Boy shares emotional story about his preferential treatment cards

A boy who was questioned by a bus driver in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, about the legitimacy of the preferential treatment card he presented when taking the bus won respect and wide support from the public.

Zhang Jing, mother of Liu Anji posted the video of how the 12-year-old was disappointed by the bus driver's reaction when using the preferential treatment card issued for relatives of martyrs and military officers who died on duty to ride the bus for free on social media on Saturday.

"After I scanned the card, he asked me if I was using someone else's card. I then said it was mine and showed him the card. The driver then questioned how a student can have a preferential treatment card. I just ignored him," the boy said in the video with disappointment.

Zhang then comforted Liu and said to him that many people including the driver don't know about such type of preferential treatment card.

She said Liu's father who was a military officer died on duty in 2015. Liu was only four at the time.

"I posted the video just want more people to know about the preferential treatment card. Every time we use the card, it reminds us that Liu's father is a hero. We are proud of him," she said.

The video then went viral on social media. It was viewed more than 14.37 million times on short-video platform Douyin by Wednesday afternoon.

Many people said the bus driver should apologize for his ignorance and how his words hurt the feelings of the boy.

"But I urge people not to blame the driver. Also, people should pay more attention to the preferential treatment card than us," Zhang said.

Some people said they feel ashamed because it's the first time they know about such a preferential treatment card.

The Ministries of Veterans Affairs said in a post on its official WeChat account on Tuesday that representatives of veterans paid the boy a visit on the same day and told him people all cared so much about him.

Meanwhile, it said the relatives of the heroes should receive more care from the public.