A story about a woman who did not inform her grandparents of the death of her twin sister, fearing it would shock them, has sparked heated debate among netizens.
On the 23rd (local time), the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Annie Niu (34), a Chinese-Canadian influencer, hid the fact that her twin sister had died five years ago from their grandparents. Niu's twin sister died from viral meningitis.
Previously, Niu, who has 200,000 followers, confessed in a video posted on social media in 2022, "Because our voices are similar, I pretended to be my twin sister and called (our grandparents)."
Niu's impersonation of her twin sister ended only after Niu's grandmother passed away in July. Niu's father revealed the hidden truth just before the grandmother closed her eyes, saying, "Your granddaughters will be waiting for you in heaven." It is said that Niu's grandfather was also completely unaware of the granddaughters' deaths. Niu's father explained that he deliberately did not inform the grandparents of the deaths because it could have had a fatal impact on their health, as they deeply loved their granddaughters.
Niu said that although she and her twin sister were raised by their grandparents during childhood, they immigrated to Canada with their parents around the age of 10, which made it relatively easy to conceal the death.
However, netizens who came across Niu's story have been divided in their opinions. While some expressed sympathy for Niu, others argued that the grandparents should have been told. Netizens showed various reactions such as, "Grandparents have the right to know," "How could they not have known for five years?" and "I sympathize with Niu because after my father passed away, my grandmother stopped eating and eventually passed away."
Meanwhile, it is reported that in China, it is relatively common not to inform grandparents of the death of their children or grandchildren, as it is considered unlucky for descendants to die before their grandparents. Earlier this month, a case in Guizhou Province attracted attention where a 38-year-old Chinese woman dressed like her mother, who had died six months earlier from a chronic illness, to visit her grandmother who was suffering from dementia.
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