On August 30, a blogger tested the purchasing power of sanitation workers in Heze, Shandong. The interviewed worker had a monthly salary of only 600 yuan, working 4 to 5 hours a day with no weekend holidays. The blogger conducted a shopping test based on a daily wage of about 20 yuan, sparking discussions among netizens about low wages and the lack of social security.
Volunteer searcher Du Xiaohua posted a video report; in the case that attracted attention after reporting Sun Meihua's abuse, the “Uncle Long” who had long controlled Sun Meihua’s cohabitation has been taken by local police for investigation.
Mr. Zhang, the owner of a barbecue restaurant in Heze, Shandong, reported that a Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain cup from an ancient shipwreck was suspected to be lost during archaeological excavation. Within two months, he was subjected to approximately fifteen inspections by five law enforcement departments in rotation. He was eventually forced to close his business on September 7th. Mr. Zhang suspects this is retaliation.
On September 11, 2026, the Weibo and Xiaohongshu platforms carried out a concentrated cleanup of discussions related to Sun Meihua's 26-year disappearance and her suspected trafficking to Cao County, Shandong. Searching for "Sun Meihua" on Weibo now yields no relevant results; the summary page only shows unrelated old news from 2025, and all main discussion posts have been set to private. Search results on Xiaohongshu also show unrelated content.
Sun Meihua, who had been missing for 26 years, was discovered by volunteers in Cao County, Heze, Shandong. She gained attention from netizens due to her English proficiency and professional terminology, and was eventually reunited with her family in Beijing through blood sampling for kinship search.