Elderly couple uses small bills to purchase property

On Sept. 12, an elderly man and woman arrived at a property agency in Nanyang, Henan province with a woven bag full of mostly 1- and 5-yuan bills. The majority of the bills were folded or crumpled, making it difficult for the currency-counting machine to check them. Instead, agents had to count them by hand, one by one. Although bills covered the floor of the agency, the total amount was only 30,000 yuan, which was just enough for a deposit on the property the couple intended to buy.

Together, the husband and wife run small business. Their goal was to buy a house for their retirement - a somewhat urgent task given skyrocketing housing prices. Fortunately, the agent agreed to give the couple a discount.