Rural beggar returns donations 24 years later Mei Guanghan, a 66-year-old farmer from a village in Zhejiang province spent over 10 years retracing his begging journey to pay off debts from 24 years ago. Mei’s wife, Ren Aichun, suffered from severe paraplegia due to an accident that happened at that time. In 1990, the 60,000-70,000 yuan medical fees for her care were astronomical for a farmer. To save his wife, Mei had no choice but to beg from door to door. He carried a poly sack with their ID cards and documents proving their difficulty, a bottle and a notebook to record all the information from donors, and then walked to nearby villages to beg for the money. Apart from begging, he also got up early to take care of his ailing wife and did all the farm work. Later, with their children growing up and starting to earn money, the family’s life finally got better. So Mei decided to retrace his begging journey to pay the people back who gave him money 24 years ago. The incident has many supporters from Weibo celebrating his act of gratitude, while some argue that others should not follow what he did: “Couples are their most reliable partners when they both get old, and misfortune always tests the sincerity of a true partner. What a great individual he is!” @Fengshuiyingdong “The power of perseverance is always admirable.” @Ayindemudao “I don’t think his act should be followed by others. We shall promote his kindness and pass it to other people, but not his act of actually paying the money back. ” @Siwenlunshi “Though the debts are wiped off, kindness is not forgotten,” Mei wants his offspring to keep this notebook and remember all the benefactors.
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 14:00:00 +0000