His father describes him as hard-working and more ambitious than many of his peers, while his mother, Yang, speaks of a shy boy respected by his employers. From a young age, Xu dreamed of making something of himself, his family said.
Wu, his lawyer, said he couldn't comment on Xu's fundamental honesty, although he said he wasn't an "eel-like person." Withdrawing cash 171 times consecutively, however, suggests he doesn't think much about consequences, Wu added.
Xu told reporters at his retrial last week that he stopped when the machine ran out of money, according to local media. He planned to go back a few hours later for more after the machine was refilled, but slept through his alarm. It was daylight by then and he decided to stop at $24,000.
He quit his job, bought a $100 cellphone, used $600 to pay off debts and gave $280 to his grandmother.
When the bank discovered the loss and started calling him, Xu fled to his home province. On the train, someone stole $7,000 he had in his coat, his father said, sending him on a downward spiral.
His boss called and tried to convince him to turn himself in, but Xu declined, his father said, explaining that he wanted to make the debt whole first. He invested $14,000 in an Internet cafe with a partner, which failed, then bought thousands of lottery tickets before the ID check led to his arrest at a train station.
"He's a little naive," his father said. "And he's unlucky."
His parents maintain his innocence: Their son didn't consider it theft. He took the money to protect it for the bank. He wanted to turn himself in only to have a friend discourage him. A real criminal wouldn't use his own ID.
Justice should be impartial, but things don't work that way in China, Xu's father said, suggesting that the court might have come to a different decision if Xu or his family was rich and had connections.
"Our family is like a little drop of water to the big sea that is the nation," he added. "But if this case helps China improve its legal system, that would at least be something."
--
mark.magnier@latimes.com
Gao Jing and Zhang Guangqin in The Times' Beijing Bureau contributed to this report.
