In the 1980s, Yu Youzhen was merely an ordinary vegetable farmer in
Wuhan City Hongshan District Donghu Village Huojiawa who, after years of
building and additions, came to possess three 5-storey private
buildings, most of which were rented out. In 2008, Yu Youzhen chanced
upon [government policies for] the requisition, demolition, and
redevelopment of land [mostly takes place in rural areas, where when a
peasant’s land is expropriated by the government and the peasant is
compensated for it with new houses or apartments in other locations] and
was successively given 21 apartments [for her previous property]. Yu
Youzhen personally witnessed some of her fellow villagers not engaging
themselves in decent activities after being compensated with multiple
apartments, falling into gambling, and even drug use. In order to set a
good example for her children, from 1998 onwards, the now landless Yu
Youzhen went to Wuchang District Chengguan Bureau to work as a
sanitation worker, with a 1,420 yuan monthly salary, only one day off
each week, and having to arrive for work 3 every morning.
Yu Youzhen is a contract worker for the Wuchang District Chengguan
Bureau Cleaning Team, with a 1,420 yuan monthly wage. Her household had
21 apartments in total but later successively sold 4 of them, with 17
left. Calculated according to market prices, she is literally a
“millionaire woman”. This picture is of January 2, in Wuhan, of “rich
woman” sanitation worker Mrs. Yu cleaning the street.
Yu Youzhen is responsible for the sanitation of an approximately
3,000-meter long stretch of road, sweeping along its length back and
forth 6 hours every day, wiping and washing 8 trashcans. Since it’s cold
outside, a thin layer of ice forms on the surface of the trashcan that
as Yu Youzhen just bent down to wipe with a wet rag.
In the 1980s, Yu Youzhen was a vegetable grower in Hongshan District
Donghu Village Huojiawan. She and her husband worked from dawn to night
to make and save money, becoming the first family to build a 3-storey
private house in Huojiawan. With more and more people coming to work in
Wuhan from out of town, Yu Youzhen used the spare rooms for rental. By
the early 1990s, each room could bring in 50 yuan each month. After
saving this money, she built more buildings and added more floors, and
over several years, she had three 5-storey buildings, most of which used
for rentals. She said that during those years, the regulations on
constructing buildings in rural areas were loose, and everyone built
houses. What she didn’t expect was that in 2008, the [policies of]
requisitioning and redevelopment of land began, and she was successively
given 21 apartments [as compensation for her requisitioned and
redeveloped buildings]. Later on, she sold 4 of them.
From 1998 onwards, the now landless Yu Youzhen went to the Wuchang
District Chengguan Bureau to work as a sanitation worker, with only one
day off each week, and having to arrive for work at 3 in the morning.
Although later she became a “rich woman”, she still hasn’t put down her
broom. In her work, people often give her cold looks, but she still
loves what she does. Many of her co-workers in the cleaning team don’t
understand: “Mrs. Yu’s family is so rich, yet still she comes to put up
with this suffering!” To this, Yu Youzhen has her own explanation: “I
want to set an example for my son and daughter, a person can’t just sit
at home and ‘eat away’ a whole fortune.”
Yu Youzhen witnessed with her own eyes some of her fellow villagers
getting up to no good after getting multiple apartments from their land
being requisitioned [by the government], indulging themselves in
gambling, even drug use. She has already put the word out to her son and
daughter: “If you don’t work, I’ll donate the apartments to the
country.”
Now, her son works as a driver in the Donghu Scenic Area, making an over
2,000 yuan monthly salary. Her daughter too is an office worker, with
an over 3,000 yuan monthly salary. Link
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