Main image via The Independent
Recently in Hangzhou, China, a 79-year-old woman who spends most of her time begging at a train station was called out. The grandma is actually a relatively rich pensioner!
Get this. The grandma lives in a 5-storey villa and owns several retail stores and rental properties in the city!
Image via Oddity Central
An unusual message from the loudspeakers in Hangzhou's East Railway Station made national news headlines. The staff has started broadcasting a warning to passers-by to not fall for the grandma's story because she isn't what she appears to be.
Even the woman's own son told reporters that their family is actually considerably wealthier than the average family in China. The family lives in a lavish villa and own several properties that they rent out to local businesses. The son himself manages a family factory! He said that he has tried to tell his mother to stop begging numerous times, but she refused to listen.
Image via Oddity Central
He told reporters, "I told her that it's fine if she doesn't care about her reputation, but we do. I serve her delicious meals every day, but she just insists on going out to beg. In terms of money, she is a lot richer than most of the people here. She has savings in a few banks around here."
The granny reportedly started off by selling maps but the railway station management disapproved of her little side business. So instead, she started begging. She arrives at the station every morning at 10am and stays till 8pm. Sources say that she makes around 300 yuan a day!
The Grandma's Villa - Image via Oddity Central
Her son tried to stop her side hustle by distributing pictures of her on social media, telling people to not hand money to her if they happened upon her. Unfortunately that didn't work. The railway staff have instead started warning people about her through the loudspeakers.
The announcement warns, "An elderly woman in the station uses her age to win sympathy. Her family financial situation is quite good, so please don't fall for it."
via GIPHY
The grandma's habit caused some tension on the internet. Some people condemned her for deceiving people to scam them out of money she doesn't need, while others said that the woman's behaviour must spark out of loneliness and boredom and blamed the son for not spending enough time with her. The man dismissed this saying that he mother already lives with his family and it is impossible for him to keep tabs on her all the time as he needs to make a living as well.
However, the Shanghaiist reported that the woman claims that she simply does not want to sit at him all day and resorts to begging in order to make enough money to hire a caretaker for herself when she gets older.
If that's true, then what about all the she has from her properties? Hmm…
A weird hobby or something else? What do you think?
Info via Oddity Central
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