A Chinese teen found his birth parents with a social media appeal. He killed himself after the reunion took a dark turn.

But within weeks, the story of a happy homecoming unraveled into tragedy. The parents, both now remarried with other people, fell out with Liu after he publicly claimed he had been sold, not given away. Liu asked for financial support. His birth mother blocked him on the messaging app WeChat. As the fight played out on social media, commentators took sides and piled on, many accusing Liu of being selfish.