Hard to Find

This film (drama)Also known as千里难寻，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At1994Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating8.4(For reference only)。

This drama tells the story of two young brothers, Tian Tian and Huan Huan, and their yearning for the sea during their childhood. In a family environment filled with constant arguments and tension, the brothers ultimately decide to run away to find the beautiful, vast sea they long for. However, they are trafficked, and after enduring many hardships, they finally reunite with their family. The main actors are two boys under twelve years old, with the older brother Tian Tian being eleven and the younger brother Huan Huan only nine. The story begins with the father having an affair, leading to daily fights between the mother and father at home, where they insult each other with various sharp words and throw things around, showing no regard for their children's feelings. Under such a family environment, the two children live in fear every day and are unable to focus on their studies. One day, the older brother asks the younger brother, "Huan Huan, do you like the sea?" "Yes, I've heard that the sea is so blue and beautiful," the younger brother says, resting his chin on his hand, his eyes full of longing. "Then how about I take you to see the sea?" the older brother suggests. "Okay." So, the brothers took some simple luggage and quietly left home amid their parents' quarrels, embarking on a journey to find the sea. But achieving their dream was not so easy; the brothers got lost during the journey. The older brother Tian Tian was sold by traffickers to a childless family after wandering for a while, as he refused to be their child, constantly confronting the couple. Meanwhile, the younger Huan Huan was trafficked to a poor and violent family in the mountains, having to cook, cut grass, and tend to sheep every day, while also enduring beatings and scolding from the female head of the household. Their parents only realized their children were missing after coming to their senses from the arguments. They put up missing person notices and sought help through television, but there was still no news, and at this moment, they both deeply regretted their actions. The father no longer cared about his mistress, and the mother no longer held grudges against her husband's faults. They leaned against each other, losing their appetite, and cried their eyes out. Some scenes in the drama still make me heartbroken to think about. In one scene, Huan Huan is chased around the yard by the farmer's wife with a stick, and after being beaten, he is not even given food. Their parents even stopped working, frantically searching for their children, and did visit the village where Huan Huan was. Driving on the dirt road of the village, their expressions were sorrowful, completely missing Huan Huan, who was hunched over, straining to push a cart filled with wheat. In the end of the story, two years later, through the confessions of arrested traffickers, they finally found their two children. The reunion took place in a large house, but when the couple entered, the children were nowhere to be seen. The mother cried out, "Tian Tian, Huan Huan, come out, don’t play hide and seek with Mommy anymore, okay?" But no matter how much they called, there was no echo from the children. The mother collapsed into the father's arms, and at that moment, the two children finally crawled out from under the couch, looking at them with unfamiliarity, trembling and retreating. They had been so tortured that they could hardly recognize their parents, who rushed over crying and hugged their children tightly. The story ends beautifully, with the couple reconciling, taking their two children to see the sea of their dreams. I still remember the theme song at the end of the film: "Why is the sea blue and blue, why is the seawater salty, why does a calm sea suddenly have waves, and why can’t you collect shells by the seaside? La… Only by going to the seaside can you find the answers, looking at the sea, looking at the sea, always heading east, even if it’s a thousand miles away."