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China´s youngest "Quake Hero" Lin Hao back home in Sichuan

PRICE OF FAME

The Lin family moved to Shanghai last August after Lin Hao said he wished to study there. Although Lin and his sister got free schooling in Shanghai, the family found it hard to live in the metropolis.

"My wife and I couldn't find jobs, so it was hard to afford the high cost of living," recalled Lin Dakun.

He said the family had to pay 2,000 yuan (about 269 U.S. dollars) for rent and 1,500 yuan for other monthly living costs.

"All those expenses had to come out of our savings before the quake," the 38-year-old man told Xinhua.

In Shanghai, the family could have been better off if Lin had accepted offers for the son to be in TV commercials. "I didn't want to sell my son's fame and image for money," said the father.

But he changed his mind during this year's Spring Festival when he returned to the devastated Yingxiu, where he saw some children who had been left handicapped by the quake.

"If the TV commercial is suitable, I might let my son take the offer and we might even help those needy people with the money" despite the economic pressures facing the family, said the elder Lin.

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