Ma Xu, 90, and her husband, Yan Xueyong, live in Hubei province in central China but are originally from Mulan county in Heilongjiang province in the country's northeast, according to the South China Morning Post . Ma was one of China's first female paratroopers and met her husband, also a former paratrooper, during her time in the army.
In 2018, they decided to give back to their hometown by donating their life savings to Mulan County to support local children's education. The total amount they have donated so far has reached 10 million yuan (about 33 billion VND), Xinhua reported.
Ma Xu and his wife when they were old and when they were young
In a video , the former soldier and his wife, dressed in old military uniforms, sit at the counter in a bank branch with a small folder containing documents related to their savings accounts to discuss the contribution.
Since the initial donation was 3 million yuan (about 10 billion VND), the bank staff feared that the two elderly people might be victims of a scam, so they called the police. When the police arrived, they quickly verified that the two people really wanted to donate their savings.
Ma was born into a poor family and served in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) before achieving her dream of becoming a paratrooper in 1962. After getting married, she and her husband devoted themselves to military scientific research and invented ankle braces for soldiers as well as oxygen-supplying vests.
They saved most of their military earnings and their inventions by living frugally. They lived in an old wooden house, wore shoes that cost only 15 yuan (about 50,000 VND) and used old flip phones bought more than a decade ago.
"Only when children receive good education can our hometown develop," a local newspaper quoted Ms. Ma as saying.
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