She freezes, says nothing. The boy is found, he returns to the village with Wei and a camera crew. But TV micro-celebrity and a gift of tons of chalks solve nothing. End-titles tell us that a million children a year drop school for work. It's a false figure.
Reality is ten times higher.
But since this is a criticism of China's system, and since director Zhang Yimou has often had troubles with the government and censors, he lowered the figure to what authorities would deem acceptable. In Italian neorealism the movies did not hesitate to show or denounce evils by individuals as well as the state. Matters are much more careful and balanced here, a bit as in old Soviet movies. The TV station bureaucrat receptionist is scolded, and it another bureaucrat who is helpful. The kindness of strangers gets some credit as a restaurant helps hungry Zhan, although this is done primarily to avoid his bothering the customers.