Hardened hearts

When asked by a reporter in Beijing if he misses his mother, Wang responded calmly. "No. I don't think about her anymore because my heart would be broken again if I did," he said.

As a result of its remote location and poor transportation infrastructure, Zhuanshanbao is one of the poorest villages in Xinjie township.

Wang Gangkui, 28, the boy's father, works on a construction site. He said his wife, Lu Dafeng, asked for a divorce at the end of 2015 because she could no longer bear their impoverished existence, especially as the family was in debt.

Wang Gangkui refused Lu's request, so several days later she left home without telling anyone. Her husband tried to contact her, but Lu had changed her cellphone number.

"Fuman and his sister cried a lot after discovering that their mother had gone. They really wanted her to come back, but I lied and told them that she had left to look for work elsewhere," he said.

Lu returned to the village in July. Once again, she asked for a divorce, and once again Wang Gangkui refused. Lu disappeared again three days later. The children cried again, and this time, Wang Gangkui told them that their mother had left them for good.

"After their mother left for the second time, the children stopped saying they missed her. They just wouldn't talk about it or cry for her like the first time," Wang Gangkui said.