‘Heart-wrenching’: Boy in China gazes at dumplings made by late mother, retreats to room after father says they are last ones, moves netizens to tears

A heartbreaking video of a Chinese primary schoolboy unwilling to eat the last plate of dumplings that had been made by his mother just before she died, has moved countless viewers to tears.

In the video clip the boy’s father posted on Douyin under the account @Tiaotiaorufanchen on Dec 10, the youngster from eastern China’s Zhejiang province gazes silently at a plate of dumplings, before running to his room.

His father said the boy went to his room to cry, and explained that the dumplings were the last remaining batch his mother had wrapped before she died from breast cancer eight months ago.

They had kept the dumplings in a freezer and were unwilling to finish them, but eventually cooked the last of them because the father was worried they might go off if they were kept any longer.

As they were about to eat, the father told his son the dumplings were the last ones his mother had made so that he could “cherish” them.

Instead, the boy just stared at the dumplings and did not eat any.

The sad scene has touched the hearts of many online observers.

“Heart-wrenching,” one observer wrote.

“The video moved me to tears. I have been preserving the bun my mum made for 11 years after she passed away. Whenever I’m missing her, I smell the bun then put it back in the freezer,” revealed an observer on Douyin.

“I believe he should sit down and carefully taste that plate of dumplings, then he would never forget that taste for the rest of his life,” someone advised.

“Eat the dumplings and your mum’s love will be within you forever,” another said.

Chinese social media has a constant stream of emotional stories about children missing their parents.

In 2021, police in eastern China’s Jiangsu province spotted a boy walking alone along the street late at night. He told them he wanted to visit his mother’s grave, moving the officers to tears.

In the same year, a video of a toddler lying in the arms of his mother’s portrait drawn in chalk on the floor stirred deep emotions among onlookers.

The boy from a rural area in northern China’s Shanxi province missed his mother who was working and living in another city, so on International Children’s Day, his grandmother drew the image of his mother for him. – South China Morning Post