A frugal elderly couple who went decades without buying new clothes and always wore old, worn-out shoes have donated GBP 1.1 million to public education in their hometown.
Ma Xu, 90, and her husband, Yan Xueyong, whose age was not given, spent their entire life savings as a way of giving back to their community in Mulan county, in north-eastern China’s Heilongjiang Province.
The two currently live in a very modest home in the central Hubei Province and have no children of their own, so they are extremely careful with their finances.
Ma, who joined the military at just 14, later became one of the first female paratroopers in China and met her husband, also a former paratrooper, during her service.
They spent most of their lives serving their country and have donated almost all their earnings.
The couple spent years saving up money and in 2018, decided to donate it all to their hometown to sponsor the education of local children,
Ma, then 85, and Yan, entered the bank expressing their wish to transfer CNY 3 million (GBP 336,800) and added they would bring another CNY 7 million (GBP 786,000) more.
The bank staff were worried that the elderly couple had been defrauded, so they immediately called the police.
But after running a background check, both staff and officers were stunned to find the two were country heroes and were well aware where their money was going.
Ma and Yan reportedly said they wanted to repay the kindness they were given in their young age and reassured they will not regret giving the money away.
Ma, who was born into a poor family, recounted how the villagers did not let her go hungry and helped out her mum before she went on to join the People’s Liberation Army.
And after achieving her dream of becoming a paratrooper in 1962, she and Yan married and devoted themselves to scientific research for the military.
The couple invented a protective ankle cover for troops as well as an oxygen supply vest and wrote several scientific papers.
Ma shared the most money she had spent was on a wooden cabinet for their academic works.
The two claimed they are otherwise happy living in a run-down bungalow in a remote rural area where they only posses an old sofa and the same hardboard bed they have used for the past four or five decades.
They wear shoes worth just CNY 15 (GBP 1.6) and use old flip phones bought more than a decade ago.
But according to Ma, the most worthy possession someone could own is the power of knowledge, which is why they decided to aid the local education system.
She added: “Only when children receive a good education can we hope for our hometown to develop.”
