11-year-old boy accidentally swallows $1,400 gold bean during ‘tongue exercise’

An 11-year-old boy in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China, accidentally swallowed a 10-gram gold bean valued at about $1400, drawing widespread attention online.

According to the South China Morning Post, the incident occurred on October 22, shortly after the mother, surnamed Ji, purchased the gold bean on October 17. With gold prices rising this year, many Chinese consider it a stable and valuable asset.

The boy told his mother while she was washing clothes: “Mum, hurry up, I am going to die. I swallowed the gold.”

He explained he had swallowed it while trying “to exercise the strength of his tongue.” Initially amused, Ji soon became worried upon confirming the gold was gone, she told Dawan News.

Recalling a previous family incident where her niece swallowed a coin, Ji hoped the gold would pass naturally and chose not to visit a hospital immediately. She issued a strict rule to her son: do not relieve yourself outside, warning that his “poop is too expensive.”

For five days, Ji carefully monitored his bowel movements twice daily, but the gold remained elusive.

On October 26, five days later, Ji took her son to the Fifth People’s Hospital in Kunshan. Doctors confirmed a foreign object in his stomach, though fortunately, the boy had no abdominal pain or vomiting. Later, the gold bean was successfully retrieved, though it is unclear whether it passed naturally or via a medical procedure.

Relieved, Ji shared a warning online: “Please make sure to store your gold properly and never let naughty children see it.”

The story quickly went viral, amassing over 500,000 views and sparking amusement across Chinese social media. Many users laughed at the “too expensive poop” anecdote, while others raised concerns over the delayed medical attention: