54-year-old Xiong Shuihua made his millions in the steel industry, and felt that giving back to his home community, the little village of Xiongkeng in southern China, was the right thing to do.
He felt obliged to repay the kindness shown to him and his family by his fellow villagers when they were going through hard times. In the years since, he became a very successful businessman.
It was a recent visit back to his hometown that prompted him to go about revamping the entire place – he witnessed cramped, dirty huts and houses where the impoverished locals lived. There weren’t even any paved roads – the village’s dirt roads were filled in with mud, and heaps of old debris were lying everywhere.
"I earned more money than I knew what to do with, and I didn’t want to forget my roots. I always pay my debts, and wanted to make sure the people who helped me and my family when I was younger were paid back," he said.
In the space of a few short months, all the huts in the village were torn down and replaced by luxury apartments and villas for the villagers to reside in. The roads were taken care of as well – muddy dirt made way for nice paving and cleanliness.
Thanks to the kindness of a benevolent millionaire who never forgot where he came from, the village is now an entirely different place. In addition, its residents are also very well-fed, with the elderly and low income families receiving no less than three meals a day free of charge.
After living in wooden huts for generations, 72 of the 90 families that the millionaire assisted live in luxury apartments, while a further 18 families, members of whom were especially kind to him and his family, now live in villas.
A local man by the name of Qiong Chu, aged 75, said:
“I remember his parents. They were kind-hearted people who cared much for others, and it’s great that their son has inherited that kindness.”
