An 11-year-old boy from China accidentally swallowed a 10-gram gold bean worth US$1,400 by "mistake". The weirder part was that his mother told him not to relieve himself outside because it would be "too expensive". According to a report by The South China Morning Post, the incident unfolded in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, after a woman surnamed Ji bought the 10-gram gold bean on October 17.
Mother narrates ordeal
On October 22, in a moment of innocent mischief, a young boy in Kunshan, China, turned a family treasure into an unexpected gut adventure. While his mother, Ji, was busy with laundry on the balcony, her son burst in with a dramatic declaration: "Mom, hurry—I'm going to die! I swallowed the gold."The "gold" in question was a small gold bean.
The boy told his mother he had swallowed it down while attempting to "train the strength of his tongue". Ji initially ignored it as one of her son's useless tales. But when she realised the shiny nugget was truly missing, a mix of laughter and anxiety set in.
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Drawing from past experience, she recalled her niece's similar blunder years earlier: the toddler had swallowed a coin, only for doctors to assure it would emerge harmlessly in due time. A quick online search confirmed the same for gold, non-toxic, and likely to pass naturally. "I didn't panic too much," Ji later shared with Dawan News.
"Your stool's way too valuable now!"
In order to get the gold back, she launched a quirky home surveillance operation. For five days straight, she monitored her son's every bathroom break, twice daily, and issued stern instructions: "No pooping outside, your stool's way too valuable now!" Yet, despite her vigilance, the elusive bean refused to appear.
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By October 26, concern trumped caution. At Kunshan's Fifth People's Hospital, an ultrasound revealed the gold lodged in the boy's stomach—a "object" with no immediate red flags like pain or nausea. Relief came swiftly that afternoon when the gold was successfully extracted, though details remain fuzzy on whether it was a natural exit or aided by medical magic.