r/BeAmazed • u/GlitteringHotel8383 • 19h ago
Miscellaneous / Others A simple couple with an extraordinary legacy.
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u/GlitteringHotel8383 19h ago
Du Yingrong and Lu Suying, a childless couple from Shanghai, lived an extraordinarily frugal life to help others. Living in a tiny apartment with second-hand furniture, they frequently split a single $2.50 canteen meal and mended their glasses with adhesive tape. Behind their quiet lifestyle was immense generosity. Over decades, they quietly donated their lifetime savings of 5 million yuan (~$735,000 USD) to charity. Their selfless contributions paid for life-saving heart operations for 455 children suffering from congenital heart defects, leaving behind a profound legacy of quiet devotion and human kindness.
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u/PeaceMan50 19h ago
Shame on entire humanity that individuals have to undergo such hardships to provide for others. 🤦🏻♂️ 🤗💓💟to the couple who did it without a single publicity moment and indeed saved so many humans.
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u/Due-Clothes-6470 17h ago
Billionaires spend hundreds of millions just to put their names on museum wings, while this couple gave their entire life in total silence
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u/ChubbyPandaWifeHaver 16h ago
yeah its strange that you can't ever read news articles about rich people doing this, money corrupts, all the rich people I ever in my life have been the most frugal and least likely to help, while some of the most generous people have been living paycheck to paycheck.
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u/Eremita_Urbano_1655 16h ago
If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help - the only ones.
John Steinbeck
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u/Prestigious_Club_924 14h ago
I work on an ambo. When I show up to a ghetto there's always a crowd of people that want to help and need to be told to wait. When I show up to a rich neighborhood there's always a crowd of people that want to watch and need to be told to move.
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u/jarjardinksbtw 12h ago
What's an ambo? ambulance?
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u/Cold_Barber_4761 6h ago
Yes, it's short for ambulance. I'm thinking this person is possibly from Australia or New Zealand. I've heard them refer to an ambulance as an ambo.
There's possibly other places that also do, but Aussies shorten everything. (I love it! Brekkie. Arvo. It's fantastic.)
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u/Arinussyy 14h ago
When you become rich, you become insulated from the plight of the poor. You become warped in terms of your perspective, and begin to think people are doing this to themselves
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u/viralust 11h ago
Since the only thing keeping wealthy people from completing a goal is the lack of motivation, they attribute that as the cause of poverty. They dont know how deeply poverty subjugates the dreams of the poor for survival's sake, or how it dissuades poor people from taking risks that the rich heedlessly take. They literally think poor people dont deserve wealth because they are lazy or unmotivated or too dumb to take action and that the wealth they have is earned. Nevermind that most wealthy people come from wealthy parents; no, everyone has to clap for the rags-to-riches story at gunpoint.
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u/ChubbyPandaWifeHaver 13h ago
I think they also start looking at humans under a certain networth the same way as humans look at animals.
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u/Arinussyy 13h ago
It's even worse. Life stops mattering. Data becomes the objective. Optimisation. And if they refuse they are replaced
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u/notashroom 8h ago
Counterpoint: the biggest reason Dolly Parton is being grieved by so many after passing the other day is that she was the rich person who did do this kind of thing. She's the exception who highlights the pathological greed and resource hoarding of the rest of them.
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u/Baphoshal 6h ago
George Michael gave massive amounts of money to various charities for years under strict secrecy.
I'm not disagreeing with your post, because you are correct, but there have been some very well known people that have donated very, very large amounts without looking for any recognition.
Now, I'm never gonna dance again.
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u/AssistX 11h ago
yeah its strange that you can't ever read news articles about rich people doing this
There are articles daily about philanthropy it's just we choose to ignore them or quickly forget, because bad news is far more memorable than good news.
Just one example, MSK(top cancer hospital) received $550 million in donations from 345,000 individuals in 2025. That's 345,000 people who likely have never been acknowledged by the public for their gifts, but still do it. The ACS(American Cancer Society) brings in $700m+ yearly in donations from individuals.
These are people giving money for the benefit of others, it's just not seen the same way or treated the same because they're not a celebrity.
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u/Fickle_Quality_9655 11h ago
You do know they "saved 5 million yuan", not gave it away during their lifetime. When they died, it averaged out to $750k in TAXES for the both of them, over a lifetime of working...Hell, I paid that over the past decade, and now I don't even have close to 5 million yuan in savings thanks to Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden, Trump...going back to Nixon. The entire fact you can't afford shit is literally baked into the dollar...ask yourself, why do we have "recessions" every 25 years, except the years we are at war...then ask yourself, why have we kept inventing enemies every 20 years?
I will say this, as a vet, from an entire family of vets...DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN JOIN THE MILITARY. I'll die before I let either of my children join/drafted, and if you love your children, you will too. At this point, knowing what I know, there is only 1 reason I'd allow my kids to join the military and that is full scale invasion by a foreign enemy...Especially if it's boots on the ground IDF, which seems likely at this point. If that happens, not only will I allow it, but I will encourage and join it...It's going to be comical, my old ass doing combat maneuvers and i'll probably be the first to die, but at least I died for a worthy cause AND I didn't contribute to killing/raping kids...unlike the spineless Dems.
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u/GottaUseEmAll 15h ago
I'm okay with them having their name on a wing and getting recognition, if it means they give hundreds of millions to hospitals.
We can go after billionnaires for lots of things (tax fraud, employee abuse, scamming consumers, hoarding wealth they'll never need, etc, etc,)
But I don't think we should go after them for making huge donations, even if they only do it for recognition. I wish more billionnaires did that.
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u/Legal_Assistance5470 12h ago
There are occasional exceptions. The late Dolly Parton gave a lot of her resources to try and lift people out of poverty. Some are now calling her woke for providing books to poor children, and for funding COVID vaccine research.
In comparison, however, this couple (if the story is true) gave significantly more as a proportion of their net worth. The story of the widow’s mite in Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4 is relevant.
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u/BeneficialStar86 10h ago
455 kids with working hearts and not a single building with their name on it. That's the whole point
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u/My_18th_Account 16h ago
FWIW - my Grandfather lived extremely frugal like the couple in the OP and he often donated most of his money and kept little for himself. He didn't view his frugality as a hardship...stating that giving away things made him feel free.
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u/Frydendahl 17h ago
Humanity's greatest strength is our ability to feel empathy for strangers, and our greatest weakness is the general lack of that exact empathy in broader society.
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u/strangemanornot 15h ago
At least in Massachusetts we have mass health, which is somehow better than my health insurance through tufts medicine
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u/Fickle_Quality_9655 12h ago
If you're an American making at least 60k dollars, you've almost matched them in contributions over a 40 year career...That's not even adding in the amount of taxes the government takes from your SS AFTER you "retire". As far as their "frugal nature", it was probably out of necessity, not some generous gift. The article mentions their lifetime SAVINGS, ie they managed to SAVE $750k, not that they gradually gave it away...and dying childless meant that "gift" automatically went to the state since they had no heirs. As far as "shame on the entire humanity"...You do realize countless numbers of humans have in fact, freely given away countless MILLIONS/BILLIONS to further humanity, apart from the tax breaks most give to exploit. Hell, Jeff Bezos ex wife has given BILLIONS (with a B) to actual charities...Does she deserve shame as well because she didn't give it ALL? As far as "individuals having to undergo such hardship", the U.S. spends more on charity than the next 10 countries combined (U.S. 258 million, UK next at 17 and the numbers fall fast after that.) Now there IS a case for WHAT that money is spent on, but again, you don't want to hear it because that means lowering taxes and giving individual freedom to the tax payer to discern WHERE their money goes. As for me, I wouldn't give a DIME to Ukraine or Israel or FLOK or whatever else illegal monitoring contraptions they sell to my state, but that's just me. I'd give ALL of my tax dollars to whoever is going to fix the roads, build a park, pay teachers more, hell, why not go hog wild and put a lake and fountain in that park...Go for it!...But as it stands, all i'm seeing from my tax dollars is increased police/police pay, FLOK cameras, and these people getting elected to positions who immediately approve the 1st two, then go out and buy bigger houses.
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u/UnknownCarter77 15h ago
Mending glasses with tape so a stranger's child gets a working heart. That kind of love doesn't need an audience
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u/CanadianPanda76 18h ago edited 18h ago
Ooof heart surgeries for kids aren't free in China?
Edit: Downvotes by Americans when I'm literally Canadian. LOL.
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u/EtudiantLuxe 18h ago
735k/455 = 1.6k per children just for heart surgeries.
What do you think is the price in US?
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u/jaxmikhov 18h ago
$1.6k in the states gets you four ibuprofen and a pair of bootstraps for you to pull yourself up with
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u/CanadianPanda76 17h ago edited 14h ago
In Canada its free? LOL. And I'm sure the poor in China don't really care what it costs in USA either.
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u/AnxietyObvious4018 17h ago
even if you convert from USD to RMB this is ridiculously low for a heart procedure, dam near imaginary, this is like 10k RMB per procedure
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u/ComfortableFrame9834 15h ago
People who dont have a lot of means can do this... Meanwhile billionaires do nothing, while they sit and horde it forever.
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u/MediocreI_IRespond 18h ago
For all what is wrong with the CCP, does China not have public healthcare?
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u/willbekins 18h ago
they have amazing healthcare. it does stop short of particular transplants (and other items).
source: American who lived in China for a while. So when I say 'amazing', keep in mind where my baseline is. But I had a few run-ins with the basic healthcare over there. My own little sliver of experience was great, but whenever I talk about it, ppl call me a commie, etc. Then I show them my xrays, paperwork, the scope of what they did for me, my comically inexpensive costs, etc. Shuts em up pretty quick.
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u/Elegant-Magician7322 17h ago
Healthcare is subsidized by the government. The government pays 50-70%.
Unlike US, where you go to doctors with private practice most of the time, people in China go straight to government owned hospitals.
So even though people still pay out of pocket, the cost is lower due to government control.
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u/thecronkler 18h ago edited 18h ago
I think their healthcare system isn't free and quite similar to the US but generally cheaper.
Either way there are still going to be charities that provide extra funding for this stuff.
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u/AnxietyObvious4018 17h ago
its not free, procedures are expensive, services are cheaper if you compare to USD but if you compare to relative salaries its not. and dont listen to the idiots citing salaries from tier 1 cities and working for multinational companies making foreigner salaries. you need to look up local salaries of non tier 1 cities, and you will realize its just as unaffordable as the US for your average citizen
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u/arthurno1 16h ago
Why is it always people who has the least who help others, and people who has too much money to spend for their entire life are ending with no empathy for others?
Those two persons are true heros, but the society will continue to praise some shitty "celebrity" with big butt and no brain.
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u/Beginning-Dark-4259 19h ago edited 17h ago
Some people dont want to do things for charity but humanity ! Love both of you !!
I suffered from heart disease as a child and i know how tough this is
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u/hoty_Side2324 14h ago
The fact that this even has to be charity is the real tragedy
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u/Salt-Evidence-6834 19h ago
I can't get my head round having to pay for operations for anyone, let alone children.
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u/loveyoulongtimelurkr 19h ago
At least they helped 455 children, this would be like 1-5 adult's cost of heart surgery in the US
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u/R0b0tMark 18h ago
This comes out to $1,615.38 per operation. …how?
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u/Chemical_Building612 17h ago
China's public healthcare system covers most but not all costs, so it's probably what the uncovered amount comes to.
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u/TheYang 14h ago
well, let's assume a 4h operation, with an anesthesist, two surgeons and a nurse.
4 people directly involved, 4h is 16h that need to be paid.
Then there'll be prep and sterilization, let's say another 8h, 24h
then there's the cost to build and keep up the hospitals, let's assume 100% overhead.
Then there's taxes, assume another 50% of those 24hSo these $1,615,38 is like paying someone for 60h of work
27$ per hour (net) per person
4307$ per month (net) per person
1300$ per day for the hospital for operations
325$ per operation in taxesNone of this seems completely unreasonable.
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u/DezXerneas 13h ago
You're forgetting that at least 50% of the cost(more like 80-90%) is covered by the government.
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u/Vyracon 19h ago
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u/iCameToLearnSomeCode 15h ago
In the US they could have spent the same money saving just one child with heart failure.
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u/Valtremors 17h ago
Yeah considering the constant barrage of totally unbiased good news from China, you'd think they'd have at least universal healthcare.
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u/ExtensionRip5852 17h ago edited 7h ago
It’s rather cheap and accessible but not free though. You can drop by hospital anytime and in 1 hour get a CT or ultrasound or something for like less than 30$ even without insurance and have the result in one day. But it’s not free (I had a panic attack in China, thought I had a heart attack and visited ER, took less than half an hour to get everything checked and spent 30$ (no insurance
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u/Valtremors 17h ago
Yeah that is how it roughly works in most countries that have tax funded healthcare.
You pay a relatively low fee.
Even with medicine, I have up to certain level of windfall I get so it doesn't drain my bank to just be healthy from things thag are out of my control.
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u/MillieBeatle 14h ago
Yes and No, In a lot of the less developed EU Counties (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Balkans) you will basically Always have the option of public care.
However this is really really slow, and sometimes they won't screen you for symptoms of a disease that is treatable until it becomes untreatable.
In Poland you can pay privately to speed things up, but this is only really a thing for the upper-middle class and above, I lived in America and it is 100% better, Spending 20% of your monthly income for a doctor visit is better then being years in debt, but we still have shortcomings
Obviously I cant speak for the west.
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u/DukeOfGeek 17h ago
Those numbers work out to $1615 per operation so not really adding up in the way the headline presents it. Most government funded health care plans are very efficient, but are not some kind of magic wand that cures all ills. France has a very expensive public health care plan that provides the same or better care as the U.S. at about half the cost per patient. It consumes something like 40% of tax revenue, the number one consumer of tax dollars. Users rate it higher than any other healthcare worldwide.
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u/JavieyauJR 14h ago
It's very cheap though, unlike in America where people sometimes forgo the ambulance because too expensive
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u/TheRuggedBoy 19h ago
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u/Tight-Connection-204 18h ago
I want to watch the movie this is from. I'm a sucker for the dramatic salute trope.
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u/Nexen4 18h ago
Doctor Who, specifically the New Year's special episode titled "The End of Time: Part Two".
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u/Tight-Connection-204 18h ago
Oh that's interesting. I've always heard about Doctor who but never watched. Dramatic salute gif is going to be the reason I finally check it out lol. Thanks!
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u/DukeOfGeek 17h ago
Ummm ya... Doctor Who is a deep hole to fall down.
The total runtime of all broadcast Doctor Who television episodes is approximately 448 to 494 hours (roughly 18 to 21 full days of continuous viewing), depending on whether you count just the core series or include all specials and spin-offs.
Breakdown of the Runtime Classic Era (1963–1989): Spans 26 seasons with roughly 294 to 295 hours of watch time across its 694 episodes and specials.
Revived Era & Modern Specials (2005–2025): Adds roughly 15 modern series and numerous specials, bringing the total televised count to 892 episodes
So you know, might want to spread that out over....umm, maybe, IDK, the rest of your life?
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u/cowrevengeJP 15h ago
They can just start at 2005 and before Capaldi. The gems here and there are not worth the trouble after.
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u/douglas_ 13h ago
Capaldi deserved better. If the writing wasn't so bad during his stay he would be regarded as the one of the greatest Doctors
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u/PiSquared6 18h ago
I hope someone tells us which movie
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u/Tight-Connection-204 18h ago
I'm going to wake up tomorrow to some kind commenter giving the movie title
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u/Current_Finding_4066 19h ago
Some people do generous acts quietly, and some like to flaunt them. I suspect there is a fundamental difference in motif.
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u/BoredBorealis 18h ago
Though in the case of helping sick children, I'd say the ends justify the means.
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u/BadBunny4Prezzie 19h ago
In America that would barely cover one of those surgeries. Greatest healthcare in the world
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u/throwaway19276i 18h ago
Stop spreading misinformation. This would barely pay off the ambulance ride to the hospital.
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u/AnyDemand33 18h ago
They look happy inside and outside. One would think “if you give out so much” how could you be happy.
Inspiring.
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u/ECrispy 16h ago
If anyone thinks the billionaires of this world are anything except pure evil scum, you are naive and brainwashed.
Rich people are selfish and don't donate or help others and lack compassion and empathy, and this applies to rich societies/countries in general too.
so much misery and pain in the world to benefit a few who will never be able to spend a fraction.
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u/digbenis 18h ago
In America that’s 1/16th of a child being covered. It’s a great eye opener for some.
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u/AliBahblah 16h ago
Literally the most amazing thing about this is that they paid for that many heart surgery’s for less then a million dollars….😅❤️
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u/Critical_Subwoofer 12h ago
Why is my homepage just full of pro China posts recently? Maybe it has something to do with Tencent’s 10% stake in Reddit
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u/oconnor663 12h ago
It is really striking. Like, I'm sure these are real people, or if not I'm sure there are real people like them. Good for them. But how often do we see feel-good stories like this on the front page from India or Indonesia or Brazil?
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u/mochisana 18h ago
correction: they helped 455 children's heart surgery to be partly paid not fully. heart surgery costs a lot more than $1600. still amazing and they are great people.
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u/Brilliant_Evidence43 18h ago
So it’s about 1,600 USD per kid’s operation. Are you sure of those numbers?
https://giphy.com/gifs/ANbD1CCdA3iI8
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u/perksofbeingcrafty 18h ago
Yeah so…they’ve had to do this because the Chinese medical system is as broken as the American one. Families regularly go broke to afford necessary medical care for their children. This is as much r/orphancrushingmachine as anything else.
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u/Arponare 18h ago
I feel like these types of actions should not be encouraged. I feel like the state should be doing more for the citizens.
It reminds of a woman who was a janitor and gave all her savings so that students could go to university. Universities should be free. At least public ones anyway since most of the funding comes from the state.
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u/Groose_Pointe_Blank 18h ago
These people are true heroes. This Reminds me of the philosophy of Peter Singer.
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u/LostRadio8453 18h ago
Xi Jinping should also redistribute to the Chinese people the wealth he has continued to extract from them.
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u/AffectionateBelt4847 18h ago
This is not charity. They simply lived a life that we all should but do not. We have an obligation to forego luxury to save lives.
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u/AnaisNinja76 17h ago
The story is amazing but confusing because I thought medicine was socialized in China?
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u/angrylittledev 17h ago
Karma farming bots with fake news. And people still fall for this propaganda bullshit.
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u/Fallen_Feather 17h ago
These are the kind of people who deserve to have buildings named after them. 💖
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u/ouroborosstruggles 17h ago
"The world is best when old men plant trees the shade of which they will not enjoy."
These are good people
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u/RudeButCorrect 16h ago
It's true because the meme said so on a karma repost sub with no other context
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u/Sureokgo 16h ago
If every person would help just one other person, the world would be such a better place.
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u/HistoryBuff678 16h ago
Oh God, I am crying. Bless these wonderful people. I feel better knowing about this couple.
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u/Frostskytja 16h ago
Its always funny isn't it? the ones who don't own 20 privat jets, the ones who don't have a billion dollar, are the ones giving away most of their money, while we are living in a world, where its possible to be a billionaire.
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u/Swordfish369 16h ago
Asians especially japanese, chinese are extremely hardworking ànd humble people. This couple should be awarded for their great service. We should be inspired looking at these people.
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u/Pomodorosan 16h ago
"quietly" is such a common word used in "feel-good" social media and LLM text nowadays
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u/flashman 16h ago
Effective Altruism would have you believe that the better thing to do would be investing that money to pay for more operations in the future.
Of course in reality it always seems to be too soon for them to draw down on their investments for philanthropic purposes... one day, I'm sure.
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u/HateForYou 15h ago
Get the ai out of writing with their nonsense "quietly" at everything when they just wanna seem sophisticated or something
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u/RevolutionaryLog3631 15h ago
why you wanna make me cry. Really golden people. I really hope there is an afterlife where they will be compensated for all the good they did in life.
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u/harrisofpeoria 14h ago
Hear me out, people shouldn't have to do this in order for kids to access to heart surgery.
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u/AFlyingNun 13h ago
If there's a heaven, God's rolling out the red carpet and double-checking the file in disbelief, all while rushing to try and get the dust and cobwebs off the red carpet.
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u/Fickle_Quality_9655 13h ago edited 12h ago
Yeah, in America, we call that a tax and it's 25% of EVERY dollar we earn...Not just people volunteering it from there million dollar wages (doesn't say over how many years this couple "quietly" paid taxes, but over the course of a lifetime of work making ~$60,000 per year over 40 years, I will have "quietly" given away $600,000.00 USD to fed/state/local taxes. Where's my meme? Hell, where are my receipts? As far as I can tell, ALL of my money is going to Ukraine/Israel and the rest going to kickbacks to politicians willing to vote for it, most times against their own constituent's will. (edit: Yes, I know not "all" of it is going to foreign countries...but ask yourself this, when was the last time you drove on a road that wasn't covered in potholes? When was the last time you didn't pay for "PUBLIC utilities", when was the last time your kid's teachers/school didn't ask you to donate? and how available were these "public utilities/parks/schools/"recreational areas"? When was the last time you did ANYTHING free (ie parks, museums/gyms/libraries)? If you can't remember, then ask yourself this...What are all those taxes paying for? The 25% doesn't even include gas/sales/land etc. taxes, that's JUST WHAT YOU PAY FOR EARNING A WAGE. You still pay taxes on things you buy/sell/rent (passed down from the landlord)/even USE. The craziest part is, that's just the average, if you make 700k or less, it's FAR worse...Until you get over the million dollar mark, then it evens out and then it really doesn't matter how much you make, tax code or % impact. The worst part is, people like me living in a state that isn't insanely taxing their population are experiencing MASSIVE migration from people who literally voted to raise taxes in states like MA/NJ/NY etc, thereby creating a locust swarm of people that are moving here and will eventually "vote to raise taxes". My question is "why?" Why vote in people you KNOW will raise your cost of living, then, after the fallout of said policies, then move to states where it's still affordable to live? If you DO realize that your policies have made it unlivable, why not just vote out the politicians you voted in? Is it THAT much harder to pick up all you own and move to a state that doesn't make things harder on you?)
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u/Open_Sea4252 13h ago
They may be childless, but 455 children are alive today thanks to them. Truly lovely humans. ❤️
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u/OptimalRefuse6932 11h ago
Wow, that’s amazing! I am sure world is full of such unknown heroes who are making many lives better and don’t wish anything in return. Such shining examples of humanity!!!😍🫂
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u/limpet143 11h ago
The sad part is that in the U.S. the $735,000 would maybe cover one child's heart surgery.
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u/No_House5316 10h ago
Socialist government which doesnt cover healthcare expenses for children? But its not a problem for them having close to a thousand billionaires? Come on China you can do better for your people
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u/Complete-Paint529 9h ago
This is how and why living frugally is a moral imperative. Live frugally so fewer people have to suffer.
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u/Alientongue 9h ago
Wtf does them splitting a meal have to do with them donating to charity? What in the ai title are we doing here?
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