believes that when Mao Mao gets married and buys a house, as parents, she cannot provide financial support or at least increase her burden.
Due to doctors repeatedly reminding Chen Mengzhen not to overwork, she has recently considered waiting for Zhao Wenlong's traditional Chinese medicine to recuperate for a while before preparing to take him back to the countryside in Hunan for retirement. This way, the house in Shanghai can be rented out and used to cover daily expenses.
