Liao Yifeng, a police officer who works in a small and remote village of Huangpi in Wuhan, Hubei province, is a "father" to 39 "left-behind" children, whose parents are working far away from home and rarely spend time with them.
Although he seems young, 30-year-old Liao acts as an "old hand" in the Liuzhi police station. He deals with all kinds of problems among villagers, for example processing household registrations and investigating crime clues as well as solving problems between neighborhoods.
But it is his other identity as a father to left-behind children that is most recognized.
Wan Tianle, an 8-year-old boy, was the first to call Liao "Dad". Wan's parents divorced when he was only 6 months old. He never saw his mother again and his father later disappeared after getting into debt. His bedridden grandfather had intermittent mental illness, and the family depended on his grandmother's meager subsistence allowance. Upon learning the boy couldn't even afford the 100 yuan ($15) monthly school living fees, Liao felt upset and began going to their home every month, bringing 100 yuan and a pot of oil.
During last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Liao carried a kilogram of meat and pig's feet. After dinner, the boy put his arm around Liao's neck and ask sweetly: "Uncle Liao, can I call you daddy?" Liao was deeply moved and tears welled up in his eyes. He made up his mind to be a good "father".
With a 2-year-old son of his own, Liao said, he knows how important a father's love is to a child. Afterward, the demand for "my police father" traveled fast.
In the Gantang Primary School alone, there are 407 left-behind children among the 689 students. With the help of teachers, Liao makes detailed notes about each child's home conditions and pays more attention to the 39 children in the toughest situations.
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