Whenever she received a clue, she chased a suspect. Over the next 17 years, Li traveled to Beijing and more than 10 provinces and autonomous regions, including Yunnan and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Based on information she supplied, police arrested two men, Qi Xueshan and Qi Baoshan, in 1998. Both served time in prison.

But three other suspects, including the man accused of administering the fatal blow, remained at large. Li continued her search.

"It was really a hard time. So many terrible things happened to me," she said.

She spent more than 30 hours traveling to Xinjiang by train.

"I had been there three times, almost one month each time, trying to find the suspects."

"It looked like fishing for a needle in the haystack," she added.

"I ate and slept badly. I wore out some shoes, but I found nothing. I often cried at night."

But crying would not solve the problems, so she read legal books and honed her skills.

"I found people who had Henan accents in Xinjiang. I chatted and talked with them, step by step," she said.

In 2011, the 13th year of the search, Li obtained a phone number for Qi Jinshan in Xinjiang and contacted the police.

After an investigation, the police asked her confirm the man's identity in a video. He was arrested that year in March and was later sentenced to death, with a two-year suspended execution.

Of the remaining two suspects, Qi Haiying was arrested in November, 2015 and Qi Kuojun was arrested in December. They are in custody.

"I took a long time to find Qi Jinshan and Qi Haiying. They changed their identity information successfully when the local security bureau released a population census in 2000," Li said.

Zhang Yafei, director of the Xiangcheng Public Security Bureau, said less-advanced investigation technology at the time of the murder made the case drag on for a long time.

Additionally, some police involved in the case are under investigation and will be held accountable if they failed to do a proper job, police said.

Today, Li has a grandson, a toddler who is 18 months old. She wants to focus on her family now.

"For those 17 years, our family never celebrated Spring Festival, because my husband was dead, while the suspects were at large," she said.

"My children and I suffered a lot in those years, but I don't want the hatred to pass onto the next generation," Li said.

"This spring festival will be different. I plan to have all of the members of the family gather together to enjoy a reunion dinner."