At the age of 97, Peng Yunsong has been a bachelor all his life. But he says that not having a spouse hasn’t meant that he’s lived a life of loneliness, a fact that has intrigued many netizens in China.
Peng, says that he found his fulfillment in his children – six orphans that he adopted and raised over the years.
It all started in 1954, when 35-year-old Peng, who was then working at a machinery plant, adopted his first child. Over the next 15 years, he added five more kids to his family.
Despite the meager wages he earned as a factory worker, he managed to maintain the family. However, with age and savings beginning to run out, Peng decided that it was time to look towards a different occupation to raise enough money for his children’s education.
So he decided to buy six goats and began selling goat’s milk to support his family. As the children grew into their own lives, Peng has continued to remain active and connected with them. He still works four hours a day at a local inn and was delighted as his kids celebrated his 97th birthday recently.
But when asked why was it that he chose not to get married all these years, Peng continues to have a rather matter-of-fact answer.
Over the years, he had turned down anyone who offered to introduce him to a prospective mate, fearing that his decision to raise adopted children would have been a burden on anyone who married him.
“If a woman is willing to marry me, she'll suffer. I don't want her to suffer with me. But most importantly, I have to raise my children," he says.